Farm Truck

Start with the chassis

1. Cut the chassis (A) to the size listed in the Bill of Materials. Mark the seven centerpoints for the 1/4" holes on the top surface of the chassis where dimensioned on the Chassis drawing. Using a brad-point bit in your drill press, drill the 1/4" holes where marked.

2. Mark the four 5/16" axle-hole centerpoints on the edges of the chassis where shown on the Chassis drawing. Drill them 1" deep. We used a large handscrew clamp to hold the chassis steady and square to the drill-press table when drilling the holes. Don't drill the 1/4" holes for the fenders now.

Laminate the stock and add the hood next

1. Using 5/4" and 5/16" stock, laminate the pieces to form the hood blank in the configuration shown on the Hood drawing. Note that the front of the hood is oak and the rest is cherry.

2. Mark the location where the hood will sit on the chassis (1/2" from the front edge and centered side-to-side) where dimensioned on the Chassis drawing. Using double-faced tape, adhere the hood to the chassis. As shown in the photo below, flip the chassis upside down. Then, use the front two 1/4" holes previously drilled in the chassis as guides, and drill 1/4" holes 3/8" deep into the bottom of the hood lamination.

3. Separate the hood from the chassis. Transfer the full-sized Top View pattern on File 2 to the hood lamination. Next, mark the centerpoints for the headlights on the sides of the hood where located on the Hood drawing. Drill a 1/4" hole 1 1/2" deep on each side of the hood blank for the headlight-support dowels. Bandsaw and sand the hood to shape. 

4. Rout and sand 1/4" round-overs on the hood where shown on the Exploded View drawing. (Since the hood is small and hard to handle, we did the routing on a router table fitted with a fence.) 

5. Cut two pieces of 1/4" dowel to 3/4" long. Sand a slight taper on one end of each dowel. With the tapered ends protruding, glue the dowels into the holes in the bottom of the hood.

Now, for the cab front and swinging doors

1. Cut the cab front (C) and doors (D) to the sizes listed in the Bill of Materials. Transfer the full-sized patterns to all three pieces.

2. Drill 1/4" holes into the bottom of the cab front and doors where marked on the patterns. 

3. Rout 1/4" round-overs along the mating edges of the cab and doors where shown on the Exploded View drawing. Rout or sand 3/8" round-overs along the other edges. Now, bandsaw the pieces to shape.

4. Drill a 1/4" hole at a 20° angle on the inside surface of the cab front for the steering-wheel dowel.

5. Sand the pieces, and use a pair of 1/4" dowels that are 2 1/2" long to hinge the doors to the cab front. (We had to sand our dowels slightly so the doors would swing easily.) Glue the dowels to the cab front but not to the doors.

6. With the bottom edges flush and the hood centered from side to side against the cab front, glue and clamp the hood to the cab.

Construct the box base and the cab back and top

1. Cut the box base (E) to size. Tape it to the chassis where shown on the Exploded View drawing, and use the holes in the chassis as guides to drill three mating holes in the box base. Separate the pieces. 

2. For the rearmost hole in the box base, mark its centerpoint where dimensioned on the Chassis drawing. Drill the hole.

3. Cut a piece of 3/4" cherry to 4 1/4" square. Later you'll crosscut this piece in two to form the cab back bottom (F) and cab back top (G) where shown on the Chassis drawing. Drill a pair of 1/4" holes 2 5/8" deep into the piece where shown on the Chassis drawing. Drilling the holes now ensures that the holes will align after you cut the piece in two. Crosscut the piece in two where shown.

4. Cut the cab top (H) to size. Glue and clamp the cab top to the cab back top (G).

5. Adhere the full-sized side view pat-tern of the cab top (H) from the pattern insert to one edge. Bandsaw the top of part H to shape. (Part G makes a handy handle when doing this.)

6. Cut a pair of 1/4" dowels 3/4" long and glue them into part G so the dowels protrude 3/8" and will fit into part F. Slide part F onto the dowels and against G. Sand or rout 1/4" round-overs along the edges of the assembly (F, G, H) where noted on the Exploded View drawing. Sand the assembly smooth, and separate F from G. Glue and clamp part F to the top front surface of the box base (E).

