Flippy Acrobat

 A couple of weeks ago, my youngest (a five year old) came home from school and told me "Nicole's party is in five days. You need to make her something. It needs to be blue." Well, Princess gets what Princess wants so time to get to work. Without a doubt, the toy I have made the largest number...

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Making a Spoked Wheel (Part 3)

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3 I've made the hubs of my spoked wheels using a jig with a peg on a board that allows me to cut a circle using a bandsaw with a thin blade. If you are careful (which you always have to be) it is a pretty fast and easy way to make tiny "doughnuts" (mmmmm doughnuts....) However,...

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Making a Spoked Wheel (Part 2)

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3 So, now you have the disk with spoke lines drawn on it. What you want to do next is drill radial 1/8 holes along the side of the disk towards the center. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Piece of cake actually (mmmm cake...) You just need to make a simple jig. Drill a...

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Making a Spoked Wheel (Part 1)

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3 I know, I know, you can buy wood toy wheels pretty cheaply. Nothing wrong with that. I use pre-made wheels all the time because they look good and get the job done. However, sometimes, they simply don't have the look I need for a particular toy. Case in point - the Spoked Wheel....

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Getting started

I've been making wooden toys for about 12 years. I'm not a craftsman. I didn't take shop when I was in school. I've never had a job where I worked with my hands unless you include typing and using a mouse as working with your hands. I don't have a wood shop with all the cool stuff you see on New Yankee Workshop. I wish I did, but seeing as how I have a day job and am insanely cheap when it comes to...

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