Part 1

Produced by Chris Curnow, Paul Mitchell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Transcriber's Note. In the section SAND WHEEL--PLATE 21, third paragraph, the word "on" was added as the most likely word to correct a typographical omission and "drawn" changed to "draw". Otherwise only a very few minor typographical errors have been corrected.

MANUAL TRAINING TOYS _for_ THE BOY'S WORKSHOP

_By_ HARRIS W. MOORE

SUPERVISOR OF MANUAL TRAINING

WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS

DEDICATED TO THE BOY WHO LIKES TO TINKER 'ROUND

Copyright, 1912 HARRIS W. MOORE

CONTENTS.

Frontispiece Testing the Kite-string Sailboat

Introduction-- PAGE.

Bench, Marking Tools 7

Saws 8

Planes, Bits, Nails 9

Screws, Glue 10

Sandpaper, Dowels, Drills, Sharpening 11

Holding Work 12

Directions for Planing 13

Dart 16

Spool Dart 18

Dart for Whip-Bow 19

Buzzer 20

Flying Top (Plate 3) 22

Flying Top (Plate 4) 24

Top 26

Tom-Tom Drum 28

Pop-gun 30

Whistle 32

Arrow 33

Bow 34

Sword 36

Magic Box 38

Pencil-Box 41

Telephone 42

Happy Jack Windmill 44

Gloucester "Happy Jack" Windmill 46

Paddling Indian Windmill 48

Kite 50

Tailless Kite 53

Box Kite 54

Kite-String Sailboat 56

The Hygroscope or Weather Cottage 59

Electrophorus 62

Waterwheel 64

Water Motor 67

Sand Wheel 70

Running Wheel 73

Rattle 76

Cart 78

Cannon 81

Automobile 84

Bow Pistol 86

Elastic Gun 88

Rattle-Bang Gun 92

Boat 95

Pile-Driver 98

Windmill 100

Kite-String Reel 103

String Machine 106

Windmill Force-Pump 108

INTRODUCTION.

The wise man learns from the experience of others. That is the reason for this introduction--to tell the boy who wants to make the toys described in this book some of the "tricks of the trade." It is supposed, however, that he has had some instruction in the use of tools.

This book is written after long experience in teaching boys, and because of that experience, the author desires to urge upon his younger readers two bits of advice: First, study the drawing carefully,--every line has a meaning; second, printed directions become clearer by actually taking the tool in hand and beginning to do the work described.

BENCH.

If he buys the vise-screw, an ambitious boy can make a bench that will answer his needs, provided, also, that he can fasten it to floor or wall. It should be rigid. A beginner will find a hard wood board, 10"×2"×1/4", fastened to the forward end of the bench, a more convenient stop than the ordinary bench-dog. If he has a nicely finished bench, he should learn to work without injuring the bench. A _cutting board_ should always be at hand to chisel and pound upon and to save the bench-top from all ill use. The _bench-hook_ should have one side for sawing and one for planing, the former having a block shorter than the width of the board so that the teeth of the saw, when they come thru the work, will strike the bench-hook rather than the bench-top.

MARKING TOOLS.

To measure accurately, hold the _ruler_ on its edge so that the divisions on the scale come close to the thing measured. Let the pencil or knife point make a dash on the thing measured which would exactly continue the division line on the ruler. If it can be avoided, never use the end of the ruler; learn to measure from some figure on the ruler.

The spur of the _gage_ should be filed like a knife point. It seldom stands at zero of the scale, hence, when setting the gage for accurate work, measure from the block to the spur with a ruler. The gage is a rather difficult tool for a boy to use but it will pay to master it. It may be used wherever square edges are to be made, but chamfers and bevels should be marked with a pencil.

In laying out work, the beam (the thick part) of the _trysquare_ should always be kept on either the working-face or the working-edge. (See page 13, Directions for Planing.) Let the blade rest flat on any surface. Hold the trysquare snugly to the work with the fingers and thumb acting much like a bird's claw.

For accurate work (e. g. joints), lines should be drawn (scored) with the sharp point of a small _knife_ blade, held nearly straight up from the edge of the trysquare blade.

Circles are located by two lines crossing at the center.

SAWS.

The teeth of a _rip-saw_ are like so many little chisels set in a row; they pare the wood away. The teeth of a _crosscut-saw_ are like knife points, they score two lines, and the wood breaks off between them. Large sawing should be done on a saw-horse so that the worker is over his work. If it is necessary to hold work in the vise to rip it, hold it slanting, so that the handle of the saw leads the line, as it naturally does when the work is on a saw-horse.

The _back-saw_, tho a crosscut-saw, may be used in any direction of the grain.

