Making Wooden Dinosaur Toys and Puzzles E-Book

Judy Peterson

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 37

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Kids love dinosaurs! These primeval reptiles inspire children's imaginations with scary fun and some of their earliest connections to science. Create exciting wooden dinosaur puzzles and toys to delight a special child in your life with this ingenious book. Thirty-eight original scroll saw patterns cover all of the most popular species, from Velociraptor and Stegosaurus to Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Two spectacular puzzle dioramas feature a Maiasaur mama with her babies, and a T-Rex on the attack. Patterns are also provided for easy-to-cut wooden toys that are safe for little kids who can't play with small objects. Award-winning scroll saw artists Judy and Dave Peterson offer step-by-step instructions plus basic information on safety, cutting, sanding, finishing, and equipment. Once you get started making these clever dinosaur puzzles, you won't be able to stop. 

Leseprobe

INTRODUCTION

WHY DINOS?

I discovered at age 50 that I liked dinosaurs again. I had already designed quite a few puzzles and decided to try my hand at dinosaurs. While this book contains 63 patterns, there are only 27 different dinosaur species represented. That’s because I do more than one version of the better-known dinos. For example, there are five Tyrannosaurus Rex patterns (the Toy Rex, the easy Baby Rex, the intermediate 6-piece version, the advanced 10-piece version, plus the one that appears in a puzzle titled “In the Cretaceous,” the largest puzzle in the book).

How complicated should a puzzle be for a preschooler? This question is important to someone who makes puzzles for a living. It’s important to someone who’s making a puzzle for a child, too. The rule of thumb I use is “age plus one piece.” This varies with the child. The more dexterous the child, and/or the more experience the child has with puzzles, the more complicated the puzzle can be.

However, if you’d like to create a piece that won’t cause parents any anxiety, you can also cut out a “toy” version of the puzzle. The toy is almost exactly the same as the puzzle, it just doesn’t break into pieces.

Many of the dinosaurs in this book are not well known. That’s why we’ve included a little information about each one on the patterns. This is intended to level the playing field for those of you who are making one or more of these puzzles for a child. Chances are good the child will already know about most of them.

WHY PUZZLES?

I like puzzles! These days when I’m not making my own puzzles, I’m likely to be doing someone else’s. In 1989 my family and I made our annual trek to a nearby Renaissance Faire. As a souvenir I bought a five-piece rabbit puzzle. While it was attractive, it was not interlocking, so you really couldn’t handle it.

The first thing I cut out when I brought home my first scroll saw—a wonderful new toy—was a three-piece rabbit. When I began designing my own puzzles, I decided all of them would be interlocking.

The puzzles in this book reflect that decision I made in 1990: all of these puzzles are interlocking. That means that once you have them in a standing position you can pick them up by any piece and turn them completely around without having them fall apart (but use caution with the Maiasaura). You can, that is, as long as you don’t tip them!

WHY HARDWOODS?

When I was starting with my scroll saw, I tried cutting many different types of wood. I found I got much less “chip-out” using hardwoods. Hardwoods seem to be more uniformly dense. Another natural advantage of hardwoods is that they come in different colors, and so they don’t need to be painted. Moreover, hardwoods look good with an oil finish.

When the idea of trying to sell my puzzles occurred to me, I tried painting them, but that took forever. Besides, I’m really not good at painting. I’m much better with a saw. This is the reason I cut the eyes, the mouth, and other details.

I have also found hardwoods to be very durable. Puzzles and toys cut from hardwoods will stand up to a lot of use, which is important whether you are cutting a puzzle or toy for a young child or an “old” child.

All of the puzzles in this book are interlocking. The puzzle pieces stay together when you pick up an assembled puzzle.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting Started

Cutting a Triceratops Puzzle

Pattern

Step-by-Step

Puzzles

Easy Puzzles

Baby T-Rex

Baby Bronto

Baby Stego

Plesiosaur

Mussaurus

Intermediate Puzzles

Stegosaur

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Brontosaur

Advanced Puzzles

Allosaur

Ankylosaur

Anzu Wyliei

Barosaur

Brachiosaur

Corythosaur

Cryolophosaur

Elasmosaur

Ichthyosaur

Iguanodon

Lambeosaur

Microceratus

Monoclonius

Parasaurolophus

Protoceratops

Quetzalcoatlus

Scelidosaur

Spinosaurus

Stegosaur

Therizinosaurus

Triceratops

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Velociraptor

Dioramas

Maiasaur

In the Cretaceous

Cutting a Tyrannosaurus Rex Toy

Step-by-Step

Pattern

Toys

Baby Rex

Baby Bronto

Baby Stego

Plesiosaur

Mussaurus

Brontosaur

Stegosaur

Allosaur

Ankylosaur

Anzu Wyliei

Barosaur

Brachiosaur

Corythosaur

Cryolophosaur

Elasmosaur

Ichthyosaur

Iguanodon

Lambeosaur

Microceratus

Monoclonius

Parasaurolophus

Protoceratops

Quetzalcoatlus

Scelidosaur

Spinosaurus

Therizinosaurus

Triceratops

Velociraptor

Index

GETTING STARTED

SAFETY FIRST