Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Toy Workshop held on Nov 16th, 2013 at Club for Boys Shop

Fourteen toymakers from the Rapid City Woodworkers Association (RCWA) gathered at the Club for Boys Shop on Saturday morning, Nov 16, 2013 at 8:45 am.  This is the third to last week for completing our goal of over 2000 handmade wooden toys for delivery to less fortunate children in the Black Hills and Sioux Falls area in early December. 

This workshop was the culmination of many weeks of work on basketball game parts, as 100 basketball games were assembled, ball/string assemblies attached, and the game was tested for final delivery. 

 
The first step in the process is to plane the rough lumber.  This was done in January by one member, Julian Wigen, who planed all the rough oak and cherry stock.  Then another member, Larry Borg, cut, routered, and sanded all the basketball bases and the backboards.  One of our loyal supporters, J and D Woodworking of Black Hawk, SD, prepared the plywood hoops using their high-powered CNC machine earlier this summer.    Launchers were fabricated at Bob's shop, complete with a  5 degree spoon slot.  Adapter posts used to facilitate final assembly were fabricated at various shops over the past year.  At the previous workshop, several members finalized the bases by drilling holes to accept the posts, drilling two sided holes for the strings, and drilling holes for the launcher mounting screw.  Then members glued the adapter posts to the bases, and attached the launchers to the bases.  The hoops were glued to the backboards and then attached with screws at the previous workshop.  With both halves assembled, they were taken to Bob's shop where Kathie applied a sanding sealer/lacquer thinner mix using a brush.  This raises the grain slightly, so each part required some sanding with 220 grit sandpaper (again by Kathie).  Then the two parts were sprayed with two coats of quick drying lacquer as the final finish.   All this had to happen before today's workshop. 




Today, the hoop assembly and the base assembly were joined with a 1/2" dowel post (also fabricated previously).  With the game almost complete, the strings were inserted in the holes in the base.  Final assembly required tying the string so that the ball lands exactly in the bowl of the spoon.  Final test - the ball must go through the hoop before the test is passed.  A pair of spoons were attached with rubber bands and the toy was packaged for moving to the storage room.

 
 





 
A slight modification was required to make the newly designed Wendy's spoons fit the launcher slots.

This workshop was also the culmination of many weeks of work on tugboat parts, as more than 100 tugboats reached the final assembly stage.  One member, Steve Larson, cut, routered, sanded, and drilled all the tugboat hulls and the cabins during October.  Bob cut and drilled dowels for stacks, and cut small dowels for the tie downs.  Five members formed the assembly line today, and attached the cabins, then the stacks, and finally the tie downs, to complete the toy.  All tugboats are now ready for final sealing, sanding, and lacquer finishing. 





Wheels were installed on 94 wheeled vehicles as the last of the 2013 model cars, racers, busses, and small cars rolled off the assembly lines.




Strings were inserted in the last 50 cloth toy bags as we prepare for a slurry of the wooden critters that members have been cutting for the last several months for the toy bags.  Members cutting critters include Lon, Darwin, Rollie, Gary G, Bel, Gary K, Larry, Rick, Steve, Julian, Harley, and Bob.



Almost a dozen two - sided cradles were prepared during this workshop, including cradle ends cut on the CNC machine.




Attendees at today's workshop included:  Julian, Frank, Harley, Bel, Larry, Barb, Kathie, Rick, Greg, Gary G, Rollie,  Darwin, Lauree, Bob, Grant (home shop) and Ken.


To get to the HOME PAGE of the Rapid City Woodworking Association website, click on the link below:

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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Toy Workshop held on Nov 9th, 2013 at Club for Boys Shop

Eighteen toymakers from the Rapid City Woodworkers Association (RCWA) gathered at the Club for Boys Shop on Saturday morning, Nov 9, 2013 at 8:45 am.  This is our final month for completing the last of over 2000 handmade wooden toys for delivery to less fortunate children in the Black Hills and Sioux Falls area. 

This workshop included activities required to assemble various parts of the wooden basketball game.  Holes were drilled in the base of the toy to accept the hoop and backboard assembly.   Holes to attach the ball and string assemblies were drilled in the base as well.  Launchers to hold the Wendy's spoons were sanded to a 220 grit finish, and then were attached to the base of the toy.   Hoops were attached to the backboards with small trim screws.

Wings were attached to the last group of small airplanes fuselages.  Wheels were installed on the remainder of the 2013 RCWA fleet of 125 airplanes.

Wheels were installed on over 100 wheeled vehicles as the last of the finished cars, trucks, racers, oldies, pickups, tankers, and small cars rolled off the assembly lines. 

Lined cloth toy bags have been sewn by the "Bag Ladies" over the last several months.  Strings were inserted in the tops of the bags in preparation for the wooden critters which have been traced and cut for this year's toy bag deliveries.

A limited number of prototype two - sided cradles were prepared during this workshop. 

One of our members is becoming an expert on a small CNC machine, and we have benefitted with several parts for the end pieces of cradles and for the rotors on the helicopters.

This was a very productive workshop and we are certainly enjoying the use of the facilities offered for our use here at the Club for Boys.

Winding down after a very productive morning of toymaking!



Attendees included:  Julian, Frank, Harley, Bel, Larry, Barb, Kathie, Rick, Richard, Greg, Levi, Jason, Gary G, Rollie, Steve, Grant, Bob, and Ken.


To get to the HOME PAGE of the Rapid City Woodworking Association website, click on the link below:

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Toy Workshop held on Nov 2, 2013 at Club for Boys Shop

Twelve toymakers from the Rapid City Woodworkers Association (RCWA) gathered at the Club for Boys Shop on Saturday morning, Nov 2, 2013 at 8:45 am.  This begins the November weekly workshops as we march toward our goal of 2000 handmade wooden toys for Christmas time delivery to less fortunate children in the Black Hills and the Sioux Falls area the first part of December. 

Wheels were installed on almost 200 wheeled vehicles as cars, trucks, racers, oldies, pickups, helicopters, airplanes, tankers, and small cars are ready for inventory.

This workshop included piece parts preparations including final sanding and axle drilling.   Counting and packing the finished toys and readying them for the storeroom is a very essential part of the whole toy making operation and continued throughout the workshop.

A very productive workshop was accomplished by a well-oiled team of woodworkers who are passionate about what they do and what they want to accomplish.  Thanks again to the Club for Boys for allowing us to use their spacious workshop.


Airplanes are lined up for final lacquer finish spraying after assembly during the Saturday workshops.



Simple airplanes with imaginary propellers are now ready for final spraying.

Attendees included:  Darwin, Lauree, Julian, Harley, Bel, Larry, Kathie, Rick, Richard, Gary G, Lon, and Bob.


To get to the HOME PAGE of the Rapid City Woodworking Association website, click on the link below:

the end