Any saw should be in motion when it touches the wood it is to cut. To guide it to the right place, a workman lets his thumb touch the saw just above the teeth, the hand resting firmly on the wood. A little notch, cut in the edge right to the line where the saw is to cut, will help a beginner to start accurately. Saws are rapid tools, and it pays to go slowly enough with them to do accurate work. Plan the work so as to make as few cuts as possible.

_Turning-saws_ are best used so that the cutting is done on the pull stroke, keeping the two hands near together. When one handle is turned, the other must be turned equally.

PLANES.

Generally being in a hurry to get work done, boys are apt to take big shavings with a plane. This results in rough work. Fine shavings are better. If the plane is allowed to rest level on the work, it will find the high places without continual adjusting. The first two inches of a stroke are the hardest to plane; to plane these, press harder on the forward end of the plane. Start the plane level. Usually it is best to keep the plane straight, or nearly so, in the direction of the push.

The _block-plane_ is properly used to plane the end of wood. (See page 12 on Holding Work.) On other small surfaces, however, it is often more convenient than a large plane.

BITS.

_Auger-bits_ are numbered by the number of sixteenths in the diameter of the hole they bore, e. g. No. 4 bores a 4/16" hole. _Gimlet-bits_ are numbered by thirty-seconds.

Whenever boring with an auger-bit, stop as soon as the spur pricks thru the other side, turn the work over, start the spur in the little hole it made, and finish boring. It will always split the wood, if the bit is allowed to go way thru. It is difficult to bore a hole straight thru a piece of wood, because to tell whether the bit is held straight when starting the hole, one must look at it from two directions. If someone else can stand a quarter circle away from the worker and watch the bit, that is the best help; otherwise, the worker himself must hold the brace steady while he walks around a quarter circle and judges whether the bit is straight. Care should be taken to hold the work level in the vise.

NAILS.

The words, "nail," "brad," and "nailing" are used somewhat interchangeably in this book; "nailing" may mean driving a brad. Brads have smaller, thicker heads, nails have larger, flat heads.

To drive a nail straight, start it straight. The hole cannot be straightened by bending the nail so that it looks straight after it is partly driven. Many gentle blows with the _hammer_ will often drive a nail where heavy blows would fail. The fingers pinching the nail often prevent its bending. If possible, keep nails away from the corners of boards. Several nails joining two boards hold them stronger if the nails are driven at different angles. Nails are usually "set," that is, the heads are driven with a _nail-set_ below the surface. They must always be set below surfaces which are to be planed. It is often wise not to drive the first nail or two way in until the work is examined. In withdrawing nails, a block under the hammer will often aid greatly, and also protect the surface of the work.

SCREWS.

Screws usually need holes properly bored to receive them; a large hole first, the size of the screw above the threads, a small hole next, the size at the roots of the threads (in hard wood somewhat larger), and a place for the head made with a _countersink_. Usually the screw should slip easily thru the first piece of wood and be tight in the second. The _screwdriver_ should always be held in the line that the screw is going, and it ought fairly to fit the slot in the head. In hard wood, one must be careful not to twist screws off, especially brass screws, which are easily broken.

GLUE.

A beginner often wonders why things stick to his fingers instead of to their proper places; it is because he has a little glue on his fingers and usually a lot on the article; therefore, don't use too much glue. It is best, especially in holes and their pegs, to put glue on both surfaces of contact. Good glue will hold two surfaces, making good contact, stronger than the wood. Wipe off excess glue as soon as possible, using hot water for hot glue. Much labor is thus saved. Allow glue plenty of time to become dry. The moisture has to work its way thru the wood itself, and this takes hours; six to ten hours is not too long.

SANDPAPER.

Sandpaper varies in coarseness from No. 00 to No. 3, every sheet being stamped. It should not be used on a given piece until all work with edge tools is finished. The particles of sand left in the surface would quickly dull an edge tool. When using sandpaper on flat surfaces, wrap it closely about a rectangular block of wood. Try to keep all corners as sharp as they are left by the edge tools so that there will be a crispness of appearance which always marks good workmanship. Often the same care in holding work while sandpapering it must be taken as was taken when shaping it. Always sandpaper with, or lengthwise the grain.

DOWELS.

Sticks that are planed nearly to size can be made round and smooth by driving them thru a hole in a block of hard wood or iron; such sticks are called dowels. Two holes may be used if the second is only a little smaller than the first. Drive gently with a _mallet_ rather than with a hammer. In many of the models in this book such dowels are used. Dowels (made by a different process, however,) can often be bought at hardware stores.

DRILLS.

