The Processes of Making Toys

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Processes of Making Toys

    I've been buying slush and rubber toys during the last couple of weeks. I keep asking people on the Net  or through  this blog to help me out by inviting themselves, at my invitation to be guest writers. Unfortunately,  no one replies. So I keep buying and selling toys, in order to write this blog. 

I still am inviting people to help out, so if you'd like by all means send me an e-mail to majortrout@hotmail.com. My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman. What I'll do is find out what items that you have, and what questions you might want to answer.

Today's instalment is about the different processes of toy making that were used over the last 100 years, mostly from the age of older toys (1920-1960).

1. Cast Iron

2. Slush

3. Die Cast

4. Pressed Steel 

5. Hard and Black Rubber

6. Soft and Coloured Rubber

From Left to Right - The Processes

1. Cast Iron  (Beige car)

2. Sludge  (Small red coupe)

3. Die Cast  (Orange and Yellow Tootsietoy Graham)

4.  Hard and Black Rubber (Red and Beige Roadster with  exhausts off the hood 

(Sun Rubber Company)

5.  Soft and Coloured Rubber (Auburn Rubber Company)

Cast Iron

A metal mould is made. This mould or form or casting, then is filled with molten metal (iron) and allowed to cool.

When cooled, the new toy is separated form the mould.

The process was simple,and the material costs were relatively inexpensive at the time.

This process was very common for toys produced from 1890's- 1930's.

The Slush Process

This process is similar to cast iron. However softer metals (zinc, lead and alloys of metals) are poured into a mould). I'm not 100%, but the metal is "swished" or "slushed" inside the mould to adhere to the walls. Once enough metal attaches to the inner cast walls, the excess is poured into a large iron kettle. 

The kettle is reheated and the process starts allover.  Once the metal is cool enough, the form (cast) is opened, and the hot new shape is separated from the cast. This process was also relatively inexpensive, and easier than cast iron, and most likely less expensive. 

The process was also used in the early 1920's-1940's.

Pressed Steel

The press steel process is similar to how modern cars are made.

A die (shape) is made from a hard metal and is the "negative" or opposite of the shape to be created.

Moderately thin sheets of steel are placed over the die or cast, and then a very heavy form comes down.The form is also the negative of the finished shape.  The pressure (measured is tons) presses the steel sheet into the required shape in a matter of seconds. The shape may be finished by having sharp edges cut out the shape,or the shape will be cut later by hand. The edges are smoothed out with a large sandbelt by an experienced worker.

Toys from the 1930's - present day are and were produced in this fashion.

The Die Cast Process

A form (die)is made,and molten metals, mostly non -iron (Non-ferrous) are poured into the cavity or form.Once cooled,the shape is separated from the die. It's then checked, and then the rougher edges of the 3-D toy are then sanded. The casts are expensive,but the production costs are fast and inexpensive. As a consequence, this process became more popular than cast iron.

The Hard Rubber Process

This process is similar to the previous casting processes (cast iron and die cast). A die or metal shape is made that is the opposite of the toy to be made.Liquid rubber is poured into the cavity, then cooled, and the toy is removed.  The toy edges were smoothed if necessary, cooled, then workers applied paint to the surfaces.  What's interesting is how resilient the paint and toy was to be able to have most of the paint remain attached to  the rubber. With time, these toys got vert hard. Because the process was relatively inexpensive from the point of the process and materials, this process was used in the 1920's-early 1940's.  As WWII was approaching, the source of raw rubber form the far east  was cut short. During WWII, America searched for new material to replace rubber.

The Soft Rubber Process

This process was used in the 1930's-1960's and even later. Chemists working with rubber were able to create different chemical compositions from raw latex (rubber). Eventually, the beige-coloured latex was softened and rich coloured dyes and pigments were able to be used to create the colours. Detailing on this process was much better than the hard-rubber process,and if you magnify the image above, you'l be able to see lots and lots of small detailing, not capable from the hard rubber process. One main colour was used in the toy body, and other colour were usually applied by hand.

I'll be writing about the slush and rubber instalments as soon as more of the toys arrive at my doorstep.

As always, thanks for dropping by,and have a 

good morning, good afternoon, or goodevening, 

wherever you may be.