The Trash Truck

This was a fun little challenge.  I went through at least two designs before settling on this one.  I will change a couple of things with the dumpster  but that is pretty minor.  This was one of those projects where I really started to over design.  First was the dumpster had to dump into the trash truck.  That was obvious. Then the back had to open to get the stuff out.  Then I wanted the cab to tilt forward.  Then I thought about putting a hinged lid on the dumpster would be a nice addition.  This was before I did any of it and I struggled to get the dumpster to dump right.  I abandoned the last two ideas.  This is the final design.

This is all the moving parts that where designed in the toy.  I think it is enough for a child to play with.  The over all dimension is 22" long, 7" wide and 8" tall and heavy.   I did a wood hinge on the back.  This is the first time doing this type joint.  I am glad they are not dove tails because the gaps would be huge.  I did leave it tight enough to keep the back up for now.  I think as the wood wears, the natural lid stay will go away.

I am trying something new on this project.  I documented some of the steps that I did when building this project.  The idea came when I was making the plane.  Somethings are just too difficult to state in words so I should have taken pictures which would make it a lot easier to explain.

The picture to the left is the back assembly.  Line up the top edge of the two pieces.  The other edges could be sanded flush easily with out changing the alignment of the hinge.

The picture on the left is an ok picture of the chassis assembly.  I used the axle pegs to line up the wheel spacer on the chassis.  Just make sure to remove the peg before the glue dries.

The right shows how I set up the chop saw to cut the right height for the front and back of the dumpster.  I cut all my angles first.  I used a little bit longer of a board and cut the angle on either side.  The sides were on the bed of the saw and the ends were pressed up against the fence.  This allowed all the angles to be cut first with the same set up.  The sides were cut to the correct length.  Then use the sides to set the stop for the height for the front and back.

For the angles cut on teh container section of the trash truck, I used the table saw.  A router could also be used but I do not own a large angled bit for the chamfer I wanted.  I loosely doweled the back to the main section. The hole is 1/4" and I used a 3/16" dowel for location.  I then clamped it shut.  Then set the fence to where I wanted to cut the 45 degree angle.  Cut two of the edges and then adjusted the clamps and cut the other two.

I have my concerns about the lifting arm.  I know the design is solid, but there is still this concern that I had that the arm was going to be weak where the cut out was because of the grain direction.  I cut two grooves and put 3/4 x 1/4" thick pieces in opposite of the grain direction.

This design is noted in the plans but not shown.  The design is good as it is.  I know how by kid throw their toys so I wanted to add a little more support.