Motorcycle Rocker of Granddaughter's 2nd Birthday

Motorcycle Rocking Horse
You may have seen this project on my Connie's blog if you follow her.
Crafty home cottage @blogspot.com

 This is what I built my 1st granddaughter 
when she turned 2 years old. 

Following are photos that will take you from plans 
to finished project.

As you may guess,  this project took a lot of time and patience.

I made a base for my router that extended out about a foot to one side.  This way to cut the wheels I was able to screw the router base directly to the wood, turning the router itself into a compass.  You can't get an any more perfect circle than that.

To cut out the spokes I had to drill starter holes then insert the scroll saw blade through each hole, cut it, then unclasp the blade, moving to the next hole.  A little tedious but it was a labor of love.

This project was complicated enough that I had to break it down into many work sessions.

The rockers.

The biggest challenge was getting everything to fit together correctly.

The seat and gas tank are several pieces of wood glued up and then cut to shape.

In the original plans, the handle bars are supported only by the center post.  Not strong enough for these energetic girls, not to mention their play date friends.  So I decided to run the fork tubes clear up to the handle bars.

Notice anyone having fun here?

It was well worth the effort to build something that will be a family heirloom.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Big Green Egg Table

Speaking of woodworking and good eats, my Big Green Egg is one of the best grill/smokers available.  Many BBQ competition winners
 have won using this incredible ceramic machine. 

Visit their website here, and really,  you should buy one of these.
They are an amazing cooking machine.


 http://www.biggreenegg.com/

 They sell tables for the Egg, but I love woodworking so I wanted to build my own.
I built the basic frame out of treated lumber and then had my sweet Connie help me lift it over the Egg before finishing construction. 

Everything is on castors so it's a piece of cake to roll it around
 wherever you want to put it.

 
Here is the table top after I used my router to cut the hole in it and then split it in half so it would fit over the Egg's hinge hardware.
The top is very simple to build.  Just 1/2 inch plywood with a border of 1X2 pine glued and nailed on.

 
Here is the other half.
If you would like to see what Connie did with the round piece that I cut out see her blog here.
http://crafty-home-cottage.blogspot.com/

 I stained it with Minwax Puritan Pine #218. 
After that I hammered it with 6 coats of tung oil.

 
I have had these horseshoes for quite awhile now and have been wondering about how to incorporate them into my Cowboy/Mexican Restaurant themed outdoor kitchen. 

I think they look absolutely great on my Big Green Egg table.

Like I have said before, our motto around here is "We aint buildin no piano".
But I think you'll have to admit that this table looks pretty dang good

 Looks to me like a good combination of 
"Woodworkin and good eats"
Don't you think?
Come by again soon to see what I cook on the Big Green Egg!
I love it when you visit and then I get to visit your blogs.