Franklin Institute Library 
 
 FHILUbELPHKI 
 
 Accessioirl^io^ [ 
 
^Qg Pahing for ^ma^FUP^ : 
 
 BEING 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE HOME CONSTRUCTION OF 
 SIMPLE WOODEN TOYS, AND OF OTHERS THAT 
 ARE MOVED OR DRIVEN BY WEIGHTS, 
 CLOCKWORK, STEAM, ELECTRICITY, &c. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 By JAMES LUKIN, B.A., 
 
 (author of "turning for amateurs," "carpentry and joinery fou amateurs," ; 
 
 "working in sheet metal," &C.) . *,':■ 
 
 London : 
 
 L. UPCOTT GILL, "THE BAZAAR" OFFICE, 170, STRAND, W.C. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY ALFRED BRADLEY, 170, STRAND, W.C. 
 
 \ 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 The art of Toymaking may be said to be as old as humanity. If Adam 
 and Eve were, by the peculiarity of their adult condition, debarred from 
 childish recreations, it may fairly be concluded that Cain and Abel 
 initiated youthful games, and made toys of the sticks and stones, or even 
 priceless jewels that met their view, and which, no doubt, suggested 
 ideas handed down to the present race of babies and children. Astride 
 upon a fallen bough, no doubt the wooden horse was simulated as it is 
 in the present day by the early races of juvenile equestrians, and most 
 probably mud pies and other luxuries were not unknown to the pristine 
 families of inventive juveniles. At any rate, toys are to infant minds 
 more sought after than books, and mud pies are appreciated as being 
 better than none. But if we need toys to delight the youngsters, we 
 must have toymakers, and the choice is given us of those much-to-be- 
 dreaded toyshops and the home manufactory. Being mechanically 
 inclined, and having a wholesome dread of those aforenamed toyshops, 
 where every youngster wants everything, and whence he emerges more 
 dissatisfied than he was before, we have endeavoured to teach the art of 
 toj! making, so that youthful hands and minds may be engaged, and 
 gather that satisfaction from their toys which can only be attained by 
 actually making them. Moreover, we regard toymaking as an excellent 
 introduction to the mechanical arts generally, and have therefore not 
 been content to describe the simpler toys, but have advanced, in the 
 latter part of the volume, to those which are of a scientific and practically 
 useful character. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/toymakingforamatOOIuki 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As long as there are children to be amused, so long must we provide 
 entertainment for them, and so long will toys exist and toy shops 
 flourish. But though not extremely aged, I am old enough to be able to 
 draw invidious comparisons between the toys of my childhood and those 
 provided for the young of the present generation, and in few articles 
 has such an astonishing improvement been made. Talk of the march 
 of intellect — the march of toydom beats it hollow! I do not believe a 
 modern baby would look at such rude creations as delighted the babies 
 of fifty years ago. How well I remember the approved type of doll, with 
 its meaningless stare, its illshaped body, and flat lath-like arms and legs. 
 Or if we were, by some rare chance, the happy possessors of a doll of 
 wax — only allowed to be fondled on state occasions — there were still the 
 expressionless features, the staring eyes, set in two shapeless clefts that 
 did duty for eyelids, and generally uninteresting character, which, 
 happily, we were unable to criticise. Look at the doll of the period, even 
 the cheaper sample, with its nicely formed features and pleasing ex- 
 pression of countenance — many of them absolutely pretty and almost in- 
 telligent looking. 
 
 And if we pass from dolls, and such like, to the really instructive and 
 highly interesting toys of our time — the scientific and mechanical ones — 
 "we simply arrive at a class utterly unknown in olden days. These, 
 indeed, pass in an almost unbroken line from the mere toy to the really 
 useful article like the Is. 6 d. or 2s. clocks now so largely imported from 
 Switzerland and elsewhere, the drawing frame for sketching from nature^ 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 the shilling' pentagraph, and other graphs and contrivances which children 
 of any age may use as a means of recreation or otherwise. 
 
 Slightly removed from the genus toy, we arrive at the fret saw, which 
 youngsters, say, of twelve years, or even less, may easily use, after a 
 little careful instruction, and which is a very serviceable addition to the 
 box of tools. This box, like other such articles, has advanced materially 
 in quality, and is not the utterly useless affair it used to be (unless we 
 foolishly expect for 6d. what no one can make at double the price). 
 But in very many cases, especially with a few simple and inexpensive 
 tools, we can make toys at home ; and home work of this kind offers 
 this advantage, that it interests those for whom we are working, 
 and therefore renders a double service. The work of construction 
 interests, and the result still remains a source of pleasure and satis- 
 faction. This I have proved many a time and often, and day by 
 day have I been watched by one or more patient and expectant young- 
 ster, as some much desired toy has gradually assumed the well known 
 form, and slowly progressed towards completion. I have never found 
 the interest slacken, and have purposely worked with the utmost 
 deliberation to make the work last the longer. An observant child, 
 too, of even four years, will criticise each article very keenly, looking 
 for some salient detail which it has learnt to regard as an essential 
 part of the toy, a criticism it is always safe to indulge and wise 
 to foster. In a wooden engine, for instance, while a child of three 
 years may be content with a cylindrical body mounted on four wheels, 
 with a chimney at one end, a boy of four, who has probably had 
 opportunities of seeing a real engine, will be looking for the dome on 
 the boiler, or the cylinders at the sides, or tender behind, and after a 
 while he will expect to see a moving piston-rod, or some indication of 
 mechanical action while dragging along the helpless machine of which, as 
 yet, he is content to be the source of motion. A few years more, and 
 the child ceases to regard this type with satisfaction. The incongruity 
 of an engine which needs to be dragged along by its owner strikes him 
 forcibly, and he begins to pine for the working model — clockwork first, 
 perhaps, but subsequently the real thing — an engine worked by steam. 
 
 Now, we can buy toys of the make-believe kind or otherwise at a cheap 
 enough rate, but we can construct them nearly or quite as well, with the 
 advantageous results already spoken of. If we confine our labours to the 
 make-believe class, such as wooden engines, we shall find work of real 
 interest to ourselves as well as to the small fry who are ultimately to 
 become the possessors of our handiwork ; if we go further, and aim at 
 something higher and more real, that interest will increase, and in these 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 days of amateur handicraft we shall here discover new and varied sub- 
 jects for home work and home invention. 
 
 Toy-making in a humble way is by no means uncommon among the 
 poorer classes, and by the aid of a pocket knife, not of the sharpest, and 
 a few simple materials, cottagers' children often supply themselves with 
 tops and kites, carts and barrows, which, rude as they may be, bear hard 
 knocks and rough usage a deal better than the more finished produc- 
 tions of the toy shop. I have, indeed, now and then substituted 
 a properly- turned pegtop of ''own manufacture" for the less elegant 
 article, and have found it treasured far more than if I had purchased 
 and presented it ; and those readers not blessed with youngsters of their 
 own have plenty of scope among the children of the poor for similar 
 acts of thoughtful kindness, which will be appreciated to an extent they 
 would hardly believe. Toys, except in the most limited degree, are, in 
 fact, unknown luxuries in the cottage. 
 
 In a manual devoted to toys and toymaking, I feel that some 
 classification is necessary, and one or two plans appear to offer them- 
 selves for consideration. I might divide them into wooden and metal 
 toys, and this arrangement presents some advantage, as a different class 
 of tools is needed for each. Or I might draw the line between simple 
 make-believe toys and those working by clockwork, steam, or other 
 power. But the actual division is more difiicult to define than at once 
 appears. In the first place many toys are made with advantage of wood 
 and metal in combination, and although of these a good many only need 
 thin metal cut out and attached without solder, others cannot be satis- 
 factorily made without the latter, so that for their construction some 
 knowledge, at least, of two trades, the carpenter's and tinman's, is im- 
 peratively necessary. I cannot, therefore, draw a decided line between toys 
 of wood and of metal, so, consequently, intend following a different plan, 
 working from the simpler to the more complicated, and placing mechanical 
 toys in a class by themselves. Practically, this .will offer an advantage 
 of another kind. The simpler toys will be within the powers of many 
 of our younger readers, while the more complex will follow as the powers 
 of these readers increase by practice, and will, in the meantime, afford 
 recreation and interest to those who are already fairly versed in the arts 
 of construction. 
 
 There is no difficulty in toy making, nor much in ordinary carpentering, 
 to anyone who can fit a mortice and tenon joint well. But to do so 
 entails first the accurate squaring up of the pieces to be framed together. 
 This is the very first lesson to be learnt, and not an easy one. But it 
 is no use to scamp work, whether small or great ; and that dogged 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 perseverance which will overcome most difficulties in this world is 
 absolutely necessary to insure success in carpentering. It is for this 
 reason I would urge toymaking on the notice of my younger readers as 
 well as those of maturer years. It is not for the sake of the toys them- 
 selves, but to promote the practice of carpentry, that I determined to 
 write this book. I want the manufacture of the toy to lead up to that 
 of the real article, be it barrow, cart, roller, or the articles of furniture 
 of a doll's house. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORDINARY TOOLS AND MATERIALS. 
 
 A LARGE number of the cheapest toys imported are made almost entirely 
 ot unplaned wood split up by the paring knife, such as is used by 
 many turners in preparing wood for the lathe. This consists of a blade 
 in the centre of a lever hinged at one end to the workbench, and with 
 a handle at the other. The tool may be bought at the shops under 
 the name of a paring knife, and although we may, perhaps, get along 
 without it, it is well worth our attention, if not just at first, yet at no 
 distant date, for by the time we approach the construction of better 
 class toys, we shall find it of very great value. A simpler tool, however, 
 for splitting up small pieces (an operation often required) is a shoe- 
 maker's or glazier's knife. The latter is made with leather sides, to 
 form a handle, which saves the hand from the jar caused by the 
 blow, and it is purposely made to withstand the blows of the hammer. 
 It is called a hacking knife. The former is a useful tool, and is a good 
 shaped knife for the work, having a handle of wood of sufficient size to 
 afford a firm grip, while the blade is as long and broad as that of a short 
 dinner knife, the handle of which is scarcely of sufficient substance for 
 the purpose. 
 
 A small saw — a tenon or mitre saw — will certainly be needed for cutting 
 across the grain, and a small plane to trim up the edges of the pieces. 
 The little iron planes at one and two shillings each are very useful for 
 this purpose, as well as for many others connected with household 
 carpentry. A small gimlet or two (preferably twisted), two or three 
 bradawls, a glue pot, hammer, and light mallet, with a couple of small 
 chisels — one very narrow (iin.), the other |in. — will enable us to do 
 a lot of simple work, our chief difficulty at the outset being the 
 production of round pieces for wheels without a lathe to make them with ; 
 but, for early attempts, I will presently describe two fairly efficient 
 
6 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 substitutes. For nails we shall need small brads or sprigs, and these 
 are, in some respects, preferable to the wire nails, of which, however, a 
 small supply will be most advantageous. Gluepot and brush, with a half- 
 pound or so of the best glue, must not be omitted. For the production 
 of small round pieces of wood, the size of shillings and halfpence, for use 
 as wheels, of which you are sure to need a good many, a gun punch, 
 commonly used for cutting gun wads, and a centrebit, such as is used by 
 carpenters, with the scooping part of it filed off, so as only to leave the 
 centre point and plain cutter, will be required. You can make a punch of 
 larger size if you can get hold of a bit of steel tube, but the gun punch is 
 easily obtained, and you can get one of the largest. Probably you may 
 meet with hollow punches, of still larger size employed by saddlers, 
 plumbers, and others who work in leather. 
 
 There is, indeed, another tool used like a centrebit, the brace, by 
 means of which leather, card, or thin wet wood 
 may be cut out in circular pieces ; but it is not 
 generally procurable in country tool shops. It is 
 a sort of expanding centre bit, ingeniously though 
 simply made, and not expensive ; but a small and 
 cheap hand fret saw will do the work better, and 
 serve for other purposes, which the article alluded 
 to will not. 
 
 There is a simple little tool, called a bevel, which 
 carpenters generally make for themselves of wood, 
 but which may be made of wood and metal, or it 
 can be purchased. This is almost necessary for 
 the toy maker to set off such bevels as those to 
 which I shall allude shortly. It is sketched in two 
 forms in Fig. 1, A, B. It will be seen to be simi- 
 lar to a shut up pocket knife or razor. The best 
 and simplest way to make it is to take the bit 
 of wood to form the handle — mahogany, beech, ash, or some tolerably 
 hard wood not likely to split — and after planing it true on all sides, to 
 make a saw cut down the middle to within an inch of the lower end. 
 This will at once form the handle. For the blade a bit of thin mahogany, 
 hoop iron, old saw plate, or similar thin but stiff material may be used, a 
 hole being drilled near the end for the rivet, and, to prevent splitting, a 
 rivet and washers may also be passed through where the inch of solid 
 wood was left at the other end of the handle. In the other, and more 
 approved form, with long blade, the rivet is replaced by a screw and 
 thumb nut, the former working through a slot in the blade. By this 
 
 Fig. 1,— The Bevel. 
 
ORDINAEY TOOLS AND MATERIALS. 7 
 
 means, when the blade is set to the required angle or bevel, it is readily- 
 secured and prevented from shifting by a turn of the thumb screw, a h. 
 For permanent bevels, i.e., where a large number of pieces are to be cut 
 to the same slope, it is better at once to cut out a template or pattern 
 from a bit of tin, zinc, or thin wood, and to work from this instead of 
 using an adjustable bevel, with movable blade. The latter tool is first 
 cousin to the square, and may be called a square with a shifting blade, 
 which can, of course, be set at right angles to the handle, as well as to 
 any other that may be needed. 
 
 Now and then our stock of tools will need additions, but this we 
 shall allude to as the special necessity may arise. To recapitulate we 
 shall start with the following : — 
 
 Small tenon or mitre saw. 
 Hack knife and s hoemaker's ditto. 
 Two small bradawls. 
 Two small gimlets. 
 Glue-pot and brush. 
 
 Centrebit and brace. 
 Small hand fret saw. 
 Two chisels, im. and ^in. 
 Hammer and light mallet. 
 Bevel. 
 
 Gun punch. 
 
 We shall hardly get on without a small hand saw as well, and I must 
 pre-suppose a work-bench or strong table to be at hand. 
 
 Although we need wood such as willow or lime for purposes where a 
 tendency to split would be a drawback, we need in very many other oases 
 wood that will split with facility, foremost among such being clean yellow 
 pine deal, free from knots and irregularities of grain. This last is 
 generally more easy to obtain than the rest, as all carpenters use it, but 
 I think all those named can be had, cut in neat thin boards, at such 
 places as Samuel Smithers', and other advertisers of material for fret- 
 work. Frequently, too, willow and lime may be had without much 
 difficulty, but it should be cut into pieces of not more than iin. thick, 
 and preferably fin. The universal introduction of the fret saw has made 
 such material far more common than before, as these woods are exten- 
 sively used for fretwork and carving, and are kept sawn up ready for 
 such work. For toys of a higher class we shall find oak, ash, beech, 
 and mahogany serviceable ; but to use these we shall need a lathe of 
 some sort which at the outset we should endeavour to do without. 
 
 Never buy inferior glue ; it is cheap, but fit only to make size for 
 painters and paper-hangers. Choose, instead of this thick tough abomi- 
 nation, the clearest, thinnest, and most brittle that you can get. 
 
 The preparation of glue is a most essential art, and very generally 
 neglected. Young hands especially appear to think that the more thick 
 glue they heap upon the work the stronger will be the join. The usual 
 
8 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 course is to put some pieces of glue in the inner vessel of the glue-pot, 
 with some hot or cold water, half fill the outer vessel with water, and 
 put on the glue-pot to boil as quickly as possible, give a stir, daub it on, 
 put the pieces together, and imagine they must stick fast. This is 
 totally wrong. Prepare the glue by putting it into cold water in the inner 
 vessel some hours before it is wanted, and there let it soak. It will not 
 dissolve, but swell considerably, and form a gelatinous mass. Put the 
 pot on with plenty of cold water in the outer vessel and let it gradually 
 boil. The glue will now quietly melt, and, if you have not put in too 
 much in proportion to the water, it will not be stringy or thick, but will 
 be about the consistency of cream, if not add a little more water and stir 
 it. Never use it thicker than cream — it must run quite freely from the 
 brush and not hang in clots upon the work. Perhaps treacle in summer, 
 or clear run honey may be a better comparison to make, and I am par- 
 ticular in speaking about it, as glue is nearly always used too thick and in 
 too great quantity, and thus keeps the parts separated instead of holding 
 them in close contact. Hence a golden rule is to put on as little glue 
 as possible, and also to let it be boiling hot, and the wood also well 
 heated. Then if the parts are bound or clamped till dry the joint will 
 be so good that the pieces will break at either side, and tear asunder 
 the fibres of the wood rather than give way along the joint itself. 
 
 Another requisite for good work is a bowl of hot water and a bit of 
 sponge, to be freely used at once to wipe off glue which has run out of 
 the joint or dropped on to the work. For you must work quickly, not 
 minding a chance splash of this kind, especially in glueing up a long 
 joint. Any glued work must be clamped with strong screw clamps or 
 otherwise till dry. If you have to join two edges — as, for instance, to 
 unite two boards to increase the width — set one up on edge in a vice, or 
 so that it will remain thus ; brush glue along the edge, and also on that 
 of the board to be united to it, for which purpose place the second by the 
 side of the first, edge upwards, so that you can glue both at the same 
 time ; then laying the loose board in its place, move it a few times to and 
 fro upon the other, and it will begin to stick ; then quickly adjust it, and 
 let it remain till dry. Long boards require two people to manage this 
 one at each end^ to keep the top one from slipping off as the work 
 proceeds. Such joints, made by practised hands, are almost invisible. 
 Of course the edges must be planed beautifully true, but we shall not 
 have to deal with long joints in our work, and the glueing operations 
 needed will be of the easiest. 
 
 In painting toys, which are vastly improved by bright and showy 
 colours, it is a good plan to add copal varnish to the paint, as it 
 
ORDINARY TOOLS AND MATERIALS. 
 
 9 
 
 gives it body and lustre, and saves you from having to varnish it 
 afterwards. The so-called lacquers with which model engines and 
 machines are coloured is made in this way. If it should become too 
 thick to flow easily from the brush, it may be thinned with turpentine. 
 Wash the brushes by rinsing in turpentine, finishing with soap and warm 
 water. Varnish brushes, however, when intended for this purpose alone, 
 may remain in the varnish, or, if strained and allowed to dry, a little 
 hammering of the bristles will cause the varnish (which is then dry resin 
 or gum) to crack and crumble to powder, which you can shake and dust 
 out easily. 
 
 Paints can now be bought of all colours, ready mixed, in lib. and ilb. 
 tins ; but the first coat should always be in lead, usually a grey or lead 
 colour. Many colours have but little body by themselves, and sink into 
 the wood, so that a great many coats are required to bring them to a 
 good surface. Lead has great body and prevents this, and when dry 
 other colours can be laid upon it to suit the taste. Any painter will 
 mix you the colours required if you do not care to get the tins, but they 
 are very handy. Nevertheless, I must confess that these tinned paints 
 do not seem to me to dry very hard. The green I have known remain 
 sticky for a long time, though sufficiently dry not to come off on the 
 clothes. It is a question, however, of " driers,'' as it is called — a prepara- 
 tion of lead put into the oils to make the colours dry well and quickly 
 — and which can be had separately at any painter's shop. If a coat of 
 varnish is added after the paint is dry, it should be put on very thinly, 
 and on no account is a second coat to be added till the first is quite dry 
 and hard, or you will get a sticky surface and in every respect a bad 
 appearance. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EXPEDIENTS AND MAKESHIFTS. 
 
 Under this head are included various handy contrivances calculated to 
 give assistance to the toymaker. Sometimes it may happen that he is 
 unable to get a proper bench vice, and has to devise an efficient substitute 
 to enable him to set upon edge, for planing, the small boards which he has 
 occasion to use in his work. One of the simplest contrivances I have 
 sketched in Fig. 2, giving a front and end view to render the arrangement 
 
 Fig. 2.— Contrivance for Holding Boards on Edge. 
 
 clear. D, in the right hand figure, represents the front board of the 
 work-bench, the shaded one being the top. To this front board is attached^ 
 by two screw bolts and nuts, a block (E), wedge shaped, as shown, and 
 to this is held, by the same bolts, the stout front piece (A), also wedge 
 shaped. In the righthand figure E is shaded as a section showing the 
 bolt. C is the board to be planed, resting on the piece (E) and also against 
 the face of the front board (D) of the bench. A wedge (B) is then driven 
 in as shown, holding the work securely. Screw bolts are not always used 
 for this apparatus, but not only do they hold it far more securely against 
 the strain of the wedge, but when the nuts are taken off the whole comes 
 
EXPEDIENTS AND MAKESHIFTS. 
 
 11 
 
 apart, and can be similarly fixed in any other place wherever an upright or 
 horizontal board or squared post can be found as a fixture on which to fix 
 the parts. It is only necessary to bore a couple of holes for the bolts, 
 and the whole affair can be securely arranged in ten minutes. The wedge 
 should be long in proportion to its thickness — a gradual slope — as it will 
 take a better bearing and hold more securely ; a slight tap will drive it 
 tight enough to secure the work. 
 
 Another simple plan for holding a narrow bit of material on edge is 
 that sketched in Fig. 3, where the shaded part is the top of the bench, 
 with the usual planing stop (C). Instead of the end of the work resting 
 directly against this stop, a piece of thick board, about 6in. long, inter- 
 venes, cut out in a large notch 
 
 as shown. The thickness of this 
 auxiliary piece depends on that of 
 the work, of which the edge to be 
 planed must, of course, stand a 
 little above it, but the thicker it is 
 the more support will it afford to 
 each side of the bit of board. It 
 
 is essential that the sides of the Fig. 3.— Wedge for Holding Boaeds. 
 V shaped notch should be per- 
 pendicular, or the work will not stand upright ; and, if preferred, the 
 latter may be further supported by a wedge shaped piece on each side 
 between it and the inside or walls of the notch, but this is not generally 
 needed. 
 
 A good plan is, however, to use the additional simple means shown in 
 Fig. 4, especially if the strip is many inches in length. B is here in 
 section the bench top, and A the strip set on edge to be planed. C is a 
 bit of old saw plate, or steel plate of some sort, about Sin. long, sharp at 
 the ends and lower edge, which is 
 
 little, driving the former firmly 
 
 against the planing stop, and also holding it securely enough for planing. 
 The backward motion of the plane does not draw back the work from 
 the stop as it otherwise would. This contrivance is used by carpenters, 
 with and without the notched auxiliary stop. I have spoken of it as 
 a saw plate, but this is hardly so thick as it should be. There is no 
 
 set up on edge against the end of 
 the work and bench, and secured 
 by a tap from the hammer upon 
 its upper side. The angles thus 
 penetrate the work and bench a 
 
 Fig. 4.— Planing Stop. 
 
12 TOYMAKINa FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 difficulty, however, in finding a bit of steel Sin. long, an incli or two wide, 
 and saw plate will do, if it is part of a pit saw or tolerably thick hand 
 saw. Where there are several pieces requiring to be thus planed on the 
 edge they may, with advantage, be temporarily united, by being placed 
 side by side and secured by a screw clamp at each end, or even by being 
 tied with stout twine. 
 
 One of the best and neatest clamps for this purpose, as well as for 
 many others, is an American one (Fig. 5). It is of cast iron, bronzed, 
 about 4in. long. The sliding arm has in the mor- 
 tice a spring which causes the mortice to catch in 
 any one of the little notches cut in the back of the 
 clamp. It is easily moved into position, according 
 to the thickness of the work, which is then further 
 compressed by a turn or two of the screw. The 
 piece (A) which rests on one side of the work, is 
 capable of turning upon the end of the screw, and, 
 being broad, forms a better face, and does not injure 
 the surface of the work, as the end of the screw 
 itself would do. One great recommendation of 
 Fig. 5.— American the tool is its cheapness. It is to be had of Mr. 
 
 Churchill, of Finsbury, who imports all sorts of 
 American tools and "notions," all cheap and generally good. Two or 
 three should be procured. 
 
 The general practice of the trade seems to be to tack down on the 
 bench a block or two of wood on each side of the strip to be planed, 
 between which blocks it is held. When there are several pieces of the 
 same thickness to be planed, this affords simple and efficient means for 
 supporting them, and temporary expedients of the kind are very general 
 in all workshops. A well-fitted bench, however, generally has in the 
 upper board a number of square mortices at varying distances apart, 
 into any of which blocks can be fitted to act as supports. If these are 
 so arranged as to leave almost the requisite interval, the board can be 
 secured by wooden wedges on one side. 
 
 I have, at Fig. 6, page 13, represented such a bench top and support 
 showing the mortice holes so convenient for holding many kinds of blocks 
 and supports. No one who has not practised carpentry can fully appre- 
 ciate the great advantage of a good work-bench with a smoothly planed 
 top of 2in. stuff, a good vice, and wood stops of various shapes. No 
 one can face up a bit of wood accurately that shifts about under the 
 action of the plane. It frequently happens, too, in toymaking that a 
 bit of stuff has to be planed to an octagon shape, i.e,, after being squared 
 
EXPEDIENTS AND MAKESHIFTS. 
 
 13 
 
 up, the angles are each to be removed more or less. Here again we 
 need blocks, but of a different form, like B, Fig. 6, which can be also 
 made with a tenon to fit the mortice holes in the bench top. The 
 ordinary planing stop will also be used, just as if these blocks were 
 absent. They can be also cut out of lin. boards, like C, and merely rest 
 on the bench without a tenon, the piece to be planed being held between 
 the planing stop and bit of steel or knife edge already explained. So 
 held, it will have no tendency to upset these angular supports, upon 
 which it rests. True, our present carpentry is in miniature, which only 
 means that the apparatus must be proportionately small, and that the 
 
 Fig. 6,— Bench and Stool with Mortice Holes. 
 
 workmanship ought to be so much the neater, otherwise the operations 
 are identical. 
 
 In many cases, however, a plain table has to do duty for a work- 
 bench, and will answer fairly well for much light work ; but, in that case, 
 if there is any mortising or much hammering to be done, a plank of Sin. 
 stuff ought to be laid on the table to bear the concussion of the blows ; 
 and a common stool, like that shown also in Fig. 6, will be of great 
 service, not only for placing stuff upon for sawing, but also when it has to 
 be mortised or bored with the brace and bits, or trimmed with the 
 hatchet. A small vice, which can be screwed to the table and removed 
 
14 
 
 TOYMAKING FOE, AMATEURS. 
 
 at pleasure, will be necessary, but planing must be done upon tlie sawing 
 stool, as a stop cannot be made to fit the table without damage ; a couple 
 of nails driven almost home in the stool will answer the purpose should 
 occasion arise. Other appliances will be described as we go on with 
 actual work. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LATHE AND ITS APPLIANCES. 
 
 As in wheel making for the various toys, which will hereinafter be 
 described, it is almost impossible to get on without a lathe, I shall 
 devote this chapter to a description of a useful one, and the necessary 
 appliances for simple turning. 
 
 In a small volume on ''Turning for Amateurs," published at The 
 Bazaar Office, 170, Strand, W.C., I have described methods of home 
 construction of lathes as well as some patterns made and sold. Every 
 year, however, developes new and improved shapes, and I have lately 
 come across a small lathe made at Colchester by the Britannia Com- 
 pany that will be found most suitable, and which, from its low price, 
 renders home-made articles of the kind unadvisable. It is a small and 
 exceedingly well made bench lathe, i,e., a lathe intended to stand on 
 a bench or stout table or fixed shelf ; the fly-wheel underneath being, 
 if desired, independent, and on a stand of its own. It will turn articles 
 5in. diameter and about llin. long, and has a slide rest for turning 
 metal, which can be omitted if desired. It is also fitted with two 
 or three plain chucks. The price is .£1 15s., and I am sure no home- 
 made affair would prove so cheap, because all the parts are of good 
 material well fitted together. On stand complete, with flywheel and 
 treadle ready for use, the price is but «£3 10s. ; a rather larger one, to 
 turn Gin. diameter, is .£4 5s., complete. Small lathes of this kind will 
 do all such work as is demanded in toy construction. 
 
 The lathe shown at Fig. 7 on the following page, is on a special table 
 which is sold with it if desired, the under part being properly fitted to 
 take the bearings of the flywheel and of the treadle. The side pieces, or 
 legs, are called the standards, the cross pieces of ornamental shape are 
 the braces, and these are very conducive to the stiffness of the frame, 
 which is so important. The flywheel is mounted upon a fixed stud. A 
 
TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS, 
 pin in one spoke forms the crank, and a connecting rod, caUed in 
 America a pitman, descends to tlie treadle. 
 
 The bed is made with parallel cheeks or " gantrys,'* an ugly American 
 term, and they are accurately faced on the top and edges. Between 
 
 Fig. 7.— Lathe Suitable for Simple Turning. 
 
 them the poppit tenons fit accurately, but easily, and these poppits are 
 secured by their respective bolts, fitted with nuts and washers, or holding- 
 down bolts and plates, as they are also termed. The left-hand poppit 
 
THE LATHE AND ITS APPLIANCES. 
 
 17 
 
 is called the mandril head, and the two together are often termed a set 
 of lathe heads, and can sometimes be purchased alone to fit np on wooden 
 bed and standards. In the mandril head is fitted the mandril, which 
 is the spindle which revolves and carries round the work to be turned. It 
 generally runs in a collar at one end (the right) , and against a pointed 
 steel screw called the back centre or tail pin. The collar is usually of 
 steel, very truly bored and hardened, but it is sometimes of brass or other 
 metal, and is also not unfrequently omitted altogether, the mandril 
 running in the cast iron bored to receive it. All the better lathes, how- 
 ever, have collars, and sometimes there are two instead of one. 
 
 The wheel on which the cord, gut, or strap is placed, and by which 
 the mandril is driven from the flywheel, is caUed the pulley. It is here 
 made of cast iron turned bright, but is often of brass, wood, or gun- 
 metal. The mandril nose, or part which projects through the collar, is 
 here fitted with a chuck — in this case a driver chuck. If this were 
 removed, it would be seen that' the mandril nose has a screw cut upon 
 it, on to which the various chucks are fitted. 
 
 These queerly named articles — chucks — are intended to hold the wood 
 or metal which is to be turned, and are therefore of various shapes. 
 Some are for holding thin flat pieces of board, such as would be used for 
 turning wheels, or platters, or stands of various kinds ; others are for 
 solid blocks, such as we should use in turning boxes ; others for turn- 
 ing metal. The centre chuck, or driver chuck, on the mandril, is one 
 of these. Then we have a hand rest, upon the T of which the tool 
 is held ; a rest consists of the sole which stands upon the bed, and 
 is secured by a bolt and hand nut, the socket, or hollow pillar cast in 
 one piece with the sole, and the T, or tee, which is made with a cylin- 
 drical stem to fit the socket, so that it can be raised or lowered and 
 fixed at any height by the clamping screw at the side. The under side 
 of the sole has a long undercut groove or channel, in which the head 
 of the holding-down bolt fits, so that it can be drawn out or set in 
 nearer to the bed according to the size of the work to be turned. 
 
 There are, in the case of larger lathes than the one illustrated, several 
 such tees, some long, some short, and others, for metal turning, with flat 
 tops, on which the heel of a metal-turning hand tool can rest and take 
 a firm bearing. The other poppit is variously termed the sliding poppit, 
 movable head, or back poppit, and its point, against which one end 
 of the work rests when it is so long as to need such support, is 
 called the back centre. It is generally removable, being screwed into the 
 cylinder or fitting into it by means of a conical end. The lathe here illus- 
 trated would be said to have a cylinder poppit head and leading screw, 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATETJRS. 
 
 because, by turning the hand wheel which is attached to a screw inside, 
 the cylindrical piece of iron into which the centre is fitted is moved to 
 and fro without itself turning round. This is now almost the invariable 
 rule even with cheap lathes, but in old days the back poppit merely carried 
 a pointed screw tapped into it. You may still find these — generally in 
 wooden poppits in carpenters' and wood turners' workshops. They are, 
 
 Fig, 8.— Chucks and Lathe Appliances. 
 
 of course, far inferior to the other pattern, but where ordinary plain work 
 is required, such as carpenters are called upon to do, these poppits serve 
 well enough. The various parts of the lathe will, I think, be now 
 understood by their technical names. 
 
 At Fig. 8 I give a set of chucks and lathe appliances that are abso- 
 lutely necessary even for such simple jobs as are required in the 
 
THE LATHE AND ITS APPLIANCES. 
 
 19 
 
 manufacture of toys. All the chucks screw on to the nose of the mandril. 
 A (Fig. 8) is the taper screw chuck to hold short pieces of soft wood, 
 which do not then need the support of the back centre. You may 
 also use it to hold short pieces of box or hard wood, but must first 
 bore a hole nearly the size of the large end of the taper screw with 
 a drill or gimlet. All bits of board for wheels and such like can be 
 held securely by this chuck. B is the square-hole chuck, and you can 
 fit into it the fork, C ; D, the cross fork ; E, drills and boring bits with 
 squared sockets, or small rods of metal or hard wood squared at one end 
 to fit the hole, which is slightly taper. D, the cross fork, is for hard 
 wood instead of C, which will not take a good hold. A couple of shallow 
 saw cuts are made in the end of the piece to be turned, into which the 
 projecting cross of steel falls. Of course, the saw cuts are made to 
 cross each other at right angles, being, in fact, exactly like the face of 
 this chuck piece. Wood is very firmly held thus, with the assistance 
 of the back centre, and can be taken out and replaced to run truly, 
 which is not easy with most chucks. Instead of the square hole chuck, 
 however, a round hole is often used, tapering somewhat, and the forks 
 and drills are more easily fitted thus to run truly. They are made with 
 one side filed flat, and there is then a side screw to secure them. A 
 square-hole chuck should, however, always be added, even if the round 
 hole is used as well. 
 
 Next, at F, is represented a cup chuck. These are of wood or metal ; 
 generally there are a few of metal varying from Sin. or 4in. diameter 
 down to lin., and any others are made of boxwood, as they chance to be 
 needed. Indeed, you will never get along without a lot of wooden chucksj 
 which you will hollow out to the size you require ; these are plugged 
 and bored again and again till worn out. The metal cup chucks are 
 handy, especially because you have not the trouble and difficulty of 
 cutting the screw thread to fit the mandril, and, of course, if any one is 
 too small or too big, and you have not the precise size needed, all you 
 have to do is to drive in a plug of wood and bore it out to suit the work. 
 But there is no occasion for a great many metal cup chucks, and it is 
 better to make them of boxwood. I generally recommend from four to 
 six as a sufficient stock of metal ones, and you can get on wholly with 
 wooden ones if money is scarce. 
 
