Home-made Toys for Girls and Boys Part 6

It will save considerable work to use the porch, because for one thing you will not have to build an upper platform to stand upon to reach the elevator car when it runs to the top, and for another thing the supports for the guides and cable can be fastened directly to one of the porch posts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 105.--Supports for Elevator Guides and Cables.]

Figure 105 shows a large detail of

=The Guide Supports.= Cross strips _A_, _B_, and _C_ should be 18 or 20 inches long, about 2 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. At a distance of about 1 inch from one end of strips _A_ and _B_ screw a screw-eye into one edge, and 8 inches from those eyes screw a second screw-eye (_D_, Fig. 105). Screw-eyes with 1/2 inch eyes are large enough. A dozen will cost about 5 cents at the hardward store. The elevator guides are fastened to these.

Besides the screw-eyes there must be two clothes-line pulleys for the cable to run over. These cost 5 cents apiece. Screw one pulley into the edge of strip _B_, halfway between the two screw-eyes _D_ (_E_, Fig.

105), the other into an edge of strip _C_ at the same distance from the end that you have placed the pulley in strip _B_ (_F_, Fig. 105).

Nail strip _A_ to the porch post as close to the ground as you can get it, strip _B_ to the same face of the same post, about 18 inches above the porch railing, and strip _C_ to the opposite face of the post at the same height as strip _B_. Nail these strips securely in place.

If you cannot find a starch-box or other small box out of which to make

=The Car=, go to a grocery store. You will be sure to find just what you want there. It is not likely that the grocer will charge you anything for a small box like this. If you have placed screw-eyes _D_ 8 inches apart, as directed, the width of the box should be a trifle less than this measurement, but if the box you pick up is wider the screw-eyes can be s.p.a.ced as much farther apart as is necessary to accommodate it.

Figure 106 shows how the box is converted into the car. Screw two screw-eyes into each side of the box, one above the other, as shown at _G_, for the elevator guides to run through, screw another into the exact center of the top (_H_) to tie the hoisting cable to, and screw another into the exact center of the bottom to tie the lowering cable to. Nail a narrow strip across the open front of the car, at the bottom, to keep things from falling out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 106.--Elevator Car.]

Get heavy wrapping-twine or stovepipe wire for

=The Guides.= Attach these guides to screw-eyes _D_ in strip _B_, first, drop them through screw-eyes _G_ in the sides of the car, and then fasten to screw-eyes _D_ in strip _A_.

=The Counter-balance= is a large can filled with earth, sand, or small stones. Its weight must be equal to about three times that of the empty car. Fasten the lifting cable through holes punched in opposite sides of the can (Fig. 107).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 107.--Counter-balance.]

Use a strong wrapping-twine for

=The Lifting Cable.= After tying this to the counter-balance, run it over pulley _F_, then over pulley _E_, and tie to screw-eye _H_ in the top of the car. The cable must be of the right length so when the counter-balance has dropped to the ground the car will come just above the porch railing, as shown in Fig. 104. Tie

=The Lowering Cable= to the screw-eye screwed into the under side of the car.

As long as the weight of the car and its load remains less than half of that of the counter-balance, the counter-balance will drop and by so doing lift the car. The cable attached to the bottom must be pulled to lower the car.

Those of you boys who own a tree-hut, or intend to build one,[1] should erect an elevator similar to the one just described, for hoisting supplies to the hut.

[Footnote 1: Plans for building Tree-huts, and a Dumb-Waiter for supplies, are given in Chapter XXV of "The Handy Boy."]

CHAPTER VIII

HOME-MADE MECHANICAL TOYS

Those of you boys who have examined the little mechanical toys sold upon the street corners just before Christmas probably have been surprised to find how simply they are made, and perhaps it has never occurred to you that you might make toys equally as good for presents for your younger brothers, sisters, or cousins. Most of the smaller mechanical toys are not only easy to make, but they require materials which cost little and can usually be picked up at home. Sometimes it takes considerable thinking and planning to discover just the things which can be adapted to the various parts of toys; but that is where part of the fun of toy making comes in.

=A Buzz-saw Whirligig= is an interesting toy (Fig. 108). Lay out a disk about 5 inches in diameter upon a piece of cardboard, locate the position for the spool-end on the center of each face, and make four rings outside of this. Divide the circ.u.mference of the disk into sixteen equal parts, and lay off the teeth as shown. (Fig. 111.) The spool-ends used for centers should have two holes drilled through them for the twisting cord to slip through, and should be fastened to the disk with glue or brads.

A cotton string is best for

=Operating the Whirligig.= After slipping it through the holes in the spool-ends, tie the ends together. To work the toy, slip the first finger of each hand through the loop of each end, and whirl the disk in one direction until the string is twisted from both ends as far as the center. Then pull firmly on the ends of the string, and the disk will whirl in the opposite direction until the string is untwisted and twisted up again in the opposite direction. As the strings twist, slacken your hold upon the ends, and when it has wound up tight pull again to make it whirl in the opposite direction. The disk should whirl very steadily when working right, and the knack of making the string twist so the disk will do so is attained with a little practice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 111.--Detail of Buzz-saw Whirligig shown in Fig.

