Wooden Snake.—This imitation reptile (Fig. 146) if well made will (when grasped at the middle) by a slight movement of the hand undulate and writhe in a very lifelike manner, as you may know, so do not be eager to terrify your feminine relatives, or those of other boys, too much.
Fig. 147.
Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Knife, Saw, and Rounding Sticks. The snake can be of any size—say from 2' to 6' long and from 1" to 2" in diam. Select a piece of straight-grained wood,—white pine or any wood easy to work. First see that the stick is square, then make it hexagonal (six-sided), then taper it to the general shape of the snake, and finally round and smooth it (Fig. 147). Remember not to use sandpaper in the smoothing, as the grit will dull the tools yet to be used. The head you must whittle or carve according to your ingenuity and skill. The mouth can be cut with a fine saw.
The snake having been shaped, mark pencil lines lengthways along the middle of the top and bottom (except at the head), and cut with a knife a little slit or groove merely wide enough to hold a fine cord (like fish-line). This can be done with a fine saw (as a back-saw), using the teeth only at one end of the saw blade, but much care is required and the stick must be firmly clamped or held in the vise. You will probably do it more easily with the knife. Mark equal spaces (Fig. 148) of ½" to 2", according to the diameter of the snake, from the neck to within a short distance of the end of the tail. If you make these marks as near together as ¾", the snake will look more natural, as the notches will not have to be so wide, but you will have to cut more of them. Number these sections so that you can finally put them together again in the right order. With the knife or chisel notch in to the centre from each side at each of the marks, or use the saw and knife or chisel, until the body of the snake is cut into sections (Fig. 148). Put the sections together again by sinking a fine strong cord in the longitudinal grooves in the top and bottom. Set the cord in place with glue (see Gluing), and fasten with little staples (which you can make of bent pins), or something of the sort, at the end of each section.
Fig. 148.
Set beads in the head for eyes. Sandpaper the whole with fine sandpaper (see Sandpaper). Paint in imitation of whatever kind of snake you prefer (see Painting), using red for the inside of the mouth.