Manual Training Toys for the Boy's Workshop Part 8

For boys who want to play soldier, here is a gun which will make a big noise but will not hurt anybody.

First, make the rattle of maple. The slot in it can be made with the rip-saw. The solid end must be nicely squared to fit the forward end of the pocket cut out of the gun-stock. Here it must be held firmly in place by glue and two screws. One screw is put slanting from the top of the gun-stock; the other is put straight from the bottom. That the rattle may sound the loudest, it must not touch anywhere else than this solid end. When putting the knocker and trigger in place, see that they also do not touch the rattle. The gun-stock is made like that of the elastic gun (Plate 28) except that it has to be 2-3/8" wide in that portion which holds the rattle. The pocket is 3-1/2" from the forward end and 1-1/2" deep where the solid part of the rattle fits. To put the slanting screw in nicely, a place must be cut out with a small chisel for its head, 3/8" deep and 1/2" away from the pocket. Clamp the rattle in position, bore a hole for the screw, then glue and screw the rattle in place. Before the glue is dry, see that the rattle is straight, then put the lower screw into it.

Make the knocker of maple. The reason for the triangular notch in its bottom edge will be evident when the trigger is turned around. The stiffer the spring is, the harder, of course, it will strike the rattle, and also, the harder the trigger will turn; 1/8" will be thick enough for the thinnest place.

The trigger should also be of maple. Join it with a cross-lap joint.

(See page 24.) Then, holding each end successively upright in the vise, draw the slanting lines and saw for 3/8" lengthwise in such a way as to leave 1/16" flat on each of the two adjacent surfaces. After sawing endwise, saw the little corner pieces off crosswise. The trigger has to withstand considerable pulling, so it should fit nicely, yet easily, a 1" screw in its center. Before s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g either the knocker or the trigger in place, lay both on the gun-stock so that they will engage properly; then mark the place for the screws, drill holes, and screw them on. If the knocker touches the rattle, take it off and plane a slanting chip or two where it is screwed to the gun-stock. A thin leather washer 5/8" in diameter will prevent the trigger touching. A little soap will make the trigger turn easier.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RATTLE-BANG GUN

PLATE 29]

The barrel may well be made of a broomstick. To make it fit on the top of the gun-stock, saw it down the middle and cut off the lower half.

Before fastening it in place, be sure that it will not touch the sounding part of the rattle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8]

A still louder and more difficult rattle to make is shown in Fig. 8.

Most boys would find it impossible to bore a 1" hole endwise in maple.

The knocker and trigger would both have to be set out from the gun-stock.

BOAT--PLATE 30.

This boat is designed rather heavy to insure good service. It has ballast and beam enough to right itself even tho the sails do get wet.

If a better looking boat is desired, draw the deck more slender; hollow the hull with bit and gouge; pare the gunwales with the spokeshave to give it some sheer; and nail on a thin deck. Soft pine is the best wood for the hull and spruce for the spars.

To lay out the hull, draw a center-line lengthwise on top, bottom, and ends of the block of wood. Make all the measurements given on the deck; (top of the hull, Plate 30) first lengthwise, then crosswise. Square with the deck, the curve should be worked out with rip-saw and spokeshave. The stem should next be undercut with the saws (rip and crosscut) so as to make place for the rudder. On the bottom leave a flat place 7-1/4" 1/2" for the keel to fit; then round the hull as suggested by the sectional drawings at AB and CD.

Make the keel and nail it securely in place. From the under side of the boat and slanting the same as the keel and undercut, bore a 5/8" hole for the stem of the rudder.

Make the rudder and tiller of 1/4" wood. The little mortise in the tiller can be cut with a small chisel after a 3/16" hole is bored at its center. For the wheel, make a dowel about 2" long and into one end of it bore a hole about 1" deep for a 1-1/4" screw. Saw a piece from this end 5/8" long and screw it to the deck about 1-1/2" in front of the hole bored for the rudder. The wheel should turn rather hard so as to stay in any position desired.

To make the spars, (mast, boom, etc.,) follow the directions on page 16.

Use large screw-eyes in the gaff and boom (or see Plate 16, "method of swinging booms to mast") and a very small one at the top of the mast. To nail the bowsprit securely, place it 1" back of the prow, drive a 1"

brad thru it near the prow, and one on each side of it 3/4" back. Bend these latter over the bowsprit before they are driven in their full length. An upward slant is given to the bowsprit by planing its larger end slanting to fit the deck.

The rudder is hung on two staples made of pins. Two headless pins are driven into the rudder and bent down at right angles to slip into these staples. In order that the stem of the rudder may turn enough, the rudder must be hung close to the hull. Each "rope" of the rigging should have its own screw-eye (or staple) and cleat on the deck. The cleat (a device for fastening a "rope" in any position, by winding it back and forth) is simply two slender brads driven slanting.

The mainsail should be 9" on the mast and 11" at its outer edge. It should be hemmed and properly fastened to the spars. On the mast, fine wire rings or loops of thread may be used. The jib should extend 9" up the stay (the "rope" from the end of the bowsprit to the top of the mast) and be either sewed to it or made to slide on it with small rings of wire.

