Scroll Saw Cars

I am not sure were the idea came from to come up with a car carrier but it was a little bigger than I imagined. It all started with the cars.  I wanted to have a little more detail in the cars than in the trucks that I have previously built, so it did them in layers.  I struggled to maintain my goal of having only standard 3/4" thick lumber, but it just was not going to work.  My restraint was the width of the car carrier at 6".  This made the cars 4 1/2" wide.  Then it was going back and forth between images and drawings until I was satisfied with the image. 

Here are the design concepts that did across the all cars and then I will get into the specifics.  The first is that I really do not like to sand so I tried to make parts that were difficult sand not line up.  All the insides of the cars (sedan is the exception) have parts that do not line up so I did not really have to sand things flush.  I used 1/8" holes to line everything up.  10d brad nails are just under 1/8" in diameter so it makes them an excellent choice to use as alignment pegs. I do not recommend using them if they are coated in glue or slightly bent.  They do not work as well.

 The Sedan

 Probably the hardest to sand.  All the seats line up.  I tried hard to put fenders on it and the more and more I tried the sillier it looked.  I wanted the big proud look of a luxury car in this design and it was not going to happen.  Beside the fact that it was a pain to sand it turned out alright.

The Sports Car

This was one of the hardest to design.  The sports car had a lot of curves and needed to look good.  in concept and drawing it looked good but I did not know what it would look like in reality, not bad.

The Beetle

Fun little car to make.  This is probably the only car that I did not change on the fly.  The hardest part on the the beetle was the bumpers.  I think i power sanded them off.

The Pickup Truck

I had to make a pickup truck.  It is actually designed after my old Tacoma but Toyota probably does people to know that.  The bumpers were again a problem. Main complaint was the small wheels.  The plans know call out for the larger wheels.




The wood is poplar and several people have commented on the color variation.  Unfortunately that is the beauty of poplar and the poor planning of the woodworker.  I use poplar because I really cannot beat the price of $2.25 a board foot for prototyping.  If  I was to make this for a client the cars would be out of a more durable wood and I would match the colors/grain better.
All the cars were designed with 1 1/4" wheels.  This size fit the beetle but looked horrible on the other three.  I was able to change the sports car and sedan in time, but it was a little late for the pickup truck.  Part of the looks good on paper, looks bad in real life.
I designed headlights on everything but the sports car.  Once I had them built I decided against trying to drill for headlights.  Planning wise, I should have done it at the begining.  I was not willing to risk ruining these for some holes.

Here is a little on how I designed them. I knew the width which meant that I had 6 board thicknesses/layers that I could work with.  I started drawing the side of the car.  Once I like the drawing I saved it then copied the design onto another drawing.  I modified that drawing into the next layer making sure to maintain all the dimensions of original side drawing and hole locations.   Then I moved to the next layer using the same technique.  The last thing I did was the fenders.

This project took a lot longer than I had expected.  The goal was Christmas now it is Valentine's day. Hope the kids enjoy it.  All cars are 4 1/2" wide and are between 7-10" long.  They are decent size and easy to grip with the window cut outs.

Step Stools or Time Out Chairs

So I got the step stools/time out chairs completed.  These are going to be for Valentine's gifts for my sons.  Each of them have there name carved into them.  I used a CNC for that part.  I was going to post pictures with their names but for internet safety I am posting the one I did with no name.  My wife may use this one for me.I used a CNC machine to make the template and engrave the names.  The rest was done by me and power tools.  This would be the first time I did through tenons.  I may not do them again.  It is not that they were difficult, I just did not like the look and when I screwed up, it is very noticeable.  I screwed up plenty.

The wood is maple and African mahogany.  It was the first time working with African mahogany.  If machines well with the gran but against the grain it behaves like a brittle poplar.  Stain is my go to shellac and I put on five coats.  I am a little worried about the step portion.  I never sanded the the top figuring the grain raise will provide traction. The step is about 8" from the ground and the total width is 12".  Fun quick build.

Now the question is what trouble can my boys reach now?

Lesson Told Now Learned

When I took over the sample shop at the company I currently work for, my first goal was to stock the department with the small tools that they needed so they were not waiting on each other.   One of the recommendations was more clamps.  I asked if they wanted more quick grips because they were faster to use and less cumbersome than the bar clamps.  I was told the quick grips do not have enough holding force for what was required.  I thought that was an interesting comment and tucked it away as a metal note.

