Woodworking + Halloween = - Woodworking Talk

b00kemdano · 11-01-2009, 12:43 AM

a fire truck!

My 2 year old loves anything with wheels, but he likes firetrucks a lot. I made this fire truck with some plywood that I had lying around, as well as some electronic parts that I had lying around. It's a shell of plywood that fits on top of his Radio Flyer wagon. You can't see it very well in this pic, but the lights on top run in circles, there are marker lights on the side, and head lights and tail lights that flash alternately. He was a big hit tonight trick or treating. People driving by stopped to say hi!

If anyone's interested, I can post more pics of the process.

ACP · 11-01-2009, 08:29 AM

Very cool! I bet the side benefit was the ability to carry multiple candy buckets too? That's the way to create memories he'll never forget. Well done!

Kenbo · 11-01-2009, 09:09 AM

That is awesome. Love the sippy cup holder in the front. I'm interested, let's see some of the "in progress" pictures. Great job and I bet that your son never wants to use his wagon without the firetruck attachment now.
Ken

b00kemdano · 11-01-2009, 10:55 AM

Thanks guys! The main benefit to this was that I didn't have to carry HIM!! We walked a lot and he would've been tired pretty quickly.

Here's the shell:

I built it to fit tightly on a standard Radio Flyer Wagon:

I put the shell on the wagon for test fitting, then had to stop because my son woke up from his nap. He asked about the fire truck, so we came down to the shop to check it out. I let him sit in the wagon with the shell on it, and he was so excited! But then he looked at me with a serious face, pointed, and said, "No steering wheel." So, I had to add a steering wheel, of course! This led to a dash board, which led to a cup holder.

After cutting holes for lights and steering wheels, I spray painted the whole shell with a glossy red, then started on the detailing. I had a scrap of oak 1x6 in the pile, so I put that on the lathe and made him his steering wheel.

The dome light lenses on top are plastic cocktail cups with red cellophane in between. I used a 3" hole saw to cut out the center of a square piece of plywood, then put the round middle piece inside the cup and pushed it up through the hole. The thickness of the plastic cups kept it tightly in place. The round piece that was cut out had holes drilled through it for the 10 LEDs. The circuit and wiring for the two dome lights run through the gray pieces on the roof and into a box mounted under the roof in the cab. Under the dash is a small box that housed the circuit for the flashing headlights and taillights, and the side marker lights that remained on. There are two push buttons on the dash next to the steering wheel. One controlled the whirly lights and one controlled the rest. All the circuits ran on two 9v batteries.

Here's a lousy video clip of the lights in action.

Most of this was made from wood that I had lying around the shop. I had nearly a whole sheet of 3/8" ply that I've been moving around for a while, and was glad to put it to use. The ladders were donated by my wife - she had plans to make Roman shades for all of our windows, but it never worked out, so I reclaimed her dowels and boards from that. I salvage electronics parts for fun, so I had most of that lying around, too. The only thing I had to buy for this was some white LEDs, spray paint, and some hardware to mount the steering wheel.

It took me about a month in my spare time, and most of that was spent on building the circuits, but it sure was fun to make something unique.

ponch37300 · 11-01-2009, 11:47 AM

Very cool. I've always liked fire trucks, my grandpa worked at Pierce Manufacturing and I got to play on some fire trucks when I was a little kid. I bet your boy will remember this for a long time.