Help making toy please

[KzooRichie]

I want to my my sons and nephews a toy train like this one

http://www.2blockheads.com/name_trains_

Magnets hold the train together. Attached to each magnet is a crome steel disk with a radius facing out. This allow the cars to turn a bit whe the train is pulled.

I'm at a loss as to what to use for the steel disk. Any ideas will be appriciated.

[SharonW0111]

Oh Those are adorable-- I am sure your little friends would love them-- now to the hard part-- simply use washers-- you can get any size you need and they will hold tight- you can use a good glue but I do recomend a small flatheat screw to make sure-- don't forget to make a pilot hole to keep the wood from splitting.
You can get the round magnets in the craft department at wally world or just any craft store should have them--
I think you have a neat idea for presents and they will surely be loved and played with
Sharon

[ozarkhillbilly]

Would taking a stainless steel ball bearing and then by boring a hole into the car, mount the bearing into the hole,thus allowing the magnet on the leading car free travel in either direction work?

[owler]

You could purchase tube magnets like these... and glue ball bearings that matchthe inside diameter of the tube.
This looks like a fun project.

[owler]

Now that I think about it, the bearing diameter should be slightly larger than the ID of the tube.

[Neal Moore]

You might not want to use stainless bearings in as much as stainless steel is,for the most part, non-magnetic.

[ozarkhillbilly]

Whoops! Neal your right, stainless is not magnetic. Sorry about that, I meant steel bearings.

[chrispuzzle]

Whoops! Neal your right, stainless is not magnetic. Sorry about that, I meant steel bearings.

Some stainless steel is magnetic. I think Grade 510 is. Assuming the supplier can tell you what the grade is, and assuming the grades are international, two big ***-u-me's...

Chris

[Carter-Johnson]

Wouldn't magnetic tape work? Same kind used to make ornaments, plaques, etc. stock to the refrigerator?

[lucky788scroller]

Would just using rare earth magnet to rare earth magnet be enough to hold it yet still allow som movement between the cars? dale

edit :The ball bering idea is a good one though, use a washer glued into a recess to hold the ball bering in place.A washer just big nuff that the bering dont fit through. MODERATORS!!!!! WHERE DID THAT LINK COME FROM ON THIS POSTING??????????? IT WAS NOT FROM ME!

[Gill]

That'll teach you to poke fun at me!



Gill

[SharonW0111]

ROFLMAO ------ Oh Dale-- now we all know you Love to play with dolls..
That is cute

[workin for wood]

I know exactly what your looking for, it's called a smart magnet. Thomas trains use them. I searched for a while and can't find them. I'd try a store like micheal's crafts. maybe call wildwood designs or woodworkers supply. I don't see them on their websites, but they may still have them or point you in the right direction. I'm sure it would be nice to have the actual magnets rather than trying to invent a cobbled one.
There's some other company's that make these toy trains too, maybe call them and they'll point you in the right direction.

[gudrun45]

When my son was little, he had a wooden train set. The little cars were simply connected with eye bolts and hooks (I think that's what those things are called?). The train ran on wooden rails around curves and figure 8s without a problem.
Not as fancy a way as using magnets etc. but cheap and effective.

Gudrun

[MikeDingas]

Why not just use 1/8" doweling? Have the trailing 'car' with the doweling up. The front of the connecting car would have a hole bored to accept the doweling. This would require the 'front' of each car to have an offset in the hookup.

I tried to attach a simple pic. Hope it comes through.