Emory Kardos said all it takes to make a model car are "a saber saw, a wood file, a drill press and patience."

The South Pymatuning Township resident and retired Navy petty officer can usually be found in his basement, constructing model cars and other vehicles out of wood. He doesn’t use a pattern or a kit; all of his designs come from pictures in magazines or newspapers.

"I just sit down here and make them," Kardos said.

"For hours and hours and hours," added his wife, Dolores. "He’s at it every day."

Kardos has about 20 models lined up on the metal shelves in his basement. He bought the shelves after the models overcrowded the card table they formerly occupied.

Among his creations are a 1912 Flanders Roadster, a 1932 Model A Ford, an old-fashioned lumber truck, a 1925 Ford Model T Runabout, an ambulance, an 18-wheeled tractor-trailer and his lawn tractor.

"We call this the gangster car," Mrs. Kardos said, holding up a 1920s-era car reminiscent of the one Bonnie and Clyde drove.

"A lot of this stuff I make from memory," Kardos said. "I get the old pictures and I try to make them off of that."

Kardos uses quarter-inch to half-inch planks of poplar and wood dowling for the models. He buys little wooden wheels at a craft store and gives them his special touch.

"I lay out where the spokes go, drill almost through with a drill bit, then cut the center out," he said, demonstrating. "Then I take the sander, put it on the drill press and file it down. Then I use toothpicks as the spokes."

Plastic from pill containers provides finishing touches, such as windshields, and a burning iron adds detail. Kardos uses a clear coat of finish on the vehicle when he’s done with it.

"He doesn’t want to mess them up with paint," Mrs. Kardos said.

It takes Kardos about two weeks to complete one model, he said.

Kardos began making the models in 1993. His brother-in-law, who had been making slightly bigger models, got him started.

Before he churned out wooden cars and trucks, Kardos made airplanes and ships out of aluminum soft-drink cans. The ships and airplanes decorate Kardos’ work space. He said he stopped making them "because we don’t drink as much tea and soda."

Kardos estimated he has given away 100 models since he started building them.

"I tried to sell them, but I couldn’t get a nickel for them," he said. "So I just give them away."

However, Mrs. Kardos said, he’s not allowed to part with the 18-wheeler.

"I tried to give it away, but she won’t let me," he said.