Turned in Jyväskylä since 2014

Toys that survive being thrown down the stairs

Twelve wooden toys, cut from Finnish birch and alder on two benches, oiled by hand and boxed the same week. No batteries, no screens, no plastic fittings.

Shop all twelve toys

See the bench

Free delivery in Finland over €60 · posted within 3 working days · 90 days to change your mind

Three turned wooden elephant shapes standing in a row on a yellow backdrop — Elephant Parade, in stock — Elephant Parade€34

A child's hands laying curved wooden train track across a pale floor — Lakeside Track Loop, in stock — Lakeside Track Loop€76

A child pulling a wooden hound toy along a wooden floor by a red cord — Pull-Along Hound, in stock — Pull-Along Hound€36

What we test, and what fails

Nothing gets a price until it has been dropped twenty times

We do not hand this out to anybody to certify. It is our own bench rule, written on the wall above the saw, and the three numbers beside it are the only ones a new shape has to clear.

Two of the last nine shapes failed and went back to the drawing board rather than onto the shelf with a warning sticker.

20Drops onto concreteFrom bench height, 1.05 m, onto the bare floor by the door. A joint that opens, an edge that chips or a wheel that shears means the shape changes, not the label.

45Millimetres across, minimumOn anything we sell for a child under eighteen months, measured on the finished piece rather than the drawing, because sanding takes a millimetre off every face.

2Coats, Monday and WednesdayCold-pressed linseed and beeswax, nothing else in the workshop. One coat looks finished and feels wrong, so a one-coat toy never leaves the room.

A small wooden toy truck standing on a worn concrete step — Rolling Tipper, only three left — Rolling Tipper€26

A wooden peg stacker with coloured shapes threaded onto five posts — Peg and Shape Stacker, in stock — Peg & Shape Stacker€32

Coloured wooden alphabet letters mounted on little wagon wheels on a shelf — Alphabet Wagons, only five left — Alphabet Wagons€39

A tub filled with painted wooden town blocks, houses and small cars — Town Block Tub, in stock — Town Block Tub€54

On the shelf this month

Four toys came off the bench in February

Each one is turned, sanded to 400 grit and finished with a food-safe linseed and beeswax mix that you can top up yourself with the tin we post in the box. Nothing is printed on, so nothing wears off.

Prices run from €22 to €76. Two of the four are down to their last handful — the stock word on every card is the number on the rack this morning, not a guess.

The bench runs one batch a fortnight. When a batch sells through before the next one is cut, the card says the date it comes back and you can put your name against it.

Posted in 3 working daysFree over €6090 days to return

See all twelve on the shelf

The one everybody buys twice

A chunky wooden toy tractor coupled to a trailer, standing on a polished desk — Yard Tractor and Trailer, in stock — Best seller · 2nd year running

Yard Tractor & Trailer

A pine tractor with a hitched trailer, both running on turned wheels pinned with brass rather than glued. The trailer tips, the hitch unclips, and the whole thing weighs enough that a child has to use two hands — which is the point.

3+ yearsTractor + trailerOiled pine1.4 kg boxed

€58incl. VAT

In stock — 22 on the rack

Open the tractor in the shop

A maker shaping a piece of wood by hand at a cluttered workbench

A pencil marking a cutting line along a planed board

Hands working a block of wood down to a curve at the bench

A small wooden peg cart with red wheels and a red pull cord on decking — Pull-Along Peg Cart, in stock

01 / 03 · the bench, this week

Two benches, four people

Nothing leaves the room until someone has dropped it

Plain wooden blocks built into a tall rocket on a tabletop — Thirty-Six Block Box, in stock — The Block Box, tested the only way that counts

Saara draws it, Mikko turns it, Roosa sands and oils it, and Elias packs it. Every new shape gets dropped onto a concrete floor from bench height twenty times before it gets a price. If a joint opens, the shape goes back to the drawing board rather than into a box.

Walk through the workshop →

Why only twelve

A short shelf you can actually keep in your head

Most toy shops carry four hundred things and know none of them. We make twelve, and we can tell you the grain direction of each one. When a toy stops earning its place on the rack, we retire it rather than discount it.

1Repairable on a kitchen tableEvery joint is pegged or screwed, never glued shut. Spare wheels, axles and pegs cost €3 a bag and we post them free.
2One finish across the whole shelfLinseed, beeswax, nothing else. A scratched toy is sanded and re-oiled in ten minutes and looks newer than it did.
3Wood from within 200 kmBirch and alder from two mills in Central Finland. Offcuts go back as kindling to the same yard.

Read the delivery and returns page

Three turned wooden mice on a round base, one of them wearing a small crown — Mouse Band, in stock — Mouse Band · €28 · in stock

Over the bench, most weeks

What people stand at the bench and ask

What does delivery cost and when does it land?

Finland is €5.90, or free over €60, and lands in two to four working days. The rest of the Nordics and the Baltics is €12.50 and takes four to seven days. The rest of the EU is €19.90 and takes five to ten. Everything is posted within three working days of the order.

Which toy suits which age?

Under eighteen months, stay with the Pull-Along Peg Cart and the Rolling Tipper — every part is wider than 45 mm. From two years the trains, sorters and animal sets open up. The Block Box and Alphabet Wagons get the most use between three and seven. Each shop card states the age band and the smallest part in millimetres.

How big are these, really?

The smallest box is 180 × 140 × 90 mm and weighs 0.4 kg; the Lakeside Track Loop crate is 520 × 320 × 140 mm and 3.1 kg. Every product page lists boxed size, boxed weight and the number of pieces, so you can judge it against a shelf before you order.

Can I send one back?

Ninety days, played with or not, as long as every piece comes back. Return postage inside Finland is on us; elsewhere it is yours. Refunds go back to the original card within five working days of the parcel reaching the bench.

What is actually in the box?

The toy, a 15 ml tin of the same linseed and beeswax finish we use on the bench, a sanding pad, a folded card naming the person who made it, and a bag of spare pegs where the toy has them. The crate is the packaging — there is no inner plastic.

Everything else is on the help page

A carved wooden pony beside a stack of marked story stones on a shelf — Carved Pony and Story Stones, sold out until 14 March — Next batch off the lathe: 14 March

Tell us when the pony is back

One email, on the morning the batch is boxed. Nothing else is ever sent to this list.

No queue jumpingEveryone on the list is emailed at the same minute.

Price held€64 for anyone on the list, even if the batch costs us more.