A visit to an outstanding producer of log playground equipment revealed another busy shop using log-shaping machinery made by Dyna Products. The handcrafted and decorative log look has found great appeal in the field of rustic furniture, but the application is not confined solely to furniture. Such items as rail fences, railings of various types, and picnic tables and benches are also popular. By Bill Gove

Bears Playgrounds, located in a rural setting outside of Lima, New York, produces a charming and unique product fashioned from logs-their varied lines of playground fixtures are made almost entirely of white cedar log material.

A visit with owner Danny Bears and a walk through the shop, which is set up in a former barn and its attached buildings, gave me a brief education in the special aspects of making playground equipment and the value of tools such as those made by Dyna Products.

Making the Components
Danny's crew of six employees is accomplished in the various steps of processing the logs, assembling the products, and erecting the equipment at the customer's site. There were a number of work stations scattered around in the buildings, and I noticed that Danny did not have one of the large post processors. I asked him why he didn't use one.

Danny explained that yes, it would normally be cheaper to purchase a multifunctional machine such as the post producer as all of the functions can then be handled by one power source and contained on one frame. I made a brief comparison on the manufacturer's price sheet, and he was right. But Danny prefers the flexibility of having a number of work locations to keep all of the workers busy when they are in the

shop. And production is faster for him if the work rate is not dependent on a single machine. This situation is obviously different from a small furniture shop.

After being cut to a specified length, the log pieces are sanded and fashioned with a lineshaft tenoner to shape either a tenon or a domed end, if either is needed. Danny found that for his use he had to upgrade the clamping neck on the tenoner. The logs needing a mortise or hole are passed through the lineshaft drill. The sliding tray feed demands critical attention to make sure that the round mortise holes are not only correctly spaced but are also on the same plane.

Sanding is just as important with playground equipment as it is with rustic furniture, if not more so. The Dyna sander uses an inflatable drum or bladder system, which allows the post to impress into the soft drum, thus preventing flat spots on the wood surface. Production is faster, and appearance is improved.

Assembling the Structure
When the various components of the playground structure have been completed, it is assembled in the shop. I noticed that the 2-inch tenons fit tightly into the holes making a strong structure. Some of the other joints and splices required a different type of fastening, in some cases a timber lock lag driven in with impact drive.

There are, of course, variations in assembly. A two-bay swing set requires a 20-foot headpiece log, fashioned by splicing two logs end to end and placing a vertical support under the joint. Once satisfactorily assembled, the structure is stained with an environmentally friendly, semitransparent stain. If possible, the playground structure is not disassembled for delivery to the customer, but there are obviously some exceptions to that with the large items. The company crew delivers and erects the equipment on the customer's site. Material is also needed on the ground under the playground structures, and Danny makes available a wide selection.

Hardwood mulch is a popular ground material and has been satisfactorily tested for "fall height." Other materials used are rubber mulch made from tires and rubber tile mats.

Since playground structures have commonly been made from material other than wood, I asked Danny Bears about the acceptance of log material in the public school systems. He explained that acceptance is growing and that there are government safety standards for this product. Danny is a participant in the ASTM Subcommittee on Home Use Playground Equipment, and there are two certified playground safety inspectors on the company staff.

Although 75% of his customers are within a 25-mile radius, Danny has delivered playground structures as far away as California. Is he worried about competition from new producers? Not at all, he says. There is a big market out there, he says, and there is a lot to learn about making playground equipment.

But, at the same time, Danny Bears shows concern about competition from Chinese operations that are supplying large shopping outlets with playground equipment made of molded material. Danny hopes he has the answer-a unique and much more attractive product made with automation to the fullest extent possible.

Woodworking Machines
Woodworking machines such as the Dyna line of products lend themselves well to the home shop. Rustic furniture can be an excellent product for a talented hobbyist. Nathan Miller of Dyna Products pointed out that Dyna makes available for the hobbyist some simpler versions. For example, there is a portable aluminum tenon cutter that is light enough for re-chucking in a 5/8 in. electric or air drill. Cutter heads can be custom ordered for your own shop machine. One can even obtain a kit to build a stake pointer.

For the aspiring maker of rustic furniture, Dyna Products can provide plans for building rustic furniture, as well as full-color log furniture brochures for those who will be marketing the product.

The Wood
The most commonly used wood for these various log products is white cedar, because of its workability, beauty, splinter resistance, and rot resistance. Red cedar and pine and even hardwoods are used in some parts of the country. You may feel that a lack of cedar in your area is a roadblock to setting up a small shop for manufacturing log products. However, white cedar is not locally available for Danny Bears either, nor is it found in the home area of Calvin Yoder, the rustic furniture maker discussed in the previous article. In both cases they obtain most of their white cedar from suppliers in Michigan, a state which has an ample supply of cedar. A truckload of cedar logs delivered to the Bears operation will have over 1,200 logs, 5 to 6 inches in diameter.

Since the cedar log material comes to Danny Bears operation already peeled, he does not have to further shape the log surface other than with sanding. However, unpeeled logs are generally fashioned by a machine known as a German peeler. Rustic furniture makers often use this type of machine because of the hand-peeled effect that the knives leave on the wood surface.

How to Get Started

	If you think that log playground equipment is a product that you might like to consider, and want some help getting started, there is a route you can take. Danny Bears has set up the Bears Franchise Corporation and plans to expand production of his product by means of franchise operations. His company has filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark

and they are in the process of completing franchise documentation in compliance with the FTC regulations. For more information, visit Bears Playgrounds official website.