Thread: My Car...How it was made

As the soft toy had to sit inside the car and to keep the weight down, I decide to make the car hollow and make it in two parts... The top was made from a cut off of 140 x 45 pine 250 mm long. You will notice that the cabin was bored through with a 80 mm forstner bit and hollowed out underneath with the same forsner bit (not so pretty inside!) The cut was smoothed with a drill mounted drum sander.

The base was made from a biece of 140 x 19 x 270 mm piece of pine. The two pieces wer clamped to gether and the wheel wells cut out with a 60 mm forstner bit.

Now it was time to shape it. The basic shapes were cut out on the band saw and then sanded to shape (disk sander, drum sander and sandpaper wrapped around dowel or thumb!)

Chipman

More to come

Cooool And nice duck

The wheels..
These were cut out with a 50 mm holesaw and then turned on the lathe using a chuck...the outside was turned and then the inside. You will notice that the inside hub is about 2mm out further than the edge of the tyre to provide the clearance needed.

Each wheel has a steel insert tube to act as a bearing and is held onto the car with a self tapping screw and a washer each side of the wheel. The screw enables you to adjust the clearance and how well it spins (very well infact). The wheels are screwed into the base or chassis.

The steering wheel is a 40mm wheel made using a carbitool wheel cutter and glued in position on a 6mm dowel.

Chipman

More to follow...

Putting it together

All the parts were stained and sprayed with 35% gloss lacquer...I prefer this when making toys for Teddy bears and soft toys..I feel bright colours distract from the overall effect (just personal taste)

It was then screwed together (it was held this way during construction) and did not worry about gluing it

The widscreen was made from perspex and mounted in two slotted brass rods.

I hope this helps you understand my way of making some of my cars,

Cheers,
Chipman

Hi Chipman
Well thought out and constructed, finish come terrific
take $50 out of the till! ''as my old boss would say''
Regards colbra

Originally Posted by funkychicken

Cooool And nice duck

May be you name sake!

Have a good trip Tomorrow Funky

Chipman

That's awesome Chipman, nice and simple.

Y.

Top project. Thanks for sharing, you have helped me by explaining how you did the wheels and attached them to the car.

That info is a keeper, Thanks.

A great job and well thought thru, you seem to have made light work of a difficult project. The top shape of the cars bonnet is that hand done?

les

Looks great! I love the shaping of the bonnet and the way it sits on the bumper... very Karman Ghia-ish..

cheers,
Dave

Thanks for the nice comments from you fellow toymakers...

Yes the all the shaping is hand done (if that means hand sanding as well as disk and drum sanders in a drill)

The shape was what my daughter asked for!

Regards,

Chipman

that looks fantastic!!! Makes one want to reach out and touch! lol Really.... specially on a toy that's what you're after... that's beautifully made. Only concerns I'd have if smaller kids were to play with it ( don't think I'd let them... it's too nice! lol) they might take off the windshield?

Juvy

I always consider who will have access to the toy when making it. This one is not for little kids but lives on a shelf as a decoration mainly. I would not put a windsheild on a toy for 3 years or younger.

In actual fact for this particular application (display in a radiography clinic) it could be one of those really detailed ones. But as you will realise if you look at my work, my style is always simple and hopefully elegant. If it looks like a car and moves like a car to a first glance it is a car. For me the design statement is "'here is a duck driving a car!" Your comment about wanting to "reach out and touch it" is much appreciated as with any of my woodwork, that is what I strive for (don't always get it right!!). Others strive with incredible detail and I am absolutely amazed by what I see some people do..I couldn't compete with that, I just try to develop my own thing.

Thanks for the comments...always appreciated.


Cheers,

Chipman

You are so right..... most of the time simple is better. I do appreciate all the intricate work specially some scrollers do, but find over and over again that the potential recipient doesn't appreciate it ( dust!!!!) . Even x-mas ornaments.... I find that the one I spend just 20 minutes on often outsells the intricate one that took 3 hours or more. Simple , clean lines, and most important the nice finish is what counts much more in the long run.

I also love the one of a kind idea...... if we want mass produced we buy chinese made... I do make a lot of little musicboxes at the moment, but I make sure each one is just a little different... different timber, different cut out etc....

Hope to see a lot more of your toys

Juvy