Build and Grow

So I tried a build and grow series.  It did not go down in flames but I realized really quickly that I was not going to mass produce them.  It is a pain to line up all the nail holes and predrill everything out.  I understand a little more what it takes to make the build and grow projects.  I would not be able to compete with the product already on the shelf.  I was not a total waste of time though.  Here are some of the key things that I did and learned.

I wanted to make three sets of each.  I created a parts list and listed out all the rips that needed by thickness and totaled how much I would need in each rip.  Sounds difficult but excel and pivot tables make it very easy.  Each piece was cut to the correct length before I even started putting the pieces together.  If my cuts were off then it would not go together.  It was interesting how little lumber it took to make fifteen of these cars.

      Planning and design was also a factor in making these.  I needed to make sure that kids would be able to put them together.  In the end kids are not putting them together because I don’t want to drill all the pilot holes.  I had to think about where the nails would go and could they be pounded in in the location they were in.  There were a couple of instances in the design where I had nails running into each other.

      I used experiences and job knowledge to make these cars more production friendly.  A little note about my work, I work for a cabinet manufacturer.  I did not want to mix my hobby with work which is one of the main reasons I make toys not cabinets.  The cabinets we build are good quality for the price and I would and have put them in my home.  However, I build to a higher quality in personal projects.  So I have tried to keep work and hobby separate as much as possible.  My goal was to produce a fair amount of them and it still is.  When looking at the break down of parts I noticed I had several rips that were an 1/8” apart and all were short lengths.  So I went back through my designs and reduced the amount of rips by a third.  This meant less table saw set ups and longer lineal strips to cut parts out of.

      The last thing that I learned is that I need to follow my plans as well as pay attention to test before drilling everything.  The first front end loader’s shovel is not flat to the ground because I did not put the holes in the correct location.  I thought they were the same as the bulldozer.  The biggest mistake was with the fire truck.  I marked and drill all the holes using the wrong drill bit.  I used 7/32” bit.  I could not fix them and had to remake all of them.  I had to remark and drill 36 holes.

The plan is still to make a lot of them.  I am going back to glue and dowels.  The nice thing is that my kids should be old enough to help me assemble them.  That is what I am looking forward to.