CHUCK RICHARDS's Page

Hello Chuck, I make a lot of these for relatives and I sell some. I start with the corners. I  choose contrasting woods. I use thick wood for the 3"x3" corner, about 1/4" thicker than the sides. I then rout one back corner on each block 1/2"x1/2"x3/8" deep. I then drill a 2" hole about 3/16" deep in the center of the block. then glue a 2" contrasting wood plug in the center. If you do not have a plug cutter that large you can turn them on the lathe. Then Lay out the head with  1/2" plugs for the ears and 3/4" plus for the face. The 1/2" plugs need to be about 7/16" from the edge, 1/4" apart. Then insert the 3/4" face just slightly overlapping the edge of the ears. You have to sand the ears smooth before drilling the face. On the runners between the corners I inlay 1/4" x1/4" contrasting stripes. You can dowel the pieces together or use the Kreg jig. The Kreg is easier but you have to shim the runners up flush with the corners to screw together. It is pretty time consuming getting the layouts right, so I make jigs for each step to make it easier. Any other questions I'll be glad to answer

Bob

oldesawmillcustoms.com shows more samples of what I do