Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

At both ends of the rod-rivets place washers or burrs to rivet on, as otherwise the rivet would pull through the wood, tearing the hole larger and at the same time making the anchorage insecure. Cut notches in the projecting ends of the front stick as shown at the right side of Fig. 2, so that ropes can be lashed fast to the stick as shown at the left side of Fig. 2.

Steam the boards between the front end and the first batten, or pour boiling hot water over both sides of the boards; then bend the wood up and with the ropes as a help to hold the boards in place continue the wetting and bending until the proper curve has been gained, as shown in the illustration. Lash the ropes fast, and when the wood is dry sand-paper it smooth and give it several good coats of varnish.

A sled-toboggan (Fig. 3) is made from two hickory boards eight feet long and a quarter of an inch in thickness. If the toboggan is to be twenty-two inches wide each runner should be several inches wide.

Three hard-wood bridges twenty-two inches long and four inches high are cut, as shown in Fig. 4, and attached to the runners with screws (Fig. 3). They support a seat eight inches wide which is screwed down to the top of the bridges.

In front of the first bridge and behind the last one short bracket-braces are attached to prevent the bridges from rocking, and these as well as the bridges can be cut from wood about an inch and a half in thickness.

The front ends of the boards are attached to a batten, and by steaming the boards may be curved up as shown and held in place with a stanchion-rope lashed fast to the batten and to the front bridge. A supporting bridge should be used to give it additional power. Fig. 3.

When the varnish wears off the bottom give it another coat, as the smooth, hard finish helps the toboggan to slide easily over the snow.

A Rocker-coaster

A very good coasting-sled is shown in the illustration of a rocker-coaster (Fig. 5), and for short hills a sled of this sort will prove very fast and easy to steer.

It is from four to five feet long, twenty inches broad, and seven inches high at the middle. The lower edge of each runner is curved from end to end with a long, sweeping line, and it is grooved to receive a round runner of steel, which a blacksmith will make and attach.