Fastening Caricatures to a Base

[Claude]

Ok - I looked around a while to see if I could find some info in the archives, but nothing seemed what I was looking for.

Lynn: How do you fasten a caricature to the base? Do you make it so it's permanently fastened, or so it can be removed?

How do the rest of you do it? Permanently fasten? Epoxy? Glue? etc.

I've used dowels glued into the base, and a hole in the foot of the caricature for easily removable mountings, and I've use a wood screw all the way from the bottom of the base into the foot of the caricature for the rest - I've never permanently mounted one so far.

Ulterior motive: I'm creating a scene for a carving for my son, and since I'm going to have to ship it clear across the country, it might arrive in better shape as "some assembly required..."

Claude

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Claude. I use 1/8" dowels as a general rule. Larger pieces will take a larger dowel. I like dowels because Basswood, being soft, just doesn't hold screws like hardwoods do. I normally put 2 dowels in each foot to anchor a figure. If I ever need to remove the figure from the base it's an easy matter to just turn the base over and drill out the dowel.

If you drill the holes in the figure first there is generally enough sawdust left in the hole that you can carefully position the figure and then give it a couple of firm taps on the top then carefully raise the figure to reveal little piles of sawdust that indicate perfectly where to drill the corresponding holes. Hold you breath when doing this as any air movement will quickly remove the little piles of sawdust. I grab a pencil and circle them before exhaling.

[Tom-H]

Dang Lynn! about every one of your postings contain a worthwhile tip. Thanks! Tom H

[Ashbys]

Lynn ,
would be a good tutorial to post or a tip.

Oh and nice Indian .

Garry

[Ron Davidson]

Darn Lynn hope you don't loose your pencil while doing this. Great tip!
Ron

[Blake Lunsford]

I'm getting ready to do this on a horse jockey that I am working on for the Johnson City show. I'm going to try a 3/16 dowel hoping that it is strong enough. I saw Lynn's method on his blog and thought I would give it a shot. I'm hoping that the 3/16 will be strong enough if I put two in each foot.

Lynn, Did you glue the dowels in place?

Blake

[Bartster]

claude,

i have used the dowels and they work well but mostly now i use a countersink and a woodscrew into the foot and up the leg.


bart

[Anthony Filetti]

Claude,
I use dowels and elmers wood glue. I just size the dowel appropriately for each piece. Also someone on this board gave me a great tip about dowel centers that can be purchased from Woodcraft, great for getting the positioning of the carving and holes right where ya want 'em!!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Just glue them in and believe me, those dowels are a lot stronger than you might think. I use two per foot to keep the figure from 'rocking' once it's glued down. The dowel in the heel is the main one while the smaller dowel in the front of the foot is just meant to stop the rocking. In all my years of using this method I have never had one come loose.

[Claude]

Thanks, all, for the info. I've used counter-sunk wood screws through the base bottom on some of my Santas in the past, but I think I'll try the dowels. Should be interesting on the carving for my son. The carpenter/contractor is standing on some sub-flooring with the floor joists betweent he sub-flooring and the walnut base. Since the joists are 1/4 inch diameter, I should be able to drill for a 1/8 inch dowel, but I'll only be able to do one per foot. Maybe I can drill part way through the 1/8 inch thick sub-floor and glue in a very short dowel...

Claude