The Boy Craftsman Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy's Leisure Hours

Value of a Knowledge of Carpenter Work--Location of Shop--A Solid Work-bench--The Vise--Bench-stops--Carpenter's Horses--A Bench-hook--A Mitre-box--A Sand-paper Block--A Strop--...

Care of Tools--The Cross-cut Saw and Rip-saw--Sawing--The Back-saw, Compass-saw, and Gig-saw--Kerfs--The Jack-plane, Fore-plane, and Smoothing-plane--Planing--Testing Work--The...

Store Doll-houses--Profit from making Doll-houses--The Materials Required--The Base--The Floors--Partitions and Walls--Stairways --Balustrades--Front and Rear Steps--The Gambrel...

Location of Printing-shop--Equipment--Selection of Type-- Type-cases--A Rack for Type-cases--A Composing-stick--A Composing-rule--Justifying--A Home-made Galley--"Pieing"--Proof...

A Collection of Amateur Papers--Amateur Press Associations--Some Methods of Printing Papers--Examples of Amateur Papers--The Character of a Paper--Naming--The Frequency of Publi...

Profit in Photography--The Necessary Equipment--The Bedroom as a Dark-room--The Bath-room as a Dark-room--Another Scheme for a Dark-room--A Work-table--Running Water--A Water-ta...

How Some Boys Built a Club-house--A Mysterious Letter--Drawing the Plan of a Club-house--The Material--Fishing Studs--Staking out the Building--The Studs--Boarding up the Sides-...

The Pioneer Cabin--The Cabin of To-day--Selection of a Site-- Design and Size--The Material--Staking out the Cabin--The Lock-joint--The Sills--Construction of Roof--Ridge Boards...

Canoeing as a Sport--Popularity of Canvas Canoes--Materials--The Bow and Stern Pieces--The Keelson--The Mould--Putting the Framework Together--The Gunwales--The Ribbands--The De...

Trapping as a Pastime--The City Boy and his Country Cousin--The Figure-four Trap--A Box Trap--The Dead Fall--The Sieve Trap--The Coop Trap--A Rabbit Snare--A Twitch-up--The Prof...

Ancient War Engines--New Idea for a Cross-bow--Shingle Arrows--A Toy Pistol--Cardboard Bullets--A Shot-gun--An Elastic Sling--A Boy's Barrel-hoop Target--A Simpler Target--How P...

The Ancient Roman Circus--The Circus of To-day--How Several Boys gave a Circus--Preparing the Yard for a Circus--Making the Ring-- Good Circus Seats--A Tent--Decorating the Tent...

The First Fourth of July Celebration--Pyrotechnics Costly and Dangerous to Make--The Making of Harmless and Inexpensive Fireworks--A Fire-cracker Cannon--To fire the Cannon--A F...

Materials for Scenery--An Ocean Scene--Additional Waves--Frames for Drops--A Mid-ocean Scene--A Seashore Scene--A Field Scene-- The Trees--A Blockhouse Scene--Pine Boughs for Tr...

Procuring a Set of Clockworks--An Automobile Touring-car--The Frame--Preparation of Clockworks--The Belt--Testing the Machine-- The Cardboard Sides--Wheels--Mud-guards--Lamps--T...

Carpenter work should be encouraged in a boy from the time he first becomes interested in it, for besides being something with which to keep him busy, the experience gained by i...

Before using a tool be sure you understand the proper handling of it, for there is probably nothing more easily injured than an edge tool in a sharpened condition. An inexperien...

There are generally repairs of some kind to be made about the house--such as mending screens, renewing window-ropes, repairing wooden walks, patching fences, etc.--which a boy c...

It is far better for a boy to spend his evenings in the house than out upon the street. He need not be without his friends there, for if he has an attractive room, with books to...

The average store doll-house is made of thin wood, which is full of defects and likely to warp, besides being put together in such a flimsy manner as to soon fall apart. The maj...

Photographs of another style of doll-house are shown in Figs. 96 and 97. This house was built by the author for a little relative some ten years ago, and is still in perfect con...

The stable shown in Figs. 114 and 115, and in the background of Fig. 96, will go nicely with the house described in this or the preceding chapter. Its construction is very simpl...