108.]

=The Clog-dancer= (Fig. 109) is an easily made loose-jointed doll. His dancing-stage is a s.h.i.+ngle or piece of stiff cardboard held on the edge of a chair beneath your knee. He is held by means of the string attached to his head, so that his feet rest lightly upon the stage, and he is made to jig by tapping the outer end of the stage with the free hand.

With a little practice the figure can be made to go through the steps of the most eccentric clog-dancer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 108.--THE BUZZ-SAW WHIZZES WHEN YOU TWIST THE CORD.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 109.--THE ECCENTRIC CLOG-DANCER IS A CIRCUS IN HIMSELF.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 110.--PULL THE STRING AND JACK JUMPS COMICALLY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 112.--Details of Body of the Clog-dancer shown in Fig. 109.]

The more grotesque the dancer's appearance is, the more amusing his dancing will be, so the cruder you make him the better. Figure 112 shows the working details for his construction. The center part of a thread-spool forms the _head_, and a spool-end and the rounded end of a broom-handle form the _hat_. These three pieces are nailed together. The _body_ is a piece of a broom-handle, and a spool-end nailed to it forms the _shoulders_. Drive a nail into the end of the body, tie a string to this, and run the string up through the hole in the head, and out through a hole in the hat; tie the string to a fancy-work ring.

The _arms_ and _legs_ are made of sticks whittled to the lengths marked in Fig. 112, and about 1/4 inch in diameter, and are jointed by driving tacks into their ends and connecting these with heavy linen thread.

Figure 112 shows how the feet and hands are cut, and how tacks are driven into them for the thread connections. Paint the clog-dancer's body, arms, and legs white, his head, hands, and feet black, and mark his eyes, nose, and mouth upon his face in white.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 113.--Details of Body of the Jumping-jack shown in Fig. 110.]

=A Toy Jumping-jack= is always amusing, and Fig. 110 shows a simply constructed home-made model. You will see by Fig. 113 how the figure is made. The peaked _hat_ is half a spool tapered down from the end to the center; and the _head_ is the center from a darning-cotton spool, shaped down at one end for a _neck_, and with eyes, nose, and mouth cut in on one side. Figure 113 shows the diagrams for the front and back of the _body_, the _arms_, and the _legs_. These are cut out of cigar-box wood.

Cut the neck stick A long enough to run through the head and hat, with a square block on the end to fit between the body pieces. The blocks _B_ should be of the same thickness as block _A_. Bore the pivotal holes through the arms and legs in the positions shown, using a small gimlet or red-hot nail with which to do the boring, and tie a piece of heavy linen thread through each as shown. The arms and legs are pivoted on brads driven through the front of the body into the back.

When the body has been fastened together, bring the ends of the threads together, and tie to a small ring; also knot the threads close to the body to keep them together. In painting Jack, you might provide him with a red coat, blue trousers and a blue hat, white stockings, and black shoes.

=A Cricket-rattle= is about the liveliest form of rattle ever devised (Fig. 114). After constructing one for your sister or brother, you probably will decide to make one for yourself. For this rattle, first prepare a _notched spool_ (_A_, Fig. 116). The notches in this need not be cut as perfectly as shown, but the notches in one end of the spool must be exactly opposite those in the other end. Whittle the _handle B_ to the shape and size shown, cut the strips _C_ out of cigar-box wood, and prepare the block _D_ as shown. The groove in the edge of _D_ is cut of just the right width to receive the end of the wooden strip _E_. The length of _E_ is best determined after nailing the ends of strips _C_ to _D_, and slipping the handle through the holes in strips _C_ and spool _A_. It should extend from the groove in _D_ into the notches in _A_.

Make it as wide as the spool is high. Paint the rattle red or blue.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 116.--Details of the Noisy Cricket-rattle shown Fig.

114.]

=The Turtle Toy= which crawls along the floor when you alternately pull and slacken a thread that runs through its sh.e.l.l, has always been one of the most popular of mechanical toys, and you will be surprised to find how easily our home-made model shown in Fig. 115 is put together. The _sh.e.l.l_ is a small tin mold such as is used for molding jellies. One about 4 inches long costs 10 cents. A mold having the form of a bunch of grapes is a pretty good form for the turtle sh.e.l.l, as you will see by the ill.u.s.trations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 114.--WHIRLING THE CRICKET-RATTLE MAKES IT CHIRP.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 115.--THE CRAWLING TURTLE'S Sh.e.l.l IS A JELLY MOULD.]

The _head_, the _tail_, and the four _feet_ are cut out of tin from a can, and bent into the forms shown in Fig. 117. Then slits are cut through the narrow rim of the mold by piercing the tin with the point of a nail at the proper places for attaching them, as shown in the small detail drawing, and the tab ends are pushed through the slits, bent over, and clinched with a pair of pincers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 117.--How Head, Feet, and Tail are Attached to a Jelly Mould to Make the Turtle shown in Fig. 115.]