Odin's Toy Factory

2019-12-01

From The Toymakers Shop - Handmade Wooden Toy Truck, Pickup Truck from the Play Pal Series

I love these little toy pickup trucks. They are simple to make in any size you want, and the design allows for straightforward modifications. These trucks do not follow the original pattern exactly. I have modified the shape slightly to facilitate sanding. To accomplish this, I removed all of the sharp 90 degree corners. Inside corners are almost impossible to sand without damaging to the profile of the truck. After making several of them with the sharp corners got rid of them. A curve is much stronger than an acute angle. This modification makes the truck stronger and gives it a smoother, refined look.

Here are several handcrafted wood toy pickup trucks in the shop almost ready for listing.

Handmade Wooden Toy Pickup Trucks Ready For Final Inspection

First, I need to blow the dust off and make sure they are functioning correctly. I test all my trucks to make sure that all the moving parts are working smoothly. If it is not right, I either repair them or throw them away. Fortunately, I don't have many that get trashed at this point.

Handmade Wooden Toy Pickup Trucks Ready For Final Inspection

You may have noticed the different grains in the wood. The grain is different because I have made most of the smaller items from cut-offs. When I cut out a puzzle with my scrollsaw, for example, there is a lot of waste. I keep an assortment of patterns available for using the waste. When I make a toy, there is little scrap leftover. The small pieces of wood that are left we use as kindling for our back yard fires. None of it goes to the dump.

Handmade Wooden Toy Pickup Trucks Ready For Final Inspection

Making toys uses some very tiny pieces of wood, and you might think that you should save all the leftover bits that are large enough to make parts. When I started making toys for my shop, I did this. If you only make a few, saving scraps to make small pieces might seem like to be a good idea. However, if you make a lot of toys as I do, you will quickly be overwhelmed with small bits of wood. I can quickly fill a 35-gallon Rubber Maid trash can with waste wood in a few days.

Handmade Wooden Toy Pickup Trucks Ready For Final Inspection

These will soon be listed in my shop to be sold and given as gifts that are sure to make a child smile.

Click here to see more cars and trucks in my shop.
Click here to see more of my Play Pal pickup trucks.

Handmade Wooden Toy Pickup Trucks Ready For Final Inspection

2019-11-29

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series 521760128

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series

Do you have someone in your life who loves Hot Rods and Halloween? If so, this toy car might be a perfect gift for them. The orange and black color scheme is one of the best paint jobs I have ever done. It is a beautiful toy, but it could also be the perfect man cave or nursery decor.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series

This is probably the glossiest finish I have ever put on any toy. The clear coat on the top of the already bright orange paint makes the color pop. If I were to do this over again, I would start with a white Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based White Interior Primer and Sealer to seal everything, and the white background under the orange paint would really make the colors pop.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series

The base color is Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Gloss Pumpkin Orange Orange spray paint from a rattle can I purchased at WalMart. The topcoat is Rust-Oleum Gloss Clear Triple Thick Glaze Spray Paint I purchased at Home Depot.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series

I don't use much rattle can paint. In the environment I have to work in is not suitable for this. Most of the time, the humidity is too high or the temperature is too hot or too cold for the paint to work properly. I have to spray outside, and the weather prevents this from happing. One day I hope to have a spray booth for painting my toys. I will probably not make any more toys with this paint scheme in the near future.

Handmade Wooden Toy Car Hot Rod 1927 T-Coupe From the Hot Rod Freaky Ford Series

2019-10-21

My First Scroll Saw - Beginners Scroll Saw

AMT Scroll Saw

This was my first scroll saw and the only one I used for forty plus years. I cut a lot of projects on this saw. I purchased it new direct from AMT. It is solid cast iron, which I am sure helped a lot with the vibration.

The stand I purchased from Sears after the first attempt at cutting. At the time, I did all my work outdoors, and it was evident that using a scroll saw sitting on some 2x4s stretched across sawhorses wasn't going to hack it.

I made some simple projects from one of Patrick Spielman's books and learned to use the saw cutting out little animals pallet wood. Forty years later, my grandson plays with these. I still make them using small bits of wood leftover from other projects.

Handmade Wooden Toys Elephant Puzzle and Animal Cut Outs Made With My Scroll Saw

I soon discovered that pin end blades were inadequate for most scroll saw work. Fortunately, there was a kit available for my saw that let me use pin end blades. I cut lots of fretwork patterns, one I could use pinless blades, and the blade selection was much better.

