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  1. 13th August 2005, 01:42 PM #1
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    Default An educational toy - a balance beam

    Here is an easily-made educational toy that I made for a nephew. The balance beam is 840 mm long with twenty 1/2" pegs set at 40 mm centres; its central pivot is a piece of 1/4" steel rod. The grooves for the fulcrum are routed 3/8" wide in the rock maple stand. By placing steel washers on the pegs, the child can painlessly learn about equations, addition, multiplication, etc.

    I cut the pegs to a standard length using a stop clamped to a crosscut sled, and drilled the holes for them with a forstner bit on the drill press. In order for the beam to work effectively, it is necessary to take some care to mark out the peg positions carefully, so that they are a constant distance apart. With luck, the toy may kindle an interest in maths in my nephew.

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  3. 13th August 2005, 02:25 PM #2
    BobR
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    Very good Rocker. These are the sort of toys that keep some children occupied for quite some time. Will be intersting to hear how it is accepted.
    Bob

    "If a man is after money, he's money mad; if he keeps it, he's a capitalist; if he spends it, he's a playboy; if he doesn't get it, he's a never-do-well; if he doesn't try to get it, he lacks ambition. If he gets it without working for it; he's a parasite; and if he accumulates it after a life time of hard work, people call him a fool who never got anything out of life."
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  4. 13th August 2005, 03:57 PM #3
    Peter36
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    Very neat Rocker . Have you supplied washers with the toy and will you have the pleasure of seeing him use it . Good use of some offcuts

    Peter
    I've just become an optimist . Iv'e made a 25 year plan -oopps I've had a few birthdays - better make that a 20 year plan
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  5. 13th August 2005, 04:42 PM #4
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    Peter,

    Actually I have made two of these for nephews in England. I am sending one set of 20 washers, but the other set will have to be bought over there to save postage. After all, I am Scottish by ancestry Might be some time before I get over there, so they may have grown out of these toys by then.

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  6. 15th August 2005, 11:37 AM #5
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    What age group do you reckon Rocker? 8yr olds?
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  7. 15th August 2005, 12:22 PM #6
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    Linelefty,

    I had no idea that Sandgropers are that retarded Or am I being unfair? I think the toy is more suitable for 5-6-year-olds, who are just learning to count and do simple arithmetic. My nephews are coming up to five.

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  8. 15th August 2005, 12:49 PM #7
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    Clever little device Rocker. Your own idea?
    "I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."
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  9. 15th August 2005, 01:01 PM #8
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    SilentC,

    I should have mentioned that the design for the toy is from the book 'Making Heirloom Toys', by Jim Makowicki. I simplified it slightly; the author suggests having a sliding balance adjuster underneath, which seemed to me to be redundant. I just balanced it by trial and error, paring away wood until it balanced.

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  10. 15th August 2005, 01:09 PM #9
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    I probably should make one for Rory. It was his 4th birthday yesterday and he has an over-abundance of Batman-related objects now but none of them will teach him to count.

    I tried to get him interested in counting how many orange disks came with his Batman disk-shooting gun. There are six and my idea was to get him to recognise that there were six and that he should count them as he picks them up from the floor so that he would know if any went missing. We counted six and I said "so how many are there?" He replied "one, two, three!!" As it turns out by the end of the day he was right. There now are three, silly me...
    "I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."
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  11. 15th August 2005, 01:11 PM #10
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    I've got no idea about kids that are older that littlelefty.
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    Adam

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  12. 15th August 2005, 09:20 PM #11
    Peter36
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    Do'nt put the trip off Rocker . I've got an 83yr old BIL who has been saying for years he's got to get back to see the remnants of his family and now he probable won't

    I've just become an optimist . Iv'e made a 25 year plan -oopps I've had a few birthdays - better make that a 20 year plan
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