Tow Truck

This is my wife's favorite.  There are some features of this truck that may seem insignificant but there was a lot of thought that went into them.  The first was the cuts in the arm for the hook.  This also proved to be a failure by design.  There are splits in the arm to make it bend when being put in so that the fit would be tight.  The negative space in the arm was too close to the hook that it broke when putting the dowel in.  I ended up clamping the base of the arm to provide the rigidity needed to insert the dowel.  The next design will have less negative space but I still recommend clamping the splits together.

The other design feature is the dowel that is inserted at the base of the hook.  Tow truck designs either have a metal hook or the hook breaks at the base.  I have repaired several so I hope this works.

Flat Bed Truck

Not a supper detailed truck and it doesn't capture the eye with some cool trick.  The cool thing about this vehicle is that it is the base for the other two  trucks in the series and possibly more.

The stake bed can be removed.  I think next time I will make the bead a little narrower and use 3/8" dowels instead of the 1/4".  I think the dowels will break in the holes with rough play.

I really like the fronts of these trucks.  IT will be another one that I remake and see how it turns out.  The only bad thing about the bed of this truck is that it is very similar to the cherry picker.  I mixed of the two beds drilled holes and did not understand why the parts did not line up.

Cherry Picker

This was probably the one that  I was most excited about and the most disappointed when finished.  It is not because of the how it works but the overall balance of the truck.  The lift is too big for the size of the vehicle.  I am currently redesigning to make it look more balanced.  The main key take away from this project was how to make tight fitting parts without a mechanism to tighten the parts together like a bold or screw.  I tried making small cuts in the wood to make it spring like.  The problem was with a cut it creates a point for a crack to propagate.  This is not good in wood.  So I drilled a hole at the end of each cut.  This seemed to work. 

It holds the bucket but it is not all the time.  It is a pretty heavy arm.

I thought I would do a band saw box for the bucket.  While mine came out ok, I felt this was not with in the criteria I was designing for.  While a band saw is a great tool, I do not expect a lot of people have them. The redesign will have a large diameter hole drilled into it rather than a cut out.

I tried to think so some special details for this vehicle and this was one of them.  I pegged the boom lift mount to the truck.  I thought it was a great idea but it can barely be seen.

The truck looks good and I am glad I did it.  I understand a little bit more the advice of "make every project twice."  This one will be made again, a little different and a little better.

Bucket of Blocks

So my wife was at a baby shower a little while ago for a lady having twins.  I make tug boats for baby shower presents.  These were twins so she asked if I had any buckets of blocks ready.  I did, so we packed one in a container and gave it as a present. My wife came home and told me that "we" were in trouble.  She said the blocks were a hit and there was some interest.

A couple of years ago I would have a competition to win these buckets and the contestants slowly faded away because you really only need one bucket.  So I stopped doing it. So I will try this again. 

Here is the history of the blocks.  I found, like most wood workers, there was an accumulation of small off cuts of wood being collected in various parts of the shop.  I usually put it in a burn pile whenever I got the urge to clean out.  It does hurt to burn the wood.  For the most part the lumber is good quality and never had any finish.  I really did not have any use for these small pieces because I was making larger pieces.  I ended up sanding the edges and making the first set for my son and a few smaller sets to donate to LDS services.  Over time I collected more scrap and figured it was a good idea to give the blocks away.  Then I stopped for a while but still collecting the off fall (scrap). 

Here is what is included in this bucket of blocks:  It is a bunch of random widths and lengths of blocks.  They have different shapes and sizes.  If you receive a bucket please go through them and throw out any that you feel are choking hazards.  I am usually pretty good about getting them out but opinions may differ.  All blocks are sanded with edges broken and have a coat of mineral oil.  The woods will vary depending on what I have been making.  There may be pine, walnut, poplar, cherry, oak, maple, beech or others.  All blocks are made from virgin lumber without defects and knots.  Some of these blocks are made from extremely hard woods.  Blocks that are thrown have a potential of doing damage.  It is a 5 gallon bucket (about 100 pieces) if you are looking for a size reference.   I will need to keep the bucket I keep the blocks in.  The blocks will be delivered in a box.

Now for the competition.  I am going to do two with multiple opportunities to win and you can do both.

• First - How many buckets of blocks do I have currently completed? The person with the guess closest to the actual number with out going over will win the blocks.  Guesses should be in increments of a 1/4 of a bucket. One guess per person.
• Second - What is the next project I will be starting?  Only one guess per person.  I will be starting them on the holiday weekend and there is more than one correct answer.

The competition will conclude on the February 28th.  Please leave your answers in the comment section of this post.  If the blocks need to be shipped, the winner(s) will be responsible for shipping.

Here are some images of past block sets given away.

If you would like to cheat, I will be more than happy to give you a bucket of blocks if you purchase this plan for me.  You will incur the wrath of my wife who has stated that I cannot buy the pattern.

On a side note:  I have oak, maple and cherry smoking chips if you like to bar-b-que. Just another reason to know a wood worker.

