Fig. 316.—A Section through the Sled.
Although these runners are plenty heavy enough for light coasting, they would probably prove weak for coasting upon hills of any great size. To withstand the strain brought to bear upon the runners when hill coasting, boys generally find it necessary to make them out of two-inch stuff. This, however, makes the sled heavy and clumsy, and can be done away with by following a scheme which a friend of the writer's invented and found very satisfactory. It consisted of
Reënforcing the Runners with steel bars driven into holes bored vertically in them. The holes were bored while the runners were held in a vise, and the steel bars were a little larger than the holes, so that they would fit them tightly. This scheme allows the use of seven-eighths inch stuff for the runners, and sixty-penny wire nails can be filed off to the proper length and substituted for steel bars if the latter cannot be obtained.
When the sled has been completed, it should be given a good coat of paint.
