We have been asked again how wooden toys are manufactured and so we thought we would share this very brief overview of how wooden toys are mass produced. Whilst some jobs can be left to machine there are still a surprising amount of jobs that need to be done by hand.
Rubberwood Trees Information
Many wooden toys are made from rubberwood grown in Asia which is an eco-friendly, sustainable and high quality timber. 
The rubber tree produces sap which is used as latex for rubber-based products around the world. Rubber trees produce latex for approximately 25 to 30 years after which it dies. In the past, rubber trees that were no longer producing latex would be burned. Now, these discarded trees are being used to make environmentally friendly toys and even furniture.
New rubber trees are always being planted in their place. This process of recycling ensures that deforestation is never an issue.
Studies show that rubberwood plantations can be as efficient as natural forest in removing carbon-dioxide from the air, making rubberwood an environmentally friendly choice.
Why are rubberwood toys environmentally friendly?
Rubber wood perishes easily when discarded therefore helping to protect the environment.
It only takes 25 – 30 years to grow an impressive 75 feet or more over their lifetime.
Rubberwood plantations are plentiful and aren’t restricted for logging.
Other timbers are felled solely for producing furniture. Rubberwood is used only after the tree completes its latex-producing cycle and dies.
Sawdust from the wood is used to make compressed fuel cubes and the finer dust is used to manufacture incense sticks.
Rubberwood is strong, flexible, resistant to fungus, bacteria and mould.
Plantation rubber trees give wooden toys the natural beauty of wood patterns, while leaving unharmed natural forests.
Production of Wooden Toys
Rubbertree trunks enter the factory and are placed in a Vacuum suction
machine which sucks out the last of the latex.
The trunk is then sliced into planks of wood and placed in a kiln for 6 weeks. This is to ensure any moisture left is removed. This will prevent the wood drying out unevenly at later stage which would cause shrinking and cracking.
The planks are then left for 4-5 months before they are used to give them time to settle.
Larger flat pieces required for wooden toys are cut by a cnc machine, which is a cutting machine operated by a computer. Many smaller toys made of rubberwood are hand fed into a machine for cutting by 1-2 men.
Most rubberwood toys are then hand sanded (larger flat pieces can be sanded by machine).
The pieces are then painted either by spraying or tumbling or by hand. They have to ensure the parts that are to be glued are not painted as the glue will not stick to paint.
Any detail such as windows and doors are applied by screen printing film on to paper then ‘ironing’ on to the toy.
The toys are then passed to assembly where the parts are then glued together usually by hand. Packed into display boxes, then packed in larger outer cases and loaded onto a container ship. The whole production process usually takes 6 weeks.
Making Wooden Toys
Hand Cutting
Cutting, Drilling, Sanding
Painting, Screen Printing
Assembly & Packing
Fair 2012. This is an opportunity for retailers to ‘shop’, To meet up with manufacturers and distributors. To look at new products or new companies and generally find out what’s happening in the toy world. When I first visited a trade fair many many years ago now. I found it really surreal to see so many professional grown-ups playing with toys with no sign of a single child. In fact children between the age of 5-16 are banned. Now a days I don’t even blink an eye if a middle aged man in a suit bounces past me on a Space Hopper.
Bigjigs have also lots of lovely new editions to their range. Just when I think they can’t possibly come up with any more railway related ideas. I absolutely love this Clickety Clack Bridge. Attention to detail as always is fantastic.
