Building White Christmas Reindeer
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During the holiday season you see them
everywhere, those cute white Christmas reindeer silhouettes. These adorable
reindeer are so easy to build that even an inexperienced woodworker, with a
minimal number of tools, can build a pair in a weekend. Best of all, at the end
of the Christmas season these reindeer can be disassembled and stacked flat for
storage. WoodZone.com sells the complete plans with full sized traceable
patterns in their online store. The plans are available through this link: Click
Here for Reindeer Plans
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To build the reindeer you will need the following items:
1. One 4'x8' sheet of exterior
grade plywood
2. Reindeer plans
3. Pencil
4. Electric jig saw
5. White Paint, Primer, and
Brush
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The reindeer are fairly simple to build. You basically trace the full size
patterns onto a sheet of plywood. The plans include a layout diagram that allows
you to efficiently position each part on the plywood and minimize waste. These
plans are so efficient that you can actually get both reindeer from the same
sheet of plywood.
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Building a Herd?
Do you plan to build a set of plans or are you already taking orders from
friends and relatives who want their own set? Now is a good time to decide if
you want one set or more. If you think you will make a few of the reindeer you
will want to take the time to build a set of wooden patterns from a sheet of
¼" luan or similar material ($10 at most hardware stores). These hard
patterns will be easier to trace around and will stand up to multiple uses. If
you plan to keep your reindeer collection at a minimum we recommend you cut out
the patterns and trace around them onto the plywood. You can always store the
paper patterns if you think you may want to build more reindeer.
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If you don’t feel comfortable cutting up the
patterns you can purchase a sheet of graphite paper from
our online store. In the end the goal is
to get the patterns on the plywood once you have that done you can begin
cutting.
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Cutting out your Reindeer
The white Christmas reindeer can be cut out with an inexpensive jig saw and a
little patience. If you have a band saw or scroll saw you could use it for some
of the smaller pieces. There is no special trick to cutting the reindeer out.
Simply follow the line with the saw and don’t worry too much if your blade
wanders.
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The one place you will want to try and achieve a
clean, straight cut is the slot area used to fit the pieces together. If the cut
is too large or small you may have assembly problems. Also remember to cut the
slot to the thickness of the plywood you are using. This may be different from
the slot size on the patterns. If you selected a different size plywood you can
use the edge of a scrap piece of the plywood to transfer the correct size.
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All cut out?
So you got all of the parts cut out, you hands are tingling from the
vibration, and your back is sore from bending over to make the cuts. We can this
reindeer labor pains. Their not born yet, so push on.
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Let’s face it, the little critters will just
stand in the yard for a couple of months a year. Do you really need to clean up
the wiggles and goof the pesky jigsaw made? Really no…. but if you demand
perfection, or really messed up you might want to take some time to sand the
goofs out. You can use a belt sander or rough (50-80 grit) sandpaper to smooth
the edges and work the gaps and dips out. If you’re fortunate enough to have a
belt sander you can build a jig from the scrap plywood to hold it upside down.
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Let em' live
Now that the reindeer are all pretty, smooth, and ready to stand on their new
legs, it's time to put them together. You're probably looking at the pile of
reindeer appendages wondering how all of these pieces go together. You could try
fitting parts together randomly, but rather than building a fraken-deer pull the
plans out of the scrap pile; they have assembly instructions. I know it sound
like cheating but I won't tell anyone. As you assemble your Christmas reindeer
take the time to clean up any slots that may be a little too tight.
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Paint Em'
You will want to give your reindeer a nice thick coat of paint to protect them
from the elements. We recommend you spend the extra money to buy a good quality
exterior paint and primer. If you need some help ask the sales person in the
paint department for their best quality "Reindeer Paint". If they
don't get the joke you could ask them for a good exterior paint and primer. You
will want enough paint and primer to coat at least 64sq feet. Primer is
important because it help seal the wood and acts as a good tie layer between the
paint topcoat and the plywood. Take special care to thoroughly paint the edges
of the plywood, especially the feet (hooves) to protect the plywood edges.
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It's best to paint the reindeer parts separately but you can also paint the
reindeer assembled. Try not to paint the joints then come back later and paint
the joints when they are disassembled. If you have a paint sprayer you could
hang the parts on a line and spray them all at once. Otherwise you'll either
have to paint both sides of the part and stack it so it will dry or paint one
side at a time.
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Put Them Together
Once the paint has dried it's time to put the plywood reindeer together. And set
them up in your yard to graze for the season. At the end of the Christmas season
white plywood reindeer like to be disassembled and stored in an attic or
basement.
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Plans for the White
Christmas Reindeer can be purchased from WoodZone.com: Click
Here for Reindeer Plans
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Happy building! Questions? Contact woodmaster@woodzone.com
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