In an era dominated by digital entertainment, the simple joy of hands-on play with tangible toys often takes a backseat. However, the timeless pleasure of racing toy cars across the floor with friends remains unmatched. Evoking memories of pinewood derbies and scout gatherings, crafting your own wooden toy cars is a rewarding and engaging activity. These charming models are not only enjoyable to create but also relatively straightforward, especially when utilizing wood mouldings to achieve satisfying shapes. This guide will walk you through the essential Toy Car Tools and steps to build your own fleet of wooden racers.
Crafting Your First Wooden Toy Car: An Introduction to Basic Techniques
Before diving into specific car designs, let’s explore some fundamental woodworking techniques and the toy car tools you’ll frequently use.
Understanding Wood Mouldings for Toy Cars
Wood mouldings, readily available at most hardware stores, are key to simplifying the shaping of your toy cars. Their pre-formed profiles allow for creating curves and details without complex carving.
- Square and Rectangular Stock: Forms the core chassis or body of the car.
- Half-Round Moulding: Ideal for creating bonnets, driver fairings, and rounded edges.
- Ogee Moulding: Adds decorative side details and curved transitions.
- Staff Bead and Scotia Moulding: Versatile for body panels, roofs, and scalloped effects.
- Strip Wood: Used for chassis bases and structural elements.
Essential Toy Car Tools: A Starter Kit
To embark on your toy car building journey, you’ll need a basic set of woodworking tools. These toy car tools are fundamental for cutting, shaping, and assembling your wooden creations:
- Saw:
- Scroll Saw or Fretsaw: For intricate cuts, especially for driver compartments and shaping curves.
- Coping Saw: A good alternative to a fretsaw for curved cuts.
- Hand Saw: For straight cuts and rough shaping.
- Drill:
- Drill Press (Recommended): Ensures precise and perpendicular axle holes.
- Hand Drill: Suitable for drilling axle holes, though requires more care for accuracy.
- Measuring and Marking Tools:
- Ruler or Measuring Tape: For accurate dimensions.
- Callipers (Optional but helpful): For precise axle measurements.
- Pencil: For marking cut lines and hole positions.
- Shaping and Smoothing Tools:
- Wood Files and Rasps: For shaping curves and refining edges.
- Sandpaper (Various Grits): For smoothing surfaces and preparing for finishing.
- Sanding Block: Provides even pressure for sanding flat surfaces.
- Emery Cloth: For smoothing axle ends for wheel fitting.
- Assembly Tools:
- Wood Glue: For securely joining wood pieces.
- Clamps: To hold glued pieces firmly together while drying.
- Screwdriver (for screw axles, optional): For attaching wheels with screws.
- Safety Gear:
- Safety Glasses: Essential eye protection when sawing, drilling, and sanding.
Inset A: Exploring Different Construction Methods
The cars pictured above showcase various construction techniques using different mouldings. These unpainted examples clearly illustrate the component parts:
- Top Car: Features a square section centerpiece, a large half-round moulding for the bonnet, a smaller half-round for the driver’s head fairing, and ogee moulding sides. Wheels are attached with round-head screws as an alternative to axles.
- Lower Car: Constructed from two pieces of staff bead and two pieces of half-round moulding of varying sizes.
Inset B: The Hardtop Design
This hardtop model demonstrates simplicity using four pieces of staff bead. It highlights the advantage of curved mouldings for creating interesting shapes. Note the ruler for scale – toy car size can be adapted based on available moulding sizes and desired wheel dimensions. It’s best to decide on wheel size to determine appropriate car length.
Inset C: Creative Moulding Combinations
- Top Car: Uses two pieces of strip wood glued in a T-shape, with scotia moulding filling in the sides for a scalloped effect. The head fairing is made from cut-down scotia.
- Lower Car: Features a ‘chassis’ of two staff beads glued together and a strip wood top. Wings are crafted from shiplap cladding. Larger toy cars can be made using bigger moulding sections.