For ease in making small holes, a _hand-drill_ is essential. For some holes a headless nail will answer. To make better drills, break a needle, a knitting-needle, umbrella rib, or other piece of hard wire to suitable length; on a grindstone, flatten it near the point on two sides; then, putting it in the chuck of the hand-drill, try to hold it on the grindstone at the proper angle to form the two cutting edges; or it may be held against the edge of the bench and sharpened with an oilstone resting on top of the bench. Very convenient long drills can be thus made of knitting-needles.

SHARPENING.

To work with dull tools is altogether unsatisfactory. A boy should learn to sharpen his own edge tools. To grind a good bevel on a tool like a chisel, it must rest upon something steady. The reflection of light on the newly ground surface will indicate whether the surface is flat or not. This process of grinding makes what is called a feather-edge, or wire-edge, and the tool must be whetted on an oilstone to remove this wire-edge. The flat side _must be kept flat_ on the stone; the bevel may be lifted just a trifle. When whetting the bevel, try to avoid a rocking motion, for this would round the edge. After the wire-edge is completely removed, a still keener edge can be obtained by stropping the tool on a piece of leather, much as a razor is stropped. A piece of leather glued to a wooden mount and sprinkled occasionally with the finest emery powder will help much in keeping the edge tools keen.

HOLDING WORK.

The way work is held in the vise often makes the difference between success and failure. Small surfaces are easily planed true if held almost flush with the jaws of the vise so that the top of the bench serves to guide the plane; for example, the wheel-center, page 20, or the crank, Plate 33, are easily planed in this manner. Sometimes articles, like spools, can be held endwise with safety when they might be crushed if squeezed sidewise.

A good way to hold the paddles of the sand wheel, Plate 21, Fig. 4, to saw the lines A B is to put the paddles about half-way down the end of the vise so that the back-saw can be held near the end of the vise jaws.

The _bench-hook_ is the best device for holding a great deal of small work for sawing and for planing sides, corners, and ends. When planing ends, to avoid splitting the far corner, another piece of equal thickness may be put behind the first. The better way, however, is never to plane over the far corner, but turn the work and plane always towards the center; in other words, plane half way from each edge. Where a corner can be whittled off to form a buttress, there is practically no danger of splitting that corner. For planing thin boards, see page 19.

DIRECTIONS FOR PLANING.

1. Plane one broad surface. Test it _crosswise_, _lengthwise_, and _cornerwise_. This surface is called the _working-face_, and should be marked with a pencil line near the edge to be planed next. On a short board the cornerwise test can be made with a straight-edge; on a long board winding-sticks are needed. These are straight sticks with parallel edges. Near the ends of the board, stand them on edge across the board. With the eye some distance away, sight from one stick to the other, if one end of the farther stick seems elevated, that corner of the board must be planed more.

2. Plane one edge. Test it _crosswise_ with the trysquare on the working-face, and _lengthwise_ with a straight-edge. This is called the _working-edge_. Mark it with two pencil lines, drawn near the line on the working-face.

These two surfaces are of great importance. From them all measurements are made and all tests applied. The trysquare and the gage should always be kept on one of these two surfaces.

3. Square the ends. With the trysquare, test them from both the working-face and the working-edge.

4. Gage the width from the working-edge. Plane to the line. With the trysquare on the working-face, test this edge.

5. Gage the thickness from the working-face. Plane to the line.

Sometimes, of course, the above order needs to be changed. It is well to think out the best order of work.

PROBLEMS

PLATES AND WORKING DIRECTIONS

DART--PLATE 1.

A dart like the first one shown on Plate 1 will stick into a soft wooden target. Two or more boys, each with three darts, might have a contest in making the highest score. Number three rings of a target 5, 10, and 15, and the bull's eye 25.

The dart consists of two parts, a round stick and a paper rudder. To make the round stick, 7" long 1/4" diameter, it will be well to start with a stick about 9" long so as to be able to hold it easily while planing it round. First plane the stick _square_, 1/4", and straight. To plane such a small stick straight, it should be laid on the top of the bench. While planing it, test it frequently by looking at it endwise. When it is the right size, grasp one end with the left hand, lay it on the bench with the forefinger touching the bench, and, with a small plane, plane away the corners so as to make a true octagonal (eight sided) stick. Next make it sixteen sided, taking very fine shavings, then sandpaper it well. Saw off the extra length, leaving the best part of the stick 7" long.

Bind one end with fine (screen) wire. To bind it well, make a square corner 1" from one end of the wire and lay this 1" lengthwise the stick. Hold it firmly with the left thumb while winding the long part of the wire smoothly around the stick and wire. Twist the two ends together, and cut off what is not needed. Gently pound down smooth the end of the wire that is left.

In this end of the stick, drill a hole for a 1" brad. File the head entirely off, and drive the brad in backwards, leaving 3/16" out; then file the point real sharp. Carefully split the other end of the stick 1". To do this, stand it upright in the vise, place a knife on the end, and tap the knife with a hammer. Into this split, insert the paper rudder bent as shown in Plate 1. The rudder should be cut the shape and size shown in the working drawing and then bent into shape.

