If you are going to purchase your sheet materials from a supplier who has one of the vertical sheet material cutting saws, you can save yourselves a lot of work by taking a pre drawn cutting list showing how as many pieces as possible can be cut from the two 2440 x 1220 sheets of MDF or plywood that are required for the Toylander 2 build.
Remember, the drawings are paper with all the inherent drawbacks this medium has, the paper can shrink or stretch during the printing proces, and some of the longer lengths are shown on two seperate pieces of paper which have to be joined. DO NOT stick the paper to the sheet material and cut around the lines as stated in the build manual without checking first. Take the time to study the drawings laid out on the floor and when you are satisfied you have the proces in your minds eye as to how the various pieces fit in relation to each other, then take measurements from the drawings to ascertain the length, height and width that you have decided the drawings are telling you and then mark the drawings with these measurements. Note which pieces fit between and which fit end onto the sides and make the plus or minus 12mm addition or subtraction required to get the cross bulkheads to fit and keep the sides parallel.
Take your measurments from the drawings for height and length of the sides and bottom, the front bulkhead, seat support and rear panel, the rear inner wings, the seat and seat back.
On an A4 sheet of graph paper, mark out as large as you can, the 2440 x 1220 sheet size, then draw all these panels to scale as simple rectangles, showing all the length and breadth measurments.
Don't forget to allow for the cutting thickness of the circular saw blade.
When you go to collect your sheet material, present you drawing to the saw operative, this will show him all the sizes and all the horizontal and vertical cutting positions.
When he has done cutting, you will have all the major pieces cut to size with all edges square to each other.
Make sure to collect all the off cuts from this sawing operation and bring them home with you.
Any further cuts required out of the pre cut oblong pieces can be measured and cut at home by hand.
When assembling the pieces and fitting the battens, cut yourself a small off cut of the sheet material and use this as a spacer between the edges and batten position to mark the batten fitting line. Drill the holes in the battens and countersink as appropriate, then place the battens in place on the premarked lines and mark the hole positions onto the sheet material, then pilot drill the holes for the screw threads, remember to wrap some tape around the shank of the pilot drill to stop it going right through the sheet material, although any mistakes are easily filled at a later stage.
If you do not pilot drill the thread hole for the screw, you will not achive a batten to sheet material joint that is tight because the sheet material will form a mound as the screw bites into the raw sheet material and this will stop the sheet and batten pulling together resulting in a poor and possibly out of square joint.
Without applying any glue at this stage, dry assemble the basic structure and check for square, if you are happy with the structure, it can then be dissassembled and put together with glue. Wherever possible, cramp the battens to the sheet material and fit the screws, this will make a better joint than just using the screw pressure alone.
Happy building.
Regards,
Brian.
Some very good info Brian, thank you. As of May 1st: All new Toylander 2 Pattern sets come with dimensions. We have built three bodies from these patterns and dimensions just to check. Have fun building. Richard
