Part 2

This form of flying top requires accurate work to make a good joint. (See Directions for Planing, page 13.) After planing the two vanes to size, the joint must be laid out with knife and gage lines and cut out with back-saw and chisel. Two important facts should be learned: The _length_ of one notch equals the _width_ of the other piece; the lines marking the depth of the notches must be gaged from the working-face of each piece. After the joint is laid out, hold the work in the bench-hook while sawing the depth of the notch, and be sure to saw _in the notch_, not outside the line. With a chisel held flat side down, pare between the saw cuts from each side of the wood towards the middle. When the joint is fitted, lay out the curves on each arm of the wheel, remembering that it is always the front corner of the right-hand arm, as the wheel turns around, that is to be whittled away. When all these curves are drawn, take the joint apart, and whittle to the lines. Glue the joint next, and bore a 3/16" hole straight thru its center. Make the axle of hard wood. (See page 16 and Dowels, page 11.) Perhaps a skewer can be used.

After the handle is planed to size, draw pencil lines 1/4" from each edge for the chamfers. The curve of the chamfer may be drawn freehand. It should end 1-1/16" from one end of the handle. A good chamfer is flat crosswise. If the grain of the wood is straight, the chamfers can be whittled easily; if it is crooked watch that it does not split over the line. After the chamfers are made, pare another one 1/8" wide around the end of the handle. After the two blocks are planed, bore a 1/4" hole 3/8" from one end. Glue and nail them 1" on the handle.

TOP--PLATE 5.

A variety of sizes, shapes and colors of tops, spinning on a plate, is a lively sight. The one suggested is perhaps as large as it should be made for such sport. Smaller ones are easily made of spools without making a disk, or wheel, for them. The more slender the spindle is, the faster one can spin the top. First make a stick about 6" long to fit the hole in the spool. Plane 1" of it tapering as small as 1/8", then glue the spool on 1-1/4" below this small end. Now hold the spool in the vise endwise, and make, with the back-saw, a saw cut half thru the spool on the same slant as the slanting part of the spool; then saw straight down to the end of this slanting cut. Turn the spool nearly over and repeat this operation; then saw it completely off, and whittle the spool to a good point.

Draw a 2" circle on a piece of wood 1/4" thick. Draw other circles just as desired for coloring. Observe the directions on page 20 for making a wheel. When the wheel is round, bore a 5/16" hole in its center, sandpaper it, and glue it in place on the spool and spindle. It can be colored with crayons or water colors.

TOM-TOM DRUM--PLATE 6.

As in a violin, the sounding qualities of this drum depend upon the quality of the wood used and the thickness of the sounding-board. Spruce is a good wood to use, though the drumstick may well be harder.

A good way to make two pieces the same length and thickness is to plane _one_ piece, which is wider than the two pieces combined, to the right length and thickness, and then saw it in two lengthwise; so, to make the top and between pieces it will be best to start with one piece about 6" × 7/8" × 5/16". If no wood 1/8" thick for the sounding-boards is at hand, plane a thicker piece nicely on all surfaces 3" × 2" × 5/16". Then gage a line 1/8" from each broad surface all around the piece and saw between these lines. To plane these two pieces, lay them on the board described in the foot-note on page 19.

Glue and nail the parts together with very small brads, or pins cut off 1/2". Allow the glue to dry six to ten hours before twisting the drumstick in the strings. Cut a small notch near the ends of the top pieces in which to wind two or three strands of string. Twist the drumstick in the opposite way from which it should strike the sounding-board. To play it, hold it in the left hand, and let the fingers of the right hand slide over the end of the drumstick, thus making the drumstick strike the sounding-board.

POP-GUN--PLATE 7.

