Thread: I Just Love Me Trucks

Ok me wheels.
For some reason me first image won't show, but not important any way.

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Firstly I have to have music in me little workshop, and with 16,000 mp3s loaded into me ipod there is always something suitable to listen to. The wife can pretty much tell from what she hears comin' out the shed as to what sorta day me havin'. (a) if it's loud and crystal clear and the roof iron is bouncin' up and down Bad day keep away from the shed (b) if easy on her ear from the house things are goin' pretty good.
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Makin' me wheels is pretty darn simple really, I get a bit of Crowie timber the thickness of me single/dual wheels. Mark out me timber for each wheel and at me drill press I use a Router bit to hollow out my wheel centre, me single wheels are done at a different depth to me duals. Next I drill out me axle hole to the size I use. Using a hole saw for wheel size I remove the drill and replace it with a piece of dowel the same size as me axle and cut out me wheels.
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Yes I do have a wood lathe but in recent months me tremors have increased and standin' at it is at times an unsteady affair, so outa an ole el-cheapo table saw motor I have attached a drill chuck. Sitting at a table I only have a tremblin' right hand to worry while me right leg can do what it darn well likes under the table. Me wheels are pretty simple and I don't see the need to try and put little tyre treads on them or little rims, while it makes toys look good when all said and done kids don't care in my opinion for such fine details. I have an old drill press body that comes in very handy for when I'm makin' me dual wheels. I slide it under the spinning wheel and from scraps of wood I make a little guide which I clamp to the old drill press so that I can slide me little hand saw in and cut the centre of the wheel a few mm's deep so I have a set of duals. It takes a bit of time to set up, I do have in my head some ideas on how to make a more permanent type of set up but I've managed so far.
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I know many wooden toy makers don't like paintin' their toys but for the mean time I'm slappin' a bit of paint on me wheels. Yes before my pd started to progress more I did make me self a mini spray painting booth for air brush painting. I still got every intention of usin' me mini booth but for the mean time I knocked up this contraption so that I can practice paintin' with me left hand. On a good day I can fill this thing up with painted wheels, on a bad day lets say it's a bad day and me workshop dance's to me ipod music player. No I don't have neighbours who complain about my loud music because I live on a 30 acre thickly bush covered property and being in the middle of it among the trees much of me noise is well and truly suppressed.

Ok my next attempt will be to start making some wheel holders for under me trucks and trailers, so I'll get back here when I got some thing to show. If what I posted is not understandable to you please let me know and I'll try and make it a little bit clearer for you. Hooroo Kev.

Good stuff Kev

Lots of work there

Thanks for the post

Look forward to the next instalment

Regards

Keith

Thanks Keith, will be back when I got some thing to show.

Hey Kev, You're an inspiration to me sir..

With all your health issues and still you produce such a fine vehicle..EXCELLENT SIR

Cheers, Peter

Thanks Crowie, I nothin' special, I just determined that I gunna have a win for once in me life mate and besides there are others here who have bigger battles to fight than I do. I'd like your advice re usin' this forum mate, I think I done something wrong. Now when I open me emails I get all this email stuff from this forum since I put up me jigsaw thread and this one, I not sure how to stop all them emails because I never use to get em before. I come on each day and check encase I need to respond to someone, so if ya got any tips on how to stop all me email notifications that be great mate. Had a little play in the shed today with me jigsaw table, everything went great and I glad I made it, if I keep having days like this I'll be swamped in my little trucks in no time 'Touch Wood'. Hooroo Kev.

You are an inspiration to many.
You are doing what many of us would like to do.

I am enjoying the build.

Hi Kev, I was going to explain how to stop getting the emails in a private message but you have that option turned off in your User settings.
If you go into your settings and turn it on I can explain in detail through a PM rather than do it here.
Go to the top of the page to "Forum Actions" tab and select "General Settings". When in that page there is a heading called Private Messaging which you can turn on or off. After selecting ON go to the bottom of the page and save the changes. That way people can message you through the forum if that is what you want, otherwise leave it turned off.

Thanks Treecycle, I sure got a darn mess here sir, I think I have done as you suggested maybe more than you suggested - give it a try and we see what happens.

Thanks Dallas, I hope it works for you Kev...Cheers, Peter

PM sent. Hope it makes sense.

Yes I got PM thanks, I get back to you later if ok. I having day in shed. Hooroo Kev.

