Things that go with Wheel Horses ...

[dells68 7,494]

9 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

Growing up poor we got fruit and nuts as presents and clothes at Christmas. We played with rock and sticks that were make believe tanks , Army men , and rifles.  If we got a toy it was either taken apart or broke by bed time.

Sounds a lot like how Dad describes his childhood.  He talks about only getting one pair of shoes each year.  He said he went barefoot when he could to save his shoes.

[SylvanLakeWH 24,145]

Yep

Erector set, Lincoln logs and LEGOs...

Also home made chemistry “set” that now would get you on the NSA watchlist...

projectiles, tennis ball canons, delayed fuse smoke bombs etc...

fun stuff...

 

[squonk 38,935]

I had multiple sets of American Plastic Bricks. So many in fact I was able to build a house and crawl into it.They came with all kinds of Windows that would open. Garage doors ect. I found a set at our steam show a couple years ago. Hope to find more and drive my wife crazy with structures popping up all over the house.

[8ntruck 6,376]

Yup.  I got my first Erector set in the early 60's.  I think I was in 1st grade.  The next Christmas, I got my dad's Erector set.  That was a combination of his and his two brother's sets.  I kept adding to the set over the years.  This set has been passed on to my oldest son.

 

Al C - I bought the same set in your picture from the kid next door in the mid 60's.

 

I also had Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and American Plastic Bricks.  Our kids grew up with Conn'ex, Duplos , and Legos.

[Ed Kennell 35,775]

This toy topic brought back memories of the Thread Spool Tractors we made back in the day.

There was a lot of engineering by 6 six year olds to design and construct these tractors for each type of race.

The flat track dragsters used rubber tires and a short tightly wound drive band to get a good hole shot.  If you leave the match heads on and tape a piece of emery paper to the starting line, you may get a flaming burn out.   

The hill climb races on the dirt pile required notched wheels and a long double wound band for a longer run.

Single drive sticks, double drive sticks, 2WD, 4WD, friction free thrust bearings, and weight distribution were all factors in developing the most efficient tractor.

The items below and a little imagination  are all you need to get started.     You can work in the friction free ball bearing thrust bearings later.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Ed Kennell

[SylvanLakeWH 24,145]

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by SylvanLakeWH

[Ed Kennell 35,775]

[Pullstart 59,729]

31 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

Rylee is in “Odyssey of the Mind” in homeschool.  She is building a vehicle that needs to transport some small supplies.  I showed her a “thread spool tractor” for ideas.  I’m not allowed to help with any hands on or tell her how to solve a problem... it is fun to watch her come up with ideas.  Even if they aren’t great ideas, they are evolving and improving!

[Al C. 1,405]

Experimentation ... it's how we all learned.  Take things apart, see how they work, then apply it to other solutions.

[stevasaurus 22,230]

I had the American blocks...also Block City blocks and Kenner building and bridges girder sets.  They were great with the Marxs trains.

I still have the microscope set.

[oilwell1415 563]

All of this talk about old construction sets reminded me of the blocks we had at the day care I stayed at when I was 5 or 6 years old.  They had some huge plastic blocks that looked like Legos, but were the size of cinder blocks.  They had one room full of them.  They also had a room full of Legos that had a bench all the way around the outside and an island in the middle with bins fully of Legos.

[The Tuul Crib 7,332]

Of course we cant forget mister 

potato head!

[Herder 2,354]

As a child our local Agway sold diecast farm tractors and implements similar to these, they where the same size as a Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars.  I saved my allowance and over time bought everyone of them.  I may still have some of them.      

 

[8ntruck 6,376]

I forgot about the Kenner girder bridges and building sets.  I had some of them as well.

 

Pullstart mentioned his daughter's Odyssey of the Mind program.  Ought to be interesting to see what the kids come up with.  We going to see some pictures?

 

I'm a mentor for the local high school's First Robotics team.  They are heavily into design and prototyping for this year's robot.  Similar rules - the mentors are to guide the students, not build the robot.  It is fun an amazing to see what they come up with.  The head coach is none too happy that I am at our 'alternate location' and not at the team meetings this week.

