What Airbrush Should I Buy For Painting Toys?

I've made a lot of toys over the years. Most of the toys I made were not finished or had a little polyurethane on them. I didn't paint any of them.

Then one day I saw some painted toys. that looked really nice. I decided that I wanted to try this out for myself. It seemed to me that air brushes would be the way to go. I had an airbrush that I had picked up at a yard sale years ago and an air compressor. I also went to school to learn autobody painting and worked as a painter for a short time. How hard could it be?

It didn't take long before I realised that airbrushing toys was a lot more complicated than I had expected. The paints were very different and worst of all I could not just google up some videos about how to airbrush toys. Most people that were finishing toys were using mineral oil concoctions or rattle can paint. I didn't find a single tutorial how to about painting toys with an air brush. I was going to have to figure this all out for myself.

I started with the airbrush I already owned soon discovering that it needed a bit of help. Fortunately for me it was a Badger and they have parts and support for old air brushes and I was soon able to get it up and running. I wanted to use acrylic paints mainly because the others I looked at required the use of expensive solvents with warnings on the labels about brain damage from inhaling fumes. They were also flammable.

My yard sale airbrush didn't work. I started buying airbrushes and trying them with a variety of acrylic paints. Most of them just didn't work with the paints I wanted to use.

I now own about 10 airbrushes. Badger and Chinese imports. The Chinese airbrushes work if you want to use the expensive paints made for airbrush artists. They didn't work for acrylic house paint or the $0.99 bottles of craft paint they sell at WalMart.

After lots of experimenting, the airbrush I recommend you start with is a Badger Anthem 155. It will spray anything you might want up to and including acrylic house paint and automotive paints. It will spray them all with the same needle. Badger airbrushes have seals that will stand up to lacquer thinners and other harsh solvents. Parts are available cheap from Badger, Amazon, eBay and other sources. You will break something. Drop the needle on a concrete floor and it will be toast. Parts and support are important. Badger will rebuild your air bush for the cost of the parts. Badger is a US company and all their parts are made here.

Badger 155 Anthem Airbrushes

Parts for Chinese air brushes are hard to come by and believe it or not expensive. I broke the tip in one of mine and the replacement cost more than I paid for the airbrush. In some of the Chinese air brushes lacquer thinners and other solvents will eat the seals. Good luck with finding the seals. Essentially they are disposables. If you don't mind buying a new airbrush everytime you breaks a part these may be just the thing you need.

Master Brand Made In China Airbrush Purchased On eBay

I spent way more time and money than I should have to to figure all of this out. The biggest problem was that most of the information that was available on the internet was totally unrelated to what I wanted to do or posted by people that really did understand paints and how they work.  I spent money on things I didn't need just to try them for myself. I have lots of airbrush stuff that I will probably never use again. Save your time and money.

Buy the Badger Anthem 155.

I don't work for Badger and they are not a sponsor.

First Bad Bob's Custom Motors Coupe Is Complete

First Prototype of the Bad Bob's Custom Motors Coupe is done.


All of the parts were painted before assembly. Paint blocks the pores of the wood and prevents the wood glue from penetrating into the wood. To get a good bond you must leave the contact surfaces free of paint. This is much more difficult than it sounds.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bob's Motors Coupe - Green - Yellow

Getting the fenders mounted without damaging the paint was a real challenge.  I had to line them up on the body of the car and trace around them with a pencil so I could see where not to paint. I painted over the lines while painting the body but only a small amount. I should have painted more aggressively leaving a much narrower strip bare for the glue. The tracing failed to account for the rounded corners of the fenders and I had to do some touch-up painting.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bob's Motors Coupe - Green - Yellow

Al the rest of the parts were easy because they fit into deep holes. All I had to do was paint half of the dowel put a small amount of glue on it and slide it home.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bob's Motors Coupe - Green - Yellow

 I have nine more of these in the queue. The next one is a sedan probably painted a solid color. The green and yellow colors were requested by my grandson and quality assurance tester. As always he gets the first ones to test.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bob's Motors Coupe - Green - Yellow

Some Thoughts on Scroll Saws

I started with a cheap Taiwanese cast iron saw. It immediately became apparent that the pin end blades were not going to hack it. I installed a modification that let me use good quality pinless blades and I was on my way. I made some nice Victorian fretwork pieces with that setup. Blade changes were difficult.