 G is the chuck that is ordinarily used for turning bars of iron or steel, 
 and is seldom employed for any other purpose. The socket, G, screws 
 to the mandril. It has a square hole through it sideways, to receive a 
 cranked bar of iron or steel, which is secured by a side screw. A centre 
 point is either made in one piece with it, or screwed in, which is the better 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 plan. It is plain that if we make a central shallow hole with a punch or 
 small drill at each end of the rod to be turned, it can be mounted between 
 centres, as it is called, i.e., held up by the back centre and that of the 
 driver chuck ; but if we set the lathe in motion, the bar will not turn 
 with the mandril, as it only lies between the centres, and is not attached 
 to either. Hence we need a carrier, H, of which various sizes are kept. 
 This is slipped on the bar ac the end next to the mandril, and is clamped 
 to it by the screw. The tail of the carrier will now, therefore, as the 
 mandril rotates, be caught and carried round by the pin of the driver, 
 causing the bar to rotate also. When the furthest end of the work is 
 turned to the required size, the carrier is removed to that end and the 
 bar reversed, end for end, in the lathe. This is, in point of fact, an 
 example of accurate work, supposing in the first place that the lathe 
 centres are true to start with, and this method has one special advantage 
 — that the work can at any time be replaced truly in the lathe if the 
 drilled holes (called centres) are left in the ends of the bar, as they 
 always ought to be. The form of carrier here given is that most com- 
 monly adopted, and from the pear shape of the opening it holds the 
 work well, the screw driving the bar into the more angular part of the 
 opening. There are, however, other forms, some specially made for 
 holding square bars, others for screwed rods, but they need not be 
 detailed here. 
 
 Another form of chuck, G, is sold — a flat face plate, with a projecting 
 pin adjustable in a slot so that it can be put nearer to, or farther 
 from, the centre point, which generally in such case fits in a hole bored 
 in the end of the mandril itself. The pin catches the tail of the carrier, 
 just as the bent bit of iron does in G. There is not much to choose 
 between the two — on the whole, I like G the better ; only one can some- 
 times use the other as a face plate, especially if it has two slots, as it 
 ought to have. The pin fastens with a nut at the back of the plate. 
 
 I represents a pair of outside and J a pair of inside callipers for 
 measuring the size of cylindrical work, solid and hollow. There are also 
 made oat-and-in callipers in one, but they are not much in use, as they 
 seldom give accurate results. The intention of these is to provide means 
 at once to measure hollow work with one end of the instrument, while 
 the other gives the exact size of a cylinder that would fit it. K is a 
 flange or disc chuck, used sometimes to hold bits of plank attached by 
 short screws, inserted from behind, instead of using the taper screw 
 chuck. Sometimes it is made only with little projecting points instead 
 of screw holes, and the work is pressed against it by the point of the 
 back poppit. It is, in fact, a small face plate, and is very useful for 
 
THE LATHE AND ITS APPLIANCES. 
 
 21 
 
 turning a disc of soft wood. This is made also of wood, but is better 
 when of metal. L is a useful, if not indispensable, appliance, called a 
 coneplate or boring collar, generally of metal. The lower part is a low 
 poppit, the circular part a disc of iron iin. thick, which turns on a 
 central bolt, by which it can be securely fixed when required, so as not 
 to turn round or shift its position. Holes of graduated size are made in 
 it as shown, each being conical and turned smooth, the largest part of 
 the holes facing the mandril when in use. Its object is to enable a 
 turner to get at the end of a long piece of wood or metal in order to bore 
 it, which, of course, he could not accomplish while it was supported on the 
 back centre. He therefore removes this, and, selecting one of the holes 
 of the cone plate that will admit the end of the piece, but will not let it 
 pass entirely through, he places this hole upwards, turning the plate 
 round until he sees the work run evenly and truly. Then he fixes the 
 poppit by its holding-down bolt and clamps the round plate by its centre 
 screw and nut, taking the back poppit away altogether. The rod cannot 
 escape or get loose, although the turner is able to get at its end with a 
 drill or boring tool. 
 
 Another way of making this appliance is to have a bit of iron or hard 
 wood like M, the tail of which fits into a hand-rest socket and in the 
 slit of the upper part of which a straight slide, N, fits nicely. This 
 slide has a set of conical holes like those of the circular plate, and 
 can be adjusted to the required position, and clamped by the screw 
 on the top of the part M. Even if M is of iron the slide is very generally 
 made of wood. P is called a turner's square, or depthing gauge. You 
 can make one so easily that it need hardly be bought. Take a bit 
 of hard wood, and plane it up to the form of a strip about 2in. or 
 Sin. long, |in. wide, and about iin. thick. Drill a hole through it 
 exactly at right angles to its length, and large enough to allow a 
 steel rod — a knitting needle of medium size — to pass rather stiffly 
 through it, and it is done. You use it to gauge depth by putting the 
 needle inside the hollow and sliding down the bit of wood till it rests 
 on the edge of the work across the mouth of the hole. By keeping the 
 needle against the wood inside the hole you also find out if the work is 
 square. If bored truly and not conically, the wood slide will rest evenly 
 across the mouth of the hole. These instruments can be bought, beauti- 
 fully made in gunmetal, with either a flat or round steel slide ; but for 
 toy-making and other woodwork it is just as well to have it home made — 
 only the hole in the wood must be correctly bored. To do so, mark all 
 round with the square, and with a gauge (like that described already) make 
 a line across it on both (opposite) sides, and bore where the lines cross 
 
22 
 
 TOYMAKING POE, AMATEURS. 
 
 each other, half from one side and half from the other. This should be 
 done with a drill slightly smaller than the needle or steel rod, and must 
 be followed by another, very little larger, run quite through at once to 
 finish and smooth the hole. In this way you can always bore a hole 
 accurately in any direction, because you mark the point of its entrance 
 and exit first, and insure its going truly from one to the other. 
 
 There is very little lathe work that cannot be managed with the chucks 
 and fittings I have here described and illustrated, and few regular wood 
 turners have more. The only addition, perhaps, is a backstay, a very 
 simple affair as ordinarily made by workmen. It is a wedge-shaped bit 
 of ash, or elm, or beech board, about fin. thick, with a notch sawn in it, 
 as shown at E. The smaller end is placed between the cheeks of the lathe 
 bed, and the rod which is being turned rests in the notch — this prevents 
 the rod bending under the action of the tool, which is the only object 
 of a backstay. A wooden wedge is driven in behind this stay to keep it 
 steady and in light contact with the work, but it must not press against 
 it so as in the least to spring or bend it. There are much more elaborate 
 affairs sold for the same purpose, but, except for rods of metal, none is 
 much more effective in use than the simple one here illustrated, which is 
 commonly used when broom handles, curtain rods, and similar plain 
 articles are turned, which are too long and slender to withstand unaided 
 the application of the turning tool. It is always better to turn without 
 it, notwithstanding, when possible. 
 
 The many turning tools used by those who work in wood and metal, 
 and especially those who practise ornamental turning, are not required 
 for toy-making. A couple of gouges and chisels will do most of the wood 
 work, and for metal, a graver for iron and steel, and a round and 
 flat tool for brass, will enable a great deal to be done. But when I 
 come to speak at length of toys made of metal I may have to call atten- 
 tion to one or two more. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 I WILL now describe the actual use of the lathe and appliances detailed in 
 the last chapter. First as to simple discs of wood to be used for 
 wheels. For these you need only a parting tool, which is very like an 
 exceedingly narrow mortising chisel, but it is ground away on each side 
 of the edge so that it may not jamb in the cut as it proceeds. If you 
 have no such tool, a small mortice chisel will answer, and, indeed, I have 
 frequently used it. 
 
 You must first plane the bit of thin board iin. or fin. thick on both 
 sides, and then cut off a square piece large enough to contain a circle 
 representing the wheel or disc required. Draw lines from opposite 
 corners, cutting each other in the middle, and where they cross bore with 
 a gimlet a hole nearly the size of the bottom of the taper screw of the 
 chuck A, this being the one to use. Screw on the piece tiU it rests quite 
 flat against the face of the chuck, which should be first screwed on to the 
 mandril nose. The work is now securely mounted. Loosen the holding 
 down bolt of the rest and also the screw which secures the T, bring the 
 rest up to the work, turn the T so that it lies flat against and almost 
 touching the work, and adjust the heigh th of it, which should be a little 
 below the line of centres ; this will bring the edge of the tool upon that 
 line, or nearly so. In this case it is not important to place it exactly 
 at that heighth, but it is as well to have it thereabout. 
 
 Now set the lathe in motion, give it a fairly quick speed, and bring 
 the tool gently up to it. When you set a square piece into rapid rota- 
 tion it looks circular, so you are to take special care to place the edge of 
 the tool fairly within the square, or else the angles will catch the tool, 
 and the result will be, in all probability, the speedy detachment of the 
 wood from its chuck, while it will be split in half, and have to be replaced 
 by a new piece. Proceed carefully, therefore, in this respect, and 
 
24 
 
 TOYMAKING FOU AMATEURS. 
 
 advance the tool gently, especially when nearly through, which it will be 
 in a few seconds, and presently the outer part will drop off upon the tool, 
 leaving the disc or wheel upon the chuck. 
 
 Of course, we can hardly call the operation here described turning ; 
 it is merely holding a tool almost still against the face of a bit of board, 
 which board was previously made smooth by the plane. At the same 
 time you may do it well or badly. The wheel may be true on the 
 edge and square to the face, or it may be conical, and in any case it may 
 not be smooth. If ueedful, it may now be trimmed to greater accuracy 
 with a chisel or a gouge. The chisel is the right tool, but must not be 
 held on the rest as now placed, but the tee must be turned round to lie 
 parallel to the lathe bed, and may also be raised much higher, even 
 almost as high as the top of the wheel. Then the chisel can be held 
 almost horizontally, but so as to cut off a very thin shaving, else it 
 will hitch in and split off a bit of the wheel and spoil it. If it is of 
 deal, which splits very easily, there will be still greater danger of this 
 mishap. What you have to attend to is to make the chisel cut and not 
 scrape. If you turn the T of the rest round, keeping it level with 
 the centres, and lay the chisel flat upon it with its edge in contact with 
 the work, it will scrape and not cut smooth ; if you hold it at an 
 angle, sloping the handle downwards a good deal, it will cut, but to 
 slope it sufficiently you will have to hold it so low that it will be 
 awkward to use ; but if you raise the rest nearly to the top of the work 
 as it revolves, the chisel will be at the necessary angle without having to 
 be held thus awkwardly, and you can make it cut the wood nicely 
 and detach a very thin shaving, which is just what you require. 
 
 An easier tool to use is the gouge, but it is a little awkward in this 
 particular case if the wheel or disc of wood is of less size than the chuck? 
 because the tool then touches the face of the chuck ; if it is larger and 
 the gouge is held even at a much greater angle to the work — i.e., not 
 nearly so slantingly — it will cut the wood smooth, and the tool will not 
 catch in. It is not so very important that the edge of a toy wheel should 
 be smooth, but as it affords a lesson in the use of the turning tool, it will 
 certainly be advantageous to finish it in this way. I think that it is quite 
 as well not to allow a novice to use a chisel at all for some time — not, 
 in fact, until practice has enabled him to keep up the treadle action 
 without swaying the upper part of his body and so causing the hands 
 and the tool to partake of the motion of the legs. After a while the 
 turner wiU find that the lathe wheel almost runs of itself, so unconscious 
 does he become of leg work while concentrating his attention on the tool, 
 and he will find no difficulty in standing as steadily on one leg as any 
 
SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 25 
 
 g-oose. At first; however, he will find the treadle work not only laborious, 
 but a source of trouble, owing to the unsteadiness it causes to the arms 
 and hands and, consequently, to the tool. I do not mean, by the by, 
 that leg work at the lathe with a bit of stuff some 6in. in diameter is not 
 sufficiently laborious to be felt — ^far from it, but that when the knack is 
 acquired of driving the lathe in this way the attention is no longer given 
 to it, but concentrated on the work in hand, while the leg moves, as it 
 were, automatically, especially with a light running flywheel. 
 
 To avoid a hitch in, which is the evil common to beginners, attention 
 must be given to the form of tool in use. The gouge may be used with far 
 greater freedom in this respect than the chisel, as learners speedily discover. 
 But why ? Simply because there are no points terminating the edge, the 
 curved form of which lifts the extremities of the cutting edge clear of the 
 work. But you may nevertheless so use a gouge as to make it catch in. 
 
 Fig. 9.— Wood Turned with a Shoulder. 
 
 In Fig. 9 A is represented a bit of wood turned with a shoulder, i.e., a 
 part of it is higher than the rest. Place a gouge at a in the position shown, 
 and the left side of ibs curved edge is sure to get caught. Hence you 
 must so place it as entirely to free this edge, -i.e., place it like h of B, 
 in which position you can face up also the shoulder itself, but when 
 you get down to the corner you must take care that the opposite edge 
 is not now caught by the smaller cylindrical part of the work. The 
 end of a gouge is like c, i,e.^ it is of an elliptic or somewhat pointed 
 form, so that with a little management you can get into tolerably small 
 
26 
 
 TOTMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 corners, but in turning cylindrical pieces after they have been roughed 
 down it is usual to lay the tool on the rest, so as to bring into action 
 the sides of the edge, c to or a to 6, instead of the point, thus making a 
 near approach to the chisel. With this you can level a cylinder very fairly. 
 As a rule, use as large a gouge and chisel as the work will allow, a broad 
 chisel being more easy to manage safely than a small one, because its 
 corners are more easily kept clear of the work. 
 
 From what I have just said it will be clear that to face up a shoulder 
 or to smooth the end of a cylinder with a gouge, the bevel of the tool 
 (the part where it has been ground) is to be laid nearly flat against 
 the wood, the hollow part of the tool being, therefore, outwards. Thus 
 held, it can be used with safety, and will make good work. From 
 this we shall get at the method of hollowing out a bit of wood with the 
 same tool, which is a peculiar way of using it, but a very effectual one. 
 We will suppose a bit of wood driven into a cup chuck and already turned 
 up to a cylindrical form. Lay the gouge as explained, and face it truly, 
 using chiefly the point and working from the outside to the centre, 
 the rest being turned round, as if for turning a cylinder, i.e., 
 parallel with the lathe bed, or standing nearly parallel, but somewhat 
 across the bed. Having arrived at the centre of the piece move the 
 point of the tool so as to dig in — it will not catch — and gradually 
 carry it beyond the centre while you thus turn it inwards. Rightly 
 managed it will cause a continuous coiled shaving to flow out of 
 the hole, which is also rapidly deepened and cut very smoothly. 
 Roll the gouge over gradually as you proceed and work it upwards till 
 it lies with the hollow downwards. The movement is difficult to describe 
 or to illustrate, but the peculiarity consists in carrying the tool point 
 beyond the centre, so that, instead of enlarging the hole by working on 
 the nearest side, you do so by working on that farthest from you, the rota- 
 tion of the piece you are operating upon tending, therefore, to lift the tool 
 off the rest. The rapidity, however, with which soft wood can be 
 thus hollowed out is very remarkable, and it is altogether well worth 
 the pains necessary to acquire the knack of using a gouge in this way. 
 
 The only part you cannot get at is the angle inside a deep hole, such 
 as the inside of a match box. For this in soft wood there is a special 
 tool, but it is so seldom found in an ordinary turner's shop that I do not 
 recommend it. It is very difficult to use, and a chisel may be substi- 
 tuted for it just to clean out a corner, or an inside tool, such as is always 
 used for hard wood. A regular turner does nearly everything with his 
 gouge and chisel, and the array of tools which are seen in an amateur's 
 tool rack are seldom found elsewhere. The more the learner practises 
 
SIMPLE TUKNING. 
 
 27 
 
 with these two simple tools alone the more speedily will he become a 
 good practical turner, 
 
 I have already stated that the gouge is a much easier tool to use than 
 a chisel. The latter, as used by turners, is ground slantingly at the end> 
 so as to make one point much more acute than the other. It is also 
 ground or bevelled on both sides alike, so that it can be turned over 
 and used in either direction. The difficulty in using it is to keep both 
 the angles clear of the work ; if either catches it immediately digs in 
 and tears the surface. As the chisel has a slanting edge, it is easy so to 
 place it on the work as to keep the sharpest angle clear, i.e., above it ; 
 and if you keep this upper one free, the other will not catch in. 
 
 Some use the keenest angle as the lower one, in which case keep the 
 blunter angle clear ; but the more usual and orthodox plan is to keep the 
 sharper angle upwards, and always to work downhill, with the blunt 
 angle leading, i.e., if you are turning a cone or a tool handle with a hollow 
 or smaller part, and then again a larger part just by the ferrule, begin 
 at the larger, and go downhill each ivay to the smallest part of the 
 handle, so that the two downhill cuts meet at the bottom of the hollow. 
 If you try to work uphill you only work against the grain, and good 
 smooth work is hopeless. If the piece is to be made level, and has no 
 enlarged or hollow part, it is plain that you may lay the chisel flat, and 
 work in either direction you please, but then again you must keep the 
 highest angle of the chisel clear ; in fact, you must so manage matters 
 as to use only about three-quarters of the edge, and at first you will 
 hardly do even this safely, but after long practice you will probably be 
 able to use all but just the angles, and yet seldom or never have a 
 hitch. When the chisel can be freely used, now to the right, now to the 
 left, cutting in either direction clean thin shavings, no difficulty will be 
 found in turning any article in a workmanlike and masterly manner. 
 Hence it is always best to begin with soft wood, as the substance most 
 difficult to work, hard wood requiring different tools and a different 
 method, far easier to learn. 
 
 If you can get half an hour in a turner's shop and make use of your 
 eyes, you will learn a deal more than a book can teach, and if the turner be a 
 good-natured fellow he will perhaps be amenable to the gentle influence 
 of a half-crown and teach you a little practically, though, I confess, 
 I have not found this always easy. In London, however, there are now 
 professionals who make it a part of their business to give instruction 
 to amateurs at a stated price, and beyond all doubt this is by far the best 
 way for the latter to learn the art. 
 
 The hard wood tools include the gouge and a flat tool or blunter kind 
 
28 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 of chisel ; but these are supplemented by many others — inside tools, right 
 and left side tools, round and point tools, parting tools, beading, and some 
 others used for special work — to say nothing of sets of hand chasing 
 tools for cutting screws. The best way for a novice is to go to a tool 
 shop and get about a dozen, the price averaging 8d. each, handles Id. 
 or 2d. extra, if of beech or hard wood with good ferrules. Take beech by 
 preference, unless you wish your temper tried by the tools wl on in use 
 dropping out of their handles. But I will give you a wrinkle : mix and 
 melt together some resin and brickdust, warm the tang of the tool till it 
 arrives at about boiling water heat, dip it in the mixture, and drive it 
 gently home in the handle. The tool will then hold well. But first observe 
 that people are apt to expect a square tang to fit a round hole. The latter 
 is always drilled, and it is a good plan to keep a bit of steel the shape 
 of a tool tang, which can be heated red hot to burn out the hole a little 
 way. It needs a mere touch, and then the charcoal formed by the 
 operation should be just cleaned out by means of a small file, and the tool 
 carefully fixed as directed. A little extra trouble is well bestowed, and 
 will save future annoyance. I have myself had tools drop from their 
 handles by the mere act of putting them up in the tool rack, especially 
 when the handles have been made of ebony or other hard wood. For 
 metal turning tools ash or beech is far preferable, and so it is for those 
 intended for other work. 
 
 The hard wood tools are all bevelled on one side only, and are not 
 strictly cuttmg tools, as their action is more of a scrape ; still, when 
 in good order they detach shavings and leave a good surface. Most of 
 these tools are held horizontally on the rest, so as to bring their edges 
 (bevel below) on the line of centres. The gouge is first used to rough 
 down the stuff, unless it is very hard, in which case it is sometimes 
 roughed down by a point tool or a small round end tool. The hard wood 
 gouge is ground to a shorter bevel, so as to form a more obtuse edge 
 than that needed for soft wood, which latter cannot be too keen. To 
 avoid digging a channel in the face of the stone, lay gouges across 
 it while grinding them, and roll them over to and fro upon their bevel. 
 They are finished on slips of oilstone rounded at their edges, and called 
 gouge slips. You can get them of all sizes to suit the sizes of the gouges, 
 some of which are more than an inch wide, while others run as small as 
 iin. or even less. Two at least should be had, ^in, or fin. and ^in. 
 
 To hollow out a bit of hard wood begin with a drill or a small 
 round end tool. There are drills made for this work which fit in wood 
 handles like other hand tools, but a twist drill fi.tted thus is best. Then 
 enlarge the hole with a right side or inside tool, and extend it to the 
 
SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 29 
 
 required size, firishing the bottom (if a box or similar article) with the 
 end of a flat tool, or with a carpenter's common chisel. If the inside 
 is to be bellied out like a child's top there are inside tools on purpose. 
 They are, in fact, of all possible shapes. Do not get any moulding tools, 
 however, nor any that you can do without. Perhaps the following list 
 may be of service in the purchase of them : two gouges, fin. and ^in. ; 
 two chisels, lin. and ^in. ; two parting tools, one for soft wood and one 
 for hard ; one point tool ; two round (one very narrow, cutting at point 
 and edges) ; one flat ; one right hand, or inside tool ; one left ditto. 
 These will do a lot of work if used skilfully, and can be added to as 
 required. 
 
 Hand tools will sufiice, I think, for all toy work, even inclusive of small 
 engines, and everything that can be so done should be, in order to 
 acquire skill in the use of hand tools before proceeding with those ordi- 
 narily used in the slide rest. 
 
 For metal turning the list of necessary tools will be found to be very 
 simple, a couple of gravers, a triangular tool, a round end, a point tool^ 
 and a flat tool, with one or two inside tools for brass, and, of course, a few 
 drills being all that is required. The triangular tool may be made of a 
 three square saw file with the teeth ground off on each face and the point 
 ground off at a small angle so as to produce a little triangular facet. The 
 graver may also be made of a square file with its teeth similarly removed 
 and the end ground off cornerwise at an angle of 45deg. (a mitre), so as to 
 give a lozenge shaped face. Whether economy, however, is a great object 
 in the case of tools which may be bought for 4d. or 6d., and of which two 
 at most are needed, is a question for the toy maker, but saw files may be 
 had for nothing, or at most for a penny, and it is an easy matter to con- 
 vert such into tools. Files are very hard and brittle, but the temper may 
 be slightly reduced by laying them on a plate of red hot iron and watching 
 till the colour is a deep yellow and begins to turn to a purple, and then 
 dropping it into a pail of water. Thus tempered, the point will be less 
 liable to break, but for my own part I generally leave them quite hard. In 
 a similar way you may make excellent flat tools for brass out of a flat 
 parallel file which must be ground off quite square at the end and sides ; 
 and a square taper file, broken off to a length of four inches, and ground 
 flat on each face and on the end, but tapering somewhat, will be found 
 most useful for turning brass. It will do inside or outside work, using 
 either of the angles as the edge, and the square end will also come in for 
 many an. odd job. Tools for brass work must never have sharp edges; 
 they are ground off quite square or to a very obtuse angle ; but iron and 
 steel work need acute edges. 
 
30 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 To use the graver, which will always give excellent results when once 
 the way to use it has been apprehended thoroughly, I might almost repeat 
 the directions I gave about the turning chisel, viz., lay the bevel or face 
 almost flat against the face to be attacked. This face will be the right 
 hand end of a bar or cylinder that is to be made true ; and, thus laid, 
 but with scarcely more than the point of the tool in action, it will imme- 
 diately begin to cut a small neat shaving, the upper edge of the lozenge- 
 shaped face being the cutting edge. Thus it is evident that the graver 
 is held with one of its angles upon the rest, which angle will take a 
 hold and prevent the tool slipping away from its work. The graver is 
 not to slide along the rest like a gouge or chisel, but held in one spot, 
 and turned upon it as upon a fulcrum, and the point of the tool as it 
 advances will describe a short curve, and presently get out of cut. As 
 soon as it has done so the tool is shifted forward to a fresh position. 
 The work is thus done by a series of cuts, each extending perhaps iin., 
 and ultimately the bar is made true by the application of the same tool, 
 so used as to bring one of its edges parallel to the work, or by a flat tool, 
 and it is generally finished with a file while still revolving in the lathe. 
 The natural result of using a graver in this way is to form a series of 
 hollows which are thrown into one by the flat tool, but the graver works 
 splendidly in skilful hands, detaching shavings of good size, and being 
 under easy control even by one hand alone. The leverage is wholly in 
 favour of the turner, so that little force is needed to keep the tool cutting. 
 
 Another very useful tool which has been spoken of is the triangular 
 tool. The angles of all equilateral triangles are of 60deg., so that if such 
 a bar as a three- square file is made into a triangular tool as suggested, 
 each of its angles will be of that size which is the same as the edges of a 
 graver, and specially suited to turning wrought iron or steel. If you buy 
 a triangular tool at the shops you will get one like a triangular file with 
 its point ground off, and the sharp angles hammered down all along 
 the shank to the tang, except for an inch or so at the end, which is the 
 cutting part. You can grind off the angles of the file, but it is not worth 
 while, though only an inch next the point may come into actual use. A 
 little of the point may be taken off, but not much, as it enables you to 
 get into awkward corners. A file thus ground is also used as a scraper 
 to finish flat plates to a perfectly level surface ; but this the toy maker 
 need not trouble about. The chief use of a triangular tool is to face 
 up the end of a bar, and to turn the inside of hollow work. It cuts 
 keenly, and either edge can be used at pleasure. The same rule, for 
 its position, is to be observed as that laid down for the graver, viz., 
 to lay one face nearly flat against the surface it is to cut, merely 
 
SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 31 
 
 tilting it just enough to make the edge bite. You will soon see what a 
 powerful tool it is, and what delicate or deep cuts can at pleasure be 
 made with it. Like the graver, too, one angle is laid on the rest, on 
 which it gets a firm hold, and on this angle it is rolled over slightly 
 this way or that to make it penetrate deeply or the contrary. In 
 metal turning the rest is always put very close to the work to assist 
 in steadying the tool. In using this tool for inside work one angle is so 
 placed as to cut it a little above the centre line — a very little is taken 
 at a time, say one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch — and then a little 
 more, so as gradually to work inwards, clearing oub a succession of 
 narrow rings, which are afterwards thrown into one by using the whole 
 length of the tool. Not, however, all at once, but making good use of 
 its curved form, for the several edges are curved in outline, so that you 
 cannot bring a great length into cut at once, but can begin at the point 
 or the heel, and, by a slight movement of the handle, make each part of 
 the edge cut successively. This, again, is difficult to describe, but, 
 taking the tool in hand and using it as stated, my meaning will at once 
 become clear. 
 
 Hollowing out is by no means such easy or light work as turning the 
 outside of a bar, and is, of course, more fit for slide-rest tools ; but I 
 wish the reader to know that these are not by any means absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 If an attempt is made to turn brass with a graver or triangular tool, 
 as I saw recommended in a book on model engine making (which also 
 gave instructions for soldering with a redhot iron, and for grinding 
 valve faces on the surface plate ! ) , it will be found to catch in and 
 take a huge bite. This metal needs tools with comparatively blunt edges — 
 80deg. or 90deg. angles instead of GOdeg. — a flat file, for instance, ground 
 off quite square on the end, or a square section file similarly treated, 
 and, of course, with the teeth ground entirely away, will make a good 
 tool. The set consists of round end tools or routers for roughing down 
 work, point tools for turning angular grooves, flat tools for facing and 
 finishing. Although the angle of edge necessary is a large one — 80deg. 
 or 90deg. — yet this must be sharply ground, and the extreme edge not 
 rounded off by careless grinding. Such a tool held tilted on the rest on its 
 opposite angle wiU cut very nicely, and take off sufficiently large shavings 
 if desired, but it is better to take several light cuts if time is no great 
 object. Inside work is done as it is with iron, only the square tool is 
 used instead of a triangular one, or an inside tool similar to that used for 
 hard wood, with a single bevel underneath, the edge being ground to an 
 angle of 75deg. or 80deg. This tool is held quite flat upon the rest, so that 
 
32 
 
 TOYMAKING FOB, AMATEURS. 
 
 its cutting edge lies just above the height of centres. In all outside work 
 on metal keep the edge exactly on the level of the line of centres, though 
 this is of somewhat less importance with hand tools. 
 
 The T of the rest for metal turning is often required to be flat on the 
 top, and quite broad, so as to allow the heel of the tool to get a firm 
 bearing upon it. This saves also the ordinary T from becoming damaged 
 on the edge by indentations, which prevents a tool used for wood or the 
 screw chasers from sliding evenly along its surface. If such an indented 
 rest were used in chasing screws, the process would be sure to fail ; hence 
 a T should be kept for metal, and that used for wood ought to be retained 
 for that purpose only. If, however, at any time you are obliged to use 
 an indented one, take a file and level its edge neatly, erasing all the 
 indentations and notches. Finish by draw filing it, i.e., take the file by 
 both its ends and draw it a few times up and down, holding it across the 
 rest just as you would hold a double-handled shave or draw knife in 
 levelling a piece of wood. In screw-chasing especially a perfectly level 
 rest is essential, as the slightest check to the traverse of the tool will 
 produce a waved or "drunken" thread, or entirely spoil it by running 
 one thread into another. 
 
 The operation of drilling in the lathe is very often necessary. Some- 
 times the drill is made to revolve, and at other times the work. In either 
 case strike a centre punch into the piece at the place where the drill is 
 to enter, or mark it otherwise by an indent sufficiently deep to insure the 
 exact position of the drill at starting. If the work is running in the lathe 
 — held in a chuck — bring up a point tool, or the sharp angle of a graver, 
 and turn a central hole to guide the drill ; then bring the back centre 
 up against the other end of the drill, and, holding it by a vice or clip, so 
 as not to let it revolve, gently advancing the point of the back centre, 
 you will drill as true as a hair. But if you begin badly, which generally 
 results from not being careful enough in making the indent or hollow 
 centre, the drill will wobble more and more as it proceeds, and the hole 
 will not be true. Probably the drill will be broken, if a small one. 
 
 If the drill is running in the lathe, you have to work differently. In 
 some cases, as in drilling a hole through a capstan headed screw for the 
 lever, you have to mark it on both sides with an indent, one for the drill 
 point, the other for the back centre point ; you then drill a little way on 
 one side of the head, and then reverse it and start on the opposite indent^ 
 thus you get the exact line set out that the drill is required to take, and 
 by drilling partly from one side and partly from the other you make 
 sure that the screw head shall be drilled straight through as it ought to be 
 in the plane of its axis. When the holes nearly meet you have to be 
 
SIMPLE TUKNING. 
 
 33 
 
 careful to advance the poppit cylinder very slowly, else it may happen 
 that the drill suddenly twists through and jambs, breaking short off, or 
 becoming, at all events, damaged ; be careful also at this crisis to hold the 
 work securely, or it will slip from the fingers. Of course you ought to use 
 twist or fluted drills now that they are so easy to obtain and so well made, 
 at least the smaller sizes ; large ones are expensive. 
 
 A drill Tirin. or fin. diameter, for example, will cost about 4d., but a fin. 
 may run as high as 6s. They are well worth the money, if much metal 
 work is to be done, but a self centreing chuck must be procured to hold 
 them. For toymaking, including small engines and mechanical toys, 
 half-a-dozen small sized ones will suffice at about 3s. or 5s. the set. I 
 have introduced drilling here because it is now almost a detail of lathe 
 work, special drilling apparatus apart from the lathe being seldom re- 
 quired, and when it is, a small Archimedean drill stock will answer for 
 most light work, but get a good one of steel with good drills, and not the 
 rubbish at 6d. or 8d. sold in the streets. These are made of iron, and so 
 are the drills, or if of steel, of the worst quality, and the drills will not 
 fit the stock. I have tried them and speak from experience. Moreover, 
 cheap Archimedean stocks are never fitted nicely at the head, which, after 
 a very little use, will wear slack and wobble about anyhow or nohow, and 
 your money will prove to have been wasted. A plain old fashioned bow 
 drill is far better than these cheap tools, and you can make it yourself. 
 
 I may mention, by the bye, a very nice useful drilling apparatus at 
 Is. 6d. or 2s., by Cohen, of Kirkgate, Leeds, who sells all sorts of watch 
 and clock tools, small files and wheels and screws, &c., that are often not 
 easy to procure in country places, and a small parcel by rail would cost 
 but 4d. or 6d. ; you can also get at this place another very useful 
 tool, viz., a small tap set in a handle, to tap the holes for small screws, 
 such as can now be had by the dozen. All you have to do when ordering 
 screws of this kind for small engines and models is to order the tap to 
 match them. Only two or three sizes are likely to be required, but you 
 may need several of each, and can buy far cheaper than you can make them. 
 Then again, you will learn the value of standard sizes, and will keep drills 
 just suited to drill the holes the right size for tapping. 
 
 All work now-a-days is being made thus when required in quantity, so 
 that the various machines may have their several parts interchangeable, 
 and any part lost or broken can be renewed from the manufactory, with a 
 certainty of fitting, and without the necessity for sending the machine 
 itself to the maker. In model making, for example, one engine is not 
 made complete before another is begun, but a dozen or more cylinders 
 are bored, and the ends faced to one exact size, then perhaps a dozen or 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 SO of cylinder covers are turned, any one of which will fit any other, 
 and while the turner is doing this, another workman has been getting up 
 a lot of bed plates or guides, while a third has been at work upon some one 
 part of the boiler, making several pieces one after the other up to a cer- 
 tain point, but finishing none. An amateur will, of course, proceed differ- 
 ently, but he should learn to work to a given scale, and not drill all sizes 
 of holes, and then have to fit special screws to them because they are not 
 made of the accepted standards recognized by the trade. This, indeed, is 
 not exactly a lesson in lathe work, but it is so just in this particular, that 
 all turned work should be brought as far as possible under the law of 
 standard sizes, or much extra trouble and difficulty will be met with. 
 Twist drills, for instance, are made to gauge, rising by eighths, or six- 
 teenths, or thirty-secondths, and thus they are arranged, in a great 
 measure, to suit standard sizes of bolts or screw taps. If you want to 
 make a ^in. screw, you must select a drill to bore the nut or hole it 
 is to fit one size smaller — say a drill if or aV less in diameter than the 
 tap, or tV less if for a larger screw, or ^ for a still larger, according to 
 the depth of its thread. All this is provided for in the sets of drills, the 
 smallest rising by sixty-fourths, because the threads of small screws are 
 so fine that thirty-secondths would be too great a difference between the 
 sizes. Thus, in a mechanic's shop, there should be tapping and drilling 
 gauges arranged in order, so as to enable the work to be done quickly and 
 with absolute certainty. One of the great and important advances made 
 in workshops is this system of working to gauge, and thus making perhaps 
 a thousand machines, any one part of which will fit a similar part of any 
 other. It is the same with screw bolts and nuts, of which a certain size 
 always has the same pitch of thread, so that if you lose a iin. bolt you 
 can take any other of that size, and it will screw into the same hole as if 
 specially made for it. This system of screw bolts is due to Sir Joseph 
 Whitworth, one of the first mechanics of the day. 
 
