LIVE WORKSHOP 2: The Dancing Man

The " dancing man "is a wooden jumping jack that can be made to dance on the end of a strip of wood in time to music. This toy has amused children for of the idiophone family. Like the spoons, it is part of French-Canadian folklore.

How to make the "dancing man"

Materials

- strip of soft wood (spruce) 1.3 cm thick
- four 3 mm x 2.5 cm screws to attach the arms and legs to the body
- two 3 mm x 1.3 cm dowels to attach the legs to the knees
- one 6 mm diameter wooden dowel 15 cm long to stick to the back of the ?dancing man? to hold it upright
- strip of wood .3 cm thick x 12 cm x 40 cm

Tools

- band saw or jigsaw
- drill
- 2 mm, 3 mm and 5mm drill bit
- screwdriver
- sand paper: to sand the pieces before assembling them

Pattern

- make sure that the pattern is to scale such that the height of the body (A) is 13 cm
- cut out the pattern provided (piece B is included as an example only)
- trace the body (A) and the arm (b) once
- trace the leg pieces (c) and (d) twice

Cutting

- cut out the wood with a saw (Attention: use with caution!)
- arms: cut piece (b) in half along its length
- legs: turn the pieces, trace and cut out (C) and (D)
- sand the pieces until they are smooth with rounded corners
- cut out the .3 cm x 12 cm x 40 cm strip of wood

Assembly

- punch holes in the points indicated: use the 2 mm drill bit to punch holes in the body at the shoulder and hip; the 3 mm drill bit to punch holes in the legs and arms at the hip and knee; the 5 mm drill bit to punch the hole in the back
- assemble the legs at the knee with a 3 mm x 1.3 cm dowel; be sure that it is good and tight
- assemble the arms at the shoulder and the legs at the hips with the 3 mm x 2.5 cm screws; screw them in only half-way, a little more for the legs so that they balance the arms
- glue the 5 mm x 15 cm dowel to the back of the «dancing man »

...and lets go dancing!

You sit on one end of the strip of wood and, holding the jumping jack with one hand, you hit the wood with the other hand. The feet of the jumping jack hit the strip of wood rhythmically. " Tac-tic-tac! "