SWINGING HORSE

 

Designed and built by Fred Sneath of Stony Lake, Ontario, the swinging horse shown at left can be set up indoors or out. The two ropes at the front and the one at the back have rings at the end and can clip onto hooks screwed into ceiling joists. SneatWs version features interchangeable heads.

 

ANATOMY OF A SWINGING HORSE

 

3 /.-inch diameter, ‘/-inch thick

 

SIDE VIEW

 

Footrest

/-inch dowel stock; 12 inches long

 

Head

Horse head can be made as for a stand-mounted rocking horse (page 67); a through mortise is then cut across the bottom end (page £4)

 

Tenon

Sized to accommo date a mortise in the animal’s head

 

beat

2" x 10" x 11 A”

 

Hole for seat locking pin

 

Handle/suspension rail

-A-inch dowel stock, 30 inches long, with a turned knob at each end

 

Horizontal frame piect

1A"x3/"x

 

Seat bracket

sA"x 1 sA"x 9"

 

Vertical frame pieces

Two 36-inch-long 2-by – 4s locked together with through dowels; the pieces sandwich the head support at the top and the hori­zontal frame piece at the middle

 

Supporting rope

Features a metal clip at the top end that attaches to an eye hook thread­ed into a joist

 

Seat locking pin

Metal pin secures seat brack­et to horizontal frame piece; corks pressed onto ends serve as a protective cover

 

image157image158image159

PREPARING THE STOCK

image160

image161"Подпись: 2 Smoothing the stock smooth Once you have cut all the parts of the horse to size, smooth the edges of the stock with sandpaper or on a spindle sander. Be sure to preserve the rounded end of pieces like the head support (above). 1 Cutting the parts to size

Refer to the anatomy illustrations of the horse on page 78 to size the parts. Make the head from a 2-by-12 as you would for a stand-mounted horse, then cut a through mortise through the bottom end (page 84). Curve the bottom ends of the head support and one end of the frame pieces on your band saw. For the seat, you can use a bicycle seat as a template. To make the spacer disks, use a compass to outline the 314-inch circles on your blank and cut them out on the band saw (above).

image162image163Preparing the frame pieces for assembly

Mark holes for the dowels that will join the frame pieces together. On the vertical pieces, mark a hole about 114 inch from the top, and four more at 8-inch intervals. You will also need to drill a hole about 1/г inch below the top one for the handle. On the horizontal piece, mark the hole 1V* inch from the front end. Clamp a backup board to your drill press table and set the vertical pieces on top, aligning the edges and ends of the boards. Install a spade bit the same diameter as your dowel stock, then drill the top and bottom holes first so you can use the handle and footrest to keep the boards aligned as you bore the remaining holes (left). To avoid tearout, drill the holes from both sides of the stock. Next, bore the holes in the horizontal piece and the head support, making sure the holes in the support piece and the vertical pieces line up. Use a smaller bit to drill the holes in the horizontal piece for the seat locking pins; refer to the anatomy illustration for the location of these holes. Finally, drill a hole through the edge of the hor­izontal piece near the back end for the supporting rope.

MOUNTING THE HEAD

Подпись: Spacerimage1641 Joining the head to the head support

Cut a tenon at the top of the head support to fit the through mortise in the bottom of the head. Then spread glue on the contacting surfaces of the pieces, fit the tenon into the mortise, and use a handscrew to hold the joint together on a flat work surface (left).

ASSEMBLING THE HORSE

 

Metal washer

 

Horizontal frame piece

 

image165

image166image1671 Assembling the frame pieces

Before assembling the horse, cut the ‘/a-inch hardboard washers for the joints between the two vertical pieces. Then set one of the vertical pieces on a work surfaces and insert the handle and dowels in their respective holes. Slip a washer around each dowel, then install the head support, the horizon­tal frame piece, and the circular spacer disks. Add another set of washers and slip the second vertical piece in place (above). Use metal washers for the joint between the vertical and horizontal frame pieces, since this connection must stand up to considerable friction. Once all the pieces are in place, drive a finishing nail through each dowel and into the vertical frame pieces to secure the framework.

Installing the seat

Once you have cut the seat and seat brackets to size, drill clearance holes through the brackets for attaching them to both the seat and the horizontal frame piece. Screw the brack­ets to the underside of the seat (left), then use the locking pin to secure the seat to the framework. To cover the sharp ends of the pin, glue a wooden pad to one end and push a cork onto the other end once the seat in in place.

Updated: March 10, 2016 — 9:02 pm