How to Carve a Carousel Horse
Carousel horses have long been popular, both in life-size models found in carnival rides and in miniature form found in the collections of carousel horse lovers around the world. Carousel horses come in all sizes and shapes, carved with intricate designs and painted in bright colors to emphasize the beauty of those designs. There are woodworkers who have devoted themselves to the creation of these works of art, both for pleasure and profit. You will learn how you can carve carousel horses to give as gifts, sell for profit or keep in your family to hand down from one generation to the next.
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Things You'll Need
- Wood of choice
- Power chisel
- Carving knife
- Hammer
- Chisel
- Power etching tool (such as a Dremel with etching attachment)
- Clear coat sealer
- Power sander
- Varnish
- Acrylic paint
- Brushes
Instructions
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1
Decide what scale you'll be using to make your carousel horse. Will it be life-size or half-size? Is it going to be a 1/24 scale for display in a cabinet? The principle behind making them is the same regardless of size. The difference will be the amount of wood you need.
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Purchase the wood you want to use for your project. Depending upon your budget, you might want to go with more expensive mahogany or cherry. Oak is a good quality wood but is a cheaper substitute. All are hard woods and ideal for a carousel horse.
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3
Allow yourself a good amount of work space, especially if you are creating a life-size horse. Start with a power chisel (for a large horse) or a carving knife (for smaller horses) and cut away enough wood to get the rough shape of your horse. Don't worry about details right now. If you're working on a smaller carving, try using the Dremel power carver with a small carving attachment for the whole project.
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Sand your horse and round out the edges. You can do this with a power sander or by hand, using 80 grit or less sandpaper. Get the wood as smooth as you can before you continue.
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Use a Dremel power tool equipped with an etching tool to carve designs on your carousel horse. Carve the reins, the saddle, the bridle and any other designs you like, either from a reference photo or something of your own. You might even use a wood burning pen to add artistic decorations to your carving.
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Sand the entire carving once again, then paint your decorations with acrylic paint. Use bright colors---blue, yellow, gold, red. Allow the paint to dry, and coat the horse with clear gloss wood sealant.
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References
- Photo Credit http://www.morguefile.com/