 The Slide Rest for Metal Turning will be found of great service to 
 turners in metal. The tool is held (on the work) by a clamp attached 
 to a plate sliding smoothly and accurately between guides, which compel 
 it to travel always in a right line. In the slide rest, this sliding plate is 
 fitted between guides attached to a similar plate moving at right angles 
 to it, also between parallel guides. A tool, therefore, clamped to the top 
 plate must needs travel to and fro in a right line either exactly parallel 
 to the lathe bed on which the rest is fixed, or at right angles to it. This 
 traverse is effected in both cases by a screw, which gives a very even 
 motion. All we have to do is to set the tool correctly, start at one end of 
 the work, and turning the handle of the long screw, we shall see the tool 
 
SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 35 
 
 Tig. 10.— Slide Eest for Metal Turning. 
 
 travelling steadily alongf, detaching a neat shaving, and soon reducing the 
 bar to perfect truth. With face work we have to use the cross slide to 
 advance the tool, and we set it up to cut with the other ; but the opera- 
 tion is the same. A common form of slide rest is shown here, Fig. 10 ; 
 but M, the tenon which 
 fits between the bearers 
 or bed of the lathe, 
 should be placed nearer 
 to the farthest end, and 
 not in the middle as 
 here shown. The two 
 slides, M N, andX, are, 
 however, correctly shown 
 with the tool holder, A. 
 The plate, or turntable, 
 G, allows the top to be 
 swivelled round when 
 conical work is desired 
 instead of parallel. The 
 tool holder is now gene- 
 rally of a lighter des- 
 cription than represented in this figure, which, however, gives a pattern 
 used for heavy work. It is not worth while to draw, however, a second 
 rest, as I merely wish to show the general construction before proceeding 
 with details of its various uses. 
 
 Nothing appears simpler — nothing easier, but, like all mechanical work, 
 slide rest turning needs knowledge and practice. The tool must not only 
 be well and accurately ground, but placed with even greater accuracy to 
 bring its edge into the best position. It may scrape and not cut — it may 
 dig in and spoil the work. It may take one shaving off well, and at the 
 very next traverse ruin the job. It is only partially that I can explain 
 here the essentials for satisfactory work with fixed tools, which, once 
 placed, remember, must retain their position, unlike hand tools, the 
 position of which may at any moment be altered and adjusted if not 
 working as they ought to do. Slide rest tools have two or three faces, 
 and generally have two cutting edges. Even a round-end tool may be 
 considered as having an edge each side of the central point, but these 
 have been eased off so as to form a single curved surface. 
 
 The commonest of the slide rest tools are these round ended ones, and 
 point or diamond tools, like a graver with its bevel uppermost. But the 
 best tools to use are little bits of straight steel bar held in a proper 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 holder, and ground to snit the work. For all amateur work their supe- 
 riority is beyond question, especially as they can, and ought always to, 
 be home made. But whether the solid ones or these are used, and 
 whatever may be their special forms, we may consider them as having 
 one or two cutting edges, and that these are formed by the meeting of 
 the lower face or faces with the upper face, usually termed the upper 
 bevel; this is the last ground in forming the edges. Let us take a sample 
 tool, a bit broken off a graver, or the graver itself set on end, bevel 
 upwards. Now, here you have only one newly ground face, viz., the top 
 bevel, and many of the tool holders are made to hold just such a tool as 
 this almost upright. If so held and fixed in the slide rest and advanced 
 to the work end-on, it will cut a groove. 
 
 We must first, however, know how high to place its point, and you may 
 at once decide that it must be at the height of centres, i.e., the height of 
 the point of the back centre. You can therefore set it up in the holder 
 by that centre as a guide, with the certainty of its being correct. You 
 will now have two faces — the lower ones which meet at the point, each 
 forming a certain fixed angle with the work (suppose it a mere cylinder 
 or bar of iron) . The holder will have been made to bring the tool, as I 
 have said, nearly upright, so that each face will be at a small angle to 
 the surface of the work. Still you can alter this at the grindstone if you 
 please, but we need not at present consider this necessary. If now you 
 bring the tool to the right hand end of the bar, advancing it to take a 
 light cut, and work it along by the slide rest screw from right to left, it 
 ought to cut a tolerably clean shaving, but it will do this much better if 
 you do not set the tool precisely end-on," but turn it round a little so 
 that the right hand edge shall be more parallel to the bar. If, when so 
 placed, it does not appear to act well, you must examine it in relation to 
 the following particulars : 
 
 1. Is it placed on the line of centres as it ought to be ? 
 
 2. Is the edge (or edges) sharpened to suit the metal ? 
 
 3. Is the clearance too great or not enough, i.e., does the point or 
 either face rub, which is the case with too little clearance, or is the 
 clearance too great, causing the action of the tool to be more scrape 
 than cut ? If either of the latter faults exist, and you are using a cutter 
 holder, it is faulty if it is intended so to hold the little cutters that they 
 shall not need grinding except on the top. It is more likely that the 
 clearance is too great than the contrary ; and, if so, go to the grindstone 
 and correct it so as to make the front face more upright, because it is 
 evident that the cutter bar holds the little tools at too great an angle, 
 not sufficiently upright. For these front planes, like the face of a hand 
 
SIMPLE TURNING. 
 
 37 
 
 tool, should make a very small angle with the work, just enough to keep 
 them from rubbing. The best cutter bars (tool holders) are made to 
 necessitate grinding three faces, and then you can give what clearance 
 you please, besides making the cutting edges and all angles such as 
 experience may show to be the best. 
 
 The second suggested fault — the angle of edge unsuitable for the metal 
 — refers to the fact that you want sharper edges for steel and wrought 
 iron than for cast metal, and blunter edges for brass and gun metal. You 
 make sharper edges on a graver, or a tool of the same character, by 
 grinding the bevel more slanting, or at a smaller angle with the front 
 line ; and an obtuser one is made by grinding it off at a greater angle, so 
 as to make a smaller diamond-shaped face. If the tool is one with 
 a round end, a round bar ground off at an angle, similarly to a graver, 
 giving an ellipse-shaped upper bevel, the same faults may exist, and must 
 be remedied in the same manner. This is a favourite tool with very many 
 mechanics, and will make nice work either on brass or iron if well ground 
 and carefully placed. 
 
 Inside tools are subject to the same conditions, except that they may be 
 placed a little higher, and often have greater clearance given to them, 
 being more liable to rub. Lighter cuts, too, are taken, because boring or 
 hollowing out work needs more power than outside turning or traversing. 
 Face work is turned from the outside towards the centre, i.e., it is the 
 proper way to do it, but you may use either a round or point tool end-on 
 in either direction, and this method is very commonly adopted to save 
 the loss of time in running back the tool without letting it cut. You will 
 find wrought metal the easiest to cut, and will obtain from it nice clean 
 shavings. Cast metal is crystallized, as you may see by breaking it, and 
 hence you will not get continuous shavings, but chips and dust, and it is 
 harder and less pleasant to work, except by the file. There is now, how- 
 ever, a cast iron which is annealed and softened, and brought to a state 
 known as malleable. This works very pleasantly under the file or turning 
 tool. 
 
 I must now conclude lathe work, except so much as will have to be 
 given in detail when I treat of the construction of special toys of a 
 mechanical character. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TOOL GRINDING. 
 
 Unless tools are well and keenly sharpened satisfactory work is impos- 
 sible. Much of the difference between professional and amateur work 
 arises from the bluntness of the tools of the latter. No mortised and 
 tenoned joint can be made to fit closely if the work is not cleanly cut by a 
 sharp chisel ; and planed surfaces, if badly done, are more unsightly than 
 if left rough from the saw. 
 
 Various contrivances for holding a tool securely during the operation 
 of grinding have been devised, and I may notice the undeniable fact 
 that I never saw them in use among workmen. It is indeed a mistake 
 to rely upon what are, at best, questionable devices, when, by patient 
 practice, we can gain that skill which will not fail us in the time of need. 
 A simple toolrest — a mere bar of iron parallel to the face of the stone, may 
 be a help in steadying a tool ; but even this is seldom to be seen in the 
 carpenter's shop, its absence proving that it is not a necessity. But there 
 are necessaries in tool grinding always to be found among practical me- 
 chanics which are too often wanting among amateurs, and these are 
 patience and determination. Grinding tools is a laborious and disagree- 
 able operation, which is sure to be avoided as long as possible, and 
 is terribly scamped by amateurs when it can be no longer delayed. If, 
 however, it must be done, let it be done thoroughly, or the labour 
 bestowed will be entirely thrown away. 
 
 The main object of grinding is to produce a bevel on one side or 
 both of a tool blade, in order to reduce the metal to a thin cutting 
 edge. This bevel must not be too short, or the angle of edge will not 
 be small enough ; it should, therefore, be carried well up the blade, so 
 as to present a broad surface. In a perfectly new chisel or plane the 
 grinding will be found insufficient, because tools with keen edges cannot 
 be kept in stock. They would endanger the hands of the shopmen, and 
 
TOOL GRINDING. 
 
 39 
 
 would also get damaged and notched by contact with each other. Hence 
 a new tool must be ground before use, and the bevel already formed 
 extended. But if you examine the surface that has been ground by the 
 workman you will see how flat and even it is ; the upper part forms a 
 straight line across the blade, and the whole is quite flat, even, and 
 true. This is what you have to aim at, and when you commence to be 
 your own grinder you will be disgusted to notice how you have spoilt 
 the even bevel which the tool once had. Instead of one bevel you have 
 produced several, lying at all sorts of angles with each other. This arises 
 from not holding the tool steadily upon the stone. 
 
 To get an even bevel the stone must itself be absolutely true, and 
 not wobble from side to side. You can now buy, at a comparatively low 
 price, excellent grindstones turned quite true upon the face, and worked 
 by a treadle ; or you can buy, for a few shillings, an unmounted stone, 
 and fit it up, or have a frame made by a carpenter. In either case 
 have it fitted with a treadle, so as to render yourself independent of 
 assistance ; and have a nice fine Bilstone, not a Yorkshire grit, which 
 is more fit for coarse work. I do not think you will gain by buying the 
 small 5in. or Gin. stones now to be had in metal troughs ; they do for 
 chisels and turning tools, but are of no use when an axe or plane iron has 
 to be sharpened. A stone 18in. diameter to 2ft. at the most will do all you 
 need. Probably the former size will suffice, but one less than 18in. has 
 hardly weight enough to make it act as its own fly wheel. Any small 
 stone to be used for plane irons would need a fly wheel on the same 
 axis to give it the necessary impetus, and such a fly wheel would be often 
 found terribly in the way of the arms and elbows. Moreover, you require 
 a tolerably large stone to produce a sufficiently flat bevel, although a 
 slightly hollow one is no great disadvantage. Have, therefore, a good 
 sized stone nicely mounted as the first essential of good work, and 
 having once obtained such use it well. 
 
 Now, to use it well is not to allow one side to lie constantly in 
 the water, which will rapidly soften it, and of course cause it to wear 
 faster than the other, thus rendering the stone untrue. Hence, although 
 you need a water trough to catch the water from the drip-can placed 
 above it, there should be a pipe below to carry it off at once into a 
 bucket or drain, which will also remove the muddy silt that is so often 
 allowed to accumulate in the trough until it well nigh prevents the stone 
 turning round. This again is an essential lesson in cleanliness, which 
 must by no means be neglected in a mechanic's workshop. 
 
 Supposing the grindstone thus mounted to run truly, the next con- 
 sideration is the way to hold the tool. This must be held rigidly in one 
 
40 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATETTRS. 
 
 place, i.e., at the same level, merely being traversed from side to side 
 to prevent it wearing the stone unevenly, especially if the tool be a 
 narrow one like a mortice chisel, which, if held quite still, will cut a 
 channel, and spoil the face of the stone. Now, if you grind with the 
 stone running away from the edge of the tool, and do not hold it firmly 
 in position, the former will seem to lay hold of it and drag it away to 
 a higher position. This is what you have to resist, and the best way to 
 do so is to hold the elbows firmly against the sides, which affords a very 
 secure grip indeed. This is not the orthodox way to run the stone, 
 which should always turn towards the edge of the tool, although it would 
 naturally appear the wrong way to use it. But to turn the other way is 
 to produce a wire edge, which is difficult to remove, and no workman 
 would grind thus, unless it were a narrow tool, liable to groove the 
 stone. 
 
 The tendency of the stone, therefore, will generally be to drag down 
 the tool, the danger being that if you let it do so it will dig in and 
 cut out a notch, tumble into the trough, and give you a practical 
 illustration of the art of knuckle grinding. But it is easier to resist 
 this tendency to drag the tool towards you, and you will soon learn to 
 hold it steadily and level (for here is another difficulty). If not held 
 level and square across the stone, the bevel will be broader at one part 
 than the other, and the edge of the tool will slant, so that (if a plane 
 iron) it cannot be placed true with the sole of the tool. If only for a 
 moment you let the tool have its own way, you will find that a fresh 
 surface has been ground out of the general plane. Thus it is evident 
 that to grind a tool well needs practice, and a pair of good strong 
 arms, and the art cannot be learnt in a day. Being moreover a tiresome 
 job, one naturally feels disposed to shirk it, which means grinding a 
 smaller bevel, and, of course, obtaining a blunter edge. 
 
 In addition to the fault of unevenness of bevel, a very common one is 
 a rounded surface instead of a flat or hollow one. This results gene- 
 rally from paying more attention to the edge than to the entire bevel. 
 Let the extreme edge take care of itself, and concentrate the attention 
 upon the flat surface of the bevel, especially the middle of it, and grind 
 till you observe that the edge has actually come down upon the face of 
 the stone, proving the work done. All success depends upon the rigid 
 hold upon the tool keeping it steadily at one level. The pressure need 
 not be excessive, and, although it may take longer, the labour involved 
 will be less if only a moderate pressure is kept up. Sway the body from 
 side to side (not the arms alone) in order to traverse the tool across 
 the face of the stone, and a little careful practice will insure success. 
 
TOOL GRINDING. 
 
 41 
 
 After awhile it will be found easy to grind with the arms more free ; 
 but I have found, practically, the way I have described the surest and 
 safest for beginners. 
 
 To test the correctness of the edge, try it with a square, especially 
 if it be a plane iron, and if it be ground slanting instead of square to 
 the sides, you must set to work again. Knowing this penalty to be in 
 prospect for careless work, you will be wise to test the tool once or twice 
 as you proceed. 
 
 Assuming that the grinding is satisfactory, you now have to set the 
 edge on an oilstone to make it smooth and keen. In this operation, 
 which looks a deal easier than it is, the danger of rounding the bevel 
 steps in. What you have to aim at is to produce a new narrow, but 
 decided, bevel at a slightly greater angle than that obtained by grinding, 
 and you must not round it off into the other. If you are a novice 
 your success is highly problematical. I must pre-suppose a good 
 oilstone, Arkansas or Washita, the first being the best, level and 
 clean, and with a few drops of clean oil or paraffin upon it. Set it on 
 the bench with one end towards you, or nearly so, as the movement of 
 the tool will be to and fro from end to end of the stone. Grip the iron 
 firmly in the left hand, and place the other hand over it, grasping it, 
 but with the first three fingers pointing downwards towards the edge 
 of the tool — a position that gives a good steady hold — and laying the 
 iron upon the stone at a rather larger angle than that of the bevel, rub 
 it steadily a few times to and fro. By larger angle '* I mean a little 
 more upright than lying flat upon the bevel. In pushing the iron from 
 you, it is necessary to raise it to a slightly more upright position, and to 
 depress it as you draw it back again, because the natural movement 
 of the arms, unless thus counteracted, would lower the iron as it recedes, 
 and thus tend to round ofP the bevel — the error already alluded to. The 
 movement will become quite easy and natural by and by, when once you 
 know what you have to do, but it takes practice to move the arms thus 
 horizontally, and their natural tendency is to move in an arc of a circle, 
 of which the shoulder joints form, of course, the centre. A rounded 
 bevel will cut, but it is not to be compared with a flat one, and is, 
 besides, very unworkmanlike. 
 
 I shall not enter into a question here as to the proper sizes of tool 
 angles. Let it suffice for the present to remark that for deal and other 
 soft and fibrous wood the tools cannot be too keen, and that, there- 
 fore, the bevel must be large, i.e., the tool must be ground some 
 distance up the blade, while for hard wood it need not be quite so far 
 ground, but must be kept sharp even at a larger angle. 
 
42 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 Before putting the newly-gronnd iron in the plane, lay it quite 
 flat upon its back on the oilstone, and pass it once or twice up and 
 down to remove any slight burr thrown up by the stone. The top or 
 break iron is placed low down or the contrary, according to whether the 
 plane is to be used for rough or fine work. In a jack plane it is placed 
 about iin. from the edge, but in a trying plane or smoothing plane it 
 must leave only a very narrow bit of the cutting iron exposed. The 
 object of this break iron, as it is called, is to bend up the shavings 
 sharply, so as to insure their being cut off and not split from the surface 
 of the board. Put the irons thus clamped together into the stock with 
 the bevel of the cutting edge below, and placing the wedge in position, 
 tap it in lightly. Then turn the plane upside down, and take a 
 glance along the sole (the eye at the front or forward edge), and you will 
 see the black line of the iron, a mere line if the plane is set finely. If 
 it projects too far, a tap with the mallet on the top or back of the stock 
 will cause it to withdraw if you have only wedged it lightly. If the iron 
 does not project at all, you may give it a tap to send it forward, or a 
 blow or two on the front end of the plane. When just visible and true to 
 the level of the sole, another tap on the wedge will secure it — but never 
 drive the wedge too tight, or you will split out the sides and spoil the 
 plane. 
 
 The method of grinding other tools, as chisels, is so precisely similar, 
 as well as the mode of setting them on the oilstone, that I need not 
 extend this chapter to treat of them separately. Practice is all that is 
 required to make anyone a good tool sharpener. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 SMALL CARTS AND HORSES. 
 
 Having given a description of the necessary tools and appliances called 
 into service in toymaking, I will conclude that the amateur has provided 
 himself with the things mentioned, and is now ready for action. I shall 
 therefore commence by describing the manufacture of small carts and 
 horses, these being the most simple of the toys to make. 
 
 Now, to use a common form of speech, there are carts and carts," 
 even among toys. The penny cart is an apparently simple affair, 
 consisting of a body with shafts cut out of the bottom board, and a 
 pair of wheels, either on a wire axle or on a square axle of wood, about 
 the size of a match. No nails appear anywhere, nothing but glue, 
 sparingly used, yet these hold together marvellously, and, by the aid of a 
 daub of paint, to hide defects of workmanship, are rendered satisfactory 
 to the owner. These come chiefly from Germany, and yield a good 
 profit, even at the low price at which they are sold. In our case, we 
 may want to make a few — perhaps only one or two. But where made 
 by the hundred the pieces composing them are cut out all alike in large 
 numbers by small saws worked by steam, and the actual maker does 
 nothing but glue up one after another, leaving to another workman the 
 wheel department, and to another the painting. 
 
 For home manufacture, too, it is as well to follow the trade in pre- 
 paring all parts before attempting to put any together. The bottom, of 
 orthodox form, may be made first of a board, fin. to ^in. thick, according 
 to the intended size of the concern — |in. is thick enough if the cart to 
 the end of the shafts is not to be above Gin. long. If of deal, the shafts 
 are pretty sure to split off before long, and therefore it were better to use 
 lime, willow, or poplar. But it is of no great importance nevertheless, 
 toys being made to break, and deal must answer if other woods are 
 scarce (for willow an old cricket bat will cut up into a lot of small 
 
44 
 
 TOYMAKING FOB AMATEURS. 
 
 boards). We may as well at once define the size of onr cart, which for 
 small wheels, punched out, we must make of very small dimensions ; 
 we can make larger and better afterwards. The size of such an affair, 
 costing one penny, is as follows : Extreme length 5in., width 2in., the 
 shafts taking up Sin. of that length, thereby reducing the body to a 
 square. But as the back and sides are glued upon this board, and the 
 latter has a margin of about ^in. along each side, this gives the actual 
 cart a little extra length in proportion, so that it is slightly oblong. The 
 diameter of the wheels is just lin. These can be cut out with a large 
 gun punch, but care must be taken that the wood used is thoroughly 
 wet to give good results, and it should not be deal or wood with 
 open grain, but willow, alder, sycamore, or other soft close grained 
 stuff not liable to split. This being cut into thin pieces — ^in. thick is 
 a good standard, or even fin. — should be well soaked and cut at once 
 while the water is in it. The pieces should then be placed one on the ^ 
 other, and screwed up in a vice to dry ; they will thus remain quite flat. 
 Small boards split, soaked, and thus pressed, will turn out almost as flat 
 and smooth as if planed. 
 
 Circular pieces of larger size must be cut out by means of a fret 
 saw, the circle being first marked by compasses, but if a fret saw is 
 not come-atable wheels of any size can be cut out by putting a brad- 
 awl through a lath, and at such a distance as will cause a circle to be 
 described of the right size, fix a penknife blade upright in a slit made 
 with a small chisel across the lath (i.e., across the grain), so that the blade 
 will cut when the lath is moved round the bradawl as a centre. The 
 bradawl is then stuck upright in the thin board, and a circle described by 
 moving the other end carrying the knife blade. After going round care- 
 fully in this way a few times the board must be turned upside down, the 
 awl placed in the same hole, and the work completed. Eings, as well 
 as solid pieces, can thus be made, but require great care to prevent split- 
 ting the stuff. If these are to be used as wheel rims, two of such 
 should be glued together, with the grain of one running contrary to that of 
 the other. The bottom board is Jin. thick, but the sides are barely iVin. 
 
 To reduce boards to such thin scantling you will find it necessary to 
 have a bench with perfectly level surface ; or, what will be quite as well, a 
 well planed board of about l^in. thick to lie upon it and rest against the 
 bench stop, such board having its own special stop against which to 
 set the end of that under operation. If the bench on which you try to 
 plane is itself uneven, good work is impossible, as the stuff used will 
 oscillate and shift about under the plane. The vice, too, should be well 
 made so as to shut up closely, and two screws will be far better than one. 
 
SMALL CARTS AND HORSES. 
 
 45 
 
 It often happens that the boards used in toymaking, which have to be 
 planed on the edges, are very thin, rendering it difficult to contrive any 
 satisfactory plan for clamping or holding them on edge upon the work- 
 bench. If the bench vice, indeed, be really well made, with the inside 
 face accurately fitted to the front plank, any pieces, thin or thick, can 
 be held thus ; but this is by no means the general rule, especially with 
 country made ones. In this case 
 the better plan will often be to set 
 the trying plane (or other plane) 
 upon the bench bottom upwards, 
 and to draw the thin edges along it, 
 reversing the usual process. With 
 such small pieces as can be easily 
 held in the hand, there is no diffi- 
 culty in this, especially if a jack 
 or trying plane is used, nicely 
 sharpened and finely set. All the 
 boards of our small cart can be 
 edged in this way. For this toy 
 they also require to be bevelled 
 slightly, so as to slope outwards 
 and rest truly upon the bottom 
 board, as the back of the cart is so 
 shaped as to require this. 
 
 I may state that in the cheaper 
 class of toy all possible work is 
 saved, and paint laid on thickly 
 hides sundry and divers imperfec- 
 tions. In many such no bevel is 
 made, but by dint of glue, small 
 brads, and paint, the parts are held 
 together, and the lack of proper 
 fitting is duly concealed. But in 
 papers like the present we shall 
 give the proper mode of work and 
 allow no scamping, as we thus get 
 good lessons in carpentry. Cut out, 
 then, first the lower board and shafts (Fig. 11). You are not tied to the 
 dimensions given, but may make it of any size, only a larger cart will 
 need to be put together with brads, or brads and glue in combination, 
 whereas, a small one of 6in. from end to end wiU hold well enough with 
 
 Figs. 11 to 17.— Parts op Small Cart. 
 
46 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 glue alone. The smaller sized one you may, moreover, cut with a knife 
 if you have not a fret saw, but the larger will need a key hole saw or 
 fret saw to shape the bottom and shafts. Having cut out this (planed 
 always before being shaped), make the back (Fig. 12, p. 45), using, if 
 possible, thicker wood than that from which the sides are cut, so as to 
 allow the latter to be more firmly glued or attached to it by nails. A 
 couple of brads from below will also secure the bottom and assist the 
 glue. The bottom of this back piece, which should lean outwards, must 
 be bevelled, and the ends sawn off at an angle. It should stand a little 
 higher than the sides which are to be nailed or glued to it. The slope 
 therefore, of the ends will determine that of the sides. 
 
 The way to use the bevel is simple enough. For instance, in cutting 
 out the back of the cart, both ends of which must slope at the same angle, 
 set the blade at that angle, lay the handle so as to rest against the edge 
 of the board, and draw a pencil line along by the edge of the blade as a 
 ruler. Turn the tool over, so as to bring the blade near the opposite end 
 of the board, and repeat the operation ; cut at these lines, taking care to 
 cut the wood squarely. You may absolutely insure this by carrying the 
 lines drawn to the opposite side, using a square to draw the line across the 
 two edges of the piece — i.e., from the ends of the sloping lines. Then 
 you have only to draw a line on the other side of the board from the two 
 points thus obtained, and you have guides for the saw on both sides of the 
 piece which, if the saw is used carefully, must insure a correct cut. 
 
 Now set up the back, cut so as to stand at the desired slope outwards, 
 and note how much it needs to be bevelled off at the bottom in order to 
 rest fair upon the bottom board. Plane to this angle, and it will serve 
 as a guide to the sides. It may, in fact, be now glued and set up, two 
 small brads (or sprigs) being driven through the bottom board into it to 
 secure it permanently. The sides are to be first cut in one piece, planed 
 up, and then sawn in half across the middle. Take one of these pieces 
 and hold it in place against the back already fixed, taking great care 
 that it is placed square. To secure this, mark on the bottom board 
 lines drawn by a square, or by the edge of a square card, as guides 
 for the edge of these side pieces. Mark these by the back board when 
 so held in place, which of course will give the slope at which they are to 
 be sawn across ; do not, however, saw at this line, but a little beyond it 
 at the same angle, because these lines will serve as a guide for replacing 
 the sides when glued, and in addition to this they are to extend a little 
 beyond the back, say ^in., which projecting bit is then often slightly 
 ornamented by a few scallops cut with a gouge. The length being also 
 similarly marked, the little boards may be cut off both to the same length 
 
SMALL CAETS AND HORSES. 
 
 47 
 
 and angle, and shaped to suit the taste. When held in place against the 
 back, the degree of bevel required at the lower edge is to be noted, and a 
 touch or two of the plane given. This will complete the shaping process, 
 and the parts may be glued and left to dry. 
 
 The axle (Fig. 15, p. 45) is a squared piece of wood, attached underneath 
 the cart bottom by glue, and further secured by brads driven in the two 
 places marked. The wheels, plain discs in this case (Fig. 16, p. 45), 
 run upon two common wood screws, as shown in Fig. 15, p. 45. The 
 axle must clear the sides well. It is dotted across the cart in Figf. 
 11, p, 45, to show this. Fig. 17, p. 45, illustrates the mode of cutting 
 out circular pieces with a knife, already alluded to ; A is an awl passed 
 through the lath B, which turns about it as a centre ; C is the pen blade, 
 also stuck through the lath ; and E, E a trace of the circle it is supposed 
 to be cutting. The cart is not represented put together, as this is quite 
 unnecessary; all the different parts are supposed to be lying flat on 
 the bench ready to be glued up. 
 
 Bevels of different angles, instead of being exactly alike — ^the bottom 
 out of square — one side attached nearer the edge than the other — and 
 any similarly crooked and inaccurate fitting, are the faults most commonly 
 seen, producing dissatisfaction with the work, which more care will always 
 enable the young carpenter to avoid. Paint is always allowable, but will 
 not conceal defects of the kind named, and all parts should be made true 
 and even, and of smooth surface before paint is applied. For the latter 
 bright colours are best — say, a nice bright green picked out with red. The 
 wheels green, and red stripes painted on as representing spokes, but the 
 green must first be quite dry. 
 
 No doubt a cart without a horse is but half a toy, yet it appears to 
 me that the wooden animal has not many points worthy of notice. In 
 some respects at any rate his form is of a stereotyped character, unless we 
 take, as a specimen of the better breed, the horse whose body and legs have 
 more pretence to an imitation of the genuine animal. The body of the 
 usual toy horse is, of course, lathe work, the legs ditto, or merely split or 
 sawn stuff, according to the maker's fancy. The body bears just thus 
 much resemblance to a horse's that it rises at the withers and is sup- 
 ported by four legs ; but no child, I suppose, looks a gift horse in the 
 mouth or elsewhere, in order to criticise it. Turn, then, a body of any 
 desired size and shape, not deviating too much from the orthodox form, 
 and plane this below to a flat surface, in which fix the legs, and so far, 
 at any rate, your work will be satisfactorily done. As to material it is 
 probable that a coat of paint will conceal it, but lime or willow will be 
 best, as it will not so readily split, and for the head especially deal is 
 
48 
 
 TOYMAK.ING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 almost useless, and beech, ash, or any wood of that kind cut and planed 
 to iin. or iin., according to the proposed size of the animal, should be 
 substituted, or the horse will soon be minus its nose or head. This part, 
 head and neck, should be cut out with a turn saw or fret saw to lines 
 previously drawn, but it can be managed with a tenon or hand saw by 
 cutting out a triangular piece so as to leave the head and neck clear, and 
 finishing with chisel, spokeshave, and rasp. A turn saw or fret saw isj 
 however, so far the better tool, and is so serviceable for other work that it 
 ought to be procured, and the former is very inexpensive. The neck 
 squared off neatly below, where it is to join the body, is, or ought to be, 
 let into a groove or channel sawn and chiselled out to fit it tightly. Into 
 this it must be glued, which will secure it without nails if the fitting is 
 as it should be. 
 
 Some toy horses of more life-like form than those to which I have 
 alluded, cannot be made by the amateur. I refer to those constructed of 
 a wooden foundation, with plaster of Paris, or some such composition laid 
 on and formed in a mould. Such are the horses sold in wooden stables, 
 which are very neatly made, but easily broken, and are not fit for home 
 construction. Similarly there are well moulded horses of papier mache, 
 or paper pounded in water to a pulp, and then moulded, dried, a.nd 
 coloured. But in the Swiss valleys horses are often made of some kind of 
 beautiful white pine, carved into shape with simple tools and left totally 
 unpainted. 
 
 To try and carve in this way is a bit of toymaking far better worth 
 the labour than merely to reproduce the kind of shapeless horse found at 
 our toy shops. The main outline must be sawn out with a small turn 
 saw, and the body then finished by carving tools, or sharp knife. In 
 willow this is not very difficult, even if the legs and body are made of 
 one piece, but very often this is not the case, in order to get the grain 
 to run lengthwise down the legs. These must then be roughly shaped, 
 with a short peg or tenon left for insertion into the body, and after 
 being glued in they must be finished with the other parts, and by good 
 fitting and a little management in carving it will be scarcely possible 
 to see the line of junction. At all events, the more correctly shaped 
 horse, even if it has to be painted, should be attempted by anyone who 
 is fairly au fait at using tools, although, as a toy for very young 
 children, who will probably break it very speedily, the old-fashioned 
 turned body and stereotyped form will sufiice. One of these horses will 
 take about half an hour to make — a carved one two hours or more. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WHEELS FOR LARGE CARTS, &c. 
 
 In the construction of large wheels it is, as before stated, almost impos- 
 sible to get on without a lathe. I was not, however, able in Chapter IV. 
 to carry the reader through more than a course of simple turning suf- 
 ficient for toymaking. Should the reader wish for still fuller parti- 
 culars, I must refer him to that little volume, Turning for Amateurs," 
 which gives every detail of such work, and initiates into the mysteries of 
 chucks and tools, rests and slide rests, and the actual operations of the 
 turner. 
 
 Mount upon a taper screw chuck a piece of board, either square or 
 roughly rounded by sawing off the corners, and turn it true on the 
 edge with a gouge. Both sides should first be planed, and the thick- 
 ness may be iin., |in., or fin., according to the proposed size and nature 
 of the wheel to be made, for there are two or three modes of work different 
 to that of the cheap toy cart wheels, and very much better in every way. 
 The fin. stuff will make strong wheels, fit for a good-sized cart or 
 barrow. 
 
 Having made the stuff true on the edge, bring the rest in front of it, 
 and present a sharp parting tool to the face of the work ; with this detach 
 a ring of sujSicient breadth to form the felloe or outside hoop of the 
 desired wheel. We will suppose it 4in, or 5in. in diameter ; detach 
 a second ring, and leave the rest to serve as a solid wheel for some 
 smaller cart. You have now to bore this to receive the spokes. Divide 
 it into the requisite number of parts, six or eight, or thereabout, 
 which you can do very easily by cutting a strip of paper that will just 
 go round it and meet, and, doubling the paper the requisite number of 
 times, measure off and mark with a pencil the place and direction of 
 these holes, which must be bored radially, or towards what was the 
 centre before it was cut out. You will get this right if you lay the 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 TOYMAKING rOR AMATEURS. 
 
 ring on its side, i.e., flat down on the table, and rule across from 
 one division to that exactly opposite ; this will give the proper position 
 of each hole. Now to bore the holes, which should be about the size of a 
 quill or small pencil, great care will have to be exercised, but the best 
 way by a very long degree will be to drill them, and there is no appliance 
 more necessary in a lathe, small or large, than a drill chuck and set of 
 twist drills or fluted drills, or at least plain drills, such as any smith 
 can make. Anyhow, have some drills sooner or later, but if not in stock, 
 never mind, we can get on without them with a brace and small nose bit 
 or quill bit, or even with gimlets, but these are ticklish customers, much 
 given to splitting deal, and the only way is to use first a small one and 
 then follow by larger ones, but a quill bit, which is like a small gouge, is 
 always a safe tool for this sort of work. 
 
