How to Make a Set of
Blocks

   This plan is based on our "Base Set A," and a contents list can be obtained by going to the List of Pieces for this set and printing it. 

Buy Stock

  Buy about 35 board feet of Kiln Dried, 8/4 hardwood lumber and about 8 bd. ft of 4/4 from your favorite hardwood dealer.  #1 and #2C should do it.  Hard Maple is the best.  Other woods will also work.

Using Scrap

   If you value your fingers, forget about using scrap.   We see this foolish idea repeated over and over; it's an invitation to injury. 

Using SPF

   You can also use SPF (Spruce, Pine, Fir) from the lumber store.  It's cheap but wet and may shrink when you are done.  You'll need "2 by" material for the blocks and "1 by" material for the planks.    

Plane the Stock

   Use your planer to plane the thick stock to 1-3/8.  Plane both sides and use a caliper to get it exactly the correct thickness.  Use your planer to plane the thin stock to 11/16.  

Rip the Stock

Rip the following stock.  

50 feet of 1-3/8 by 2-7/8 (Blocks)
15 feet of 1-3/8 by 1-1/2 stock (Square columns)
10 feet of 11/16 by 2-7/8 stock (Roof Planks)
35 feet of 11/16 by 1-1/2 stock (Road Planks)

Plane the edges

   Use your planer to plane both edges of the wide stock stock to 2-3/4.  Use your planer to plane both edges of the narrow stock to 1-3/8.   

Rout the edges

   Using a small rounding bit on a router or shaper, round or chamfer the edges of the sticks.      

Pause    You should now have molding more or less in the amounts given above. 

Chop the Blocks

   Chop the blocks to length on your table saw with a miter bar. 

   There are some inherent dangers when cutting lots of identical rectangles with a miter bar- particularly small ones.  Safety glasses are a must.  Also a chest protector.

   You should easily obtain the following (more or less):

 4 - 22" Blocks
 8 - 11" Blocks
34 - 5-1/2 inch blocks (you will need some for triangles)
18 - 2-3/4 inch blocks (ditto)

  Out of the 1-3/8" by 1-3/8" material (square columns) make the following:

 4 - 11 inch pieces
 8 - 5-1/2 inch pieces
 8 - 2-3/4 inch pieces
 8 - 1-3/8 inch cubes

  Out of the plank stock make whatever you want.

Triangles, Wedges and other stuff

   Making these pieces requires a band saw complete with a fence, a circle cutting attachment and numerous jigs.  Don't try to cut triangles on a table saw.  Arches are cut on the band saw using the circle cutting attachment. A look at our "open stock" pages will give you some good ideas about what else you can do with any surplus wood. 

Round Columns  

   These are made from dowels, though 1-3/8 dowels may be hard to find. 

Sanding

   Sand the end faces, sweep the end-edges, and bump the corners of the blocks to round them on a stationary belt sander or a belt sander held upside down in a vise. 

Finishing

   Don't apply any sort of finish.

  You can buy Hard Maple molding from us . . . .

Block Stock

   The following is pre-molded stock.  Each piece is four feet long, already molded, and has rounded corners in the long dimension.  All you have to do is chop it to the proper lengths and sand the ends, end edges, and corners.  Stock is unselected molding made from mill run, kiln dried (6-8%), white and tan Hard Maple and is the exact molding we use to make our blocks before defecting. Buyers should expect the usual flaws, knots and variations in color. We cannot select stock for you for quality.  Your yield will depend on how finicky you are about minor flaws. We endeavor to pack this material securely, but we cannot be responsible for minor dings or scratches occurring during handling. Major damage apparent on the outside of the package should be brought to the attention of the UPS driver immediately.
    We will allow returns for 30 days, but we do not pay for shipping (either way). Material must be returned in like new condition and we will not refund amounts for material damaged in shipping either to you, or during the return to us.