Toys & Games

Here are some of the wooden toys and games I have made over the years.

Castle Blocks – These blocks were made for my daughter’s first birthday.  They are made from clear redwood and are left unfinished so there won’t be any peeling.  I made a second set a little while later for my nephew.

Elephant Puzzle – Made from beech and walnut. 

Go Board and Bowls – My daughter likes this traditional Japanese board game. Nice gobans (go boards) can be very very expensive. I made this one in 2005 from ash. It’s about 18″ x 18″ x 3″ overall, not counting the feet. The ash came from a tree in my backyard that I had cut down several years ago. It’s very thick wood, and as can be expected, the wood developed cracks when it dried – they are filled with epoxy. The lines are routed grooves filled with walnut inlays. The bowls are also ash and the lids are walnut, approximately 6 1/2″ in diameter.

Portable Go Boards – Made in 2006 so my daughter could take them to school to play with her friends.  Made from oak plywood with oak edges.  Approximately 12″ square.  The lines were cut with a table saw, filled with wood putty, and then sanded smooth.

Lego Boxes – Made in the late 1990’s to house my son’s growing lego collection.  The boxes stack up and the work surface becomes the lid.

Saturn 5 Puzzle – A simple set of eleven segments that stack on a central dowel rod.  Made from oak and walnut. 

Wagon – Made using Wood Magazine plans.  The kids had fun with it when they were little.  Today it’s on our porch with some flowers in it.

Dumbledore’s Wand – not really a toy, more of a collector’s item.  Made from walnut.  Uses two AAA batteries and a bright white LED.  Makes a neat flashlight.  I used a router to make the battery compartment and wire path in two halves, glued them together and turned the basic shape on a lathe.  Then used a dremel rotary tool to add the detail.  The case is made from some scrap wood I had left over from another project.