Eighty percent of my clamps are quick grip style clamps.  They work just fine for making toys and I have large bar clamps (not quick grip style) for larger pieces.  I am currently working on my kids Valentine gifts.  I received a slab of 10/4 mahogany from a friend cleaning out their garage.  It was water damaged and I was not sure what it was used for so it will not be made into toys.  I figured I could do some through mortises on this project.  Sorry not saying what it is because my wife also does not know and it drives her nuts.  So I made template.  I realized why I do not do a lot of this joinery.  I even cheated and did the template on using CNC.  I cut out most of the material before using a flush trim bit to clean it out.  I started routing and the template moved.  Adjusted it back and made sure my quick grips were really tight and tried again.  It moved again.  I used my bigger quick grips that supposedly have more holding force.  It moved again.  Brought out my furniture screw type clamps.  This time it did not move.  Quick grip clamps are good but not for holding router templates.  The lesson learned a while ago now makes sense.  Looks like I need more clamps.

Redesign and Maintenance Work

I have been making the redesigned/improved rubber band guns.  It is interesting how popular they are.  So I will start with the redesign.  The first thing that I did was increase the barrel size to 3/4" dowel.  Home Depot has a cart with 3/4" square and round dowel for the same price as the 5/8" dowel in their quality section.  The only difference is they come from random scrap wood.  So I have found zebra wood, walnut, African mahogany among others in this section.  The quality is comparable to their other section.  I do have a little rant on Home Depot dowels I will get to later.  On the barrels I drilled notches on both sides.  One side I left both prongs for the business end, the other I left only one to load the rubber bands on.  This removed the 1/4" dowel on the back side which seemed pointless on the first build.  I then tapered both ends.  The front ends for aesthetics and the other end squared the sides to hold more rubber bands.  I found that the round end caused the rubber bands to slip and miss fire.  This feature, with the larger diameter dowel, allows for more rubber bands to be loaded.  That is it for the barrel.

                 

The last big adjustment was the removable pin on the crank.  I am left handed and stuck up about it.  Not really, but it does make it difficult some times.  The pin  allows the crank to be either on the right or left sides.  I am happy with the improvements

I am not happy with the dowel section of Home Depot.  They advertise as hardwood dowels.  I get that means poplar and oak dowels.  This would be in their "quality dowels".  On this trip to get the 3/16" dowels to peg in the barrels, I had the choice between oak and pine.  Last time I checked pine is not a hardwood.  In the 3/4" off cut section, also labeled hardwood dowels, they had bass wood.  Again not a hard wood.  I have started looking at ordering dowel online.  With a slightly higher quantity order and no shipping charges (yes it is offered) I can get dowels cheaper than the big box stores.  That was my little rant.

I have also been doing a little maintenance to my shop furniture.  I finally put the doors on the sanding cart.  Doors were kind of needed because of all the dust.  I did concealed hinges.  It is the first time I have used these in a while.  The firs time it did not go very well and I have shied away from them for a long time.  Same went with hardware.  I am pleasantly please with how everything went together. Here were the main take ways from the project.  This time I had more accurate measuring tools.  Ruled squares were a big help in making sure that everything was the same distance.  The drill press was also a huge help in boring the hinge holes.  I also learned putting a scrap block behind the door prevents blow out.  I also added the rails for the hanging file holders in the bottom drawer (sorry no picture).  Much better than making my own.

I have also started adding wall cabinets to the shop.  This is more of a request of my wife.  She is tired of all the dust that accumulates on the shelves.  I did not make these.  They are purchased.  One of the perks of working at a cabinet manufacturing plant.  First time installing kitchen cabinets.  Not all that bad.  If I had to do it again, I would have moved the washer and dryer first.

Hopefully the next post will be the finished car carrier.

Year in Review

What a year!  The big mile stone was launching All Natural Toy Plans on Etsy.  What a neat little experience.  There are some things that I have learned and things that I definitely need to improve on. I have enjoyed talking with people all over the world because of putting things on the internet.  It is very obvious that products sell more than plans, but plans are the product that provide conversations.  Customer service and marketing has always been a struggle.  My shipments are literally is a box.  I finally put my logo on the return address.  I need to put some sort of thank you card in there but really have never thought about it.  I have also learned that people ask for information so I had a couple of business cards printed to carry around.  Still learning Etsy and it is always nice to see a sale on the account.  I am learning that the larger more expensive toys do not sell as well as the smaller ones.  I do not have a lot of small toys in the shop, but hope to change that this year.
Highlights of this year:

• Two of the biggest were already mentioned.  I started an Etsy store and made enough in sales that I funded my projects.
• Did a little bit of shop work.  I made the sanding cart this year.  It holds all the supplies for making toys.  All my wheels, pegs, and accessories are in organized drawers along with all my sanding equipment.  This is a great addition to the shop.
• Completed a bunch of Christmas presents and that was no easy task.  There were 12 sets of nativity keys and 3 nativity boxes.  Sadly I did not find another Christmas project I liked to make this year.  I did figure out the way I wanted to hang my set of keys.  Now I just need to finish it.  I found next year's project.  Now I have to find out if I can use it.

