Toboggan

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:15 am

Greetings fellow builders,

Does anyone out there have any plans for building a toboggan sled using wood strip/epoxy? We, here in central Indiana, got seven inches of snow yesterday and another eight inches last night. It's great weather to stay inside and work on my boat, but maybe I should be building a sled instead.

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 9:08 am

We are getting the snow in Ontario last night and right now (Thurday AM).
10 inches so far.

Could not find any thing on the building of them, but I did find something on riding one.

http://www.wedu.com/sledrun/tobogganrun.php

Good luck,
All the best in this Holiday Season,
Doug

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:19 pm

Hi Doug, this is a link to a *pdf* file on how to make a toboggan.
http://www.thelitterbox.org/librum/i-vf ... boggan.pdf

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:12 am

Thanks Doug and Glen for the information. If I am able to get a toboggan built this coming year, I will post a picture. For what ever reason, I always thought these were made of maple. I have several different species of lumber lying around my garage. I'll just have to decide which to use. Then I can get out and act like a kid again on the hill in front of my house. The PDF file makes it easy. Thanks

mvettori · Post by **mvettori** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:47 pm

The following link is not directions on how to build one, but this compnay sells them and they give quite a bit of info (i.e., type of wood, thickness, dimensions, etc.) It doesn't look too hard to duplicate simply by looking at the picture.

What a great idea, though! Its a little too late in the year now, but next year I'll have another project for the kids. If you decide to do one, post some pics and let us know what worked and didn't work.

Mike in Phila.

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:15 pm

I must have missed the link. I am hoping to build one, but like you said, it is a little late this season to get used. I don't have small children, but I live high up on a hill and some of the neighbor kids like to use our front yard. I was thinking of building one and letting them use it if they wish. It's a good way to get the kids off the couch.

mvettori · Post by **mvettori** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:23 pm

No, you didn't miss it...I goofed. Here's the link:

http://www.totalwoodproducts.com/.sc/ms ... c/ee/1/249

Mike

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:43 pm

Thanks mvettori,

They sure have some pretty toboggans. I would like to build one similar to their 6' sno-rocket. I don't have any white ash lumber laying around, but it shouldn't be hard to find. I was hoping to build it with maple, just not sure yet. My wife has some honeydoos on the list for me so this might have to wait until fall.

mvettori · Post by **mvettori** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:04 pm

He he he, I hear ya...my wife's honey-do's are building up too...she's still not happy with me for starting my Bob's Special...and that was six months ago! I have a feeling I'm going to have to step away from it in March, take care of some of her items, then get back to it in April! I was hoping to be on the water by Memorial Day...now its starting to look more like 4th of July!

My kids are still pretty young. I have an eight year old and six year old twins and our back yard has a pretty good hill on it so I'm sure they would get a kick of it. That's pretty nice of you to make something like that for the kids in your neighborhood. I hope they appreciate it and the time it takes for you to make it.

I agree with you, the 6' Sno-Rocket is the nicest one. It looks like they are using seven 1/4" strips that are somewhere between 2 1/2" to 2 3/4" wide. I'm not an expert carpenter by any means, so I'm not totally certain how to mill strips like that. I only have a table saw and I don't think the blade goes that high. Would a band-saw be more appropriate for cutting strips that wide?

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:18 pm

Not my band saw! I wouldn't even try unless I was willing to burn it up. What I would do is cut the strips in the table saw and then plane them down to the prescribed thickness. I might end up with more waste this way, but I won't lose any fingers. My table saw is 10" so it will cut the depth but it would be better to rip half way through then flip it over and run it through a second time. The only planing would be just to even up any difference between the two cuts, which should be minor if you have a good fence.

As for the appreciation, think about it. Do kids appreciate anything anymore. It's not the same as when we were kids. These neighbors are good kids but they wouldn't have a clue about how hard or how long a person works to make things easier or more fun for them. I will probably get as much enjoyment watching them as they will have using it. Their parents will appreciate my efforts because it will get them off the couch and out of the house. I remember when I was little, we never stayed in the house unless it was time to eat or go to bed. In addition to the neighbors, I have some nephews that will beg for a trip down the hill. What can I say, I'm a nice guy.

mvettori · Post by **mvettori** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 10:08 am

Hey, good news. I'm going to take a shot at building the baby sleigh:

http://www.totalwoodproducts.com/.sc/ms ... y%20Sleigh

My wife's sister is expecting and will deliver in June. I convinced her that this would make a great baby gift! She went for it. I got comfortable working with ash on my canoe, so I'm going to stick with that. I'll post some messages from time to time with pictures and let you know how its going.

Mike in Phila.

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:02 am

mvettori,

That is a neat litlle ride. Don't throw away the scraps when you're finished, as you already know, they grow like weeds. "Uncle Mike" .........It has a nice ring to it. Now who's being the nice guy?

Bryan Hansel · Post by **Bryan Hansel** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:00 pm

Not a toboggan sled, but I'm currently working on a set of cross country skis. I somehow measured my laminations incorrectly and didn't have enough cedar for the center section, so I just used some old strips left over from my kayak. So far, so good and only on major mistake. I'll have to post a picture when they're done.

BTW, I just went out yesterday snowshoeing on snowshoes that I built this winter.

mtpocket · Post by **mtpocket** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:09 pm

Bryan, post some pictures so we can all enjoy them.

mvettori · Post by **mvettori** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:05 pm

MT,

I started the project last week. I thought I'd put some pics up to let you know how its going.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mike_vett ... .dir=/15df

I had some trouble bending the wood. I split quite a bit with some of the hard bends, but I got the last one bent today. Once I let the upper railing dry, I'll start sanding, then stain the skis and seat rail. I'll put up some more pics when I get a little further.

Mike in Phila.

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