Toy 18 wheelers

[Matt Stiegler]

Here are two wooden trucks I made as holiday gifts for our nephews. The cabs were made from mixed offcuts (and I'm a little worried I failed to consider different expansion rates for different species), the trailers from hardwood ply. The paint was non-toxic acrylic with a non-toxic gloss coating from an art supply store. Getting the axle holes aligned so that all 18 wheels turned was a real challenge and I didn't succeed entirely.

Fun project, but I couldn't believe how long it took me. But, as you can surmise from the last photo, they went over pretty big.

[Rob Hermann]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing. Those are awesome. Did you have plans or make it up as you went? Either way, great work.

[Chris S Anderson]

They look pretty flawless and very much fun. I was wondering about the plans, too. I think I'd like to me me one!

[John Keeton]

Matt, you did some really neat design work on these!! I like the way you used the piano hinge on the rear doors of the trailers. Did you have to cut and radius the hinge?

[Matt Stiegler]

Thanks for the kind words.

I did not use plans, but I did spend a ton of time squinting at photos of real and toy trucks. The design was a constant dilemma for me. Adding more features (doors, gas tanks, headlights, paint, etc) made it more fun but also maybe more breakable. These trucks will take a beating from my nephews, so I'll see how well they hold up.

Feel free to PM with your email address if you're thinking of making something similar and want me to email you additional photos. Most that I took were too big to post here.

I got the wheels and axles online from Casey's (http://www.caseyswood.com/shoppingcart/zen-cart/) in Maine. LV sells the same ones but Casey's is a good deal cheaper. I bought the hinges (http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=46488&cat=3,41241,41263) for the doors from LV, pre-sized. I used RA magnets against brads to hold the doors closed.

[Gary Breckenridge]

It is always a challenge to decide how simple or how complicated when making toys. Safe paint is always an issue. :cool: I think you've nailed it.

[John Grossi]

Matt, Excellent work. That last picture with the kids tells it all.

[Mike McCann]

Great toy trucks. Please post more pics.

[Mike McCann]

Sorry forgot to add can you let us know the dimensions of the trucks

[Matt Stiegler]

I'm an enthusiastic beginner. Despite the time I put in on these, I have no doubt a more experienced woodworker could improve them in dozens of ways. So any suggestions would be welcome.

The trailers were 20" long by ~4.5" tall by 4.5" wide. The cabs were 12" long end to end. I used 2" diameter wheels; I originally bought all single wheels, but they sell dually wheels (Casey's calls them "dooley") that are better for obvious reasons. I cut each windshield with a 15* compound angle from one piece before gluing it to two longer pieces of identical width and thickness. The cabs were assembled entirely with glue. (As I mentioned originally, I failed to take expansion and grain orientation into account, so I'd probably rethink the cab design for next time.) The trailers were plywood boxes (using 13/32" cabinet ply from the BORG) made from housed rabbet joints cut with a 1/4" dado blade, and they seem plenty strong enough to support a child's weight over time.

The hinges for the trailer doors were Lee Valley part 00D8066, the 102mm x 17mm RE Brass Piano Hinge, with #1 brass screws. The magnet closers were 1/4" rare earth magnets set in 3/8" cups, also from LV.

The trailer attached to the cab by a dowel section that I set into the front of the trailer, and a somewhat larger hole forstnered in the back of the cab. Hard to explain, but simple.

Below are a couple close-ups to try to highlight useful design details. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos from below, that would have been helpful. Happy to answer any further design questions here or by PM.