Project description
Here is how I picture the sorter. A cube roughly fourteen to sixteen centimetres on a side, with five openings cut into the faces for simple shapes: circle, square, triangle, half-circle and cross. Each shape must pass through its own opening only and refuse every other one, because that is the whole point of the toy and the child needs to feel the fit for himself. Keep the clearance small but never tight enough to jam, so a one-year-old can succeed without getting angry. The lid should open, either hinged or seated in a groove, so that everything can be tipped out in one motion; otherwise an adult ends up shaking pieces back through the slots and the game dies on the second round. The pyramid should have seven rings on a stable base, with a clear difference in diameter between neighbours so the order can be read by eye instead of guessed. A slightly tapered rod with a rounded top would be ideal.
For material I would like birch or beech, properly dried and free of any sharp smell. Weight matters to me: a toy that is too light feels hollow, and one that is too heavy is a hazard if he drops it on his foot. Colours should stay calm and natural, or the wood can simply be left bare — I am not after brightness. The only finish I will accept is a safe oil-wax, or no finish at all, and it must be fully cured and aired out before handover, with no smell of fresh treatment left. We will clean the toys by wiping them with a damp cloth rather than soaking them, so please take that into account when preparing the surfaces. And of course he will only play under adult supervision — but I would still like the object itself to be calm rather than something I have to watch every second.
What I need made:
— a sorter cube with five openings and five shapes, each fitting its own opening only;
— an opening lid so all the shapes can be retrieved at once;
— a seven-ring pyramid on a stable base with clearly stepped diameters;
— every surface sanded free of splinters and chips, corners and edges rounded;
— a safe oil-wax finish with no harmful additives, or bare wood, fully aired out;
— a drawstring cloth bag to store the shapes and rings;
— my son's name engraved shallowly and neatly on the bottom of the cube;
— a few daylight photographs of the finished pieces before shipping.
I am counting on about two weeks, and the budget is open to discussion. Please tell me which wood you would use, how you sand and what you finish with, and show me comparable work.