Figurines

I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm just feeling artsy and need to switch it up a little. Don't get me wrong .. I love making jigs/fixtures, marking gauges, organizational shop storage, drums, and over complicated beer drinking devices, but a guy needs a break now and again.

If you had told the younger me that I'd be making wooden figurines in my basement workshop, I would've told you to shut up and get me another beer. That being said ... here we are ... little wooden humanoids.

Step 1: Fabricating the Parts

The base is a 5" x 5" piece of plywood. The body is cut from a scrap piece of cedar. The head is a wooden ball from Michael's. The 1/8" metal rod is for the post, neck, and arms. The wooden dowel is for a "heart."

I wanted the body on this figurine to be tapered to imply a feminine form, so I used my tapering jig on the table saw. A centered hole was drilled in the top and bottom of the body, as well as a hole in two parallel sides, to accept the metal rod. To drill a centered and straight hole in the ball, I used my sphere drilling jig on the drill press.

All parts were then sanded to 220 grit.

Step 2: Finishing

I finished the body and head with boiled linseed oil, the base with black spray paint, and the "heart" with red spray paint.

Step 3: Assembly

The "heart" is "mended," so it was cut in half on the bandsaw and holes were drilled on the drill press. To give it to look of being stitched together, I dissected a Cat 5 cable to scavenge the black wire, cut short sections and superglued them into the holes.

Lengths of the 1/8" metal rod were cut for a leg post, neck, and arms. The arms were bent into my desired shape using two pairs of pliers.

The metal rod was glued into the wooden components using epoxy and once cured, the figurine was finished off with a few coats of spray lacquer.

Step 4: Glamour Shots

Ahhh ... glamour shots .. you know I love them.

As you can see, this is a pretty simple project, which lends itself to variation and interpretation very well. My first figurine was a simple rectangle body to imply as masculine form, had no arms, and I used a defect in the wood as the main feature.

I also title my figurines because ... well ... why the heck not. These two are respectively titled "She Guards Her Mended Heart" and "He Mourns His Broken Heart."