Part 1

BOYS’ MAKE-AT-HOME THINGS

BOYS’ MAKE-AT-HOME THINGS

BY CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY AND MARIAN ELIZABETH BAILEY

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1912, by_ FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

_All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian_

PREFACE

Make-At-Home-Things for Boys aims to keep boys busy and entertained. It furnishes them with simple directions for making toys and useful articles, all of which are carefully pictured. The aim of the book, is to give boys an idea of the craft possibilities which lie in the crudest materials, often the waste material of the home and in this way to develop real artistic ability.

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE v

THE MAKING OF TOOLS NECESSARY FOR WHITTLING 1

HOW TO MAKE A PRACTICAL WORK BENCH 7

WORK BENCH ACCESSORIES 15

HOW TO MAKE A TURNING LATHE 21

HOW TO MAKE A TOY TRAIN 29

OUT-DOOR TOYS 37

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN DESK SET 45

WILD ANIMALS YOU CAN MAKE 53

HOW TO MAKE A SET OF MISSION FURNITURE 59

TOYS THAT HIDE IN THE WOOD BOX 65

THE WONDERFUL DODO BIRD 75

A FLEET OF TOY BOATS 83

HOW TO MAKE A PLAY TENT 89

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TOPS 95

THE FARM THE SCISSORS BUILT 101

MORE BOX PLAYS 107

A RECIPE FOR A NOAH’S ARK 113

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN UNIFORM 117

JOINTED TOY ANIMALS. HOW TO MAKE THEM 123

YOUR OWN CIRCUS 129

BEAD WORK FOR BOYS 135

HOW TO MAKE STICK PICTURES 143

A TOY INDIAN VILLAGE 149

CORN TOYS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM 155

HOW TO MAKE A MARBLE BAG 159

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SCHOOL BOX 165

A HOME-MADE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND 171

HOW TO WRAP CHRISTMAS PARCELS 177

YOUR OWN WIRELESS RECEIVING STATION 183

ILLUSTRATIONS

Whittled Toy Train _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE Knife-strop 6

Whittled Weather Vane; Kite Stick; “Cat”; Reel for Fish Line; “Cat” Stick 38

File; Ink Well; Pen Tray 46

Book Rack 50

Whittled Wild Animals: Giraffe, Camel 54

Whittled Wild Animals: Bear, Lion, “Darwin” 56

Dolls’ Chair and Table Whittled in Mission Style 60

Dolls’ Whittled Chest of Drawers; Dolls’ Whittled Bed 64

Toy Barnyard Made of Kindling Wood 68

A Set of Dolls’ Furniture Made by Gluing Together Blocks of Kindling Wood 74

The Dodo Bird 80

A Cork Raft; A Cork Sail Boat 84

Whittled Toy Sail Boat 88

Whittled Clown Top 96

Beet Top; Top Made of Graduated Disks; Button Mold Top 98

Cart, Barn and Barrow Made of Cardboard Boxes 104

Circus Parade (The Cage is Made of a Shoe Box) 108

The Ark; Cardboard Animals Who Live in the Ark 112

Going Aboard the Ark 114

Pattern for Soldier’s Cap; The Finished Uniform: Cap, Shield, Sword and Epaulets 120

Jointed Cardboard Animals 126

A Bead Loom Made of a Box Cover 140

Stick Illustration of the Story of The Three Bears 146

Corn Cob Pappoose; Corn Cob Indian 158

Whittled School Box; Chamois Marble Bag 164

BOYS’ MAKE-AT-HOME THINGS

BOYS’ MAKE-AT-HOME THINGS

THE MAKING OF TOOLS NECESSARY FOR WHITTLING

The tools which one will need for whittling--the kind of whittling that makes something besides splinters--are very simple and few in number. Any boy’s pocket will furnish a jack-knife, and it is pretty sure to be a sharp one.

With a knife, a pencil, and some pieces of wood, all the other tools may be made. Basswood is the easiest wood to handle because it is soft, and very close grained. If basswood can not be had, pine is the next best wood, and an old egg crate, which any grocer will be glad to get rid of, will furnish you with enough whittling material for a long time.

The scale for measuring (Fig. 3) should be made first, as it is the tool most necessary in laying out the other tools. One of the thin strips from the side of the egg crate may be used for this. The outline of the scale must be drawn on the wood with a hard pencil. A “6 H” is the best. The “H” means “hard,” and the number of H’s shows the degree of hardness. The pencil should be sharpened on both ends--one end rubbed to a fine point on sandpaper, and the other end to a chisel point. The sharp point is to mark, accurately, the points to which lines are to be drawn, and the chisel point is to draw the lines with. After the outline is drawn it may be cut.

