# Toys for Christmas



## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

As I do each year I make toys and donate them to a food bank to be given out for Christmas gifts. This year I have something over 70 vehicles and other toys completed. A fun and satisfying project that uses up lots of hoarded wood scraps each year.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Good job Dennis,way to give back to the community and use up you scrape


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## Salty Dawg (Jan 24, 2014)

Wow, you have been busy, nice job giving back


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

There's going to be some happy kids at Christmas thanks you, Dennis. I applaud your endeavors.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow you have a big heart Dennis


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Thanks guys. Figuring out how best to use the various bits and pieces is a good mental exercise.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

denniswoody said:


> Thanks guys. Figuring out how best to use the various bits and pieces is a good mental exercise.


I'm amazed by the sheer amount of work and time involved


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

RainMan1 said:


> I'm amazed by the sheer amount of work and time involved


I have deliberately never tracked the time. As long as it's fun it doesn't matter. And hey I'm retired.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

A tip of the hat to you good sir!!! 

Indeed a noble endeavor!


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Nicely done Dennis.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Great Work Dennis. If I was there I'd probably be playing with them right now. You've reinforced my belief that there is no such thing as scrap, just wood that hasn't found it's end use yet.


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## billyjim (Feb 11, 2012)

Kudos to you Dennis. Your kindness and generosity will make some children very happy on Christmas morning.


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## rsauve999 (Oct 16, 2014)

*praise*

Dennis:
You da man. What great work & for a worthy cause!
Bob


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## RMIGHTY1 (Nov 5, 2014)

*Thank you Santa Dennis!!!*

Wow Santa Dennis!!! Thank you for sharing. Did you have plans for any of that or is it all impromptu?


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

RMIGHTY1 said:


> Wow Santa Dennis!!! Thank you for sharing. Did you have plans for any of that or is it all impromptu?


Some impromptu with various pieces that are odd-shaped. The small cars are great for this as you can basically make the shape fit the scrap. I have made a number of templates as well, and these make laying out five or six on a board easy and efficient. Searching the web provides lots of ideas.


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Great Work Dennis. If I was there I'd probably be playing with them right now. You've reinforced my belief that there is no such thing as scrap, just wood that hasn't found it's end use yet.


Absolutely true!


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I have just found out this morning the food bank I donate these to gave out just under 30,000 emergency food hampers in the year ending September. That's up about 3,000 over the previous year.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

You're a good man Dennis. N


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

denniswoody said:


> As I do each year I make toys and donate them to a food bank to be given out for Christmas gifts. This year I have something over 70 vehicles and other toys completed. A fun and satisfying project that uses up lots of hoarded wood scraps each year.


Santa has been vewy,vewy, busy! Good job!!


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Great work Dennis. Very thoughtful too. I'm sure a lot of kids will be happily surprised this Christmas. Do you buy the wheels, axles and other parts? I'm thinking of doing something similar next year.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Wow! Great job, Dennis!!
I'm intrigued by that square puzzle with the interlocking shapes. Did you scroll saw them? Do you remember where you saw the plans for it?
I really like that there's no picture on the face, like a jigsaw puzzle would have. This forces the kid using it to use his reasoning ability rather than looking for picture recognition cues. 
...And you _ know_ it 'll get passed on (no plastic parts).


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Apparently can't send you a p.m., Dennis, so Thanks!! You pointed me in the right direction (for my soon to be new Grandkid) ...
I really liked this site:
Wooden Puzzle Plans simple design for kids


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Great job Dennis, the kids from the food bank are the only ones who will play with these anymore the rest are too busy on their thumb machines to look up and see the world. Isn't it great to be retired and do for others,gives a person a good feeling. And it gives the recipients a good feeling too. And look at that clean shop, you did it all without getting the floor dirty,amazing.

Keep up the good work,
Herb


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## beemor (Feb 29, 2012)

Good to see a generous soul in action !


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## Larkan (Apr 13, 2012)

What a beautiful thing, the kids get to enjoy your lovely workmanship and you get that wonderful sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. !0/10 

Cheers, Kerry


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Barry747 said:


> Great work Dennis. Very thoughtful too. I'm sure a lot of kids will be happily surprised this Christmas. Do you buy the wheels, axles and other parts? I'm thinking of doing something similar next year.


Yes I buy the wheels, wheel pins and miscellaneous other parts like headlights from Lee Valley. There are several other companies selling this type of thing as well.


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> Wow! Great job, Dennis!!
> I'm intrigued by that square puzzle with the interlocking shapes. Did you scroll saw them? Do you remember where you saw the plans for it?
> I really like that there's no picture on the face, like a jigsaw puzzle would have. This forces the kid using it to use his reasoning ability rather than looking for picture recognition cues.
> ...And you _ know_ it 'll get passed on (no plastic parts).


Thanks Dan. Actually I saw a photo of a similar puzzle while surfing for ideas on the net. I drew up my own plan on a sheet of paper and went from there. I hate scroll sawing cause I'm no good at it so I cut everything on my TS and RAS.
I cut the pieces to the line and then put them together on the backboard. Then I cut the frame a bit oversize. Finally I took one piece for vertical adjustment and one for horizontal and snicked a sliver off each. This gave the play I needed for the parts to move in and out. I chose to draw the pattern of where each piece fit on the backboard so the puzzle would appeal to younger kids just getting into shapes. If you choose not to do this the puzzle will much more challenging - particularly if the design is not square.


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> Apparently can't send you a p.m., Dennis, so Thanks!! You pointed me in the right direction (for my soon to be new Grandkid) ...
> I really liked this site:
> Wooden Puzzle Plans simple design for kids


I just checked my profile and from what I see I should be set up to receive messages. I haven't deliberately chosen not to receive pm's at any rate so maybe I am missing something.
That web site looks really interesting. I will check it out in detail. Thanks very much.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

denniswoody said:


> I just checked my profile and from what I see I should be set up to receive messages. I haven't deliberately chosen not to receive pm's at any rate so maybe I am missing something.
> That web site looks really interesting. I will check it out in detail. Thanks very much.


This is the msg. I get when I click on your profile, Dennis.


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> This is the msg. I get when I click on your profile, Dennis.


I checked my settings again and I misunderstood one of the settings. I should be good now. Thanks for pointing this out to me. Perhaps you could do me a favour and try again as a test?


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

You're golden, Dennis! _*Two thumbs up*_


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