# St. Nicholas/Volume 32/Number 3/Practical Boy

Illustrated by the author; continued from Dec. 1904
The Practical Boy
By Joseph H. Adams.
Third Paper.
Ice-boats, Snow-shoes, Skate-sails, Sleds, etc.
Introduction
It is possible to purchase almost everything for winter sports; but the boy who is handy with tools and of an inventive and mechanical turn will take more pleasure in constructing his own things than in buying those that were made by others, and not, perhaps, in just the manner he would like to have them.
Very few boys would care to make their own skates, as the modern steel clamp skates are superior to anything they could make, both in lightness and strength; but the various kind of wind-boats, skate-sails, and so forth, which interest them cannot usually be bought ready made. During the leisure hours after school and on Saturdays a great deal of enjoyment may be had in constructing some of these winter “toys.”
Skates, sleds, and ice-boats are used the world over where there is cold weather; but in this country there are several things, the invention of the Yankee boy, that are distinctly American, but which can just as well be used by boys in other countries.
A Bob-sled.
Almost any boy can easily make a bob-sled, for it is not at all difficult to construct a substantial one from inexpensive materials, and with the tools that nearly every boy possesses.
Fig. 1. A Bob-sled
For the seat obtain a clear spruce plank 10 feet long, 10 inches wide, and 1½ inches thick, planed on both sides and edges. The front sled is 30 inches long and 14 inches wide, with the sides 5 inches high. The rear sled is 40 inches long from prow to end of runners, and is the same width and height as the front one.
The runners are of hard wood ⅞ of an inch in thickness, and braced with cross-pieces of hard wood 2 inches wide and 1½ inches thick. Under each crass-piece and at the sides brackets must be securely fastened with screws, as shown at A in Fig, 2.
Fig. 2.
Eight inches from the rear end of the front sled a stout block is set in the runners, through which the king-bolt passes that fastens the seat to the sled. The block is of hard wood 14 inches long, 2½ inches wide, and 4 inches high at the middie, as shown at A in Fig. 2. A similar block 2 inches high is attached to the under side of the plank and bears on the lower block. Between the two blocks, and on the bolt, two large flat iron washers are placed, ​so it will be an easy matter to turn the sled when there is a heavy weight on the plank.
The sled is steered by a rope and foot-pieces as shown. The rear sled is attached to the plank by means of a block and bolts. Two triangular hard-wood blocks, one inch in thickness, with the grain running vertically, are screwed fast to the inner sides of the runners, as shown at B in Fig, 2; and through holes in the upper end a long half-inch bolt is passed from side to side. This bolt fits into a groove made in the under side of the block that is attached to the plank; and across the groove, in several places, straps of iron are fastened, as shown in the inverted block at C in Fig. 2.
A hinge-joint is the result, and to prevent the rear sled from dropping too far when jumping over a bump, a rope should be passed under the forward cross-piece and attached to a staple driven in the under side of the plank. The plank can be padded with hair from an old mattress, and covered with a strip of carpet nailed all around the edges of the board.
Cross-pieces screwed fast to the under side of the plank will act as foot-rests for the boys, and with a coat or two of paint this bob-sled will be ready for use.
TOBOGGANS
For hill-coasting some boys prefer bob-sleds and coasters: but in the extreme Northern States and throughout Canada the plain toboggan is the favorite.
Fig. 3. A Toboggan
The toboggan may be 16 feet long, and should be 18 inches wide—although one of 8 to 10 feet long will probably be found more serviceable. The bottom is made of three or four thin hickory boards ¼ of an inch thick. The boards are fastened with battens of hard wood 2 inches wide and ¾ of an inch thick—either brass screws or copper rivets being used, the bottom of the runners being countersunk to admit the head of the screw or rivet.
For the side-rails use strips of hickory ¾ of an inch square at the end, and raise them from the battens by means of small blocks about 2 inches high. This will enable the boy to insert his fingers under the rails and get a firm hold of them even with thick gloves on. Fasten the strips with a bolt and nut running through the rail, block, batten, and runner—of course being sure to countersink the head. Fig. 4.
Cut notches in the projecting ends of the front batten, as shown in Fig. 4, so that ropes can be lashed fast to the stick, as shown in Figs 3 and 4.
Steam the boards between the front end and the first batten, or pour boiling-water over both sides of the boards; then gradually 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, or about as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fasten the ropes to the small blocks on the second batten, and when the wood is dry sandpaper it smooth and give it several good coats of varnish. It will be found that after the toboggan has been used some time the bottom will become very smooth, especially if it has been used on icy hills. Many boys prefer tobogganing to sledding, for the reason that, the boards being so thin and flexible, slight inequalities in the ground are easily felt and the sensation of speedy flight is emphasized. Plain, strongly made cushions will be found a welcome addition to a toboggan, though these should be dried at night if wet.
