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Fig. 144.

Wooden Swords, Knives, and Daggers.—Before beginning work, read Marking, Knife, Whittling, Paring, Rounding Sticks, Rasp, File, and Sandpaper, and look up any other references. The construction of those shown in Fig. 144 is too obvious to require special description. First cut the general outline as shown, then round or pare or shave to the thickness required. If you have a bow-saw or scroll-saw, it will save much time in shaping the outlines, or you can have them sawed at the mill. If you stain these weapons with various colours, as red, black, yellow, etc., and in various patterns, and shellac them neatly (see Finishing), you can turn out quite a formidable array of awe-inspiring weapons. They should be made of some straight-grained and easily whittled wood. Nothing is better than white pine.

Fig. 145.

To make a sword like that shown in Fig. 145, first select a piece of straight-grained wood (ash or any strong wood) about 2½' in length, ³/₁₆" thick, and 1" wide. About 4" from one end make a mark. From this mark taper the edges to the other end. Do not taper the stick too gradually. Then draw a line along the centre of each side and taper from this centre line to the edges, leaving the edges about ¹/₁₆" thick. Next get out two pieces of wood ¹/₈" thick and 4" long (some dark-coloured wood can be used for contrast). Nail one of these pieces with brads on each side of the 4" space left for the handle. Next get a piece 4" long,¼" thick, and ¾" wide (see Fig. 145). Mark it as shown, making the marks for the holes (³/₁₆") so the outside edge of one will be just 1" from the outside edge of the other. Then bore these holes carefully (see Boring) and cut out the wood between them with a knife or chisel (being careful about splitting) and shape the outside as marked. Slip the blade through the hole in the guard you have just made up to the handle and nail the guard to the blade.

Fig. 146.

Wooden Snake.—This imitation reptile (Fig. 146) if well made will (when grasped at the middle) by a slight movement of the hand undulate and writhe in a very lifelike manner, as you may know, so do not be eager to terrify your feminine relatives, or those of other boys, too much.

Fig. 147.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Knife, Saw, and Rounding Sticks. The snake can be of any size—say from 2' to 6' long and from 1" to 2" in diam. Select a piece of straight-grained wood—white pine or any wood easy to work. First see that the stick is square, then make it hexagonal (six-sided), then taper it to the general shape of the snake, and finally round and smooth it (Fig. 147). Remember not to use sandpaper in the smoothing, as the grit will dull the tools yet to be used. The head you must whittle or carve according to your ingenuity and skill. The mouth can be cut with a fine saw.

The snake having been shaped, mark pencil lines lengthways along the middle of the top and bottom (except at the head), and cut with a knife a little slit or groove merely wide enough to hold a fine cord (like fish-line). This can be done with a fine saw (as a back-saw), using the teeth only at one end of the saw blade, but much care is required and the stick must be firmly clamped or held in the vise. You will probably do it more easily with the knife. Mark equal spaces (Fig. 148) of ½" to 2", according to the diameter of the snake, from the neck to within a short distance of the end of the tail. If you make these marks as near together as ¾", the snake will look more natural, as the notches will not have to be so wide, but you will have to cut more of them. Number these sections so that you can finally put them together again in the right order. With the knife or chisel notch in to the centre from each side at each of the marks, or use the saw and knife or chisel, until the body of the snake is cut into sections (Fig. 148). Put the sections together again by sinking a fine strong cord in the longitudinal grooves in the top and bottom. Set the cord in place with glue (see Gluing), and fasten with little staples (which you can make of bent pins), or something of the sort, at the end of each section.

Fig. 148.

Set beads in the head for eyes. Sandpaper the whole with fine sandpaper (see Sandpaper). Paint in imitation of whatever kind of snake you prefer (see Painting), using red for the inside of the mouth.

