My wooden mechanical helicopter toy

 

 

My little mechanic helicopter. I made it out of some scrap pieces of plywood and dowels.

First I cut two round shapes for the gears. I do that with my hole saw bit.

Then I cut the pieces for the box on which the helicopter will sit. I join them with dowels and glue. I cut the dowels flush with a trim saw.

I draw the basic shape of the helicopter and it’s helix on a piece of plywood. For the helicopter’s body I glued two pieces together to have some more mass. I cut them out both on my scroll saw.

To make the gears I divide them  in eight and  drill them on my drill press. I join them with a dowel and drill all the holes at once to both of them. When I make the first hole I add another dowel to secure that nothing will move while drilling.

I cut the handle on the scroll saw. I secure the dowels on it by adding a small nail and glue. I do the same thing with the helix.

I mount the helicopter on the box with dowels.

I secure the gears on the dowels with a screw and no glue, in case I need to remove them in the future.

I fine tune the dowels diameter with a knife. This way they fit loosely enough.

I assemble the rest of the parts and my toy is ready.