Scroll Saw Layered Wood Toy Animals, Cat, Giraffe, Puppy, Cat, I cut with my AMT

Many years later, I bought an old RBI Hawk two speed saw cheap and refurbished it. I used this saw for a couple of years while the AMT collected dust. It didn't cut better, but the blade changes were much improved, and I liked being able to cut standing up.

Fretwork Rose I made from oak reclaimed from pallets using my AMT scroll saw

Then one day I saw a short video demonstrating how easy it was to change the blades on an Excalibur EX21 scroll saw. I wanted one badly but not for $800. I got lucky, and a used EX21 showed up on my local Craigslist.

Fretwork Grape Vine Shelf - One of many fretwork projects I cut with my AMT scroll saw.

I surely didn't need three scroll saws, so I gave the AMT to a friend, but only after doing a side by side comparison where I cut the same project on all three saws. EX21 wins. Blade changes trumped and advantage the other saws had. As far as cut quality goes, I could not tell a diffrence.

2019-10-20

Rebuilding My Excalubur EX21 Scroll Saw

This isn't a how-to or tutorial. Although in hindsight, it could have been if I had taken the time to take a bunch of photos.

Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw With Table Removed

This all started when I was cutting a project on my scroll saw, and it suddenly began making a knocking sound and vibrating badly. So bad that the blower tube was bouncing off the table. Slowing it down very slow let me finish what I was doing.

After some troubleshooting with tech support, I determined that the noise and vibration were caused by an accumulation of wear in the various bearings. There are eleven bearings in this saw.

Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw Rocker Arm Attachment

I could have ordered parts one or two at a time until I found the right part, but since we are fast approaching Christmas I bought complete assemblies and replaced all the moving parts except the motor.

The photos were nearly unusable. Some things were completely missing. There were no instructions for removing and replacing the front rocker arm assemblies. The instructions would tell you to loosen a screw when what they meant was to remove the screw. Also, they didn't tell you about the four other screws you had to remove. I knew I was in trouble when I read the part that said to use an adjustable wrench. The instructions were obviously written by someone who already knew how to do this and not tested or proofed by a person who had never done it. The instructions told you how to take it apart but very little about how to reassemble every thing.

Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw Rocker Arm Attachment

You can put the assembly in upside down. I'm real good at taking this saw apart now.

I knew there was going to be trouble when I read the part about using an adjustable wrench. Adjustable wrenches are for using on the occasional odd size fastener or fitting you might run across. I would never use an adjustable wrench to work on an $800 tool. It is to easy to break or round off a fastener that you can't easily replace. I have several, but they stay on the tool board and only get used as a last resort. If you want to do quality work, you use the right tools.

Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw Rocker Arm Attachment

Why do they make things with a mix of metric and SAE fasteners? I spent way to much time trying to figure out which wrench to use. Especialy the cap screws.

Then there was my usual dropping parts and crawling around the floor looking for them. One thing I learned while searching for a tiny part was that my DeWalt Spotlight (DCL043) works great for finding parts. It lights up my floor like daylight.

Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw Rocker Arm Attachment

The saw runs great now. I don't know if it is like new since I bought it used. This is the second saw I purchased used. My next saw will be a new one. Both of the scroll saws wound up needing to be refurbished. This one (EX21) wound up, costing me almost as much as buying a new one. My other saw is an older RBI Hawk that I purchased for $100 and spend $200 on, so it was still a bargain of sorts.

I didn't take many photos these were taken so I could see how to put things back together.

2019-09-08

Etsy Listing - Handmade Wooden Ghost Cutout Custom Sizes Available Made To Your Specification 540504790

Custom handmade Halloween cutouts made from wood or wood products made to your specifications. Sizes available up to eight inches and thicknesses from 1/4-inch to 1-1/2-inch. Larger sizes are possible. Material choices include pine, oak, poplar, MDF, and plywood.

Do you have an idea for a ghost that you don't see anywhere? If you can draw it, I can probably cut it for you.

The sample size shown in the photos below is currently available for purchase on my Etsy shop. If the size or materials are not what you want, contact me through my Etsy shop to place a custom order

These make great pretend Halloween toys for kids. My grandson has an entire set of them and was my inspiration when I made the first ghosts.

Click here for this listing.

Click here to see my other Halloween items.

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