Windmills.—These are made in a great variety of forms. A few patterns which can be readily constructed of wood are given below. Bear in mind to make them strong, as they are under very great strain in a violent wind, and, also, that the larger they are the stronger they must be; for little models, you know, are much stronger in proportion than large structures made after the same designs. Dimensions are given merely to help illustrate the principles of construction. The windmills will work just as well if made larger or smaller, within any reasonable limits. They should be made of straight-grained white pine, whitewood, or some wood easy to work.[19]

Fig. 149.

Fig. 150.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Knife, and Paring, and look up any other references. In case of using heavy stock, see also Draw-knife, Spokeshave, and Plane. To make a very simple form (Fig. 149), take two sticks, say 8" x 1" x 1", and halve or notch (see Halving) each piece at the centre (Fig. 150), so that when put together they will form a cross with arms of equal length. Bore a hole through both pieces at the centre to loosely fit the pin upon which the vanes are to turn (see Boring). Upon the ends of each stick mark diagonal lines (Fig. 150) slanting in opposite directions, or so that, if you revolve the cross edgeways and look in turn upon each of the four ends, the lines will all slant the same way. This is essential, for the next operation is to shave each of the sticks down towards these lines until perhaps ¹/₈" thick (Fig. 150), and you can readily see that if these vanes are not turned the same way the windmill will not revolve. When this shaping is done fasten the sticks together with brads (see Nailing). The remaining part is very simple (Fig. 151), perhaps 1' long and ½" thick, with the broad vane made thin, as the only object of this is to act as a weather-vane to keep the windmill headed toward the wind, and if made thick and heavy the whole affair will not balance well.

Fig. 151.

The revolving cross you can now fasten with a nail or screw upon the end of the part last made (Fig. 151) so that it will revolve freely. Find the point at which the whole windmill will balance over your finger or a stick, and bore a vertical hole through the horizontal stick at this point. Through this hole loosely screw or nail the windmill on the end of a stick, slightly rounded to prevent friction (Fig. 151). Sandpaper the whole with rather fine sandpaper (see Sandpaper).

You can paint in one or more colours, if you wish (see Painting). The vanes can be painted in light and dark bands crossways, causing an appearance, when revolving, of concentric rings (like a target). By having two axles or spindles (Fig. 152) two sets of vanes can revolve at once, and, by slanting the vanes of the two sets in opposite ways, the two will revolve in contrary directions.

Fig. 152.

Fig. 153.

The weather-vane can be made of two pieces (Fig. 153).

A more elaborate affair (Fig. 154) is made on similar principles, but requires more care. The construction is obvious. Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, Knife, Spokeshave, Drawshave, Rounding Sticks, and look up any other references. The general dimensions of the one illustrated are: length of main frame (in which spindle turns) 9", height of one end 4½", height of the other end 2½"; length of weather-vane (from main frame) 10", width at end 4½"; length of revolving fans 1', width at ends 2". The spindle is held in the main frame on a slant (Fig. 155) to lessen any tendency to slip out, so the hole through which it passes should have a corresponding slant (see Boring). The revolving fans or vanes are reduced to round pins at the small ends and fitted tightly into holes bored in the head of the spindle, all the vanes being turned to have the same slant. Care will be required to bore these holes so that the vanes will be equidistant and revolve in the same line.

Fig. 154.

Fig. 155.

The weather-vane is set in a slanting groove cut in the bottom of the main frame (Fig. 155), and fastened with a couple of nails or screws. You can cut this groove by making two saw-kerfs and paring out the wood between with a chisel. The bent nail or wire shown on the top of the spindle in Fig. 154 is to keep the latter from jumping out of the frame from a sudden change of wind. The vanes should all be shaved down until they are quite thin at the ends.

Set up and finish this windmill like the one just described.

Fig. 156.

Fig. 157.

Fig. 158.