Add the contoured seat and steering wheel

1. Laminate two pieces of walnut to form a blank for the seat (I). Transfer the seat pattern on File 3 to one end of the blank, and cut the seat to shape. Sand the seat smooth, and add a pair of dowels to its bottom.

2. Use a compass to mark a 1 1/4"-diameter disc on a piece of 3/8"-thick walnut stock for the steering wheel (J). Drill a 1/4" hole through the center of the walnut disc, and then cut and sand it to shape.

3. Cut a piece of 1/4" dowel to 1 1/2" long, and glue it to the steering wheel (J).

A pair of shapely fenders come next

1. Cut two pieces of 2/4" cherry to 2 2/4" wide by 11" long each for the fender blanks (K). Using double-faced tape, adhere the pieces face-to-face, with the edges and ends flush. Adhere the full-sized fender pattern to one face of one piece.

2. Drill a pair of 1/4" holes through both pieces where marked on the pattern. Stick a 1/4" dowel through each hole to hold them flush. Bandsaw the pieces to shape to form the fenders.

3. With the fenders still taped together, sand the edges smooth to remove the saw marks. Separate the pieces and remove the tape.

4. Clamp the fenders to the chassis 6 5/8" from the back edge where shown on the Exploded View. Using holes in the fenders as guides, drill 1/4" holes 1/2" deep into the edges of the chassis. Glue 1/4" dowels 11/4" long into the chassis for supporting the fenders.

5. Sand 1/8" round-overs along each edge of each fender.

Add the truck bed and rails for heavy loads

1. Cut the truck-box bed (L) to size. Transfer the dimensioned notches from the Truck Bed drawing to the bed.

2. Add a 4"-tall extension to your miter gauge. The extension helps minimize chipout. Fit your tablesaw with a 1/2" dado blade. Raise the blade 1/4" above the surface of the saw table. Supporting the truck bed against the extension, cut the notches where marked. (Since the notches are evenly placed, we used a stop on our miter-gauge extension, enabling us to cut several notches using the same setting.)

3. From the edge of 3/4" oak stock, rip the bed trim strips (M, N) to 1/4". Crosscut the bed front, back, and side trim pieces to length, and glue them to the bed (L).

4. Transfer the full-sized pattern, and cut three box ribs (O) to shape. Glue the ribs to the bottom of the bed where shown on the Parts View drawing.

5. With the front edge of the bed (L/M) 1/16" from the back edge of the cab back (F) and centered side-to-side, clamp the two pieces together. Using the three previously drilled holes in the box base (E) as guides, drill 1/4" holes 3/8" deep into the ribs (O).

6. Cut three pieces of 1/4" dowel to 3/4" long each, sand a taper on one end of each, and glue the dowels in place in the ribs and box base.

7. Now, cut the box stakes (P) and slats (Q, R) to size. Sand the stakes so they fit easily into the notches in the truck bed (L). Glue the four assemblies together, being careful to align the stakes with the notches in the truck bed.

And finally, the headlights and hubcaps

1. To make the headlights (S), cut a piece of 3/4" cherry to 1 1/2" wide by 3" long. See File 3 for reference.

2. Mark the locations, and drill a pair of 1/4" holes 1/2" deep.

3. Bandsaw (we used a 1/16" blade) the headlights to shape from the block. Then, hand-sand the back side of each headlight to the shape shown on the pattern.

4. Cut a pair of 1/4" dowels 11/4" long. If children under the age of three will be playing with the finished truck, we recommend gluing the headlights in place. It eliminates the chance of a small child swallowing them. For older children or for a display/puzzle model, leave the headlights removable from the hood.

5. To form the hubcaps (T), plane maple stock (bird's-eye looks great) to 3/8" thick. Use a compass to mark four 7/8"-diameter circles on the 3/8" stock. Now, drill a 5/16" hole 1/4" deep at each centerpoint left by the compass. Finally, cut the hubcaps to shape.

6. Crosscut four pieces of 5/16" dowel stock to the lengths (2 7/8" and 2 1/4") for the wheel axles shown on the Exploded View. Glue a hubcap onto one end of each piece of dowel. Using the dowel as a handle, sand the outside surface of each hubcap to the shape shown on the pattern.

7. Finish-sand all the pieces, and add the finish, being careful not to get finish into the dowel-mounting holes