Stone Viking Welcome Sign

Being of Danish descent I wanted to have a unique welcome sign at the front door, so I came up with a miniature stone Viking sitting atop a wooden log.

• Round river rocks of various size and shape
• JB weld five minute epoxy ( for gluing the stones )
• clear 5 min epoxy
• sheet copper
• copper wire (small pieces thick and thin )
• thick and thin jute
• thin strips of wood 3/8'' x 1/8''
• small log ( optional )

First choose the stones for your project .The main stone on mine was around 6'' and the hands and feet were around 1 1/2'' . Now mix up some JB Weld five minute epoxy and glue the stones in place. You can use some tape to hold in place or just glue one at at a time.

To get the little guy to stay upright I had to add a poop stone at the back :)

Start with a piece of jute tied to the arms of a chair, then attach 15 - 22'' long pieces to the piece of jute on the chair. ( split the jute in half and loop the ends trough the loop and snug up to each other ).

Then use 3 - 8'' pieces and put on both ends.

Note: you can always cut the jute shorter once you get towards the end.

I braided the 3 center pieces leaving a hole big enough for the nose to pass through, the 3 outside long strands on both sides were braided as well. The braids were tied off with copper wire wrapped tightly around the braid.

The mustache consisted of 3 -16'' pieces looped around a single piece of jute much the same as the hair, then braided and held by a thin flat strip of copper wrapped around the ends.

Three more 6'' pieces were then looped around the main piece of jute.

First place the hair section over the nose and around the head, tuck the mustache under the nose and run the ends up under the hair. Once your happy with the positioning glue the jute to the stone with 5 minute epoxy, the helmet will cover the bald spot.

Unless your into the whole baldness thing, or maybe want a comb over (?) if so you can forgo the helmet in step 5.

Start by making a cardboard template ( basically a three sided triangle with curved sides ) and draw six triangles on the copper .

The copper I used was thin enough to cut with scissors. Stack the pieces and drill seven - 1/8'' diameter holes thru all six sheets.

To get the curvature needed I used a old trailer ball as an anvil secured into a vise. By holding the copper and hammering the sheets eventually become curved.

The rivets are just short pieces of heavy copper wire passed through the holes and hammered flat on the trailer ball. Start by the joining the top hole in all the pieces ,then work around the helmet joining the other pieces with more rivets. Once you have the helmet riveted together keep working the entire helmet on the trailer ball to make it more bowl shape.

The brim of the helmet consists of braiding six strands of jute double braded made to the required length- then glued to the brim of the helmet.

The horns were made by cutting 5-6 pieces of heavy jute 2'' long and holding them outside of a 5" piece of copper wire folded in half and then wrapping thin jute around the bunch.

Take two 16'' lengths of thin jute, create a loop on one end and then start wrapping around the thick jute, wire and thin jute.

Wrap the thin jute heavier at the bottom and work your way to the top creating a cone.

One you reach the top take your strand and pull it through the loop at the top, then pull the strand from the bottom to pull the strand in. ( just like a hangman's noose )

Take some thin copper wire and wrap it tightly around the base. Cut the excess jute below the wrapped wire and then finish off by gluing a small ring of jute at the base below the copper ring.

Decide where you want to place the horns and drill two small holes, pass the wire from the horns through the holes and twist the wires together on the inside to lock the horns in place.

The shield was made up of nine small pieces of walnut ( 3/8'' wide by 1/8'' thick ) chip carved and glued to another strip of walnut on the back.

I cut round on a scroll saw and a small round piece of copper was glued to the center.

The axe was one more small piece of walnut with a copper axe head (the same material used for the helmet) glued on, then the handle was wrapped with thin jute.

Once the helmet was glued and fastened in place my wife's skill (gained from cutting my hair for 35 years) came into play. Using a metal comb, scissors and a few more braids, oh! and some fuzzy eye brows, she proceeded to transform this little guy's hair and beard! Turning him into a well manicured Viking.

I then using epoxy I glued the axe and shield in place. I decided to add two round patches of black leather to the soles of his feet to make them more defined amidst all of his hair.

Then he was placed and glued atop the log.

This Instructable was one of those "just for fun, using what ever materials you have laying around" projects.

Oh come on!! I'm sure everyone has seen a few rocks just laying around and thought to themselves, "Hey I can make something out of those!!"

Or... maybe not : )

Cheers and Rock On !!!