Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

Another form of reel is shown in the illustration of a chest-reel (Fig. 30). This is made from two flat, good barrel-hoops, some braces, and the reel and shaft as described in Fig. 28 A and B.

Two good, broad barrel-hoops are selected and cut so that they will measure eighteen inches on the segment or twelve inches across the line A A in Fig. 29. Two out-riggers B B are cut from pine or white-wood ten inches long, two inches wide, and three-quarters of an inch thick; these are bevelled at the end towards the hoop, where they are made fast with screws. The outer ends of these sticks are bound with the stick C, and near the inner ends and close to the hoop a binder-piece D is fastened with screws.

The reel should be made first and clamped in place when the frame is put together. The lower hoop is made fast to the short upright pieces C C, shown in Fig. 30, and braced to the main out-riggers B B with bracket-strips. All the unions are made with screws or long copper rivets securely fastened at the blunt end with burrs over which the copper end is beaten and riveted.

Near the hoop-ends holes are to be made with a bit through which stout cotton line can be passed and made fast so as to tie the reel to a boy’s body (Fig. 30). The hoop-end should be bound with linen line at either side of the hole so as to prevent the hoop splitting and the lashing-thongs tearing away. This is a very convenient form of portable reel and is easily carried about without having to touch it. A friction-brake can be made from a piece of sole-leather that will bear against the edge of one large end of the reel so that when paying out cord it may be regulated as the kite draws on it.

Leather or metal washers should be placed between the reel-ends and the frame that the axle is hung in so as to prevent friction and the consequent wearing of the wood.

Fig. 31 shows a simple, home-made box-reel that will wind up a thousand feet of line in short order. It consists of a box, to which the cover is hinged, and two sprocket-wheels from an old bicycle. One large one has a handle for turning it, the other, a smaller wheel, is fastened firmly to a spindle (Fig. 32) that runs through the box. The box is of pine or white-wood fourteen inches long inside measure, eight inches wide, and ten inches deep. The wood may be from one-half to seven-eighths of an inch thick, and the points should be made with glue and nails or screws to hold them securely and prevent the box from racking.

Find two old sprocket-wheels and a piece of bicycle chain and make the wheels fast to iron axles that will pass through holes made in the sides of the box. The ends of these axles should be threaded and provided with a nut so as to hold the axles in place when run through the box.

The arrangement of these wheels and the chain is clearly shown in the illustration of a box-reel (Fig. 31). The large wheel should be attached to an axle and one of the pedal-cranks made fast to it. Instead of the pedal a wooden handle will slip on the pedal axle where it can be secured by the nut that held the pedal in place. The relative positions of wheels, axles, and other parts of this reel can be seen at Fig. 33. A represents the crank, handle, and large wheel; B the axle that passes through the box; C the axle and flanges made fast to the small sprocket-wheel; and D shows how the wooden roller-wheels are arranged over the slot in the box so that the string can be drawn in without its touching the edge of the slot. The edges should be flared at the under side so that the cord will wind on a fat reel without touching the wood as shown at E.

Two wooden flanges should be cut from thin wood and made fast to the axle C to prevent the cord winding on the axle close to the box and thereby clogging its action. Leather washers separate the flanges and the boxes so as to reduce the possibility of friction.