Carved Santa & Table Legs

I'm waiting for the glue to dry, so here are two different projects that I have been working on. The first is a Santa I took directly from a magazine. While I'm not real keen on the overall design, there are parts of it that I like. It's not painted yet, and the lower section you'll see a area that is woodburned. In that section each square is an alternating color. Take a look, and you may see it painted someday, too.


An additional project I am working on is a carving bench. The height when I am done should be about 40", and I am going for a top that I can tilt. The first shot shows the boards that I am using for the legs and stretchers. It is all Myrtle wood, although one of the back legs will be a little punky along one edge. Next shot shows the legs laying on the floor prior to assembly, then again on the table shot dry fitted. The mortise and tenon joints don't fit all that well, but it is still early in my training.

I actually have both assemblies all glued together now. Once it dries I'll add the stretchers. The front and back legs are different sizes, but the total width are the same for each set. Everything is adjusted depending upon the size of the boards available. Makes building this more entertaining as you need to cut and adjust as you go. I cut the stretchers from the 4 ¾" board. They are 7/8" thick, but they would have made a nice book-matched pair.


Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.