The Nutcracker has been a staple for many families during Christmastime. It also makes for a surprisingly simple Wooden DIY project. In fact, anyone with minimal woodworking experience can build one for themselves way before the Yuletide season starts.
1. Design
Whether it be 20 inches or 6 feet tall, all nutcrackers follow the same design concept. It is basically a humanoid structure with a base at the bottom and a swiveling press at the upper “chest” where the nut cracking takes place.
To make this easier on your part, think of the nutcracker as a series of interconnecting round shapes that form a basic human body. Give each segment of the body a corresponding hole and peg where they can connect to each other.
2. Parts Guide and Tools
Note: This guide will assume that you are making a life-sized nutcracker, which will be reflected in the measurements. You can adjust accordingly to meet your needs.
The material you will use for this project will be mainly round plywood with a thickness of 12 to 14 inches. The parts you will have to create using this plywood are:
- 2 feet
- 2 lower legs
- 2 upper legs
- 1 torso
- 1 head
- 1 semicircular “lower jaw”
- 2 shoulders
- 1 circular nose
- 2 elbows
- 2 hands
- 1 head
- 1 hat
Other materials you will need are:
- 20X30 inch plywood for the base
- 1-inch side trimmings for the base
- White fur for the uniform’s trimmings
- Other embellishments like a sword, tassels, epaulets, and beard
For tools, you will need:
- 1 hand saw
- 1 chisel
- 1 wood plane
- Wood glue
- Sandpaper
- 2 metal bar for the jaw portion
- 1 drill
- Galvanized screws
- Paint for the nutcracker’s face, boots, and body
3. Assembly
Assemble the base first with the peg where the feet will connect to. After this, you can start creating the nutcrackers body starting with the feet, and then the legs and arms, the torso, and then to the head and hat.
Apply wood glue at every connecting point and make sure all pegs and holes perfectly fit to one another. If not, try sanding the pegs until they easily fit their respective holes.
When you reach the torso, hollow out the upper middle portion where the head will connect to the body. This is where you will insert the semicircle jaw.
Once inserted, drill in holes at the sides from where the metal bars will be inserted. Fasten the connection with galvanized screws to prevent the jaw from loosening in time.
4. Finishing
Once the basic structure of your nutcracker is finished, you can start smoothening out the surface for painting. The colors for your nutcracker are as follows:
- Boots and hat = Black
- Pants = White
- Uniform = Any pastel color although red is preferred
- Base = Either black or a pastel color
- Face and hands = Light pink
After this, you can start painting in the face and the teeth and then add the ornaments, accessories, and hair of your wooden soldier. Once this is complete, all that is left is to set up your wooden creation and make it crack its first nut.
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