Creative Woodworks & crafts 2003-06, страница 38

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o pair of scissors. Be careful not to crease the material while cutting. The fop is glued in place on the wagon body after the body has been painted. The straight line edges will fit into the notches at the top of the sides. The top will need to be gently bent into a curve. It may help to form it around the wheel stock dowel rod or some other round object.

Check the fit of the wagon body top. There should be just a little "spring" in the curved top that will hold it in the notches at the top of the sides. If the top does not have enough curvature in it, it may crease when it is put in place. You may have to trim the front or back edge a bit to make it match the top corners at the front and back of the sides. When the top fits okay, put it aside until later when the wagon is assembled.

Cutting the wheels

The wheels are cut about 1/16" thick from the end of the 5/8" wood dowel rod. Use care in selecting the dowel rod so as to be sure it is as near round as possible. Some dowel rods are poorly made. Fig. 3 shows a wheel being cut with a No. 5 blade on the scroll saw. A 3/4" thick stick of wood has been C-clamped to the saw table to make a fence so all the wheels are the same thickness.

Information Note: when scroll saw blades are manufactured, the teeth are "sheared" from the saw blade stock material and, as a result, they have a "burr" on one edge and not on the other. This makes the blade cut as if it had "set" in the teeth on one side but not on the other. As a result, in order to make the perpendicular cuts in the dowel rod, it must be fed into the blade at an angle (see Fig. 3). This angle will depend on the "burr" for the individual blade being used. For the No. 5 blade used in the setup shown in Fig. 3, this was about 15°.

Initially set up the fence at about this angle and about 1/16" from the blade. Be sure to keep the end of the dowel rod perpendicular to the fence while cutting. Make a trial cut; if the wheel gets thicker as the dowel is cut, the angle is too small. If the wheel gets thinner as the dowel is cut, the angle is too big. Adjust the fence until the sawing produces wheels that are uniform in thickness.

After adjustments have been made, it will help to cut about three-fourths of the way into the dowel and then rotate the dowel without moving it forward while finishing the cut in order to avoid tear-out at the end of the cut. Smooth and defuzz the edges of the wheels with an emery board before giving them a coat of polyurethane. If the sides of the wheels need sanding, slide them across a flat piece of sandpaper.

the 3-P items after sawing is done.

3-D items mounted on needles and Styrofoam for painting.

Fig. 3. Scroll saw set up for cutting wheels and the wheel gluing fixture.

Finish work

After each item has been cut out (see Fig. 1), there will be some fuzz on the edges where the saw blade exited the cut at the bottom of the saw stroke. This can be removed with light sanding by using a fingernail emery board or a narrow strip of fine-grit sandpaper. The sandpaper will be easier to use if it is folded over along the length of the strip so there is grit on both sides. This also makes it stiffer and easier to use. A rotary sander can also be used if one is available. A small diameter (about 1/8" or smaller) fine is best for finishing. For the oxen, use an emery board to narrow the front of the nose. Be careful with the horns and ears as they will break if not handled carefully. Round most of the details of the legs, body, neck, etc. Be very careful not to round over the middle of the flat area at the back of the body where the tail will be glued on. Slightly rounded edges and corners on animals make them appear more natural. This can also be done very easily with a rotary sander. A course stone, about 1/4" in diameter, will quickly round the corners of the body where more material s removed. Finish up with a smaller diameter fine stone. This final finishing can also be done with emery boards, strips of sandpaper, and small needle or riffler files.

After most of the rounding is done, use super glue to attach the tail in Dlace. Be sure that the flat areas to be joined match okay. Put a small drop of super glue on the flat areas that will be joined and hold the tail in place for a moment while the glue sets up. Sometimes you need to let the super lue set a short time before you hold two pieces together. Finish round-tail and body where they are

Depending on how well you you may want to smooth up floor of the wagon body with a flat file or a piece of sandpaper fold-around the edge of the wheel glu-fixture. There may be a slight where the front part of the or meets the rest of the floor

the sides. Slide the front edge of the wagon floor on a flat sheet of sandpaper to remove the remaining piece of the paper pattern that was glued to the saw block. Remove any fuzz on the edges of the wagon body. The only finishing needed for the wagon seat is to remove the fuzz on the edges.

Painting

Give the wood parts a coat of clear polyurethane spray to seal the wood grain. The parts can be held with long sewing needles poked into the bottom of each item (see Fig. 2). After spraying or painting, push the head end of the needle into a piece of Styrofoam while the item dries.

38 • Creative Woodworks E. Crafts June 2003