A couple weeks ago a co-worker of mine brought in this broken horse that he picked up at a flea market for $5.00. There are many little components that need repaired, but the main thing is that the left front leg was broke off and missing. Since I was a friend and a carver I volunteered to make a leg and see what happens. My steps taken were to square up the broken section on horse with a chisel and then look for a piece of bass wood that would fit the bill. Holding the rough stock close to the position as I was able to trace the side shape close as I could. Using the band saw I sawed out the shape. The next complicated issue was to figure a way to clamp in place. I gave up on the idea of band clamp, I decided to glue and screw. One screw in the front and two screws in the side. After 24 hours I removed the screws and then drove dowels up in same screw holes. Next step was to start carving. By using veneer calipers I was able to mimic the size of other front leg. After a couple evenings of carving sanding, filing I got down to the final shape. When carving was complete I still had some mismatch areas that I filled in with wood putty. That worked well. After final sanding it was time to paint. Just so happened the brown paint matched almost to a tee. I painted the brown and then I used sand paper to rough it up a little. I'm very happy with the results. It should be worth more then $5.00 now??
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