What is the tastiest variety of wood?
January 4, 2010 7:10 AM Subscribe
What is a good wood to use in making alphabet blocks?
I don't know enough about wood to know which ones are safely chewable by young folks. I don't know enough about wood to guess which woods are used in current blocks that I can see. I do know enough about wood to cut it into cubes [more or less] and to make vaguely recognizable letters and/or shapes in those cubes, and to treat it with a hopefully kidsafe combo of mineral oil and beeswax.
Bearing in mind that these will not be works of great art to span generations of use -- what sort of wood should I use?
I don't know enough about wood to know which ones are safely chewable by young folks. I don't know enough about wood to guess which woods are used in current blocks that I can see. I do know enough about wood to cut it into cubes [more or less] and to make vaguely recognizable letters and/or shapes in those cubes, and to treat it with a hopefully kidsafe combo of mineral oil and beeswax.
Bearing in mind that these will not be works of great art to span generations of use -- what sort of wood should I use?
The traditional wood for toy blocks is rock maple / hard maple. This site goes into some detail about why that is.
"An additional virtue of Rock Maple is that the blocks are fine grained. For example, Oak and Walnut are very hard hardwoods, but they tend to have large pores which result in very rough blocks. The Soft Maples (Red Maple, Silver Maple, Big leaf Maple. Western Maple) have a similar color and texture to Hard Maple, but these woods are materially lighter and softer than Hard maple. Wood blocks take a terrible pounding over a lifetime and there is no substitute for quality. Hard Maple is the best. Hard Maple blocks are like good tools, good pots and good tires - they get the job done and they last. Rock Maple has been the woodworker's choice for Unit Blocks for 100 years."
Maple is pretty pricy and on the harder side (so tougher to work). I did notice in the link above that they also sell basswood blocks - I'm not familiar with basswood but it does seem to be the wood used in most of the embossed letter blocks. Basswood source, although you could likely get it cheaper locally.
posted by true at 7:34 AM on January 4, 2010
"An additional virtue of Rock Maple is that the blocks are fine grained. For example, Oak and Walnut are very hard hardwoods, but they tend to have large pores which result in very rough blocks. The Soft Maples (Red Maple, Silver Maple, Big leaf Maple. Western Maple) have a similar color and texture to Hard Maple, but these woods are materially lighter and softer than Hard maple. Wood blocks take a terrible pounding over a lifetime and there is no substitute for quality. Hard Maple is the best. Hard Maple blocks are like good tools, good pots and good tires - they get the job done and they last. Rock Maple has been the woodworker's choice for Unit Blocks for 100 years."
Maple is pretty pricy and on the harder side (so tougher to work). I did notice in the link above that they also sell basswood blocks - I'm not familiar with basswood but it does seem to be the wood used in most of the embossed letter blocks. Basswood source, although you could likely get it cheaper locally.
posted by true at 7:34 AM on January 4, 2010
Maple will be REALLY tough to use if you are doing relief carving on the faces. It also burns when you run it through power tools, so you'll end up doing a lot of sanding to remove tool marks.
I'd start with poplar for some tests to see if it is hard enough for your needs. It's cheap, carves well and isn't prone to splintering like oak or mahogany.
posted by machaus at 7:52 AM on January 4, 2010
I'd start with poplar for some tests to see if it is hard enough for your needs. It's cheap, carves well and isn't prone to splintering like oak or mahogany.
posted by machaus at 7:52 AM on January 4, 2010
Basswood does have the advantage of being readily available at craft stores, easy to work with, and not too expensive. It will dent easily, though especially on the corners. It's probably OK if you don't expect the blocks to last a long time.
posted by nangar at 8:06 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by nangar at 8:06 AM on January 4, 2010
I'd vote for hard/rock maple if you want it to last for centuries or poplar if only lasting for decades is okay. Both are suitably non-toxic and durable, finish nicely, and are easy enough to work with. Maple is commonly used for cutting boards and food prep surfaces, poplar is used for popsicle sticks, wooden spoons, etc.
I probably wouldn't use basswood because it is quite soft.
posted by leapfrog at 9:26 AM on January 4, 2010
I probably wouldn't use basswood because it is quite soft.
posted by leapfrog at 9:26 AM on January 4, 2010
Agreed on hard maple for durability. I made building blocks for my daughter out of hard maple with no finish. They lasted through her and my son as well. If I wanted make them alphabet blocks, I'd consider painting them.
Poplar or alder are easy to work, but very soft.
Eastern white pine is another candidate - soft, easy to work.
posted by plinth at 10:40 AM on January 4, 2010
Poplar or alder are easy to work, but very soft.
Eastern white pine is another candidate - soft, easy to work.
posted by plinth at 10:40 AM on January 4, 2010
Response by poster: These are all very useful answers.
As I intend to carve the letters into the blocks, I will go take a look at some basswood and poplar and white pine.
I especially like the subtle suggestion to make building blocks, and I could indeed make those out of hard maple. I will be cutting everything by hand so I'm not worried about burn marks and I wouldn't have to worry about engraving building blocks. I could even make a set for myself!
I'll try to remember to update this when I finish something.
posted by Acari at 11:29 AM on January 4, 2010
As I intend to carve the letters into the blocks, I will go take a look at some basswood and poplar and white pine.
I especially like the subtle suggestion to make building blocks, and I could indeed make those out of hard maple. I will be cutting everything by hand so I'm not worried about burn marks and I wouldn't have to worry about engraving building blocks. I could even make a set for myself!
I'll try to remember to update this when I finish something.
posted by Acari at 11:29 AM on January 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mumkin at 7:31 AM on January 4, 2010