A form which is good practice in whittling, and upon which you can also exercise your artistic faculties, is the "Happy Jack" shown in Fig. 156. Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Knife, Rasp, and File, and look up any other references. Fourteen inches is a good height for the figure itself. The outline of body and head can be sawed from a ¾" board and the edges trimmed and rounded and the details cut with a knife, or rasp and file can be used for the edges. The arms are made of separate pieces. Bore holes in the outer ends of the arms to hold the paddles (see Boring). Also bore holes lengthways into the arms, from the ends next the body, and into these holes tightly drive the ends of a stiff metal rod long enough to also pass through the body at the shoulders (Fig. 156). Before actually driving this rod into both arms you must bore the hole through the body. The holes in the arms should be smaller than the rod, so that it may drive in tightly without danger of getting loose, but the hole in the body must be larger than the rod, that the latter may revolve easily in it. Bore in from the centre of each shoulder as carefully as you can, until the holes meet, rather than attempt to bore clear through from one side. Put in the rod and drive on the arms, but not quite up to the shoulders. In driving on the arms be sure to keep the holes for the paddles in the right positions, so that the paddles will be in line as shown—that is, so that when one points directly upwards the other will point directly downwards. Also bore a hole upwards between the legs for the rod upon which the figure turns, and screw or nail a piece of metal (Fig. 157), with a hole for this rod, on the bottom of the legs (Fig. 156). Fig. 158 shows a way to put on the hat. The paddles can be made from a shingle, which will save the labour of tapering the thickness towards the ends. The paddles must be set obliquely, or turned part way around, as in the case of any windmill. When set at the proper angles the man will spin around while the paddles are revolving. Sandpaper the whole (see Sandpaper), and paint in various colours (see Painting).

Fig. 159.

A set of boats to sail around in a circle is not hard to make (Fig. 159). Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, and look up any other references.

Take two sticks from 2' to 4' in length, and from ¾" to 1¼" square, of any fairly strong wood. Halve these sticks at the middle (see Halving) and fasten them together in the form of a cross, strengthening the joint (weakened by the halving) by nailing or screwing on a piece of board above or below, as shown in Fig. 159.

Fig. 160.

Fig. 161.

The boats can be whittled from a piece of board on edge and fastened to the ends of the sticks by halving (Fig. 160), as well as nails or screws, or they can simply be flat pieces of board shaped as in Fig. 161 and screwed or nailed on top of the sticks. In the first case the halving had best be done before the sticks are fastened together. One mast with a simple leg-of-mutton sail will answer for each boat. A little experimenting will show you how much to haul in the sheet. Each boat must, of course, "come about" and "jibe" once in every rotation of the apparatus. Sandpaper with rather fine sandpaper (see Sandpaper), and paint as you wish (see Painting). The whole affair is balanced and pivoted on top of a pole in the same manner as the windmills just described, which see.

Fig. 162.

Fig. 163.

Fig. 164.

A steamer with screw propeller can be made from a piece of board on edge, shaped as shown in Fig. 162, a small windmill with short and broad fans (Fig. 163), serving for the screw. Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Knife, Spokeshave, and look up any other references. This boat must be made of a board so as to give a thin section (Fig. 164), in order that the screw may not be shielded from the wind, for this vessel must always head to windward or the screw will not revolve. To ensure this the fore and aft sail must always be kept set and the sheet close-hauled. This sail answers the purpose of the weather-vanes of the windmills just described. It can be made of tin or any sheet metal, or even of thin wood. The rest of the rigging and the smokestack you can arrange as you wish. The bottom of the rudder can be supported by a little strip extending aft from the keel. For the other details of the work, see the windmills already described.

Water-wheels.—An undershot wheel, turned by the water passing beneath (Fig. 165), can be easily made. It can be of any desired size, and of any wood readily worked.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, and look up any other references.

Fig. 165.

Fig. 166.

Fig. 167.

