Trim excess fur from around the shank of the joint in the head, arms & legs. Do this around the joint markings in the body as well.

Place the cotterkey (or bolt) into the hole in the metal washer, then through the hardboard disc. Insert the joint (cotterkey (or nut) & washer & hardboard disc) through the holes in the head, arms & legs.

Place the cotterkey (or bolt) of the bear head into the hole in the top of the bear’s body.

Place a hardboard disc, then metal washer over the cotterkey (or bolt) inside the bear’s body.

For a cotterkey joint, curl the cotterkey down (like a can of canned ham). You can use needle nose pliers OR for added convenience, use a cotterkey turning tool.

Cotterkey turning tool
For a nut & bolt joint, place the self-locking nut on the bolt. Tighten the nut using a socket wrench. Hold the other end of the bolt with a screwdriver while you tighten the lock nut. NOTE: If you like, you can glue the bolt in place with epoxy glue. This eliminates the need to have a screw driver to hold the bolt still. You can simply hold the hard board disc and use the socket wrench to tighten the joint.

Attach the arms & legs in the same fashion as the head making sure to check to see if the arms & legs are pointing the right direction & the joints are tight.