Part 3
Make the legs of the animals separately and fasten them on to the bodies with tiny nails. Place the two fore legs or two hind legs in position on either side of the body piece, and drive through them a short wire nail, a very little longer than is necessary to go through the three thicknesses of wood. Then rest the head of the nail on a piece of iron, and hammer the point, forming a little rivet to pivot the legs. The feet must also be made separately, and fastened on in the same way, so that, whatever position the legs are in, the feet will remain level.
HOW TO MAKE A SET OF MISSION FURNITURE
A very attractive set of furniture suitable for a doll’s nursery, may be whittled from pieces of old cigar boxes. It consists of four pieces--a “Craftsman” bed, a chair, a table, and a chest of drawers.
For the head of the bed take a piece of wood four inches square, and, placing it with the grain of the wood running up and down, mark it out like Fig. 1. As a general rule, the grain of the wood should lie with the longest dimension, but in all the upright pieces of this set it must run up and down. Outline first the “recessed edge,” which forms the legs of the bed, scoring it lightly with the point of the knife. Then cutting a little bit out at a time, and working from the center toward each end, bring it down to the line. The two openings, an eighth of an inch by a half inch, for the joints, must be cut with the point of the knife--the ends first, then the sides, and lastly the wood is chipped out, and the opening is evened up. The foot of the bed is identical with the head except that is three inches high instead of four.
Next come the side pieces--two pieces seven inches long and one inch wide, cut like Fig. 2. The half-inch ends slide through the openings in the head and foot of the bed, and fasten with little wedge-shaped pegs like Fig. 5. Inside each of these side pieces, and “flush” with the bottom edge, glue a strip cut like Fig. 3, and fit in five little slats three and three-eighths inches long by a half inch wide (Fig. 4). Then, to complete it and make it look as much like a Craftsman bed as possible, paste on the head a panel of light brown wrapping paper, on which are four little conventional kittens, painted in Van Dyke brown.
The top of the table (Fig. 6) is a piece four inches square. The end pieces (Fig. 7) are cut similarly to the head and foot of the bed, with the same recessed edge and the same openings, varying only in the outside dimensions. The sides too (Fig. 8), are similar to the sides of the bed, except that they are of course, much shorter. Slip them through the openings in the end pieces, fasten them with four little pegs, glue the top on, and the table is done.
The chair is built on the same general lines as the table and bed. The chair back (Fig. 9) measures two and a quarter inches wide by three and one-half inches high, while the front upright piece is exactly similar but only an inch and one-half high--just high enough for dolly to swing her feet comfortably. When these and the side pieces (Fig. 10) are done and put together, glue on a piece one and five-eighths inches by two and a quarter (Fig. 11) for the seat.
The construction of the chest of drawers is a little more elaborate. Make first two side pieces like Fig 12. They measure two and a quarter inches wide by three and one-half high, and have a recessed edge a quarter of an inch deep at the bottom to form feet, and three openings in each side for the partitions between the drawers. There are one deep drawer at the top, and two shallower ones below it. Make three pieces like Fig. 13, four inches long by one and three-quarters wide. The little square and piece for the joint are not exactly in the middle, and the longer space goes toward the back, but is intended to leave a little open space of a half inch at the back.
Next make three pieces for the fronts of the drawers (Fig. 14), two of them five-eighths of an inch wide, and one measuring an inch and a quarter. In each of these make two holes for the knobs. The drawers themselves (Fig. 15) are made of light weight pasteboard. The bottom dimensions remain the same of course for all--two and three-quarter inches by two--but the depths of the sides must be one and one-quarter inches for the wider, and five-eighths of an inch for the narrower ones. When these are cut out, fold them on the dotted lines to form a box, with the sides which lap over each other at the front. The knobs of the drawers are made of large beads. Put a piece of string through each bead, and then push the two ends of string through the hole in the front of the drawer, and through a corresponding hole in the pasteboard drawer itself. Then tie the two ends of string from the right-hand knob to the two pieces from the left-hand knob in a firm square knot, accomplishing the triple purpose of holding the knobs in position, fastening the front piece on to the drawer, and holding the drawer in shape. An oblong piece of wood two and a quarter inches by three and a quarter (Fig. 16) makes the top, and another four inches by three and a quarter forms the back.
TOYS THAT HIDE IN THE WOOD BOX
The farm barn with its loft hung with cobwebs and the great hay mows, and the farm wagons to scramble out and in is surely a delight to the country boy; but if one corner of the barn has a big pile of clean, smooth blocks and sticks of kindling wood, the charm of the place will be redoubled.