Oak Scrollsaw Fretwork Shelf Cut On An AMT Castiron Scrollsaw

These were made in Taiwan and sold under several different brands. They also made several models. There are a lot these scroll saws still available on the used market. You can pick one up for $50 or even less. Pinless upgrades were still available last time I looked.

The blade changing left a lot to be desired and the built-in blower was worthless. I replaced the blower with an old aquarium pump. It's a good idea to have a few extra blade clamps. When a blade breaks the clamps sometimes flying across the shop.

As far as cut quality goes it cut very well. Glass smooth surfaces were easy to get in hardwoods and sometimes even in pine. If you can tolerate the blade changes it will do a good job for you.

Cast Iron AMT 4600 Scroll Saw 

Years later I picked up an older RBI Hawk that needed a little work. After refurbishing it I was off and running. It was a way better saw and I could stand up and cut. I have never been a fan of sitting down to cut

Blade changes were still a problem. I upgraded it to toolless blade holders and that helped a lot but I still had to take the bottom clamp out to change the blade. The bottom clamp must be removed from this saw to change the blade and it takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it. If the blade breaks the lower clamp might go flying. I've spent some time on my knees looking for the clamp.

The saw cuts great. The blower works. Replacement parts and support are available. RBI saws are designed for continuous use one might say industrial use.  

The only thing I really don't like about RBI saws is the table. It is made out of aluminum. I would much rather have iron or steel. Castiron with a little wax on it is slick and smooth. No matter how much you wax and polish aluminum it will never be as smooth as cast iron. I use magnetic lamps and like to use magnets for jigs and fixtures. Magnets will not stick to aluminum tables.

These are not common on the used market but they do turn up from time to time. I paid $100 for this one and spent nearly that much refurbishing it.  If you are patient you can find these in good condition for 300 to 400 dollars.

RBI Hawk Scroll Saw

Then I saw a video of someone making through cuts on and Excalibur EX21. I must have one so I set up automated searches on Craigslist and eBay. After about a year I scored one for $400.

The blade clamps are fixed to the machine. No more chasing blade clamps around the garage. Blade changes are simple once you get used to it you can change blades very fast.

Bottom or top feed? You can do either. I like to bottom feed probably because that is the way I always did it before I got this saw. However, once in awhile I have a project that requires top feeding. With this saw, you can do both.

The blade tilts not the table.

The table is steel so my magnets work great with it.

Blade tensioning is almost automatic. There is an alignment procedure in the manual. If the saw is properly aligned the blade is tensioned with the flip of the lever.

Excalibur EX21 Scrollsaw - RBI on Left - AMT On The Right Side

For about a year these three machines were side by side in my shop so I did some experimenting. The larger more expensive machines cut thick stock better. I routinely cut 1.5-inch wood for my toys.

For smoothness of cuts. The RBI wins but the Taiwanese cast iron saw was right behind it. The cheap saw would cut a piece of 1/4 inch oak and leave a glassy smooth edge. EX21 was a close last for smoothness. Not that it doesn't cut smooth. It's possible to adjust the aggressiveness of the cut on the EX21. This might smooth out the cut. I have never adjusted it.

Don't buy a saw that uses pin end blades no matter how cheap it is.

Buy good quality blades. It doesn't matter how good your saw is if your blades are junk it will not cut well. This is true for any saw.

Buy used. In my area, the population density is low and good used tools are hard to find. I keep several searches going all the time on Craigslist for scroll saws and other tools. About once a week I see new listings for scroll saws. Dremel and Craftsman saws seem to be in the majority. Many are barely touched and occasionally there is one new in the box.

