Made this child’s train set for my two year old. It’s all scrap cherry. The wheels are 1.25" in diameter while the bases are 1.5" wide.
The wheels are nailed into pre-drilled holes.
The hitches are sort of a half lap joint with the top half holding a dowel.
This is really cool. I like the idea of building him a train and adding cars as he ages or something. Maybe paint it with him at some point or something, real heirloom family-keepsake stuff potentially.
Or just let him play with it hard, it’s a toy.
Thanks! He’s liking it so far so I likely will add a few extra cars. It was the first thing he pulled out this morning so I was pretty chuffed.
Maybe a flat car for hauling his other toys.
I love it. How did you make the wheels?
Between centers on the lathe. I first cut out a bunch of thin squares on the bandsaw.
- Mark out center
- With a compass draw the diameter
- Drill the axle hole
- Mount between centers. I have a matching ring drive and tail center with adjustable points so locating small stuff like this is pretty easy.
- Turn to diameter with a small bowl gouge and add embellishments
With wood
A child’s train does not need fancy shouldered corners. I absolutely love that you took the time and effort to use shouldered corners.
Dude, have you seen how children play with toys? I was absolutely brutal with my wooden train. Shouldered corners might have helped it. I, too, love this train.
I just wanted to ease the corners should we step on it at night 😊
That looks better than the description of “Train, By Mayor Jim”.
Jokes aside, this is really really good work!!
Do these fit on those wooden train tracks?
Nope, not that fancy.