A Little Personal Touch

I never did post this project.  I do not know why but I just never took pictures of it, probably because it is so simple.  A few months back I made a "giant" Jenga set.  It can be called several different things but it is a bunch of blocks that are stacked on top of each other.  This set currently sit in my office and every once in a while blocks mysteriously move.  My set is made out of 6/4 lumber (1 1/4" thick).  It stands a little less than 2 feet tall.  The set is slightly shorter than the 2X4 versions that are popping up on the web.  These literally are 2X4's cut and sanded with all the imperfections included.  I made mine out of poplar.  This really isn't the purpose of this post but it is useless information about a very simple game to duplicate.
I am learning that there is a draw to the hand crafted or antique piece.  It may not be the aesthetic or quality of the piece.  The main draw for me is the story behind the piece.  That is becoming more and more interesting to me.  So back to the Jenga set in my office.  A coworker wanted to have me make one for their son in college.  Not a problem.  The blocks were easy to make.  It took a little bit to finish them because I sealed and oiled them.  I wanted to do something thing more than just had over a box of blocks so I made a box, a cardboard box.  It wasn't much but it was a little bit about the presentation and a little more about making something a little more special.  Most of my things have a story behind them.  There might be a skill I learned or a a change in a common design.  I am beginning to understand why it is important to write the story. 
This coworker was the person who introduced me to the sand paper vendor that I currently use.  It is a poor correlation but I obviously used this sandpaper on this project.  Honestly, this sandpaper (Uneeda) is far superior to the other stuff that I have used.

The Ornament Nativity

So this year I made ornaments that had the same design as the boxes I did last year.  This was still a pattern with a lot of detail.  I was kind of rushed to do them because I put it off till the last minute.  They turned out nice, I am not so sure I like the ribbon on them.

There is one great lesson I learned from this project.  To preface, last year I learned that painter's tape between the wood and  the pattern makes the pattern come of cleaner and easier.  This year, I learned that if I put packing tape over the pattern, the pattern does not peel away from the wood when it is being cut.  Supposedly it prevents the wood from burning, but it kept the pattern from vibrating while being cut. 

Not sure what to do next year.  I do not think that I will be able to out do the past couple of years.

Year in review 2014

It is another year over and one more begins.  It was an interesting year for me.  There were some changes made last year that affected this year and some unexpected surprises. Here are the highlights of the goals I had last year.

• I wanted to finish the monster trucks.  Check, done and complete.  I am grateful they are complete.  It was a fun little project but one I will not soon repeat.
• Catch up on the Wood Magazine construction equipment.  I did and I am now three behind.  They have a front end rear loader, cement truck and crane that I have not done.  Honestly probably will not either.  These toys have become more intricate and fragile that I really do not want to build them.  In addition the hardware alone for the cement truck was $54 plus shipping.  Really not worth it.
• The CNC equipment has been a lot of fun to use.  There have been some projects that have been posted on the blog from this piece of equipment.  I still feel guilty sometimes that I am cheating when I use it.
• The Christmas project was completed and I have requests for more.  It will be featured later when I take pictures and post it.

So in review, here are some of the highlights of the year.

• The biggest and most noteworthy is that I have started to design.  It has been so much fun and rewarding.  I designed a dump truck at the beginning of the year and things just started to fall into place. Two of the projects were directly a result from requests.  I am currently working on the city trucks version of my designs.  I hope to have them completed end of February.
• We moved again.  The garage is slightly smaller but I did buy a miter saw and a drum sander.  I actually purchased it with money that I had earned over the past two years.  I am far from funding my hobby but I felt like it was an accomplishment.  I am still far from a lathe.  I am still going to need some type of dust collection in the garage before I think about a lathe or planer.
• I joined the Inland Empire Scroll Saw Association.  Small little group of relatively old people, but they have a lot of fun and have a lot of talent.  It is a little bit of a narrow scope of wood working but it is something that I am learning and growing in.  In November they have a toy drive of all handmade toys.  The group donated over 1500 wood toys.  I think I added 9 to the mix.  We will have to see what next year brings.  I have committed to make two of everything, one for my kids and one to donate.
• I was contacted about my alien nativity.  It was some one interested in making one for a school and where I had purchased the plans.  He was from England.  It was a nice little reminder of why I created and maintain this blog and how small this world has become with technology.  I also found the shepherd plans and so my nativity is complete.  This was also the first year that I displayed my nativities for all to see at the Upland Creche festival.  I do not know if there was any comments but it was nice to show them off since they do not get displayed much.

My favorite projects this year.

• First was the train.  Let's face it, it is an awesome train!  It was a challenge and was my first big design project.  There were things that I learned and it was enough of a challenge to keep the project interesting until the end.
• A close second was the excavator.  It actually scoops!  The design was the challenge of project and I was always anxious to see it all the moving parts would work together.

I don't know what next year will bring.  I have some ideas but I really don't know.  Here are some things that I would like to accomplish.

• I am going to continue designing. I have about three designs in process and hope to add some more.  I am thinking I need to design some toys for girls but not sure what to make.  
• I am going to stick with the scroll saw association and see where that takes me this year.  I have learned that my toys are simple in the way of design.  I like being intricate with the scroll saw designs.  I do not have a Christmas project picked out next year. Maybe I will take it off.  
• I hope to get a website launched.  Several people tell me I need to sell my stuff.  I think that I will start with plans.  I really have a fear of not making deadlines.  If I miss a deadline, I ruin a kid's present.  

It has been a fun year.  I am looking forward to 2015.