Goals that I had this year:

• Start an online store front.  That is done and in process.  I can't be done because if I go stagnant it will never grow.  This project was long over due and have had success with it.  This year I fully funded my wood working projects.  Something that I have never been able to do.
• Continue designing.  I did it again this year.  Made some changes and built some pretty need toys.  This will be an ongoing goal.
• The scroll saw association has been fun.  There are a lot of good people and fun to be around.  I bring one of my kids to each meeting.  Sometimes they listen, most of the time they play on the phone.  Last year they tried to make me the president and it didn't work.  Maybe this year I will work on their web-based advertising.  They really do not have an online presence.

Favorite projects this year:

• Favorite is the tow truck.  Simple design that posed some challenges.  It solved some of the problems that I have had with other designs.   The tow truck has also withstood the beatings that my kids have put it though.  A feat that I cannot say with other designs.
• The second will not make my wife pleased but it was the rubber band gun.  This is one that I did not design.  This project is one of my favorite builds not projects.  It came at a time where I just needed something simple, quick and fun for me.  The trucks and toys are great and fun to watch the kids play with them.  I needed a little bit of stress relief and this provided it.  I do not have any of the rubber band guns in my possession.

Goals for 2016:

• This is where my business sense falls a part.  I plan on releasing more plans, however, I do not know how to grow the business or promote it.  I have a smaller set of trucks that I am currently working on which are not friendly to small kids (under 3).  This is to hit the lower price point product.
• I am almost done with the car carrier.  That should be a quick finish.
• I need to have more kids over to play with the toys that I make.  It really does not do much for my  enjoyment (it is actually a little stressful) but my kids enjoy it and they are proud of the toys.

 Here is to another fun year. 

Old Tradition Revised

When I was young, my parents took the Christmas tree and hung it from the ceiling.  It sounds odd but it was very practical.  How many stories are there on social media of kids and pets knocking over the Christmas tree.  This tree hung the fragile ornaments and some of the handmade ones collected over the years.  Now with toddlers of my own, I want to have ornaments on the tree without the fear of some of the more fragile ones being broken.

The hanging tree was not really feasible in my place so the next option was to make a hanging tree.  The objective was to have a place to hang the fragile ornaments that we as a family are collecting through our adventures.  The wood is bass wood so that I can put pins in it and gives a nice display piece that can be hung on the wall.  I made two because there are only going to be more family adventures.

 The other piece that is almost completed is the display case for the nativity keys.  I have been asked how I am going to display these keys.  Well this is how. 

 It is is a walnut frame that has the saying "For unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord".  I like how it came out.  Glad I did it.  Sorry, I don't have more detail pictures on the lettering.  They came out blurry.

No Guns Allowed

I found this plan in the Scroll Saw Gadgets and gizmos Magazine.  I actually did not buy the magazine for this plan but it was a nice little added plan.  It can be done over a weekend.  The concept is sound but there are a couple of small changes I would do to the design.  First, the crank arm is too long.  I would shorten it up.  Second the small dowels on the back side to keep the rubber bands from slipping off the dowels are completely useless.  Third I would remove the sight.  The string seems to encounter a lot of friction through this part. I would put the side mount.  Granted, this would cause the rubber bands to fire from the side instead of the top, but,who cares, it is not like it is very accurate. 

It looks like the plans are available online for free.  It says that 100 rubber bands can be loaded on the barrel if done correctly.  I have been able to load 80.  It does take a little while to load and has a rage of about 20-30 feet.  I will link to a couple of videos. 

I made three, two of which will be sold on my Etsy account.  I hope to list them the beginning of December.  I am going to make a couple of the changes I mentioned above. 

A couple of things that are were nice about this build.  It was easy.  It was nice just to build.  I tend to over design and over complicate things.  I did dowel in everything so the barrels will not com off.  Sometimes it is nice to unload a bunch of rubber bands and loading them can be relaxing too.  My wife does say no guns allowed, so the one that I am keeping is now at the office.

Video 1
Video 2