Noah's Ark from Toymaker Press

[DigBaddy]

So..being new to scroll sawing and...being me, I set my sights on doing a Noah's Ark playset for my niece for Christmas. I ordered the plans for the Noah's Animal Cracker Ark from Toymakerpress.com

After receiving the plans in the mail, you'd think I would just start cutting all the pieces from the same type of wood, you know..."keep it simple stupid"....pfft....not me. I had to get all grandiose and fancy.

Instead, I decided to cut certain animals from certain types of wood. I went through the plans and decided on using aspen for the white(ish) animals (doves, goats, etc), yellowheart for the lions, and camels, red cedar for the pigs and fox, blue pine for the elephants and rhinos, basswood for the dogs, Noah and his wife, walnut for the bears and deer..etc.....

I guess I didn't plan on some woods being EXTREMELY hard and difficult to cut (I'm looking at you yellowheart!)

Anyways...I am still having a lot of fun cutting. Below are two pics of the progress I have made so far. The first pic is about 2 hours of work and the second pic is from about 45 spent last night. Still have to sand and do a little shaping. As always comments and suggestions are always welcome!

[Dragon]

Very nice. I have looked at that pattern before but have not decided to order it yet. Maybe eventually. Nice cutting.
Diane

[areynoldsre]

Great work. Looks like a fun project.

[jellis]

You are doing a great job.
jellis

[DigBaddy]

Yesterday was not a good day at work. So naturally I had a GREAT day scrolling! Got in about two hours of scrolling in and finished cutting the animals for the Noah's Ark I am working on. I also tried my hand at stack cutting a Christmas ornament. Not sure what kind of wood it is, but it was like trying to cut concrete with a scroll blade!

[sdguy]

Nice work! Using different woods for the animals is the right way to do it.

I like that ornament, too. A few years ago I substituted the name of my street for NOEL and gave them out to my neighbors, who loved them.

[DigBaddy]

Finished cutting all the pieces for this project! Below are some pictures of some progress I actually made!

The first pic is of half the ark. The sides are just dry fit for now with the keel and base the only things glued for now.

The second pic is a frontal shot of the ark..again, nothing glued, only dry fit.

The third pic is of Noah and his wife with their arms glued in place. These pieces are complete as far as sanding and assembly goes.

[DigBaddy]

Last weekend I finished assembling and gluing the ark!! Over the past two days, I spent 7 hours hand sanding the animals and the ark from 80grit to 320grit (I can't wait till I can afford a spindle sander). Tonight I applied the first coat of spray poly on the deck. I decided to forgo the oil and will just spray a clear finish directly on the wood. I didn't want to risk changing the color of the wood by applying oil.

Here are the pics of the ark. The hatch is removable as is the whole deck so you can store the animals and Noah inside.

[Dragon]

looks very nice.
Diane

[martzy]

Looking good. Keep it up.