Thread: Made my Rattle Tonight

Originally Posted by Chipman

Yes, that is what I have been told...shellac is used to coat tablets and sweets.

For any interested, here is my latest 2... Given to the great nephew on Friday. These were coloured with undiluted dye.

They positively glow in the photos. A lovely job. Well done!

Colouring.... yes you can either leave it raw or seal it with a clear but kids do like colour.

The last lot I used diluted dyes. What I found was that the pale blue (diluted) looked a bit funny over pine as the darker grain areas don't go blue sort a a weird colour.

Shellac is easy to use... can be sprayed, brushed or wiped on with a cloth or pad. The good thing is it dries very fast and can be recoated every 10/15 minutes. Once the methlated spirit solvent has evaporated, there is no smell (unlike polyurethane) and it is kid safe. Only draw back is that it does take lots of coats to get a good gloss.

In the past, I have used spray enamels and can get a good finish....you would never know it was even wood but that sort of defeats the purpose of making wooden toys! and then there is the safety issue of little kids chewing on the paint (but should be safe)

Anyway, thanks for the comments and if we can help or give each other ideas, then it is a good thing

Regards,

Chipman

lovely work Chipman!

I wonder how they would sound in a house built on piers with a timber floor, 10ft ceilings and VJ walls.

Originally Posted by Chipman

You may have seen the post about the rolling toy/rattle.

Well I made mine tonight... will stain it with water dyes and shellac it tomorrow and deliver it Saturday.


Cheers,

Chipman

Well I am new to this and this is my first night, But I think the rattle looks great and I have a 6 month old grandson so now i have to work out how you made it .

Woodyathome - chipman gave a link to the rattle plan in this thread:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f174/rolling-toy-free-plan-quick-85886

Juvy

Well I never knew that about shellac! Yummy stuff.

The one with the ball inside is one of mine but really easy to do. Make the disks or side wheels 90 mm diameter. Space out six 8mm dowels at 60 degrees (or one radius) at a diameter of 70mm and put a ball inside. I turned the ball on the lathe but you could use any suitable ball such as a golf ball or ping pong ball etc.

Cheers,

Chipman