For the reel in Fig. 2 and also the weather vane in Fig. 7, it is better to select a piece of wood which is already “dressed”—that is, finished smooth to the thickness you require, because it is hard to make a broad surface true with a jack knife. Cigar boxes are three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and a piece of one will make a good, stout reel. In making all of these toys, the pattern should be drawn on the wood as far as possible with pencil, scale, and straight edge, before any cutting is done. The reel should be cut first into an oblong, two and a quarter inches by four and a quarter, then the corners are rounded so that the line will not catch on them, and lastly the “recessed edge” where the line is to be wound is made, cutting from each end of the opening toward the center, and gradually working it down even.
(A) WHITTLED WEATHER VANE. (B) KITE STICK; “CAT”; REEL FOR FISH LINE. (C) “CAT” STICK.
Diagrams of a Kite Stick, Reel, “Cat,” “Cat” Stick, and Weather Vane.