# Carpenters, handymen, prop makers: I need advice on building a prop milk wagon **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728 "2023-03-04T18:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/21 "2023-03-13T00:53:49Z")
Thanks for the pic, it’s looking good! Now the fun begins – weathering. Take a length of heavy chain and start flailing. Grab a hammer, dent away! Your biggest, nastiest rasp dropped from a height in several places. A handful of ten penny nails punched through a square of 1/2 inch plywood makes some nifty wormholes (hammer or just swing it by hand; color the WHs black). I understand coffee makes a decent stain. Blotches of gray paint. Don’t be afraid to make yourself a big ol’ mudpie and wing it at will and willy-nilly. These and many other distressing tactics are all part of the theater **TRADITION!** Make sure you keep a tally of how many times you flinch when you mark up your baby. And congrats on your Chinaversary! Cake and everything! Now, get back to work! ( 🎶 Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset… 🎵) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/22 "2023-03-16T22:36:48Z")
Looks good! (I can finally say, because I haven’t looked at the picture on my desktop until now. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/23 "2023-03-17T00:45:09Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/24 "2023-04-01T17:09:27Z")
Thanks again for all the advice. Here’s how it turned out: > [@DIY and Hobby projects, small to big. Pictures of course](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-and-hobby-projects-small-to-big-pictures-of-course/957910/272): > > So here is the completed milk wagon for my wife’s middle school production of Fiddler on the Roof. As I mentioned in the thread linked above, I started with [these instructions](http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=5607) and made an open box with holes through it for the axle, a 1-1/8 inch dowel. (The odd diameter was dictated by the center holes in the [decorative wheels](https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/red-shed-35-in-wagon-wheel-193520699-1?cm_vc=-10005) I bought for the project.) Based on a suggestion by folks in the other thread, I found some [split shaft collars](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CH3DV5I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to hold the wheels onto the axle, but since none were read… ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/25 "2023-04-01T21:55:39Z")
Excellent, just excellent! Take a bow! ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728/26 "2023-04-03T23:48:33Z")
Very cool! Nice job. And congratulations on finding an excuse to buy a drill press, I haven’t found a good one yet… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carpenters-handymen-prop-makers-i-need-advice-on-building-a-prop-milk-wagon/980728.md?page=1)