This is the third blog post from our guest blogger, Nevin Hawlman. If you are enjoying these blogs, please post a note in the comments section. —Mother
This personalized wooden toy train is the perfect Christmas (or other winter holiday) gift for a young child on your list.
These small parts are probably waiting in your scrap bin right now. And if the colors and grain vary, it will add personality to your labor of love.
Clamp and glue parts together — no nails or screws are used in the assembly, except for wheel axles. Wheels are half-inch slices of a broom handle or 1-inch dowel but they could be made from the plug removed when using a 1-inch hole saw.
If you want to use the alphabet, you might find the letters at a flea market or craft supply store. You can also download and print templates from this free site.
Trace them and cut them out with a coping saw or jig saw.
Alphabet letters are glued into the chassis groove ‘x’ which is one-quarter inch deep and as wide as the letters you use. The engine and caboose chassis can be added to the 1-1/2-inch-wide chassis board and cut off before the groove is made. The smoke stack is glued into a half-inch hole.
You can also make log carriers, tankers, car carriers, coal hoppers, flat beds, cattle cars, etc. And if the axle holes in the wheels are slightly off-center, it will add a sound and vertical rocking motion to the moving train. Screw eyes and hooks are used to couple the cars.