Odin's Toy Factory

I make toys and fretwork. Here is my take. 1. Workbench with a Vise It doesn't have to be fancy, but you can't work without it. 2. Drill Press Everything I do uses a drill press in some form or another. Drilling, hole saw for making wheels and sanding with various attachments.  Sanding mops are a must have in my shop. You can use it as a drum sander, and there are many attachments that you can buy or make for it. 3. Belt Sander I have a 1" x 42" Delta Belt and disk sander. This one is very much like it. I also have a 6x48-inch belt sander. One or both of these get used on every project. I don't find the disk sander to be very useful. 4. Saw - Type depends on the situation. You need to cut wood  Provided you can get the wood in the thickness you need. There are many options. If all you are doing is scrollsaw projects, a hand saw will work. You can use a scroll saw in place of a bandsaw for everything but resawing lumber. You can use a scroll saw for

Harbor Freight - Pittsburgh 4 inch Ratcheting Bar Clamp The first one of these I ever saw was the next larger size. I purchased some and discovered that the clamps would not hold. I could clamp hem down tight, and a short time later I would find the clamp had loosened. I finally gave up on them when one broke and tossed them in the recycle bins. Several times over the last few years, I tried them again in the store and found that they broke easily and would not clamp tightly. I got a deal on some Irwin clamps and didn't look at them again. The one day I received an email from a trusted friend telling me how great the 4-inch clamps worked and that with a coupon I could buy them for $0.99 each. I build toys, and when I am making a large batch of them, I sometimes run out of small clamps. For $0.99 I had to give these a try. They must not make many of the Pittsburg 4-inch clamps, or they are in high demand because I had to stop by the store several times to get five of them. Once

Handmade Wooden Toy Cars Bad Bob's Custom Motors Sedans & Coupes In Various Colors Here is a fleet of cars ready for the camera. A few of them are missing from the photo. My grandson managed to talk me out of four of them. One of them he gave to his friend for a Christmas gift. These cars were a lot more work than they appeared to be looking at the number of parts. The fenders are delicate until I glued them to the body of the car. I broke several of the solid wood fenders during sanding. The next batch I make with this style fender will either have plywood or other laminated wood fenders. Baltic birch would work well, I think. The breakage problem was caused by the cross grain in the thin part of the wood. With this shape, there is no way to cut the fender where there isn't a weak point. To get around this problem, I cut the frames so the more vulnerable areas would be glued directly to the sides of the body of the wooden car. They are plenty strong once glued.

KEO 53512 Cobalt Steel Single-End Countersink, TiN Coated, 82 Degree Point Angle, Round Shank, 5/16" Shank Diameter, 1/2" Body Diameter This isn't a tool I use much for toy making, but I use it a lot for making jigs and special purpose fences. I have tried lots of countersinks for cheap ones from Harbor Freight to some expensive Bosch brand countersinks. Some cut better than others, but they all chattered. After trying one of these, the others went into the recycle bin. In some materials, this countersink will cut shavings not chips. You will get smooth, round countersinks. After using this one for a while, the others went into the recycle bin. I don't use it for metal, but you can use it for that. From the seller, " Cobalt steel tools are similar to high-speed steel, but with more cobalt for improved performance when cutting harder metals such as stainless steel or nickel alloy." The KEO 53512 Cobalt Steel Single-End Countersink co