"In making presents for little children," said Ralph, "we must always
remember that the toys will be played with and receive a great deal of
rough handling. So to begin with, they must be strong and of simple
construction. The youngsters don't care so much for finely finished
articles as older people do, and they tire very quickly of things that
are so complicated that they get out of order easily. Suppose we first
make some neat boxes. They can be filled with candy, and after that is
gone they will be used for a long time to keep treasures in."
Fig. 33 shows the drawing of the first box the boys made. The two
oblong pieces form the top and bottom. The latter was nailed on with
3/8-inch brads. The two cleats were nailed to the under side of the
top to hold it in place, while the sides and ends were fastened with a
little glue, and one brad in the centre. This made a very serviceable
box, the material being basswood 3/16 of an inch thick.
[Illustration: Fig. 33. Toy box]
The sled shown in Fig. 34 came next, made of the same material as the
box. Ralph was delighted with its strength and graceful lines. Two
cleats were glued into the grooves in the sides, and the top nailed on
with 3/8-inch brads.
[Illustration: Fig. 34. The toy sled]
In each case the drawing was made directly on the wood, which was sawed
close to the lines with the coping saw, and finished to the lines with
the knife.
The dog house (Fig. 35) brought out some new features of construction.
The opening in front was cut out with the saw and finished as usual.
Sides and ends were then put together with glue. The two pieces forming
the roof were nailed together with 3/8-inch brads, to make a right
angle and were then placed in position and nailed to the front and back
pieces.
Ralph explained that it was a saving of time and trouble to draw a
light pencil line to mark the location of the brads. If this is not
done, the brads are apt to come out in the wrong place and will then
have to be withdrawn and placed again. This is a waste of time and it
very often spoils the looks of the work, so that the drawing of the
pencil lines really saves time in the end, and the lines can be erased.
[Illustration: Fig. 35. The dog house]
"We can make any amount of this dolls' furniture," said Ralph. "In
fact we could build a doll's house and equip it with chairs, tables,
and beds, but what the youngsters really like best is something that
works, something that moves, so I move--no pun intended--that we design
a toy that has some life to it. We can cut it out with the coping saw
and there need not be a great deal of knife work to it. Suppose we make
an Indian paddling a canoe!" This was more of a problem than they had
bargained for, as it was necessary to look through an encyclopædia to
find pictures of canoes, Indians, tomahawks, etc. Harry traced the
figure of an Indian chief, transferred it to the surface of a piece of
1/8-inch basswood, and on sawing it out found that he had a very good
silhouette of an Indian, but it did not move (Fig. 36). The problem
was still unsolved, and experiments along that line used up several
afternoons.
[Illustration: Fig. 36. Indian chief]
[Illustration: Fig. 37. Indian paddlers]
[Illustration: Fig. 38. Indian paddlers. Separate parts cut out and
assembled]
What was finally worked out is shown in Fig. 37. The arms were made
separate from the body, and were fastened to both the paddles and the
bodies by brads, which acted as pivots. The bodies were then fastened
to the canoe in the same way, but a little glue was used as well as
brads, as they were to be immovable. How to make the paddlers move in
unison was a hard problem, finally solved by fastening a narrow strip
of wood to the lower part of each paddle. It was found that by moving
this strip back and forth the two figures moved with the precision
of a machine. In each case where a pivot was required it seemed only
necessary to drive in a 3/8-inch brad. (Fig. 38.)
The success of this moving toy was so great that the boys went rushing
into the house to show it to the family.
Soon they came rushing back again, determined to try their skill on
something else. Ralph had to remind Harry that the Indian paddlers were
not yet finished, as the toy would not stand up, so the standards shown
at _b_ were sawed out, smoothed with the knife, and one fastened at
each end, as a support, by means of brads and glue.
[Illustration: Fig. 39. The fencers]
After much boyish arguing, it was decided next to try two swordsmen
fencing. This called for some posing, and looking in books to get the
correct position of a man fencing. The drawing shown in Fig. 39 was
finally copied from a book on athletic sports.
The different parts of the figures are shown clearly in the
illustration. It was found, by experimenting with paper figures, that
by making one leg of each figure in two parts, the body, arms, and
other leg could be sawed out of one piece.
The work of cutting out and assembling this combination, seemed much
easier now that the boys had gotten into the swing of it, and they were
so anxious to see it work that they almost spoiled it in their haste.
The swords, or foils, were made of two pieces of soft iron wire.
Ralph insisted on filing these out flat near the ends to make them look
realistic, and they were fastened by drilling a hole in each hand,
passing the wire through and clinching it with a pair of pliers. It was
much safer to drill these holes, as a brad awl sometimes splits wood
that is very thin. This combination worked to perfection, and while
they were trying it Harry caught a glimpse of its shadow on the table.
The silhouette in black looked even more realistic than the toy itself,
and it gave the boys an idea. (Fig. 40.)
These toys could be used for moving shadow pictures, and immediately
their imagination began to conjure up the programme of a show.
"Our first selection, ladies and gentlemen, will be a shadow picture,
entitled 'Before the Coming of the White Men'," exclaimed Harry, moving
the Indian paddlers.
[Illustration: Fig. 40. The fencers. Pieces assembled]
"And our next will be entitled 'The Duel'," said Ralph.
"Not a very good historical show," said Harry. "We ought to have the
'Landing of the _Mayflower_'."
"Not a bad idea, either," said Ralph. "I think we could rig up a ship
in a storm. Let's try that next."