Scavenger Chic

Upcycling an Old Car Jack

• By Joan
• October 1, 2018
• 22 Comments

Before I show you my next project I wanted to show you my inspiration.  Yes, the  horse you are about to see was inspired from a whale.

This whale was found in an antique store in Maine.  Before I posted him, I zoomed in on that price tag and this guy, a “primitive whale”  is selling for $375.  If you don’t include paint, which I already had on hand, mine was about $1.  Are you intrigued?

I’m looking at him and thinking, that base looks a whole lot like the jack stand I have sitting on my work bench.  The same jack stand that has been sitting on my work bench for  2 years.  Do you hear the lightbulb going on?

Back home I gather my supplies.  I’ve decided to turn the whale into a horse.

What you’ll need to create this weather vane  is a horse pattern (I’ll get into how to create your own pattern in a second), a pile of pallet wood, a wood dowel, a wooden ball (not shown) and a base.

For this base I’m using the old rusty jack stand gathering dust on my workbench.  It was given to me by my middle son.  He and his wife picked it up at an antique store for $1 and didn’t know quite what to do with it, so they sent it my way. I was thinking a pendant light until  I got my  whale inspiration. They are also the pair that picked up the topper for my twin  bed…I will gladly let them shop for me any time.

If you don’t happen to have a jack stand just sitting around, you might want to consider a chunk of wood.  I’ll refer you back to my running bunny for that one.

This is what my jack stand may have looked like in a past life.  Mine is missing a little something but I would have thrown that part out anyway.

(who am I kidding, I would have found another use for that part…hmmm  🙂 )

There are tons of pictures of running horses on the internet but I loved this J. W. Fiske Weathervane, circa 1890 probably because it was easy to picture as a weathervane since it already was one.  He will be the basis for my pattern.

Now to make the pattern for the horse.  In my photo editing software, I converted the colored picture to black and white.

Import the picture over to  Microsoft Publisher onto  a blank page size of 29″ x 15″.   Of course you can make your horse any size you like.

Stretch the imported picture to fit the new blank page size. 

The above picture is a print preview.  A 29″ x 15″ picture will print out on 6 pieces of paper.

 

Print out the 6 pages, trim, and tape back together.

Cut out the horse pattern.  I didn’t want the jockey so he got cut off.

Think of the horse in 3 levels.  The top level won’t have the mane, the tail or the back legs.  The red lines denote areas I won’t need for the top layer.

Lay out pallet wood underneath the horse pattern and trace the outline getting rid of the parts for the back layers.  

**  Use different width and length pallet wood for the three layers, sort of like bricks or legos, for strength and to have something  to glue to.

Cut out with a scroll saw (above), jigsaw or band saw.  I prefer the tabletop scroll saw because I can get into super tight corners.  If you can feed material into a sewing machine you can operate a scroll saw.

Top level is done.  Make sure you keep all your pieces in order.  It’s about to get a little more confusing.

This is the first level with the middle level on top.  The middle level has the tail, mane and rounded off body above the legs.

The legs are from the previous layer.

For the third level I trimmed off the front legs, mane and tail.  You’ll have to use your imagination to where you think the back legs will actually go and what they will look like.  Transfer to pallet wood and cut out.

All 3 levels laid out.

To make it a little easier on yourself, do some of the sanding before you start attaching, especially around the legs where it will be super hard to sand  the inner parts of the legs after they are glued.  I also presanded around the mane, tail and some of the chest in the middle layer.

Match up your layers and start gluing.

Clamp and leave to dry over night.

Once dry, get the sander back out to even out all the layers.  Any big outline differences can be retrimmed with the scroll saw then sanded.

That  back leg had no other level to glue to so I just glued it directly to the body using the same miracle glue (Wonder Lock ’em Tite Chairs ) that I used for my wobbly chair.  If I had a wider piece of wood that would definitely have been  preferable.

Use a drill the thickness of your dowel to drill a hole in the center of the horses belly.  I’m using a large clamp to hold the little fella steady and a few more clamps to keep everything together while drilling.

The idea was to cut a chunk of scrap wood to fit inside the jack stand, drill a hole in the center of the wood, the thickness of the dowel and the base would be complete.

I had a slight hiccup, once I cut the wood, I couldn’t get it into the stand.

Plan B… I ended up cutting another piece of wood to fit under the stand  then used Gorilla glue to attach.  The dowel was also attached with the Gorilla Clear Glue.

Spray paint brings all the pieces of the base together.

I’m using antique wax to finish the horse.  You could also leave as natural wood, clear wax or paint.

While the wax was still damp I added a little black chalk paint to the wax and blended it into the edges.

Looking at my jack stand, I didn’t like the base as is, it didn’t look quite finished, so I added a few shutter slats leftover from a past project.  These were cut to fit and glued in place.

Do you remember the round ball on my whale inspiration piece?  I’m using this finial that used to sit on my deck.  I’ve used a few of these for coffee table feet but this time it will make a great weathervane ball.  Just cut off the ball and sand the cut edge.

Drill a hole thru the center of the dowel.  

Here I’m painting it teal blue followed by a light gray.

Sand lightly and follow with a coat of antique wax, painted on then rubbed off.

I thought I was finished with my horse but he looked kind of flat.  What this horse needed was ears and a little more texture.

For the ears, draw an ear lightly in pencil for your guide.

Use your sander to sand a groove behind the ear.  I’m also sanding the edges of the horse…remember that texture thing he lacked?

Behind the ear, fill in the groove with just a touch of black paint and antique wax.  I’m just smearing and blending it in with my finger.

For the rest of the horsey texture I’m adding a super  light coat of white wax dry brushed on.  Again, blend in and wipe off any excess.

The finished piece is nearly 2 feet tall and 27″ wide.

BTW, he’s sitting on my vintage window cabinet.  I had intended for the cabinet to be wall mounted but it makes a nice sofa table.

Now I’ll be looking for another stand so I can make the whale.

Stay inspired.

Shared at Metamorphosis Monday,

 Salvaged Junk Projects