A glance, only, at a heap of ordinary, everyday kindling wood will suggest all sorts of plays to the resourceful boy. With the aid of a few simple tools, a hammer, a light saw, and some wire nails, the pieces of wood may be changed into crude, but realistic toys that will give the little folks quite as much pleasure as any to be found in a toy shop.
Look, first, at the building possibilities of a pile of kindling wood. The long, straight sticks may be balanced on the barn floor to represent a regiment of soldiers. With penciled faces, and soldier caps they make very fine little men; and if there are two opposing armies, a most exciting sham battle may be carried on with horse chestnuts and green apples for ammunition, and a prize for the general whose kindling-wood forces stand up the longest.
A miniature pig pen may be built by piling up kindling-wood sticks in log-cabin fashion. The sticks selected for the pen should be, as nearly as possible, of the same length. Two sticks should be laid parallel. These are then connected by laying other sticks across their ends. The boy should continue building in this manner until the pig pen is of a good height. A very fine, fat pig may be made of a small cucumber, having twigs stuck into his body for legs, one of the vine tendrils for a curly tail and melon seeds for ears.
A log house is constructed by building a foundation similar to the pig pen. The roof is formed by laying a row of sticks, quite close together, across the top. A family of little clothes pin dolls may live most comfortably in a kindling wood house.
In front of the house there should be a strong, rail fence to protect the inmates from any Indians who may come in while the builder is away. To build a Virginia rail fence, two sticks of kindling wood should be crossed in the shape of a letter V. A third stick is added at a similar angle with the second stick. This form of building is continued until the fence is of the required length. Going back to the first stick, a second layer of sticks is started on top of the first layer; and the fence may be built as high as one wishes by the addition of a third and a fourth layer.
There are ever so many playthings that can be built from the wood found in the wood pile. A boy who is clever with his jack knife will be able to make a set of ten pins from sticks of kindling wood by carving little round heads at the ends of the sticks. Very straight bits of wood which will balance well should be chosen for the ten pins. He can also carve quaint wooden dolls for the little sister.
The accompanying illustration shows a toy barnyard that was made by a group of children. Their only tools were a couple of hammers, a toy saw, some nails and a jack knife. The only materials used were found in the wood pile in the wood-shed.
The barnyard fence is constructed from lath. Long strips are used for the bars of the fence. The fence posts are bits of lath, also, carved in six-inch lengths, pointed at the top with a knife, and nailed to the longer strips. Bits of leather are tacked in place for the gate hinges. Bits of kindling wood split into narrow sections are nailed together for the pig pen and the cow shed. Some old wooden boxes are used for the farm wagon and the wheelbarrow, the curved edges of the wheelbarrow being made with a jack knife. The box cover is used as wheel material, two circles being cut out of the soft wood with a jack knife and fastened to the body of the wagon with dowel sticks. Another box is mounted on a standard of lath and forms a very realistic pigeon house. The chicken coops are little wood squares nailed together at an angle of 90° with bits of lath fastened across the front. With the addition of a rude barn made from scraps of wood, a dog house--which is only a small edition of the barn--and a cattle shed, the farmyard is complete--a crude but unfailing source of amusement for many rainy days.
One of the simplest toys to make of wood basket scraps is a little play sled. For this you will need three oblong pieces of wood--one of them (Fig. 1) measuring four inches wide by seven inches long, and the other two (Fig. 2) measuring two and a half inches wide by nine and one-half inches long. Some pieces of an old packing box about a half inch thick will do very nicely for these. Mark the outlines first with a pencil; then cut them out with the saw, and “true them up” with a knife--that is, take off the little roughnesses that the saw has left, and make the edges perfectly straight and square. Next the two long side pieces which you have made must be shaped. Measure off on the lower edge (with the piece standing in position as though it were on the sled), two inches from the front end. Connect this by a line with the upper front corner, and cut it. Then round off the lower end of this cut so that it curves into the bottom. Now make a nail hole near the front end of each side piece for a string to go through, nail the side pieces to the other oblong which you made for the top, and the little sled is done.
Another very simple toy to make of this material is a little chicken coop. This is made of one square piece of wood and another piece which is almost square. The first piece (Fig. 3) measures seven inches each way, and the other one (Fig. 4) measures seven inches in one direction, and in the other direction seven inches less the thickness of the wood. This is because one piece laps over the end of the other, and the end of the first piece forms part of the other side of the coop. When these pieces are cut and made perfectly square and true, lap the longer piece over the end of the shorter so that it will be just even with the surface, and nail in position. For the slats (Fig. 5) cut some strips an inch wide and thinner than the sides of the coop. Lath is good if you have it. Two of these strips are ten inches long, two are seven inches, and two are four inches. The longest ones are nailed across the open sides of the coop, one on each side, an inch above the bottom. The middle-sized ones are nailed two inches above these, and the shortest ones two inches higher. Then the ends of these strips are sawed off almost even with the coop.