First take off a splinter or two to determine the direction of the grain, because one long cut against the grain might spoil your work. When this is determined, you should cut down _almost_ to the outline, using a long, free stroke from the shoulder for the cutting in the direction of the grain. For the cross-grained cutting at the ends, the knife is held in the four fingers, with the thumb steadying the near side of the wood, and the cut is made toward the thumb. Only a very short cut may be made at a time, and then a bit of wood is clipped away so that the next cut may be made. This cutting, also, should be done near, but not on, the line. After the model is roughly cut out, it should be worked down very carefully to the lines, the beveled edge cut, and then sandpapered smooth all over. The sandpaper must be put over a small block of wood, and held very flat. Otherwise it will spoil a straight surface. Then the graduations are to be put on. If nothing better is at hand, the spacing may be done with mother’s tape measure. Lay off the spaces with the pointed end of the pencil, and then draw the lines which show the spacing, making those which show the sixteenths, 1/16″ long; the eighths, 1/8″ long; the quarters, 3/16″ long; the halves, 5/16″, or the full width of the bevel. This must be done with a pencil, for ink would run into the wood and spread. The inch dimensions should be marked 1, 2, 3, etc., and a light coat of shellac or varnish will add much to the durability of the scale. The back edge of the scale may be used as a straight edge, and to lay the pencil against for drawing lines, but it should be remembered that the scale itself--that is, the graduated side--must never be used for this. If it were, the graduations would soon be spoiled.

The tool which is most necessary next to the scale is the square (Fig. 4), and this should also be made with great accuracy. It is used to test two adjoining edges, to see if they are square with each other. In making anything of wood, one of the largest surfaces is generally made perfectly true, and marked with a little cross (x), designating it as the “face.” One of the adjoining edges--not a cross-grained one--is also made true and square with the first surface, and marked with a second cross, as the “working edge.” Then all the other measuring and squaring is done from these two surfaces.

The piece of wood to be tested should be held in the left hand, on a level with the eye, and the square held in the right hand, with one of the inner edges resting against the wood, and the other projecting over it is moved back and forth. Any unevenness in the wood will readily be seen. The outside edges of the square may also be used for testing the evenness of wide flat surfaces. It is made like the pattern, of two strips of wood, with a fitted joint glued together.

The knife strop shown in Fig. 1 is a great help in whittling, because it will keep your knife in good condition. A piece of the heavier wood at the end of the egg crate may be used for this. It is made from a strip measuring 1-1/2″ wide by 11″ long, and the strip of leather (cut from a discarded razor strop) is glued on. The 1/8″ bevel is continued all the way around the handle on both sides to make it fit the hand. The hole in the end is to hang it up by, and may be made with a hammer and nail, or with a bit and brace if you have one.

The pencil sharpener (Fig. 2), is also a very necessary help in whittling and it is very simple to make. A strip of thin wood 1-1/4″x7″ forms the foundation. This is narrowed down at the handle end to 3/4″. The curves may be marked on the outline, free hand, and in cutting you must be very careful to remember the grain of the wood. The curves at the ends should be cut from each side toward the middle of the end, gradually working into a cross-cut. The curves at the sides must be cut from the wider part toward the handle, using the point of the knife, and working with great care so as not to split the wood. A strip of sandpaper 1″x3″ is glued on and the sharpener is complete.

With these tools finished a boy is ready to begin some real whittling, and make other models which will be quite as useful, and very much more attractive.

HOW TO MAKE A PRACTICAL WORKBENCH

A good practical workbench may be made by any boy who can handle the simplest tools and procure a little suitable lumber.

The lumber should be bought at a lumber yard, in the rough, which will cost a great deal less than finished boards.

It will require 26 ft. of two-by-four pine boards, 12 ft. of two-by-six’s, and 23 ft. of one-by-six’s. The two-by-four’s cost one and three-quarters cents a running foot, the two-by-six’s are two and a half cents, and the one-by-six’s, one and a half cents. The boards come in regular lengths, from ten feet up to sixteen, or in some cases, up to twenty-four feet long. It will be best to get a twenty-four foot one-by-six board if possible, a twelve foot two-by-six, one twelve foot and one fourteen foot two-by-four. This will make the total cost for boards one dollar and twelve cents.

Aside from the pine boards for the bench itself it will require a piece of oak measuring three by four inches and thirty-four inches long, for the bench vise; a screw and handle for the vise (costing thirty-five cents at any hardware store); a pound of four inch nails; and two square headed iron bolts, one half inch in diameter and four inches long, each fitted with two iron washers and one square nut.

Saw off, first, from the twelve foot two-by-four, four pieces thirty-three inches long. These are the legs of the bench, and they are to stand with their broad four-inch faces toward the ends of the bench. Then cut in each one of these joints like those shown in Fig. 1. The sides in which the joints are cut face toward each other at the ends of the bench and into them is fitted the supporting framework.

