1917 Ford Model TT Truck

Hey there.  A week or so ago I saw Tony's post on his Ford Truck and I really had to laugh about the irony of the timing.  I was just finishing up my version of the T&J Plan 78, The 1917 Ford Truck and I had made a major change to the cab design of the model. . .much like Tony's.  

T&J Plan 78 is modeled as a convertible version and initially I thought I would  build it as planned but as I did some research, as I always end up doing, I realized that the enclosed cab was a more generally available model so I made the adjustments to the plan what you see in the photos is the outcome.    Ford initially started to produce trucks in July , 1917 and since they were still in the era of coach building, the majority of the vehicles were enclosed cabs.  There were a number of the "convertible" versions but since most trucks were used by businesses and the military, the enclosed cab was more prevalent.

The model is built using poplar, cherry, walnut, peruvian walnut, red oak, maple, and purple heart.  Most of the construction is straight forward and really not a lot of issues.  I used the Peruvian Walnut for the tires, radiator,  and the roof since it finishes up darker than the walnut.  I decided to use red oak for the cab introducing purple heart panels for contrast.  The "eyebrow" above the side panel windows was made on the laser, thus saving my fingers and my sanity, as well as the "Ford" logo on the radiator. I did start out making the eyebrow on the scroll saw but after 3 or 4 breaks of the piece, I thought better of that solution.   That FORD logo was cut from veneer on the laser and is approximately .75" long and .6" tall.  I also decided to try my hand at making the "dog bone" radiator cap and so that was done on the lathe using hard maple stock.  I also cheated a bit and used the CNC to fabricate the 1/16" kerfs in the side panels of the rear bed.  My original thought was to make a jig and use a finish router but then I decided since I have the cnc, why not use that.  It was a simple task and took more time to design in the CAD program then it did to carve.  

Final finish is two coats of Natural Watco Danish oil.   I also added the kerosene lanterns on each side of the cabin front.  The T&J plans do not include those so I fabricated them from walnut  and maple and they consist of 3 walnut parts for the body and the maple insert for the light glass.  I could not find any authentic photos of the rear of the truck and so I did not include rear lighting, although I believe that it would have had some variety.  Electric cabling was still in its infancy in  1917 so I would assume that a kerosene lantern with possibly a  red lens would have been used.