This year Christmas comes early...

As some of you guys have noticed, I am going gun ho on my toboggan project here at canuckwoodchuck. Today marks the completion of my third toboggan !

 Don't miss this, I have never made more than one of any particular project. I thought I was doomed to a life of making serial, one of, wood items. Usually my lack of planning and over zealous imagination would commandeer my brain and I would be on to the next big idea.  But not this time.

I made a goal this year to distribute 3 toboggans to my nieces and nephews respectively for Christmas. I've just had enough of buying some plastic toy from China and wrapping it up for a loved one. This Christmas the presents I give will be made in Canada. And really, anybody who builds something with their hands can make this claim. You may have heard of the saying "Buy Locally", why not take that one step further with "Made Locally"?

 Let us, as a community of woodworkers, change the way presents(for any occasion) are given. Gifts made in your " home and native land" are truly spectacular ways to revolutionize the gift giving tradition.

For some of you this is not new, homemade gifts have always been carefully crafted in your basement or shop, and for others this will start a new tradition of planning now to finish some wooden presents in time for 25 Dec.

Happy Woodworking !

 - Christopher Thiessen

How to make a wood toboggan Part 2

We'll start off this post with a video. If a picture is worth a thousand words than maybe a video is worth two thousand words.

                                                 Part one : steam bending the maple slats

 

 

After bending the required number of slats for the toboggan I found that the width of the pieces had increased because of the expansion in the steam box. I used a little trim block plane to return the slats

to their original width



Trimming the width with a trim block plane.

                                                Part two : assembling the toboggan

Assembling the toboggan was easiest using this method. Start by placing one slat flat on the bench so the curved portion faces up. Dry fit the "bread board" part that will capture the free ends of the curved pieces. Apply a little downwards pressure to the curved portion of the slat to simulate the finished product. While holding that pressure place a square next to the hole in the "bread board" ( the rope hole, (I choose 1/4" rope.)) Follow the square down to the flat portion of the slat and make a mark.

This mark will be the middle of the cross piece that the slats are screwed to.

 

I used the end vise on my workbench to hold the cross pieces(pre drilled and chamfered on the top and sides).  The toboggan gets assembled upside down on the bench.

One word of caution here : make sure you offset the the two screw holes at either end  of the cross pieces so that you don't drill through the rope holes in the cross piece.

The "bread board" end in the picture is dry fitted only with no fasteners.(It will be the last part to be installed on the toboggan) I had a laser device kicking around , so I used it to line up the screws on the center of the cross pieces. A chalk line will work as well , although the laser was easy to adjust when it was bumped.

If you have three drills the assembly goes a little quicker. One drill is dedicated for
 drilling 1/8" pilot holes.  One drill is dedicated to countersinking and the third drill
 has the #2 Robertson bit installed.


 

 

This is the finished project. One toboggan done and two more to go. The last two just require varnish.