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HOME HANDICRAFT 297 |
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ers. Any waste wood about 3/16 or 1/4 thick will do very well. These toys are meant to be operated by hand, as in pulling the string attached to the jack he goes through a very natural movement of kicking and waving his arms, and the merry smith beats his anvil with all the vigor of the real smith.
The same method of enlarging these toys to the size desired can be used as was described for those on wheels. For the jumping-jack, mark out on the wood and saw out, two lower legs, two thighs, two parts like the body, two arms and one head. As the success of the working of our Mr. Jack depends on the looseness of the joints, be sure to bore or punch the holes ample in size to suit the wire, banker's pin or cotter's pin, with which the joints are fastened together. The joints at A, B, C, D, E, F, and G should be especially loose. The cotter pin will be found to be the most satisfactory in the fastening of these parts. See drawing at H; and, after attaching parts together, see drawing J (Figure 8).
In making the smith, cut out all the parts as shown on the drawing, Figure 8. The man himself is made up of one piece, except the leg which he has raised to his right. This leg is cut out of a separate piece of wood and joined to the body at D. Joint D, together with those at A, B, C, E, F, and G, should be loose, as described previously. The anvil is nailed permanently to the upper rail. By grasping the rails at X and Y and working the rails forward and backward, a real imitation is given of the ancient craft of the smithy.
Boys are always interested in the toy or machine which operates, due to some power or force in itself, such as swinging weights or rubber bands and springs. The remaining three jobs in this brief set are of this kind.
The Dinkey-Bird
The dinkey-bird and balancing horse have their propelling power in swinging weights, and although they look easy they will nevertheless tax the ingenuity of our boy engineer to get the real action out of them. |
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