Introduction: MDF/Acrylic/Cardboard Deer Head Taxidermy

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About: I am a teacher of Design and Technology currently working in secondary education. I started off studying electronics and ended up working as a packaging and POS designer before diving into teaching.

My friend showed me a website selling cardboard deer heads for quite a lot of money and challenged me to make a simple mini version. So here it is. I've attached a DXF file and PDF file(thanks to Pat for the initial PDF, made my life alot easier) so if you have access to a laser cutter this instructable will be a piece of cake. Other wise you will need to get busy with a coping saw or scroll saw. As you can see the MDF I used wasn't a great choice for laser cutting as it wasn't manufactured using water based resin making it a bit smokey when cutting and it left a lot of residue on the surface (more than usual).

Please note the DXF file was drawn in metric units so when importing in make sure you select that option or else you will need to rescale the design later.

Step 1: Get Cutting


Depending on your cutting method select the correct file for your needs and get cutting. Remember to simply paste on the template/laser cut the head as the design is if you are using 4mm material. You will need to make adjustments if the material thickness you wish to use does not match this. If you do the math correctly you could just simply scale the whole design up or down to suit your material or just tweak the slots width in CAD (for laser cutting) or with a pencil if you use the template method.

When cutting things like this by hand I like to leave the slot cutting until  last as I feel it gives a better finish and is a little easier. Doing it this way also means you could use a different saw for the slots (one designed for cutting straighter lines such as a band saw).

Step 2: Assemble Your Head

Hopefully this should be pretty straight forward.

Start by gluing the back of the deer to its mount.

Then using a small amount of glue slot the head profiles into place. Have a piece of glass paper handy when assembling in case you need to fine tune any of the slots to fit.

Identify the largest body piece and starting from the back work your way to the front of the deer head inserting each piece (you will notice each piece is smaller than the last). You may wish to apply some glue to these but if they fit snug its not all that important.

Finally add a small amount of glue to the antlers and slot them into place.


Step 3: Hanging Your Head


The hole at the back should simply hook over a screw or nail.

Even though I like my deer head untreated I have seen some of the cardboard ones painted and they do look pretty good so ill leave that one up to you if you decide to make one :)