Things To Make Part 4

For standards use a couple of the small angle irons used for supporting shelves, and sold at about a penny each. These are screwed on to the board 2 inches from what may be considered to be the rear edge, and are so s.p.a.ced as to leave room for a washer on each spindle between the roller and the standards, to diminish friction.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 26.-Side elevation of disappearing target apparatus.]

Remove one standard, and drive into the roller a piece of stout wire with its end bent to form an eye. The inclination of the arm to the roller is shown in Fig. 26.

To the front of the board now nail a rectangle of stout sheet iron, long and deep enough to just protect the standards and roller. Place the roller in position, insert a target, and revolve the roller to bring the target vertical. A small wire stop should now be fixed into the baseboard to prevent the arm coming farther forward, and a hole for the operating string be drilled in the protection plate at the elevation of the eye on the arm. The edges of this hole need careful smoothing off to prevent fraying of the string. A small eyelet or bra.s.s ring soldered into or round the hole will ensure immunity from chafing.

Drive a couple of long wire nails into the front edge of the board outside the iron screen to wind the string on when the target is put away.

It may prove a convenience if plain marks are made on the string at the distances from which shooting will be done.

The above description covers apparatus for working two or more targets simultaneously on a long roller, or separately on separate rollers mounted on a common baseboard.

If it is desired to combine with the apparatus a "stop" for the bullets, the latter (a sheet of stout iron of the requisite strength) may be affixed to the rear of the baseboard, and furnished with a handle at the top to facilitate transport.

IX. CABINET-MAKING.

A Match-box Cabinet.

This is useful for the storage of small articles, such as stamps, pens, seeds, needles, and a number of other minor things which easily go astray if put in a drawer with larger objects.

The best boxes for the purpose are those used for the larger Bryant and May matches. Select only those boxes of which the tray moves easily in the case.

The cases should be stood on end on some flat surface while being glued together. A box or drawer with truly square corners is useful for a.s.sembling them in; if they are packed into one corner they cannot slew about. Press the boxes together while the glue is setting.

Now glue the back ends of the cases (from which the trays should have been removed), and press them against a piece of thin card. When the glue is dry, apply some more with a small brush to the back angles inside the covers, to ensure a good hold on the backing. Trim off the card to the outline of the pile.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 27.--Match-box cabinet.]

Select for the front end of the drawer that for which the wood is doubled over. Paste outside the end a piece of white paper, whereon words and numbers will be more plainly visible. The life of the trays will be increased if the insides are neatly lined with thin paper.

For "handles" use boot b.u.t.tons, or loops of thin bra.s.s wire, or bra.s.s paper clips. To give the cabinet a neat appearance you should cover it outside with paper of some neutral tint; and if you wish it to be stable and not upset when a rather sticky drawer is pulled out, glue it down to a solid wooden base of the proper size.

A Cardboard Cabinet.

We now proceed to a more ambitious undertaking--the manufacture of a cabinet for the storage of note-paper, envelopes, labels, etc. The only materials needed are some cardboard and glue; the tools, a ruler and a very sharp knife. For the marking out a drawing board and T-square are invaluable. The cardboard should be fairly stout, not less than 1/16 inch thick.

Begin with the drawers; it is easier to make the case fit the drawers than vice versa.

Mark out the drawers as shown in Fig. 28. The areas AA are the front and back; BB the sides. The dotted lines indicate the lines along which the cardboard is bent up. The sides are of exactly the same length as the bottom, but the front and back are longer than the bottom by twice the thickness of the cardboard, so as to overlap the sides. (The extra length is indicated by the heavy black lines.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 28.--Drawer of cardboard cabinet marked ready for cutting.]

Measure and cut out very carefully to ensure all the drawers being of the same size. Lay a piece of card under the thing cut to avoid blunting the knife or damaging the table. When the blanks are ready, cut them almost through along the dotted lines. Use several strokes, and after each stroke test the stubbornness of the bend. When the card is almost severed it will bend up quite easily. Note.--Bend as shown in the inset C; not the other way, or you will snap the card. If you should be so unlucky as to cut the card through in places, paste a strip of thin paper along the line before turning up.

The four flaps are now bent up, glued together, and covered outside with paper. This part of the business is easy enough if a small square-cornered wooden box be used as a support inside at each angle in turn. It is advisable to glue strips along all the bends both inside and outside. The external strips should be flattened down well, so as to offer no loose edges.

Compare the drawers, and if one is slightly wider than the rest, use it to guide you in making the measurements for the case.

The sides and back of the case are cut out of a single piece. The sides should be a quarter of an inch deeper than the drawers to allow some overlap; the back slightly wider than the drawer.

As each drawer will be separated from that above it by a shelf, allowance must be made for the shelves, and also for a twentieth of an inch or so of "play" to each drawer. To keep on the safe side leave a little extra stuff to be removed later on.

Cut out the bottom to fit inside the back and sides exactly, and a sufficient number of shelves of precisely the same size as the bottom.

