Build and Grow Boats

I will have to admit, these are not as exciting of a build as the planes. They were fun to build and will be just as fun to play with.  I made 12 of each of these; half were out of poplar and half other woods.  I did have to bring in 1/2" thick lumber to make the proportions look correct.

Tug Boat

This is a smaller version of the original one that I have made in the past.  I incorporated the cutout of the deck to be the top of the cabin.  Hardest part was the small pieces which I use the band saw and the sander to safely cut.

The Rescue Boat

The hardest part of this boat was the cabin.  I wanted the front to be tapered and that was easy.  The problem was cutting both the top and bottom so they had the same radius but one was flat and tapered on the top.  I think they came out and looking good.  I did screw up the color mixes on the hard woods but it turned out.

The Ferry

This is the boat where all the learning happened. The design was not all that difficult.  The waterwheel was the part that caused some thought on assembly and materials. I learned that all dowels are not the same.  I purchased a dowel that did not have all straight grain.  part of it had the grain at about a 60 degree angle.  Normally this would not create a problem, but the dowel is not supported through its length.  When putting the other side of the waterwheel on it would break the dowel.  The other problem with the dowels was the inconsistent diameter.  The thicker ones would split the waterwheel.  After all this I like the way they turned out.

The new Tug Boat

There are many people that have received a tug boat from me.  It seems to be the baby shower gift of choice.  The original tug boat came from the Making Heirloom Toys.  It was a pretty simple toy that could be made in mass quantities.  There was a couple things that I did not like about it.  The first was the wood that wasted in making these tug boats.  It was a lot of template work so the board had to be wide enough to fit the template.  The second (this was my choice) they were made out of two different woods for color.  This involved gluing pieces together and so there was a a little bit of preparation to make these. I was also not a fan of the router work.  It was a lot of passes for a good smooth finish.  However they were an easy build and I enjoyed making them.  I have worn out two templates and four router bits to make these boats. Each one is unique and does float even though I do not recommend it.  This pattern changes some of the things that I makes it easier for me to make while still maintaining the parts that I love about the original design.

The main thing that I changed was no more pattern routing.  It was a pain to set up and there was a fair amount of waste.  All the parts are cut out either on the table saw or scroll saw.  I still have the two different species of wood for color even though the oak and dark maple do not create a lot of contrast in this one.  Scrap and setup has been reduced.  I also don't ruin router bits and bushings to make this toy.  The roof can also be made out of the cut out from the part that sits on the hull.  My favorite part about this toy.  It is compact and fits in small hands.  There are a lot of places to grip and touch.  It also slides really well on carpet.

Here are a couple of pictures of the old and new versions of the tug boats.  Sorry about the color combination of the old version.  I had beech and green poplar when making them.  It looked better prior to staining.

Here are a couple of things I took away from this project: 

• This is not in my normal scope of design. I would like to design everything our of standard dimensioned lumber.  This has some 1/2" thick pieces in it.  It is not the end of the world.  This is how I am designing all my trucks.
• Shellac goes bad.  It does not take much to finish toys so my one pint of shellac lasts a little while, so I thought.  I ruined some measuring sticks because the shellac did not cure.  I noticed when finishing the boats, it took a little while for the shellac to not be tacky.  I guess shellac does not last long after the bottle has been opened.  So my two options are to make my own shellac or buy the aerosol cans.  I think I will try making my own.  Like most wood terminology the mixture is confusing.  Good thing there is the internet to define what is a  2 lb cut of shellac.
• I am debating whether I need the lower cabin windows.  Opinions would be appreciated.

The tug boats

Well I have made enough of these tug boats I should probably write about them. This is the last set I made. I am working on some scroll saw puzzles that are proving to be more trouble than I imagined. The cool thing is I was able to purchase some exotic lumber. Yes, I did cause some deforestation.

The exotic woods are displayed above: purple heart, lace wood, lypus, yellow heart, and walnut (not an exotic but my wife likes this wood). I will probably never buy this wood again, except the walnut. They are all really nice looking woods with good color. My favorite is probably the lace wood. The yellow heart was definitely yellow but kind of plain, but had an interesting smell. Yes, woods have distinct smells. The yellow heart smelled like pepper when cutting into it. This wood is also very hard. It actually destroyed the template and bushing guide I used to cut out the center of the tug boat. Now I have to make another template.

The story of the Tug Boat
This was one of the first projects I made from the Making Heirloom Toys book. It was a pine base with a poplar scrap header from work planed down to 3/8". I made three and I don't think I have any of the originals. I have had several people come up to me and ask how much they cost and to this day I have not sold one. I think my price is too expensive or too cheap. For the most part you have to go though child birth (it is received at the baby shower). Or I have given them away - right place right time sort of thing. They are usually made out of scrap wood or planks that are too short to be of any use. I have been having fun making them and will continue to do so. I also put an extra coat of polyurethane on them so they slide really well on carpet. They are not balanced or finished for the water, but sand is ok.

Where are the Fairy People?

I finally completed the ferry boats with all the cars. I am pleased on how they turned out. I took one of them over to my nieces to play with. After pulling out all the cars Sara continued to look inside the ferry and asked, "Where are the fairy people?"
Sara and Nora served as my "Toy Testers" for the ferry. If you are ever wondering why we have families over for dinner or dessert it is purely selfish reasons. I need to make sure the toys I make are safe for kids. This is definitely an older kid toy. There are several small pieces that can and do come off. A co-worker told me they expected the ferry to float. This is not a bathtub boat and it will sink and I don't plan to test that theory.
Here are the cars that go on the ferry:

The Woodie Wagon

This vehicle is made out of oak. Katie feels it needs a surf board on top. I really don't know why there would be a surf board so there is not going to be one.

The Sedan

The Sedan is made out of walnut and was the first car that I finished. The headlights were purchased. They do occasionally break off and this is a safety hazard. If I make this toy again I will probably leave off the headlights.

The Pick-Up Truck

The truck is made out of mahogany and poplar. Not much to this truck but I am curious how the center of the cab was suppose to be cut out. The plans say that the body of the cab is suppose to be hollow but gave no instruction on how to do it. I didn't think it would be worth the time so I left it solid. If any one has any idea how this is to be done please let me know.

The CoupeThe coupe is made out of maple and mahogany. The headlights still create a choking hazard. The angled front end made it very difficult to put on the fenders. I learned to make things very much over sized and then sand down to fit.

The Ferry Boat: The Last of the Christmas Projects

This is one of the latest projects I have completed and probably the largest toy. This came out of the "Making Heirloom Toys" book and I like how it turned out. There are four cars that also go with it, but they are not quite done. Making wheels is a pain so I would suggest buying them. Unfortunately I don't have that option with these cars.

Just to put this in perspective the ferry is two feet long. My wife will probably point out that this is the one with the mahogany roofs. I made two. The other has walnut roofs and we are keeping that one. I was originally planning on building one, but last Christmas my wife (yes I will blame her) decided it would be fun for me to have all the nieces and nephews pick out a toy from the toy books that I had received. Well Nora was commenting on a grasshopper pull toy that she like and I thought I got off easy with her, but as we were closing the book she said, "But what I really like is the fairy." So out of the six Christmas project I had to do, here has taken the longest and is the last to complete.

I learned a lot about templates on this project. The sides were made using a router and template. The templates was made out of hardboard and I new if I messed it up I could make another one. The other way of making the sides would have been to drill holes and cut the centers out with a scroll saw. The template offered more uniformity to the sides.

For those of you who picked up that there are still five other project that I have made, I will also post those also. Unfortunately I have all ready finished and given the others out so it is going to take a little bit of time.