The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

I found a new book of pretty cool looking wood toy models titled Great Book of Wooden Toys by Norm Marshall and Bill Jones.

The coolest looking model in the book was the Model T.......so I decided to build 2 of them.

I put the Model T plan into Google Sketchup:

The first step was to make the wheels. The book author has a different method of making wheels. He uses 1 size hole saw to make a rim (by kissing the wood maybe 1/8" deep) and a 2nd larger hole saw for the wheel outside diameter. I made 10 wheels for my 2 models on the hole saw and then sanded the ODs on my wood lathe.

The next step was to glue up the blanks needed to make the engine, main body and trunk.

 To make the main body, I used white elmers glue and glued on the patterns from Sketchup.

 Below is the table saw jig that I used to cut one of the cuts on the main body.

 Below is how I cut the rear angle on the main cab.

 The Model T has 2 headlights mounted on the front of each bumper. I clamped the Model T into the vise, so I could drill the 1/4" dowel holes for the lights.

 To make the headlights, I drilled 4 holes in a longer piece of dowel. Then I cut the lights to length on my band saw.  Making small parts from a larger piece is a commonly used trick when making smaller wood models.

 And here are the 2 Model Ts ready for polyurethane.

 Here are the 2 finished Model Ts on the pool table.

 And here is one Model T by my coffee mug to give you an idea of the scale of the model.

Closing Thoughts on This Model:

I used white oak for most of the this model. The wheels were maple, the fenders were walnut, the headlights were red oak, and the steering wheel was African Padauk. Other species of wood can be used to change the color scheme.

The models turned out to be very nice. They are very rugged and should withstand a lot of play by children.