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Wooden Toy Car thanks to Gary's "Ode' to Old Craftsman"... About 6 weeks ago I found a posting on Lumber Jocks as follows:

ode' to a craftsmen - wooden toy car
First off, I won't claim that this art work is may creation. I found this old car in a barn/sales shop in North Carolina. It was forgotten on the backside of shelf. The guy that was running the cash register said it was found along the Neuse River after a flood. Which had to be sometime ago. The first three photos are just the way I found it. The next three are after a heavy cleaning. The wheels look factory made, the axle extends out to the hubcap and looks like Maple. The rest of the body is Pine. One of the over-cuts for a window shows the marks of a very thin blade, maybe scroll saw. I had planned to clean the mud off and spray on a new finish. Now that I have seen it clean I think I will respect the "ode' to a craftsmen long past" and keep it as is.
-GaryW, Edgefield SC, Too old to start over, can't remember why…
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/83871

I liked the fact that Gary had saved the toy and given credit to someone else, so I asked him for a few extra details on the old wooden car.
Well, long story short; Gary is a very generous and kind bloke who not only took a few extra photos for me but he did a sketch up drawing of the car which he emailed to me.
While what I've built is slightly different to the original it honours that original craftsman.
Here is what I've done; I've used some cyprus pine for the base & sides, merbau for the engine, boot & wheels, oregon for the seats. meranti for the roof, pine for the mudguards and some tassie oak dowel for the headlights, steering wheel is store bought…..




I've made some progress today putting the roof on, plus making and installing the headlights…..
The original photos from Gary are in the background of these two photos of today's work…..



We had sunshine today after 8 days of rain…..Yea!!!
I'd already sanded the little car down and now with the sunshine she got 3 coats of clear polyurethane.
Thank you all for the encouragement…
A HUGE "THANK YOU" to Gary W for his original post on LumberJocks and sharing the toy with me.
Cheers, crowie

PS - I also put the car and thank you on an Aussie woodwork forum….
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f174/wooden-toy-car-thanks-garys-ode-old-craftsman-172929/#post1667874

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CASUALMENTE YO ESTABA AQUÍ AHORA SIGUIENDO ÉSTA
MARAVILLOSA HISTORIA DE UN ARTESANO ANÓNIMO A QUIÉN
SE LE RESPETÓ EL DISEÑO QUE SEGURAMENTE DURARÁ MÁS
TIEMPO QUE ESE DESCONOCIDO HOMBRE AUTOR ORIGINAL ;-)
GRANDE GARY Y TÚ CROWIE DOS VIEJOS LOCOS QUE YA SON MIS
AMIGOS Y RESPETADOS COLEGAS :)
 

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G'Day Kova,
I hope this is a correct translation for your post….Thank you…
COINCIDENTALLY I WAS HERE NOW FOLLOWING THIS WONDERFUL STORY OF A CRAFTSMAN ANONYMOUS WHO IS RESPECTED YOU DESIGN THAT WILL PROBABLY LAST LONGER THAN THAT UNKNOWN MAN ORIGINAL AUTHOR ;-) BIG GARY AND YOUR CROWIE TWO OLD CRAZY PEOPLE WHO ARE MY FRIENDS AND RESPECTED COLLEAGUES….
 

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CORRECTA TRADUCCIÓN QUERIDO AMIGO!!!!!!!
 

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EL AUTOR ES DESCONOCIDO PERO SU DISEÑO SOBREVIVE
GRACIAS A USTEDES!!!!!!!!
 

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I hope the original craftsman somehow knows that his work was an inspiration for new works.

So often a labor of love is simply forgotten. Its nice to see one being remembered.
 

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thank you. Crowie your car is great, I love it. Your the artist, if you can make something from my chicken scratches, you have done well. Thanks for the link for your craft site I;ll visit it tonight.
 

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Great job Peter a great Joint effort between you and GaryW. well done both of you and also to the unknown original builder.
 

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Looks great Peter. Your modifications look really good. I have to chuckle every time I see Handy the Smurf. He looks much happier in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Bret
 

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G'Day and THANK YOU one and all.
It has been a fun project and the little wooden car is good & strong.

Handy Smurf is just often watching but this time he got himself in the photo….. lol ….

The Blue Mountains [name by Captain James Cook for there blue glow from the eucalyptus trees] are starting to become cold by our standard; that's low 40's deg'f' [5-8 deg'c'] so the fire is on most nights. Still the days can reach low 60's deg'f [15-20 deg'c'] on good sunny days.
 

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I hope that someday one of my designs fall into the hands of another craftsman like you. Good story.
 
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