something different....closed

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Dec 27, 2007
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Brattleboro,VT, USA.
Hello all!
I'm new to the site, and new to turning.....I'm also new to fatherhood. That said, I've had an intersting idea and wonder if anyone might be willing to offer some thoughts and possibly material. My child will be old enough to play with blocks pretty soon. My significant other (a professor in early childhood development) has suggested that it might be cool to make our daughters blocks. I figure I can laminate pen cut-offs to make all sorts of eye-catching blocks to help babys little brain develope. The problem I'm having is two-fold. 1. I have very few pen cut-offs because I hadn't thought to keep them until just a couple of weeks ago.... 2. I know next to nothing about laminating. I'd appreciate any thoughts or other offerings!

~Hello
 
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First off, WELCOME! Second, Congratulations on your baby Girl!
I think that making blocks and other toys is a wonderful idea. I would be very concerned about the size of the cutoffs you would use if a joint should happen to come apart it could be a major choking hazard. Also the materials you use could be an issue, a lot of people have a variety of allergic reactions to various woods. So a toy made for a small child who would be putting in her mouth might be bothersome. I am not trying to rain on your parade, I just wanted to offer some thinking points. I believe that maple is the wood that is mostly used for most building blocks.
Again welcome to the funny farm! :D
 
Thanks Dawn. I know next to nothing about laminating.....I really didn't think about the idea that the blocks could come apart - specifically because they don't tend to just come apart when turning laminated blanks. As far as the part about "putting things in their mouths", what is it that store bought blocks are coated with as a protectant? Its obviously child safe.....any thoughts?
 
I was a preschool teacher for many years, and have 3 children 15,2, & 8 months. I don't believe that the blocks are finished with much of anything. You could use a food safe wax, I'm not sure what any of the commercial stuff is called, we use some stuff that one of our wood suppliers makes for bowls and cutting boards. Anything that is used to condition bowls & cutting boards that is food safe shouldn't go rancid or hurt the baby. As far as the laminating, if one of the laminated pen blanks got thrown around, chewed on, stepped on and all the other things that goes on with toys, I would venture to guess that they would come apart. I could be wrong, it has been know to happen from time to time. If it were me (I have been thinking about making some) I would/will use maple and or pine wood. I would sand them probably up to 12000, and leave them with out any finish. If you want color you could paint them with a non-toxic toy paint. Hand made toys are wonderful! I have a train that I got as a gift for my 5th Christmas, my children are now playing with it. How many store bought toys can that be said about?? Don't give up, what ever you decide it will be done with love and that is very important. :)
 
what about this.....I'm a problem solver if there ever were one....a creative thinker. This would be a lot of work, but it could be cool. Is the acrylic, or polyester resin used for casting blanks dangerous?
 
I don't think so, after it is cured. But just like the laminated wood coming apart, the PR or Acrylic could break apart. I have broken/chipped both.

Believe me I am not trying to bring down your idea! Maybe someone else has some ideas as to how to make it work like you want, or they can tell me that I am totally wrong in my thinking.
 
Hi mark, thanks for the welcome! I can't wait to visit Scotland one day....my family is Scottish for as far back as I'm able to research.
 
Hi mark, thanks for the welcome! I can't wait to visit Scotland one day....my family is Scottish for as far back as I'm able to research.
 
Please read up a little bit about unit blocks at the link bellow. Unit blocks are a great toy for children and the set ratio for the sizes is what makes them a great educational toy.

http://www.oldfashionedblocks.com/standard_unit_building_blocks.html

I originally made a pretty big set of unit blocks when my son was born out of hard maple. For Christmas I expanded the set with money my grandmother gave the kids since the boy is now five and is building bigger stuff and has to share with a little sister. The place I got my Maple from this time only had curly Maple but sells it at the same price as the regular maple. So my kids now have the fanciest building block around.
Blocks take a lot of abuse and Hard Maple takes the abuse pretty well. A softer wood like pine or poplar would be destroyed pretty quickly. Just them cleaning up (throwing them in a tub) beats blocks up quite a bit. I am not sure that laminated blocks would stand the repeated impact. The vibration is very hard on glue joint and the blocks will be knocked down and tossed around quite a bit. I say bite the bullet and make your kids a set of blocks that your grandkids can play with as well.

You can start out with a small set while they are young and grow it over the years. When I made the first set I had very few tools and it was a complete pain. I have more tools now and with a table saw a crosscut sled and a 48 inch belt sander they are very very easy to make.

As a note I only sand them to 150 they are only blocks and they will get beat up so why waste time sanding to a higher grit. Any food safe finish can be used. I just used a food safe linseed oil product call Tried and True. Again with the abuse they are going to take a film based finish just does not make sense.
 
having done mostly flat work until a couple months ago. Found that most wood glue joints are actually stronger than the wood around it. Ie. if glued properly using a good wood glue such as titebond II or III if you manage to break it usually it is not the glue joint that breaks but the wood around it. Not talking end grain to end grain joints here, they are not that strong. Long grain glued joints are strong. I've only had one long grain joint fail and that was my own fault it was hard maple and I applied to much pressure and squeezed all the glue out of the joint.
 
I don't know what kind of wood you are thinking of, or are using, but different woods cause different reactions to different people. Even if they are large enough that they cannot put them in their mouth (and potentially swallow) younger ones will probably put then to their mouth or partially in their mouth. There in lies the problem with some woods.

Cocobolo for one - does not bother me at all but it sure does some people; That is just for starters. Maple, and maybe a few other woods are good overall non-allergenic woods, but of all the varieties that are used in normal pen turning, you should read up on the potential for allergy reactions. A child WILL put them to their mouth and that can trigger reactions.
 
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