Giant Wooden Head

I built a giant wooden head I'd love to share. My muse was a pile of 30 year old pressure treated wood from an old dock. From pile to head took me two weekends. A good reason to spend the day outside

Any old pile of wood should do the trick for you.

To get started you will need.

1. A large pile of old wood
2. Nails, Nails, Nails
   1. I used 3.25" and 2 3/8" nails
3. Circular Saw
4. Power Source (I wasn't near a plug, so I used a portable generator
5. Framing Hammer
6. Tape measurer

This instructable won't give you a step by step process, instead it should show you the gist of my project and help inspire you to build your own. Hopefully, the pictures and drawings show some of the problems and solutions I ran into.

Step 1: Build the Initial Frame

Based off the wood at hand, the footprint of the head would sit in a 12x12 foot square. I based this size off of the preexisting dock pieces, but any shape and size should do. Let your pile of wood talk to you and help you figure out the dimensions of the head.

Use angled pieces to connect the walls. As soon as you have two walls up, the structure begins to stand on its own. Its helpful to have a second person to help here.

Step 2: Build the Top of the Head

Next, it was time to build the top of the head frame. This was by far the most difficult part of the head.

Here, having a second pair of hands is key.

The idea is to build two three sided top beams that will be then lifted and nailed into place. At first, these will feel rickety, but as more pieces of wood are added, the roof will gain strength.

Step 3: Start to Build the Face

Now we get to play the role of a cosmetic surgeon, building the 'bone' structure of the head. As you can see above, I started with an A-Frame that would later be the nose and mouth. Then, I added cheek bones and eye sockets.

This part took quite a bit of trial and error, as I attempted to cut the raw wood to the right lengths.

Step 4: Adding the Skin

Once the bone structure has been completed, its time to add the skin. Panel by panel, the head begins to take shape. This needs to be done on all sides, including the top of the head.

Slowly the beast comes alive.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Next steps for me is to build a bench inside of the head. And, perhaps, connect the head to Amazon Alexa so I have conversations with it