 It is easy to make a square hole chuck of a bit of boxwood to take any 
 one of the ordinary set of carpenter's brace bits, or the twist drill with 
 square shanks made for brace or for the lathe. Drilling in the lathe is 
 sure work if you start well ; suppose you have marked the wheel rim for 
 six, eight, or any even number of spokes, the drill point is to be placed 
 on one mark and the point of the back poppit on the opposite one. Then, 
 advancing the back centre by its screw, you cause the drill to penetrate, 
 and in a second the hole is made. Then reverse the wheel and put the 
 back centre point in the hole already made, and drill No. 2 and so on all 
 round. We need not at present dish the wheels, i.e., make the set of 
 spokes slant outwards, but we can attend to it by and by. It will now 
 be necessary to make the nave or central part into which the other end 
 of the spokes are to be fitted, and which runs upon the axle, or is 
 attached to it. 
 
 Railway trucks are fitted in the latter way, carts and waggons in the 
 former. It is best to turn at least two of them at once, or to turn up a 
 cylinder of wood — beech or ash by preference — and to divide it with a 
 parting tool into several, first notching the piece right and left with 
 the chisel ; when cut at the place of these notches the pieces will then be 
 shaped up, or bevelled each way sufiiciently ; or, for better appearance, 
 they can be neatly rounded off at each end. After these are all cut off, 
 bore for the axle and drill for spokes, using the same drill with which 
 the rim was bored, and working in the same way. The spokes need not 
 be turned, but, of course, may be so made, and will look all the better 
 if they are tapered each way so as to be a little larger in the middle than 
 at the ends. 
 
 Now, there are two or three ways of getting the spokes into place. 
 One is to glue them into the nave, and then saw the rim with a very fine 
 
WHEELS rOE, LARGE CAHTS, ETC. 61 
 
 saw into two or three pieces, making the cuts radial, as the holes were 
 made, i.e.j tending to the centre. If cut into three with a fine saw, like 
 a fret saw, you can put the parts together, inserting the spokes as you do 
 so, and giviag a touch of glue to each joint, and here and there to the 
 spokes (you need not glue them all), and you will not be able to detect 
 the fact that the wheel is not truly round, so very slight will the devia- 
 tion be. Of course, care musb be taken to keep the nave central, but 
 this is easy if you mark a spoke here and there (three will do) and 
 insert them at the mark so made. If three are right the others will be 
 so, unless you mark three that are close together. The ends of the 
 spokes should fit their holes well, but just so that they can be adjusted 
 easily. This is one, and, perhaps, the best mode of finishing a wheel. 
 
 Another, which does not necessitate dividing the ring into sections, is 
 to cut the spokes just long enough to go within the rim when in place in 
 the nave, and then to affix the rim by a brad into each spoke. In this 
 case, instead of drilling the rim with holes to admit one end of the 
 spoke, mark and bore with an awl only, and with a smaller awl inserted 
 in each hole bore also into each spoke, which should be left large enough 
 to receive a small brad without danger of splitting. A large number of 
 toy wheels are thus put together, but these have only thin bent stuff for 
 the rim or felloe, instead of turned rims. This plan is less trouble, and 
 can be more quickly carried out, especially if, as often happens, only 
 three or four spokes out of six or eight are nailed. 
 
 A third plan is to drill for spokes and place them in order in the nave, 
 but loosely, so that they hang down somewhat when the nave is held 
 up. Then, placing them inside the rim, and guiding each spoke to 
 its destination, they will enter their respective holes, when, by press- 
 ing down the nave, the spokes, needing more room than they did in 
 their first position, are forced outwards. 
 
 I have illustrated most of these details, in Fig. 18, p. 52, to render the 
 various methods easy to understand, and will now pass on to wheels of 
 a different kind, also illustrated, as solid wheels. Some of these may be 
 made highly ornamental, and even when plain they are very capital wheels 
 for toys, especially suitable for engines and railway trucks. Each con- 
 sists of five pieces made and glued up as follows : The felloe or rim is 
 turned as in the previous case, but the stuff used need not be so thick. 
 It may vary from ^in. to fin., according to size. Cut out two rings, 
 as before, of precisely the same size, taking care to cut them squarely 
 with a sharp tool that the outside may be neat and smooth. First, 
 therefore, cut off the superfluous stuff, leaving a round disc, and then 
 with a sharp gouge finish its edge neatly, but square, not rounded 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 TOTMAKING FOE. AMATEURS. 
 
 or moulded. Then cut again with the parting tool, so as to leave a 
 ring about half an inch wide. Cut the second exactly like it, and set 
 aside the pair. Now turn a disc of much thinner wood, thin mahogany 
 or hard wood by preference, such as is sold for fret saw work. This disc 
 must be exactly the size of the rings (outside measure) and must be 
 bored centrally for an axle. The rings are to be glued one on each side 
 of this disc, which is to stand in place of spokes, so as to form together 
 a solid truck wheel with a projecting rim. The nave, turned as before. 
 
 Fig. 18.— Solid and Spoke Wheels. 
 
 is to be marked in the lathe and sawn across into two parts, one of 
 which is to be glued centrally on each side of the main disc, the two 
 together thus forming the entire nave. 
 
 If neatly made and polished, I know of no wheel that looks neater 
 than this, but it should have a tin band or tyre to hide the edge and 
 conceal the secret of its formation. To vary its appearance and render 
 it more ornamental, the mahogany disc can be pierced with a fret saw, or 
 
WHEELS FOR LARGE CARTS, ETC. 53 
 
 even with a centrebit, but in using the latter, which must be well 
 sharpened, the hole must be bored half from each side, the wood being 
 turned over as soon as ever the point of the tool is seen to have pene- 
 trated. If this is not done, one side of the hole will have a rough and 
 jagged edge. Even with this precaution the hole will require finishing 
 with a half round file and glass paper to render it quite smooth. Of 
 course, the fret saw is a superior tool to the centrebit, enabling any 
 shaped pieces to be cut out, instead of a merely circular one. Here again 
 the illustrations given will assist the reader in this work. 
 
 A more common, though not by any means the best, method of wheel- 
 making, is to turn a nave, insert spokes of equal length, and then form 
 a rim out of a bit of thin wood bent round, secured to the end of the 
 spokes by small brads and joined with a half lap or splice, generally of a 
 very rough description. This makes a decent wheel, if the hoop is not 
 too thin and the splice is nicely fitted, but that is all I can say in its 
 favour. The wood used should be willow or ash, and this, too, must be 
 steamed or steeped in hot water to allow it to be bent without danger. 
 It is not very easy to plane a very thin bit of stuff, using the bench stop, 
 as the material will, in all likelihood, double up and break. The best 
 way is to put a brad or bradawl through the right-hand end, pinning it 
 to the bench, and not using the stop at all ; the act of planing then tends 
 only to stretch the piece, and cannot bend it, and it can be made as thin 
 as one may desire. It should not only be wet or soaked in order to bend 
 it, but nailed on the spokes in this condition, and when dry it will have 
 no tendency to spring open. Moreover, there is less chance of the wood 
 splitting when the brads are inserted. Nevertheless, an awl should be 
 used, and I prefer what is known as a birdcage maker's awl, which 
 is three sided, and very suitable for all work of this kind. A small 
 one, nevertheless, of the ordinary kind will answer, but the chisel- 
 Uke end must always first be placed to cut across the grain. It will 
 then make its way without danger of splitting the wood. These wheels 
 should be banded with a strip of tin, painted black to imitate an iron 
 tyre. 
 
 Wire has become very common for wheel spokes from the bicycle to the 
 toy cart. For the latter it has this convenience, that it needs no prepara- 
 tion except straightening, and it wiU at once pass into a hole made by a 
 bradawl, precluding the necessity for fitting. It is also used not only for 
 spokes, but for axles, because of the ease with which it can be thus 
 applied. To fix it in the boss or nave of the wheel, so that it shall turn 
 with it, it is merely flattened by a blow or two of a hammer, and then 
 inserted in the hole made for it, which must only allow it to enter tightly. 
 
54 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 When it is driven in thus the nave will be quite secure, and the wire axle 
 can run either in two little wire eyes or staples driven into the wood 
 underneath, or put through holes in wooden blocks glued on to receive it. 
 This is a very simple and easy method of making and attaching wheels of 
 toy carts ; but it is not quite the best quality of work, and ought not to 
 be used except for the more common class of toys. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LARGE CARTS AND WAGGONS. 
 
 To make a cart which shall be a close imitation of the real thing — 
 strong, well fitted, and of good appearance — we must have wood of good 
 quality, not less than fin. thick when planed, and we shall want, not deal 
 only, but a small quantity of oak, mahogany, or similar wood, harder 
 . and darker than deal, to give greater finish and make a handsomer cart. 
 The body will consist of three boards permanently attached to each 
 other, the tail board or back being a separate piece to take off and on 
 at pleasure. Of dimensions I need still say nothing, because it is a 
 matter of no real importance. 
 
 The first consideration is the main body of the cart, which is to be of 
 deal, nicely planed and kept as clean as possible. This had better be put 
 together with brads, taking care to keep it true and even. The bottom of 
 the cart is to be oblong, rather longer than it is wide, but with square 
 corners. A (Fig. 19, p. 56) represents this, the shaded parts being the 
 side and front boards ; B, again, is the bottom ; C, the front, put on to 
 splay outwards, as the sides are also to do. Thus far there is nothing 
 peculiar in the mode of construction, which is like the cart first described, 
 except that the shafts are not now part of the bottom board. They may, 
 nevertheless, be so if preferred, and will be, of course, easier to make. I 
 shall, however, in this case treat them as separate. 
 
 After the body of the cart has been nailed up, some strips of mahogany 
 or oak are to be planed up to a width of ^in. or so, according to the size 
 of the cart, and glued on the outside at the places marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
 being neatly fitted where they meet in the angles. These are meant to 
 imitate the main frame of a real cart, to which the boards are nailed. 
 They look as well as if really framed together, and give an appearance of 
 reality to the toy. Mahogany will look the best, but oak is a nice 
 wood for the purpose, and when varnished will be quite satisfactory. 
 
be 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 Plane np all the strips carefully to the same width and thickness. The 
 best way is to plane a strip long enough for all the frame on one side and 
 then to cut it up in lengths. 
 
 Before being finally glued on, each little bit should be bevelled or 
 hollowed out to a chamfer, as at: D, except where it joins the piece next to 
 it. These chamfers should be neat and finished up sharply with the 
 penknife, aided by a file. Sand paper should be sparingly used, because it 
 takes off the sharpness of the edges, thereby, to a great extent, spoiling 
 the appearance. If the cart is like E the bars there shown will 
 suffice. But if the sides are deeper and the cart of a squarer form, 
 
 Fig. 19.— Large Cart. 
 
 like a miller's cart, the framing (D) will look better, by which the 
 sides will seem to be divided into several panels. The whole - beauty 
 will, however, be spoilt if the square parts are not quite closely fitted, as 
 the deception will be at once apparent. 
 
 We now come to the shafts. Between a and h these are planed up 
 quite square, and are thence to be rounded off and hollowed out to 
 imitate those of a real cart. As these should be shaped out to a some- 
 what curved form, they require to be cut, as shown at F, out of a piece of 
 board wide enough to allow of this curve — such a piece as is sketched. 
 To get both exactly alike, cut out a pattern in card, and work each ghaft 
 
LARGE CARTS AND WAGGONS. 
 
 57 
 
 exactly to fit it. Each is then to be glued to the bottom of the cart, as 
 at E, and still further secured by a brad or two driven into the shafts 
 through the bottom board, or by two small screws in each. But, before 
 doing this, notch each shaft, as at G, to let in neatly a cross bar at the 
 part h of Fig. E, from one shaft to the other. This must be finally fitted 
 after the shafts are attached. Secure by glue or by a brad. The 
 crossbar is to be the same size as the squared part of the shafts. Upon 
 and above this will be glued a flat board for a foot board. The squared 
 bar for the axle (of oak or mahogany) is the next part to make. It ia to 
 be glued under the shafts and body of the cart, as seen in Fig. 19, a 
 hole being bored in each end to receive the turned mushroom- shaped 
 piece K, there shown in section fitted into the main axle. This is put 
 through the wheel nave and glued in, which is the best way to mount the 
 wheels of a toy cart of the kind. Take care that H is long enough to 
 clear the splayed out sides of the cart, so as to prevent the wheels 
 touching them. 
 
 We have not added the flat board or rail round the edge of the cart, 
 nor have we made what I think are known as harvest-raves, the indepen" 
 dent frames which can be put on to extend the carrying powers of a cart 
 when hay or corn is to be carried, and which can be removed at pleasure. 
 We will begin 
 with the ordi- 
 nary edge- 
 boards. These 
 are supported 
 in a real cart 
 upon iron 
 brackets at- 
 tached at in- 
 tervals to the 
 sideboards or 
 to the framing, 
 and also fre- 
 quently to the 
 front as well, 
 to form a seat 
 for the driver 
 and for other 
 purposes. All 
 
 this, as shown in Fig. 20, give opportunities for metal fittings of 
 wire and tin painted black. A, shows a bracket of twisted wire or 
 
 Fig. 20.— Farm Cart. 
 
58 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 tin. Yon can flatten the wire and twist it when hot, leaving a flat bit 
 at each end for the tack to attach it by, or still better, for a little 
 
 wire bolt and nut. To make the tail 
 board you want two upright pieces driven 
 into the ends of the wood forming the 
 shafts, seen at D, Fig. 21, the tail board 
 being cut out like E, and dropping in 
 behind these bits of wire. 
 
 Another way to make these upright 
 Fig. 21 —Tail Board Support, supports is to bend the wire like F, or 
 
 like a, h, c, pointing it at a to go into the 
 wood, and flattening it at c to drill it for a small wire nail. At c, c of 
 the tail board are two wire pins to go into wire staples or directly into 
 the bottom board. If a high tail board is preferred, it may be put on 
 with wire hinges, to fall down, and can be fastened up when desired by 
 small hooks. By using stout wire and heating it, you can flatten and 
 twist and bend or shape it as you like, and imitate the real iron work 
 without difficulty. 
 
 Fig. 22.— Harvest-raves. the sides and front board of the cart. 
 
 In the toy cart the best way is to plane 
 up for this two pieces of ash, about ^in. square and Sin. to 4in. long, 
 
LARGE CARTS AND WAGGONS. 
 
 59 
 
 and put them in boiling water till they will bend, then fix and tie them 
 like C, till cold. Bend them, as shown, more at A, B than at the other 
 end. The cross bars may be slightly notched into these, and glued as 
 well as nailed. Use the small wire nails, with round heads, as imitation 
 bolts. Care must be taken to curve the two side pieces exactly alike, 
 and where they come in contact with the edge board already described, 
 a piece must be cut out of it to let them through. In Fig. 22, p. 58, is 
 shown one in place with part of the right side of the cart in perspective ; 
 and also a part of the left side in section. The bent bar is seen going 
 down through the top board, and held by the two staples, a, a, to the 
 side of the cart. Very often in farm carts the top board is omitted, and 
 then it is still more easy to fit up such a frame, as there is nothing in the 
 way to prevent it. These frames will vastly improve the appearance of 
 the toy cart. 
 
 The wheels made with a felloe turned and cut into two or three pieces 
 must have a nicely turned nave, and be glued up and finished with a tin 
 tyre painted black. If this is soldered into a ring and made to fit tightly 
 it will not come off, but it may be held by wire nails driven into the 
 felloe over one or two of the spokes, which will thus themselves be 
 further secured. 
 
 To make a farm-cart proper, or tip-cart or tumbril, all the above direc- 
 tions will serve, except where the shafts are directed to be glued fast to 
 the bottom boards of the body. In this case they must be quite inde- 
 pendent, a pair of shafts braced by two cross-bars instead of one, so as to 
 conntitute together a stiff frame. These are then hinged to the main 
 timber of the axle, to which the cart body is also secured, so that the 
 cart body can turn upon the axles, which, with the wheels, form a centre 
 of motion. When down in front, resting on the shafts, the body is held 
 by staples fixed in the shafts which pass through the two timbers under 
 the cart body. I have given an illustration to make this more clear. In 
 Fig. 23, A, B, p. 60, which was in our previous cart part of the shafts, is 
 now an independent timber, to which the axle bar is fixed. It is left at A 
 longer than the cart to form a support when the body is tilted up. The 
 shaft (c) is hinged to the axletree, and C, C are the staples fixed in the shaft, 
 and passing through holes in A, B, while, to keep the cart body from 
 tilting when not required to do so, a bar (F) is used, with iron pins at 
 each end to fit into the two staples or eyes. 
 
 Following are represented in plan a pair of such shafts to show how they 
 are framed up ; and generally an iron band (H) is added for greater 
 security to prevent spreading. All this is easily imitated in our toy cart, 
 and if the main timbers are of oak, and the whole nicely planed and 
 
60 
 
 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 varnished, it will form quite an ornamental toy. But be it remembered 
 varnish will not conceal open joints and defects, and if our cart builder 
 is unable to make very close neat work, he had far better give his pro- 
 ductions a couple of coats of paint. 
 
 The practice already obtained in the use of tools will render the con. 
 
 Fig. 23.— Tip-cart or Tumbril. 
 
 struction of a waggon a comparatively easy matter. Still a waggon is 
 not exactly a double-sized cart, for it has certain peculiarities of con- 
 struction essentially its own. The front wheels are so arranged as to turn 
 on a centre pin, and they have a framework or independent carriage to 
 which their axle is attached, while the hind wheels have no such common 
 horizontal motion. Then, to allow of this motion of the front wheels, the 
 fore part of the body of a waggon needs to be blocked up or cut away, 
 or made higher than the other end, so that the wheels can go partly 
 underneath it without coming in contact with the bottom boards. 
 
 As before, I shall commence with the body, which must be made of 
 Jin. board, neatly planed on both sides. For a toy, the side pieces may 
 well be in one, and not each made of several boards nailed to a frame, 
 though we will in this case add the latter for appearance' sake. If the 
 long side boards are cut like A and B of Fig. 24, p. 61, the front 
 will be thus elevated at once above the hinder part, and although the 
 floor will also rise instead of being level, this will be of no importance 
 at all. Many waggons, too, rise in this way, and have a rather more 
 showy appearance than when they are made with a flat floor. But if 
 
LARGE CARTS AND WAGGONS. 
 
 61 
 
 thus made we must form the bottom of boards put on the short or cross 
 way, and not lengthwise. We may, indeed, bend a sufficiently thin 
 board to an easy curve, but the best plan will be to work with a single 
 bit of iin. or |in. stuff up to where the rise begins, and then make 
 the rest of narrow bits run across, joining them closely and bevelling 
 them to fit neatly against each other. Let the close fitting not be 
 scamped, for it is excellent practice, teaching a good deal of joinery, 
 and household joinery may be made not only an interesting pursuit, 
 but a paying one. 
 
 Let the imitation framing and panelling be neatly carried out, as in 
 the cart previously described, but it is only necessary to put upright 
 bars, a, 6, c, with a single long one at top and bottom, which should 
 be shaped by a fret saw to the required curve. Where the long edge rails 
 
 meet those of the front, they must be notched into one another, and 
 fitted as neatly as an Oxford frame. The ends of the upright side 
 bars will be concealed when the top edge boards are put on. This board 
 is held by brackets of iron or wood, as shown at dj attached by small 
 nails, or, better still, small screws. These will, perhaps, be easier to 
 make of wood, unless the toy maker can use the soldering iron, but if 
 so, they can be made of a strip of tin bent to the necessary angle, with 
 a third bit of tin or wire soldered on at each end to form the stay or 
 brace. Just a touch of solder will sufiice, and will not show when the 
 
62 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 whole is painted black or coloured with japan. These little brackets 
 are to be fastened to the upright bars, not to the boards which form 
 the sides. 
 
 Fig. 25 is a view of the front end of the waggon, in which all details are 
 given to show how the body is raised so as to allow the wheels to pass 
 under it. A is the body, B a cross beam attached firmly to it ; C, C 
 blocks which should be fluted or channelled round their edges to give 
 them a lighter appearance ; D a second beam firmly fixed to the 
 under side of the blocks. Through the centre of this is passed the 
 bolt by which the axle, E, and fore carriage (represented complete in Fig. 
 26) are united to it, so as to turn on it as a centre. In a real waggon 
 
 Fig. 25.— Front End op Waggon. 
 
 a flat ring of iron, dotted in the drawing, is let in flush both in the 
 top of the fore carriage and in the bottom of the beam, E (one in each), 
 so as to form a turntable and prevent undue friction between the sur- 
 faces of these pieces of timber. It can be made of stout tin, or omitted 
 in the toy waggon, which will do just as well without it. 
 
 The square holes a, h, c, d, in Fig. 25, are to receive the ends of the 
 bars of the framework of Fig. 26. But it is easier to make round holes 
 than square ones, and even where it may be necessary to use square 
 bars in the construction of any framing, it is a common practice to 
 round the ends to save the time and labour of cutting out square mortices 
 with a chisel and mallet. By means of a lathe these can be quickly and 
 
LARGE CARTS AND WAGGONS. 63 
 
 accurately made, but if no lathe is at hand there can be little difficulty 
 in accomplishing the work by hand. For toy work a knife carefully 
 used will serve very well, but the round pin must be kept central, or the 
 frame will be crooked. 
 
 I have drawn this waggon front with axles shaped like those of 
 real waggons, and they may be so made, and the wheels kept on by 
 a linch pin. Fig. 26 shows the shafts in position. They lie between 
 the two side pieces A and B of the front frame, and a long bar (C, C) 
 
 Fig. 26. — Axle and Fore Carriage op Waggon. 
 
 passes through holes in these side pieces and in the frames, forming 
 a hinge. The shafts are, therefore, to be made and framed up very 
 like those of the cart last described. If the waggon is made proportion- 
 ately broad, a double pair of shafts may be attached, but in that case the 
 front carriage should have another timber similar to the side pieces, fixed 
 in the middle of the front frame, where the two pairs of shafts will meet. 
 
 This waggon deserves to be nicely painted, not to hide defects, because 
 such are not supposed to exist, but simply that it may be arrayed in all 
 the glories of its compeers. Let the wheels be painted vermilion and the 
 body green — rich dark green — and when this colour is quite dry, take a 
 
64 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 small sable brush and pick it out with vermilion, laid on in thin even lines 
 round the different parts of the framework, thus panelling it out in green 
 and red. For instance, you may put a line of red along the edge of the 
 side top boards, others a little way from the edge of the various timbers? 
 a line down each shaft, and so forth. Then we must add a name-plate 
 of tin, or paint the name in black and red, or in any bright colour, on 
 one of the side panels, according to law. 
 
 A waggon with a curtained tilt, and having wheels that can be taken 
 off, is certain to be duly appreciated by subsequent generations. I will, 
 therefore, describe the mode of making such tilt. The wheels of our 
 waggon I have already stated to be removable at pleasure, being put 
 on with a wire linch pin. The delight in pulling a toy to pieces does 
 not I fancy denote a love of mischief, but a spirit of inquiry, coupled 
 with an innate notion of building, constructing, and restoration. More- 
 over, a child of intelligence notices that cart wheels can be removed, and 
 the various parts of implements separated, and the natural desire of 
 imitation, which is common to men and monkeys of all ages, causes the 
 enhanced pleasure afforded by toys which can be taken apart and put 
 together again. The easiest way to make a tilt is to get some split 
 cane from a draper, and bending about four pieces to the shape required, 
 tie them by waxed thread to longitudinal straight pieces, one of which 
 will run at the top from end to end, and two others along at each side, 
 the lowest of these latter strips resting upon the edge of the waggon 
 when the tilt is in place. Leave the end hoops longer than the rest, so 
 that they can be made to slip into tin ferrules or staples fixed to the 
 body of the waggon. I think this will hardly need an illustration, as 
 the plan suggests itself. Then cover the whole neatly with calico or 
 brown hoUand, adding a pair of curtains at each end ; and, to make 
 it all still more like the real thing, a name and locality can be 
 painted in black or red letters upon the outside. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ROLLERS AND WHEELBARROWS. 
 
 I WILL now describe how to make a roller, which, moreover, wheu 
 of rather larger dimensions than that of the toyshop, is a very useful 
 article to run over seed beds in the garden, where the soil is light, and 
 is almost as easy to make as the toy roller. In the latter, however, 
 which I will first describe, we shall want a frame of deal and a turned 
 
 Fig, 27.— Parts of Hand Eollek, 
 
 cylinder of wood. Taking the handle at 2ft. 6in., or 3ft. at most,, 
 according to the size of the child for whom it is intended, it may be 
 planed to a width of l^in. to 2in., and a thickness of fin. to |in. I 
 
66 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 have in this case made a drawing to scale, to show the proportion of 
 the different parts. The handle (A, Fig. 27, p. 65) is 3ft. long, the rails 
 (C, C, B, B) are 2ft., the sides (E, E) 1ft. The roller is 9in. diameter, and 
 just long enough to turn easily between the side pieces in which its axles 
 are made to run in two holes, which ought to have little tubes of tin or 
 brass let in. This is called bushing " the holes, and is done in the case 
 of real rollers, wooden clocks, and other articles of the kind where the 
 axles of wheels have to revolve in holes bored in the wood framing which 
 holds them together. It is often possible to get bits of brass tubing for 
 such purposes as the present, but tin will do almost as well, and it need 
 not be soldered, but only bent round to meet, and then hammered into its 
 place. 
 
 F is a plan view of B, B or C, C, which are exactly alike. The cen- 
 tral square hole allows the long handle to go through it, fitting well 
 and closely. The ends are to be cut as shown, i.e., with tenons to fit 
 well into mortices in the side pieces, one of which is seen in plan at H. 
 In these pieces a is the bushed hole for the roller pin ; h and c the square 
 holes to receive the tenons of the rails B, B and C, C. It is as well to 
 make the sides of rather thicker stuff, say, ^in., if the rest is of fin* 
 scantling. The end of the long handle should be tenoned and fitted into 
 a short rounded piece about Bin. long, like K, and pinned through. If 
 the different tenons are made to fit and are glued, there will be no need, 
 in a toy of this kind, to pin or wedge them, as tbey will be quite strong 
 enough without. The axle of the roller is made of two pins of stout wire, 
 about the size of a slate pencil, driven in after the cylinder is in place. 
 Bore holes truly central and point the wires slightly. Another plan is to 
 use two long screws passed in from the outside. The heads may be 
 filed off, but it is quite as well to leave them as they are. Paint, of 
 course, to match the waggon, previously described. 
 
 We may now proceed to a horse (toy) roller with shafts, and this will 
 not be a difficult task to anyone who has succeeded in making a hand 
 roller neatly. I have given a perspective drawing of this in Fig. 28, p. 67, 
 which will not need a very detailed description ; a, 6, c, d are tenon and 
 mortice joints, as is also that of the two short side pieces where they join 
 the shafts. These are shaped exactly like those of the cart. The roller 
 must be turned to make a good job, but for the smaller roller, if a lathe 
 is not to be had, a bit may be sawn off a round limb of a tree selected 
 from the wood pile — a short piece is sometimes very nearly a true 
 cylinder. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I think it may be as well to describe in 
 detail the proper way to make a tenon and mortice, as in this consists 
 
ROLLEES AND WHEELBARROWS. 
 
 67 
 
 ihe main secret of carpentry, whether for toys or large and important 
 work. In Fig. 29, p. 69, A is a carpenter's square, often made entirely of 
 wood by the carpenter himself, but, generally speaking, for the smaller 
 sizes the handle is of hard wood and the blade of steel, and the two are 
 fixed accurately square to each other. B of the same Fig. is a common 
 gauge, and C a mortice gauge. The first consists of a stem of beech or 
 hard wood accurately squared up, and about ^in. wide by 6in, long. 
 Near the end, in one face of this stem, is a point of steel or of iron, very 
 short and sharp, which actually scribes the work when using the tool. 
 Upon this slides a block of hard wood, mortised out to fit the stem and 
 slide upon it stiffly. It is further mortised to hold a wedge ; it is marked 
 F and the wedge G, which latter has two heads, to prevent it from 
 falling out and getting lost. The mortice gauge is similarly made except 
 
 ct b 
 
 Fig. 28.— Horse Roller, 
 
 that in the stem is fitted a brass slide, in the end of which is fixed another 
 scribing point, which can be drawn away from the first by the action of a 
 screw (the head of which, shaped for the finger and thumb to hold, is seen 
 at the top of the tool), leaving between them a space the width of the 
 desired mortice. D shows a bit of wood with the square laid across it, 
 where one end of the mortice is to be. A pencil line is drawn along the 
 wood at this place, using the blade as a ruler. The square is then slid 
 down and a second line drawn, thus setting out the two ends of the 
 mortice truly square to the sides of the piece of wood, which I have 
 supposed accurately planed on all sides. 
 
 The sides of the mortice are now to be marked by means of the gauge. 
 This is placed as shown at E, the sliding block having been fixed on its 
 
 r2 
 
68 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 stem at the distance the side of the mortice is to be from the edge of the 
 piece of wood. Holding it by the stem close to the head, or by the head 
 itself in the right hand, and steadying it with the left, the gauge is moved 
 up and down once or twice along the wood, and will scratch or scribe a 
 line upon it as shown on the left side of E. A similar line is then scribed 
 on the opposite side, which completes the marking out of the mortice. If 
 the mortice gauge is used, made, as explained, with two points instead 
 of one, the two lines are scribed at once and at one setting of the tool, 
 which is a much more convenient plan in the majority of cases. 
 
 The great difficulty to be overcome is the cutting the mortice accurately, 
 quite perpendicular to the face of the work. A great many are required to 
 be cut through the wood, and when this is the case accuracy may be 
 insured in the following manner : Instead of only drawing the lines by 
 means of the square on one side of the piece, as at D, carry these quite 
 round, ruling them on every side by means of the square. You can thus 
 mark the position of the ends of the mortice on two opposite sides of the 
 wood. Having your mortice gauge set, you have now only to mark the 
 two side lines on the face of the wood as you marked the first, and the 
 mortice will now be sketched out exactly in the right place on the two 
 opposite sides of the work. You must now proceed to cut it out cleanly 
 with sharp chisels aided by a wooden mallet — not hammer. 
 
 You must not set the edge of the chisel upon the lines which mark out 
 the mortice, but a little way inside these lines. Begin by setting it across 
 the grain of the wood as seen in Fig. 27, M, p. 65, ^in. within the lines, and 
 strike it gently with the mallet. The bevel of the chisel for this first cut 
 may be outwards. Now reverse it and make a similar cut at the opposite 
 end of the mortice, and, pressing down the handle, raise a chip. Bat if 
 the mortice is a long one, so that you cannot work like this, begin more 
 in the middle of it, and so extend the hole gradually. When half way 
 through the stuff, or thereabouts, turn it over and begin on the other side, 
 and after a while you will, of course, have cut quite through. You now 
 have to work from each side until you have cut the hole square and true. 
 
 Never obliterate the lines marked. Work exactly to them, but leave them 
 on the wood, and let this be a standing rule, or you will never make a 
 good fit. When the mortice is nearly finished you must turn the bevel 
 of the chisel inwards towards the centre of the hole, and at the very last 
 you must re-sharpen the tool, so as to trim the hole very clean. When 
 finished all sides of the mortice ought to be quite smooth, and as true as 
 if planed. Using ordinary care no difficulty should be found in cutting a 
 through hole like this, but when the mortice is not intended to appear on 
 the other side it is very easy to cut it incorrectly by not holding the chisel 
 
ROLLERS AND WHEELBARROWS. 
 
 69 
 
 upright or perpendicularly to the face of the work. When this is the case 
 a tenoned piece fitted to it will not stand correctly at right angles to the 
 first, and, indeed, will not fit at all, unless so cut as not to stand upright. 
 This is often necessary ; but, of course, in that case the parts are marked 
 and fitted differently, the bevel being used instead of the square. You 
 can also mark out a mortice with a pair of compasses, measuring the 
 different distances and pricking out the ends of the line and ruling with a 
 pencil and straightedge, but this is not the right method, except in certain 
 special cases, the square and gauge being so much more effective. 
 
 Fig. 29.— Tools used in Mortice Work. 
 
 The tenon needs just the same care both in marking and cutting. N of 
 Fig. 27, p. 65, is a bit of wood squared up truly. First mark it all round 
 a, h, c, with the square at the right distance from the end. If the tenon 
 is to go quite through the mortice, let it be long enough to project iin., 
 which superfluity will be subsequently cut off with a saw and chisel 
 Measure with compasses the size of the tenon required, taking the mea- 
 surements from the mortice already cut, and having set the gauge 
 accordingly, scribe the longitudinal lines till they meet, or even cross those 
 drawn by the square. Now saw &, c, and the opposite side, not cutting 
 the line, but sawing so closely and truly that you will not need to trim it 
 subsequently with a chisel. If of deal, straight grained and free from 
 knots at this part, you may now split off the cheek pieces, using a broad 
 
70 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 chisel and a mallet, and subsequently with a very sharp chisel trim exactly 
 to the lines. But if there is the least doubt about the straight splitting 
 of the wood, saw these cheeks out completely and truly, leaving, I repeat, 
 every line upon the piece. You will then find that the mortice and tenon 
 will fit with great accuracy, though not so tightly as to endanger bursting 
 the mortice, a mishap not unusual, but fatal to any hope of a strong joint. 
 
 I have in these instructions reversed the usual order of work, as the 
 tenon is generally cut first, and being then stood on the piece in which 
 the mortice is to be made, a line is drawn round the latter with a finely 
 cut hard pencil or with a steel scriber. But it does not much matter 
 which way you go to work so long as you are very exact in marking and 
 cutting out the parts. It is easy to understand that there are two 
 faults to be guarded against — too loose and too tight a fit, to which I may 
 add a partial fit only — in which case the tenon fits where it enters and 
 where it projects on the other side, but not in the intermediate parts. 
 This is a bad fault, and very common in cheap furniture. The result is 
 that when glued together the holding power is a mere nothing, whereas 
 the glue in a well-made joint acts over the whole of the surfaces in con- 
 tact, and such is the tenacity of good glue that the wood will tear before 
 the glued surfaces will separate. 
 
