| Project by Ben Griffith | posted 542 days ago | 859 views | 10 times favorited | 8 comments | ![]() |
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A couple months ago we looked at a preschool for our son and they had a bunch of these clips. I made one on the bandsaw that evening and my son enjoys playing with it. It’s about 5” long and made from a 3/4” poplar scrap. Just tonight I whipped up a couple more from scraps of pine for his friends, but I still need to scrounge up some more rubber bands. I think the ones that come on broccoli are about the right size, but all the ones in the junk drawer say “Asparagus” on them and are too big!
A slice of bicycle innertube might be about the right size…






























8 comments so far
Napaman
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3483 posts in 970 days
posted 542 days ago
cool!! but how does it work? what do you do with it? (I have a 5yr and 14 month old..should I build some???)
-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...
Ben Griffith
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45 posts in 572 days
posted 541 days ago
It’s kind of like a big clothespin, except it doesn’t pinch so hard. My son likes picking things up with it (good for coordination and fine motor skills), and he likes that it looks and works just like my spring clamps. At the preschool kids use them to clip blankets to chairs to make forts, or use their imagination to use them with blocks or other toys. And they make a fun clicking noise! The ones they had were somewhat thicker than mine, but the size I made ended up being just right for a 2 1/2 year old’s hands.
PS… since the rubber band could be a choking hazard, be careful if your little one likes putting things in his mouth.
Bradford
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787 posts in 715 days
posted 541 days ago
Interesting toys. Always something new here at LJ’s.
-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.
John Gray
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1752 posts in 778 days
posted 541 days ago
Broccoli rubber bands needed? Just eat your greens they are good for you. GREAT POST THANKS!!!!!
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Dadoo
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1725 posts in 883 days
posted 541 days ago
Might I suggest….a couple more rubber bands so that they’re real firm to open and you’ll have…woodclamps! Whatever jaw size you want too!
You might’ve stumbled upon something here!
-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!
jtdyal
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47 posts in 542 days
posted 541 days ago
Wood you mind posting the pattern. I am not a fan of the scroll saw, but my friend @ work is. And she would like to build one.
-- ~jtd
Ben Griffith
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45 posts in 572 days
posted 541 days ago
Hi JTD,
What I did for the first one is find a picture of one online, print it out, and trace that onto a piece of wood. For the later ones I just used the first one as a pattern. So if you print out one of my pictures and blow it up on a photocopier that should work. Or you could blow it up in Photoshop before you print it.
If you right-click on the thumbnail above and click “Open link in new window” that should allow you to print/save the picture.
-Ben
Colin
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186 posts in 813 days
posted 539 days ago
Thanks for the peg idea and the advice of how to get a print out of the picture you want, without 6 more sheets that I don’t want.
-- Colin, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. "Every craftsman was once an amateur"