Climbing Lizards

Darren Wright

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Springfield, Missouri
I finally got around to cutting out some more climbing lizards that I made for the 2011 toy swap.
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There are some completed pics on this post: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?23979-2011-Toy-Swap&p=295047#post295047

If anyone wants the plans, I got them from one of the magazines on google books here... http://books.google.com/books?id=h_sDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=true

Better yet, here is the scaled version I use to print out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper: http://www.buzzkc.com/docs/lizard.pdf
 
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Finally got back to the lizard project this weekend. First step after cutting each out on the bandsaw was smoothing out the saw marks using the oscillating sander and a rasp. Second was rounding over both sides of the lizard. I just raised a 1/4" round over about half way to just get rid of any tearout on the birch plywood faces.
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Next I used the rasp to round over the corners where the router bit couldn't reach.
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Lastly I primed both sides of the lizard to seal the grain. Will sand these down before painting to get rid of any standing grain.
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Here's the process I used for doing the final paint on this set.

Solid color, green of course, but ran out of the JD green I used on Bob's.
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I took one of the patterns and cut out the stripe out using an exacto knife, then used it as a mask for spraying the stripe on. You may want to wait a bit before spraying the next one, otherwise the paint on the edges may get on the wrong spot, had to do a little clean-up on the next two.
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Finally I just paint the eyes using a brush or black nail polish. I only do the details on one side, the back is just green.
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The top bar and ball ends just get a couple coats of lin-speed, which is a linseed oil/shelac mix that I use for gun grips.
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Tip: I used 1/8" nylon cord. Melt the cut ends of the nylon cord with a lighter/match a bit to keep them from fraying. I need to cut the top knots and redo them. I did the ones on the ball ends, but got in a hurry putting together the top half, they looked fine until I pulled hard on the knots to tighten them.

Oh, used a 11/64" bit for the holes, but your cord may vary in size.
 
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WELL heck, I use to have a copy of that American Woodworker. A friend used to pick up all the wood working magazines from his local library when they gave them away because they were outdated. That was one in a stack he grabbed for me. I have since passed it on to Goodwill.
 
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