Baby Rattle

[Gary DeWitt]

I've been turning some stuff to sell lately, here is something I did today. Tiger maple, about 5" long and a little over 1 3/4" diameter. The diameter has a minimum of 1 3/4" acording to consumer protection agency of our feds, so as not to present a choking hazard.
I drilled the end of the rough blank 1 1/4" and about 2" deep even before roughing out a cylinder. Turned a plug, threw in a few beans, glued in the plug with ca, finished the turning. Finish is Mike Mahoney's walnut oil and wax/oil blend. Could use a buffing, but I need a new clean wheel for that.
I'll be posting this on ETSY (dewittdesigns.etsy.com) as soon as I'm done with the pics, sometime tomorrow.
Any constructive criticism of the piece or the photo would be much appreciated.

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Nice idea to make one with a void. I made one for my baby girl but I did the captive ring thing. It is her favorite toy!

Only one word of caution that you have probably already thought of...some people, including babies, are allergic to nuts, ie walnut (walnut oil). I always heard to only use mineral oil or wax for baby toys but what do I know?

Anyway, nice looking rattle and neat idea!

[John Hart]

Nice looking piece Gary. Kinda tempted to chew on that m'self!! ;) :)

[Jon Eckels]

out of curiousity, how thick are the walls? I would just worry about breakage... you know how kids are. Especially when they learn that a rattle is just a tiny baseball bat that makes noise. :)

Beautiful piece though!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Looking mighty fine Gary. What a great idea.

[Keith Burns]

Great idea and great execution Gary. Looks good:) :)

[Frank Kobilsek]

Gary,
Nice job. I make 'heirloom' rattles based on the Nick Cook design about the same size as yours. Two 1 x pieces with a routed pocket, fill with beans, glued together and turned. I find if I turn a smaller diameter on the body of the handle people are more interested in them. Practice with different beans. Steel shot sounds best to me but most I put red beans in. I sand to 600 wet sanding with Mahoney oil on the 400 & 600 grits then use Mahoney Wax/Oil for the finish.

One warning: I give most of mine away a gifts. I have 38 nieces and nephews so I figure the 112 sets of blanks I routed one afternoon will be used over the next 10 or 12 years. I have sold only one. The grandmother that bought it brought it back to ask me to engrave the baby's name. I ruined three trying to artfully burn the name in the rattle. Unless you are confident in your burning or carving say no to that request.

I think people think they are too big and if you go to any department store you'll find rattles less than 1.75" min dia. I do believe they make a beutiful family heirloom but really not a great infant toy. PM me and I'll share my price.

Uncle Frank, never a Dad

[Gary DeWitt]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Jon - walls are about 1/4" thick. I don't think I could break one with my strongest whack. I did make some captive ring rattles, but even thick rings tend to break with the grain when dropped on a hard floor. This one is a lot less fragile.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Cute, Gary!

Bruce

[Wes Bischel]

Gary,
The rattle looks great! Nice piece of stock. I made a few of the Cook rattles as well - mine kinda looked like small billy clubs.:rolleyes: :D Of course if the babies are anything like their fathers - well, let's just say I won't be asked to visit anytime soon.:eek:

Nicely done.

Wes

[Corey Hallagan]

Neat idea Gary, very cool!

Corey

[Ernie Nyvall]

Very cool Gary. Nice wood too.

[Tom Sherman]

Pretty cool rattles, I think I like this design better than the captive ring modle.

[Martin Braun]

That is a great design. I did one similar for my son. It was out of mesquite and he loved to chew on it. The wood was tough enough that it did not do any damage. I chose not to finish it at all. The natural wood did fine and held up to all the abuse.