Wooden Dummy in the making

Below are some pictures of an Elm wooden dummy in the making.
The dummy body is laminated from either 4 boards each starting off life as 225mm wide * 65mm thick. Or Three boards at 225mm wide * 75mm thick They are then machined and glued together to form the dummy body this normally equates to approx. 3.5 cubic feet of timber just for the body.
People usually ask me why do you laminate the body like this cant you use a single piece of timber. The answer is yes I can use a single piece of timber if it were available, but unfortunately it is not. Hardwood tend to be sawn at a maximum thickness of 4" (100mm) the boards are then either kiln or air dried. Thicknesses greater than this cannot be dried easily and even when dried at a thickness of 4" (100mm) they cannot guarantee that the moisture content is suitable for internal use. If the moisture content is not low enough for internal use, as the wood dries out large cracks and splits can occur. You can obtain timber in a size large enough for the body to be turned from e.g. green oak this timber has not been dried and as it dries it will develop cracks and splits but these will not affect the strength of the body. This is an ideal choice for an outdoor dummy. Green oak is very heavy normally double the weight of dried oak, eventually as it dries out the weight will decrease but this may take many years. It does have one large advantage over dried oak, that it cheaper, available in large sizes and easier to cut.

Sawn Elm boards before processing, these boards will be glued together to make the dummy body.	Ripping edge of boards to size.
Edging board on planer.	Face machining boards prior to thickness
Board face after machining, showing the grain pattern.	Faced boards stacked prior to thickness. These boards will be thicknessed before laminating. Moisture checking boards.
Thicknessing boards prior to Laminating	Cutting the support strut holes on the middle board prior to laminating
Laminating the machined boards together to form the turning blank for the dummy body.	Cutting the dummy body blank to length
The corners have been cut of prior to turning	The elm turning blank mounted on the lathe ready to be turned
Turning the dummy body	The dummy body turned to a cylinder ready for marking out.
The dummy body marked up with the hole positions, ready for drilling	The dummy body on the drill press and the holes being drilled. This has to be done from both sides.
Arm holes drilled.	The leg hole being cut square with a mallet and chisel
Elm dummy body 1st coat of Rustins Original Danish oil.	Elm wooden dummy body with arms
Elm wooden dummy side on view	Elm wooden dummy top half
Elm wooden dummy front view	View of Elm wooden dummy leg
View of top of wooden dummy	Elm Wooden Dummy in wall mounted frame
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