Clayton man applies his craft to delight children

CLAYTON -- A child could be forgiven for mistaking Keith Hartman's two-story metal building for Santa's workshop.

Jacob's ladders and wooden train sets line the walls. Wooden puzzle pieces waiting to be finished sit next to saws of all shapes and sizes.

Like St. Nick, Hartman is in the toy business to make children happy. "The little ones - their eyes get big, and I see that there's magic in the world again," he said.

Sitting in a sawdust-covered office chair, Hartman spends as long as 12 hours a day turning pieces of poplar into classic wooden toys such as fire trucks, puzzles and airplanes. It's not the most profitable way to earn a living, Hartman said, but he wouldn't dream of doing anything else. "I end up having a lot of pride and enjoyment - the pride that I have of 'I did this,'" he said.

Hartman began making toys when he was about 11years old. That's when his father got him a job helping out their next-door neighbor, who made toys. Now he has been at it for decades, honing his craft and creating toys along the way.

Rather than selling to stores, Hartman takes his wares to craft shows up and down the East Coast, including the N.C. State Fair's Village of Yesteryear. Increasingly, he has made more of his sales online through his Web site, www.qualitywoodcrafts .net .

Wooden toys have staged a comeback of sorts in the wake of news reports about toxic toys made in Asia. Hartman said he works hard to make sure his toys are safe. Many of the toys are made from poplar that he cuts himself. Poplar doesn't splinter, and it doesn't have additives like the glue in plywood, so children won't get sick if they put the toys in their mouths.

"It gives a nice finish, and it's a pretty wood," Hartman said.

Also, the simplicity of wooden toys frees a child's imagination, Hartman said. That sets them apart from technologically advanced educational toys, which "control the thought patterns of the children," he said.

Hartman loves to show children and adults how he makes his toys. He has an 1800s treadle saw that he uses at the State Fair, though he uses power tools in his workshop.

People assume that all toys nowadays are made by machines in factories, Hartman said. "It's amazing that people have no clue that you can actually take tools and make something," he said. "This is one of the items that's becoming a lost art."

Though he learned the craft as an apprentice, Hartman has yet to find anyone to train with him. Over the years, several people have expressed an interest but quit when they realized how much work was involved, he said. But recently, Hartman has been teaching woodcarving to developmentally disabled adults in Raleigh, and some of them have taken to the work.