Ballast can be cut (with tin-shears or saw) from lead pipe and nailed to the keel. To drive brads thru lead, pinch them between the thumb and finger, and drive them gently.

For convenience in holding the boat when it is out of the water, make a dry dock as shown in the drawing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOAT

PLATE 30]

PILE-DRIVER--PLATE 31.

In wet, soft soil, wherever any building operations are to be undertaken, long, straight logs called piles have first to be driven to support the foundation. In wet soil they never rot; those driven for the building of Venice centuries ago are still solid. If holes are bored in the weight of this toy pile-driver, it is made more effective.

This is not a difficult model if each part is well made. It is important, however, to nail it in the following order: Runs to uprights, uprights to sides, sides to base, top to uprights, braces to uprights, then to base. The ends of the braces are mitered, that is, sawed, like the corner of a picture-frame, on the diagonal of a square. The axle of the little spool is made by two 1" brads, and it rests in notches as near the end of the top blocks as is convenient to file them. It is held in place by little brads, or pins crossed over it, or by a staple made of a pin. A crank for the big spool (called the drum) is made of a 3"

piece of stiff wire. It should be flattened enough not to turn in the drum. Fasten the string to the drum thru a little hole drilled thru its rim. If the string comes off the upper spool, put a large screw-eye into the top piece and pa.s.s the string thru it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PILE DRIVER

PLATE 31]

WINDMILL--PLATE 32.

On a hilltop, exposed to every wind that blows, one of these windmills made by a boy has been spinning around for four years. The windmill in this form serves also as a weathervane. Pine is the best wood for this model. To withstand the weather, the model should be painted.

After planing the post to size, lay out the chamfers (see page 32) with a pencil on all four sides. The curve should be cut with a knife; the upper part may be planed if the square part is not squeezed in the vise.

Plane the two pieces for the vanes as accurately as possible so as to be able to make a good joint. Lay out and cut this joint as directed on page 24. After it is well fitted, draw the curves where the edges are to be whittled away. There are sixteen of them. Open the compa.s.s 3/4" and place the needle point always on the _front right-hand_ edge as the wheel turns around. The curve begins 1/8" from the joint and ends 1/8"

from the back edge (one also goes towards the lower edge). From this point draw a straight line to the end of the vane. Draw such lines as explained on page 32. Take the joint apart and whittle the edges away to these curves.

On the beam, make chamfers 1-3/4" long. At the rear end, on the top and bottom, draw a center-line and two lines on each side of the center-line 1/8" apart. Between the first two, nearest the center-line, make the V-shaped groove in which the rudder fits. The sides of the beam are to be pared away to the other two lines, leaving this end 1/2" wide.

The curves at the rear end of the rudder can be sawed best with a scroll saw. Lacking that, proceed as follows: First, bore a 1/4" hole near the short straight line in the middle. Resting the rudder on a cutting board, pare to this line with a chisel. Next, saw straight from the end of the rudder to this straight line; then saw the corners, and pare to the curves. The width of the notch at the front end of the rudder is equal to the s.p.a.ce left between the roots of the V-shaped notches in the beam. Measure this s.p.a.ce, lay out the notch, saw, and chisel it; then pare the corners so as to fit the V-shaped notches in the beam. Beware of crowding the rudder, for it will split easily. When fitted, glue and nail it in place, slanting a 1" brad thru the curve into the beam.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WINDMILL

PLATE 32]

Put the wheel on the beam with two washers and a large screw (2" No. 12 round head is a good one). For this screw bore a 1/4" hole thru the center of the wheel, and a smaller hole in the beam. Now balance the windmill on the top of the post, and put the beam and post together with washers and screw in the same manner.

KITE-STRING REEL--PLATE 33.

A boy who flies kites will appreciate this reel for hauling in his kite quickly and keeping the string in order. The axle is made long for the purpose of putting on a brake when letting out a kite. The brake is simply a strong cord, fastened to a screw in the lower part of the further upright, (as viewed in Plate 33) wound several times around the axle, and the other end held in the hand. A 1" hole is bored in the base so that the reel can be anch.o.r.ed to the ground with a stake. With a loop of string fastened to the upright below the crank, the crank can be kept from turning, if one does not wish to let out all of the kite-string.

Make the base first, then the uprights. In the uprights, it is more convenient to bore the 9/16" holes before the sides are planed slanting.

After the wheel pieces are joined in the manner explained on page 24, lay out the slanting lines on each arm while the joint is still together; then take it apart and plane to the slanting lines. Hold each piece securely slantwise in the vise, because one pair especially is apt to split from the notch outward. When this planing is finished, glue the joint and bore a 1/2" hole straight thru the center. If convenient, make the cross pieces in one long piece, 20", planing off one corner flat (see sectional drawing, Plate 33) within 1/8" of the two adjacent corners. Being careful to drive no brad into the 1/2" hole, glue and nail these four cross pieces to one wheel. Then glue them to the other wheel and wind some string around tightly enough to hold this wheel while adjusting and nailing it. It will require care to get the cross pieces square with the first wheel, and the second wheel parallel with the first. After the string is wound around to hold the second wheel, measure the distance from wheel to wheel at the ends of all the arms.