 In the following description of a toy wheelbarrow I give such in- 
 structions as will suffice for a really useful article fit for work in a 
 garden. Of whatever size it is made, a child's barrow should be of 
 utility to the little gardener, or it becomes a foolish toy, fit only for 
 keeping baby fingers out of mischief. There is no greater pleasure 
 to a child than to take a barrow out of doors and load it with rubbish, 
 and no more healthy amusement can b© devised than light outdoor work 
 of this kind, which may also be made to teach many a useful lesson of 
 tidiness and industry. 
 
 The ordinary child's barrow (A, Fig. 30, p. 71) is constructed in the 
 simplest manner that can be devised, and is not by any means a bad one. 
 It might, with one or two modifications, answer on a larger scale, and it 
 certainly has the advantage over those in daily use that it is much less 
 prone to tip over sideways, because the centre of gravity is below the 
 level of the hands. But this is an advantage with a drawback. It is 
 better for wheeling, but renders it difficult to discharge the load at the 
 end of the journey, and hence it is, I suppose, that this design has not 
 gained favour. But for children's use it is perfect, because their difficulty 
 always is to prevent an upset, and if they try to wheel a barrow of 
 ordinary shape fairly loaded they generally capsize the whole before^ 
 arriving at their destination. 
 
HOLLERS AND WHEELBARROWS. 71 
 
 Each side is made of a single board sawn out to the form shown. 
 The front, cut like C, and the back of similar form, are then nailed 
 inside these. These front and back boards ought to be thicker than the 
 sides, to make a strong job, because, if thin, you have to use nails too 
 slight to hold all securely. The bottom, which also forms the bearing of 
 the wheel, is cut like B, the wheel running in the slot. By an oversight I 
 have made this a barrow that will tip easily like that used by gardeners ; 
 for a child's safe barrow the sides are continued like short shafts to take 
 the wheel, the axle thus lying above the centre of gravity of the load. 
 D shows one leg sloped off towards the top to suit the outward slope 
 of the side, and so bring the legs into an upright position. 
 
 Fig. 30.— Okdinary Wheelbarrow. 
 
 The arrangement of these essential p^rts of a toy barrow is always 
 faulty, and very soon the legs are seen to have taken up a walking position 
 instead of remaining perpendicular. To prevent this, there should always 
 be a stay of light iron rod (if the barrow is intended for use) attached at 
 one end to the bottom of the leg and at the other to the under side of 
 the bottom of the barrow. 
 
 In a mere toy when it is easy to find stuff wide enough, the side boards 
 may even be shaped like the dotted line, and thus form the legs ; but, if 
 so, these boards must not splay or slope outward much, as they will throw 
 the parts forming the legs too far out of the perpendicular. In this case 
 
72 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 a, bit of stufE can be sloped like K and nailed on outside (K, the part 
 shaded, being an independent leg similar to D, but nailed all the way 
 down, and thus forming- a much stronger support than when cut and 
 attached with only a nail or two in its upper end) . The parts of the side 
 boards which form the handles are rounded off with a spokeshave, so as 
 not to hurt the hands. 
 
 A barrow wheel, if made of wood, is always formed in a peculiar way, 
 unlike any other wheel. The nave, square in the middle, slopes off at 
 each end, and has iron ferrules driven on to prevent splitting, as the 
 pivots are driven in and have to bear the weight of the load and stand the 
 ceaseless strain and jar of wheeling it. Through the middle of the squared 
 part a mortice is cut in one direction to receive the piece F, Fig. 30, p. 71, 
 
 Fig. 31.—Navvy's Wheelbareow. 
 
 which forms two spokes, and is shaped as shown, fitting the mortice in 
 the middle, and being rounded at the ends to go into holes bored in the 
 rim or felloe. This being put in place, a hole is now pierced through the 
 axle in the other direction, passing, of course, through the centre of the 
 piece just described. This is a round hole, and a portion of rounded ash, 
 or oak, or elm, forming the other two spokes of the wheel, is now driven 
 in tightly, fixing the flat portion securely and completing this part of the 
 wheel. The rim, made of two, or at most of three, separate pieces, as 
 already described, is now fitted on and worked up to a correct form, and 
 an iron tyre completes it. Such is the mode of construction without 
 independent framing, which generally finds favour with toy-makers. 
 Nothing can be better for a child's barrow. 
 
KOLLERS AND WHEELB ARROWS. 73 
 
 We will now, however, progress a step further, and make this article 
 with a frame. There are two patterns general even in this case, viz., 
 that of the navvy barrow used in the construction of railroads, and 
 intended to carry a comparatively small load and tip easily, and the deep 
 barrow of the gardener, which is often made still deeper by additional top 
 boards, that can be added and removed at pleasure, the object being to 
 enable large loads of dead leaves to be carried in the autumn. 
 
 The navvy barrow is a simple affair, and is designed to be, to a certain 
 extent, portable, i.e., the main parts can be so made as to pack flat for 
 shipboard or train, and on arrival at their destination these can be put 
 together in a very short time without much knowledge of carpentry. In 
 Fig. 31, p. 72, A is the bottom frame of ash, forming at once the shafts* 
 the wheel bearings, and the support of the bottom. B gives a side view 
 or profile of one side of this frame, and shows two wooden brackets 
 separately drawn at c, nailed on to support the front and back boards, 
 to which, when attached, the sides are securely nailed. The wheel is 
 always of iron. 
 
 The gardener's wheelbarrow is made on the same principle so far as the 
 bottom frame is 
 concerned ; but 
 this is not so 
 narrowed at the 
 wheel end, and 
 the boards are 
 put on differ- 
 ently. Instead 
 of the brackets, 
 the legs are 
 notched out and 
 fitted on, as seen 
 in section (Fig. 
 32) A, and in 
 perspective in 32.— Gardener's Wheelbarrow. 
 
 32, B, so that 
 
 their upper part forms a support to the side boards. Two pieces (C, C) 
 mortised into the shafts at the wheel end support the back, and the 
 latter at this point support in turn the further ends of the sides. An 
 iron rod, generally speaking, goes from one leg to the other, as shown at 
 the dotted line, and this, which has a large head at one end, is fixed with 
 a nut at the other, adding considerably to the strength of this part. A 
 tband of hoop iron is also frequently put across the top edge of the back 
 
74 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 board and over the sides to which it is nailed, which prevents so much 
 strain falling upon the nails which hold these together. A heavy load 
 is thus prevented from bursting out the sides of the barrow. 
 
 Even if this garden implement is only intended as a fairly useful toy, 
 it should be made, if possible, of ash, and all parts well and strongly 
 joined together. It is not a difficult article to construct, and will afford 
 good practice. Care must be taken to cut the top part of the legs 
 to exactly the same angle, and to place C, C at a similar angle, or 
 the barrow will be crooked, and only fit to be stuck upon a pole 
 and labelled failure," as a warning to the amateur carpenter to take^ 
 more care. 
 
 There now arises the question. How are we to insure the correctness of 
 the aforesaid angles of our wheelbarrow ? for it is a frequent occurrence- 
 in carpentry that pieces have to be united together afc other than right 
 angles. The tool used in such cases is the bevel illustrated in Chapter I., 
 Fig. 1, p. 6 — a sort of square with movable blade. It is used very much in 
 the same way as a square, but the blade is first set to the required angle. 
 Suppose you wish to cut a sloping mortice. The side lines are to be 
 ruled on each side of the piece by means of the bevel, while the others, 
 and those to match them on the opposite side, are to be drawn by 
 the square. Thus, when cut out, you will get a skew mortice, which 
 may represent part of the wheelbarrow already described. The tenon 
 must be marked by the same bevel. Thus the same tools and the same 
 methods are used, whether tenons or mortices are to be drawn, and the 
 bevel once set will answer for both. If you have no carpenter's bevel 
 (which you can, however, easily make), you can cut out a bit of tin to the 
 required angle, and rule along the edge of it. 
 
 It is a common plan with carpenters who have a number of articles 
 to make of the same kind, to keep templates or pattern plates of this sort, 
 made of zinc, or tin, or thin wood, cut to the bevel or curve required. 
 They are struck out originally with large compasses, or with a lath and a 
 couple of bradawls, forming what are called beam compasses, if the 
 segments are to be wheel patterns of large size. Others which are not 
 parts of circles are drawn out in pencil by the eye, and, after being cut 
 out, are neatly finished to accuracy. But once carefully made they should 
 also be carefully kept, and not allowed to lie about on the floor till trodden 
 upon and broken or lost. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no toy that allows of the exercise of ingenuity as 
 much as the windmill. We meet with it in various forms in the toy 
 shops, and there are many others which it may take until it becomes 
 an absolutely correct model of the well-known machine. The simpest toy 
 windmill is that consisting of four light arms with coloured paper attached 
 to the ends, and a pin or small nail through the centre, by which these 
 small sails are attached to the end of a light rod, but so as to turn freely 
 upon it. Faced to the wind, the rod held in the hand, the small sails 
 spin merrily enough. 
 
 Then we have the toy mill, consisting of a hollow wooden tower 4in. 
 to 6in. high, through the upper part of which the axle is placed, with 
 sails of wood at one end. A string wound round this axle is brought 
 down and out at the lower end of the tower, by pulling which sharply 
 and then letting it go motion is given to the sail, and the string is 
 rewound in the contrary direction, ready for a second pull. I do not think 
 this worth further notice, as it is a mere baby's toy, and would at best 
 be only worth making in order to practise turning hollow work. 
 
 The first ^toy windmill I shall describe, therefore, in detail shall be one 
 which I myself possessed as a youngster, and which gave me, I remember, 
 great pleasure, although I had to turn the sails myself by means of a 
 small handle. But it was made to take apart, and it had a click-clack 
 attachment, to say nothing of a flight of steps, or step ladder, on which 
 stood in all his glory the miller himself. Then there were sacks that 
 could be hoisted by a chain through a veritable trap door, and it was a 
 toy of which, curiously enough, I have never seen the counterpart. I 
 shall, however, make one forthwith for some young hopefuls, since the 
 necessity for writing this book has brought the original vividly to my 
 recollection. 
 
76 
 
 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 First of all there was the stand, consisting of a square board about 
 2in. each way, with four knobs at the corners to make it stand more 
 firmly. This will be better if made Sin. square of iin. deal, as it 
 has to support the whole structure, and it will be still better weighted 
 underneath by attaching to it a bit of sheet lead. It will not then 
 require to be steadied by the hand while working the sails. In the 
 drawing opposite (Fig. 33) , which is partly sectional to show the inside of 
 the mill, this stand is marked A. In the centre of this board is glued a 
 round turned boss (B) to add to its thickness, and thereby give greater 
 steadiness to the pillar which comes next to it. This may be liin. in 
 diameter, and ^in. or more in thickness. In the centre of it a hole must 
 be made about the size of a cedar pencil, which must also penetrate 
 through the square board. It will be best made by a shell bit or nose 
 bit used in the brace — a gimlet may split the wood, and will not make 
 so smooth and round a hole. We now arrive at (E) a turned pillar, l|in. 
 to 2in. long and about lin. in diameter, which is to be turned with two 
 tenons or pins, one to fit the hole just described, the other, a similar 
 one, to enter in the bottom board and boss of the mill itself. This pillar 
 should be made of beech or ash, not of deal ; but, if the latter is used, 
 it will be as well to bore holes and glue in these pins made of some 
 harder wood. C is a boss similar to B glued to the centre of D, and 
 serving a similar purpose. D may be 3in. square, i.e., the same size as 
 the lower board, and fin. thick. Near the corners holes are to be bored, 
 but not so large as the others, say, the size of a penholder. It is as well 
 to put a boss also under each of these corner holes, as they prevent the 
 wood from splitting if put with the grain across that of the board to 
 which they are attached. 
 
 All the parts described should be made as neatly as possible, so 
 as to fit together without the least shakiness. For a thoroughly good 
 job the bottom board might be of iin. stuff only, with strips fin. 
 broad glued on, so as to give it the form of a framed panel, which 
 will prevent it from warping. If this is not done let the stuff be 
 very dry, and use by preference a harder wood than deal. Let it be 
 quite square with nice clean sharply cut edges. Thus far we have 
 built up the stand and floor. This may be glued up, of course, if 
 preferred, but one chief pleasure of this kind of toy is derived from 
 taking it apart and building it again ad libitum ; and I should not glue 
 any part of it until perhaps by frequent use it may have become shaky. 
 It might then be glued together and remain as an ordinary toy. We 
 now have to plane up the angle pieces (H), which also fit by pegs into 
 the bottom where the holes were made for that purpose. Here again, 
 
Fig. 33.— Simple Mill with Click-Clack Attachment. 
 
78 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 as in the rest of the main framework, deal is not so good a material as 
 Ijeech or ash, but it will do fairly well. 
 
 The original mill was a German or Swiss toy, constructed of the 
 well known beautifully white pine of finer grain than deal, and 
 less prone on that account to split. The pillars may be Sin. or 3|in. 
 in height, and are grooved on two adjacent sides, as shown at F and 
 at G, which is the cross section. They may be fin. wide each way with 
 ^in. groove. 'This groove a carpenter would plane out with a plough 
 or grooving plane, or with a gauge made on purpose, but it is easy to 
 manage it with a mitring saw and a small chisel. An ordinary gauge is, 
 however, a good tool to use to mark the groove out with the grain of the 
 wood ; and one made with a cutting edge instead of a mere point (a tool 
 easily made at any time) will do such work most efficiently. 
 
 There is such a tool called, I think, a string or stringing gauge. It is 
 used to plough out a straight and narrow groove for the insertion of 
 strips of veneer, to form ornamental lines in pieces of furniture. When- 
 ever a gauge is wanted for special jobs it is quite easy to make them 
 without a sliding head. A bit of hard wood is cut like K (Fig. 33) , and 
 gauge points inserted at the required distance from the head. They are 
 made thus for marking out sash work and many other such jobs which 
 have to be repeated to the same dimensions. They are also made like L 
 in steps. These cannot be purchased, but are made by the carpenter for 
 special requirements to save the trouble of setting and readjusting 
 the sliding gauges commonly seen, and which I have already described. 
 It is easy to make one of these to plough out the grooves in the 
 upright posts of the mill. The object of the groove is to receive the 
 sliding panels of thin board, forming the four sides of the mill, each 
 of which has a little window, and one the door, with hinges of fine wire 
 or of thin leather glued on. These sides are of stuff barely fin. thick, 
 merely bits of board very truly squared up. They are slid into the 
 grooves in the posts, and then four little beams like M, M, with holes 
 through them near the ends, slip over the upper pegs of the posts and 
 keep them from spreading, thus securing the structure. 
 
 The top beams are to be notched out at their extremities to fit with a 
 half lap upon each other and upon the pegs, so as to form a level surface 
 upon which to set the roof. This may be made of a solid pyramidal 
 shaped bit of deal, painted in oil colours to imitate tiles or wood. It is 
 made to fit on the top beams by four short pins, of which two are seen in 
 a, h. On the summit is a turned ornament or a weathercock. In one 
 part of the floor a trap door (P) is made and hinged with leather. 
 Through this the chain falls for lifting sacks. The windows should have 
 
WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 
 
 79 
 
 g-lass put in, which may be secured inside where not seen by strips of 
 calico glued over its edges and attached to the boards. Very thin glass 
 should be used to make a neat job of it. 
 
 We now have to form the sails and arrange the axle to carry them. The 
 latter is turned with an enlarged part at O, or this is turned and made 
 to slip on stiffly. The axle is also made to fit tightly in a wooden cog- 
 wheel and a cotton reel (S). Its lower end is made smaller, so as to have 
 a shoulder at X, which rests against the three-cornered bit (T), glued to 
 the wall on that side, and which is necessary on account of the angle 
 which the axle itself makes with the side of the mill. The wheel (E) has 
 a wooden spring resting on the cogs to cause the clacking noise when the 
 sails turn. The spring is fastened securely at one end to the inside of the 
 wall nearest to the wheel. The sails or vanes are merely thin pieces of 
 board cut as shown, and rounded at the end to fit into holes in the boss 
 of the axle. 
 
 Not being intended to turn by the wind, these may stand quite flat, as 
 they generally do, or they may be turned in the holes to set at any 
 desired angle, in which case the wind will of course drive them, if set out 
 of doors ; but this is not meant as an out-of-door toy, and had better 
 remain as an indoor one for the table. In order to get the axle into 
 place, the side (H), through which it passes, has a U shaped piece cut 
 out of its upper side, the width of which just allows the axle to pass 
 into it, and rest on the bottom. The handle at the opposite end is 
 removed, and this end placed in its block until it rests against the block 
 at the shoulder. The sail end then drops down into its U shaped bearing. 
 This is, of course, all arranged before putting on the roof. W is a wire 
 loop to guide the chain, so that it may not slip off the end of the cotton 
 reel, which should be turned with large flanges. Indeed, though I have 
 •called it a cotton reel, it should be made on purpose. I have shown the 
 steps in section, the view giving the inside of the further board forming 
 one side. The other is like it with grooves for the steps, which are to be 
 iglued in or fixed with small brads. The upper end may rest against a 
 block by the mill door, or be made to hook on with two wire staples, 
 This toy is one requiring a little care to make neatly and so that it will 
 be firm when put together, but will not present any real difficulty. It 
 is a capital toy to construct, and should have a box to hold it. It will 
 make a birthday present for any child from 3 to 5 or 6 years of age. 
 
 It is by no means difficult to modify certain toys so as to render them 
 more or less serviceable, and we can do so with the handmill, adding 
 thereby to the satisfaction of the maker and user. Perhaps the best 
 use to turn it to will be sugar grating or grinding, and the sugar can 
 
80 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 be sifted and made to run out of a spout into little sacks, thus imitatinsr 
 the work of a real mill. But it is to be noted that when a toy has to da 
 real work it must be strongly made, and we must now have a main 
 spindle of beech or ash with a handle of similar material, which handle 
 is to be long enough to give good leverage. The base or stand should 
 also now be weighted with lead or made to clamp to the edge of a table 
 by the small American clamps given previously. What we require is first 
 of all some form of grater like that used for nutmeg attached to the axle 
 of the sails. Properly speaking, to imitate more precisely a mill, we 
 should place it horizontally and work it by a pinion or trundle" from a 
 large wheel on the spindle, but this needs more power in order to turn it 
 and overcome the resistance of grinding, and it also needs a little know- 
 ledge of wheels and pinions, which I do not wish to give till later on. 
 
 We have a choice of form in respect of the grating contrivance, and 
 must consider what will be e asiest to make rather than what is absolutely 
 the best. If a nutmeg grater is examined it will be seen to consist of a 
 bit of tin, which has been perforated by a punch from one side only, the 
 rough edge thereby produced on the opposite side fulfilling the office 
 of a grinding surface. The shape^given to the grater depends on con- 
 venience, some being cylindrical, to fit into a neat case, others flat or 
 rounded, while others, like the American carrot grater, are of much 
 larger size, working by small cog wheels, and are of cylindrical form, 
 with an axle through the axis of the cylinder. Of these forms I think 
 the cylindrical will best answer our purpose, because it will not be 
 difficult to find the material partly shaped to hand. We can get, I dare- 
 say, a round tin box about an inch deep and a couple of inches across. 
 Taking off the cover, it will be easy with a punch (any bit of iron or steel 
 ground to a rather blunt point and about 4in. long) and light hammer, 
 working from the inside of the box, to render the outside a very capital 
 grater. A hole must now be made in the middle of the cover and also 
 of the bottom, large enough to admit the axle stiffly. 
 
 This axle is to be turned with a shoulder like Fig. 34, A, for the grater 
 to rest against ; and a spring driven in through the tin into the axle, 
 will hold it securely enough to prevent it from turning ; or if you like 
 to make a still better job, glue on first a round disc, like that dotted, 
 and then, before putting on the cover of the box, tack it through the 
 bottom to this disc ; or, thirdly, turn it round, not using the cover 
 at all, but inserting the disc just inside it, and so making the latter 
 form the cover ; give it a small tack or two at the edge of the disc. 
 The black line, B, represents a hole to allow any sugar that may accumu- 
 late inside the box to be shaken out ; most of it, however, will fall out at 
 
WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 
 
 81 
 
 the punched holes. It will be better, I think, if the mill is to be used 
 in this way, to let the axle run horizontally through the mill instead of 
 lying at an angle, which latter 
 plan is of no real importance in 
 a toy, although in a real mill it 
 is found necessary, in order to 
 gain as much wind pressure as 
 possible, and also to assist in 
 reducing the strain which would 
 be caused by so great a weight 
 as the sails if their axle was hori- 
 zontal. 
 
 We now want a hopper in 
 which to place the sugar to lead 
 it to the grater, and also a re- 
 ceptacle below to catch it when 
 pulverised, and we can add a 
 sieve to render the ground por- 
 tion as fine as possible. D repre- 
 sents the hopper. From a to 
 h is to be the width of the tin 
 grater. In the other direction, 
 it must be as wide as will 
 allow it to fit nicely over the grater, the hollowed part below resting 
 almost upon the axle. A sectional view (Fig. 35) will make this 
 more clear, as it shows us the 
 hopper full of sugar, with the 
 grater inside, half of the latter 
 being encompassed by the hopper. 
 This can be made of wood ^in. 
 thick, as we have not as yet 
 given instructions for using the 
 soldering iron. A similar recep- 
 tacle or a tin funnel below, will 
 catch the powdered sugar and 
 conduct it into a basin or a 
 small toy sack. The spout can 
 come out below through the 
 floor, or it may lead into a little 
 shoot opening out at the side, details of which I think may fairly be left 
 to the taste and ingenuity of the maker. 
 
 G 
 
 Fig. 34.--H0PPER AND Grater. 
 
 Fig. 35.— Sectional View op Hopper. 
 
82 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 The hopper (as also the bottom receptacle) can easily be fixed in its 
 place inside by glueing on blocks inside the walls, between which it can 
 rest, and to which it can be attached by small screws or wire pins. It 
 should not be glued until it is proved to be exactly in the right position, 
 and to fit so closely as only to allow the sugar to escape after being 
 reduced to powder. It is, indeed, a good plan to arrange all parts so 
 as to be separable at pleasure, instead of glueing them together per- 
 manently. It will be better to make this sugar mill with a hollow 
 roof, because the upper hopper must stand chiefly above the level of the 
 main axle of the sails, and there will not otherwise be room for it unless 
 the axle is placed too low down to look well. To render all clear I give 
 in Fig. 36, on the opposite page, a section of the mill to show the inside 
 complete. Here A is the upper and C the lower hopper, B the grater, 
 D the sifting arrangement, described further on. This is a very simple 
 affair, but effective. In this case, it is intended to have a special hopper 
 side by side with the other, which is to be filled from the produce of the 
 grinding apparatus. 
 
 In a more complete arrangement the sugar should fall into the sieve, 
 and thence be carried to the basin or sack, but we must not attempt it 
 just yet. D is a square box or tray with a bottom of coarse muslin, 
 supported by a few cross wires to give it strength, or it may be of tin 
 pierced with holes, or perforated zinc, or finely-woven wire. This is hinged 
 at G to the side of the mill by two hinges of leather glued on, of which 
 one is seen at G, and the bottom has two little blocks (K) glued on, by 
 which it rests on the edge of the hopper (F). E is a bit of tape, one end 
 glued to the side of the box, the other to a bar at the top of the 
 mill ; one only is shown, but there may be two, one attached to each 
 side of the sieve. At H is seen a stout wire, passed through the axle 
 of the sails, and bent at right angles. It must be long enough to strike 
 and push away the tapes, which otherwise hang perpendicularly and 
 are tightly strained. Thus, every time the wire touches a tape the box is 
 lifted a little at the end, opposite to the hinges, and then, as the wire 
 becomes perpendicular, the sieve drops with its blocks below upon 
 the edge of the lower hopper, thus receiving a shake, which sifts the 
 sugar. 
 
 In a simple toy like this no special provision is made for the removal 
 of the larger particles left in the sieve. Perhaps the easiest way will 
 iDe to take off the roof and turn the mill upside down now and then ; 
 or the mill door can be made at this place so as to admit a teaspoon, or 
 to allow the sieve, which can be merely hooked on to little wire 
 staples, to be removed entirely. Instead of a second hopper, moreover, 
 
WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 83 
 
 the charge to fill the sieve can be introduced at the door and passed at 
 once into the sieve, saving a little extra work in the construction. If 
 
 Fig. 36.— Sectional View op Interior of Mill. 
 
 the handle be 2in. or a little more in the cranked part, plenty of power 
 Will be obtained for sugar grating, the work will be done effectually and 
 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 rapidly, especially if the lumps be first broken to the size of a hazelnut. 
 Sifting, if the sieve is a fine mesh, will, of course, take somewhat longer. 
 
 It may as well be stated here, that a drawing should always be made 
 before commencing the actual construction of either this or any other 
 toy containing several parts. Without such a guide, the toy maker or 
 amateur carpenter will never be sure of getting the different parts of his 
 work to agree. All that is needed is an outline drawing of the proposed 
 article, an elevation, end view, and cross section. The elevation would 
 in this case be like Fig. 36 (p. 83), showing the interior, and, if made of 
 full size, it will show exactly where each part has to fit, how many 
 inches must be taken in this direction or that, what size you can give 
 to the grater or the hopper, how long the sails are to be to clear the 
 stand as they revolve, and how high the roof must be above the body of 
 the mill to clear the hopper. A ruler and a square, or a correctly cut 
 card for the latter, and a finely pointed pencil, will do to start with, 
 but triangular set squares can be bought for a penny or two at Cassell's, 
 and also cheap drawing boards, compasses, and any other implements 
 ©f the kind at the lowest possible cost. Carefully made drawings are 
 always worth preservation ; careless ones are of no value to work by, and 
 may as well be left alone. 
 
 It seems but a step from the toy mill requiring the hand of the small 
 boy to turn the sails to one on which the wind is left to do this duty. The 
 smallest affair in which this takes place is the click-clack mill, to terrify 
 sparrows in order to save the seeds in the garden in spring time from 
 these feathered marauders. I should hardly have deemed this con- 
 trivance worthy of mention if it were not that I have been asked how 
 to make it, and that it will also serve as a description to a great extent of 
 other out-of-door mills. The chief difference between these and indoor 
 toys is that the former have to be so constructed as always to face 
 the wind, and, as the direction of the wind is constantly changing, a 
 windmill has of necessity to be continually facing about in aU directions 
 to accommodate itself to the changes. 
 
 A (Fig. 37) represents the top part of an upright pole to be firmly 
 fixed in the ground. This is eased off at the upper end, where a stout iron 
 rod, about 6in. long, is driven in. Bore a hole a little smaller than this 
 rod, which should be the size of a cedar pencil, so that it will fit tightly 
 when inserted, and take care to have it quite upright. Let it stand out 
 Sin. It ought to have a screw cut on its upper end, to take a nut — a 
 blacksmith's job — but we can, I dare say, manage to do as well without 
 it. The actual mill consists of a frame of wood, which I think the 
 drawing will explain. G is to be liin. thick and 6in. long, if of deal, or 
 
86 TOYMAKING FOB, AMATETJES. 
 
 lin. thick if of harder wood, like ash, or beech, or oak. The width 
 may be l^in. or 2in. The short uprights at each end will do of lin. thick 
 stuff, the width being the same as that of the bottom piece. It is much 
 better to make all this of beech nicely planed up. The short pieces 
 ought to be fitted by being mortised into the other, but may be attached 
 by two l^in. screws at each end, the heads being neatly countersunk. 
 They are to be quite upright, and the frame must be stiff, strong, and 
 neat, or it soon comes to grief. Hence, nicely made mortices are to 
 be preferred. This frame is to turn easily, but steadily, upon the iron 
 rod which is to pass through it. It is, in fact, a windmill weathercock. 
 Hence it is that a nut and screw would be an advantage, because with 
 it we can adjust the degree of tightness we ought to give to this part. 
 The hole in the base piece must not be too big, but must fit the rod 
 nicely, and it will be a great advantage to line it with a bit of brass 
 tube. It will then turn easily and steadily if oiled. If we cannot 
 manage a screw and nut we have to secure it by slipping on quite tightly 
 a bit of hard wood to serve as a nut. There is not much tendency in 
 this part to fly off the iron rod, but it may do so if the wind chance to 
 be high. 
 
 There is another way to mount this frame, which is quite as good and 
 easy to manage, and may even be preferable. Let the hole in the post 
 be large enough to allow the rod to turn in it easily, and here, again, a bit 
 of tubing is advantageous, because the wood is sure to swell with the rain 
 and damp to which it will be exposed, and it will then bind the rod and 
 prevent it from turning. The rod is in this case to be made to fit tightly 
 into the base board of the mill, as the whole is now arranged to turn 
 in the hole of the post. The next consideration is the axle of the sails, 
 which may be now placed at a slight inclination with advantage. Let 
 this be neatly turned out of a piece of beech with a boss or larger part 
 at one end to receive the sails. The length is to be such that when 
 put through holes made in the upright pieces it will reach to the shorter 
 of these, but not go through it, because the sails will turn more easily if 
 the pivot at that end is of wire ; the other must be of wood. I did not 
 state the height of the uprights, but they may be respectively 2in. and 
 lin. above the base. It is of no great importance, however, that they 
 should be of different heights, nor need these measurements be adhered 
 to. If, however, the base is too long it will cause more swaying about, 
 and the whole affair will the sooner wear out. To get this axle in place, 
 it is to be put through from the front, and, to keep it from being blown 
 out of its bearings, it is a good plan to turn a groove in the neck, as 
 shown at K. A wire pin or nail is then inserted in a hole in the upright 
 
WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 
 
 87 
 
 at L, which, falling into the groove, secures the axle without interfering 
 with its revolution. To make the click-clack, a little bit of wood suspended 
 at D by a short bit of string is made to strike the frame every time the 
 axle revolves. A better arrangement is given here which, will, at any 
 rate, surprise the most insolent cock sparrow till he gets used to it, which 
 he very soon will. A little hammer (D) is made by attaching a knob of 
 hard wood to a bit of thin wire or thin watch spring. It must be thin, 
 because it must yield at once after the stroke is given, or it will stop the 
 mill. E is a clock bell, which can be had at any watchmaker's for a 
 shilling, or it may be a toy bell, but these have not much ring in them. 
 It ia mounted on a stout wire, and must not be allowed to rest on 
 the frame. The hammer must be arranged so as just to strike, 
 but not rest upon it, It will make a delightful din, like an alarum. 
 H represents a sail sawn out of ^in. board to something of that shape. 
 It must be rounded not only to fit the holes in the axle, but to allow 
 each sail to be accurately set by being twisted round till the wind seems 
 to act fully upon them all. They must all be turned in the same direction 
 — i.e., the right or left hand edge, as you face the sails, must be set 
 back or forward ; not the right of one and left of the other, or they will 
 stand still. 
 
 The fantail in this case is a flat tail, like a larger sail let into the back 
 or mortised into the upright, so that its flat sides agree with the sides 
 of the mill. It should be just so large and long as to balance the weight 
 of the sails, thus taking off all possible side strain on the upright pivot. 
 If this is carefully attended to, the mill will turn instantly if the direc- 
 tion of the wind should change. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be worth while to explain how this tail keeps the sails 
 in the right position. The wind must act upon their face, and by strik- 
 ing upon the slanting sides of the sails, and glancing off, its reaction 
 drives them round. It matters not what the force is. If a finger is 
 pressed against the sail, and advanced in a straight line, something must 
 yield to its pressure. If the sail were quite flat such pressure would 
 break it, but if twisted half round, the end of the finger pressing 
 against it would compel it to yield sideways, causing it to revolve, and 
 a part of the force applied would be utilised thus in turning it, while part 
 would have no other effect than to strain the sail by pressing it back — 
 tending to break it. Suppose when you set up the mill that the wind is 
 not in front, but strikes sideways, it will not turn the sails, but will 
 press against the flat fantail, and push it away till it has so far turned 
 the mill on its spindle that it can no longer act in this way. By so 
 doing, as the fantail is at the back, the sails will have been brought 
 
88 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 round till they face the wind, which will, of course, begin to act on 
 them. Then, if the wind vary ever so little, it will again strike on one 
 side of the fantail, producing the same movement as before, so that the 
 effect of this simple addition is to keep the sails always in the position 
 required to meet the wind. In a real mill a fantail large enough to con- 
 vert it into a weathercock would be an unsightly and cumbrous affair 
 if constructed like the above. It is, therefore, modified, but effects the 
 same result. The general arrangement is given in Fig. 38, and the 
 ingenious toy-maker, if ambitiously disposed, may tax his ingenuity by 
 attaching a similar one to his toy windmill. The fantail is here converted 
 
 Fig. 38.— Fantail with Bevelled Wheels. 
 
 into a set of small sails arranged on an axle, just like the vane wheel of 
 an old-fashioned smoke- jack. It is driven at a great pace when the wind 
 strikes on its face. In an ordinary mill driving three or four pairs of 
 stones these sails are 12ft. in diameter, though from the height at which 
 they are placed they appear quite small to a person standing below and 
 looking up at them. I have shown this part without the framing to 
 render the action clearer. A is the fantail, upon the axle of which 
 (B) is a bevel wheel (C), working into another (D), on an upright axle ; 
 
WINDMILLS AND HANDMILLS. 
 
 89 
 
 at the bottom of this is another similar wheel (E), and its companion 
 (F), by which the motion is again changed from vertical to horizontal. 
 On the axle of this wheel is a short strong bit of a screw of very 
 coarse pitch, which lies in the cogs of a circular rack running all round 
 the upper part of the mill. As this endless screw revolves it acts with 
 enormous power upon the rack, and turns the mill head round with 
 apparent ease. I would here call the toymaker's attention to the bevel 
 wheel as a means of changing the direction of motion. A face wheel is 
 one with cogs upon the flat of the wheel instead of upon the edge. 
 Sometimes these wheels are like very large bevel wheels, with cogs only 
 extending a couple of inches or so towards the centre of the cone. 
 These are often used in millwork, the cogs being generally of wood let 
 into iron. In the old post mill the steps were necessarily fixed to the 
 floor, and were carried round with the mill. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 
 
 The simplest of these will, of course, first demand notice, as for the 
 present we must confine our attention to wooden toys. The essential 
 parts of the ordinary toy locomotive will consist of a stand, carrying the 
 axles of the wheels, a boiler of solid wood, turned to size and shape in 
 the lathe, and a funnel or chimney. To this should, however, be added 
 a smoke box, a dome, and a cab or protection for the driver. These 
 additional parts give a far more realistic appearance to the toy, although 
 otherwise of no real importance. The drawing, Fig. 39, will, I think, be 
 recognised as the normal type of toy engine. 
 
