This is more a topic under frugality but I need help doing some really simple woodworking. I'm making the Blacksmith/Bear wood toy that I had seen on an episode of Roy Underhill's show. I can't figure out how the pieces get pinned together. They are supposed to move back and forth as if they both swinging an axe but if I nail them I'm thinking that would prevent them from moving freely. Ive attached a picture please don't make fun of the craftsmanship. I also made a Jacob's ladder and plan to make a wood push toy. On a bigger topic anyone have ideas that a newbie can make using a coping saw and some files and chisels?

Looks like a great gift! I would use spring pins to hold them together.

Gift idea;small carved picture frames cut from one piece of wood. You probably know that you can remove the coping saw blade, thread it through a small hole drilled in the wood blank and then re-install the blade to cut out the inside shape. This method can be used to make beautiful simple picture frames without joinery which can be problematic for the beginner. After shaping, then relief carve the frame.

Finish- this will make a huge difference in the overall look. Zinser makes a cheap, premixed shellac that I like a lot. This gets thinned with alcohol to make a durable coating that can protect a toy like this while still being non-toxic. If you make a little mistake the shellac can be sanded with 400 grti and then re-coated.

Aaron Festa wrote: On a bigger topic anyone have ideas that a newbie can make using a coping saw and some files and chisels?

Intarsia is a form of woodworking which fits coped pieces to form the piece. Colors are handled with different species, but can be polished, stained and painted. The basic tools for this artform is a coping saw, some files, and chisels.

The level of detail can range from simple...


to extreme...


to OH MY!

It's akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle, in 3-D, and you get to make all the pieces.

Bill thanks I'll get spring pins. I like the coping saw idea. That never dawned on me.

Ken thank you as well. I'm very intrigued with what we have shown.

Just as an FYI; the key to intarsia is to tape the pieces of raw wood together where they will meet and then cut the package, this results in perfect joints on complex shapes.

These might have something useful...and they are the full episodes it looks like your project,Aaron, is about four minutes in, and like he says they all are similar to make....I hadn't seen these two shows before.

This is a 'dancing' doll....many folks around here have sold things like these for decades. The joints appear to be small, maybe 1/4 inch dowels with a very small hole for the peg. It has held up to much abuse by our children and grandchildren.
the lines are simple woodburning and the wood itself had no finish..... years of use have given it a nice patina.

Thanks Judith! I really like the dancing doll. I'll give it a try. Just need to make it a dancing bear... the little guy really loves bears.

Aaron Festa wrote:Thanks Judith! I really like the dancing doll. I'll give it a try. Just need to make it a dancing bear... the little guy really loves bears.

A bear would be great....the 'doll' has a dowel in back to hold it over a flexible piece of something that you sit on to hold in place....dance the doll out at the end...I'll see if I can find a video to embed for those who haven't seen one 'dancing'. They are fun and rhythmic along with other music or on their own.
I found one similar to ours...not a great video though.....

these limberjack things fascinate me.

That is fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing. I'll have to make two now. I want my own and I don't like to share...lol