The part of this model difficult to make is a nice, smooth hole. The surest way is to start with a thick piece of wood for the barrel, 6" × 1-1/4" × 1-1/4". Draw a 7/8" circle on one end; then bore the 7/16" hole as straight as possible, starting at the center of the circle. Stop boring as soon as the spur of the bit pricks thru the other end, and draw another 7/8" circle, setting the needle-point of the compass in the tiny hole made by the spur; then finish boring. Next plane the piece round the size of the circles. The ramrod should be made as directed on page 16. The hole should now be sandpapered by wrapping a long, narrow piece of sandpaper snugly about the ramrod, and tying it securely at each end with string. Make the handle, being careful to bore the hole straight 1" deep, and glue the ramrod into it.

Cut off 3/8" of that part of a cork which fits tightly in the barrel. Drive a slender nail or brad thru a piece of hard leather (or zinc or copper) and trim it round 1/4" diameter. Drill a small hole exactly in the center of the end of the ramrod, then drive the nail thru the center of the cork and into the ramrod.

To make the hole in the barrel still better, let a few drippings from a candle fall into it and quickly insert the ramrod and push it back and forth rapidly. A sudden push of the ramrod will blow the other cork out with a loud pop. To keep this cork, tie one end of a string around it and the other end around the barrel.

WHISTLE--PLATE 7.

The size of the chamber, of the notch, of the inlet for air, the force with which air is blown in,--these are some of the conditions which affect the tone of a whistle.

Plane a piece of close-grained wood 6" × 3/4" × 3/4". This length is suggested so that two trials at boring can be made. Bore a 1/2" hole 2-1/4" deep. To help in boring this straight, clamp a straight-edge (the ruler may do) in the vise together with the square stick. Have one edge of the straight-edge on the center of one side of the stick. After boring a straight hole, draw pencil lines 3/16" from the long edges on all four sides. A good way to draw such lines is to rest the middle finger-nail on a side of the stick as a guide and hold the pencil closely over this nail while sliding it along. The hand must be held rather rigid. Practice will enable one to draw lines quite accurately this way. Place the stick in the vise so that one edge is straight up, and plane the corner off to the line. Plane all four corners so as to make a good octagonal stick. Make a dowel (see page 11) about 1-1/2" long to fit nicely in the hole. Do not crowd it so hard as to split the whistle. It might well be fitted first in a 1/2" hole bored in a waste piece of wood. Plane off a side of this dowel till a flat place is made 3/8" wide. Push the dowel into the whistle and saw the straight end of the notch about 3/16" deep. Pare the rest of the notch with knife or chisel, testing the whistle by blowing it occasionally as the paring proceeds. When it sounds best, glue the dowel in place and allow it to dry before sawing it off and cutting the slanting part. When this is done saw the whistle to a length of 2-1/2". If a rolling sound is desired, put in a pea before gluing the dowel in place.

ARROW--PLATE 8.

The old saying, "Straight as an arrow," suggests an arrow's most important quality: it must be straight. Saw a strip 20" × 1/2" from the edge of a straight-grained spruce board and plane it according to directions on page 16. To make the notch for the bowstring, first file a notch in the smaller end, then saw it 1/4" deep, and smooth it with the folded edge of a piece of sandpaper. Bind the larger end tightly with rather small, soft wire. (See page 16.) Pigeon feathers are easiest to use because the quills are soft and straight. Turkey and goose feathers are good, and hen feathers will do if they are nearly straight. The quill should be split with the point of a small, sharp knife, the feather being held on a cutting board. About 3" of quill are needed. With scissors, trim the feather about 5/16" wide; then glue and pin it in place 1-1/4" from the smaller end of the arrow. Indians use three feathers, but two will do for a boy. When the feathers are in place, the ends of the quills must be bound very smoothly and tightly with thread. Notice the position of the feathers in Plate 8: the _bottom_ feather on the arrow having three feathers is called the cock-feather and should be of a different color from the other two. It is always placed on the bowstring _away_ from the bow.

BOW--PLATE 8.

