Making Tin Can Toys

by Edward Thatcher

A small drop of solder will be found on the lid of all evaporated milk cans. Melt this away with a hot soldering copper and a round hole will be found exactly in the center of the lid. This hole may be enlarged to fit the wire used for the axle.

Find the center of the side of the wheel with the dividers as described on [page 37, Chapter II].

Use an ice pick to punch a tiny hole exactly in the center of the wheel. If ⅛-inch galvanized wire is to be used for an axle, push the ice pick further into the hole, turning the pick while doing so, until the hole is just large enough to fit the axle wire. Repeat the process on the other side of the wheel until the hole there is enlarged to fit the axle wire, [Fig. 47].

If the axle holes are not exactly in the center of the wheel, it will not run true. A little care used in punching the holes will cause it to run true enough for any toy.

Fig. 47.

If you possess a hand drill and a drill the same size of the wire used for an axle, you may drill the hole in the center of the wheel instead of punching it through. To do this, first find the center of the wheel and then make a slight dent exactly in the center of the wheel with the ice pick or a small center punch. The point of the drill is placed in this dent when starting to drill the hole. I find it better to use a ⅟₁₆-inch drill and drill a hole through the center of the wheel with this first, then use a drill the same size as the axle wire and enlarge the ⅟₁₆-inch hole with this.

In any case, the wheel should be soldered together before the holes are put through the centers. Finish up the four wheels and lay them aside until the truck is nearly completed, as the wheels are the last things to be added.

Galvanized wire of ⅛ or ³⁄₁₆ inch diameter is usually used for axles. This wire is usually carried in stock at hardware stores. It is usually furnished in coiled form and must be straightened out before being used. A piece is cut from the coil of wire long enough to make the two axles. It should then be placed on a flat metal surface and hammered straight.

Making Wheels from Rolled-Rim Cans.—A very strong wheel may be used from rolled-rim cans. This process is slightly different from that used with the soldered flange cans. Wheels from 2½ to 6 inches in diameter may be made by this second method, but unless this type of wheel is made from very small cans it is not so suitable for the truck as the wheels made from small evaporated milk cans.