Customer Reviews

The Family Handyman: Toys, Games, and Furniture

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I built the rocking horse on the front cover of this book. It turned out pretty well. The drawings in the book are fairly easy to follow. However, the written instructions have some holes in the explanation. In addition, the instructions imply that stationary power tools are recommended for this project, but hand-held tools would work as well. I seriously doubt that this horse could be built properly using only a hand-held jigsaw and electric drill. The precision required to do this project *right* really call for bigger tools. One other gripe - after moderate use in the workshop, the binding on this book started to come loose, and a couple of pages came out.

But overall, I was pleased with the project and hope to build some more toys using the plans in this book. It was worth the price just for the horse plans.

I made 2 of the Bunk Beds with the desk option. They turned out great. There were a few errors in the shopping list, so double check the list against the plans or you may have to make a second trip. I also made several modification to better fit our needs. The illustrations were exellent and don't be afraid to make changes. If you only use one project in this book, it is still worth buying.

I built the rocking horse on the front cover of this book. It turned out pretty well. The drawings in the book are fairly easy to follow. However, the written instructions have some holes in the explanation. In addition, the instructions imply that stationary power tools are recommended for this project, but hand-held tools would work as well. I seriously doubt that this horse could be built properly using only a hand-held jigsaw and electric drill. The precision required to do this project *right* really call for bigger tools. One other gripe - after moderate use in the workshop, the binding on this book started to come loose, and a couple of pages came out.

But overall, I was pleased with the project and hope to build some more toys using the plans in this book. It was worth the price just for the horse plans

I also built the rocking horse on the cover (a couple of times) and some of the other projects, including a very cool wobbly fish. The review by "jeff_mcfarland" is right on the money. I can't imagine building it with a jigsaw, but I suppose it's possible.

In any case, the design of some of these projects is absolutely superb. It's the most handsome rocking horse I've ever seen, and both my son and my neice love it to death -- well worth the cost of the entire book. (The plans for this horse are nearly $20 if purchased separately!) The plans are quite easy to follow, but as Jeff mentioned, there are some holes in the descriptions.

My binding broke, too, also after moderate user in the shop. This is the ONLY reason I'd give it 4 instead of 5 stars. I'll probably end up taking it down to the office supply store and having it rebound (spiral bound). The pages are pretty high quality and durable, so this should work out just fine.

Again, hats off to the designer -- it's well thought out. For example, the back of the head and neck of the horse on the cover is curved in such a way that you can put the head pattern twice on the same board, back to back (one upside down) so that these curves nearly meet. (The two head cut-outs share the curve.) This saves a good deal of wood. Similarly, the leg and tail patterns can be overlapped to save wood. I ended up having a lot of extra wood when I was finished the first time!

This book is a bargain!