November 7, 201114 yr Somebody asked what kind of toys I made... Well, here are some of them. The small cars and trucks are from patterns by Toys and Joys, the small tractor (no trailer) and plane patterns are from a recent issue of Scroll Saw Magazine, the duck pattern is from CherryStreet Toys. The rest are ideas cabbaged from other places or off the top of my head. Wood. Once upon a time I tried using salvaged wood, but hitting a few hidden nails or staples qickly changes the economics. So.. Most are made from construction grade 2x8 yellow pine or lumber from estate sales or a couple of local sawmills that sell unsurfaced wood for a buck a board foot. Tools used are Radial Arm Saw, band saw, drill press with brad point and forstner bits and recently a scroll saw. I have a couple of combo disk/belt sanders (small and medium) and also have some sanding drums I chuck up in the drill press. One of these days I'll find a spindle sander for the right price... For finish I use minwax brushing laquer - a single coat to help resist finger prints and dirt. The stuff dries fast, is very forgiving and the lable says good for childrens furniture, so I'm saying it is kid safe. Tires/Wheels - Either I scratch make them on the bandsaw & sand to the line then drill in a recess with a forstner bit. Looks nice and is cheap. I also buy premade wheels from American Woodcrafters Supply in lots of 100's. Alxe pegs are cheaper to buy premade than shop made, and I also have a good supply of 1/4" and 3/8" axle caps. I print paper templates and use repositionable photomount spray. Holds better than hairspray and paper releases better than 3M 77. Typically I will cut a dozen of each pattern and dump the parts in a box for a sanding marathon. When I sand I use a Harbor Freight "portable dust collector' and wear a half face dust maxk. Before using the mask I'd often suffer a bad bout of bronchitis after sanding and took the hint... Small Trucks - Toys and Joys pattern Small Cars. Toys and Joys pattern Small Tractor - ScrollSaw magazine. Scratch made wheels School Bus - Just noodling around. with Western Cedar from Mom's deck repairs Plane - ScrollSaw Magazine "Dennis the Duck" Cherry Street Toys Scratch Tractor and Trailer
November 7, 201114 yr Tom, Iove em!!! Great work man and what a joy to see, so classic and playful looking. Can you believe there was a time when kids of all ages would have been satisfied with these to play with all day long. Now kids gotta have the Play Stations etc. But young kids still love these and they are very durable, and munch proof! That's alot of work, I cringed at your sanding marathons, since sanding is one my least desirable aspects of woodworking I give you a big thumbs up for being able to stick with it during your sanding marathons, so how do you cope? Headphones? Blast the stereo? Anyway, great job Tom, and thanks for posting here, this one deserved a well earned "Featured"!.  John MorrisThe Patriot Woodworker
November 7, 201114 yr Tom those are so cool. Thanks so much for sharing them with us. I get so busy with other projects I don't ever try that. I need to make a few for my grandson. He would have a ball with those. Nice job. John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworkshttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
November 7, 201114 yr Those are just adorable!  Beautiful job of finishing them.  The designs are really nice.  I can't imagine a child or for that matter an adult being able to resist them.   Very, very nice! SQ      It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.
November 7, 201114 yr Tom, great toys. These are all real classic styles too. These are the type of toys that are built to last and be handed down to another child. Greghttp://www.thesawdustfactory.net/
November 9, 201114 yr Author Next batch in process.. These are going to be given to the Loving Hands Memory Box campaign. Great program. If you can't make a box, them make someting for the parents (perhaps a pen) or for the siblings More Cars! Future Trucks More Wheels! Termite at work  Â
November 9, 201114 yr Way to go Tom, you're keeping busy and contributing to a great cause.  Greghttp://www.thesawdustfactory.net/
November 9, 201114 yr Tom, We'll have to get your old Delta 700 up and running. That way your old-fashioned toys will be made with your old-timer scroll saw. Very nice work, for a worthy cause. Regards, Larry Â
November 27, 201114 yr Hi Tom nice work, I too am making toys. It's a lot of fun, but those people are right tho about the sanding. It can be very boring, the Grader that I just built I had to sand in the cab with a tiny piece of paper & 1 finger. But all I do is think about the childerns faces come Christmas morning, I also give them to a chariety. I see you mass produce them, I never thought of doing that where you mark a whole bunch on a board. I'll have to make a few like yours, I've made a few toys but they have a bunch of pieces to put together & take a while to build.    I have a question for you tho, where do you buy your wheels ect. ?well take care & talk to you soon I hope, I just joined this site & enjoy it very muchThanks, Randy
November 27, 201114 yr Author I buy wheels from American Woodcraft Supply Their prices are reasonable, They have a large inventory of stuff and the more you spend, the less shipping is. Everything is shipped priority mail, and I usually have my parts in two days. Also - on sanding, for detail work I use a sanding stick These things are available from number of suppliers. Woodcraft and Rockler have the little ones. Klingspore has some great big ones that uses regular sanding belts for hand sanding.
November 28, 201114 yr Randy, we are glad your here, and we are happy your enjoying our site. It's a small outfit thus far, we just started about a year and half ago, so our membership is growing slowly but surely. If you like us alot Randy, be sure to invite your friends here. Take care and welcome again to our site.Randy Zubeck said:Hi Tom nice work, I too am making toys. It's a lot of fun, but those people are right tho about the sanding. It can be very boring, the Grader that I just built I had to sand in the cab with a tiny piece of paper & 1 finger. But all I do is think about the childerns faces come Christmas morning, I also give them to a chariety. I see you mass produce them, I never thought of doing that where you mark a whole bunch on a board. I'll have to make a few like yours, I've made a few toys but they have a bunch of pieces to put together & take a while to build.    I have a question for you tho, where do you buy your wheels ect. ?well take care & talk to you soon I hope, I just joined this site & enjoy it very muchThanks, Randy John MorrisThe Patriot Woodworker
November 28, 201114 yr Author In an earlier posting, I had mentioned that Klingspore sells a "great big" sanding stick. Thought that as long as I had posted the sanding stick link I thought I  might as well post one for the Sand Devil . I also note that Klingspore has detail sanders in widths up to 3/4" whereas the other vendors only seem to sell them in 1/4" widths.
November 29, 201114 yr Just wondering if anyone had checked this site http://www.toymakerpress.com/index.html Greghttp://www.thesawdustfactory.net/
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