I recently took a break from sharpening the new Narex chisels to take part in the rocking horse build for Woodworkers Fighting Cancer, the benefit for LIVESTRONG started by Marc Spagnuolo, The Wood Whisperer, with support from various corporate sponsors.

The original pine panel I bought turned out to be less than ideal. When I unwrapped it from the plastic, I found the laminates were starting to come apart. I returned it and glued up my own panel out of two pine boards, which I actually thought came out looking more natural. The rest went pretty smoothly, and I pretty much followed the same process Marc did for his rocking horse. I did use blue tape that I applied to the wood, then applied the spray adhesive to this before laying down the paper plans, which made for easy removal after the fact. I cut out the parts with a jigsaw, shape them by sanding and using files. I then sealed all the parts with a coat of shellac. I then used General Finishes Antique Walnut gel stain on those parts that needed them (saddle, mane, handles, ears, and footrests). This was followed with another few coats of shellac, light sanding in between. Then, final assembly.

This project was fun, and approachable for someone fairly new to woodworking, like myself. If you’re interested in building along, or if you can’t, but still want to support LIVESTRONG, head on over to Woodworkers Fighting Cancer!