In the mid 80's I was asked to build several prototypes for Sunset magazine. They were working on a how-to book titled "Children's Furniture". I was brought in to build the prototypes for three of the projects in the book. These prototypes were fun, mainly because they were outside the scope of the … regular woodworking projects I was engaged in at the time.

The Little Red Wagon is my favorite. It's a wagon that I would have loved to have had when I was a child. It also involved steam bending of the oak handle, a technique that I had to learn in order to complete the prototype.

They were originally going to paint it red, hence the title of this project, but decided to upgrade to an all oak body which was sealed with a clear finish. All parts of the project ended up being unique sizes and thicknesses, necessitating that I mill all the lumber to the custom dimensions. This was a fun project. I hope that many builders out there have made their own version of this wonderful toy.

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