For the lower framework cut from the fourteen foot two-by-four two pieces forty-two inches long and four pieces nineteen inches long. Two of the nineteen-inch pieces are to be left as they are, but the other two and the two forty-two inch pieces should have joints cut at the ends like Fig. 2. These joints, as well as the joints in the uprights, are cut with a saw, and the wood is split out with a chisel. Then these four jointed pieces are fitted together and glued or nailed to form a framework nineteen by forty-two inches. The four uprights are then fitted in place and nailed, increasing the width of the ends to twenty-three inches. Then the other two nineteen-inch pieces are fitted into the top of the uprights across each end, and nailed in place. Four braces (Fig. 3) for the ends are made from two sixteen-inch pieces of the one-by-six stock. Each piece is first cut in two, lengthwise, with a rip saw. This makes four pieces twenty inches long by three inches wide. Mark the center joint of each end of each piece. Then measure on both sides, from each end, a distance of one and a half inches. Connect these points with the end points by a line and saw off the corners, leaving on each end a right-angled point. The braces are then nailed in place as shown in Fig. 4.

This finishes the body part of the bench. Next, cut from the one-by-six board a piece fifty-six inches long. Fit it across the front of the frame, just even, or flush with the top, and projecting seven inches beyond the uprights at either end. Then nail in position.

Cut from the twelve foot two-by-six board two pieces fifty-six inches long. Place one of them across the top of the bench at the extreme front, so that it is flush with the wide surface of the front board. Nail this to the end framework and nail the second piece in position just back of it.

It is necessary for this much of the top to be very heavy, for this is where the heavy strain of the work will come. The remainder of the top is made of two strips of one-by-six wood. In order to make this even with the two front strips which are thicker it is necessary to put pieces underneath it at each end. For these cut a piece of one-by-six board twelve inches long and rip it in two. Place these strips along the end frame, then place the top boards on them and nail all in position. When this is done the whole top of the bench may be made partially smooth, if it is desired, with a jack plane. Then cut one more strip of one-by-six fifty-six inches long and nail across the back of the bench, allowing it to project three inches above the top.

The vise, as it comes from the store, consists of a long, straight, square-headed screw about an inch in diameter, which ends in a round iron plate and a T-shaped pipe. The plate is loose but not removable. Through the T a long wooden handle fits. Beside this there is an elliptical plate holding a threaded pipe which the screw works in. To put it together, first make a piece from the remaining two-by-six like Fig. 5. This piece forms the inner side of the vise and fits _inside_ of the front piece of the bench, just touching the under side of the top, and _outside_ of the lower framework. Its edge should be four inches in from the front leg of the bench. Corresponding holes are made with a bit and brace in the front piece of the bench and counter-sunk a half inch. The two pieces are then bolted together, the heads of the bolts and the iron washer fitting down in the counter-sink, and the other washer being placed under the nut on the other side. The receptacle for the vise screw is fastened in position through the back of Fig. 5.

Next, the piece of oak is prepared for the vise jaw. It is slanted off at the ends like Fig. 6, the outer edges rounded, a hole somewhat larger than the vise screw cut through as shown, and a joint cut through with chisel and hammer near the bottom. Into this joint fit Fig. 7, a piece of wood one by four inches and twelve inches long, which is intended to keep the jaws of the vise approximately even. It fits into the oak with a drive fit and has holes zigzagged or “staggered” across it into which a round peg three inches fits. By placing this peg in different holes the bottom opening of the vise may be adjusted to correspond with the desired top opening.

The long screw of the vise is slipped through the hole made for it, and the plate is screwed in place.

This completes a bench which will prove a great help to the boy workman, and which takes scarcely more time in making than it has in describing.

WORKBENCH ACCESSORIES

When you have made yourself this fine, big workbench you will find out very soon that there are a number of workbench accessories which will make it much more convenient and desirable.

The first thing that will be missed is a tool rack. With tools scattered all over the bench it is difficult to do good work. It means a waste of time and sometimes a waste of temper, while, if the tools are hanging right before one’s eyes in an orderly row, each one may be taken as it is needed, and replaced again when one is through, and the work will go on smoothly.

A single pine board six inches wide, one inch thick and sixteen feet long will make all the accessories one can want. It is better to procure a finished board from the planing mill. It will cost three or four cents a running foot--a total cost at the most of sixty-four cents.

For the tool rack cut from the board two fifty-six-inch lengths. Cut one of these in two lengthwise with a rip saw and plane the sawed edge smooth and square with the face or wide, flat side of the board. With a pencil and scale mark the positions on the centers of the holes shown in Fig. 1. Then when the centers have been determined, drill them according to the sizes indicated, with a bit and brace. The first three holes at the left are to hold bits; the next two, chisel and gouge, and the others are for screw-drivers. These latter four, after the holes are drilled, are made open clear to the edge of the rack by sawing out a section from the front. This makes it possible to take the tools out without lifting them entirely out of the rack. From the right-hand end mark off a distance of twelve inches. Then, from the end to this line, cut two grooves as shown in the drawing. The forward one is rounded out with a gouge to hold a pencil while the back one is square and flat, cut with a chisel, to hold either a twelve-inch scale or a folded two-foot rule. In the front edge of this piece, about six inches from the right-hand end is driven a nail to hold the claw hammer.