With the carpenter work of a doll-house completed, the finishing of the inside,--wall papering and painting,--and the selection of furniture for the various rooms, remain to be...

The metal furniture which you can buy is very pretty when it is new, but this new appearance does not last long after it has come into a youngster's possession, for the pieces a...

Since the manufacture of printing-presses in small sizes, printing has become so popular among boys that it is now hard to find a neighborhood in which there is not a press.

It would be a difficult matter to even roughly estimate the number of papers which have been issued in the amateur world. Mr. Edwin Hadley Smith of New York City has the largest...

There is no reason why an industrious boy cannot do a profitable business with a camera, when he has learned to operate it successfully, does careful and neat work, and charges...

Boys who keep their eyes open for opportunities to make money are not long in finding that the coming of snow means money in their pockets if they are willing to do a little hus...

For many years there stood in a city back-yard a shanty in which the boys of the neighborhood gathered after school and during vacation, to hold their club-meetings. Many a plea...

The log-cabin marks what might be called the beginning of American architecture, for it was the first form of building built by white men upon American soil. The introduction of...

and end logs alternately. Fit the logs between the jambs and nail the latter to their ends, being careful not to get them out of plumb in doing so. Above the fire-place the logs...

Canoeing is a most delightful outdoor sport, and one of the healthiest in which a boy can indulge during his vacation days. Its popularity can plainly be seen by visiting any la...

Trapping and trap-making is, and probably always will be, a pastime which every boy enjoys. If he lives in the country or near the woods he is sure to grow fond of the wild crea...

Some of the old war engines used in Europe before the introduction of gunpowder were most ingeniously contrived, and were wonderfully effective, considering that their projectiv...

With a little work, and a small outlay of money chiefly for two-by-fours, and such boards as are specified in this chapter, a boy, or club of boys, can construct and set up all...

Shortly after the founding of Rome, a large building was built within which to hold commemorations of Roman victories and anniversaries, with chariot races, bull-fights, gladiat...

As most boys probably know, the first Fourth of July celebration took place in 1775, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Independence Hall, Philadelphia....

Halloween, or the eve of All Saints' Day, has been observed since the beginning of the Christian era. In very early times, ghosts, demons, and spirits were believed to rule the...

It is the misfortune of a great many boys to be deprived of one of winter's greatest sports, by living in a flat country where there are no hills upon which to coast. These boys...

Probably nothing can be found which will make a more interesting entertainment for a winter evening, than a miniature theatre patterned as nearly as possible after a large playh...

Scenery for a miniature theatre will be made in much the same manner as the small drops and wings a scenic artist prepares of each scene of a play, before he commences work upon...

It is often thought that a toy railway is beyond a boy's ingenuity to construct, whereas, in reality, it is one of the simplest toys he can make. This applies to the tracks, sta...

place them in your bench-vise, one at a time, and with a rasp make a groove around the edge as shown at _C_, Fig. 356. Bore a three-eighths inch hole through each upright at _F_...

It is generally easy for a boy to get hold of a set of old clockworks, for a discarded clock of some sort is almost certain to be found in the household storeroom. If the main-s...

A number of years ago a friend of the writer paid a visit to a large penitentiary where the prisoners were engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Among the workers he be...

It is surprising the number of small toys that can be made out of corks of different shapes and sizes with the aid of glue, pins, burnt matches, worsted, and cardboard. Even tho...

The terms and phrases used in describing the work included in this book have been arranged alphabetically in this chapter, together with their definitions. This has been done fo...

=Dowelling.=--A process of securing together two edges or faces of a piece of work with pins of wood or metal. Holes are bored in the edges or faces of the pieces, and wooden pe...

=Mortise.=--A slot or cavity made in a piece of wood to receive the end of another piece. E. G. See Figs. 208, 210, 211, Chapter XV. Bevelled Mortise.--A mortise with its bottom...

The brace which holds the bit for boring; the block which holds the blade of a plane (see Fig. 24, Chapter II); the portion of a gun which contains the barrel and trigger.

Amateur papers, methods of printing, 145; specimens of, 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, and group opposite 142; character of, 148; naming of, 149; frequency of publication of, 149; siz...