Modeling in Wood #1: Toy Motor Cycle

First let me tell ya, I’m no expert at this building Models /Toys/ Replicas, And I certainly am not a craftsman woodworker like some here….Self taught and just enjoying the hobby.. But I do like to build models. As an after thought, I’m going to try and give day by day reports on my current build. That is if I don’t loose my sanity before I’m done…....

Toy Motor Cycle

Those that know me at all know I love to build small wood models. In fact, lately, that’s about all I have been building. About 5 years ago I acquired a plan for a motor cycle. One good look at this plan and it was put away for another day. This plan is a bit vague and leaves lots to the imagination. Not to mention that it is also just wrong in spots. Anyway, today I started to build it.

When starting a new project I like to get the hard parts over with as soon as I can. One of the trouble areas of this build is the wheels. It took me all day but I now have a useable pair of wheels.

As luck would have it, a couple of weeks back while in a craft shop, I came across some 2 inch diameter laser cut wagon wheels. They are a 1/8” thick, and look to me to be just the ticket to use as spokes for my motor cycle wheels. After getting them I was right, I would just need to make a rim and tire.

In the picture to follow, you can see all the parts for one wheel, as well as a completed wheel. I used two of the laser cut ply wheels I had bought, with a ¼”spacer between them. Then I added a 1/8” ring to both sides. This completes the rim. Now all I needed was a tire to fit over the rim.

The rings for the rim were cut from maple and the tire was cut from walnut. To do this I used my new circle cutter chucked in the drill press. Then to the sanding drum and next the disc & belt sander for final shaping. Lots of hand sanding too. The tire treads were cut on the band saw, holding the tire against the fence and rotating.

When all is said and done, I think these little wheels are going to work on this motor cycle quite well. There is still a lot of trouble coming my way. Next feat will be to complete the Frame and Springer front end.

I will try and keep you all posted as this project continues…

Click for full view…....

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/