Need some advice on making lincoln logs...

[Robert Mayer]

http://www.infinitytools.com/products.asp?dept=1080

I noticed this bit in their last brochure. Has anyone used it before? Was there a better method to making lincoln logs?

It looks like the routing would be easy, but making clean dadoes repeatable may take a bit of set up time.

[Eric DeSilva]

Why not cut the dadoes on a wide piece of stock using a dado blade on a TS, then rip the wide stock to appropriate width, then rout the sides? I wouldn't be wild about routing a thin piece of stock like that, but you have to do that anyway... I'd think about a jig for that.

[Travis Lavallee]

I would also vote for doing the dado's first. It would be awfully painful to make backing material to prevent tearout on the routed profile after. Im sure some sort of dedicated push-stick could be created to perform the routing.

[James Tattersall]

http://www.infinitytools.com/products.asp?dept=1080

I noticed this bit in their last brochure. Has anyone used it before? Was there a better method to making lincoln logs?

It looks like the routing would be easy, but making clean dadoes repeatable may take a bit of set up time.

You are on a good path. This link might be helpful to you:
http://www.routerworkshop.com/easydl.html

[Rick Hubbard]

Why not cut the dadoes on a wide piece of stock using a dado blade on a TS, then rip the wide stock to appropriate width, then rout the sides? I wouldn't be wild about routing a thin piece of stock like that, but you have to do that anyway... I'd think about a jig for that.

A few years ago (before the advent of these new bits) I made some Lincoln logs and did as you suggest: I precut dados into wide stock and then ripped to finished size. I built a jig that enclosed the entire "log" and made 4 cuts with a cove bit. They came out pretty nice.

It looks like this new bit would speed things up a lot since it would only be necessary to make 2 cuts on the router table.

Rick

[Bob Knodel]

You are on a good path. This link might be helpful to you:
http://www.routerworkshop.com/easydl.html

They say you learn something new everyday. This would be my new thing so I can now go home!!!! Thanks for that bit of info.

[Peter Quinn]

The real question is how are you going to make those cute little plastic roofs and chimneys? Those were my favorite part of the Lincoln Logs! my mom saved mine all these years so I can give them to my son and dodge that bullet! Man do they charge a lot for those things now.

[Eric Larsen]

Make sure you chip-carve the sides before you stain them for that "Little House on the Prairie" look.

:D

[Rick Potter]

I guess it's time to dust off my Lincoln Log story; but first the advice....

Make sure you use a stacked dado cutter to get flat bottom cuts. I didn't at first and had to redo maybe a thousand cuts that had already been done, AND the pieces were already sliced and diced.

Now, back to our story. I came up with the brilliant idea of making logs for our first grandkid. Not just a set for a cabin...a set for a whole Boonesborough. My wife thought it was such a good idea, she suggested making matching sets for our other two kids who had no progeny yet. Great idea says I, that will save redoing it later for the other kids.

But wait, says she...we have nine neices and nephews who will have kids someday too, and don't forget your neice and nephew who will need a set also, and I also have some good friends at work who would love some too!

Well, all this resulted in my spending from Thanksgiving to Christmas making Lincoln Logs....thousands of them. The first thing I gave up on was making them round...square will do (and this did work well). I figure I made between 20 and 30 THOUSAND cuts on my table saw...there are permanent scratches in the table from the miter guage.

I made them in wide pieces which were sliced into individual logs after the dados were cut. I don't know how many pieces I made, but the hardest ones were the single spacer pieces....and I ended up with a large outside type trash can full of them.

I was using my adjustable dado, and after making almost all the pieces, I tried putting them together in a stack for a building, and after about four high they leaned so bad I decided to redo the dado's....with a stacked cutter.

I did this on the RAS by making a jig to hold the pieces down and in the right spot with a lever off the fence that slipped int the next slot on the piece, if that makes any sense.

More advice: Make all dado slots in the longer pieces the same distance apart as the small..IE..if you have two inches between slots on smaller pieces, four inches between slots on medium pieces, and 6" on larger pieces, make all the slots in increments of 2 ". Meaning the larger pieces will have dados every 2" or whatever. This way any configuration can be made.

Oh, yeah...that trash can of singles...trash...no way to redo those safely, so redo the whole batch.

For the roofs I cut 3/4 roof gables with slots to fit anything, and on the angles I left a lip on each end to hold the roof pieces, which I ripped about 1/8" thick from maple, in various appropriate lengths.

My wife made nice drawstring bags about the size of a Santa bag for the various sets. Our immediate family got these sets. Extended family got bags about the size of a big shopping bag.

End of story.
Rick Potter

[Russ Hauser]

I made Lincoln Logs years ago for a nephew. Notches were cut in wide boards using a stacked dado cutter. Edges were eased with a 1/4 inch round over bit. I happened to have a 1 x 12 on hand that had about an inch and a half cup for its full length. I used it to build a box for the logs. it came out looking great, kinda like a treasure chest looking thing.

[Robert Mayer]

End of story.
Rick Potter

Wow, thanks for the write up. Thats just what I was looking for. So you ended up making all of them square? Did you just sand the sharp edges down?

Leaving them square might be a great idea.

[Rick Potter]

No sanding done. Left them 'rough hewn'. Can't remember how much wood I used, I think it was a couple hundred bucks worth of sugar pine...like I said, it was a LOT of logs.

PS: Make twice as many singles as you think you will need.

Rick P































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