Rolling Toy

Very cool Herb. The spalted sycamore steals the show!

The neat thing is that the sycamore came from a piece of scrap that was so badly warped it was totally useless for anything that require wood that was flat, straight, true, etc…

Herb

I'm thinkin' you enjoyed making them…
I see grandkids enjoying them….
I can also see cats & dogs chasing them around….

Jeff is right….
& you done good finding a purpose for the sycamore!!!

I really like the spalted sycamore. I've got a piece of spalted oak that I held over the trash can the other day but I couldn't do it. Figured there just be some use for it. Nice gifts.

Herb:

I made about 100 of them for our Mason Dixon Woodworkers Toy Workshop, about 5 years ago. I think and hope that they were a big hit for the kids/babies that received them.

Yours look better than mine. We used three different colored dyes on the dowels.

Nice toy, Herb. I recall playing with wood toys when I was real young. Now most of them are plastic. The spalted sycamore looks great.

Karson,

Thanks for the compliment. I like the dye job on yours, wish I'd done that on these.

I really admire and appreciate all the work you and your group does making the toys for children each year.

I hope to be able to get involved in something like that once I retire in a few more years.

Herb

Love the wood. Adds character. Good job.

Herb, they look great and the spalted sycamore is a cool touch

Cool, made some over the years, always a hit, kids love the noise

I have made the same toy for my nieces and nephews, I used mineral oil as a finish so I did not have to worry about them ingesting any finish that could be toxic.

Cool toy!

What a fun looking non-electronic toy! I want to play with one. I like how you gave the end a "cap" of color.

Chris, Monte, Eddie: Thanks for the kind comments. I have quite a bit of sycamore, just finding things to use it can be "interesting" since some of it is spalted to point where it is almost "punky"...

Hunter, yes the noise maker is a neat thing about these toys. Of course the parents will probably be ready to kill me after a couple of days listing to the click-clack of those dowels. < BIG GRIN >

TechTeacher hopefully the finish will not be a problem although of course your concern is quite valid.

Thanks Nathan.

James, I'm tempted to keep one myself. And I liked the idea of using the wild markings on the sycamore to dress things up a lot better than the painted green colored spiral design shown in the magazine article.

I may have to make a couple of these for my daughter's girls. That sycamore is really special! Flat sawn sycamore just never wants to behave.

Very Nice and Well done! Thanks for Posting.

Rick

Wonderful work, I would like to try one, can you tell me the Diameter of the Circles, and Dowels, thank you

I've seen these and thought about making a few. Yours looks great with the spalted wood. sure to be a toy that will last a while.

Thanks for the reminder about these.

CtL

Really is a wonderful piece, thanks for sharing, so many possibilities for it also

Pete,

The circles are 3 3/8" diameter.

The dowels are 5/16 and 5/8 inch diameters and all are 3" long.

Holes in circles are 5/16", 1/4" deep, spaced 120 degrees apart and center 5/8" from outside edge of circle.

Holes in large dowels are 3/8" diameter and center of hole is 3/8" from end of dowel.

Be sure to check the spacing of the circles when assembled, don't make the holes too deep or the spacing will be too tight for the dowels to move (DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW THAT!!!).

gfadvm: I'm sure your granddaughters will like them. The sycamore in this case was cut thin enough and small enough pieces that it work out well. Which is good because the only other use for that short slab would have been to use it for a propeller or a little extra heat in the fire pit.

Rick: Thanks and you're welcome.

CtL: Thanks for the compliment. I'd encourage you to make them, the kids should like them.

Norman: Thanks and you're welcome.

Herb