A Sled Toboggan.
The runners are made of hickory boards 8 to 10 feet long and ¼ of an inch thick. If the extreme width is to be 22 inches, each runner should be 7 inches wide. The three hard-wood bridges are 22 inches long and 4 inches high, and shaped as in Fig. 5. The seat is 8 inches ​wide. Short wooden braces are placed in front of the forward bridge and behind the last bridge
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6. A Sled Toboggan.
A Single-runner Coaster.
A few years ago the boys of New England invented a new kind of sled and called it a “single-runner coaster” or a “jumper-coaster.” They sit upon it, keeping their balance with the feet; and it is remarkable how rapidly and easily they go down-hill on this queer-looking affair without toppling over. The coaster is very simple in construction, and any boy can make it from pine or hard wood, the latter being preferable, as it has more body and is heavier.
Fig. 7. A Single-runner Coaster.
The runner is 42 inches long, 1½ inches thick, and 4 inches high, curved at one end and cut at an angle at the other. The upright is of wood the same thickness and width and 11 or 12 inches high, so that with the top board or seat and the height of the runner, the coaster is 16 or 17 inches high, and for taller boys it can be made higher. The seat is 10 inches long and 7 inches wide, and attached to the upright with screws as shown in Fig. 8. The upright is cut from wood about 10 inches wide, and with a compass-saw it is shaped broader at the bottom so that it will have a better bearing on the top of the runner than a narrow one would.
From wood two inches wide make two side-plates or braces to run from under the seat down half-way aver the runner, as shown in Fig. 8; and to steady the seat at the top of the uprights cut two angle-brackets and attach them as shown in the figure. A blacksmith will fashion a rudder from quarter-round or thin tire-iron and attach it as shown in Fig. 7. In Fig, 8, A and B, other ends are shown that are merely a matter of fancy. One is as serviceable as the other.
Fig. 8.
In B an extra picce of wood is built up on the end, and the runner is bent up and over it and attached at the top. The runner can be held on with flat-headed screws countersunk in the iron, and after a few trips the surface of the metal will be bright and smooth.
How the single runner works.
A Rocker-coaster.
A very good coasting sled is shown in the illustration of a rocker-coaster, and for short hills a sled of this sort will prove a very fast
Fig. 9. A Rocker-coaster
Snow-shoes
The long snow-shoe shown in Fig. 11 is the one commonly used by the Iroquois Indians, and it measures from 3 to 4 feet in length and from 12 to 15 inches in width. It is usually made from one long strip of hickory bent while green and dried in the desired shape, then braced and interlaced with thongs of rawhide or deer-gut, The rim is usually ¾ or ⅞ of an inch square and rounded on the outer edges. The braces or spreaders are let into the inner edges of the rim, as shown at A in Fig. 10, and held in place with a thong passed through a hole in the end of the piece and wrapped around the rim, as shown at B in Fig.10. The spreaders are of seasoned hickory, 2 inches wide and ⅝ of an inch thick. The edges are beveled slightly, and near the center line two rows of holes are made through which to lace the thongs. Two smaller sticks are arranged at each side of the broad spreaders, and the lattice-weaving is caught around them, as shown in Fig. 11.
Some of the thongs are caught over the rim, while others are passed through holes made in the edge, as in the case of tennis-rackets. Foot-laces are fastened at the front spreader, to which the shoe toes are lashed; for, when traveling, the heels should be allowed to be raised, while the ball of the foot and the whole snow-shoe remain flat on the snow,
The shoe in the form of a tennis-racket is the shape commonly used by the Eskimo, and is about 34 inches long and 15 inches wide. It is made somewhat similar to the Iroquois shoe, but the mesh is more open. The oval shoe is made from two U-shaped rims lashed together at the middle and provided with two spreaders; two stout pieces of rawhide are laced in the ends, and across the middle Fig. 10. a stout lacing of thongs is woven between the spreaders and the sides of the rim.
These and many other forms of snow-shoes can be made by the boy who is interested in snow-shoe traveling, as the wood can easily be had and the rawhide thongs may be purchased at a hardware-store, where they are sold as belt-lacings for machinery, but they can be split and used for the snow-shoes.
Fig. 11. Snow-shoes
It is not true, as one sometimes hears, that snow-shoes enable one to make unusually rapid progress compared with ordinary walking on dry ground. But what is true is that with snow-shoes one may go faster over the snow than he would be able to when using ordinary boots.
Skees.
