Grahamstown Woodworkers
February 2015
The FEBRUARY meeting was at the home of Andy Hatting. Andy and Mike Brown led a discussion of the techniques for making wooden toys. Andy's toys are quite large-scale, very detailed and realistic models that are becoming collectables in their own right. Mike's toys are generally smaller and semi-realistic, but are intended to stand up to fairly rough treatment. Wherever possible some activity, ranging from simple movement to puzzle solving is introduced. Care has to be taken that the toys contain no features likely to cause injuries to children and , of course, the finish should not be toxic. The techniques for making wooden wheels were demonstrated by Andy. There was some discussion on the difficulty of pricing these time-consuming products. A few photos, kindly supplied by Luc Marechal, are given below.
Much of the meeting was taken up by an auction of donated hand tools, to raise funds to help a long-standing member with a spate of medical expenses. Together with straight donations, this effort was very successful and our club "auctioneer", Andrew Stevens, gave it both educational and entertainment value.
The advertized discussion on making dolls houses was postponed to a future meeting.
Andy showing the assembly of his models |
Some assorted toys |
Turning treaded wheels |
Andy's finished truck |
Another view |
Some of Mike's toys |
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Page last modified on 23 February 2015