Almost any tough stick that will bend to a good curve will answer for a bow, but white ash such as is used in hoe- and rake-handles is probably best and easiest to get. A brittle wood like hemlock can be used, if used with great care; indeed, some Eskimos, who can get only dry, brittle driftwood, still make a splendid bow by wrapping it completely with sinew. The bow should be shorter than the archer. Plane each end tapering, first on the bottom, then on the two edges. Leave 6" in the middle straight for a handle. Notice the shape, Plate 8, of the three steps in the planing of the bow. Be especially careful to get the second step right, then the third will come easily. File notches near each end somewhat the shape of the loop on the bowstring. Before the bow can be finished, it must be strung and pulled a little to test it,--to see if both ends bend the same good curve,--not the curve of a circle, but that of the broad side of an ellipse. The ends should curve more than the middle. When it bends true, smooth it well with a coarse file, or glass, and sandpaper. Do not be tempted to pull the bow too far and so break it; one that bends easily is less apt to break than one that is too strong. When the bow is strung, the center of it and of the bowstring should be marked with thread or color.

A piece of strong fish-line makes a good bowstring. A good one can be made of linen thread on the string machine shown on Plate 34. Tie knots as shown in Fig. 2. The timber-hitch should be kept in place on the bow, and the bowline-knot slipped back on the bow when it is unstrung. The best way to string a bow is to place the end having the timber-hitch on the ground against one's left foot, then to pull the middle of the bow with the left hand, and to push the upper part with the right hand, allowing this hand to slide upward so as to shove the bowline-knot into the upper notch. When finished the bow can be improved by rubbing it well with grease.

SWORD--PLATE 9.

Plane the blade to size, then draw a center line on each side, and lay out the curves for the point and handle. Shape these ends with the draw-knife, spokeshave, or block-plane. Now measure 5" for the handle, and draw a line along the center of each edge to mark the cutting edges of the sword. A workman would do this with his pencil resting over his finger-nail as mentioned on page 32. Use the spokeshave to pare off the four corners (to sharpen the sword), and finish them with a plane. Try to take broad, flat chips so as to make the blade a good diamond shape. Where the blade and handle meet a good square shoulder must be made. A boy can do this best, perhaps, with a wide, flat file, though a workman would use a back-saw and chisel.

Saw out the guard 5" × 3" × 1/2"; then draw the diamond 1-1/2" long and 1/2" wide. It is not easy for a boy to cut this out, so be careful and guard against splitting the board. First drill small holes at each end of the diamond, then bore other holes as large as will go within the diamond, Plate 9. With a thin chisel pare straight thru the board onto a cutting board. When the diamond will fit the blade, draw the shape of the guard freehand and pare the edges as explained for the buzzer on page 20. Sandpaper both parts of the sword, and fasten the guard with glue and two 2" brads, driven from each edge of the guard in holes drilled for the purpose.

MAGIC BOX--PLATE 10.

This is truly a magic box to those who do not understand how it works. Who would ever think that these little bits of people would hop up and down inside their house just because their window was rubbed with a piece of leather? Try it and see how excited they get.

If the worker can cut glass, make the box first, otherwise he must get a piece of glass 5-1/2" × 3" and build the box to fit it. It requires careful work to make a good box, so be sure that all ends and edges are square and that corresponding parts are the same size before nailing it together. Plane all such small boards in the bench-hook. Make the ends first 1" wide and as _long_ as the glass is _wide_. Make the sides the same width and as long as the glass, _plus_ the thickness of the two ends. Glue and nail these to the ends, keeping the bottom edges flush. Set all nails with a nail-set.

One edge and one end only of the bottom should now be planed square, the other edge and end being left to plane after the bottom is nailed in place. Cut a piece of tin 1/16" smaller than the glass, or glue some tinfoil on the inside of the bottom. If tinfoil is to be used, smooth it on a piece of paper carefully with the fingers; then spread some glue thinly over the bottom, and lay the tinfoil on it. The squared edge and end of the bottom are to be nailed first, having them fit nicely; then the other edge and end. Never drive a nail too near the corner of the bottom lest it strike the nails driven thru the sides of the box. Now plane the end and then the side of the bottom to fit. If tin is used instead of tinfoil put it inside the box after the bottom has been nailed in place. Make the two supports fit inside the box lengthwise and just wide enough to hold the top of the glass flush with the top edges of the box. To hold the supports, drive nails thru the ends of the box into them.