A little table may be made from one block of wood six inches square, and four cylinders three and a half inches long. For the table top (Fig. 6) select a piece of wood about an inch thick. Make this true, and smooth the top with sandpaper. Then mark on the under side a square which is four inches on a side, and exactly an inch away from each side of the table top. At the corner of this inside square are to be made the holes for the table legs. For these holes you will have to use a bit and brace, and make the holes one inch in diameter and a half inch deep. If you haven’t a bit and brace, you can, with a little more trouble, whittle out the holes. For the table legs (Fig. 7) take four pieces of wood one inch square and three and one-half inches long. By whittling off each long corner edge you can make these from square prisms into octagonal, or eight-sided prisms. Then keep shaving off these corner-edges until the prisms are so many-sided that they are practically round. Smooth them with sandpaper, and glue in place in the holes in the under side of the table top.
A strong little cart may be made almost as easily as these other wood toys. Cut from some pieces of wood three quarters of an inch thick, two side pieces (Fig. 8) measuring three inches by ten inches, two end pieces (Fig. 9) three inches by five inches, and one bottom piece (Fig. 10) five inches by eleven and a half inches. In the center of one of the end pieces make a nail hole for the string to go through. Nail the sides and ends together, lapping the end pieces over the ends of the side pieces. Then nail the bottom piece on. For the shafts of the wheels (Fig. 11) take two pieces of wood nine inches long and one inch square. For a space of two inches in from each end make the shafts cylindrical just as you did the table legs, leaving the center portion, which is five inches long, square. Nail these shafts to the bottom of the cart at points two and a half inches from each end. Next cut from 1 inch-thick wood four wheels (Fig. 12), three and a half inches in diameter. These may be cut out roughly with a saw, and worked down to the marked line with the knife. Then cut in the center of each of these wheels a hole about one and one-sixteenth inches in diameter--enough larger than the shaft so that the wheels will turn easily. Slip the wheels in place, and drive into the shaft from opposite sides, outside of each wheel, two small finishing nails. These are to keep the wheels in place, and must be driven in carefully so as not to split the shafts.
These are all attractive wood basket toys to make, and besides this, each one of them may be adapted, by enlarging, for some real use. The sled, with the addition of iron strips for runners, may be really used; or by using two sleds and an extra board fastened to both so that they will turn, it may be made into a “bob-sled” or “double.” The chicken coop, enlarged, will comfortably accommodate the mother hen and her brood of chicks which are the beginning of every boy’s first poultry venture. The little table may grow into a flower stand, and the cart, made larger and stronger, will rival any shop-bought express wagon for durability and comfort.
THE WONDERFUL DODO BIRD
A very long, long time ago, in the far off country of Switzerland, which is the land of high mountains and goats and tourists, there was a wonderful bird. Nobody ever saw him near by, for he lived in a forest of alpenstocks, and he had the longest kind of legs, so that no matter how fast the tourists pulled up the alpenstocks, or how hard they tried to catch him, he always got away. The only way any one could see him was to watch the mountain tops, for when the weather was pleasant, he would climb up and stand there outlined clearly against the sky, his long legs making him taller than anything around him, and he would bob up and down--first his head and then his tail, and then his head again--and wave his plume and call, “Do-do, do-do.”
The peasants made little dodo birds whittled out of wood, and sold them to the tourists, and because a real dodo bird was only hatched once in a blue moon, and there are no more blue moons, why, the ones the peasants made are the only dodo birds left. And this is how they made them.
The foundation of the bird’s body (Fig. 1) is a chunky piece of wood an inch and a half square by three inches long. On each end of this is marked a circle--an inch and a half in diameter, which makes it just touch each edge. Then by cutting from circle to circle, as nearly straight as possible, the wood is made into a three-inch-high cylinder. Next one whole end is rounded off like the large end of an egg. The next steps in making the dodo bird are not quite as simple. A straight line is drawn all the way around the body, from end to end, which divides it into two equal parts. At the end of the line which represents the middle of the bird’s back is measured off a space a quarter of an inch on either side. This makes a half-inch space which is the tip of his tail, and from these points lines are drawn on the flat end surface, to complete the four-sided figure shown in the end view of Fig. 1, which is the whole end of his tail. It tapers from a half inch at the top to about a quarter inch at the bottom, and when it is all finished, the bottom is slanted in a trifle. Next the bottom part is whittled up in a curve which meets the lower end of the tail, and the rest of the body is whittled in the shape shown in the side view of Fig. 1. This part can’t be done by lines because it is a gradual curve all over. When this is done two flat slanting surfaces are whittled off for the sides of the tail.
