2017 Toy Drive

Each year the Inland Empire Scroll Saw and Woodworking Association puts on a toy drive for hand made toys.  It is always fun to see what other people make.  This year is no different.  I had fun building this year's projects and hope they find someone that will take care of them and use them.  This year, my donations include the Tanker and Box trucks, two cradles, the street sweeper my son designed, a high chair and rocking chair.  I also made several toy cars.
The toy cars were unexpected this year.  The company I work for donated several board feet of 6/4 (1 1/4") poplar for making toys.  These are my city and small car plans blown up 165%.  This makes the design have 1 1/2" wheels.  These cars proved to be a challenge in a couple of different ways.  The first was the thickness of the material.  I tend to cut 3/4" and below  That extra 1/2" makes a big deal.  I started using #7 blades and they would over heat and bend and make cutting a nightmare.  I settled on a #11 blade.  This still presented problems, not because of the blade, but because of my expectations.  I was pushing too hard and trying trying to go to fast.  I even sped up the saw to see if I could cut faster.  This had the same results as having a less aggressive blade.  It would not cut straight and would over heat.  It took some practice and slowing down to cut these cars out.  In the end I still was able to make 25 of them. Next year I might try the pattern at 1 1/4" wheel size.  I have too many of that size wheel.
The club this year donated over 1400 toys.