How to Make a Toy Car Out of Wood

Design your car. Use a coloring book or child's picture book for inspiration. Find or create a simple outline of what you want your car to look like. Draw it out full size on a sheet of paper and cut out the outline with scissors.

Select a piece of wood to make your car from. Pine, fir and poplar are easy to work and inexpensive. Cut two pieces of 2-by-6 or 2-by-8 a little longer than your car.

Lay your paper cutout on top of the first piece and trace around it with a pencil to mark the outline of the car onto the lumber. Repeat with the second piece. Cut these pieces of lumber out along this outline carefully with a jig saw or band saw and a fine tooth blade. Always wear eye protection and keep your fingers well clear of the blade.

Glue the two halves of the car together, lining up the outlines as close as possible. Use C clamps to hold them together while the glue dries. Set it aside for four to six hours for the glue to harden thoroughly.

Choose a hole saw the size of the wheels you need for your car. Use it to cut four circles from ¾-inch pine. Clamp your lumber to your work surface with the section you will cut your wheel from hanging off the edge so the hole saw will cut through into space. Apply steady pressure as you start the drill so the center bit will not walk across the board. Maintain the pressure as the bit cuts through the board. Do not force as it cuts out the back to prevent splintering.

Sand the two pieces of your car's body with a power sander to smooth out any differences between the two pieces. Sand the faces of the lumber as well, rounding over the edges slightly. Mark the body of the car where you want your axles to be centered. Drill through the body of your car for one front and one rear axle with a 5/16 inch wood bit.

Cut two pieces of ¼-inch dowel long enough to go through the car's body, two wheels and a 1/8 clearance for the wheels to turn, for a total 4 5/8 inches long. Glue one end of each dowel into the center hole of one wheel. Pass the dowels through the holes in the body of the car. Glue the remaining ends into the other two wheels on the other side of the car. Allow the glue to dry before playing with the car.