 The part marked A is a cylinder of wood, to be neatly turned and 
 smoothed with fine sandpaper. The size is of no great importance, but 
 should be such as to give the whole a handsome appearance, say. Gin. 
 long by 2|^in. in diameter. After being turned, a flat place is to be made 
 by the chisel or plane on one side of the cylinder, by which it can be 
 attached to the bottom board. The flat thus made should be about l^in. 
 wide on a boiler of the size stated, and the bottom board may then be 
 fin. thick, 82in. long, and Sin. wide, the extra length allowing of smoke 
 box, with funnel above it, and the cab, of which the bottom will then be 
 l^in. in length. Plane up neatly on one side, if not on both sides, the 
 bottom board, taking care that the ends are truly square. The ends, 
 moreover, of the boiler must either be cut off in the lathe or marked 
 with a deep notch made by the chisel and then sawn off with a tenon 
 saw to insure their being at right angles to the length of the boiler. 
 Otherwise the additional pieces at the ends cannot possibly be made to fit 
 accurately, and the whole concern will be a muddled, unsatisfactory affair. 
 Both these end pieces should be like that shown at B, but that carrying 
 the funnel should be lin. thick, the other, called the cab, may be iin. 
 only. The latter should stand higher than the other, which need not be 
 
92 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 more than |in. to ^in. above the boiler, and project iin. on the sides. 
 The other board should be exactly the width of the bottom board, and 
 may stand Jin. to lin. above the top of the boiler. The funnel is to be 
 turned to the shape shown, and may be 2^in, high, Jin. diameter at the 
 lower end, tapering to ^in. just below the cap, which should be quite fin. 
 diameter to look well. 
 
 These several parts having been carefully made and sandpapered, they 
 may now be put together with small brads — small, but long enough to hold 
 firmly. The cab board must be attached by brads to the bottom, and 
 by longer ones to the boiler, but the front board, intended to imitate 
 the smoke box, being so thick, will, if nailed at all, need a brad Ifin. 
 or 2in. long to attach it to the boiler. This will not be necessary if it is 
 firmly nailed to the bottom by a couple of l^in. brads driven from 
 below into this thicker board. The dome on the top of the boiler, lin. 
 and l|in. diameter, should be turned to shape, and then hollowed out 
 underneath by means of a half-round rasp and file until it will fit closely. 
 It is then to be glued on. The cab should be made by nailing a strip of 
 thin tin lin. wide all round the board (E) so as to form a hood or cover. 
 This may be cut straight or hollowed out like the drawing, and with or 
 without side windows. The board, however, should have two round holes, 
 cut with a fin. centrebit, as shown at B, and if you can manage to fit in 
 bits of glass, so much the better ; if not, put pieces of tracing paper, 
 thin horn, talc, or any transparent material, which can be cut out with 
 a pair of scissors. For axles you can adopt either the plan of having 
 them fixed and the wheels turning on screws or turned wooden pins, or 
 the axles of wood or stout wire may be fixed to the wheels, and turn with 
 them, being attached to the bottom board by passing through wire staples 
 or wooden blocks attached underneath, and drilled to allow the axles to 
 pass freely through them. If the former plan be carried out, it will be 
 better to glue on two axle beams, ^in. square, to receive the screws on 
 which the wheels are to turn, as the bottom board, being but fin. stuff, 
 is hardly thick enough to receive the screws. 
 
 The wheels must be l^in. diameter at least, and made from stuff 
 iin. thick. Let them be turned up nicely and attached firmly to their 
 axles, or well secured on screws of tolerable thickness and length if 
 the latter plan is adopted. Thin wheels always wobble about as they 
 revolve, than which no defect has a worse appearance. In attaching 
 the tin to the cab use small brass nails if they can be procured, and 
 take care to insert them at equal distances apart. It will be the better 
 plan to make the holes before bending the strip of tin ; a tap with a light 
 hammer on a small bradawl will suffice to pierce thin stuff like that 
 
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 
 
 93 
 
 recommended. Thicker tin may be used, but I would caution the toy- 
 maker to remember that if stifif and springy he will find it rather difficult 
 to nail it on, as it will often draw one nail while another is beings 
 driven in. Small square blocks, turned at one end to resemble buffers, 
 should be glued on at each end of the bottom board near, but not quite 
 at, the corners, or, if more similarity to a real locomotive be desired, two 
 long strips may first be glued under the bottom board, extending iin. 
 beyond it at each end, and to the ends of these strips or buffer beams 
 small mushroom- shaped pieces can be attached by glue. Such is the 
 mode of constructing a toy locomotive of rather good quality, but it 
 cannot be considered finished until painted and decorated. 
 
 The smoke box should be painted black, as it is always in a real 
 engrine ; A should be green, because it is not the iron that is visible in 
 this part of a railway engine, but strips of wood or lagging " as it is 
 called. These are laid close together like barrel staves, with a layer of 
 felt under them, and are bound over by three or four hoops of iron. The 
 object of all this lagging** is to retain the heat as much as possible 
 by preventing the cold air from striking on the metal boiler and chilling 
 it. This woodwork is usually painted a rich green, the bands of iron 
 being black, though these are sometimes replaced by hoops of bright 
 brass. The dome (D) is always of bright brass or copper. The wooden 
 one may be painted to imitate copper. The cab (E) may be coloured 
 vermilion. The bit of rail (C) should be made of brass wire polished. 
 The wooden frame will look well of a dark oak, or of a lighter oak tint 
 veined with a darker colour. The wheels may be the same, with, 
 perhaps, the small central circle and a band on the edge both coloured 
 black. The name should be painted on a piece of tin first coloured 
 white, the letters being of a bright vermilion edged on one side with 
 black. This will cause the letters to stand out and appear solid, as 
 the black edge stands as a shadow. It must be all on one side of 
 each letter, not on both, for shadow is cast only in one direction. Buffers 
 black, and the whole varnished afterwards. 
 
 The next step towards reality that can be made in a toy engine is to 
 add cylinders, and give motion to the piston-rods. Retaining the parts 
 illustrated in the previous figure (Fig. 39), we must place two turned 
 cylinders on the outside of the boiler, and, for the sake of simplicity 
 and ease in manufacture, they should be made on the oscillating prin- 
 ciple, which will prevent the necessity of connecting rods and guides. 
 An oscillating cylinder is pivoted on a pin at one end, or in the middle, 
 so that it can rock up and down on this pin, and accommodate itself to 
 the motion of the crank to which its piston-rod is attached. This rod 
 
94 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 in the wooden model will be simply of wire, and no piston will be 
 attached to it— the cylinders, in such case, not requiring to be bored, 
 except with a small hole to allow free movement of the wire. 
 
 Fig. 40 represents the complete engine, to which a few additional parts 
 have been added besides the cylinder. B is an imitation safety valve ; 
 C, the starting lever; D, the reversing lever; E, gauge cocks. The wheels 
 are also linked together by side or coupling rods (F) giving another 
 source of motion, because the more visible the movement of its 
 parts the more like a real engine will the toy be. In Fig. 41, p. 97, the 
 cylinder is represented by A. It is about l^in. long by fin. diameter, 
 but may be larger or smaller, according to the size of the complete 
 model. At one end is an imitation gland or stuffing box, through 
 the centre of which the piston-rod moves. These cylinders, being solid, 
 are easy to turn. Put a bit of deal or beech of suitable size on a prong 
 chuck, and use the back centre to keep it in place. Place the rest nearly 
 close — ^the top of the T a little below the line of centres — rough down 
 with the gouge, and finish with the chisel, producing in the first place 
 merely a plain smooth cylinder. Then turn down the small part 
 to imitate the gland, making it on the right-hand end of the cylinder 
 next to the back poppet. Turn it down merely to a smaller size in the 
 first place, using the chisel to face up the end nicely. Then cut out a 
 notch, and with the chisel angle work it right and left to widen it, 
 finishing with a very narrow chisel or parting tool, and smoothing with 
 a bit of glass cloth folded sharply, or with a small file. Lastly, cut it 
 off at the chuck end. To do this neatly use the sharp angle of the 
 chisel, and cut a deep notch. Continue to widen this, keeping the 
 cylinder end upright and true as you deepen the cut, and sloping the 
 other to give you plenty of room to work the chisel. 
 
 It is as well in all cases like this, where you have to make two things 
 alike and of equal size, to turn them together out of the same piece. In 
 the present instance, if the original piece of stuff is made long enough to 
 produce both cylinders with a half inch, or thereabouis, to spare, you may 
 make glands at each end as much alike as possible, and then divide the 
 piece exactly in the centre, forming at this division the ends of the two 
 cylinders instead of one only, working as before directed. Then, while 
 enough substance remains to prevent the parts breaking asunder, finish 
 the cylinder ends with sandpaper, and then give the coup de grdce, 
 cutting off where necessary, but taking care to work down all the three 
 parts ready for the final severance, i.e,, the stuffing boxes and the 
 cylinder bottoms. The right-hand gland may be worked close to the 
 point of the back poppet, as the mark made by this point will be just 
 
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 
 
 95 
 
 where the hole must be drilled. The two places of severance will then 
 only remain, and little difficulty will be found if care is taken. In B of 
 
 Fig. 41 is represented the two cylinders in process of construction, 
 showing how they are to be worked simultaneously, 1, 2, 3, 4 illustrating 
 them in several stages. The glass gauge (C) if also added, may be made 
 
96 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 very easily of one of the small bits of quill tubing- sold by chemists, 
 or a bit of quill from the wing of a goose may be used as a substitute, 
 and will do as well. Turn two little pieces of wood to act as sockets, and 
 imitate the brass taps like D. 
 
 The nozzle {a) and handle (b) are to be made separately, and if the 
 latter is filed out of a bit of beech, like c, and a hole drilled through it 
 and the turned piece, a wire nail driven through the whole into the 
 boiler will secure it, but allow the handle to be turned upon the nail. 
 The dotted line shows the position of the end of the boiler. A little 
 glue should be put upon the end of c if the handle is to be thus made to 
 move, which will prevent this from gradually working loose. The 
 glass tube (C) is inserted in a hole drilled in each of these pieces (only 
 the lower one and a bit of the tube is shown). This hole need only form 
 a hollow recess, as the tube cannot escape or get out of place when once 
 fixed, and will require no cement to secure it. We must now return to 
 the cylinders and their fittings. 
 
 The cylinder is to be attached to a block (F) by means of a small screw, 
 the shank of which must move easily thereon, and the head must be 
 countersunk, so as not to project in the least. This block is then 
 to be glued outside the frame. This will allow the cylinder to move 
 up and down, but not to come off the frame or board, if the boiler is 
 glued to a board only, as previously directed. A frame is not much 
 more difficult to make, as the two sides will be glued fast to the boiler, 
 and must, therefore, be quite firm, and no strain falls on the end pieces, 
 which may be notched in and glued or secured by a brad, while it 
 looks better than a mere board. Let the position of the blocks and 
 cylinder be such as to bring the wire that is to serve as a piston-rod just 
 clear and outside of the wheel. The wheels should now have spokes, 
 and may be made as described under carts and waggons of this work. 
 The axles should run in neat blocks of mahogany or hard wood glued on 
 under the frame. These axles should be of stout steel wire, flattened at 
 the ends when red hot and inserted in holes which will barely admit them 
 in the nave of the wheel. If a little resin and brickdust is inserted, and 
 the wire heated slightly, it will be rendered more secure. If a wooden 
 axle is preferred, let it be of some hard wood, and glue the axles on 
 tightly. On one of the spokes of the wheel insert a small screw head, 
 outwards, as a driving pin on which to centre the piston-rod, which must 
 be bent into a loop to fit the screw easily. On the same screw, also, 
 centre the side rod — a similar pin, in exactly the same relative position, 
 being fixed in a spoke of the second wheel. Neither pin should be more 
 than iin. from the centre of the wheel, or the stroke will be too long and 
 
98 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 the piston-rod will be drawn quite out of its cylinder, which latter must 
 have a central hole drilled almost entirely through it. The side rods 
 connecting the wheels, and rising and falling as they revolve, may be of 
 flat tin, painted black. This will look better than mere bits of wire, and 
 is equally easy to arrange. 
 
 For the lever handles G will represent the one attached to the back of 
 the boiler to turn on a centre screw, and H that to imitate the handle of the 
 reversing gear. These are placed as shown at I, which is a perspective 
 view of this part, representing the back of the engine under the cab or 
 windguard, for the cab is not always used to protect the engine driver, 
 who then merely has a shield of flat plate in front of him with two 
 windows to enable him to keep a look out ahead. The maker can 
 therefore take his choice in the construction of this part of the engine, 
 and make merely a shield if he thinks it easier to manage. The safety 
 valve it is hardly worth while to make with movable parts, but it is no 
 difl&cult task. The top flat rod can be cut out of tin and pivoted at one 
 end to the short pillar glued to the side of the steam dome, and a little 
 weight can be hung on at the other, or what will be more like reality 
 instead of the weight, which is only used on stationary engine boilers, an 
 imitation of the spring balance can be made, consisting of a short piece 
 of very small brass tubing, or a bit of brass rod with a loop of wire 
 attaching it to the lever, and another to hook into a small staple on the 
 side of the steam dome. These, however, almost necessitate the use 
 of a little solder to attach the wire loop to the brass rod at its two ends. 
 A wooden imitation will suffice if covered with gilt paper, and this may 
 be also used to cover the steam dome, but it will have to be very neatly 
 done with narrow strips, smaller at one end than the other. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DOLL'S HOUSE AND FURNITURE. 
 
 In this chapter I shall begin with house building, and, departing from 
 the accepted doll's house of the day, describe one that can be pulled 
 down and rebuilt at pleasure. 
 
 In Fig. 42, p. 100, is shown an elevation of the house complete. The 
 whole front is one board or panel, sliding in grooves like the panels of 
 the windmill last described, but the door may be made to open if 
 desired. The bottom of the house is a deal board, about 18in. long 
 by 9in. wide and ^in. thick. To prevent warping, the strips (B, B) of 
 beech or ash, are glued across it at each end, or they may be of deal, Jin. 
 wide and fin. thick, attached by screws, or glue, or both. Great care must 
 be taken to make this bottom truly square, and also to plane it nicely on 
 both sides. The piece seen at D, forming a door step, may also be a 
 strip so glued on, but made to project iin., or it may be merely a short 
 piece. The sole object is to get a good firm foundation that will keep its 
 shape, and not warp and twist ; but the two strips (B, B) also give more 
 efficient support to the corner pillars by allowing a deeper hole for the 
 lower pins to rest in. Let these pillars be of ^in. stuff, and 15in. long, 
 exclusive of the pins. This will allow of an upper room or bedroom, 
 which, like the lower, will be 7in. high, the floor of the bedroom being 
 but iin. or fin. thick. This floor must slide into cross notches in the 
 front pillars, and rest on two strips glued on inside the boards forming 
 the ends of the house. 
 
 In Fig. 43, p. 101, F is the floor, H, H the strips, of which, of course, 
 the end only is seen. This figure represents the doll' s house open, the front 
 being supposed to have been slid up out of its grooves, as will generally 
 be the case while the toy is in use. A, B are the front pillars, which are 
 shown in section at G, and K is one of them shown in perspective ; M, M 
 are those at the back, the others crossing them, and concealed by the roof, 
 
 h2 
 
100 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 being (as in the mill) the top frame, half lapped at the corners, to make 
 it level on the top. The bottom board should project a little all round, 
 say, iin., which will give 17in. as the length of the rooms inside. This 
 doll's house will take furniture large enough to be strong and durable, 
 but size is, of course, of no importance if the proportion of the 
 
 B D B 
 
 Fig. 42.— Front View of Doll's House. 
 
 different parts be attended to sufficiently to give it a nice appearance. 
 But if it be made very small the rooms will not admit the insertion of 
 even children's hands with the freedom necessary to allow them to move 
 about the dolls and their furniture. The directions given in the descrip- 
 
doll's house and furniture. 101 
 
 tion of the windmill ought to suffice to make quite clear the method of 
 framing- and fitting the doll's house. The four side posts are capped 
 with others forming a top frame, and the front and sides slide in like 
 panels. The roof is made with two gable ends (see Fig. 44, p. 102), the 
 
 Fig. 43,— Interior of Doll's House. 
 
 width of span allowing it to project and overhang the front and back of 
 the house to form eaves, which prevent it also from falling off, but this 
 may be further checked by cutting the triangular pieces which form the 
 
102 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 ends, as at B, with a pin or pins projecting below to fit into holes in the 
 cross or tie beam below it. When in use the roof is first removed, then 
 the top front tie beam. The front panel is then slid out, the cross beam 
 and roof replaced, holding the now open house firmly together. It is 
 stiffened also to some extent by the floor or horizontal partition, which, 
 observe, must be narrow enough to slide in so far as to allow the front to 
 slip in before it. Its chief support will, of course, be the side strips on 
 which it rests, as it can only occupy a very small part of the horizontal 
 groove in the front upright. 
 
 It will be seen from Fig. 42 that the front of the house is marked out 
 in panels. The framing is a sham, consisting of thin strips glued on and 
 neatly fitted at the junctions. These can be made gay with bright 
 colours like Swiss cottages, or the panels made of deal, and the framing 
 
 Fig. 44.— Eoof of Doll's House. 
 
 of mahogany. They should project above the general level, but not 
 quite so far as the corner posts. Strips should be placed round the 
 door, and others, rather thicker, to represent window sills. 
 
 As it will add to the amusement of the little builders, it will be well not 
 to be content with a mere painted roof, but to hang on some representa- 
 tive tiles. For this purpose, after having made the penthouse and gable- 
 ended roof, glue on strips like 1, 2, 3, 4, of Fig. 44, at equal distances. 
 Each board of the sloping roof will be about lOin. wide, so that if the 
 tiles are made 2in. in length, rounded off like C at the bottom, there 
 will be just room to hang on five rows. The lower ones should be a little 
 longer, so as to overhang the eaves. Each row must just overlap the one 
 below it. Every single tile, made of the thinnest wood procurable 
 (veneering material by preference) , is to have glued across it a little strip 
 
doll's house and furniture. 
 
 103 
 
 of wood, as shown at C, which will rest npon the strips glued upon the 
 roof ; thus, beginning at the lowest row forming the eaves, they will be 
 hung on one by one till all have been placed. The top strip, however, it 
 will be noticed, is not at the extreme edge of the roof, so that above the 
 last row of tiles a narrow space will be unoccupied on both sides of the 
 roof. To complete matters, glue together two narrow strips, about ^in. 
 wide, and as long as the house, to form an angular ridge piece (D). Thia 
 will form a cap, covering the upper edge of the last row of tiles, and put 
 a neat workmanlike finish to the whole. Paint this and also the tiles a 
 bright vermilion. The latter should not exceed an inch in width. If of 
 veneer, they can be easily cut out with a penknife, especially if the wood 
 be first soaked in water and shaped while wet. The tiles so cut should be 
 bound or put in a press to compel them to dry quite flat. 
 
 Another way of fixing them may here be specified, but it is hardly 
 as good — viz., to glue on each a short peg or pin of wood, and insert in 
 holes made for that purpose in the board beneath. But small pins 
 although they would answer with older children who have learnt to be 
 careful, are sure to get broken off under the too eager manipulation of 
 younger children, who have more difficulty in putting work like this 
 together. The strips cannot well be broken off in hanging on the tiles, 
 and they will secure them equally well. If the toymaker's patience is 
 likely to rebel at having fifty of these tiles to make, he can, of course, 
 make them larger and fewer in number. The windows are to be of glass, 
 fixed on at the back by glueing strips of stout paper round the edges^ 
 or a wooden frame to keep it in place. It can then be divided by narrow 
 strips of paper into panes, or, as is often done, a piece of coarse net can 
 be affixed at the back. There should also be pieces of bright coloured 
 silk arranged inside to look like curtains, and in one or two there should 
 be a bit of thin calico, white or otherwise, to imitate blinds half drawn 
 down. Attention to these apparently trifling details will give an air of 
 reality and a nice finish to the work. 
 
 The chimneys are mere solid blocks, either shaped as shown, or 
 with a flat bit of square board, rather larger than a section of 
 the main chimney, glued on at the top. The block is notched out 
 below to fit over the angle of the ridge of the roof, as shown in 
 the drawings. A wire pin should be inserted to enter a hole in the 
 ridge piece and keep the chimneys safe. Nothing will better imitate 
 smoke than a tuft of cotton wool, especially if some black or grey 
 wool be mixed with the white. If the toymaker be a neat hand with a 
 paint brush, the whole house should be got up in red, and the mortar 
 lines picked out in white. Window sills to be quite white, and a narrow 
 
104 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 line of black round the windows. Steps of the door also white, and 
 frame black. In painting toys we must not, as we should in a picture, 
 aim at gradation of tint and delicacy of colour, but use such as contrast 
 strongly. The main and cross timbers, however, taking up, as they do, 
 a large portion of the front of the house, will look better if coloured a rich 
 brown, especially if lined with jet black at the edges. But this lining with 
 paint is not very easy work, as it needs a small brush and very steady 
 hand to do it well. In larger work the brush has very long hairs, which 
 lie flat on the surface to be painted, and, being filled with tolerably fluid 
 colour, the brush is dragged along steadily, leaving, snail-like, its shiny 
 track behind it. Lines picked out on carriages are thus drawn. Drag- 
 ging a fine brush in this way the toymaker may succeed, but a little 
 practice should first be made upon waste materials. 
 
 In the construction of furniture for the doll's house even small sprigs 
 and brads can hardly be used, and we have to rely upon glue to hold the 
 pieces together, so that careful attention should be paid to the section 
 on this subject, and if the directions are attended to there should be no 
 difficulty. For our present work we shall need thin stuf^ only. The 
 bulk of the pieces need be no more than |^in. thick, and ^in. will be the 
 thickness of our heaviest stuff. Some will be planed down to rVin., 
 which is about the thinnest board we can make use of. But in nothing 
 more than in doll's furniture should clumsiness be avoided, and neat 
 work requires thin light stuff. 
 
 The intsructions for making the furniture will be confined to a few of 
 the principal articles, as the same character of work prevails throughout, 
 and anyone who can construct one or two pieces of furniture can make 
 others with, little difficulty. As the size of the furniture to be made 
 must so entirely depend upon that of the house and on the number of 
 articles proposed to be placed in it, no directions on that point can be 
 given. In regard, however, to the framework of these miniature suites, 
 there is this difficulty, that one can hardly cut a mortice and tenon in 
 very thin material, so must manage to connect the parts in some other 
 way. In a good London tool shop a chisel as small as iin. or even rVin. 
 in the edge could probably be purchased, elsewhere it would be difficult 
 to procure one of iin., and this, of course, will decide the size of the 
 mortice. Nevertheless, with a drill a still smaller mortice may be 
 managed by making two or three holes in a line, and with a penknife 
 throwing them all into one. This, however, is hardly necessary, and in 
 very small work the better plan is to drill one or two small holes, and use 
 bits of pins for nails to hold the parts together while the glue is drying, 
 for glue must in all cases be used in addition. 
 
doll's house and furniture. 
 
 105 
 
 To make a table, plane up some strips of wood of, say, ^in. square, to 
 form legs, and some for the top frame, |in. thick or less, and fin. wide. 
 Cut off from these four broad pieces of equal length, or two short and 
 two a little longer, if the table is to be oblong for the dining room. 
 Take great care to square the ends truly, have glue, boiling hot, close 
 at hand, and some fine twine or strong thread (not cotton). Lay the 
 pieces in position to form an oblong frame, and see whether they fit 
 nicely, then give a touch of glue to each, place in position, and tie 
 securely, or slip over them an indiarubber band. Cut the legs of the 
 requisite length, and when ready, glue each into its corner inside the 
 frame, which will be easy, if the latter is just tied or secured, and is 
 lying on its edge. The legs are to stand up in the air, and not to 
 
 occupy their usual position till dry. If other tables are needed make 
 these also so far, as it is always better not to complete a thing of this 
 kind out and out, and then to begin another, but to carry two or more to 
 the same degree of completeness, and then afterwards finish all together. 
 The table will appear like Fig. 45. 
 
 The only possible difficulty to be met with at this point is the 
 falling inward of the legs before the glue can dry. These accidents 
 may generally be prevented by simple means. Cut out two little pieces 
 likeB, notched at the ends, and just long enough to fit from corner to 
 corner inside the legs and frame. Drop them in at the dotted lines, so 
 as to bear against the legs, and they will hold them firmly ; but take 
 care not to make them tight enough to force open the frame. Leave all to 
 dry, and then with a penknife clean off any bits of glue, and, turning 
 the table so as to stand upon its legs, see that it bears equally 
 on them all and stands perfectly. If not, correct with a sharp knife 
 
 Fig. 45.— Frame of Table. 
 
106 
 
 TOYMAK.ING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 where necessary. All that remains will be to make the top — oval, ob- 
 long, or square, as is wished. This must be of thin stuff very 
 nicely faced on one side. It is seldom that it is faced at all on the 
 other. The top of an old cigar box provides famous stuff for a table top, 
 and can be polished or varnished. If plain white wood be used for the 
 table top the wood stains now so largely used will avail for the imitation 
 of oak, walnut, or mahogany. They should not be used in excess, 
 as a light coat generally looks the best. Then with thin glue give a 
 coat of size, and when quite dry varnish with hard white spirit or oak 
 varnish ; the first is the better of the two for such small articles. 
 
 To make a chair we have a choice of several plans more or less like 
 the reality. These small and light articles are dependent on glue for 
 their stability, and need no proper jointing to unite the parts, so that 
 we can construct them with tolerable ease of any desired form so long 
 as we can tie or pin them together until the glue has time to dry 
 thoroughly. By all means get rid of joints wherever possible, which 
 is to be done by making the article of few parts, and using a little 
 ingenuity in shaping these. In the illustration a chair is shown (Fig. 46, 
 p. 107) which is made of four pieces, cut like A, the back being formed 
 of two more like B. For this a cigar box will serve well. 
 
 If the pieces are cut like C, D, so as to have small tenons and 
 mortices, these will assist more than would be supposed in holding the 
 parts together till dry. E shows the chair thus completely fitted. The 
 seat has now to be put on to overlap slightly all round, and upon 
 this are to be glued the two pieces which form the back. A top cross 
 rail fitting in the notch F, and a second at G, will complete it. The 
 chair thus constructed is shown in the drawing, and if a bit of bright 
 red velvet be gummed on the seat H, and the different parts are 
 smooth, so as to admit of a coat of varnish, a very neat and 
 effective article of doll's furniture will result. If, as is probable, 
 three or four are needed, cut out as many pieces of each shape 
 illustrated as are required, pinching them together in a vice and filing 
 all together. The chairs will then match each other as they ought 
 to do. This is a much better and more workmanlike plan than to 
 construct one before commencing the next. Such is one mode of 
 chair making, and, perhaps, the best, inasmuch as the result is not 
 only very easily attained, but it is a tolerably strong little toy, more 
 so than when framed up out of many small pieces, with each 
 leg separately glued in, for these are always the parts which in 
 dolls' furniture are unduly weak, and if we can combine these with 
 the top frame instead of making them as separate pieces, we shall, 
 
doll's house and PUBNITTJflE. 
 
 107 
 
 undoubtedly gain in respect of their stability. Precisely the same 
 plan can be followed in making a sofa, but it should be varied slightly 
 by using only a pair of similar pieces forming together four legs and 
 uniting these by longitudinal strips. This modification may likewise be 
 
 Fig. 46.— Details of Chair. 
 
 followed in chairs if preferred, with but little, if any, deterioration of 
 their strength. 
 
 Fig. 47, p. 108, represents such a sofa, of which the ends (A, A) being 
 shaped as shown, form both arms and legs, and are connected by the 
 seat and the two back rails, which are notched into them and glued. 
 B is one end of the seat, and will serve to show how the latter is let into 
 the ends by two small tenons, which add much to the stability of the 
 whole article. The seat can, if preferred, slide into a groove in each of 
 the end pieces if these are thick enough ; and it can be covered, like 
 that of the chair, with silk or velvet, and still further assimilated to 
 reality by a stuffing of wool. This is an excellent way of making 
 seats of larger size for household use, and is also adapted for church 
 seats, of which the ends should be thick oak, nicely moulded round 
 the edge, and in such case only one broader rail is used at the back. 
 For study use these may be made by the amateur without much 
 difficulty, and the tenons may be carried through, and have wedges 
 
108 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS.' 
 
 driven in on the outside of the standards ; thus made they are in a 
 manner portable, as it is easy to drive out the wedges and separate the 
 parts into so many flat pieces. The back should not be so upright as 
 that of the doll's sofa, represented here. 
 
 We now come to an article requiring a great amount of care in order to 
 attain anything approaching a satisfactory result, viz., a chest of drawers ; 
 and after I have described the way to make it, I shall dismiss the sub- 
 ject, leaving other pieces of furniture to the ingenuity of the reader 
 who wishes to exercise his skill on these matters. Beyond all question 
 the chests of drawers sold in the cheaper sets of dolls' furniture are as 
 wretched specimens as can be found anywhere, the front of each drawer 
 by no means representing the length of that of which it is a part, and no 
 attempt at a fit is made. 
 
 The material selected must be thin, or the chest will be clumsy, and 
 here again the cigar box will be found to afford the requisite boards. 
 The ends, however, of the cigar box being of thicker stuff, must be 
 rejected. At the same time I may call attention to the fact of this thicker 
 stuff. In most boxes it will be noticed that it is usual to make the ends 
 stouter than the sides which are nailed to it, a better hold for the nails 
 being thereby obtained. In the present case, if large enough — say about 
 2^in. square by lin. deep — we can follow the same plan, as it enables us 
 to use much thinner stuff for the top and front than could otherwise be 
 managed — say rVin. thick for the two sides, and the remainder ^Vin., or 
 half the thickness. Pieces iVin. can be made to hold small sprigs or bits 
 
 A 
 
 Fig. 47.— Fkame of Sofa. 
 
doll's house and rUKNITURE. 
 
 109 
 
 of needles and pins to help tlie ^lue, at any rate until the latter is dry. 
 Fig. 48 represents the outer case or carcase of such a chest, 2|in. high, 
 2in. wide, and lin. deep, inside measure. The sides are yVin., the 
 remainder, including the divisions between the drawers, sVin., which is 
 the thinnest stuff that can well be used in this article ; but the bottom 
 of each drawer may be still thinner. Veneers can be obtained of all sorts 
 of handsome wood as thin as card, which can be well soaked in water, 
 
 a 
 
 Fig. 48.— Sectional View of Chest of Drawers. 
 
 cut with a knife into little planks while wet, and screwed in a press or 
 put under a heavy weight to dry, when they will be found quite flat and 
 fit to use. Being sawn to uniform thickness, they answer well for work 
 of small size, and will take a fine polish after being sandpapered and 
 brushed with weak glue or patent size, and dried. 
 
 Cut out first the ends (B, B) of r^in. stuff, and take great care to true 
 them up with a plane or a chisel, square and exact to size ; being specially 
 
110 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 attentive to the edges, which must be at right angles to the sides. Here 
 again it will be the best plan to set a plane bottom up on the bench, 
 and taking the wood in hand, reverse the process by moving the wood 
 over the sole of the tool, which must be keen as a razor and very finely 
 set. Now make up your mind how many drawers you are likely to have 
 patience to make, and prick off with compasses on these side pieces the 
 exact places for the several divisions. It is usual to make the lower 
 drawers rather deeper than the upper, but this is of no importance. It 
 is, however, of the utmost importance to mark the two pieces exactly 
 alike, and then with the help of a square to draw or scribe lines straight 
 across both at the points marked. At these lines grooves must be made, 
 into which the partitions are to slide, and for this a very fine saw or a 
 file can be used, a key-warding file or knife edged file being most suit- 
 able. Groove both pieces alike, and make all the grooves of equal depth, 
 and exactly wide enough to allow the pieces of wood to be used as par- 
 titions to slip in. Now get ready the top (A) and bottom (D), cutting 
 these larger than the size of the carcase itself, so as to overlap. Plane 
 and file them true, and then mark on each in precisely the right place 
 where the inner edges of the sides will be. Here draw a decided line 
 with a pencil if deal is used, or a scriber if dark wood is selected, 
 using a square very carefully to insure exactness. These lines are the 
 inside boundaries, and, therefore, you can drill small holes just outside 
 them for sprigs or needle points, which in this case will help you, even 
 if not driven home, but left partly above the surface, to be subsequently 
 removed by pliers. 
 
 Now set on edge one of the sides and the bottom. Hold them in posi- 
 tion while you mark with the drill point (or any pointed bit of steel put in 
 the drill hole) where the sprig will come in the side piece, and then make 
 a small hole at that spot. For all such work an archimedean drill stock 
 is the best to use, and the next best is a bird cage maker's awl, which is 
 three-square, like a saw-file, and will not split the thin wood. Mark this, 
 and drill all the necessary holes, and then sprig all together just enough 
 to hold, and see if all is square and true, fit for glueing. Although the 
 top and bottom should overlap in front and at the sides, all may be flush 
 at the back, and this will facilitate putting the parts together in the 
 manner described, because all the four pieces can be stood on edge upon 
 the table or bench, and thus made to fall into place more easily than if 
 the top and bottom were not thus flush. If all looks right, pull apart, 
 and with boiling glue touch the edges and immediately press together 
 again, tapping the sprigs with a light hammer to drive them home, or, at 
 any rate, to make them take a closer hold. Now, also, set the frame true 
 
doll's house and furniture. 
 
 Ill 
 
 by a square, so that when dry it will be straight and accurate, as it should 
 be. If this is not done the rest of your work will be most difficult, and 
 the whole affair thoroughly unsatisfactory. The partitions between the 
 drawers must now occupy attention. It is better to leave these until all 
 the rest is dry, and while this is taking place they can be cut out in 
 readiness. If the work hitherto has been well done, these pieces will be 
 exactly alike, but it is not absolutely necessary to work them up together. 
 Care must be taken that the ends are square to the sides, and they 
 must be long enough to fit and slide into the grooves without much 
 pressure, yet still with sufficient tightness to show hardly a crack when 
 in place. They need not be so wide as the chest is deep, but will be 
 better if nearly of that width, as it will provide more efficient surface for 
 each drawer to rest upon. Three-quarters the depth of the chest will do 
 very well. 
 
