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Push and play noisemaker toy
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This noise-making mower is sure to be a hit
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By Art Mulder, photos by Roger Yip, illustration by Len Churchill
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Shaker pegs were adapted to make the push mower's handles, but it you have a lathe, you could turn your own unique shape
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Next come the wheels. Create a circle template out of 1/4"-thick particleboard, then use this to trace out a circle on your lumber. Cut just outside the layout lines with your jigsaw before using a flush-cutting bit in your table-mounted router to trim around the template, finishing off the wheels. A circle-cutting jig on a bandsaw makes this job even faster.
The wheels need a number of holes drilled into them. On the inside face of each wheel, use a drillpress and a 3/4"-dia. Forstner bit to bore eight holes, all spaced equidistant around the perimeter of the wheel, 1/2" in from the edge. Four of these holes are purely decorative, so you can drill them right through the wood. The other four are 1/2"-deep pockets that receive the dowels the noisemaker blocks ride on. On the outside face of each wheel, drill a 5/8"-dia. hole in the exact centre to a depth of 1/2", to receive the axle pins.
Next come the noisemaker blocks. Again, make a template out of 1/4" particleboard. Use it to trace the shape on the various boards you've selected for the blocks. A 3/4"-dia. pivot hole, centred and 1/4" in from the end, should be drilled at the top of each block now.
The blocks need to swing freely on the dowels, without being too loose. If the blocks don't swing well, fine-tune the holes with sandpaper.
Ease the edges of each of the noisemaker blocks, the edges of the wheels and the inside edges of the decorative holes in the wheels with a 1/8"-dia. roundover bit in your table-mounted router. Finish-sand the parts in the wheel assembly to get ready for glue-up. If you want to apply a finish to the noisemaker blocks, do it now, before assembly.
Dry-fit all the wheel assembly parts to ensure everything fits snugly. You'll need to fine-tune the length of your dowels too. I left an overall gap of 3/16" to allow the noisemakers to swing freely. By “overall gap” I mean this: if you push all the noisemaker blocks tight to one side, there should be a 3/16" gap between the last block and the wheel. While you're working, clamp the two curved uprights together and check how the wheel assembly fits within them. I allowed for a 1/16" gap on either side of the wheel assembly.
The other important reason for dry-fitting the wheel assembly is aesthetics. This is your last chance to decide on how you want the noisemaker blocks arranged. I elected to make them in pairs: one pair each from purpleheart, cherry, walnut and birch. I then mounted them on the dowels in sequence: walnut, cherry, purpleheart, birch; walnut, cherry, purpleheart, birch. If you mentally number the dowels in order around the circumference of the wheel, then dowel No. 1 gets a walnut noisemaker, dowel No. 2 gets a cherry noisemaker, and so on.
Indulge in a bit of creativity to personalize your toy. I made all my noisemakers the same size, but three thicknesses. You could add additional thin blocks, or fewer thick blocks. You could make them all from the same template, as I did, or you could vary the shape. Different materials, shapes and sizes produce different sounds too.
You might wonder at the variation in thickness of the noisemakers. There was no special reason; I chose from the wood I had available. I adjusted the size of the wheel assembly to fit what I had.
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