[lynnmor 6,779]

All those fun toys!  When I was a kid, we were poor and I was just glad to be a boy.....  at least I had something to play with. 

[Ed Kennell 35,775]

Didn't your Mother warn you Lynn?

[tom2p 2,393]

11 hours ago, pullstart said:

 

Rylee is in “Odyssey of the Mind” in homeschool.  She is building a vehicle that needs to transport some small supplies.  I showed her a “thread spool tractor” for ideas.  I’m not allowed to help with any hands on or tell her how to solve a problem... it is fun to watch her come up with ideas.  Even if they aren’t great ideas, they are evolving and improving!

good stuff !  and keep us informed - with pictures of course !

 

my kids did a number of projects in school and participated in some clubs and competitions 

 

battery powered car ... balloon powered car ... TSA (Pennsylvania Student Technology Association) ... Science and Engineering Fair 

 

good memories 

 

[oliver2-44 8,852]

I was the 4th child. In some ways, I had lots of toys, All hand me downs, missing parts.  I did a lot of improvising combing the Erector set, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys some Plastic Girder building set parts that came in cereal boxes, etc.  My basic wood blocks had holes drilled in them to work with the tinker toys.  The Erector set motor was shot by the time it got to me, but my Dad rigged another junk little motor on it and it really made those gears sing.  The chemistry set has instructions how to make Gun Power, and we would go down to the feed store and get the stuff to make it and blow up army men in the dirt/sand pile. 

We had a pile of old lumber in a shed and I spent a lot of time building tree houses, draw bridges, forts, etc with a hammer, hand saw and a brace and bit.. Pulled old nails, straightened them and used them again.  A treat was to get to go to the Lumber yard with my Dad when he needed farm supplies.  He would buy me a pound or two of mixed nails that were floor sweepings from around the nail bins.  

[Tuneup 1,416]

I guess we were all lucky. My Dad couldn't put a 3 piece hat rack together so didn't think I could. All his tools were my grandfather's. Lucky for me, they were building nearby so, of course, we all explored new homes and got nails off the floor and wood from the scrap piles. Saved for cheap wheels at the hardware store and go carts were created, raced and crashed. Later, Tekky engines were added. Remarkable how fast a wood cart can go with 6 HP and a belt drive you worked like a clutch with a wooden lever. Who said above, "Craftsman, Wheel Horses and Fords" - yup.

[N875ED 98]

Training set for civil engineers...

 

[N875ED 98]

What i would have given for a toy like this 50 years ago, but damn if it ain't the wrong colors!

[Ed Kennell 35,775]

14 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

I forgot about the Kenner girder bridges and building sets.  I had some of them as well.

 

Pullstart mentioned his daughter's Odyssey of the Mind program.  Ought to be interesting to see what the kids come up with.  We going to see some pictures?

 

I'm a mentor for the local high school's First Robotics team.  They are heavily into design and prototyping for this year's robot.  Similar rules - the mentors are to guide the students, not build the robot.  It is fun an amazing to see what they come up with.  The head coach is none too happy that I am at our 'alternate location' and not at the team meetings this week.

Twmy Tw Grandsons were part of the Tech Fie 225 team when they competed in several national meets.  Amazing stuff.

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Ed Kennell

[stevasaurus 22,230]

I had one of these, they actually shot missiles from a spring launcher.  It's probably been OSHAed so much, you can't find one today.

 

 

 

[8ntruck 6,376]

N875ED - oooo, that's a fancy Girder & Panel set.  I never realized they came in motorized versions.

 

Ed - Mid Atlantic Regional winners - they must have gone to the World Finals in Detroit?   I'll look them up on The Blue Alliance and watch some of their matches.

 

I'm involved with Team SCREAM 4522.  In the 2019 season, we made it to the other World Finals held in Huston (First Robotics is now big enough that they hold 2 'World Final' events).  We were knocked out of competition by the alliance that eventually ended up being the runner up of the event.

[squonk 38,935]

On 1/17/2020 at 7:08 AM, N875ED said:

Training set for civil engineers...

 

I got one of these stashed somewhere! Flea market find.