 These divisions being put in and glued, and the back made of thin 
 stuff, glued on, the carcase should be neatly cleaned off, and sand 
 papered, and if of veneer or cedar, can now be polished if desired. But 
 the drawers have yet to be made, which in these small chests are merely 
 shallow boxes or trays. They demand, however, very special care, or 
 they will never work as they ought to do. In a real drawer I may mention 
 that the sides always project below the bottom, so that the drawer may 
 slide on these two narrow edges, while the bottom is clear and does 
 not touch anywhere. You can manage this if preferred, though it is of 
 little importance. First cut out the. fronts, fitting them, each singly, into 
 the place destined to receive them. The better the fit the nicer will the 
 chest look when finished, therefore take all possible care, and mark a 
 corner of each drawer front, so that you may make no mistake subse- 
 quently as to the position it is to occupy. In cutting out the ends of the 
 drawer remember that you must make them short enough to allow the 
 front of the drawer to go in quite flush when in its place. Allow, there- 
 fore, for this and for the thickness of the back. I need hardly describe 
 the precise mode of glueing up a drawer, as it is but a repetition of what 
 has already been done, only remember to glue the sides inside the front, 
 as it is sketched at K of drawing (Fig. 49, p. 112), and either quite flush 
 with it or slightly inside it. The back must be flush in any case. Now 
 with regard to the bottom we must allow for its thickness in cutting out 
 the two ends of the drawer, and these must not be even in that case with 
 the lower edge of the drawer front, if the drawer is to rest upon the bottom. 
 But if made to rest on the edges of the end pieces as in a real drawer, 
 then in that case let these pieces be truly flush with the front. At L is 
 represented the comer of a drawer thus made which can be compared 
 
112 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 with H. Of course, as the drawers are of different sizes, each must be 
 made quite independently, and each must be carefully and separately 
 fit bed. For handles to the finished drawers, small brass nails will do 
 driven half in, but if a lathe is at hand, they can be turned of box, ivory, 
 
 Fig, 49.— Drawer for Chest. 
 
 or wood. Four little knobs should also be added for legs, though these 
 can be cut in one with the sides if preferred, by hollowing out slightly 
 the bottom edge of each, so as to leave projections to serve the same 
 purpose. 
 
CHAPTEK XIIL 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY SAND.— PRINCIPLES OF 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 For toys of a higher class than any I have as yet described — those 
 with mechanical details — metal will be very generally employed, either 
 alone, or in combination with wood. There is, however, one self-acting 
 toy which is worthy of mention, in which the prime mover is sand falling 
 on the vanes of a wheel from a receptacle placed above it. The Leotards 
 and similar moving figures are thus made, and are of very simple con- 
 struction, although the movements of the figure or figures are natural 
 and lifelike if the toy be made with care. Prepare, first of all, a box of 
 thin board, like those used to contain puzzles, toy bricks, dissected 
 maps, and similar articles. Let it be about 9in. or a foot square, and 
 lin. to liin. deep ; not less than the latter if a glass is to be fitted in 
 over the figure, which is the best plan. If a glass is to be used, the 
 bottom of the box, or that part forming the back when it is set on 
 end, as it will be eventually, ought to slide in by means of a groove, 
 so that the interior may be got at if at any time the machinery should be 
 out of order. The front glass ought also to slide in a groove, and there 
 must be in addition a false bottom or partition to which the sides and ends 
 may be nailed and glued. A (Fig. 50, p. 114) is a section across the 
 box, and B an enlarged perspective view, in which one side is removed 
 to show clearly this arrangement. The glass need not stand more than 
 fin. to iin. away from the middle partition. These sliding parts, viz., 
 the glass and back, need not be so fitted, although it will be the best 
 way to make them thus. If considered easier, the glass can be puttied 
 into a neat rebate, and the back nailed or glued on ; but in case of a 
 breakage or some little defect in the moving parts, it will then be 
 impossible to get at the interior without breaking the back. All 
 machinery should be so constructed that it may be easily taken to pieces. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 for cleaning or repair, and, wherever it is possible so to plan it, each 
 individual part should be get-at-able without having to disarrange the 
 rest. You will find, for example, many watches now made with little 
 plates to cover each separate wheel, like C, the upper or under pivot, 
 as the case may be, centreing in this plate so that each of the wheels 
 can be taken out independently of others. In home work of a similar 
 kind I would suggest a like expedient, as considerably facilitating 
 the manufacture of all kinds of mechanical toys. Let another rule be 
 
 Fig. 50. —Plan and Section op Sand Tot. 
 
 likewise followed, as it will save many a failure. Think out a design 
 well before commencing the work, and after due consideration make 
 drawings to work by. If this is not done many a ridiculous blunder 
 will be made, and when the work is, perhaps, half completed it will be 
 found impossible to finish it, some simple drawback having been over- 
 looked at the outset. 
 
 We will now return to the toy in hand. The box made as directed will 
 have to stand on one end, and, therefore, the end in question should 
 be made larger than a cross section of the box, so as to form a firm 
 base. This may be moulded round its edges if it can be managed, if not, 
 
116 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 never mind. In Fig. 51, which shows the toy complete, an idea will be- 
 formed of the sort of finish usually given to it. A little bit of fretwork, 
 for instance, at the top adds to the height and takes away the box-like 
 look of it, and if the whole affair be painted or covered with ornamental 
 paper it adds greatly to its appearance. 
 
 We must now get an insight into the works. The object is to mak© 
 
 Fig. 52.— Interior of Box. 
 
 the little cardboard Leotard behind the glass go through his acrobatic 
 performances. This will serve as an example, but many similar figures 
 are made— a smith at his anvil, a carpenter using his saw or plane, a 
 cobbler sewing a shoe, or a group of figures may be contrived, if we 
 make our machine powerful enough to give the required motion. Fig. 52: 
 shows the interior of the box. It contains a wheel of stiff cardboard, 
 
TOYS WORKED BY SAND.-— PRINCIPLES -OF CONSTRUCTION. 117 
 
 ■wood, or very thin tin, as the prime mover. Card is commonly used, 
 and will answer very well, being also easy to cut and manipulate. 
 Strong gum will be the best cement — I mean strong enough to drop 
 slowly from the brush ; that usually sold is too thin. Buy ilb. and 
 make it yourself, which is a far better and much cheaper plan than 
 purchasing it ready prepared. 
 
 The first thing to make is the wheel, similar to the driving wheel of a 
 watermill, and the bigger it is the more power you will get. First con- 
 sider what room you have for it, because on its axle, which will project 
 through the front of the case, the arms of the figure are to be fastened. 
 This axle must, therefore, be high enough to let the feet of Leotard clear 
 the ground, and the lower you can put it, while bearing that necessity in 
 mind, the better, as it will give a greater fall to the sand and leave you 
 more room for the reservoirs containing it. If the case is made 9 in. 
 high, Tin. wide, and 2in. deep, which is ample for a single moving figure, 
 you can have a wheel 4in. diameter, its axle being Sin. from the bottom 
 of the case, which will do very well. You may construct all much 
 smaller, but will have more room and easier work if made of the size 
 suggested. The wheel may be made with two round discs inclosing 
 the floats between them, or of one only with slits cut into the edge in 
 which to insert the floats, but in any case the thing to aim at is a wheel 
 that will run lightly and easily. The floats, too, may be mere flat pieces, 
 •or so made as to form what in a water-wheel are called buckets, so 
 as to contain a certain portion of sand. Flat ones generally move the 
 ifigure more quickly and with greater regularity of action, but in this case 
 we should rather aim at irregularity, because it will give a more life-like 
 ^appearance to the figure. With buckets the result usually is that the 
 figure remains nearly, but not quite, still while the bucket is being filled, 
 and then, when it becomes sufficiently heavy to over-balance, the wheel 
 moves rather suddenly a little way, and thus it continues to turn with a 
 sort of hesitating motion, which is imparted to the figure. The latter 
 then appears as if trying unsuccessfully to turn over its bar, and then, 
 by a sudden effort overcoming the difficulty, it makes a quick somersault, 
 hesitating again at the next movement. A little variation in the size of 
 the buckets again will prevent too regular and undeviating motion, 
 which is to be avoided. In attempting this care must be taken not to 
 add more than absolutely necessary to the stiffness of the moving parts. 
 These should have plenty of freedom of action without undue looseness, 
 or they will fail to work efficiently. 
 
 In constructing a wheel with two discs. Sin. or 4in. diameter, commence 
 ^ striking out two circles with compasses on a piece of Bristol board. 
 
118 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 and cut them ont neatly to the line, taking* care also to preserve the 
 centre marks, which is the place where the axle will come. If you get 
 your wheel eccentric and lop-sided, it will probably refuse to rotate, 
 and be useless. Make a small hole through the centres, and run through 
 both a bit of wire or small knitting needle, securing the discs upon 
 it by a dab of sealing-wax. Warm the needle for this in the flame 
 of a candle or gas lamp so as to insure the union of the wax with 
 the metal, and also to give time to adjust the discs nicely at a dis- 
 tance apart of about fin. (if the case is 2in. deep set them at lin. 
 apart). This needle will hold the discs steadily while proceeding with 
 the buckets or floats. If they are to be flat, cut out ten for a 3in. 
 wheel. Let each be lin. long and a little wider than the space between 
 the discs, so that each edge can be folded sharply in order to gum them 
 to the discs. If fin. is turned up it will do very well. Mark with 
 compasses, before the discs are mounted, the place where each float is 
 to come, or take a narrow strip of paper that will just go round the 
 wheel, and double it again and again until the required number of 
 measurements is got, or just consider the 4in. wheel to be 12in. in cir- 
 cumference, or the Sin. wheel 9in., and divide these to suit your con- 
 venience, for ten, twelve, or any number of floats can be used, only they 
 must not be placed too far apart. Instead of ten put eight, at l^in. 
 apart, on a Sin. wheel, which will be easier. But here, again, no harm 
 will be done by irregularity, so that you need not be absolutely correct 
 in dividing the discs. Gum in one end, and dry it, which wiU take but 
 a few seconds. Then put in the one exactly opposite to it, and next 
 the two which will subdivide the spaces thus made. These will render 
 the wheel stiff and strong, and enable you with greater ease to 
 insert the others halfway between these. The floats or buckets need 
 not be of stout card, as numbers make up strength. Card a little 
 stiff er than the thin post cards, but less stout than the best, will do well 
 enough for the purpose. If thicker stuff is used draw a penknife along 
 the lines where the fold is to be made, so as partly to cut the cards at 
 that point. It will then bend up quite sharply and make a neat joint. 
 There should be no difiiculty experienced in making such a wheel as 
 described, and it can hardly fail to be satisfactory if the directions are 
 followed. 
 
 A similar wheel, with only one disc, may appear easier to make, but is 
 hardly so in reality. However, I will describe the way to do it. Cut out 
 one disc, then, of stout card, as thick at least as a stout post card, and 
 divide it into as many parts as you will have floats. At each of these 
 points draw lines to the centre radial lines, and with a pair of sharp. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY SAND. — PRINCIPLES OP CONSTRUCTION. 119 
 
 scissors cut slits on these lines all round, in which to insert the floats. 
 You must not merely snip the card, but cut out a little piece at each 
 slit so as exactly to admit the floats, and this will need sharp scissors 
 and nice cutting*. If the slits are the least bit too wide the floats will 
 be too loose to be secured by gum — if too narrow, the floats will stand 
 awry, because the edge of the disc will bend in forcing them into their 
 places. 
 
 This work is very simple, as each float has only to be secured by 
 strong gum, sealing-wax, or one of the cements, made of isinglass 
 dissolved in acid. There are also liquid glue, oflBce paste, shellac dis- 
 solved in methylated spirits, and others, all alike serviceable for such 
 work, although probably not more so than good strong gum. 
 
 I will now describe two bucket wheels, in which instead of floats upon 
 which a shower of sand is made to impinge, this material is made to fill 
 in turn certain receptacles, until by their weight they overbalanse the 
 empty ones, and cause the wheel, on the rim of which they are fixed, to 
 revolve. The form of buckets has varied extremely in the case of 
 watermills, but the ordinary shape now used in overshot wheels is that 
 of curved floats fitted between discs of iron. These discs, however, do not 
 reach to the axle, as in the cardboard ones described, but form two rims 
 only, the rest of the wheel being made up with arms or spokes. Such 
 buckets we can readily contrive in cardboard simply by bending the 
 floats, as shown in Fig. 53, p. 120, A, B, C, D, in which three different 
 forms are given. But in E a very simple plan is suggested, in which 
 common pill boxes are the buckets, which can thus be obtained ready 
 made. They can be attached by sealing wax to a disc, or between two 
 discs, or to the end of arms or spokes, the latter making a very light 
 wheel. But in order to facilitate the emptying of each bucket as it gets 
 to its lowest position, it will be as well to cut away the little boxes on 
 one side, so as to make them slope off like E. There is plenty of choice 
 given therefore to the machine maker, and a selection can be made of 
 that which appears easiest. 
 
 A light tin wheel offers great facilities to one who can solder, because 
 thin tin is as easy to cut as card, and when bent will remain so. The 
 least touch of solder, moreover, will secure the parts of such light 
 articles as described here. 
 
 The difference between floats and buckets, in regard to power, depends 
 on the fact that with the former a good deal of sand is wasted, and 
 that only the impetus of the falling column of sand is utilised. But in 
 the case of buckets we get this impetus, and, in addition, the weight of 
 the sand that accumulates in each. Either will work the very light 
 
120 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 cardboard figures used in these toys, so that it does not much matter 
 which plan is adopted. 
 
 The remainder of the mechanism consists of a reservoir for the sand, 
 
 Fig. 53.— Different Forms of Buckets, 
 
 a funnel-shaped affair, ending in a shoot which delivers the sand accu. 
 rately upon the wheel, and the little athlete or other figure made with 
 jointed limbs, whose hands are attached to the axle of the moving 
 wheel, goes through its performance. If more than one figure is used, 
 
TOYS WORKED BY SAND. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 121 
 
 fiilken bands are passed over pulleys from the main axle to those with 
 which the figures are connected. The latter are often replaced by mill 
 wheels amid painted scenery, ships sailing, trains moving along a rail- 
 way, and other devices. 
 
 In Fig. 52 the whole interior is seen complete. To start the movement 
 after it has ceased, owing to the whole of the sand having run out, the 
 box is slowly turned over, by which the sand falls against the sides of 
 the box, and is returned to the reservoir, which should be as wide as the 
 box is deep so as to insure its catching the whole of the sand when the 
 box is inverted. A screen of card or tin as shown is sometimes placed to 
 assist this, but if the reservoir fits the whole of the upper part, only a 
 little of the sand will escape, being returned to it from the heap which 
 it forms on the floor below the wheel. The reservoir must fit close to the 
 box, and be glued to it as shown. 
 
 These sand toys, when neatly finished, are almost too good for a 
 nursery ; but they always afford amusement, and are capital presents to 
 children who have passed beyond the age of systematic toy breaking. As 
 an exercise of ingenuity in the toymaking department, they are exceed- 
 ingly satisfactory objects to work upon, and give plenty of scope for 
 cleverness in design and skill in manufacture. They also form an excel- 
 lent introduction to mechanical engineering of a more important character, 
 standing, as it were, half way between mere ordinary toys and those 
 actuated by clockwork, steam, or electricity. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CLOCKWORK TOYS.— PRINCIPLES OP 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 As all sand-power toys are of similar construction, I need not describe- 
 others of this class, but proceed to those which depend for their action 
 upon clockwork, steam, or electricity. I may here state that clock- 
 work toys are not as easy to make as steam-driven ones, although the^ 
 contrary might have seemed probable, as for watch work (which is the 
 more correct term) certain appliances and a good deal of delicate manipu- 
 lation are requisite to insure success. Happily, however, ready means 
 exist for getting rid of the necessity for making the actual wheels, 
 pinions, and springs required for toys of this description, as we can 
 purchase them ready-made at a cheap rate. In fact, we can get what 
 i3 termed a clock movement or watch movement in any stage of com- 
 pletion. Mr. Morris Cohen, of Kirkgate, Leeds, who has a factory in 
 Germany or Austria, where toys are made in profusion, will, I believe, 
 supply wheels cut or in the rough, pinions or pinion wire, clockwheels 
 singly or in sets, ready for the aspiring amateur to fit together, and tools 
 suitable for the work. I mention this because I was for years myself 
 ignorant of the fact that such things could be had except by the regular 
 makers. 
 
 The brass wheels are cast, or, for cheap clocks, stamped out. The 
 pinions, as the small steel wheels into which the brass ones gear in 
 watchwork are called, are made by turning away a part of a fluted rod 
 of steel known as pinion wire, leaving sufiicient of it to form the pinion 
 required, so that the remainder, after being thus reduced in the lathe, ia 
 the arbor or axle. This wire is drawn with the requisite number of 
 leaves, as they are termed, as five, six, eight, or other customary 
 number, so that the teeth have not to be separately formed. This takes 
 from the work one difficult job which the amateur must have otherwi3e= 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 123 
 
 tackled, a little light lathe work being all that is necessary so far as 
 this portion of watchwork is concerned. Brass wheels are cut, not 
 singly, for work of this class, but a number together, packed closely 
 side by side on one spindle, a small circular saw traversing the lot, and 
 thus cutting a notch on them all in succession. The spindle is then 
 rotated by the aid of a divisien plate, just so far as to place the set of 
 wheels in position for the next cut ; and this action is repeated until 
 the whole are finished. Single wheels are frequently cut in an ordinary 
 lathe by means of one such small circular saw or cutter of the proper 
 section ; and, as the process is easy and tolerably rapid, I will describe 
 it. There is (or ought to be) on every lathe pulley a division plate fitted 
 with a spring stop or index, as it is called. It is used for all turned 
 work requiring to be spaced out, whether for fluting ornamental 
 articles, grooving taps and reamers, wheel cutting, or any similar 
 process. In ornamental turning it is a matter of absolute necessity. 
 
 The index is a spring with a point at the upper end, which will drop 
 into any one of the holes in the division plate, and this being affixed to 
 (or actually itself the face of) the pulley, the latter, with the mandril 
 and work attached to it, is fixed securely. A cut is then taken with 
 a fly cutter (practically a saw with one tooth) or other revolving tool, 
 driven by a band from overhead, thus forming (say) a notch between 
 two wheel teeth. The spring is then pulled back by hand and the index 
 point dropped into the next hole that is suitable, when the cut is 
 repeated, and one tooth of the wheel thus formed. By a continuation 
 of the process the whole number of cogs is completed, their exact form 
 depending upon the shape of the spaces left between them — in other 
 words, upon the shape of the cutter by which they have been made. Fig. 
 54, p. 124, will, perhaps, render the description of this work clearer to 
 the reader. The main drawing shows all in position. M is the wheel to 
 be cut; P, division plate on the mandril; N, the spring index; O, the 
 revolving cutter and frame, represented larger at A, where it will be 
 observed that the frame is a casting or forging of iron or brass, the 
 tail, Q, fitting on the top plate of the slide rest, where it is clamped. 
 
 In this frame are two hardened steel centre screws to carry the- 
 upright spindle with its driving pulley, a, and saw, c. This saw 
 is attached by a washer and nut as usual ; h h are fair leaders or 
 pulleys to carry the cord from overhead, this cord arising from the large 
 fly wheel of the lathe. Of course, as the mandril is not to revolve, 
 the ordinary cord is taken o& and a long one substituted. I have repre- 
 sented the cutter frame in its profile, but in actual use it would be 
 brought round in front, the tail facing the workman. The shape of th© 
 
124 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 frame is of no importance. Anything that can be arranged to carry an 
 upright spindle will do, and the operation is often reversed. The wheel 
 to be cut can be held vertically, and the cutter run between the lathe 
 centres. The present plan is generally, however, followed. Moreover, 
 a circular cutter is not a matter of absolute necessity. D and E, for 
 instance, fixed in a slot in the spindle, as shown at F, will answer 
 quite as well if sufficient speed be given, and such cutters are, of course, 
 easier to make than circular ones. They must be very gently advanced, 
 
 Fig. 54.— Cutter and Cutter Frame 
 
 however, and are more apt to stop suddenly and catch than saws with 
 shallow teeth. Any bit of steel that is thick enough will make a saw for 
 brass wheel cutting if it is drilled to fit the spindle, filed round, and then 
 turned true on the spindle itself. The teeth, which should not be very 
 numerous, are made with a small file, and are spaced out by the eye 
 alone, or by help of the division plate of the lathe. But a merely fiat 
 plate BO cut out will, of course, only make divisions (and thus form 
 teeth) with straight sides, which would then have to be further shaped 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 125^ 
 
 with a file to round them off or give them the true epicycloidal form. 
 The cutter should, therefore, be so shaped at the edge by the turning 
 tool as to make at once the properly shaped teeth, or the latter, after 
 having" been cut with parallel sides, must be finished by a second cutter. 
 
 Clockwork for toys has, generally speaking, toothed wheels of an 
 exceedingly rough, unfinished character, and it is put together, I 
 suppose, so that it is certain not to last very long. But, as it generally 
 works well for a day or two, the toy -making amateur may have a good 
 hope that by the exercise of a little care he will succeed in making 
 clockwork that will not absolutely refuse to go when wound up, 
 and that with a little practice he may attain sufficient skill to make it 
 far better than that usually sold with the cheaper class of toys. These 
 very common watch movements, such as are embo welled in toy mice 
 and other beasts of the kind, are not purchasable in England, literally 
 because no Englishman would do work so paltry — it could not be sold at 
 a price to make it pay. Probably it is done in Germany by children in 
 their own homes, and with no proper tools or machines for wheel cutting. 
 It is true that wooden clocks have been made with a pocket knife and 
 file, and you may at a pinch cut teeth out very fairly in thin metal 
 with a slitting file ; but unless a lathe can be commanded, fitted as 
 described, the better way is to spend a shilling or two in obtaining brass 
 wheels ready made. 
 
 The actual going parts of watchwork are few and simple. Two side 
 plates, separated by short pillars of brass, in which to place the arbors 
 of the several wheels, is all the case required to contain the movement. 
 The works consist of a spring coiled within a barrel, or very often wound 
 on the arbor of the great or driving wheel without any barrel at all. A 
 pinion driven by this first wheel, on the arbor of which is a second wheel 
 gearing into a short endless screw upon the arbor of a fan wheel or fly, 
 and you have all. The axle of the engine wheels or other axle to be set in 
 motion is either that of the great wheel or first wheel of the train, or, if 
 it requires to be driven at a high speed, it carries a pinion gearing with 
 the great wheel. 
 
 In planning clockwork of the kind required, the relative speed of the 
 various wheels is unimportant, and the sizes of them will depend gene- 
 rally upon the space at disposal. As to the number of wheels, always aim 
 at having as few as possible, because friction is the great obstacle to be 
 contended with, and the more working parts in a machine the more 
 friction there must of necessity be. I have seen a drawing of a clock- 
 work boat with just twice as many pinions and wheels as were needed 
 — I suppose, in order to look complicated. Let simplicity of construction 
 
126 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 be the rule, and a failure will be the exception. First draw on paper 
 or thin card with compasses what a watchmaker calls the calibre or 
 caliber, i.e., the plan of the wheels. These need not be drawn with 
 teeth, but merely as circles, like Fig. 58. Draw these, which repre- 
 sent wheels and pinions, of full size, and so that they overlap as far 
 
 Fig. 55.-CALIBER, or Plan of the Wheels. ^^is on both plates, because 
 
 together and drill them as one. You must at the same time also mark 
 exactly where the little pillars will come, a, h, c, d — three or four — to 
 keep the plates the right distance apart. If all the holes are accurately 
 drilled it will save you an immense amount of subsequent labour and 
 disappointment . 
 
 Now fit the plates together by means of the pillars. These may be 
 turned or filed up, which latter will do for small work of the kind sug- 
 gested. Take great care to make them exactly of equal length, with 
 shoulders square and true, and with rounded tenons to fit the holes 
 drilled, which will of course be much larger than those for the arbors 
 of the wheels. I may mention here the use of broaches for enlarging 
 such holes. They are of steel wire, with generally five flats filed on 
 them, to give cutting edges, which, blunt as they are, suffice for brass. 
 They are called pivot broaches, and can be obtained at Cohen's for 2b. 
 — a dozen in the set — and a handle with a clip, at 6d., to hold any size. 
 
 as you think would allow the 
 teeth to gear together. Be 
 on your guard against sear- 
 ing the wheels too deeply. 
 The watchmakers use a 
 special gauge for testing the 
 wheels, side by side, before 
 drilling holes for the pivots. 
 Thus you also find the exact 
 places, viz., the centres of 
 circles in which holes would 
 be drilled for the arbors. 
 Then take your pieces of flat 
 brass plate intended to form 
 the sides or case of the 
 works, and, laying the paper 
 upon it, prick, with a sharp 
 punch, all the centres re- 
 quired. You need not do 
 
 you can pinch them in a vice 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 127 
 
 Here, again, is an instance of the cheapness of German tools ; and 
 having bought and nsed them, I can state that an amateur needs no 
 better. Drills, again, for this work may be actually had with box and 
 steel stock in a box, at 7s. 6d. for a set of 126, or for models, forty- 
 eight, with drill stock, at 5s. 6d., varying from sVin. to |in. 
 
 The holes, then, having been drilled and broached, and the pillars 
 fitted, the wheels and pinions demand our attention. I have, however, 
 presupposed the side plates of sheet brass to have been filed quite flat and 
 true, on the inside, at least. Being, probably, no larger than those of a 
 watch, this need not be considered a very difficult job. It should, never- 
 theless, be done carefully, so as to get all parts of the plates of equal 
 thickness. The best way is to turn them upon a face plate of wood, 
 sticking them on for the purpose with turner's cement, but filing will do 
 almost as well for our present purpose. You can fix a bit of brass for 
 filing upon a block of wood by means of cement, and hold the wood in a 
 vice, or secure it by driving tacks in all round the edge, keeping their 
 heads just below the surface. Such small plates, indeed, present no 
 difficulty in this respect. With lathe and slide rest all is absolutely easy 
 to a turner, who will level a pair of such plates in a few minutes. I 
 have supposed the wheels to be purchased with teeth cut and centre hole 
 drilled to fit on the arbor, which has now to be turned from a length of 
 pinion wire. Now, even for this job filing may answer, but a small 
 lathe is the proper tool to use — a watchmaker's turn " being that used 
 by the trade. If, however, you inspect a bit of clockwork out of an 
 automaton mouse, you will see that the lathe is not absolutely indis- 
 pensable, for a number of such arbors are made by holding a bit of 
 wire in a hand vice or pin tongs, and rounding it at the ends by a file 
 upon a filing block, which is a bit of boxwood held in a vice with a 
 ^oove or two filed in the surface in which to lay the wire. For an 
 arbor an inch long the best way to turn it is to grip one end in a self- 
 centreing drill chuck, and to bring against the other, previously filed 
 to a conical point, a hollow lathe centre in the back poppit, i.e., a centre 
 with a shallow conical hole, instead of a projecting point. 
 
 This will efficiently hold and support the work, enabling the arbor to 
 be turned to fit the hole in the wheel in which it is to be fitted ; but for 
 the still more important part of it — the pivot — which is to turn in the 
 brass plate, there is needed some equivalent to a pivot centre, as used in 
 a watchmaker's turn. This little lathe it will, perhaps, be advisable at 
 once to describe, as it will enable the matter in question to be better 
 understood, and for very small work no tool is, perhaps, so thoroughly 
 well suited. 
 
128 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 The watchmaker's turabench, or *'turn," as it is usually called^ 
 consists of a flat bar of steel, to be held in the vice at one end. Upon 
 this are fitted two small poppits, with clamping screws underneath, to fix 
 them at any required distance apart. There is no mandril, but the 
 upper part of each poppit is drilled through horizontally to receive what 
 are called centres, or pivot centres — i.e., plain steel bars with either 
 points or hollow centres or flat ends. Any of these can be used and 
 fixed by thumbscrews. If two pointed ones are used, the points will 
 exactly meet, like the points or centres of any other lathe. It is, in 
 fact, a lathe without a mandril and pulley, and the work is mounted 
 between centres and carries its own pulley, which is always actuated, like 
 a drill, with a bow. There is, of course, a small handrest, and the 
 graver is held in the right hand, while the work is rotated to and fro by 
 means of the bow held in the left. All the finest watchwork is turned 
 thus. 
 
 Now, it is plain that if we take a bit of iron or steel rod, drill 
 centres at each end, fix on a brass pulley, and drive it with a drill bow, 
 we can turn down either or both ends to form pivots, and also true up the 
 middle part of it as we may wish, but still we cannot finish it quite up 
 to the centres. To provide for this the pivot centre is substituted for 
 one of the joints of the lathe. Suppose, instead of having a point, this 
 centre is accurately drilled with a hole just large enough to admit the 
 pivot thus far turned, and that a flat is now filed on one side until it 
 fairly cuts into this central hole, we shall now see the pivot revolving in 
 it, and can hold a file down upon it so as to cut it. This is a pivot 
 centre, enabling the whole pivot to be seen and finished first with a file, 
 and subsequently with a bit of oilstone or with a flat steel tool with 
 oilstone powder. These pivot centres are sold in sets of six or eight, 
 each drilled out to a different size — some left thus, some filed out as 
 specified, but not quite to the end, leaving a little perforated disc, which 
 is practically like one hole of a miniature cone plate or boring collar, 
 but each one so planned as to enable all kinds of pivots and small 
 work to be held and turned. The verge pivot of a small watch is as 
 fine as a hair, but it must be turned, filed and poHshed, to say 
 nothing of being hardened. All this is done with perfection of skilled 
 labour in first-class work, but in ordinary watches there is no attempt 
 at hard pivots, and the smooth and dead smooth pivot files are alone 
 used, all further polish being omitted. The file will quite suffice for 
 our present purpose, and the pivot centres and turn bench can be 
 done without if a little discretion is used ; but it was necessary to 
 describe the mode of actual work followed in order to make clear 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 129* 
 
 what is meant by finishing pivots in work of this kind. We evidently 
 need what is practically a filing block only, if we hold one end of the 
 work in a jaw chuck ; or a boring collar if we centre it only and drive 
 with a carrier ; but this is not proposed, because a drill chuck is so 
 efficient for small work of this class. When, therefore, the pivot is so 
 far turned as only to need a little finishing and rounding off at the end, 
 we can remove the back poppit, and let the pivot lie in a groove filed in 
 the top of a bit of boxwood made with a tail to fit in the socket of a hand 
 rest, thus forming a grooved filing block suited to lathe work instead 
 of vice work. This will be ample support to such a small bit of metal, 
 which can, in fact, be finished almost without any support at all, as the 
 chuck will hold it quite stiffly. Still, such a filing block should certainly 
 be made for this special purpose, and this method followed in turning 
 all pivots of clockwork for models. 
 
 The usual method of fixing a brass wheel to its arbor is as follows : A 
 short tube of brass is driven on the arbor first of all, and brazed or 
 soldered to it securely. This is next turned down to fit very truly the 
 centre hole of the wheel, a shoulder being formed on which to rest it. 
 The tube is left to project a little only, above the surface of the wheel, 
 which with the arbor is then removed from the lathe to a riveting stake 
 held in the vice. 
 
 This stake is a block of steel with a central hole to receive the arbor, 
 while the central part of the wheel rests firmly upon it. A hollow punch 
 — i.e., a punch that will, like the block, allow the pivot and arbor to pass 
 up its centre, is now brought down upon the projecting bit of brass tube 
 that was left for the purpose, and a few blows of a hammer turns this 
 down to form a rivet head, pressing upon the wheel centre, thereby 
 securing it to the arbor. An easier method that can be used, if no such 
 stake and punch are at hand, is to fit the wheel as before, and then solder 
 it to the bit of tube, called by watchmakers a collet. For still larger 
 work, as in making a clock, a bit of screw can be cut on the collet or on 
 the arbor, and a nut and washer made to secure the wheel, but riveting 
 is the orthodox plan in such work ; and in such very small articles as 
 watch wheels it is doubtless the easiest and quickest, as well as the best. 
 If the wheels are so ordered they can be had ready mounted, leaving only 
 the pivots to be turned and finished to the required length, the cost is 
 very trifling. 
 
 We may now consider that we can cut or procure any sized brass wheel,, 
 and can mount it on pinion wire turned away to form a plain spindle or 
 arbor, except where a little bit has been purposely left to form a pinion tc 
 gear into the next brass wheel. This pinion, it is plain, can be left 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMA^TEURS. 
 
 standing at any part of the arbor. Sometimes it is required to be close to 
 the brass wheel, and at other times at the opposite end of the arbor, 
 but seldom in the middle of it. 
 
 The next part to be considered is the driving power, always a coiled 
 spring in this class of model. There are two methods in use, that used 
 in English fusee clocks and watches, and that in Swiss, French, and 
 common American ones, in which the fusee and chain, or cord, are 
 omitted. In the first, which is the best, but seldom used for models, the 
 spring is inclosed in a small brass barrel or cylinder, one end being fixed 
 to the barrel and the other to the arbor which passes through it, but 
 which in this case does not itself revolve. The chain, of which one end is 
 attached to the barrel on its outside by a small hook, passes from it to 
 the fusee, which is of a conical shape with a spiral groove cut upon it, on 
 which the chain is coiled as the watch is wound. No toothed wheel is 
 attached to the barrel containing the spring, but as the latter in its 
 endeavour to uncoil causes this barrel to rotate upon (not with) its axle or 
 arbor, it draws off the chain from the fusee, coiling it instead upon its 
 own surface, and a wheel fixed to the latter gives motion to the train. 
 The fusee is conical, in order to equalise the power of the coiled spring. 
 TVhen fully wound, it of course exercises more force, but this is 
 expended first of all at the small end of the conical fusee, where the 
 leverage is slight, and as the spring gets gradually weaker as it 
 uncoils, the chain is drawn from larger and larger parts of the fusee, 
 whereby the leverage is slowly and regularly increased. This is a very 
 ingenious and practically perfect way of using the power of a coiled 
 spring, which, however, in no case equals for regularity of action a 
 weight and cord. 
 