Practice! Using a scrollsaw is a skill that you must learn by doing. The more you cut the better you will get at it. When I first started I cut out small animals from one of Patrick Spielman's books. They were simple, small so they use very little wood, and best of all when I was done I had a toy that I could give to kids to play with. My kids are grown and now my grandson plays with these.

Wooden Toy Animals and Puzzles Made While Learning To Use My First Scrollsaw

There are lots of practice patterns but when you are done you have firewood or trash. I say jump right in and make some small things. If you ruin it you haven't wasted any more time or wood than you would be using for a practice pattern.  You can get a free toy pattern at ToyMakingPlans.com.

Wooden Toy Car - Mini Van - Play Pal - Edge Painted - Blue

You can make nice stuff with a cheaper low end saw but they also cost you time. You can't get the time/life back. You can get more money. For this reason, I almost always use the EX21 for anything that has a number of inside/through cuts.

The RBI gets used mostly for outside cuts where I don't need to remount the blade much. It is also tall and I like to cut standing up.

The AMT I gave away to a friend. I didn't use it anymore and needed the floor space.

If I were in the market to buy a new scrollsaw today and money were no object. I think I would buy a new RBI.  A lot of the shortcomings have been addressed. they are simpler (less moving parts) and they are industrial grade saws made to run continusly. Made in the USA too. Support and parts availability are a big deal for me. RBI has this even for older saws.

Using a Plane When Making Wooden Toys

Stanley Block Plane Used to Smooth the Flat Surfaces of This Wooden Toy Car Body

I don't know why I never thought of this before. Possibly, because I have been conditioned to think of planes as something you use for making furnture or trimming a stuck door. I have watched many YouTube videos about making wooden toys. I can only recall one instance where a plane was used. I saw this yesterday.

Lots of toys have flat surfaces that could be planed. Some of them will require a bit of ingenuity to figure out how to hold the irregular shapes.

 I can cut a pretty good line with a scroll saw. However, it's almost never perfect. This is especially true with the thicker bodies where the blade will sometimes try to follow the grain. I can cut it smooth enough that I can't see the ripples with my naked eye, but my fingers know the difference. The imperfections can be amplified when you apply paint or other finish and it really shows when you sand between coats. Better and easier to fix it now than after the painting has started.

I usually use a belt sander for smoothing the flat surfaces on my toys. Belt sanders work well for this job but they are noisy and create a lot of dust and I can't use them when my grandson is in the shop with me I don't want to use most power tools. Planes are quiet. They don't make any dust and as long as I do my part correctly they can produce a dead flat surface ready to paint that is much smoother than I could ever get with sandpaper.
I planed the flat parts of 19 car bodies using two block planes. An old (antique) Stanley and a cheap Scotties store branded block plane made in Taiwan. The Stanley did a much better job due primarily to the adjustable mouth.

Shanley and Tiwanese Scotties Branded Block Planes I Used

Lessons learned. No Knots! I a couple of the bodies had small knots. I could not get an acceptable surface on these and they will need to be sanded anyway. You need very sharp blades. You are not hogging off wood. You want to remove very thin shavings with little or no tear out. Dull blades also increase the risk of breaking smaller parts.

Planes are always going to be used in my future toy making. Now I'm wondering if I could use my scrapers for the curved toy parts.

Tools - Jorgesen Heavy Duty Bar Clamp

Jorgensen Clamps are the best clamps I own. Especially the Heavy Duty versions. I had a few of and was picking up a few at a time until I I found out they were moving production to China. I went to every Home Depot in my area and bought all of the Made in USA clamps I could find.  They were pretty easy to spot because they all had wood handles while the Chinese made ones had the newer style rubber coated plastic handles.

When I heard the company folded I hit the stores again and bought what they had left that I thought were good enough.  These were all made in China. The fit and finish were not as good as the made in USA clamps but so far I really haven't had an issue with them.

