Archive for October, 2009
Vancouver, Canada’s Jalu Wood Creations preserves the tradition of hand carved wood toys.
John W. Lewman Toy Designer www.toymakerpress.com Publishers of fun to make wood toy projects and plans. Jalu Toys is located on the Sunshine Coast between Powell River and Lund on the West Coast of British Columbia, about eighty miles north of Vancouver. We believe that childhood is a wonderful, magical time and that children [...]
Maker Faire 2008 celebrates the joy of creative toymaking.
John W. Lewman Toy Designer www.toymakerpress.com Publishers of fun to make wood toy projects and plans. Check out all the fun and excitement at this year’s Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. It is the world’s largest do-it-yourself celebration. People from all over the world came to experience this amazing event. Take a look at [...]
German toymakers use ancient crafting methods to lathe and carve wood toys.
Learn how to quickly carve and paint detailed toy animals in these informative videos from Germany. Using simple lathe techniques with hand carving, the videos take you step by step through the creation of the classic wood animal toys. John W. Lewman Toy Designer www.toymakerpress.com Publishers of fun to make wood toy projects and plans.
Zinkotec develops large scale construction toy from flexible plastic foam.
In April of 2007, four partners came together to found ZinkoTek based on their common vision of a construction system that provides both educational and entertainment value to children. One key element of the system is the basic design, which is meant to grow in complexity as the child grows. Combining their talents, vision and [...]
Delingos create soft toys with quirky new characters that are spontaneous and fun.
Delingos soft toys are quirky, quality and a new twist on making original designs that are on target with modern trends. Visit their quirky website. http://www.deglingos.com/uk/us.html John W. Lewman Toy Designer www.toymakerpress.com Publishers of fun to make wood toy projects and plans.
Blabla toys are hand knitted. The toys help to preserve an ages old Peruvian tradition.
Blabla Kids was started in 2001 when long time friends went to Peru and discovered entire villages of expert knitters who had been keeping their traditions alive for generations. Susan Pritchett and Florence Wetterwald were inspired by their talent and gentleness and began their own line of knitted products for children. The Blabla collection is [...]
MakerSHED Workshop designs and builds PVC water balloon throwing trebuchet.
PVC pipe found at any hardware or home improvement store makes a great material for building oversize toys. In this video by the MakerSHED a water balloon throwing trebuchet is cleverly constructed and tested. It’s a lot of fun and a must-see. http://www.makershed.com/ John W. Lewman toy designer www.toymakerpress.com Publishers of fun to make wood toy [...]
Otis School of Design educates and develops street-smart artists and designers.
Otis College of Art and Design focuses on developing their design students into street-smart and work seasoned professionals before graduation. The first video features several of the school’s disciplines including toy design and is inspirational and worth watching to the end. The second video features interviews with toy design students discussing their experiences. John W. Lewman [...]
Fun filled Animalz brand wood toys are made from lathe-turned parts.
These creative wood animals are cleverly constructed from parts turned on a lathe. The variety of creatures developed by the designer by this simple construction method is astounding. Designed in Australia and manufactured under European license Anamalz are personable quirky and interactive. The time in creating this range will provide hours of role play story [...]
Toymaker shows how to make round toy parts using a band saw, a jig and a home-made lathe.
These videos show ingenious methods for creating round toy parts using a variety of simple tools and jigs to create a lathe. The video on using vibration to create a perfect sphere is especially useful for small parts. At slower speeds this method can be used to add a radius to small parts by placing several [...]