Attach the bottom to the sides and back with internal and external strips.

When the glue has set, place the guide drawer in position, and lay on it a piece of thin card to cover it over. This card is merely a removable "s.p.a.cer." Along the side and back edges of the shelf stick projecting strips of stout paper. When the adhesive is dry, turn the strips round the end at right angles to the division, glue them outside, and lay the division in position on top of the "s.p.a.cer."

Place the second drawer and shelf in like manner, and continue till the top of the cabinet is reached. Then mark off and cut away any superfluous card.

Glue the top edges, and stand the cabinet head downwards on a piece of cardboard. Trim off the edges of this, and the top is completed, except for binding the corners.

Then attend to the outside back corners of the case, and paste strips in the angles under the shelves. The strips should be forced well into the angles.

For handles use bra.s.s rings let sufficiently far through the fronts of the drawers for a wedge of card to be slipped through them and stuck in position. The appearance of the cabinet will be enhanced by a neatly applied covering of paper.

A Cigar-box Cabinet.

At the rate of a halfpenny or less apiece one may buy the cigar boxes made to hold twenty-five cigars. These boxes, being fashioned by machinery, are all--at any rate all those devoted to a particular "brand"--of the same dimensions; they are neatly constructed, and their wood is well seasoned.

Anyone who wishes to make a useful little cabinet may well employ the boxes as drawers in the said cabinet (Fig. 29).

Each box should be prepared as follows:-Remove the lid and paper lining, and rub all the paper binding off the outside angles with a piece of coa.r.s.e gla.s.s paper. This is a safer method than soaking-off, which may cause warping and swelling of the wood. Then plane down the tops of the two sides till they are flush with the back and front, and glue into the corners small pieces of wood of right-angled-triangle section to hold the sides together and the bottom to the sides. To secure the parts further cut a number of large pins down to 3/4 inch, and drive these into the sides through holes carefully drilled in the bottom. Finally, rub the outside of the drawer well with fine gla.s.s paper or emery cloth till the surface is smooth all over.

The Case.--If mahogany can be obtained for this, so much the better, as the wood will match the boxes. In default of it, a white wood, stained, will have to serve.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 29.--Cabinet with cigar-box drawers.]

The two sides of the case should be prepared first Wood 3/8 inch thick is advised. Each side is 1 inch wider than the depth (outside) of a drawer from front to back. (Whether the drawers shall slide in lengthways or flatways is for the maker to decide.) The length of a side is calculated on the basis that the drawers will be separated from one another by runners 1/4 to 5/16 inch deep, and that a slight clearance must be allowed for the drawers to slide in and out freely. In the first instance cut the sides a bit too long. If it be preferred to insert the bottom between the sides, the length must be increased accordingly.

The runners are cut out of the box lids, and planed till their top and bottom edges are parallel. Their length is 1/4 inch less than the depth of a drawer. To fill up the s.p.a.ces between the drawers in front you will need some slips of the same depth as the runners, and 3/8 inch longer than the drawer, so that they may be let 3/16 inch into the sides of the case at each end.

Affixing the Runners.--This is a very easy matter if a wooden s.p.a.cer, slightly wider than the depth of the drawer, is prepared. Having decided which is to be the inside face and the forward edge of a side, lay the side flat, and apply the s.p.a.cer with one edge flush with the bottom of the side, or as far away from it as the thickness of the bottom, as the case may be, and fix it lightly in position with a couple of tacks. The first runner is laid touching the s.p.a.cer and a little back from the edge to give room for the cross-bar, and fastened by means of short tacks, for which holes had better be drilled in the runner to prevent splitting. The s.p.a.cer is now transferred to the other side of the runner, and the second runner is fastened on above it; and so on till all the runners are in position. The square should be used occasionally to make sure that the tops of the runners are parallel to one another. The other side having been treated in like manner, any spare wood at the top is sawn off.

The notches for the front cross-bars between drawers are cut out with a very sharp narrow chisel.

The Top and Bottom.--Make the top of the same thickness as the sides; the bottom of somewhat stouter wood. If the bottom is cut a bit longer than the width of the case, and neatly bevelled off, it will help to smarten the appearance of the cabinet.

When fixing the sides to the bottom and top get the distance correct by placing the top and bottom drawers in position, and insert a piece of thin card between one end of the drawer and the side. This will ensure the necessary clearance being allowed for.

The Back.--Cut this out of thin wood. The top of a sweetstuff box-costing about a halfpenny--will do well enough. It should be quite rectangular and make a close fit, as it plays the important part of keeping the case square laterally. Bevel its back edges off a bit. Push it in against the back ends of the runners, and fix it by picture brads driven in behind.

The front bars should now be cut to a good fit and glued in the notches.

This completes the construction.

Drop handles for the drawers may be made out of semicircles of bra.s.s wire with the ends turned up. The handles are held up to the drawer by loops of finer wire pa.s.sed through the front and clinched inside.