Alligator Tail

Sandwich some heavy material(cloth) between two sticks, glued in place. Carve the tail to shape. Then cut slits on both sides all the way down with a bandsaw. Cut up to but not through the cloth sandwiched in the middle. This will let the tail swish back and forth.

Not my idea. I saw this done with a snake while browsing at Hobby Lobby yesterday.

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-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

I have indeed seen these before (even thought about making one before). I am not necessarily looking for the tail to move, I just want it to not be a triangular thing that just sticks straight out.

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson

Redesigned a bunch of this today, but mostly with the way I am going to build the toy box section….still up in the air regarding the tail section though…if I can’t come up with a creative way to do it well I may just have to do something simple and uncreative.

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson

Leave the tail short, tell the boy that I ate it. He’s going to figure out what’s good to eat someday anyhow.

-- Darrell, making more sawdust than I know what to do with

I ran across this… I assume the a pieces are held together with wire or string of some sort through the middle.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I had the same idea as Charlie…....maybe a triangle shape with the top point rounded over, then connect theses “slices’ to make a flexible tail. I was thinking of a slot cut from the bottom up through the middle with a piece of wide and thick leather providing the flexible joint.

-- Mike P., Arkansas, http://mikepounders.weebly.com

I have seen some made as Mike and Charlie show above…..some using leather or burlap as “hinges” between the pieces….I have seen some use a rope with knots holding the pieces of wood close together and allowing them some flex. If you do not want it to move…you could glue small pieces between large pieces into whatever shape you wanted – serpentine, straight…curved. You could make it a staved cone….coopering like a barrell….or make a skeleton out of small pine with a plywood “skin”.

There are many more ways to do this – One thing though…making it out of solid wood would be a bit heavy….unless you use some very light wood…In order to make it rock correctly, both sides of the center should weigh the same.

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

good point reggie, I really hadn’t thought about anything in terms of counterbalance. I actually think I came up with a new idea today with a guy I work with. 1x on the top in bottom in the shape I want, then a couple of blocks on the interior that get smaller to allow the tail to get narrower. Then use some bendable plywood on the sides and flush rout it. should give me the shape I want and won’t be solid wood. Then use some screws on the inside of the box body to go into the tail to hold the two sections together.

I think I have my design just about done now, but since I won’t be starting for a few more weeks (more pressing projects first) I will probably have several more design changes.

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson