What materials to use? Please help

[gabbyl]

Hi,

I am quite new to woodworking so just need an advice please. I want to make some play hollow blocks. Similar as in the picture
I am not sure which wood to use. I understand top/bottom is birch plywood. But what is used for sides? and where to source it (i am based in essex)

 

[marcros]

i think that i would just use pine PSE. you could use birch ply, but it would be a lot more expensive.

 

[sunnybob]

I've just surfed those and understand why you want to make your own (farsands of pounds!)

But we need to know how many you are going to make, and what your skills and tool levels are to be able to help you.

 

[gabbyl]

We would probably need around 50-80 of different sizes/shapes. We have all the tools needed etc but skill level is just intermediate (hobby kind of thing)

 

[Ttrees]

I see no ply in the piccy, looks like pine to me.
If you dont have a planer thicknesser, which doesn't sound like you have,

The way I would make those, I would use these tools....
No 51/2 hand plane.
A wideish chisel.
the means to sharpen both.
a cross cut hand saw
Axi wheel marking guage
Most importantly, a flat surface to plane on .
dowels would be nicer than screws also.

 

[sunnybob]

Presumably this is for a play school?

With small children playing with it dont use any softwoods, theyll get splinters and if they start sucking it......
Same with ply unless you are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to seal and protect the edges.
The ones advertised all quote "hardwood" for safety reasons i would not make these out of normal softwood or pine.

These things are not going to be cheap in that quantity. Youre looking at several hundred pounds for all that wood.

Do you have all your costings in place?
Is there a local carpentry shop to give you a quote?

 

[gabbyl]

Well.. they are even more expensive to buy. And we like a challenge anyway. Which hardwood to use?
Why wouldn't you recommend plywood?

 

[ColeyS1]

Looks like maple to me.

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[Ttrees]

Looks like you are correct Coley,
Looking closely, I see no large end grain rings like pine displays
It even looks like there's a lamination or two in some boards.
I would not have suspected something maple being screwed together

Surely the screws would be more hazardous than the timber?
Maple wont be cheap, nor any other hardwood.
You might want to add a mitre saw to your tool list

 

[gabbyl]

It doesn't have to be exactly like in the picture. Just trying to understand what would work for this type of project. Here is another example. Is it different?

 

[gabbyl]

oh and we do have a mitre saw

 

[JWD]

Maybe try and find a local reclamation yard? they may have some old oak or ash shelves you could use and that would save you a lot of money! I agree that dowels would be best in this situation, if you don't have the skill/time to accurately conceal them just drill straight through and sand or cut flush and it'll still look infinitely better than screws.

Also i may be assuming you are a total beginner but if you haven't, read up on stop blocks for your mitre saw to save yourself a little time.

Joe

 

[marcros]

I dont see why pine couldnt be used- There are plenty of toys made from pine. It depends what the driver is here- is it lowest cost, or is there a particular look that you want.

If it is to be used as a toy, you will need to ce mark it if you sell it- reclaimed timber will be a problem with that. There is a long thread or two on here about ce marking, if you do a search.

 

[ColeyS1]

Birch ply straight off a chopsaw ( blades been in it for months) should give a finish like-

Nothing a bit of sandpaper wouldn't sort out. Quick dry clear varnish everything before you assemble it, should speed up the overall construction
Coley

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[nev]

As said above, your first example is not plywood, your second is.
A quick google for hollow building blocks comes up with amongst others
http://www.tts-group.co.uk/giant-wooden ... 00839.html
Again the big picture looks like solid wood but then the close ups are from plywood.
So you could indeed use a good quality birch ply (not the B&Q type) but it will not be cheap and is a pipper for splintering at the cuts...
https://www.google.co.uk/#q=how+to+cut+ ... intering&*
You would need to make sure your cuts are absolutely 90 degrees to the faces otherwise the squares will not be squares etc. A well set up table saw or chop saw would probably be the tool of choice.