Does anyone build wooden toys for their kids? (stamp, paint, trains)

[Muggy]

My wife and I will be starting a family soon. I would like to buy a bandsaw and some other tools to make wood toys.

I would love to hear from anyone currently doing this. I would like to know about forums for this, non-toxic paints/finishes, shared designs etc.

[nicolepsy]

everyone should learn how with the problems from "made in china" lately. hey, you could make alot of money if you get good at!

[kareybear]

Yes you could make money but some people can't afford to buy quality toys because it is pricey that is why everyone buy China made toys.

[Muhnay]

I did last year for Christmas, I made a peg board game and a Chinese Checkers board for them. The Peg board has like 25 games they can play. Finding Marbles was kinda hard though.

[Gunluvver2]

I do build some wooden toys that usually end up as gifts for the kids of friends of mine. My specialty is spinning tops that I make on my small wood lathe. Small branches that have been trimmed after wind storms work great ( two inches to six inches diameter are ideal). I peel the bark and cut them into the right lengths and turn them while still green. I immediately cover them with several coats of latex based paint of varying color designs. If you don't paint them right away they have a tendency to dry unevenly and lose their balance.

I also have a metal mill and metal lathes. I enjoy making tops out of metal even more than the wooden ones. I love scrounging scrap pieces from auto shops in the area.

[ptsum]

Originally Posted by Muggy

My wife and I will be starting a family soon. I would like to buy a bandsaw and some other tools to make wood toys.

I would love to hear from anyone currently doing this. I would like to know about forums for this, non-toxic paints/finishes, shared designs etc.

My advice to you is to try and find a local woodworkers Guild in your area they would have access to information that you would need on finishes and paints or your local hardware store should be able to provide you with the same information, and I would recommend that you use popular wood for your wooden toys, it's ideal when working with a bandsaw, also a little tip, when drawing your lines for cutting out your toys do not use a black lead pencil, because as your cutting you will find that the line has a tendency to disappear with the blade that's why I always use a red lead pencil, easier to see the line that I'm going to cut. I've been a member of the Annapolis woodworkers Guild for the past 14 years and their website can give you a lot of necessary information.

[Delta Planter]

Originally Posted by Muggy

My wife and I will be starting a family soon. I would like to buy a bandsaw and some other tools to make wood toys.

I would love to hear from anyone currently doing this. I would like to know about forums for this, non-toxic paints/finishes, shared designs etc.

I've made some cars from 2x4s and dowels. Bandsaw, drill press, table saw, belt sander is all I use. They go over real well with day-care centers, church schools, anywhere there are kids. I also give them away at random. If you'll email me back-channel, I'll give you a woodworkers forum site I belong to. Heck you might even enjoy getting heavily into woodworking of any kind. Good Luck!

[lilypad]

Very nice idea, if you have the skills. I have been looking for quality wooden toys via websites, but have not found anything yet. Would like to find some animal figurines. If anyone knows of a good website....

[cityrachel]

Originally Posted by lilypad

I have been looking for quality wooden toys via websites, but have not found anything yet. Would like to find some animal figurines. If anyone knows of a good website....

The best site for buying handmade items is Etsy :: Your place to buy and sell all things handmade

The best child-safe paint I've found is Old Fashioned Milk Paint is a chemically safe, environmentally friendly paint

These are instructions for making your own unit blocks Make Your Own

These are instructions for making your own wooden train tracks and trains
Jigs for Making Wooden Train Tracks (broken link)
and
Hoogerland National Railways Page

There are a ton of books from Amazon on making wooden toys; reading the reviews can help you determine which books are for you: Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more

[sandygalvin]

Making wooden toys is fairly easy, though tyros should be very careful to follow safety instructions for table saws and the like. We give instructions on our web site for making school size unit blocks, but other toys are easily fabricated from a variety of materials. Here are some little issues:

Child safe finishes: the best, safe, colored stain/dyes can be obtained from the Nazdar company (on the web). These are continuously tested to be absent heavy metals and are used for child safe alphabet blocks. But be careful elsewhere of terms like "milk paint" that sound safe but may not be. The metals in paints are usually in the colorants and in the drying agent. The best all around clear finish is Behlen's Salad Bowl finish and this is approved by the FDA for foodware. It can be obtained from any of the common woodworker's supply companies: Rockler, Woodworker's Supply, etc. Some children may be allergic to nut trees (Walnut, Pecan, Butternut). Some imported woods (Rubberwood) might also cause reactions both from the latex and from the insecticides commonly used by Asian Basin countries such as Borates. Probably the best, fine grained, American hardwood available to woodworkers is maple.

Size: The standard for children under the age of 3 is determined by a tube-like gimmick that can be seen at the web site for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC.gov). Basically, cubes strictly larger than 1" and balls strictly larger than 1-1/4" should be okay.

Breakage: This is tougher. The CPSC recommends a gimmick like a set of false teeth and has a criterion for twisting bits off that should be met. There is also a drop test. If you drop a toy repeatedly from about 5' without anything coming off you should be okay.

Pointyness: There is an additional gimmick from CPSC that has a small hole in it and a plate underneath. If a corner inserted in the hole can touch the plate on the bottom, the object is too pointy. As far as I can tell, no cubic corner is too pointy. However, children throw things and it hurts to get conked by a wooden toy. Corners should always be rounded. Eye damage is a particular problem.

Practical Reality: Nothing should break off. SPF woods should generally be avoided as they tend to splinter (particularly Fir). Softwoods from the Big Box are too wet to use for toys, even if they have "Kiln Dried" stamped on them. They are wet and will shrink quite a bit. There is little need to finish wooden toys made from hardwoods. Whenever you make a toy, ponder what will happen if Billy bashes his sister. If you make toys with wheels, do so with the understanding that Billy will eventually try to use it as a roller skate.

Sad truth: Numerous products in your home violate the standard for toys. These include pencils, scissors, marbles, balloons, most jewelry, and a variety of other common household objects. Nothing beats watching kids carefully and innoculating them against unsafe behaviors.

There are numerous books on making toys available from woodworker's supply companies (above) or from Amazon and B & N.

Sandy Galvin
Barclay Blocks