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I made this rocking horse for my daughters a year or two ago. It's pine, with walnut stain followed by a red oak stain and about six coats of satin wiping poly. I picked up a plan for this rocking horse a couple years ago at Lowes, when they were liquidating their stock of Delta Plans. I think I paid a dollar for the plan. Not a bad deal, for so much fun for the little ones.

I think next time, instead of making the grain of the body go at right angle to the head piece, I will try to make the grain of the neck and body line up better. The way it is now, the glue line is just way too obvious. There are a number of other things I would do differently, but I'll leave that to others to discover for themselves!

So far, everything I have made has been from somebody else's plan. I envy all you Lumberjocks out there who can come up with your own plans and they turn out just beautiful! SWMBO has lined up the next four or five projects for me based on things she has seen in my magazines. But after that, I think I will try to make something up for myself. It won't be perfect, but I'll be it will be fun!

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I really like it. Your kids will remember it when they are grown.
 

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Very nice looking rocking horse. Looks like it would be a fun build. Thanks for sharing.
 

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Paul,

Beautiful!!

Wasn't it fun to build? We don't have grandkids so all the neighbors and friends with little ones has gotten one of these.
 

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What a cute horse Paul.I bet she loved it.
 

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Nice horse. I looked for a long time until I found that pattern that I liked. If it isn't identical it is very close to the one that I made for my granddaughter. I also had the problem with the glue line joining the head the to body. Not to mention the problem of just pulling them together. I hadn't saved all of my scraps to use as blocks for the clamping. So to cover the glueline and gap in my case, I added some trim as part of a harness for the horse. So like everything else hide what you don't want to show.

Al
 

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Beautiful Horse. I would like to make 1 for my grandson. Where can i get the plans? Thanks Nick
 

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The plans are available at Grizzly for $6.95 (US). Be prepared to spend plenty of time gluing yarn in holes for the mane! I used a syringe to inject the glue (unthinned) and used a ground off nail head the push the yarn home. I tried several methods of dipping the yard and inserting it, but that just doesn't work very well. I could never get enough glue to stay where I needed it.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Pony-Rocker-Plans/H1179
 

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Thanks Paul for the quick response. Any other info you think helpful don't hesitate.
 

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Paul, like the look of this rocking horse (from delta Plan) how can I get a copy of the plans, would like to build one for my grand son

Cheers Bazza (New Zealand)
 

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Dan, I like your approach to the tail and mane. I whipped the tail using jute. I cut my finger pulling it tight, but it's held up extremely well. But your approach to the mane would have paid me huge dividends!. I did the mane by drilling hundreds of tiny holes. I then used syringe to put glue in each hole, and I used a nail in a small wood block to push in a piece of doubled over yarn. I sat through more than one baseball game on the TV while I was doing that!

Bazza, I don't know if Grizzly delivers to New Zealand, but a link to buy this plan is:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Pony-Rocker-Plans/H1179
 

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I just got into wood working, and I'm making this horse for my first project.

Did you trace every wedge? Or is there a better method for making the wedges?

Also, any tips for any of the steps would help! :)

Good job!
 

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If you're referring to the wedges to angle the legs outward, I didn't follow the plan. First, I traced the outside perimeter of the leg on a single rectangular piece of pine that was as thick as the thickest part of the wedge. On the edge of the piece, I drew a line showing the angle or "slope" of the wedge. Next, I set up a tall fence on the band saw. I set the piece of pine on the bandsaw table so I could see the line I had drawn on the edge. Then, I used scrap wood to shim the piece so the line I drew lined up with the band saw blade. (I used double sided tape to attach the scrap wood.) I then pushed the piece through the band saw, standing up tall, to make a wedge. Once I had the angled piece, I used the band saw to cut the piece to rough size based on the trace of the leg I made in the first step. After that, I used double sided tape to tape the piece to the leg, and then I used a tall pattern bit and router table to trim the wedge to be an exact match to the leg.

Not everybody will have a shop that will make these cuts. I have a riser block on my band saw, so I was able to make this cut. If you don't have a tall band saw, I would use a similar method. I still draw the line on the edge, but instead of shimming and cutting, I would just plane/sand down to the line to get the correct angle.

It's a little involved, but it seemed more accurate than gluing a bunch of individual wedges together. I was able to line up the grain so that you cannot tell that the wedges are a different piece of wood than the leg. It seems this could be difficult to do using the method described in the plan.

GOOD LUCK!
 

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Yea, I wish I had a taller band saw. It's getting a little frustrating and I'm wasting a bit of wood. Thanks for the tip, I'll try a few different approaches.
 

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What would be a reasonable price to sell these for, I have a couple people wanting me to build these for them. But I haven't got the plans in mail yet to quote material/labor etc., and they are asking how much? Anyone?
 

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DaveWood - the most time consuming part is the mane. Somebody posted an alternative approach, but that link is now dead. If you can find a better way than to drill holes and plug them with yarn (the way the plan says) you will save yourself lots of time. I have seen similar horses for sale in Branson, MO for $110. I have no idea how many they were selling at that price, but I am sure they had jigs and patterns ready to go. You could not make this horse on a one-off and clear any profit after labor, if you sold for just $110 (assuming you charge a decent rate for your time and that you make the mane according to the plan).

Good luck!
 
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