These are big heavy clamps and I don't use them for everything. Every once in awhile when you really need to squeeze something hard these will do the Job. With 1500 pounds of clamping pressure it's almost like clamping. In a vise.

I still search for used ones. When I find them, for sale on eBay or Craigslist you would think they were made of gold. I read somewhere that someone had bought the brand and was going to bring them back. Home Depot still has them in their web store but none are in stock. Hopefully, they will return someday and I'll get a nice surprise.

3706 HD Jorgesen Heavy Duty Bar Clamp 

Resawing Small Irregular Shaped Parts - Can it be done?

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Coupe

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Sedan

I started making these before the "official plans were released. I only had drawings and no final dimensions. I made some assumptions and one of them turned out to be wrong. I made the fenders to thick.  Now I had a pile of fenders the wrong size.

I needed to remove 1/2 inch or make new fenders.

I could sand them to size on a belt sander but the weather is miserable and I sure don't want to do that kind of sanding in my garage.

Scrollsaw? No way I could hold it straight enough and they would likely break.

Use the table saw. Forget it. I could have nightmares from thinking about it.

I tried every hand saw I have that I thought had a chance of working. I have a Dozuki saw that would have done it if it had bee just a bit wider. The back kept the saw from cutting all the way through.

I have a Shopsmith bandsaw with a Carter guide and a 1/8 inch blade. It's not really designed for resawing. and I have been putting it through some pretty tight turns so I wasn't sure it would cut straight enough to do this. Plus, I was a bit afraid it would break the fenders. They are quite fragile. It only broke one.

Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.

Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.

Shopsmith Band Saw and a pile of pieces of fenders resawn on this saw.

A pile of resawn wooden toy fenders next to my favorite hand saw.

I set up everything to hold the fenders snug against the fence and cut slowly letting the blade do the work. It worked like a charm.

You may have noticed that I don't use a fancy resaw fence. I have two band saws and neither of them requires any kind of tracking adjustment. I was concerned about this one because it was so thin and had been twisted a lot. No need to worry it tracked straight and true all the way through. I use Wolf Blades and Cater guides on both Shopsmith band saws. One band saw has a 1/8 inch blade and the other has 1/2 inch.

How do you keep parts from moving while glueing?

I usually just add more clamps. Several of the clamps in the photo are there to hold the pieces aligned. It can get a bit messy at times but I keep my tools including clamps waxed with Johnson's Paste Wax threads and all. Glue just pops right off.

Clamping an Gluing a Toy Truck Bed

A little tiny pinch of clean fine sand sprinkled on the glue helps a lot. I would not do this if you are going to drill or cut later.  I'm not fond of having to keep a bag of sand around.

Some people use salt instead of sand. I've always been leery of this. It might change the chemical composition of the glue or wood and do something undesirable. I have never tried this.

Dowels, pins, etc can be used to keep things aligned but they add extra steps. You could use a pin nailer for some things but you have to keep it from moving while you put the pins in. Might as well clamp it.

The thinner the coat of glue is the less of a problem you will have. This is tricky for me. The thinner the glue gets the more likely the joint is to fail. I always get to much.

I've seen it recommended to use a dab of CA glue along side the wood glue. This probably works. I don't use it because I'm not a fan of CA glues because they are expensive and always seem to set up on me or clog the tip before I use them up and so I wind spending a dollar or two per joint. They also have a short shelf life.


Dry fit everything you can. That is put it together and clamp it up without any glue. Else one day you will find yourself with a ruined toy because you didn't have enough or the right kind of clamp you need.

You can make clamps for special needs. Some times cauls or wedges are what you need. These are shop made and and may not be worth the trouble for a one of a kind toy, However, if you are going to make a lot of the same toy building a clamping jig can be very beneficial.

Bottom line is: Use lots of clamps! As you gain experience you will get a feel for what clamp to use and how much pressure you need to apply.