One like Fig. 166 can be made by simply nailing a set of small boards or paddles in a radial arrangement between two disks of wood. A dowel or broomstick will do for the shaft and should be fitted tightly in the hole bored through the wheel (see Boring), but should turn freely in the bearings at the side. It will make a rather neater job to shape the paddles as in Fig. 167, so that when put together the wheel will look like Fig. 166, but this is not at all necessary, and it will work just as well to make plain rectangular paddles and simply nail the disks on the outside edges (see Nailing). If you have no saw with which to get out the disks you can have them sawed at the mill, or you can work them out by describing the required circles and sawing a hexagon outside of the line with a common saw, when the circle can be finished with shave, hatchet, chisel, or knife (see Paring). Divide the circumference of each disk into as many parts as there are paddles and draw lines on the side to the centre, by which to nail the paddles in the right position. Start the nails on these lines and drive them nearly through before placing the paddles in position. Then nail one disk to the paddles, turn the wheel over and nail on the other disk. It is essential to a neat job that the paddles should all be of the same width. First make one edge straight. From this edge gauge the desired width on all the pieces (see Gauge) and saw or plane or trim, with knife, chisel, or shave, exactly to the line. If you make the paddles as shown in the cut, first square lines across at equal distances from one end (Fig. 167), and with a gauge set at a point equal to the thickness of the disks make lines parallel to each edge, and with the saw or saw and chisel, or even a knife, remove the pieces marked (see Paring).

Fig. 168.

Fig. 169.

The overshot wheel (Fig. 168) is harder to make, but is a livelier wheel. It is put together upon the same principle as the wheel just shown, except that the paddles, which do not project beyond the circumference of the disks, are not placed radially, but so that, with the addition of another set inserted to connect them, they form buckets.

Fig. 170.

To lay off the lines for the buckets, divide the circumference of each disk as before, and from the centre describe a small circle, as shown in Fig. 169. From the points on the circumference draw lines tangent to the small circle. These lines will give the positions for the bottoms of the buckets. To complete the buckets mark from the circumference equal distances on these lines, and from these last points draw lines as ab to the next points on the circumference. First, nail together with only the bottoms of the buckets (on the lines ca). Then fit in the other pieces, to complete the buckets, on the lines ab. The ends of these last pieces should properly be bevelled (see Bevelling) to make a fairly tight joint. The rest of the work is the same as for the undershot wheel. A larger form (but harder to make) is suggested in Fig. 170. See note under Windmills, above.

Totlet Town.

Play Village.—It is capital fun for several young people to design and build a miniature village, and it is certainly an instructive and quite inexpensive pastime. Such a village, planned and made recently by a family group of half a dozen youngsters, and facetiously named "Totlet Town," was constructed entirely of old boxes and packing-cases of all sizes up to three feet long, waste pieces of board, shingles, etc.; but when painted and arranged in a corner of the lawn, with dirt roads, and paths, small evergreen shade trees and hedges, well-sweeps, miniature fences, and other accessories, it made so pretty a picture as to be the admiration of all who saw it. If you have as good a time in making such a village as these young people did, the experiment will be a success. You can easily think up many additions to the suggestions here given.

Fig. 171.

The buildings were made by selecting boxes of the desired proportions, sawing out spaces for the doors, adding the roofs and any other alterations. The chimneys were made of blocks painted red. The doors were made of pieces of board and hinged with leather. Bay-windows and the like were made of blocks of the required shape nailed to the boxes. The windows and blinds were represented by painting. Some of the roofs were shingled with pieces of shingles. A suggestion for a light-house is shown in Fig. 171.

Considerable care in the use of the tools is called for to make these buildings neatly. Much of the effect depends, also, upon the care with which the painting is done (see Painting), and the taste used in the selection of the colours. Brighter colours are suitable for a little village of this sort than would be in good taste for real houses. White with green blinds is good, of course; or yellow can be used. The roofs should be painted. Red roofs are very effective.

Before beginning work, read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, Nailing, Withdrawing Nails, etc.

Fig. 172.

