Odin's Toy Factory

My axel drying rack. These are not dipped they are brush painted. Each color pair  fits the truck they are aligned with. I paint the axles before mounting the wheels. I painted them with a brush for a long time. Brushing almost always needed at least to coats. Metallic paints were the worst. When applying the first coat of metallic paint, the color would soak in rapidly, leaving the metallics on the surface. Nowadays, I dip the ends of the axels in a couple of drops of paint. I touch the end of the axel to the paint and holds it there for a couple of seconds. Holding the axel in the paint for a short time lets the end grain soak up as much paint as it can. So far, this has been very successful and never requires a second coat of paint. You need to dip the axel just enough to cover the entire end with a tiny bit of overlap. It the wheels fit snug, this extra paint will get scraped off by the wheels. I usually let the paint dry overnight. I hand fit each axel to the car body. Rou...

To make internal cuts with a scroll saw, you need to drill access holes to insert the blade. These holes need to be square to the top of the piece. If the internal cut is large, you can drill them without a drill press using a handheld drill. As the internal cuts get smaller, you must drill the as near to vertical as possible. For me, this means I have to use a drill press or other device. I started with a Dremel drill press and a Craftsman rotary tool. The Dremel drill press worked great for me until I started making larger projects where I could not drill holes where I needed them. Dremel Drill Press Stand Craftsman Rotary Tool My next tool was a small benchtop Central Machinery drill press. I bought this drill press because the chuck would fit the smallest bit I had at the time, and it was cheaper than buying a replacement chuck for my large floor standing press. Plus I was not too fond of the idea of changing the chuck when I needed to use larger bits. After a few years...