Skee running and jumping is one of the faorite winter sports in Norway and Sweden, and it is steadily growing in favor in Canada and the northern United States. On very steep hills it is a dangerous sport, but it is perfectly safe to use the skees on either short or long hills that are not too steep; for once you start, you must go to the bottom, and a good skee-jumper must be as agile as a cat and always land feet down when jumping. A good skee of the right proportions should be 9 feet long and 4 inches wide, and made of hickory, oak, or other hard wood, not more than ½ inch thick; and along the entire length, at the bottom, two or three grooves cut in a straight line will hold the skee-slider on his course as the keel does a boat.
Fig. 12. Skees.
The skees are tapered and bent up at the front ends, as shown at 1 in Fig. 12, This can be done by steaming and gradually bending until the proper pitch is obtained.
At the middle of the skee a foot-block is attached and provided with a toe-strap, as shown in Fig. 12. This strap fits under the block, and can be removed if necessary, as a lap is cut at the under side of the block.
A shorter and broader skee is shown in illustration 2 of Fig. 12; this is 5 feet long and 6 inches wide, and is safer for smaller boys to use.
Some of the Norwegian skees are beautifully carved and ornamented, and the boy who has some decorative ability can embellish the tops of his skees and varnish them all over to improve their appearance.
A simpler and cheaper skee, but not so good, is made of a barrel stave, as shown at 3 in Fig, 12.
Ice-sails.
In using an ice-sail the boy is the boat, and by his handling of the sails he can go either before the wind or by tacking, as in a boat. The skating-sails shown in the illustrations are improvements over the old style of attaching two diamond-shaped cloths to the ends of yard-arms. To make the frame obtain two clear pine or white-wood sticks 12 feet long, 1¼ inches square, and taper them slightly toward the ends with a plane; at the same time rounding the corners at the top of one stick and the bottom of the other, as shown at C in Fig. 15, which represents a sawed-off section of both sticks.
With linen line wind the sticks for an inch or two every nine or ten inches of their entire length, to strengthen them; and tint this a dark color, then varnish the sticks or give them two coats of paint. Next get two more sticks, each 5½ feet long and ⅞ inch square, and plane them smooth, at the same time tapering the ends slightly—these are for the cross-arms; and at the middle of each one lash fast a block, 5 inches long and ⅞ inch square, having a pin driven in each end, as shown at A in Fig. 15. These pins fit in small holes made at the inside of the yard-arms, 4½ feet from either end.
Fig. 12. Ice-sails.
The yard-arms are lashed together at the ends, then sprung apart at the middle so that the cross-arm blocks will fit between them. To hold the arms properly in place, a strap should be drawn around the sticks at the middle; and to insure a good prop make a block 6 inches ​long, 2 inches wide, and ⅞ of an inch thick, with two pins at each end, as shown at C in Fig. 15. The pins will fit into small holes in the long sticks, and when the strap is buckled tight the block will be held securely in place. A large flat hook can be lashed fast to this block, and when sailing along before the wind it can be caught over a stout leather belt to help support the weight of the sail.
Fig. 14. Ice-sails.
Two twilled cotton sails are made in the shape shown in Fig. 13, and provided with snaps at the three outer ends, so that they may catch into eyes lashed fast to the ends of the arms and to the long sticks, as shown at B in Fig. 15. The sails can be drawn taut at the inner ends with rings and a strap or light rope or heavy twine.
Fig. 15.
In the ice-sail shown in Fig, 14, two square sails are supported at the ends of crossed yard-arms fourteen feet long.
Four vertical cross-sticks of equal length are made, and at the middle a long block is attached to two of them, as shown at AA in Fig. 14. Pins in the ends of the blocks fit into holes in the long arms, and when the ends of the long arms are bent in they tightly grip the pins and blocks.
Short blocks, each provided with a single pin, are lashed to the outer cross-sticks, eight inches from the ends, and holes made in the outer ends of the long sticks will receive these pins, as shown at DDDD in Fig. 14, the spring of the stick holding both inner and outer cross-sticks in place at the same time. (See Fig. 14.)
Heavy sheeting or unbleached muslin sails can be stretched and bound to the cross-sticks, and when detached they can be rolled up on the sticks.
This sail is handled in the same way as the other skating-sail, but is more powerful, as the sheets are larger. In using skating-sails, the boy should avoid running near to and parallel with deep cracks; if his skate gets into one he may have a bad throw.
Ice-boats.
For rapid traveling over the ice there is nothing to beat an ice-boat, and some that have been constructed on the Hudson River have kept up to and even beaten the fast express trains that run along both shores of the river. Boats of this kind with the speed of an express train are dangerous for boys to play with, but the ordinary ice-boat that will go from ten to twenty miles an hour is within the ability of almost any grown boy to make and safely handle.
