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Nutcracker Plan and Mechanism Router Box

Colwin Way provides a plan to make a festive queen nutcracker, and gives a guide to make the all-important router box to create the slot to enclose the cracking mechanism

Table of Contents

Well I’ve been lucky enough to have been writing for Woodturning magazine for three years now and have covered a long and diverse list of projects. My favourites, though, have to revolve around the Christmas period and probably the most favourite of these was my first – the German-style nutcracker figures. These figures come in all shapes and themes, but traditionally would have been figures of authority, such as Kings, queens or soldiers.

In Woodturning issue 286 we looked at how to make a bugler complete with bugle, but also showed a king and queen as finished figures. We gave you the ‘how to’ and diagrams to make your own, with the option of making a solid, ‘for-show’ figure, or a working version. I know a lot of people took up the challenge because I’ve seen the proof through pictures and various visits to clubs where members have made them. However, one question was constantly asked: ‘Could we show in greater detail how to make the router box that was used to make the slot through the body to enclose the nutcracker mechanism?’

Well, here goes. I hope you will find this useful and that it will inspire you to either give this wonderful project a retry or venture for the first time. I’ve included a finished picture and plans to make a nutcracker queen to accompany that bugler all those issues ago.

Tools

  • Personal & respiratory protection equipment (PPE & RPE)
  • 3mm parting tool
  • 25mm skew chisel
  • 6mm beading and parting tool
  • Bradawl
  • Drill and 6 & 30mm drill bits
  • 6mm dowel
  • Saw

Materials

  • Lime or other suitable timber for your figure
  • Paint
  • Brushes or airbrush
  • Beads and cordage for finishing
  • PVA & epoxy adhesive
  • Abrasives

Making the Queen

Turning the components to make your own nutcracker queen is fairly straightforward and achievable by a novice turner. I usually start with the base and work up. Below is a brief outline of the construction.

The base

Use your four-jaw chuck to hold your base blank and turn a recess 3mm deep on the underside. Hold this recess by expanding your jaws into it and turn the top of the base, 60 including any decoration you want to add. The legs are a gentle taper with a 6mm hole, 10mm deep, in both ends for attaching to the base.

Skirt

The skirt is a single convex taper to the waist with a single 6mm fixing hole at the top and two corresponding holes for the legs at the bottom.

The body

The body is the section to be placed into the router cradle if you intend to route the nutcracker and have the mouth moving. This body needs to fit inside the router box cradle, so measure accordingly. The head and crown are easier made separately and joined together with 6mm dowels. The arms are made from one piece and if you want one to be bent just cut halfway down at a 45° angle then join back together with epoxy to create a 90° bend in the arm.

Body planDownload

Router box cradle

Tools

  • Personal and respiratory protection equipment (PPE & RPE)
  • Cordless drill
  • 4 & 6mm drill bits
  • Rule
  • Cordless drill
  • Clamp
  • 40mm x 4.5 screws
  • 12mm kitchen workshop router bit
  • Router

Materials

  • 15mm ply
  • 9mm MDF
  • Screws
  • Dowels
  • Adhesive
  • Wooden battens
Router box cradle planDownload

Marking the Router Box

Drilling hole in wooden board with machine.
1. Start by cutting out all your pieces of 15mm ply or MDF for the sides and the bottom, and thinner 9mm MDF for the top. Be accurate when cutting these pieces as any errors will only increase as the build goes on. The line drawings show the exact size of the box I’m building, but this can be customised to suit the crackers you wish to build. To make the drilling easier, spend time clamping a back stop and length stop in position
Wooden bat house with drilled holes on table.
2. You will only need to drill three components – the two short ends and the one bottom panel. To stop the screws splitting the timber as you tighten the box together, countersink the drilled holes to spread the load. The picture shows the holes neatly drilled in the same position
Drawing lines on wood with pencil and ruler.
3. Take your side panels and mark them out ready for the slide ways to hold your carriages. These carriages are vital for holding your turned nutcracker bodies. The carriages need to slide in and out of the router box with ease while being held securely when routed. Again, the exact positioning is on the diagram, including all angles
Wooden board with attached angled wooden strips.
4. After marking out the positions you need to add small timber battens, which will act as the slipways for your carriages. These slipways are permanent so need to be glued and screwed in position. The router box will hold the carriages in two positions, first at 90° to route out the top of the body, then at 80° to route the back of the body
Person assembling a wooden box on workbench.
5. Now you need to take a closer look at the small carriages themselves. Again, all the dimensions are in the drawings. When you first make your carriages they wont have any slot in them as this gets done the first time you route out a body. The carriages in the picture are made from 12mm birch ply, glued and screwed on all sides bar one, which needs to be left for you to be able to place your body in and out. You will also notice that the removable side has dowel sticking out – this is to ensure that the door goes back in the same place each time, which is then fastened with screws
Wooden structure with slots on workbench.
6. To assemble the router box it’s easier to have the carriages already made. These can then be used as packers, making sure the sides are in the exact place when screwing together. It’s a good tip to use a piece of thin card between the carriage and the router box to make sure that, when finished, the carriage will slide in and out easily
Person using clamp and drill on wooden box.
7. Position the ends, clamp and screw. This is a really important part of the build and time needs to be taken to make sure all is in the correct place. The picture is showing a long clamp holding the ends securely in place while they are screwed together. I don’t tend to glue the boxes together just in case they need to be taken apart for repair any time. Now turn the box upside down and screw the bottom to the sides, which will give the box some strength
Assembling wooden box with precise holes drilled.
8. Moving on to the lid of the router box, this again needs to be positioned in the same place each time any routing is carried out. After positioning and clamping the top to the box, drill through both top and box to a depth of 10mm. Remove the lid and glue in some 6mm dowel. The dowel should protrude enough to locate the lid but not past as this would foul the router when slot cutting
Unfinished wooden box on a workbench.
9. So, here’s how the box should look at this point. Notice that a small piece of 50mm timber has been added to the underside so it clamped secure in a bench vice, giving a really secure routing position. Alternatively, you could make the base wide enough to be either clamped or screwed down to the bench
Router cutting wood with precise adjustments.
10. Now it’s time to route out the slot. Here I’m using a 6mm straight cutter in the router and
the router fence in place. You will need to use a template guide which will dictate the size of the slot you cut in your router box. Just remember to go gently and take your time
Hands holding wooden component in workshop
11 & 12 If all goes well your first router box is ready to start routing your nutcracker bodies. Mount the cracker body into the carriage – it is a nice, snug fit – then load it into the router box cradle. You will need to be able to route to a fair depth, so this means a 13mm router is necessary and I find a straight kitchen worktop 12mm router bit is ideal, as these are both long and strong and will enable you to cut the slot without difficulty. Just remember to take your time. There is no rush
Carpenter using router on wooden box.

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