[tukatuk]

Hi all, I've been reading the forums for a couple of months now and registered this evening. Here's a picture of my first toy that I made for my 16 month old.

 

[Demosthine]

Very nice work. There's something exciting and nostalgic about good, old-fashioned wooden toys. It seems like the kids love it even more when it's the natural wood color, though. At least mine do. Keep up the work.

 

[tukatuk]

Hi, thanks for the compliment, very much appreciated. Yeah I'm torn between natural wood and painting it. Over the coming months I'll be trying dyes/stains and natural finishes.
Thanks again.

 

[Demosthine]

One thing to look for in the stains and clear coats is to make sure it is food safe. If yours are anything like my kids, toys always end up in the mouth at some point. It doesn't matter what the age, it seems. Heck, my 8-year old brother was playing tea party with my two girls and used an old wooden tire as a pretend donut. Who would have thought...

 

[Kenbo]

Great job. You can buy your child all the Matchbox cars in the world, and they will never compare to how much he will love this one. Good for you. :thumbsup:

 

[tukatuk]

Thanks for the tip - I'm thinking of using food colors to stain and beeswax to seal the wood. Can't remember where I actually read that, but it was on some site, somewhere. I'll search here for child/food safe finishes or post a separate question later on when I'm closer to finishing.
Thx again.

 

[Demosthine]

Huh, interesting idea with the food coloring. I'm really curious as to how that would work now. Time to add that to my "To Google" list. The beeswax would be good to go, though. People use that to cover the sharp corners on braces for their teeth all the time.