Everything about electrical apparatus should be clean and dry, so, as this is really an electric box, have the glass and tin clean before using it. Put some bits of charcoal, paper, straw, or sawdust into the box, have it warm and dry, rub the glass with a piece of leather (glove, shoe), and then see how the little people jump! The explanation is as follows: Rubbing glass with leather, fur, woolen, or silk _generates_ electricity; this electricity _attracts_ non-electrified bodies, thus lifting the little people to the glass; as soon as they become _charged_ with the electricity on the glass, they are _repelled_ and thrown down to the tin; the tin _conducts_ their charge of electricity away, and they are ready to begin their circus over again.

PENCIL-BOX--PLATE 10.

To make this box, saw out one long piece for the sides and ends, 22" × 1-7/8" × 1/4", or two shorter pieces, 12" × 1-7/8" × 1/4". The reason for having them so long is because it is difficult to make the groove nicely to the end of the board; and they are wide enough to try twice to make the groove.

File a nail (about 3/32" in diameter) sharp like a chisel, and drive it tightly into a small hole, drilled in a block of wood which has one corner rabbeted, that is, sawed away as shown in Fig. 3. The outside of the nail, measured from the shoulder of the rabbet, must be exactly 1/4" away, so that the lower edge of the groove will be 1/4" from the top of the box. Practice with this tool till a good groove can be made in waste lumber, then make the groove along one edge of the board. When well done, plane the board 1-3/8" wide, and saw it to the proper lengths for sides and ends. In the front end there is no groove, so plane it away from one piece just sawed. Sandpaper the flat sides before gluing and nailing them together. Prepare the bottom as directed for the magic box, page 38, then sandpaper, glue and nail it in place. Set all nails. Plane the bottom to fit. Prepare the cover somewhat too long but exactly the width between the grooves. As in making the whistle, page 32, so here draw pencil lines for the bevel 3/8" wide on the cover. Practice planing a bevel on waste wood first. The bevel at the further end of the cover can be planed by holding the cover upright in the vise. When it slides smoothly in the grooves, saw it the right length. For the notch, make a deep cut with a gouge, and cut the chip straight across with knife point or small chisel. Hold it in the bench-hook while doing this.

TELEPHONE--PLATE 11.

In these days when even boys are using wireless telegraphy, this may seem a humble telephone, but it is a surprisingly good one, and it is very easily made and operated. The drum should be hard and tight, the string should be a small, hard cord (tho the common pink cord thoroly waxed with paraffin will do), and the cord should be supported by nothing but the drums when the telephone is being used.

After preparing the eight sides, observe in Plate 11, the method of nailing four boards of equal width together to form a square,--each one is nailed to another one. The ends of the boxes should be well rounded with sandpaper before the drum is stretched over them.

The best material for the drum is rawhide,--the dried skin of an animal. The skin of a small animal like the cat, rabbit, or woodchuck is best. Country boys will not have much difficulty in securing such rawhide, but city boys may. To remove the hair, or fur, from a skin, slack a lump of lime as large as a hen's egg in a basin of water and soak the skin in it until the hair can be pulled off readily (usually a few minutes); then thoroly wash the skin, stretch it over one end of a box, and tack it every 3/8" with 2 oz. tacks. When thoroly dry it will be "tight as a drum" and ready to use. A good drum can also be made of an old (dressed) kid glove or shoe. Soak a piece 4" sq. in water a few minutes then stretch it while still wet, tightly over the box. When dry, coat it on both sides with melted paraffin. Fasten the cord to the drum simply by a knot on the inside. If common pink cord is used, drive the paraffin in with a hot flat-iron.

