WOOD TOY NEWS LARRY LAING AND JOHN HAMILTON SHARE. toymakingplans.com June 23, 2014 Monday To the needy kids in Haiti, Larry Laing of Sequim, Washington is the new Santa. The kids in Haiti feel a lot of joy from a toymaker who lives 3,500 miles away in Washington State. Larry Laing, the toymaker of Sequim has used his unique talents for mass production to provide hundreds of toys for the needy children of Haiti. Larry who is 73 years old, has the energy and drive of a man half his age. He has applied his energy and thrift to making great quantities of high quality toys from scrap wood that he has sluethed out and stashed away over the last couple of years. Larry is thrilled with the photos he has received from the kids in Haiti. You can see from their smiles why Larry continues to be motivated to serve kids in need. Their wonderful smiles speak volumes. 1 June 23, 2014 Monday
Larry has handcrafted over 600 toys for many of the World s needy children. There are a lot more being produced in his highly efficient home workshop! Receiving these photos of happy and smiling faces were a wonderful Christmas present for Larry. He has brought joy to so many kids that it isn t possible to count them all. He wisely creates a variety of finishes and styles so the kids can find a car that they feel is built just for them. 2 June 23, 2014 Monday
If you think hand-made toys can t be massproduced, then take another look! Larry used the toy patterns in the toymakingplans.com book below. Larry has drafted his wife Pam and his 9 year old grandson into working on his grand plan to create as many high quality toys as fast as they can. Take a look above at the incredible quantity and flawless quality of the Haiti shipment. Together the trio packed and shipped the 200 toy cars and trucks that you see in the above photo. All of the shipment was sent to Haiti to be distributed among the orphanages. Larry incorporated the talents and distribution skills of the charitable organization, Free the Children. It is a Toronto based charity that works hard to encourage and develop the skills and well-being of impoverished children all over the world. The organization volunteered to ship all of the toys at no cost to Larry Jason Desmu of Lake Tapps, Larry s son-inlaw introduced Larry to Free the Children. Jason suggested that Larry build the toys for the charity. Larry volunteered because of his access to free scrap wood, but he really couldn t afford to ship them. The Organization agreed to absorb all of the shipping costs. The Director of, Free the Children Erin Barton, has expressed to Larry how thankful and thrilled the children have been to receive Larry s generous gifts. He said that for many of the children it is the only toy that they have ever received as a gift. They are very happy. 3 June 23, 2014 Monday
Larry is a master of a Toy s fit and finish. All of the toy patterns are from this toymakingplans.com book. Larry is committed to sending more toys to Haiti and also to any organization that gives help to children. His philosophy is to not be partial or judgemental, but to treat all needy children with love and respect. Larry makes the toys in large batches to increase efficiency. Each toy is finished with two coats of non-toxic color paint and is sanded carefully with very fine sandpaper. Next, an additional four coats of polyurethane clear coat are applied as a protective surface and to create the beautiful gloss on his toys. The entire community supports his efforts. And he has received small discounts from Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams and others to help with the cause. Larry can be contacted at: gglaing63@gmail.com Larry has always loved kids and has helped them along the way using every method he has at his disposal. Many toys are distributed by local Police and the WA State Patrol. 4 June 23, 2014 Monday
Larry has found that the toy patterns in the toymakingplans. com book shown are ideal for quantity production. The parts can quickly be made on a table saw and assembly is fast and easy. 5 June 23, 2014 Monday
WOOD TOY NEWS JOHN HAMILTON toymakingplans.com June 23, 2014 Monday At age 80, Toymaker John Hamilton is busy perfecting his craft. I find these projects challenging and for the most part, pretty easy to complete. John who lives in Jacksonville, Florida is fairly new to toymaking but enjoys applying his philosophy of disciplined work mixed with fun to create quality toys that are safe and fun. John favors natural wood toys and has become skilled at applying the clear finishes required to bring out the beauty of the natural wood. He is still working on his painting skills and has made some progress with colors. But he feels he has a way to go before his bright colored toys can be displayed with confidence and pride. We all know how difficult applying color can be! The kids in John s life add a lot of zest and enjoyment to his toymaking work. He has found that it is a wonderful way to stay connected with the new generation. And it is so invigorating to do so! 6 June 23, 2014 Monday
Original design by John. John likes Cynthia s Paste Wax Finish free recipe from the toymakingplans.com website. He mixes up a batch and then keeps the container of it stored in his shop. He finds it goes on a lot easier if it isn t stored in a refrigerator. That just a little of the mixture on the end of a brush will go a long way on bare wood toys. John is experimenting with painted bright color toys. It looks as if he just about has it mastered. Bright colored toys are very popular with all ages of kids. However it can be a little difficult to get it right. John s painting prototype to the right looks as if he has the solution. The color choices are great and the application is neat and professional. On some toys he uses clear shellac. On others he uses no finish at all. Another favorite finish is Krylon Triple Thick Clear Glaze. Toymakers love smiles like these. John used the book above from toymakingplans.com to build the semi & flat bed trucks. 7 June 23, 2014 Monday
John used this toymakingplans.com plan set to build the U.S. Mail Truck shown below. 8 June 23, 2014 Monday
John enjoys creating a variety of toy styles using varying building methods. As you can see in the photo to the right, by combining a few simple blocks of wood John has created a unique and easy to make truck. This type of toy is ideal for charity donations. The parts can be easily cut from scrap wood. And the toys look great unfinished or coated with paste wax or clear polyurethane. Nice work, John! It is a beautiful little truck with impeccable workmanship and perfect proportions. 9 June 23, 2014 Monday
This truck was made with a table saw. John used this toy book from toymakingplans.com to build the dump truck. All John needed to make this truck was a table saw and a hole cutter mounted in his drill press for wheels. All of the trucks in the book use the same chassis and wheels. It made it a whole lot easier for John to make several trucks at the same time. Each cut was straight. Assembly was all butt joints that were easy to clamp. The photo on the next page showing the Car Carrier introduced John to making toys on the scroll saw. Every part was sawn with the scroll saw using standard blades. A number 11 skip tooth works very well. The assembly is quick and clamping is very simple to do. John plans to sand this one and then apply bright colors with a clear gloss finish. The toy is made from cheap framing lumber combined with MDF (medium density fiberboard). MDF is a good material for painted toys, especially if you prep the edges of the MDF with 2 or 3 coats of shellac before painting. We want to thank John for sharing his work with us. His energy and passion for the toymaking craft is truly inspirational. The quality of his work is amazing and he started toymaking only a very short time ago. We all hope that we can someday learn to exercise the hope, discipline and dignity he displays in his 80th year! Hats off to John! John can be contacted at: jham4610@bellsouth.net 10 June 23, 2014 Monday
John used this toy pattern from toymakingplans.com to build the car carrier. This truck was made with a scroll saw. It s ready to sand and paint. 11 June 23, 2014 Monday