FLYING TOP--PLATE 3.

Like anything that flies, this top should be made as light as possible.

Ba.s.s, cotton-wood, or soft pine are good woods to use. After the wood for the top is planed to size, a 3/16" hole should be bored straight thru the center. (See Bits, page 9.) Make the drawing on the top and whittle to line. Considerable care must be taken in whittling not to whittle away the two corners which should be saved; this is especially true if the grain is not straight. See page 16 for suggestions about making the handle. Glue the handle in the top. To make it fly, hold it between the two hands, and push the right one quickly. (See Plate 3.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FLYING TOP

PLATE 3]

FLYING TOP--PLATE 4.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FLYING TOP

PLATE 4]

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOP

PLATE 5]

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOM-TOM DRUM

PLATE 6]

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 p.r.i.c.ks thru the other end, and draw another 7/8" circle, setting the needle-point of the compa.s.s 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POP GUN

WHISTLE

PLATE 7]

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 c.o.c.k-feather and should be of a different color from the other two. It is always placed on the bowstring _away_ from the bow.