To use the telephone, a boy at each end of the line holds his box so that the string will not touch anything, then one talks into his box while the other listens in his. The telephone may be stretched from one house to another if the houses are within several hundred feet of each other and have a free space between. If two telephones were provided, a person could talk and listen at the same time.

HAPPY JACK WINDMILL--PLATE 12.

On a windy day "Happy Jack" will be a whole circus out on the clothes-line post. If he can be painted in bright colors so much the better, otherwise he should be decorated with colored pencils.

The body is drawn on a board, 9" × 2" × 1/2", by measuring all the figures from the hat down, and at these points drawing lines square across the board; also, draw a center-line from head to heel. The toes and hat rim split easily, so be careful of these parts. If no scroll-saw is at hand, saw every 3/8" with the back-saw straight across from the edge of the board to the outline of the body; then pare these little pieces away with a knife or chisel. The curves at the neck are best made with a No. 6 bit before sawing. The curves may be finished with half-round file or sandpaper. Take great care in boring the hole up the legs and across the shoulders; if a hole is started crooked, glue in a dowel of the same wood (see Dowels, page 11), let it dry, and then try again. Use a straight-edge as a guide, as for the whistle, page 32. A No. 3 bit is used thru the shoulders, and a No. 4 bit up the legs. To make the arms, use a 1/2" hard wood dowel 6" long. Bore 1/4" holes for the vanes 1/2" each side the center of the dowel and file the wrists, before sawing it in two. Round the ends some with sandpaper. Flatten the 4" wire which goes thru the shoulders enough to keep it from turning in the arms. Drill holes in the arms to hold the wire firmly. To plane the vanes thin at the broad end, use the board mentioned at the bottom of page 19. When gluing and nailing the vanes in the arms, remember that one lies flat and the other nearly edgewise; also remember to make them balance. Bore a 3/16" hole in the center of the base and glue the dowel into it. Before trying to fasten "Happy Jack" to a post, drill holes in the base for nails or screws.

GLOUCESTER "HAPPY JACK" WINDMILL--PLATE 13.

This "Happy Jack" is the kind which is common along the coast of New England. He is often painted with blue and white uniform and black shoes, while the paddles are left unpainted.

The drawing is made on squares so that it may be enlarged easily to any size. Keep the same _number_ of squares but make them any size desired; 3/4" is a good size. The hat, being made separate from the body, should not be drawn on the same board.

To make the hat without a lathe, make two wheels of soft wood, round one edge of the larger, and glue and nail the smaller one on it. Saw the head slanting to make a flat place for the hat, as shown in side view of hat, Plate 13. The space between the legs should be cut out with a turning or key-hole saw, tho it can be worked out as the diamond in the sword guard, Plate 9. The "Happy Jack" should be mounted on a large wire rod.

PADDLING INDIAN WINDMILL--PLATE 14.

Make this windmill any dimension desired, using the same number of squares in drawing to keep the proportions. The stern of the canoe should be planed thin enough so that the completed windmill will nearly or quite balance on the upright wire rod. The arms should be made like those on the "Happy Jack," and as long as from the center of the shoulder to the topmost feather. If the canoe is not too wide, the Indian can be nailed in place by two nails as shown in Plate 14, otherwise drive smaller ones slanting thru the back into the canoe; drill holes in either case. After the hole is bored thru the shoulders, use a trysquare to tell where to start the hole up thru the canoe so that it shall come in front of the former.

KITE--PLATE 15.

Kite flying is such fascinating sport that the three typical kites here given will make one want to build others, larger and of different shapes.[2] Kites have been made large enough to carry a man high in the air. The adjustments of a kite are so subtle that much patience is sometimes needed to make it fly. That is why the rather elaborate bridle is suggested for the paper covered kite with tail. It will require a little longer stay in the workshop, but it will save time outdoors.

[Footnote 2: Many suggestions are found in "The Construction and Flying of Kites" by Charles M. Miller, price 20 cents, Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Ill.]