Odin's Toy Factory

2017-11-14

One of My Cars Was Featured in the Shopsmith Catalog

When they ask Shopsmith owners for photos of their projects to be featured in the up coming catalog I didn't expect much but since I already had a shared folder of photos all I had to do was send them a link.

Yesterday I received a large envelope with two catalogs and nice thank you note and $25 gift card from Shopsmith. I flipped through the catalog and sure enough there were photos of one of my cars.

Shopsmith Catalog Page 39

Shopsmith Catalog Bak Page

Wood Toy Cars, Wooden Cars, Wood Toys, Wooden Car, Wood Toy Car, Hot Rod, 1932 Ford, 32 Deuce Coupe, Little Deuce Coupe, Roadster, Race Car

Etsy Listing - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe 564994463

Made from pine and finished with hand brushed amber shellac with black trim on the exhaust pipes and hubs. The wheels are birch finished with amber shellac. Yet another in this series. The 32 Deuce Coupe is my favorite. A slightly different version of this car is featured in two reciently released versions of the Shopsmith catalog.

Left Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Right Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Left Side - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Right Side - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Left Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Right Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Left Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Right Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Left Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Right Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Left Side - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Right Side - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Front - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Top Rear - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

Bottom - Wood Toy Cars - Wooden Cars - Wood Toys - Wooden Car - Wood Toy Car - Hot Rod - 1932 Ford - 32 Deuce Coupe - Little Deuce Coupe - Roadster - Race Car

2017-10-15

Etsy Listing - Wooden Toy Car, Hot Rod Freaky Ford, 27 Coupe, Pine, Amber Shellac, Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Right Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

I made a bunch of Hot Rods primarily to build something simple that I could learn to do finishing and painting. Until last year I had not made any painted or finished toys. It was a major learning curve for me. I was trained and worked for awhile as an professional auto painter but this was very different. All of the paints and tools were different.

One of the biggest things I had to do was learn how to apply finishes in a place where very high humidity was the norm. Where I live in the Florida pan handle the humidity generally starts at 99% in the early morning and doesn't get low enough to paint until some time in the afternoon. In the summer there is blistering heat in the afternoons. In by yard this summer the heat index got up to 116 degrees. You can't paint in this kind of heat either. This is especially true for spray painting wooden toys. Water in the air will get mixed in with your spray and ruin your finish. I was attempting to spray some shellac on one of these wooden toy hotrods I make and the alcohol pulled water out of the air and I had dew drops all over my freshly sprayed shellac. Then there are the afternoon thunder storms.

The humidity goes down to 60% by afternoon and then the storms come. It pours down rain for awhile and goes away. The sun is beating down and humidity levels are back in the 90% plus range again. I can't spray pretty much anything in these conditions. I also work full time at my day job and only have about a two hour window to work with. That's when the storms come. What I really need is a small spray booth.

For these reasons and several more that I plan to write about in future posts most of what I make is painted/finished with a brush. This Wooden Hot Rod Freaky Ford is no exception. All of the finish you see in the photos is done by hand with a brush.

Top Left Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Left Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Right Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Right Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Left Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Rear - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Top Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 27 Coupe - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

2017-10-14

Etsy Listing - Hand Made Wood Toy Cars, Hot Rod Freaky Ford 1932 Ford Sedan

I did a lot of testing photography testing on this one I must have deleted 50 photos that I didn't like before I finally settled on some I liked well enough to use for the shop. On the internet especially handmade items. Vintage and collectors items also need really good photos. The buyer cant see it, pick it up, feel it, smell it or interact with it in any way other than your photos. I do my best to make quality toys and I want prospective buyers to see that when the look at my photos. If a picture is worth 1000 words the the ten photos that Etsy lets you put in your listing are worth 10,000 words. I can't put that many words into the description.

Photos are also what gets buyers into your shop. 80-90% of my views come from Pinterest and other places I have posted photos.

I find it amazing that i can easily find items for sell on EBay that have terrible photos. I've seen terrible photos that were dark blurry and out of focus in listings that were trying to sell a Nikon camera.

What I was trying to do is get all of the toy in sharp focus. What I discovered was that this is almost impossible with the equipment I have. If I am very careful I can get close but I can't get the depth of field wide enough at the distance I need to shoot at. I can back away and get it wider but I sacrifice some of the detail.

My photos are way better than when I opened my store last year but they could be a lot better and easier. I could use some more/better lighting too. My table top studio works great for small items like these toy cars but not very well for larger items.

This is another version of the Hot Rod Freaky Ford 1932 Sedan. It's not that much different than some of the previous versions I have made. The purple and black trim are new. I thought I had one like this in the store already but when I looked I could not find one. The toys cars body cut from a pine 2x4 using a scroll saw and a #5 skip tooth blade.

There is always a lot of sanding to do on these. Pine 2x4s seldom cut smooth enough to suit me. I get lots of tear out and fuzziness I have to deal with. Most of the sanding I do with a belt sander. If I had the room I would have several of them set up with different grits. Belt sanders are very aggressive and it takes a bit of practice to do a good job with them. If you are going to build quality wooden toys you are going to do a lot of sanding. I can do everything from grind a car body out of a block of wood to some pretty delicate work. I currently have three belt sanders.

Left Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Front - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Side - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Rear Top - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Rear Top - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Left Side Top - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

Right Side Top - Wooden Toy Car - Hot Rod Freaky Ford - 32 Sedan - Pine - Amber Shellac - Metallic Purple Hubs

2017-10-11

Wood Toy Car, Hot Rod '27 T-Coupe, Handmade and Finished with Amber Shellac with Black Acrylic Paint 550346824

This is the best one of this series I have made so far. There are few things that could be improved on using the materials I had available.

If you look close you can see a few spots where there is some tear out that could not be fixed without sanding away enough of the wood to change the look of the car. Working with pine 2x4s is a mixed blessing. They are dirt cheap but are really hard to work with. I've thrown away more than a few bodies because the tear out was so bad that the toy part wasn't useable.

On the front there is a spot where some shellac dripped. I did not see this until I was processing the photos. It could have been fixed but it's to late now.

There are a few places that could be a little smoother. Again these were not visible to me until the photos were done. I'm not sure I would have done anything to improve them. To produce a glassy smooth surface on the pine I'm using would require an enormous amount of work. If you want to see all you defects get some good lights and do a a photo shoot.

The rest of the photos are here.

Buy Now: https://www.etsy.com/listing/550346824/

Other Items You May Like

Hot Rods:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/odinstoyfactory?search_query=hot+rod

Toy Cars:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/odinstoyfactory?section_id=34638962

Toy Trucks:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/odinstoyfactory?section_id=34653279

Shop Front Page:
https://odinstoyfactory.etsy.com