tree blocks - Page 2

[operamommy]

aprons and acorns (love your name!) dh did say that isaberg is correct; wet wood *can* crack, but sealing it with mineral oil will minimize that possibility. He also said that can help prevent molding on the ends as you experienced.

We just gave ds2 his set yesterday - they came out so great! There's a couple pictures in my blog if you want to peek. He loves them and suprisingly, so does my 9-year-old dd!

[isaberg]

Those look great! What kind of wood are they?

[lakesuperiormom]

Originally Posted by lakesuperiormom

In my Enki craft guide it gives instruction on how to do this...if only I would have looked sooner!! It says to cut a branch off of a tree and then let it dry out in the house...can't remember for how long.I'll let you know how it turns out.

just thought i would put here that the enki craft book i am referring to is from the enki homeschool curiculum. we have the k curric. and that is where the instructions are that i have. there are a variety of instructions for all kinds of homemade toys in there. kind of pricey though!

[maranapanda]

on the topic of drying...
I hadn't given it much thought before. I would guess that this advice could be specific for Arizona. I was told that I should dry the wood (pine) so that it would have time to cure, and then was less likely to split. maybe all along they were saying "cure" and I just heard "dry"?

on the topic of bark....
Pine bark is scratchy, and comes off easily, so in my case I removed most of it. I left a tiny amount on each block, and sanded that down smooth for some color and texture. The professional tree blocks I have seen have all been made with a hard wood, and the bark has been left on. Only the ends were sanded.

on the subject of finishes...
I used Bee-utiful polish from Nova Natural. I really love that stuff!

on the topic of block sizes....
My MIL chopped mine on her table saw. All of the blocks are about two inches long. Next time, I would add different lengths for variety. And if I had a plainer (spelling? ) I would make thin flat pieces for structure building.

Hope that helps!

Amanda

[boogalu33]

the one time i made tree blocks for my preschool every piece cracked badly. we had my homemade set as well as a set that was purchased from magic cabin or somewhere and the children only played with the 'bought' ones.

anyway to make a long story short i think they cracked like that because we didn't let the branch dry out very long before we sliced it up

[operamommy]

Originally Posted by isaberg

Those look great! What kind of wood are they?

Sassafras - they smell awesome.

[redwolf2]

Originally Posted by maranapanda

on the topic of drying...
I hadn't given it much thought before. I would guess that this advice could be specific for Arizona. I was told that I should dry the wood (pine) so that it would have time to cure, and then was less likely to split. maybe all along they were saying "cure" and I just heard "dry"?

on the topic of bark....
Pine bark is scratchy, and comes off easily, so in my case I removed most of it. I left a tiny amount on each block, and sanded that down smooth for some color and texture. The professional tree blocks I have seen have all been made with a hard wood, and the bark has been left on. Only the ends were sanded.

on the subject of finishes...
I used Bee-utiful polish from Nova Natural. I really love that stuff!

on the topic of block sizes....
My MIL chopped mine on her table saw. All of the blocks are about two inches long. Next time, I would add different lengths for variety. And if I had a plainer (spelling? ) I would make thin flat pieces for structure building.

Hope that helps!

Amanda

Thanks for the details!

[countrymom]

DH & I are planning on making some for the boys as holiday gifts this year. I have some made from cherry that I bought a while ago to use as models. We have so many trees & branches here, why not? And DH is great w/ a saw! :

I'll post the pictures when we're done. The one think I have to decide is what wax or oil to use......I may go w/ the Nova Natural beeswax listed above...or maybe something else?

[operamommy]

Originally Posted by countrymom

The one think I have to decide is what wax or oil to use......I may go w/ the Nova Natural beeswax listed above...or maybe something else?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Dh always uses simple mineral oil as a finish on all of the wooden toys he makes. It's cheap, allows the natural beauty of the wood to show unchanged, and so non-toxic you can drink it! Also, if your toy looks a little dingy over time it's super easy to reapply.

[3boobykins]

Bumping up for those making these for Christmas. Glad to have found this thread! DH cut a large branch from our plum tree last week for Tree Blocks. It really needs pruning anyway! We're also going to check the forest for fallen cottonwoods, and there's an old apple. orchard in the forest also. Good to know about the curing, and the beeswax. It's really dry here (Northern AZ), so I don't think our wood will need as much curing.

So exciting to be making homemade gifts for the first time!

[AmmiK]

We are going to try this!

Anybody else have pictures?

[counterGOPI]

: im trying to make some before we go to NY for x-mas