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Little Leaf Bears by ShannaHi everyone-
I like to do a wobble joint in my bears heads so that they have a little more range of motion, but when I try to do this with a bigger bear, the head ends up too floppy. I don't have this problem with miniature bears, and I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the cotter pins that I'm using. They are from intercal and came with the disks. Does anyone have any tips on how I might be able to tighten up the joint. I curl the cotter pin ends as tight as I can get them, but I think the loops might be too big? Help please!
Thank you!
Shanna
Back Road BearsShanna,
A lot of questions you have may be answered by doing some studying/research in our library here on TT.
I like to use the search function up in the horizontal menu toward the right because I can be specific about what I'm looking for.
I did a search for "wobble neck joint" and came up with a few prior discussions. The third one has a great suggestion by Wanda for a cotter pin wobble joint in the neck that you might want to try!
Here's the link to my search:
http://www.teddy-talk.com/search.php?se … 1015493905 (updated link that actually works!)
Happy reading! :)
Remember there's more than one way to make a bear and most of the time there's no right or wrong. Part of being an artist is experimenting, coming up with your own techniques, studying and researching, reading and not being afraid to dive right in. Its taken most established artists a long time to get where they are and they worked hard to get there. Your small bears are wonderful so I know you have the skills and ability to learn how to make the big ones. Trust yourself and don't be afraid try things!!!
Chaska, MinnesotaIf there is too much wobble, I suggest putting in a bigger disc in the body portion of your bear. Meaning the head would have the smaller disc. This way there is more of a spread in the body neck, shoulders to prevent more wobbling.
Second, using smaller cotter pins but make sure you have a big bead at the top to prevent it from slipping through the disc hole. Just my two cents....
Little Leaf Bears by ShannaThanks! I've done a search and already know how to do a wobble joint, I'm tightening it as far as possible on both ends (per previous posts instructions) and am using disks that are just slightly smaller than the disks in the rest of the body and couldn't find a topic that discussed what else to try. Maybe I will try cotterpins with smaller loops at the end?? Thanks Michelle for your tip, I'll give that a shot as well.
Shanna
Shanna, when you are tightening your cotter pins, pull them up toward you as you roll them so that you're pulling the two cotter pins as far into the disk configuration as possible, away from each other. It should snug them up a bit more. I did that with my big brown batik bear in my profile picture. If you need me to explain further, e-mail me, and we'll chat.
Back Road BearsWell, Shanna, if you read the post I told you about you'll find another technique to try.... using one cotter pin not two as it sounds like you are still trying to do it with two. I've done a loose joint before at the head similar to Wanda's method that worked great and I have one of Wanda's bears with a wobble head, done as she described and it has the perfect amount of wobbleness without looking like it has a broken neck. The discs are the same size in both head and body. The key is to leave a good 1/2" or more of space on the cotter pin between head and body so you'd need a long cotter pin. I think it would work for you if you gave it a try.
Dear Bronwen,
When you say wobble joint, are you talking about using two cotterpins by looping the eyes together and then inserting the spike open ends into the head and one into the body? This technique will give you a really wobbly head and broke neck look.
I make my bears with wobble heads by using the traditonal cotterpin technique. Run a single cotterpin through a disc and enclose inside the head. Attach the head to the body in the normal way. Instead of tightening the cotterpin as tight as I can get it, I curl the ends just tight enough so the head will wobble from side to side and front to back without looking as if it will fall off any second. Almost all my bears have the looser cotterpin heads which enables them to pose in a lot of cute positions.
Hugs,
Wanda
Carson Creations - Wanda Carson
Since the link Daphne provided didn't work for me, I pasted Wanda's post here for anyone who is interested.
Becky
Back Road BearsThank you, Becky! I was on my way out the door when I posted earlier and didn't have time to find it and post it! I'll go fix my link above too. Wonder why it doesn't work. Obviously I did something wrong! LOL!
Tickled Pink BearsWhen I want a little "tighter" wobble, I pinch the loop part of both cotter pins a bit. This seems to work well for me. 
Posts: 751I like the sound of Wanda's suggestion and I am going to give it a try.
Little Leaf Bears by ShannaIt worked! Thanks Daphne! Apparently I'm not great at finding these links. I feel like this happens to me all the time!
Hugs
Shanna
Wonder why it doesn't work. Obviously I did something wrong! LOL!
You didn't do anything wrong. Your searches are cached during your session and for your use only. You can provide links to topics/postings, but not links to your search results.
Back Road BearsThanks, Quy! Glad to know that!! I've been posting links to search results for 5 yrs w/o knowing that! :redface:
BarcelonaThanks for all the advice on wobbly neck joint. Following what someone wrote, I put a smaller disk in the head than in the body and used two cotterpins intertwined. This is from Bear Basics' Choc Chip Pattern
