– a combination of simple living, anticonsumerism, DIY principles, self-reliance, sustainability, and applied capitalism

Of the woodworking that I do, I find it the most fun to make toys. It’s a creative opportunity, work on a simple tolerance using [much] easy to assemble, makes the kid happy, and uses scrap wood.

Here is a picture of the train set I made. Made entirely from scrap wood, save $1 a doll, using hand tools

. The dark wood is douglas fir and the light wood is cheap twisted SPH (spruce-pine-hemlock) for the frame I planned directly. The dowels (chimneys, axles) are oak.

My only powertool is a small proxxon press that I use to drill pilot holes for my chuck and brace.

the toytrain

At first, the trickiest part was cutting all the wheels using the fret saw but it quickly became easier as I learned how to use it better. BTW I’m using it backwards in pushstroke, but whatever. The hardest part was seeing the angles on the cow catcher (yes, city-peeps, it’s really called that). The boiler is made of 2 × 6, doubled with glue and built with a block plane. The only thing in making these that would be difficult for a novice would be the direct cutting of the front of the engine compartment. This was cut and trimmed like a dove tail. Otherwise, if you think about it, a train is a simple type of box with extra wooden parts attached to it.

I don’t know how long it took me to make them. I did each part using 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. My total cost was $1 dollar. All the other wood would have fueled the fire.

Cost if you had to buy it? It’s hard to say. A quick google search didn’t turn up anything for sale with the same level of sophistication (you haven’t seen anything yet). A simpler model of comparable size but without the push rods costs $50 retail. Maybe this one would sell for $75 at some corner craft store?

If you wish to make your own, go down to the library and purchase one or a few of the many toy making books. Most seem to have been written in the 1970s before plastic toys and video games. Tool and skill wise, you can make many toys if you have the ability to see straight. That should be trivial with a bandsaw, but obviously you can also do it with hand tools if you’re leaning towards neanderthal.