Dolls' House.—The house shown in Fig. 172 is quite easily made, and a shallow affair like this has the advantage of being more convenient than a deep one about arranging the contents.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, and look up any other references.

Pine and whitewood are suitable, or any wood can be used that is not hard to work.

It can be made of any desired size. Three or four feet wide and a little higher in the middle will probably be suitable for ordinary cases, and twelve or fifteen inches will be a good depth (from front to back).

The construction is plain. The roof and sides are to be cut from dressed stock of uniform width, and from ½" to ⁷/₈" in thickness.

Carefully true one edge, if it is not already true, and get out the bottom board, then the upright sides, and then the roof. The bevels at the highest point of the roof and where the roof joins the sides you must mark with the bevel (taking the slant from your drawing), or you can find it by arranging two strips to cross at the desired angle and marking the bevel by them (see Bevelling). To saw these bevels requires much care. Draw lines by the square on both sides, as well as the angle on the edge, and putting each board in the vise saw carefully and steadily.

The three floors should be narrower than the outside of the house by just the thickness of the stock to be used for the back, and rectangular openings must be sawed from one of the back corners at the head of the stairs to allow the dolls to pass from one story to another. If the sides of the house are 14" wide, make these floors 13½" wide, and use ½" or ³/₈" stock for the back. Also mark and saw out the windows. To do this, first bore a series of holes inside of the line (see Boring) and cut out whatever wood may be necessary until you make a slot in which to start the saw. Any roughness left from the holes can be trimmed with knife, chisel, or file (see Paring). Nail these parts together, just as in making a box, carefully sighting across the face to see that the front and back do not wind, or use winding-sticks (q. v.). Also test with the square to see that the sides are at right angles with the bottom. Get out stock for the back carefully (with the boards running up and down) so that the boards will be square at the bottom, and when these pieces are fitted in place to form the back they will ensure the house being square. The slant by which to cut the top of the back can be laid off by measurement from your working drawing or the back can be put in place and the lines marked directly from the under side of the roof. When fitted, nail the back securely in place, first cutting the windows as before. Then fit in the upright partitions, first cutting the doorways. The staircase can be made easily if you have, or can saw from the corner of a larger piece, a triangular strip which can be cut in short sections to use for the steps. Nail these to a thin strip of board (from the under side) and fasten the whole in position (Fig. 173). The chimney can be made of a block with a notch sawed to fit the roof, or it can be made of four pieces, box-fashion. Glass for the windows can be held in place by gluing strips of cloth or paper around the edges, or thin strips can be nailed around with fine brads. Thin strips can be nailed around the window openings on the outside, if you wish.

Fig. 173.

All the pieces should be neatly planed and scraped before putting together, and, when entirely put together, the whole should be carefully sandpapered with fine sandpaper. The parts coming on the inside had best be sandpapered before putting together, however, but be sure not to do this until all cutting with the tools has been done. Set all the nails carefully (see Nail-set). The whole can be painted in one or more colours (see Painting), and portieres, window drapery, etc., can be added according to your taste and the materials at command. The inside can be papered, if preferred.

A more thoroughly workmanlike way is to groove the bottom into the sides, the upright partitions into the floor boards, and to cut rabbets around on the back edge of the sides, roof, and bottom, into which to set the backboards. This involves a good deal more work and care in laying out the work (see Grooving). If you have the pieces got out at a mill it can be easily done, however.

Fig. 174.

It may be a convenience to screw castors on the bottom. A door (with a door-bell or knocker) can be added to the front of the hall, if thought best.

A house which can be closed is shown in Fig. 174. The construction is quite similar to the preceding. A strip must be fastened above and below the large doors, as shown, that they may open without striking either the roof or the floor on which the house stands. The little door, representing the entrance to the house when closed and shown in the closed half, can be made to open independently and can have a bell or knocker.

If this house is made quite deep (from front to back) it can easily be divided lengthways by a partition and made into a double house, the back side being made to open in the same way as the side here shown.