Tools for ToyMaking

We started a discussion about dremels and soldering irons on another thread, so I decided to split it up, and continue it here

This discussion is for sharing the tools you like best for suggie toy making.
Share info about how you use them, and what is, and isn't safe about them.

Great discussion!

Holly, I was wondering what you would be doing with the soldering iron? I make all sorts of toys, and my best friend is the dremel. I don't know this for a fact, but would think that the rosin and lead may be a problem with suggies? (in the solder)... let's look up more info before you go that route... I'll have to see if we have more info on that...

Also, I love to use split "O" rings to attach stuff, as well as C clips. Hope this helps?

Ok, now I am getting a better picture

From my understanding, you are talking about using the soldering iron for melting.. this is good

My question is for those of you who may use it with solder? Anyone? That is where I wonder about the safety, and I don't have the facts, which is why I'm asking.

I'm also very interested to know how one would be using the solder, because if it is safe, what would you do with it? My brain is working overtime, and if there's a new tool to use...

And to add my two cents, I LOVE MY DREMEL! And yes, it is very easy to make holes in hard plastic, soft plastic, duckies, etc... but I do know there are many toy makers out there that prefer to 'melt' as well, so I guess it's just what you are used to

i dont use it with solder. i really dont think there's the opportunity, really, as most of our toy making stuff is plastic rather than metal.
and i used a soldering iron because we had one. we just got a dremel, so i might try it sometime.

Erika, I think I was just confused since I hadn't used it before (for melting )

Are there any other favorite tools?

I can't live w/o my:

dremel (of course!)
pliers in all shapes and sizes, must have several
wire cutters
drill
scissors...
OH, I almost forgot one of my very favorite...
'flat cutters'... they sit flat on one side, and cut anything sticking up, like the extra plastic pieces you find on some C clips and plastic bracelets!

I am a danger with anything fire. So....if I had a soldering iron, you might as well hand me a propane torch and an ice pick. It will end about as well, LOL! So, for my hap-hazardly accident-prone ways, I stick to the dremel. If anything *too* bad happens, I can always say it was an acrylic nail accident

So far the only tools I have used are my two hands.

Dremel lover here! So much so I have 2 of them. One for each hand LOL

I use my soldering iron to melt holes in plastic. I'd be lost without it.

I bought the best scissor sharpener available and have not regretted it one bit.

Tweezers come in handy when I need to push/pull fleece/craft lace through wiffle balls or stuff fleece pieces into big wiffle balls.

Magnifying glasses. Couldn't make toys without them!

I use my hubby's new toy lol it's a hand held torch that has tips with it...it's about the size of a marker or smaller. they make the holes any size you want and they're nice and smooth...it cuts through the plastic like butter!!! Love it!

do you think the plier sets that are sold in the jewlery making section would work ? i have a pair of tweezers that are used to help make stitches. scissors is a definite.
Sari, can you use the dremel to cut straight lines ? i want to be able to use cones and cut out lines or shapes [like a star or heart in the cone]

*i have a hole puncher that i use when i am making a straw toy

yep yep yep!!!!!!!!

Connie, remind me to hand you a crochet hook the next time we see each other! I am loaded with them, and they are the easiest thing I know to get fleece through wiffle balls!

The dremel tool I have came with various bits for sanding and cutting so you probably would be able to do what you are thinking.

I can't live without my dremel, the "flat cutters" Sari mentioned, and my pliers.

what size crochet hook do you use ?

Jeff said we have an air compressor dremel and an electric dremel too.

@holly

It depends on the whiffle ball. I don't think you need an exact size per-se. I grab whatever is closest to me. I am not kidding when I say I am loaded with them. I have inherited all of my great-grandmother's hooks, have ones my mother bought me before she died, have some that just keep turning up every Christmas or birthday....I have everything from steel size 14 all the way to the size Q and S that will crochet fleece. To get through a regular whiffle ball, I usually have anything from F-I size. For the golf-practice sized ones, I usually get a steel 1 or 2, up to about a B. Like I said, it's not an exact science, it's just what I have laying on the table. There is always a knitting or crochet project or two on my coffee table.

I like to use the hook to dig into the middle of a fleece braid, and then I can pull the braid through without warping the whiffle ball or damaging the fleece.

I have a curved pair of medical forceps, the thinner ones called hemostats, that are a MUST for making toys! They're nifty for clamping the end of a piece of rexlace while you sort beads, for stuffing the lacing up through toys and beads, stuffing fleece pieces into balls... just everything!