How to Make Wooden Wagons

Making the Pieces

• 1

  Cut two long sides for the wagon's body from 1-by-8 hardwood, 30 inches long. Cut two short sides 18 inches long. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch-thick plywood 19-by-29 inches for the bottom of the wagon.

• 2

  Install a 3-inch hole saw in your drill. Clamp a piece of 3/4-inch hardwood to your work table so that it hangs off the edge. Use the hole saw to cut four disks for wheels from the hardwood. Sand the edges smooth with 100-grit sandpaper.

• 3

  Remove the blade from your table saw by turning the arbor nut in the center of the blade counterclockwise. Install a stack dado blade with the required pieces to create a 1/2-inch dado. Consult your blade's manual, as this varies from brand to brand. Reinstall the nut.

• 4

  Set the depth of your blade to 1/2 inch. Set the rip fence 1 1/2 inches from the blade. Run the four pieces of hardwood over the dado to create a 1/2-by-1/2-inch groove in the face of each board.

Assembling the Wagon

• 5

  Apply wood glue to the ends of the two short hardwood pieces. Nail one end of each of the long pieces to the ends of this short piece, with the dado facing in, aligned on all three pieces. Nail through the long pieces into the ends of the short piece with four pin nails in each joint.

• 6

  Fit the plywood into this three-sided box, sliding it into the dado.

• 7

  Glue and nail the remaining hardwood piece into the opposite end of the wagon, as you did the first short piece.

Adding Wheels and a Pull

• 8

  Mark a spot for one hole 2 inches in from each end of each long side of the wagon bed, 1 inch up from the bottom (the edge nearest the dado) and drill a 1/4-inch hole through the hardwood.

• 9

  Fit a 2-inch bolt through the 1/4-inch hole created in the center of each wheel by the centering bit of the hole saw. Thread each bolt through the body of the wagon and install a washer and nut on the inside, underneath the wagon's bottom.

• 10

  Drill a 1/2-inch hole in the center of one short end of the wagon. Knot one end of a 1/2-inch rope. Pull the knot-free end through the hole from inside the wagon until the knot catches. Tie a second knot against the outside of the wagon to hold it in place. Tie a third knot at the free end of the rope to prevent fraying.