[GardenGnome]

Hello.

I have had a few requests for carving plans for my garden gnome. At long last here they are.

Alphonse the Gnome is 14 inches tall from the table top to the tip of his hat. The plan will have to be resided for the wood you have to work with. I used an old cedar 4" x 4" fence post to carve his head and body. The arms and legs are carved from a 2" x 4" pine board I fished out of the scrap wood box.

Draw out the outline and cut out on the band saw.

His arms and legs are held on with 2" drywall screws. There is a pilot hole drilled 1/8" and then a pocket is formed for the screw head with a 3/8" bit. Once the arms and legs are screwed on the holes are filled with plastic wood and sanded smooth.

Have yourself some fun with the wheelbarrow and make one to your own taste. Gnomes like variety, you see. Drill 3/8" holes in the hands for the wheelbarrow handles before you carve them.

The Plan.



You can find the full size plans for download here.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nomepatern.jpg

For photos of me carving the gnome, take a look at my album.

New Gnome for the Garden album | TrainClown | Fotki.com

Have a go and carve your own garden gnome.

Christopher

[tucker1931]

Christopher, many thanks, I will try it when I get a little more experienced.
Cliff

[dmatias]

Christopher;
Not to be too greedy but do you have a plan for the wheelbarrow as well? I definitely want to carve a couple for my garden.
Thanks
Deborah

[rayhobby]

Thank you for the plans ....... if my copy looks half as good as yours, everyone here will be happy.

[Just Carving]

Thanks for the pattern Christopher. Hopefully I'll get rid of some of the scrap 2x4's and 4x4's I have.

Bob L

[Thomp]

Christopher, thanks for the extra work in setting up the pattern and shairing it,

i printed it out several different sizes the biggest 1/2 body size per sheet 8x11" and now off to the scrap bin// hope to get one made from stacked 2x10 scrap

the final gnome should be 24"+ tall if my plan works

[GardenGnome]

You are all most welcome for the plan.

I'm real glad this plan is generating so much interest. I hope you all will post a photo of the gnomes you make here in this thread as well as your own thread so we can have all versions together in one thread.

Thom, I'm intrigued by your large rendition. I hope your going to post progress photos so I can see how it's coming along.

Originally Posted by dmatias

Christopher;
Not to be too greedy but do you have a plan for the wheelbarrow as well? I definitely want to carve a couple for my garden.
Thanks
Deborah

Deborah, It's very hard to post a plan for the wheelbarrow that will work. The problem is that the barrow needs to be made to fit the carving in order for it to look right. To try and make the gnome fit the wheelbarrow would be a hard job with bad results. I'll tell you how to make the wheelbarrow for your gnome so no matter what size he turns out to be, his wheelbarrow will fit him perfectly. He needs a wheelbarrow or something in his hand, like a hoe, in order so he will stand up. He will not stand on his own as he on has two points he balances on and he needs a third to create a tripod.

I must go up the street right now, so I will post a description of how to make the wheelbarrow later on.

Christopher

[Thomp]

Christopher,

using the free intraview v4.00 program to view your (saved) multi image pattern
i used the cursor like as to crop the top half of the front view of the body i drawed a (rubber band box) from the top of his head down below the collar, then cropped, (edit/crop image) then selected print, adjusting the scale to full sheet height, it printed just that segment full sheet tall,, when done printing, returning to main screen, there is a bent arrow or (revert) icon on the icon bar which returns the multi pattern photo to the main screen i just continued cropping with all parts until all was done,,

im stoked on this project, but am in the process of putting a porch on the shop, my willy nelly steps are falling down so i got to do something to them today...

ill post some photos as i go through the bigger version

[GardenGnome]

Sounds good, Thomp. The only reservation I have about your process is that the arms and legs stay in scale with the body. So if you look to the bottom of the screen when you have re-sized your image with interview, you will see a box that has the size of how much of a percent you have enlarged the image by. For an example it might say 350% when you enlarge the body portion. When you crop the arms and legs, you should enlarge them to 350% as well in order to keep them at the same scale as the body. Otherwise you run the risk of having the appendiges too large or too small and you will wind up with some tinkering when it comes time for assembly or have a gangly gnome.

Also, once you have the image re-sized and printed, before you hit the "Go Back" button, select "File" then pick "Save As" and save the image to a new folder marked "Gnome Plans". Now you can hit the "Go Back" button and proceed. Save each alteration in this way. Later if you want to make another or need to remake a part that you destroyed by accident, then you will already have a copy ready to print.

If your program wont let you "Go Back" after you "Save As" ( some do, some don't), then make a duplicate of the image that will open in a new window and then go back to your original image and proceed, making a duplicate of each of the parts you rework, then save each image to your "Gnome Plans" file.

You might already know that, but others may not, so I thought I would point it out.

There is another way to re-size the any plan and that is to "Tile" it. You would do this through the printer screen. Go to print the page as a full page, but when you are in the printer screen you should see an "options" button. Press on that and it will take you to your options screen. On that screen should be a button to choose how you want to print it. There should be a button that says "Print Tiled Image" or one that reads "Format Printer" Press on that and a list will drop down. On that list should be the option to "Tile". I use Corel Draw and I get the "Tile" option.