The fifty-six-inch length which was not ripped in two is fitted at right angles to the back of this rack, lapping over the edge and flush with the top. It is nailed in position and two supporting brackets like Fig. 2 are fitted under each end of the rack for strength. When this is all fastened together, the whole rack is set up on top of the back pieces of the workbench and held in place by two cleats, three inches by eight which are screwed to both the back piece of the bench and the back piece of the rack.

Underneath the holes for the bits there should be two nails to hold the brace. The jack plane, block plane, and spoke shave may stand on the bench underneath the rack, and screws or nails at the end of the bench will hold rip saw, cross-cut saw, and dust brush.

Next in usefulness is the bench block shown in Fig. 3. For this cut one piece of wood six inches by eleven, and two pieces, six inches by two inches. All these pieces must have the grain running in the longest direction. When these are trued up, fit them together as shown, and fasten with one-and-three-quarter-inch wood screws. After completing this the corners are cut off. The block fits over the front edge of the bench near the right-hand end and forms a brace when one wants to hold a piece of wood steady for sawing.

Next comes the bench stop, Fig. 4. When one is planing a wide, flat board the vise is useless. So holes are drilled in pairs in the top of the bench itself, and these bench stops are slipped in to form a buffer. A little piece of wood one by one by two is used, the grain of course running the long way. For half of the distance the stop remains square, while the other inch is rounded with a chisel to fit into the hole, which should be slightly more than an inch deep. Two of these stops will be needed.

Every workbench needs a nail box. A good one may be made from two pieces three inches wide by fourteen inches long, which form the sides, two ends three inches by three, and a bottom piece five inches by fourteen. The side pieces are nailed to the end pieces, fitting over them, and the bottom fits over all. This makes the inside measurements three inches by twelve. Of course it is desirable to keep the different sizes of nails separate, so this is divided into as many compartments as are desired by partitions. These can be made from any old piece of wood about a half inch thick. They measure three by three inches and may be spaced however you like, except the one which is shown in Fig. 5. This is to be placed in the middle and forms a handle as well as a partition. Just as convenient, though not quite as necessary, is a miter box. It consists of two side pieces five inches by twelve, and one bottom piece four inches by twelve. The side pieces fit down over the edges of the bottom piece and are nailed fast. There are no ends. When this much is done, take a forty-five degree triangle, and mark across the two top edges one perpendicular line, and one forty-five degree line in each direction, making them so that they do not overlap. Then saw straight down from these lines to the bottom piece. A miter box will prove itself a great convenience in sawing the corners of molding or anything which requires a fitted corner. The piece to be sawed is held firmly in the box and the saw guided through the slots.

When a boy has made the bench and all these accessories, and has some tools, he will be equipped for big practical work.

HOW TO MAKE A TURNING LATHE

Most boys have a speaking acquaintance with a turning lathe. Some boys know how to use one with good results. But to use one and own it too--that is a joy which few boys experience.

After all, though, a lathe is not such a formidable machine, and if a boy is quick at catching an idea and working it out he can make one for himself.

Most of the material can be procured from some machine shop at practically no cost, and the parts that have to be bought outright will cost very little.

The foundation may be an old sewing-machine stand and the lathe is run, just as a sewing machine is, by foot power. In almost any junk shop or second hand shop you will find an old out-of-date sewing machine for sale. New machines can be bought so cheaply nowadays that a second hand one costs next to nothing.

When you have procured this you must take it to pieces. The wooden top part is fastened to the iron frame by screws from underneath. Take these out, and the top and drawer at the sides may be lifted right off. Then take out the screw at the right hand side of the machine part and slip off the upper belt wheel. This upper belt wheel, the belt, the lower belt wheel, and the iron framework of the machine are all that will be needed for the lathe, and the rest you may discard, or put away in the “handy” pile for some future construction. The lower belt wheel is of course fastened to the frame, so that does not need to be disturbed.

Next get a piece of hickory or some other hard wood twelve inches wide, three feet long and one-and-one-half inches thick. Cut a long, narrow slot in this from one end as is shown in Fig. 1. Then fasten this piece to the top of the iron frame with the same screws that fastened the top of the machine on before. The solid end of the wood should project two inches beyond the right-hand end of the frame where the belt is, and the slotted end will of course extend somewhat beyond the frame at the left. This is what is called the “bed” of the lathe. Now bore the two holes which the belt goes through.