David Winer
08-12-2009, 2:23 PM
Several years ago I made one of those pound-pegs-through-holes toys for my first grandchild. She was two at the time and didn’t take to it at all. But now at six she and her four-year old sister really give it a workout. When our next door neighbors’ two kids, oldest is four, visit they also tear into it. While watching my grand daughters on their visit today (see attached shots), I thought fellow woodworkers might like to do this too.
No plans necessary. Cut a board into three pieces that will accommodate enough holes to suit your purpose. Choose dowels of any size to make the pegs. Size the ends so they are twice as long as your pegs plus the board thickness. Center the board with holes in the end boards (I used a rabbet joint) and apply a finish to the platform and pegs. I used Easter egg dye to stain a variety of colored pegs, and made a couple of extras for replacing lost ones.
There is one tricky part: drilling the holes to match your dowel diameter. Ideally, the pegs fit tightly so that it takes some pounding to smash them through. This will entail some trial and error. You can imagine that too loose or too tight is no fun. I put kerfs in the ends of the pegs to ease entry into the holes.
No plans necessary. Cut a board into three pieces that will accommodate enough holes to suit your purpose. Choose dowels of any size to make the pegs. Size the ends so they are twice as long as your pegs plus the board thickness. Center the board with holes in the end boards (I used a rabbet joint) and apply a finish to the platform and pegs. I used Easter egg dye to stain a variety of colored pegs, and made a couple of extras for replacing lost ones.
There is one tricky part: drilling the holes to match your dowel diameter. Ideally, the pegs fit tightly so that it takes some pounding to smash them through. This will entail some trial and error. You can imagine that too loose or too tight is no fun. I put kerfs in the ends of the pegs to ease entry into the holes.