Now you are ready to make the grooves for the head and tail feathers to go in. Part of the lower center line has been whittled off and will have to be replaced. Then, measuring three-sixteenths of an inch on each side of this line, make parallel lines which shall extend around the lower part of the body from the end of the tail to a point on the front end just a quarter of an inch below the top. A space a half inch wide is left in the middle of the bottom for the legs to fasten on, and the rest is to be made into the grooves as shown on the pattern. The easiest way to do this is to cut as far in as possible, on the parallel lines which you have drawn, with a small saw. Then chip the wood out with a small chisel, and, with the chisel held bevel side down, round out the bottoms of the grooves. If you haven’t such a chisel though, you can manage with a knife.
When the body is done, the rest is easier. Fig. 2 shows the head, made from a piece of wood two and a half inches long by one and one-eighth wide and a quarter inch thick. The outline is marked and whittled into shape, and the beak is slanted down to a point. One quarter of an inch from the end of the neck a hole is made for pivoting, the eyes are marked in with a pencil, and three rows of marks are made across the neck with a little pattern marking wheel. These may also be made around the body and will add to the beauty of the dodo bird. His plume is made of a soft, downy chicken feather, stuck into a hole in the top of his head and glued in place.
The tail feather (Fig. 3) is shaped like the feathered end of an arrow. The “feathered” part is one inch wide by two and a half long, and another inch in length forms the pivoting part. This end is a quarter inch wide and five-sixteenths thick, and the “feathers” are cut in from each side with a slanting cut as shown in the drawing. The bottom is left perfectly level, but the top is slanted down, with three flat cuts, to a sharp edge at the end. A hole is made from side to side, a quarter of an inch back from the small end, for pivoting. Two small nails driven through the body, with the head and tail feathers in position, form the pivots. They must be driven carefully so as not to split the wood, and must be placed so that the head and tail feathers will work up and down very freely.
The legs (Fig. 4) are pieces of wood three and a half inches long, a half inch wide, and a quarter of an inch thick. They are first whittled in an elliptical shape. Then the lower part, for a space of two and a quarter inches is tapered back from the front to give an appearance of standing very straight. At the upper end, for a quarter of an inch from the top, half of the wood is cut away, and the remaining part is fitted into holes cut in the body, three quarters of an inch apart, and glued.
The standard for the dodo (Fig. 5) is made like a small wooden vise. It is a flat piece of wood three and a half inches long by two inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick. One end is beveled slightly, and one end of the top is curved down slightly.
In the remaining flat surface on the top two holes are whittled out into which the dodo’s feet are to be glued. Then a space two inches long and one inch wide is cut out to form the jaws of the vise. To tighten the vise there must be some sort of a screw through the lower jaw. A wooden thumb screw is not easy to get, so the best plan is to get a bolt about three eighths of an inch in diameter. Then cut a hole almost as large in your wood, and screw the bolt in, forcing it to cut its own “thread” in the soft wood.
Fig. 6 is the weight which makes the dodo work. It is a piece of wood two and a quarter inches high by an inch and seven-eighths square. This is made into a cylinder and rounded at one end precisely as you did with the body. Then a circle is marked around it a quarter of an inch back from the flat end, and this end is slightly rounded off. It may be decorated or not, as you choose.
Now you are ready to make the dodo bird work. Take two pieces of string--stout, but not too heavy--about twelve inches long. Fasten an end of one of them--with a tiny wedge and some glue--into the end of the dodo’s neck, and the other into the small end of the tail. Then bring the two pieces together and knot them about an inch from the other end. Fasten these two ends into the top of the weight just as you did the single ends.
Now fasten the vise securely on a shelf somewhere, and swing the weight to and fro like the pendulum of a clock. The dodo will bob first his head and then his tail and then his head again, and you can almost hear him calling “Do-do” way off on the mountain there. He’s a source of never-ending fun, boys, and besides playing with him yourself, you can just watch and see how few grown-ups can go by him and resist swinging the pendulum.
A FLEET OF TOY BOATS
Who remembers the mill pond down at the farm, clean, and high, with trees all about--a capital place for sailing boats? It is so small that, directly a toy ship is started on its voyage, you can run around the other side and meet her.
There is the trout brook, too, down in the woods, where everything is cool and still. There isn’t a sound as you sit on the bank save when a mouse comes rustling along, pushing his way through the leaves with his queer little pointed nose, or a hedgehog plods by, blind and deaf, never seeing you at all.
If you should launch a toy boat in the brook, where do you suppose it would sail to? You will follow it a little way. Sometimes it will get caught in the ferns, or it may lie for a minute, stranded, on a rock, or it will overturn as it shoots the rapids. You start it on again with the long pole you cut from the willow tree, but presently the boat will sail away, out of a child’s sight, down the brook.