Click on that and it will change the parameters to show a couple of boxes, one will be "Percentage" and Height. Should be you choose the height and it automatically sets the width, and one will be your choice of standard inches or metric etc.
So if you knew you wanted it to be 400% larger then enter 400 in the percentage box.
If you want the plan to be 36" tall, then enter that in the height box.

The preview image should change to show you how your image will be printed and how many pieces of paper it will take. You can also adjust the amount of overlap, but that is not important for plans and comes into play when enlarging photographs.

Once printed you will need to trim off the bottom and the one side depending on how you put them together. Assemble them with Magic Tape or tape them together on the back with masking tape. Sometimes I stick them down to card stock with paste or spray glue when I know I will be using it a lot.

Explanation for the wheelbarrow will follow this evening.

Christopher

[GardenGnome]

Hello there fellow gnome carvers.

I am not including a plan for the wheelbarrow and there is a reason for this. It would be impossible for me to make one plan that would fit your hand carved gnome. The reason is that your carving is unique in size and configuration so trying to fit a premade wheelbarrow to you're gnome's hands would be an exercise in frustration.

Instead I am going to tell you how to make just the right wheelbarrow for your gnome so it will fit and look right for him.

Actually this is even easier than following a plan as it leaves lots of room for your own interpretation of what your gnomes wheelbarrow will look like. And lets face it, you probably have memories of a favorite one-wheeled conveyance that would be fun to build a model of for your gnome to push around the yard. My gnomes wheelbarrow is designed from something I saw so long ago I can't rightly say, but I just like the design.

First thing you need is a wheel. You might be lucky enough to find a spoke wheel the right size or you could cut one out of wood and carve it like I did. You will also need an axle. A nut & bolt or a nail will work. The wheel does not need to turn so this gives you a lot of latitude.

Now look at this guide I drew up to help explain the finer details involved.



The Frame Rails are the next parts to make. There are two needed and they can be made from almost anything you have on hand. Mine were cut from a piece of 2" x 4". I drew the side view on the 4" side of the board and then cut it out on the band saw then I turned that on it's back and cut it in half to get the two rails.
I drew the frame rail supports into the design. I liked the "hewn from one block of wood" look of it, but you can choose to make the rail supports in any fashion you like. (I included three ideas)
The handles of the rails need to be fit into the holes drilled in your gnomes hands and this is why it is better to "build to suit" rather than "build and then fit." The end of the rails needs to be carved off in a manner you will notice on the guide. Basically, the outside tips are carved away so the ends slide into the holes in the hands.
The wheel end of the frame rails needs to be carved to approximately a 76 degree angle. You need to carve this shape and then assemble the rails in the hands and place the wheel between the ends so that you can refine the angle so that the rail lays flat against the wheel, just as you see the rails, gnome hands and wheel are doing in the guide.
Once you are happy with the fit then hold the two rails in a vice with the flat angles together and drill a hole for the axle. You should already have a hole in the wheel. Once drilled, place the axle through the three pieces and bolt it together and test the fit of the rail handles in the gnomes hands. If you need to tweak the fit, this is not unusual. Loosen the bolt, put rails in hands and note where stock removal should take place.

Once you have the rails bolted to the wheel and fitting the gnomes hands, Prop it up together like that and measure the cross ties. Place the piece of wood you will use for the large cross tie under the rails and draw lines on each end to get the angle and distance exactly right. Mark the rails where the cross ties go when you fit the newly cut cross tie, remove rails from gnome's hands and glue/nail/screw/dowel (your choice) the cross tie between the rails as marked. (best to pre-drill pilot holes for nails and screws so you don't split anything) Test fit in gnome's hands and repeat with the small cross tie.

Now you have the frame for your wheelbarrow. Now you need to build the body. Once again this is open to interpretation and variety is the joy of individuality. I'll tell you how I built mine.
Place the wheelbarrow frame on some thin plywood and trace out the outside outline. Cut out the floor and attach it to the frame rails.
Measure the side of the floor and map that out on a piece of paper and draw body side outline, much like the one in the guide. Cut out pattern and trace on thin wood, cut out & sand. You need two.
Make the front of the body pattern keeping in mind that the sides of the front need to be exactly the same length as the front side edge of the body's side. The bottom of the front piece needs to be the same width as the front edge of the floor. Trace on wood, cut out & sand.

Assemble the body parts to the floor with masking tape and glue, ( masking tape to hold it together while the glue drys) or assemble it the best way you know how. You can get quite intricate with this step by carving mitered edges where the sides meet and the body meets the floor.
Remember, there is no wheelbarrow the wrong size. Large ones are for light loads and small ones are for heavy loads. So don't fret too much over the size.
If you are going to stain the wood it is best to stain it before assembly because once it is assembled the wood will not accept stain if there is even a small amount of glue showing.



Once assembled, add the details as you like. I added stays to the sides to make it look as if it could hold heavier loads, and small nails for effect. The nails could just be for decoration or they could help hold it together.
Paint and weather it using your favorite method.



On my gnome I have never fastened the wheelbarrow to the gnome's hands. I prefer to leave this joint loose as I find him easier to position depending on what he is placed on.



I hope you build a wheelbarrow like one you remember and make your wheelbarrow unique. If you can't think of one, you are more than welcome to copy my design.

Splendid cobbling.

Christopher