Handyjack, please I'd like to apologise for not responding earlier to you, currently I got a few problems with me emails and to be honest I'm a little worried that I have made some set up problems that I not understranding, but Treecycle is giving me a hand to get all sorted. I thank you for your kind words but I'm no one special, I just a cranky bloke who has a disease and a point to prove to himself. Hopefully I'll not regret it and some day I'll get to see a kid simile when playing with one of me trucks. Then I'll know I have beaten this disease that thinks it can do with my body what it likes. Please I'm no one special, I just a cranky B-------d with a point to prove to himself. Hooroo Kev.

Originally Posted by KJL1951 aka Kev

Handyjack, please I'd like to apologise for not responding earlier to you, currently I got a few problems with me emails and to be honest I'm a little worried that I have made some set up problems that I not understranding, but Treecycle is giving me a hand to get all sorted. I thank you for your kind words but I'm no one special, I just a cranky bloke who has a disease and a point to prove to himself. Hopefully I'll not regret it and some day I'll get to see a kid simile when playing with one of me trucks. Then I'll know I have beaten this disease that thinks it can do with my body what it likes. Please I'm no one special, I just a cranky B-------d with a point to prove to himself. Hooroo Kev.

Kev, Take the applause sir, the trucks and you deserve it...Cheers, Peter

G’day All,

Lets start a little off subject.

‘She Will Not Always Be Right Mate And It Won’t Be Ok To Do It Later’!!!!!!!!!
Yes I killed off me two big desk top computers in three days about three weeks back and ended up pullin’ my ole laptop outa the drawer, where it should have stayed as I couldn’t do much with it. So if you haven’t done a back up to your external hard drive for some time do one when you have finished here.
I’m back up and runnin’, settin’ behind me re-built ole girl and draggin’ and droppin’ things left right and center over her two big screens but bloody cranky to have lost much that I had never backed up to the external hard drive.

Rather than do me spare wheel hangers I decided to do the hardest part of my build now, the mudguards for me trucks. Now I’ll have to show you images at a later date as to how I go about makin’ them as those images are all gone in the big computer crash and burn. I have no timber currently suitable so I’ll show it next time. But I can show you where I’m at now.

To give you all and idea how I got to this stage, I marked up enough timber to make a pair of mudguards for 50 trucks.
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Now I’m not happy and as the wife said ‘I’d Better Pick Up Your Battin’ Average’ or the finance department which she runs might have to look at some future financial restraints being put into place’. From the planned 50 pairs of mudguards I’ve only ended up with 17 pairs. Yes I know not good and much practice is needed and I still have all me digits. The mudguards above are made 22mm thick and are cut out with my scroll saw. Now scroll sawin’ and tremors don’t work well together and I try and stay out side the line of the mudguards so I wont have to do much sanding. After cuttin’ out I shape them on my sandin’ plate which I have attached to my old wood lathe which handles different grades of sandpaper.
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With them pretty close to what I want, finish sanding hopefully will eventually get them to what I’m lookin’ for. Now As the mudguards need only to be 10mm wide I get a small off cut of timber which is a little over 10mm thick, clamping that to the work bench I can turn the mudguard around against it and mark where I need to cut it so I end up with a pair of mudguards the same.
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I mark the head light end of the guards before cuttin’ so that I know which goes with which later on. I place some double sided tape on two scraps of wood so that I can have better control when splittin’ the guards on me scroll saw. With my left hand which is steady I can cut pretty straight to the line while using me tremblin’ right hand
as a sort of a guide. As you’ll notice on the right hand scrap of timber which is held in me left hand a mud fly thought it had time to build a nest because I was so slow.
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I did try splittin’ the guards on me jigsaw table but the blade was a bit hard on the timber guard and being thin it broke quite easy. While it took quite a long time to cut the guards out this way I’m able to reduce the speed of the scroll saw to a level that I can handle one handed.
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Finally split in half I now have a pair of guards when finally sanded will be pretty close to the same. I will try next time to use only one block of scrap and see if the double sided tape is strong enough to hold the guard when splittin’.
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So there you have it a few of me guards cut, they are yet to be cut to the correct size and there is a lot of hand sanding to be done. They are the hardest part of me trucks to make and when I get to do the next batch I’ll show how I mark them out to get them to the splittin’ stage. Just as well I makin’ them outa plantation pine and not a more expensive timber or the Minister of Finance will have me project shut down due to wastage, in my defence I pointed out there is gunna be some timber for the fire box during the winter. She looked out our back door to the thick bush that surrounds our home and replies, ‘There’s plenty of fire wood out there that we don’t have to buy’!!!!!!!!!!! Yep they have all the answers don’t they, so I gotta try and lift me game I think.

Hooroo Kev.