Put a glass bead, F (Fig. 522), on wire of propeller, and put the wire through one of the pieces of wood, bend the end into a small hook. Take another piece of wire, pass it through the second piece of wood and bend it as in Fig. 523. Now take a piece of strong elastic, ¼ inch wide and about 3½ feet long; tie the ends together. This must be passed through the tube in the boat. To do this, tie a piece of string to the elastic, and drop the string through the tube from the stern end, and by means of the string pull the elastic through, first hooking one end of it to the hook on the propeller wire, Fig. 522. Then push the piece of wood, G, into the tube, so that the screw clears the rudder. Now hook wire, H (Fig. 523), into the elastic, and push wood, K, into tube. The wood must be cut away so that the handle, M, can catch in the teeth of the tube.
To make the boat work, hold the propeller steady with one hand and wind up the elastic by the handle, M; put the handle in one of the teeth to keep the elastic twisted; set the rudder, put the boat into the water, let go the propeller and the boat will go on until the elastic is unwound. Instead of one band of elastic, several thinner bands may be used, and more motive power can thus be obtained.
Toys worked by the Wind. Cut out of fret-wood (1/8 inch thick), or three-ply wood, a man reading a paper with one foot raised and resting on a box.
The man should be about 5¾ inches and his raised foot 1 inch from the ground, as in Fig. 524. The shoeblack is cut out in three pieces. First the kneeling portion, A (Fig. 525), is cut 2 inches high and a hole made at b; then the head with part of the arm to the elbow attached, as H in Fig. 526, about 1¾ inches high, and with holes at d and e; then the hand (with long shoe-brush) and arm to elbow, as K in Fig. 527; make a hole at f. Length of K 2¼ inches.
Now join K to H by wire or a rivet through holes f and e, so that it swings loosely, then join H to A by a wire through holes d and b.
Colour these two figures suitably.
The base on which the figures rest is a piece of wood about 12 inches by 3 inches. The next thing to be made is the mechanism that works the figures. First cut a piece of stripwood ¼" × ¼" × 7", A in Fig. 524. The fan or propeller, B, is made by cutting a small circular piece of wood or cork about 1 inch in diameter and securely fixing round it five wind flaps as shown. These flaps are best made of tin.
Fig. 524