Thread: Best hardwood for toy blocks

G'Day Mum,
The timber for the blocks is something I;ve never really thought about as I use mainly reclaimed/recycled timber for all the toys I make.
You're correct on the lightness of pine so maybe some old oregon work work, I say old as it's a prettier closer grained timber.
Beech would work well by that could be expensive.
Some of the lighter gum tree timber could work too, say Tassie Oak.
Try having a look locally for a furniture maker or specialty cabinetry shop and ask for there offcuts.
Cheers crowie..

PS - have a scroll through the toymaking section of the forum for ideas....

Thank you for your suggestion! I am actually looking at tasmanian oak too. Perfect, I might call up a few lumber stores this weekend.

A good timber (lumber) to work with is Victorian Ash. It is a bit heavier and tougher than Pine and you can get a nice smooth finish on it very easily. It is also readily available at virtually all timber suppliers.

I build a large set. 1"x2"4", and I used pine. Its taken a lot of abuse, and still no dents or splinters. I was told by friends not to use hardwood as it would be heavy. Even using the pine, its a very heavy set 200+ blocks.

But it depends on the size you want to make, if its a set of smaller blocks, hardwood might be ok.

That sounds great! I might try both Tassie oak and Vic ash! I feel so bad because I am only after a small quantity. I usually go to the local Bunnings, but it doesn't stock any Victorian ash. It would be great if a fellow Victorian can point me to a good lumber supplier?

Oh I see. Thank you for the info! Yeah, the blocks I'm making are quite small, probably won't make 200+ blocks tho, I don't have that much space!! will try out a few different type of wood, I think.

I used pine for the blocks I made for the Grandchildren. Small dents, but that is all and they can be replaced every few years if need be.

If I had to do it again, I would use Camphor Laurel. Not quite a hardwood, but firmer than pine and with a nice smell. Camphor Laurel is used as a flavouring in Turkish Delight and other confectionary as well as a lot of cutting boards.

That sounds amazing! Where can I find Camphor Laurel?

Originally Posted by SuburbMom

That sounds amazing! Where can I find Camphor Laurel?

Pity you are not a bit closer - I was only just cutting some up yesterday for the mens shed.
You can see there is quite a lot to cut up and there's anthore even bigger pile of logs that shown below.
Screen Shot 2020-11-18 at 7.01.59 am.jpg

Originally Posted by SuburbMom

That sounds great! I might try both Tassie oak and Vic ash! I feel so bad because I am only after a small quantity. I usually go to the local Bunnings, but it doesn't stock any Victorian ash. It would be great if a fellow Victorian can point me to a good lumber supplier?

At Bunnings, if you get a length of hardwood framing it will more than likely be Vic Ash. You can sort through the pieces and find one with nice straight grain sans knots. This is also a relatively inexpensive way of buying it.

Victorian ash = Tasmanian Oak. Vic Ash is the trade name for 2 eucalypt species and Tas Oak is the trade name for 3 eucalypts - 2 of which are the same as Vic Ash.

I've made some out of Tassie Oak for my son, so far so good.

Biggest issue i've found is be mindful of how big you make them, there have been quite a few tears when my toddler gets bit too ambitious pushing over a tower and have a few of the bigger ones land on his foot/my face. Keeping them around the 1-2" mark seems to be the sweet spot.

They are surprising alot of work, my wife asked me to make some more for a friend. I've been pushing back ever since

All your timber suppliers will have Vic Ash in 19mm thick by whatever width. Sometimes they will just call it Hardwood but it's the same thing. If you need it thicker you can just glue layers together as buying it in the thicker sections is quite costly.

Thank you everyone for your valuable suggestions! I really appreciate it. I feel like I have been definitely pointed towards the right direction. I'm very tempted to start working on it! just need a proper sander now.