SPOOL DART--PLATE 1.

An easier dart to throw can be made of a spool as shown on Plate 1. Three feathers which curve the same way will give the dart a whirling motion when it is thrown.

Make a stick about 7" long to fit tightly into the hole of a spool about 1" in diameter at its end. (See Dowels, page 11, also Glue, page 10.) A stick like this can be forced into a hole quite far by screwing it around, but if it is driven much with a hammer the spool will split easily. After the stick is glued into the spool, hold the spool upright on the jaws of the vise, and squeeze the stick extending below; then with the back-saw make four slanting cuts to sharpen the spool. File a 2-1/4" nail square off, 1" long; drive it backwards into a suitable hole drilled for it in the center of the spool; and sharpen it well with a file. One-half inch from the other end of the spool saw the stick off, and drill three holes in the spool end, into which glue three feathers about 4" long.

DART FOR WHIP-BOW--PLATE 1.

This dart is best made of a shingle. Lacking that, plane a 1/2" board thin[1] at one end to 1/8". Draw the center line lengthwise and lay out the shape of the dart with the broad part at the thin end. Saw crosswise from each edge of the shingle to the place where the curve begins, then lengthwise to that point. Holding the thin end in the vise, pare the curves with a knife, spokeshave, or draw-knife. Make the point at each end with a plane. To plane to slanting lines such as these, it is very important to place the work in the vise at such a slant that the line is parallel with the top of the bench and quite close to the jaws of the vise. Find the point where the dart balances by testing it on the finger, and make the little notch for the string, using a back-saw first, then a knife.

A whip-bow consists of a string 20" long tied to the end of a stick 20" long. A knot is tied at the free end of the string. To throw the dart, catch the string in the notch, hold the wide end of the dart in the left hand and the stick in the right, throw the right hand forward, and let the dart fly from the string.

[Footnote 1: To hold a board while planing it very thin, fasten it to another flat board with four wooden pegs.

For several of the models in this book, a flat board about 9" × 4" × 7/8" with a cleat nailed to one end and extending 1/8" above its upper surface will be found most convenient for holding thin boards while planing. If the cleat is a little wider than the height of the block on the bench-hook, the bench-hook serves well to hold it.]

BUZZER--PLATE 2.

The buzzer consists of a wheel and two handles, connected with string. To make the wheel draw a 3" circle on a piece of wood 3/16" thick. Draw a line thru the center the way the grain goes and another at right angles to it, thus dividing the circle into quarters, Fig. 1. Notice, now, that to avoid splitting the circle, the four quarters must each be cut in a different direction. Lay the model flat on the bench-hook and saw off the corners of the square. Now, holding it in the vise with one quarter up, with the spokeshave, pare the corners in the direction of the arrow in this quarter until the circle is reached. Be careful not to pare away any part of the line. It will be observed that paring can be done safely on the end grain beyond the arrow-head in this quarter, but this is not at all possible on the side grain where the arrow begins. The spokeshave should be held rather lightly so as to allow it to follow the curve. Observing carefully the direction of the arrows, proceed with the other quarters in this same manner. The last few chips should be very fine ones. Drill two small holes for the string 1/4" each side of the center. Sandpaper the model nicely. (See Sandpaper, page 11.)

The two handles can be planed best if held in the bench-hook and the plane turned with its side on the top of the bench. After the corners are planed in this way, the ends can be planed without danger of splitting. Drill the holes for the string. The edges and ends of the handles will look better not sandpapered.

String the model by passing one end of a 3 ft. string thru a hole in one handle, then in the wheel, then in the other handle, then back thru the other holes, tying it to the other end of the string. To make it go, take one handle in each hand, swing the wheel over and over, and gently pull the handles apart for an instant. A little practice may be necessary to make it go well. To make it buzz louder, bore two 5/16" holes on opposite parts of the wheel 1/2" from the rim. (See Bits, page 9.) To avoid splitting, bore _backwards_ till the bit marks a deep circle in the wood.

FLYING TOP--PLATE 3.

Like anything that flies, this top should be made as light as possible. Bass, cotton-wood, or soft pine are good woods to use. After the wood for the top is planed to size, a 3/16" hole should be bored straight thru the center. (See Bits, page 9.) Make the drawing on the top and whittle to line. Considerable care must be taken in whittling not to whittle away the two corners which should be saved; this is especially true if the grain is not straight. See page 16 for suggestions about making the handle. Glue the handle in the top. To make it fly, hold it between the two hands, and push the right one quickly. (See Plate 3.)

FLYING TOP--PLATE 4.