Fig. 194
Children delight in tying thread from mast to mast (a ridge must be filed round the tops of the masts to keep the cotton from slipping down) and in decorating this thread with flags.
Instead of nails, stripwood (¼" × ¼") may be glued or nailed along the sides, and a piece of wood nailed over the bow (Fig. 195). These boats will float on water if they are not too heavily laden with cabins, etc. Fig. 196 shows a fishing-boat complete.
Fig. 195
A reel will be found very useful as an anvil when driving the nails through the bottom of the boat to hold the masts. The child should hold his piece of wood—through which he is driving a nail—in such a position that when the point comes through the wood, the nail makes its passage down the hole in the middle of the reel. As soon as the point has been driven through to a certain distance, the child can lift up his wood and examine—and if need be correct—the direction of the nail before fixing on the mast.
Fig. 196
Hammering must be done with the hammer held with the hand well back from the head, and each blow struck so that the flat face of the hammer falls exactly upon the head of the nail. Gentle but firm blows are necessary; heavy blows are likely to bend the nails. All bent nails should be at once drawn out.