Buy at a tinner’s sheets of tin which come fourteen by twenty inches
in size, though any other size may be used. If convenient, have the
tinner cut each sheet into eleven strips twenty feet long and about one
and a quarter wide. You can, however, cut them yourself, with a pair of
old shears, first measuring carefully, and ruling the sheet off.
Along one side of each strip of tin, near the edge, punch nail holes;
one close to each end, and four between, making thus six holes about
four inches apart.
To bend the rail to shape, take a ruler and scratch a line the whole
length one quarter of an inch from the edge which has no holes. Lay
this edge on a straight board, with the mark exactly on the edge of the
board, so that the quarter of an inch sticks out beyond the board. Then
tack the tin with two or three tacks, to keep it from slipping, while
you take a hammer and pound the tin down over the edge till it is bent
at a right angle to the rest. Then take out your tacks, and laying the
tin on the board, pound this turned-up edge over till nearly flat. This
makes the top of your rail, as you see in _fig. 1_ (which shows the end
of a rail) at _a_.
To make the bend _c_ (_fig. 1_) draw a line the whole length half an
inch from the edge where the holes are. Again tack the tin to the
board, with the half-inch sticking out beyond, and pound this edge over
into a right angle. This completes your rail, the holes being along the
edge marked _b_ in the figure.