The triangular body of the boat is 10 feet long and 8 feet wide, and the bowsprit projects 6 feet beyond the timber A in Fig. 16. The frame is made of clear spruce timbers 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick. Timber A is 8 feet, BB are 11 feet, C is 5 feet, and DD are each 3 feet long. At the front corners and at the back the timbers are beveled, as shown, and, are joined with long bolts as indicated by the dotted lines. Timbers C and DD are set in place and securely fastened with long steel-wire spikes, then the bowsprit E is mounted against timber C and laid over timber A, to which it is bolted fast. A half inch iron pin is driven in the butt-end of the bowsprit, and it fits into a hole made in timber C. The bowsprit is cut from a piece of spruce 2¼ by 4 and tapered at the outer end, where a “thimble” having three eyes is driven on. The top eye receives the forestay, and the side ones the bobstay cables that run to the corners of the boat, where they are drawn taut with ​turn-buckles. The shoe-blocks FF are 24 inches long and 3 inches square on the end, and are bolted to the timbers A and B as shown. At the stern a triangular block is mounted between the ends of the timbers BB, through which the rudder-post will pass. The decking-planks marked G are then attached to the frame with screws or steel nails.
The mast-step is made by attaching two 12-inch pieces of plank, 18 inches long and 1¼ thick, to the inner sides of timbers DD. Across the top of them attach another plank, and in the middle of it cut a hole 3½ inches in diameter, or large enough to receive the mast. In the bowsprit, directly under the large hole, make a small one to receive a ¾-inch pin. The iron pin is to be driven in the bottom of the mast so that 6 inches of it projects beyond the bottom of the stick. These will form the mast-step, and when the mast is in place and held by the forestay and shrouds it cannot jump out.
Iron stancheon rods are attached to the top of the mast-step and to the inside of timber A, as shown in Fig. 17. The shoes are of tire-steel, and will have to be made by a black-​smith, The front ones are 30 inches long, curved up at the. front, as shown at A in Fig. 19, an beveled at the bottom so as to form a gripping or cutting edge, and when mounted the lower edge is at the outside of the boat. Shanks with belt-tops and collars pass through the holes made in the shoe-blocks FF, and are securely held with nuts screwed down on washers so as not to cut the wood.
Fig. 19. Shoe, tiller, and rudder of an ice-boat.
The rudder (B in Fig, 19) is a chisel-edged piece of steel, 12 inches long, turned up at both ends and mounted at the foot of a shank (C), which is provided with a collar, a square shoulder for the tiller (1D) to fit on, and a threaded top so that a nut will hold the tiller in place. The shoes can be made only of steel or iron, as wooden ones are useless.
The mast is 12 feet high and 3½ or 4 inches in diameter, slightly tapered near the top. The gaff is 6 feet long, and the boom 12 feet.
The mainsail measures 8 feet on the mast, 5 on the gaff, 11 on the boom, and the leech is 13 feet long (see Fig. 14). The jib is 10 by 6 by 8. This sail area will present a good surface to the wind, and under an ordinary breeze the boat should make from eight to twelve miles an hour with two or three boys on the deck. The rigging is done in the same manner in which boats are fitted up. The spars should be varnished, and the boat may be painted or, if preferred, simply varnished.
The twin-mast ice-boat shown in Fig. 18 is the same size as the other one, and built in the same manner, except that timbers DD in Fig. 16 are omitted and a smaller deck is laid at the stem. One foot back from the comers, 3-inch masts are stepped in holes made in the timbers BB to receive half-inch iron pins driven in the foot of the masts. The sticks are 11 feet long and lashed together at the top, or bolted with several long, thin bolts, as shown in the illustration. They pitch forward at a slight angle, making the forestay 11 feet long. The gaff is 16 feet long, the boom 18, and the leech of the sail is 14.
The gaff is hauled up into the crotch formed by the masts, and a sel of blocks and tackle at the bottom of the sail on the boom and the deck will haul the sail in the proper position, so that the back will not drop down. It then swings free between the masts, and the jib and mainsail form one large sheet, so that when the main-sheet foes to one side or the other, the jib always takes the opposite position, and the wind is playing on the entire sail at all times.
This is a very easy rig to handle, as it relieves the steersman from the bother of the jib-sheets, which are annoying in a stiff breeze.
Fig. 20. A Wind-runner.
A Wind-runner.
From the detailed description of the ice-boat and a careful study of Fig. 20, the boy will be able easily to make the simpler wind- runner. Its length is 12 feet and the front board of the triangle is 6 feet long. The mast is 8 feet high and the yard-arm 7 feet. The sail may be made of unbleached muslin. This boat cannot run very close to the wind, being intended for running before the wind, or nearly so. A good safe boat for the younger boys.