Building an Open-Topped Wooden Toy Car: Step-by-Step Guide
Let’s delve into building an open-topped car, demonstrating the practical application of your toy car tools.
Step 1: Preparing the Body Components
Gather your materials: three pieces of chosen moulding for the car body and wheels of your preferred size. Optionally, you can slightly narrow the length-wise width of the moulding pieces and smooth the top body piece for a refined look.
Step 2: Cutting the Driver’s Compartment
Use a fretsaw or coping saw to carefully cut out the driver’s compartment in the top body piece. If using a driver figure, ensure the compartment size accommodates it. Cutting before gluing to the base is easier.
Step 3: Drilling Axle Holes
Before attaching the top section, drill the axle holes. Knowing your axle and wheel type beforehand is crucial for hole size. Slightly oversized holes (1-2mm larger than the axle) create a loose fit, providing a “suspension” effect and compensating for minor inaccuracies, especially beneficial when working with groups.
Step 4: Assembling the Body and Driver
This stage shows the three body components and a driver figure. The driver shown has a base peg, but plain figures or even flat plywood discs (for drawn-on features) work equally well.
Step 5: Gluing and Clamping
Apply wood glue to join the top section to the base. Use clamps to firmly hold the pieces together until the glue dries completely.
Step 6: Measuring and Cutting the Axle
Accurately measure the required axle length. Callipers offer precision, but careful ruler measurement is also sufficient. A slightly “wobbly” axle can be advantageous, but avoid axles that are too long or short.
Step 7: Preparing the Axle and Wheels
Smooth and slightly chamfer the cut axle ends with a file or sandpaper. For a push-fit wheel attachment, ensure the wheel hole matches the axle size, potentially reducing the axle end slightly with emery cloth. Alternatively, use a slightly larger hole in the wheel and secure with adhesive like Araldite. Consider readily available plastic craft wheels for color and good rolling, or explore homemade plywood wheel alternatives.
Step 8: Shaping the Car’s Form
Shape the nose and tail of the car using a saw and abrasive tools, progressing from rough to smooth grits. A sanding disc or belt can also be used, potentially with a jig for easier handling.
Step 9: The Finished Open-Topped Car
The completed car is ready for play! Optional finishing touches include varnish or paint (best applied before assembly) and decorative stickers or computer-printed numbers.
Handy Tip: Wheel Attachment Alternatives
For alternative wheel attachment, consider round-head screws, as seen in the top car of Inset A. When using screws, fitting three wheels first and then the fourth, adjusting for levelness, is a helpful technique. Steel axles are common, but aluminum rod or even wooden dowels can also be used.
Alternative driver heads, like this flat plywood driver, can also be effective, even on larger car designs.
Constructing a Closed-Top Wooden Toy Car: A Coupe Design
Now, let’s explore building a closed-top coupe, further utilizing your toy car tools in a slightly different design.
Step 1: Preparing the Coupe Body Pieces
Cut and glue staff bead pieces: two at 120mm length and two at 50mm length. The 50mm pieces, with the rounded section removed, will form the shorter driver/passenger compartment.
Step 2: Drilling Axle Holes in the Chassis
Once the 120mm chassis pieces are dry, drill axle holes. Position the front holes near the front and the rear holes approximately 25mm from the back.
Step 3: Shaping the Windscreen Area
After gluing the 50mm compartment pieces in place, shape the front of these pieces to resemble a windscreen. Delay shaping the rear at this stage.
Step 4: Gluing the Compartment to the Body
Glue and clamp the shaped compartment section onto the main car body.
Step 5: Final Shaping of the Coupe
Shape the front and rear of the car, as well as the underside. Aim to maintain the “double bubble” roof profile of the driver/passenger compartment while shaping.
Step 6: The Completed Coupe
The finished coupe is ready for racing!
Further Reading
German Ring Turning