 French and German clocks, as a rule, do not contain the conical fusee, 
 and, consequently, their rate is not isochronous. At the same time, 
 they may give average time correctly, — that is to say, if, when the 
 spring is first wound, the rate is too fast, and when nearly unwound 
 the rate is too slow, the one error may just counteract the other, so that 
 a sufficiently correct mean time may be given for practical purposes. 
 As might be expected, there is no fusee in clockwork toys, the driving 
 wheel being on the arbor of the barrel containing the spring, or, at 
 any rate, on such arbor if there is no barrel. A click wheel and ratchet 
 always intervene between the driving: wheel and its arbor when a fusee 
 is used, the wheel being itself loose upon the arbor, but carrying on its 
 face the click by which, therefore, the driving wheel is practically fixed, 
 and compelled to revolve with its arbor, except during the act of wind- 
 ing. This is shown in A and B of Fig., 56. A spring keeps the click 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 131 
 
 in the notches of its wheel. When, however, no fusee is used, this 
 ratchet arrangement is disposed in a different manner, and is not then 
 interposed between the barrel and driving wheel, the latter being fixed 
 to its barrel and forming one end of it. In this case the arbor passes 
 quite through the barrel, turning in its top and bottom plates smoothly, 
 so that during the act of winding the barrel does not revolve ; but 
 one end of the spring being attached to it, and the other end attached 
 to the arbor, the latter, as it is turned by the key, winds the spring 
 tightly about it, giving it, of course, a tendency to uncoil, in which 
 case the barrel is compelled to revolve with it. When thus made, 
 the end of the arbor, after passing through the front or back of the 
 clock, is squared, and carries the click wheel, while the ratchet or pawl is 
 
 attached to the plate of the clock. This is illustrated at C and D of 
 Fig. 56. In a great many toys no ratchet is used at all. The spring 
 has its inner end fixed to a squared part of its arbor by simply pinching 
 it tightly on with pliers (only it never is tight, but soon slips), while 
 the other end is attached to some part of the case containing the 
 wheels — generally one of the pillars — and to prevent it from uncoiling 
 instantly, one of the outside wheels is held, or the key itself holds it, 
 during the act of winding, by being put between the spokes. Toy 
 engines, gigs, mice, &c., are all so made, thus doing away with the 
 extra cost of a click wheel and ratchet. 
 
 We must now consider the means of regulating the pace at which the 
 watchwork will run down after winding, and for this in all toys a fan 
 fly is used, as also in the striking part of a clock, and likewise in 
 musical boxes and most other machines of the kind, where it is only 
 
 Fig. 56.— Click Wheel and Ratchet Arrangement. 
 
132 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 required to retard the rate at which the wheels would revolve without 
 any special attention being paid to make them do so in a given period 
 and at an unvarying speed. In the clock the pendulum or the watch 
 escapement, called a balance, is always requisite, their movements being 
 isochronous. The flywheel or fan is perfectly satisfactory in other cases, 
 and this simple expedient also gives a very regular motion, though not 
 sufficiently so for a timekeeper. 
 
 The fan is made thus (see letters A and B, Fig. 57) : A spindle, 
 
 or arbor, as these small ones are called, 
 has an endless screw cut upon it at some 
 part of its length, i.e., such a screw as 
 would be formed (and is sometimes so 
 formed) by a piece of wire coiled a few 
 times aboub it in a coarse or open spiral. 
 This gears with the teeth in a wheel of 
 which the arbor is, of course, at right 
 angles to the screw or spiral, so that by 
 the revolution of the wheel the latter is 
 made to revolve. The teeth of the wheel 
 in any machine of importance would be 
 specially cut of such form as to gear very 
 truly with these screw threads ; they 
 would, therefore, be cut slanting at the rake of the thread of the spiral. 
 For toys this rake is seldom considered, or, at most, the teeth of the 
 wheel are slightly skewed. On the same arbor is a flat piece of thin 
 brass forming a pair of wings which, as they revolve, are opposed by 
 the resistance of the air, and thus retard the motion of the train of 
 wheels. The fan is not, however, firmly fixed to its arbor, but is made 
 with a bit of tubing soldered across its centre, which fits over the arbor 
 somewhat loosely, but is made, by means of a flat spring, generally 
 formed by slitting the brass, to embrace it sufficiently to revolve with 
 it ; but on the sudden stoppage of the wheel train the fan revolves 
 a few times upon its spindle, so that all shock is completely avoided. 
 
 In such toys as clockwork carriages no fan or other regulator is 
 required, because the friction of the moving toy upon the floor or table 
 is a retarding force which prevents the train from running down sud- 
 denly, and not seldom proves sufficient to stop it altogether ; but for 
 working automata of a different kind from these locomotive toys it is 
 generally advantageous to use some such regulator as the fan to 
 equalise the motion of the clockwork, which would otherwise run down 
 too fast. The pendulum or vibrating balance and escapement are, as 
 
 Fig. 57.— Flywheel or Fan. 
 
CLOCKWORK TOYS. — PEINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 133 
 
 a rule, not suitable, except for clock and watch movements such 
 can hardly be classed among 
 toys. 
 
 Whatever the toy thus driven, 
 the train or movement will con- 
 sist of the spring", weight and 
 cord, or other driving power, 
 the fan with its endless screw, 
 and one or two intermediate 
 arbors, with their wheels and 
 pinions, the fan or escape wheel 
 being the quickest of the train, 
 and the driving wheel on the 
 barrel or fusee the slowest. To 
 some part of this train are fitted, 
 as may be required, cranks, or 
 cams, or levers, by which the 
 various motions needed are ob- 
 tained, connection being made 
 by wires or silken cords or 
 string. Cranks, formed at the 
 end of an arbor, revolving in 
 one direction, will furnish inter- 
 mittent motion at regular in- 
 tervals ; cams, on the other 
 hand, afford means of inter- 
 mittent and irregular motion 
 depending on their shape, espe- 
 cially in connection with levers, 
 which usually accompany them* 
 By such means we can readily 
 produce rotary motion from 
 rectilineal and vice versa, and 
 it is hard to say what kind of 
 movement, regular or irre- 
 gular, cannot be contrived by 
 the mechanical combinations 
 alluded to. Modern ingenuity 
 has brought mechanism to very piQ, 58.-Driving Power for Toy Clock 
 great perfection, not only in 
 
 4he production of such apparatus as is used for weaving all kinds of 
 
134 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 textile fabrics, or in constructing clocks almost perfect as timekeepers, 
 but also in furnishing such marvellous automata as caricature real 
 living beings in Maskelyne and Cook's wonderful exhibition. 
 
 Some ingenious attempts have been made to construct toy watches, 
 but these are not worth speaking of, because in every case the hands 
 must be moved directly by the key. Toy clocks seem equally absurd, for 
 another reason — namely, that for Is. 6d. or 2s. we can buy real ones of 
 Swiss manufacture, which are tolerably good timekeepers. Hence it 
 really seems merely waste of time to construct a toy clock, properly so 
 called — i.e., a clock on which a hand or hands shall be made to traverse 
 a dial through the agency of a train of wheels, but which shall not 
 pretend to denote real time. It may of course be done with comparative 
 ease, as it consists merely of such a train of wheels as is illustrated in 
 Fig. 58, p. 133 ; and, if the spring barrel should create a difficulty , a wooden 
 barrel for a cord and weight will answer every purpose ; and this was, in 
 fact, the driving power before the coiled spring was invented. It is by 
 far the best driving power, moreover, because it is constant, and does not 
 vary, unless the cord makes more than one layer upon its barrel. Even 
 in that case, although it causes increased force while the outer coils are in 
 process of unwinding, the difference is not so great as when a coiled 
 spring is used. If a barrel is adopted with a cord coiled upon it, the 
 ratchet already explained must be inserted, and the driving, or great 
 wheel, must not be a fixture in the arbor of the drum. For a toy any 
 retarding force can be adopted to check the velocity of the train, but a 
 fan fly made of as large a size as possible will prove most efficient. 
 
 The practical difficulty of advancing from toy clocks to real ones lies in 
 the necessity of an escapement which must be accurately made in order 
 to work at all, and be well finished in every detail to become an accurate 
 measurer of time. To explain all these details and the principles on 
 which they depend would take a separate treatise, such as that of Sir 
 Edward Becket Denison, in which all is made clear. I have no intention 
 to enter into this, as these chapters are specially devoted to toy making, 
 and I have sufficiently laid down the principles on which toys with moving 
 parts actuated by clockwork must be made. 
 
OHAPTEE XV. 
 
 CLOCKWORK LOCOMOTIVES. 
 
 In actual construction of, let us say, a toy locomotive, it is better 
 to drive from the axle on which the spring is wound, because, as you 
 get farther from the prime mover, the power diminishes while the speed 
 increases. The power becomes weakest at the fly or balance, as being 
 farthest from the driving barrel or fusee. Hence, the axle of the first 
 or great wheel, as it is called, is to be the axle of the main driving 
 wheels of the engine or carriage. True, it is the slowest axle of the 
 train, but it will prove fast enough for the purpose, and carry the 
 engine across a laige room in a couple of seconds while the spring is 
 fully wound. The best way to fix clockwork of this kind is to make 
 it independently of the machine it is to drive, only keeping the axle 
 of the great wheel long enough to project each way beyond the body of 
 the toy — in this case a locomotive. Then chisel out under the boiler 
 a recess which will hold the movement, and placing this in position, 
 put on a covering of tin, which can be painted like the rest of the 
 boiler. No key will be needed, as one of the outside wheels will form 
 a much better holdfast for the hand in winding, while the click may 
 be similarly omitted by grasping the opposite wheel and preventing it 
 from running back when the winding power is relieved at each turn. 
 Putting the key between the spokes can only be done when the wheels 
 are upon the axle of the second wheel in the train, which, as explained, 
 acts with less power as a driver, although it revolves with greater 
 speed. 
 
 The toy maker will not find himself at a standstill if he reads 
 carefully what is here written of the principles and details of clockwork ; 
 but it may be found that the machine stands still, owing to the too 
 deep gearing of the wheels. In directing the formation of a calibre or 
 pattern of the train, I have suggested the slight overlapping of the 
 
136 
 
 TOYMA.KING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 wheels to provide for the inter-locking of the teeth when the holes for the 
 arbors are drilled by such pattern. I mentioned in reference to this 
 that watchmakers use a special tool to ascertain exactly the distance 
 apart of any two arbors, in order to insure the gears working freely 
 together. This tool consists practically of a pair of watch turns hinged 
 together side by side, and thus capable of more or less separation. One 
 wheel is then mounted in each between centres as if they were to be 
 turned, and are so placed as to gear together. When found to run 
 exactly as intended, the screw which clamps the two parts of the tool at 
 any set distance apart is tightened. The wheels are then removed and 
 the distance taken between the centre points and transferred to the 
 calibre, marks being made with a finely pointed dotting punch. One of 
 these wheels is then returned to the tool and tested with the next that 
 is to gear with it, and the same operation is repeated with the rest. 
 
 Perhaps some such plan can be managed by using the ordinary lathe 
 <jentres instead of one turn, and placing either a real turn in the slide 
 rest adjusted truly parallel to the lathe centres, or rigging up a substi- 
 tute. For the latter a bit 
 of boxwood, cut out like 
 Fig. 59, and drilled to take 
 bits of knitting needles 
 to form centres, would 
 suffice very well ; and 
 other devices will suggest 
 themselves by casting a 
 Pig. 59.— Substitute for Lathe Centres. glance round the odds and 
 
 ends of workshop appli- 
 ances. Of course, if it is proposed to make more than a few clockwork 
 models, it may be worth while to buy a secondhand pivoting tool. For 
 small work, however, of the kind treated, if the circles of the calibre just 
 overlap, the wheels should work together with sufficient truth for the 
 purpose. Good watch tools are rather expensive, but they are to be 
 readily picked up in London second-hand. Of course, wheels not mounted 
 on their arbors can be set down flat on a piece of paper and arranged as 
 to depth of gear, and the centres marked through the holes made for 
 the pivots ; but they are generally mounted when purchased, the pivots 
 only of the arbors being left to be turned, and, in this case, some such 
 method of finding the position of the pivots has to be carried out. These 
 are matters that in all probability would not strike anyone who, f©r 
 the first time, intended to try his hand at clockwork. He would count 
 the wheel teeth, get the numbers of these and of the pinions correct, 
 
CLOCKWORK LOCOMOTIVES. 
 
 137 
 
 and then to his surprise discover that he was in a iog about drilling the 
 side plates for the pinions. 
 
 The greater number of clockwork toys, such as locomotive engines and 
 carriages, are of tin, the clockwork being fixed by solder when required, 
 but for those unacquainted or unpractised with the soldering iron, wood 
 is the material to use. To prevent possibility of mistake I have given 
 in Fig. 60 a side view of a wooden boiler cut away to admit the works. 
 
 Fig. 60.— Side View op Wooden Boiler. 
 
 A is the outside near plate of the movement with lugs or projections, 
 B C D, by which to secure it by nails or screws. There will be two 
 driving wheels on the same axle, one, of course, being on the opposite 
 side to that shown in the illustration. The movement would be concealed 
 by a bit of tin plate before putting on the wheels, but is left open to show 
 its position in the toy. 
 
 There is one apparently trivial detail of clockwork, which is, neverthe- 
 less, well worthy of attention, namely, the varying lengths of the arbors 
 of the wheels, or rather of their pivots, which run in the side plates. 
 Between the shoulders all are to be alike, but bej'-ond these the pivots 
 should range regularly. Let the great wheel have the longest, then 
 wheel number two, generally called the centre wheel, next the third, next 
 
138 
 
 TOY MAKING FOR AMATETTRS. 
 
 the fly, if this is driven with a pinion, and therefore has an arbor 
 parallel to the others, which it may always have if preferred, but if 
 driven by an endless screw its arbor will stand at right angles to the 
 rest, in collets fixed to receive it, soldered or screwed to the side plates. 
 By thus arranging the lengths of the several arbors clockwork is more 
 easily put together. The wheels are stood up in one plate, and the 
 other brought into place upon the pillars. The latter can be depressed 
 to secure the axle of the great wheel, still leaving the next quite free. 
 This is guided into its hole by a pair of small pliers or tweezers, and as 
 soon as it is in place the top plate can be pressed down a little more 
 to secure it, the next arbor being still free; then this is guided into 
 place, and each time the top plate drops a little, securing that last 
 arranged in position. Probably, many persons have attempted clock 
 cleaning or experienced the difficulty of carrying out the proverb, **a 
 place for everything and everything in its place," for want of knowing in 
 what order to set in the wheels. Always look for the one that binds, 
 and when that is guided aright search for the next, and thus proceed 
 calmly and deliberately through the whole set. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CLOCKWORK MECHANICAL DEVICES. 
 
 For any large toy with moving figures it would be as well to buy the 
 movement complete, and then to mount upon the axles or pinions of the 
 wheels the various cranks, cams, and connecting wires or silken cords 
 which are to be attached to the figures. I will, however, add here a 
 description of a few mechanical devices by which movements of various 
 kinds can be effected. Such movements may be regular or irregular, 
 jerky or smooth, and at varying periods or otherwise. They may also be 
 
 Fig. 61,~Plain Crank for Mechanical Movement Toy. 
 
 in any required direction — vertical, horizontal, or angular. In Fig. 61 is 
 the plain crank, either a pin on a revolving disc or a simple short arm on 
 the end of the pinion. To this is attached a cord to (let ub say) the arm 
 of a figure carrying a sword (B), the arm being pivoted at P. The crank 
 by its revolution will pull this string at regular intervals, and the arm will 
 be therefore slowly and steadily raised and lowered. The motion of a 
 crank is not quite regular, but may be considered so. 
 
140 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS, 
 
 Fig. 62.— Revolving 
 Crank with Three Arms. 
 
 la Fig. 62 the string is fastened below to some part of the frame at A, 
 and the crank is made simply to touch or 
 strike it as it revolves, thus shortening it by 
 bending it out of the straight line. There may 
 be one, two, or three arms to such a crank, so 
 that it may strike the string more than once 
 during a single revolution of the arbor to 
 which it is attached. This will raise and drop 
 the arm of the figure suddenly, and if but one 
 arm is given to the crank, that of the figure 
 will remain suspended but a very short time 
 during each revolution. It is also evident that 
 we can put three such crank arms near together, 
 as at C, and raise the arm of the figure three 
 times in quick succession, 
 causing it then to remain still 
 during the remainder of the arbor's revolution. The 
 hand of the figure should be weighted to make ifc fall 
 sharply when released. This is a simple way of making 
 a smith strike with his hammer on an anvil, and the 
 effect will be greatly improved if the last arm of the 
 crank to touch the string is made much the longest. 
 The figure will then take two light taps in quick suc- 
 cession, and then, raising his hammer higher, will take 
 a more powerful one. 
 
 Fig. 63 is the snail, as it is called, probably the best 
 of all when it is required to raise any part of a piece of mechanism, such 
 as a bar or the end of a lever, and then cause it to drop suddenly a good 
 distance before being gradually raised again. C is the 
 bar to be raised ; its lower end resting on the snail, 
 which is supposed to be fixed to the end of one of the 
 wheel arbors and to revolve in the direction of the 
 arrow. It will rise slowly a distance equal to the radius 
 A Bf and will then drop suddenly after the point A 
 has been passed. This again is a perfect form of mechan- 
 ism to actuate the arm of a figure intended to strike a 
 sudden blow with a sword or hammer. The drop here 
 is absolutely instantaneous ; the curve of the outside 
 edge of the snail is a part of a spiral, but it can be 
 varied if irregularity is desired, and an effective variety 
 of motion caused by making the snail with steps, like Fig. 64. The 
 
 Fig. 63.— The 
 Snail. 
 
 Fig. 64.— The 
 Snail with 
 Steps. 
 
CLOCKWORK MECHANICAL DEVICES. 
 
 141 
 
 arm of a figure in this case will be raised, then dropped a little- 
 way, raised higher, and again dropped, as if taking aim, and finally 
 raised the full height and suddenly dropped the entire distance. Ir- 
 regularity of motion always adds to the naturalness of an automaton 
 figure, because perfectly timed movements plainly indicate mechanical 
 action. The outline, therefore, in this case should not be a perfect 
 spiral, but, after being drawn as such, it should be made of irregular 
 outline and the notches at unequal intervals. Processions of figures^ 
 
 or moving trains (Fig. 65) are generally managed by attaching them 
 to a flat tape or band passing over two drums, one of which is set in 
 motion by the clockwork. The figures are made to enter the gate of 
 a castle or pass behind a bit of painted and cut out scenery, which 
 conceals the painful fact that the rest of their triumphal course is 
 made with their head downwards below the 
 
 By placing such contrivance as the band. 
 Fig. 65, vertically instead of horizontally, and so arranging the scenery 
 as to conceal the device, figures can be made to ascend hills or ladders, 
 or to go down into pits or mines, and various scenes of human labour 
 may be fairly represented. Very often a reciprocating movement is 
 needed, such as would imitate the action of a man sawing. This can* 
 
 Fig. 65. — Arrangement for Figure Procession, 
 
 stage. They emerge at another gateway, 
 or from behind some similar screen, so as 
 to appear again in procession across the 
 stage. Sometimes one or more horizontal 
 platforms are used, to which they are glued, 
 and which itself forms part of the stage. 
 This is actuated by a driving band, as shown 
 in Fig. 66. 
 
 Fig. 66.— Horizontal 
 Platform, 
 
142 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 be managed as before by a crank ; but there are other methods which in 
 certain cases prove to be more efficacious. Fig*. 67 shows a revolving* 
 
 wheel of one cog, which alter- 
 A nately engages a pin or tooth in 
 
 the elongated loop within which 
 
 — it revolves. This loop or link 
 has projecting arms sliding in 
 Fig. 67.-EEV0LviNa Wheel of One Cog. proper supports, and consequently 
 
 the continuous rotation of the 
 -wheel in one direction causes a to-and-fro motion to the link, which can 
 be communicated to the automaton by wires or other connections. 
 
 Another mode of obtaining precisely similar motion is represented in 
 Fig. 68, in which a one-cogged wheel re- 
 volves within a fork-shaped lever, B ; a 
 horizontal lever, forming part of the ap- 
 paratus, thus assumes an oscillatory 
 motion, imparted by two wires, C D, to 
 the figure or other article needing such 
 motion to be given to it. This, dressed 
 up with a head, C and J) forming arms, 
 and the forked part concealed by petti- 
 coats, or a man's dress, with an apron 
 on, will serve as a figure tolling a bell 
 
 with each hand alternately. Other de- 
 
 , , J. . n .1 -1 Fig 68. — Eevolving One-Cog 
 
 vices may also be so actuated, the oscil- Wheel within Forked 
 
 latory beam being, for instance, a seesaw, Lever, for Figure Toll- 
 ing Bell. 
 
 with small dolls at each end, and a hollow 
 
 cylinder of pasteboard concealing the secret of its motion, might be 
 painted to represent a fallen trunk of a tree, on which the seesaw would 
 appear to rest independently. 
 
 I remember in my younger days being exceedingly desirous to possess 
 a conjuror dressed as a Turk sitting behind his table. His head turned 
 from side to side, his mouth opened and shut as if talking, and in each 
 hand was an inverted tin cup. These were alternately lifted, and each 
 time displayed something different. It was a large figure, priced at a 
 guinea or two, if not more, and I never did attain to its possession, as 
 my natural guardians very sensibly declined to waste so much money. 
 But to my eyes all was mystery and wonder. The whole affair was, 
 nevertheless, a very simply contrived toy. Two cranks connected with 
 clock work alternately lifted the arms of the figure. By another the 
 lower jaw (whose joint an ample beard sufficed to hide) was actuated. 
 
CLOCKWORK MECHANICAL DEVICES. 
 
 143 
 
 The head moved by similar simple levers and strings, and the various 
 articles to be seen under the cups were simply glued upon an endless band 
 such as I have sketched in Fig. 65, p. 141. But there arose a necessity 
 for keeping this band still for a few seconds just after the cups were 
 raised. I do not remember how this was accomplished, but nothing is 
 easier. Let there be, for instance, at one end of the driving roller a cog 
 wheel not immediately connected with the train or movement, and let it 
 be driven by a slowly revolving pinion of one tooth. The size of this has 
 only to be such that it will shift the wheel which it drives a certain 
 distance just as the cups are lowered, thus carrying out of sight one 
 object and bringing forward another. Just as this is under the cups the 
 single cog will have passed out of gear, at which moment the crank 
 action is regulated so as to raise the cups, under which the article will 
 
 Fig. 69. — Clockwork Arrangement for Conjuring Turk's Figure, 
 
 remain quite still. Then, just before the cog comes again into action, 
 the cups are lowered, so that the actual motion of the band is not seen. 
 The various articles were, I think, in addition, raised above the surface 
 of the table, in which were two round holes under the cups. All that is 
 needed for this is a pair of revolving eccentrics attached to cog-wheels, 
 driven, as in the previous case, by a single-toothed pinion to give an 
 intermittent motion. This is shown in the figure at Fig. 69, one eccentric 
 (A or B) being under each cup, and thus lifting the band, C C, each 
 time with the article upon it, and holding it raised until the single tooth 
 in its revolution again moves it, so that the least projecting part is 
 upwards. The band, C C, can then move horizontally and bring the next 
 article under the cup, at which moment the eccentric is timed to press 
 upon the under side of the band and lift it up. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.-BEAZING AND 
 SOLDERING. 
 
 Before advancing further and treating of toys actuated by steam, it is 
 absolutely necessary to give a chapter on the manipulation of certain 
 very useful tools, without which such models cannot be made. First and 
 foremost stands that somewhat primitive and clumsy, but effective, tool, 
 the soldering iron. To watch an adept as he draws this tool along a joint, 
 leaving a neat and even line of solder in its path, is generally to gain a 
 lesson in practice, as opposed to theory. Nothing looks easier ; but 
 let a novice take up the iron and try, and he will find that he has a good 
 deal to learn before he can produce work even tolerably sound and neat. 
 The tinman's soldering iron is that which the amateur generally requires, 
 for it is a fact that plumbing is not among the trades of this many- 
 handed individual, and I do not think I ever saw an amateur attempt it. 
 Blacksmith, watchmaker, tinman, engine builder, earver, turner, car- 
 penter, every trade is represented by the amateur, except that of the 
 plumber, yet perhaps no , work is more often called for. I need only 
 remark, therefore, in this place that the plumber uses for his work in 
 lead an iron of different shape and material, and it is used much hotter 
 than that of a tinman. It is a solid bulk of iron at the end of an S- 
 shaped rod forming its handle, whereas a tinman's bit is made of a piece 
 of copper inserted in the forked end of an iron rod, which is fixed in a 
 wooden handle, and the heat must be always below red. The shape of 
 the copper depends on the fancy of the workman. It is generally 
 filed to a blunt point, flattened on one side, and the copper and the iron 
 shank are in one straight line. But others prefer to place the bit of 
 copper at right angles to the shank, and to form it with a double bevil, 
 making it a blunt chisel-edged tool. Much depends on the nature of the 
 job, and it often happens that for special work the end of the soldering 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — BRAZING AND SOLDERING. 145 
 
 iron must be filed to a fresh form, not a difficult or tedious work by any 
 means. When the copper is of the desired form, it has to be tinned, 
 and whenever, by having been allowed to become red hot, this tinning 
 has come off, it must at once be renewed, an untinned iron being useless, 
 because the solder will not cling to it. 
 
 Tinning is a very simple operation of but a few minutes. The iron is 
 first heated in a clear fire till nearly red hot, and is then screwed in the 
 vice and filed quite bright. It must then at once be dipped in powdered 
 resin, or for a second in Baker's Soldering Fluid, and immediately 
 worked about in solder or rubbed about upon a bit of tin (not tinned 
 iron) J or rubbed in a shallow concavity made in a brick, in which is 
 a drop of solder with a little resin. The copper, if not oxydised by 
 exposure to the air in its heated state, will very quickly pick up the 
 tin, and a bright clean layer will spread over its face. It is better 
 to avoid its attachment on what will be the upper side, and ^in. only, 
 or less, need be thus tinned. The soldering fluid is, on the whole, the 
 best medium to use, but resin will answer, and has one advantage, 
 inasmuch as it does not cool the iron. The fluid is simply muriatic acid 
 with zinc dissolved in it till it will take up no more. Sometimes a little 
 sal ammoniac or borax is added. For soldering zinc this fluid is abso- 
 lutely necessary. Baker's preparation is sold in stone jars at Is., 
 containing enough to last the amateur a lifetime, as it may be diluted for 
 general use. The object of all these appliances is to prevent oxidation 
 of the heated surfaces, because, as soon as a film of oxide is formed, 
 the solder will not adhere or take,'' as it is called. Tallow is used on 
 lead for a similar purpose. 
 
 Supposing the soldering iron to be thus in good order, it is heated 
 below red, but with this limit ~ the hotter the better, except under cir- 
 cumstances which I will allude to presently, and, after being heated, it is 
 wiped clean with an old rag, cotton waste, or a bit of tow, or, very 
 generally, the leather apron of the workman. The edges of the proposed 
 seam being in position, either folded or held in close contact, a line of 
 powdered resin is dusted along it, or a small brush or bit of stick is 
 dropped in the soldering fluid and drawn along the line, just sufficient 
 being used to damp the surface, and the tinned iron is then touched upon 
 the piece of solder, of which it will take up a drop. Thus charged, it 
 is applied to the commencement of the seam, allowed to rest still for 
 a moment so as to heat the metal well, then slowly drawn along — slowly 
 mind. When the drop is used up, the iron is again applied to the strip 
 of solder, and the operation continued. Sometimes — especially if the 
 seam is a long one, and is not folded — the workman will hold the strip 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 of solder in his left hand, and, applying the iron, cause a drop to fall on 
 the work here and there to tack it together, and then, commencing as 
 before, he will run the iron along, which will pick up the several tackings 
 as it reaches them, and lay all down evenly as a single thin line of solder, 
 without a break. But, in order to make a good job, the work should 
 not rest horizontally, but inclined, so that the solder as it melts will 
 flow onward naturally. The solder will seem to cling to the iron all the 
 while, and will thus be led along and deposited gradually upon the work. 
 It will be impossible to make neat work if the iron is too cold to render 
 the solder very fluid, and the result will certainly be a thick, clumsy 
 seam, with lumps of half -melted solder here and there ; and this will also 
 be the case if the work is not held so as to cause the solder to flow 
 onwards. With perfectly new clean tin soldering is a very easy matter, 
 if these two points are kept in view ; but this is not the case with old 
 and dirty metal, especially if rusty. 
 
 In our toymaking we are not, indeed, supposed to use dirty material, 
 but in mending a toy we may chance to encounter such a job, and, 
 therefore, must needs speak of it. There may often be a mere pin hole 
 in a kettle, that anyone would think the simplest matter in the world to 
 repair — just one drop of solder upon the hole — but a workman knows 
 iDetter. The solder will go anywhere else, but will obstinately refuse to 
 lie over the hole. Soot is greasy, and specially inimical to solder, which 
 will not take on a foul surface. But here is one of the cases in which 
 you may often succeed with an iron much cooler than usually needed, 
 and here, too, soldering fluid will beat resin. The surface in any case 
 must be scraped clean all round the hole, made bright, and re-tinned by 
 rubbing the iron well upon it with a drop of solder, and then, if a look- 
 out is kept, it will often happen that just as the iron begins to cool, a 
 drop of solder will draw over the hole to be mended, and complete the 
 repair. But unless such hole is very small, the best plan is to cut a little 
 bit of tin to fit over it, and having well tinned the vessel all round the 
 hole, so as to get a sufficient amount of solder upon it, put a drop on the 
 surface also of the patch ; lay it on, and again apply the iron to it, so 
 as to heat it. This will melt the solder upon its under surface, and 
 complete the job neatly and thoroughly, far better in fact than by 
 merely persuading a drop of solder to stick to it. 
 
 What is usually called tin, is sheet iron coated with that metal, and 
 ivhen solder is applied to it at a sufficient heat to melt partially the tin 
 upon the surface, this and the solder run together and make a very sound 
 junction. If, however, the soldering iron is not hot enough the union is 
 far less complete, and a very little rough usage will cause the parts to 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — BRAZING AND SOLDERING. 147 
 
 •separate. The process described, which is always used for tin ware, 
 is known as soft soldering, in contradistinction to hard soldering or 
 brazing, which is applied to iron, copper, and brass, although even with 
 these metals the soft solder may be used wherever likely to prove suffi- 
 cient. 
 
 The amateur is not very often called on to braze — an operation 
 needing great heat and great practice — except on a very small scale ; but 
 brass he will often find it necessary to solder, and this will not prove 
 at all difficult. As I have stated already, soft solder is specially adapted 
 for use on surfaces that are coated with tin, and before brass can be 
 soldered such coating is to be applied to it. Nothing, however, is easier, 
 unless the piece of metal is large, in which case the heat of a soldering 
 iron is not sufficient, and the brass must itself be heated over a stove 
 or in the fire sufficiently to cause solder to melt when applied to it. To 
 tin brass it has to be filed clean and just damped with soldering fluid, 
 or dusted with resin, and then a drop of solder rubbed well upon it 
 with a soldering iron. This will very quickly coat it perfectly. When 
 once this is done, brass can be soldered as easily as tin, and, in some 
 respects, more so. A little bit of tinfoil placed between two such 
 tinned pieces will unite them securely if the brass is heated till the foil 
 melts. 
 
 Zinc is always more difficult to work, but it can be fastened with 
 ordinary solder by using the fluid medium, the only fault of which is that 
 it so quickly cools the iron. The usual fault is that the solder, whether 
 for tin or other metal, is used in too great abundance. The thinner the 
 layer, the stronger the joint, to say nothing of saving solder and making 
 a neat joint instead of a clumsy one. 
 
 There are many cases in small work in which it is far more convenient 
 to use a blowpipe than a soldering iron, and where such a thing as a 
 blowpipe table with bellows can be obtained, even small brazing work 
 may be managed, but for this, gas is almost an essential matter, with a 
 special arrangement of burner for the production of a very high tem- 
 perature. The mouth blowpipe alone is much used by gasfitters, who 
 have acquired the necessary skill in blowing a steady stream of air, and 
 the amateur may do this quite as well after a little practice. The flame 
 of the candle or lamp must, however, be directed, as a rule, not upon 
 the little bit of solder placed for the purpose, but on the metal to be 
 soldered, until this is sufficiently heated not to chill the solder. If the 
 latter is brought under the action of the heat first it simply melts and 
 forms a bubble, which does not lay hold at all, or worse still, it rolls off 
 and escapes. I mention this because I have seen the question asked. 
 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 why in blowpipe work the solder does act in the manner stated instead 
 of running into the joint as it ought. 
 
 Copper is not very often required to be soft soldered, but when it is, it 
 may be readily tinned by the help of sal ammoniac after having been filed 
 bright, and then it can be soldered like the metals of which I have already 
 treated. 
 
 The only reason why a soldering iron need be the top-heavy clumsy 
 form usually met with is that the lump of copper is required to retain 
 its heat sufficiently long to enable work to be executed without such 
 constant recurrence to the fire. But for small, light metal work, a 
 soldering iron may also be light, and filed to a much smaller point or 
 edge, so that it can be got into corners and awkward places. In short, 
 so long as it terminates in a bit of solid copper its shape is of no 
 special importance, nor its size either, and the workman can plan both 
 to suit his own convenience. A very clever plan for use where gas is 
 procurable is to have the copper at the end of a tube in which is a jet of 
 lighted gas playing on the end of the copper termination. The handle 
 is hollow, and attaches by a screw to an indiarubber tube in connection 
 with the gas supply. This allows perfect freedom in its use, and the 
 iron is kept steadily at the heat required, a stopcock regulating at 
 pleasure the size of the lighted jet within the tube. 
 
 There is a process called "sweating" together soldered surfaces, which 
 makes a good strong joint, bringing the parts into close union and 
 uniting them very perfectly. All that is really meant by the term is, 
 that the parts to be united, having each been first coated with solder, or 
 tinned, are to be weU heated and worked together, and then allowed to 
 remain till cold, being preferably put under pressure during the process 
 of cooling. This is more applicable to brass than tin, which never 
 requires to be heated otherwise than by the ordinary soldering iron. 
 There are in the process of soldering, as in most mechanical manipula- 
 tions, little dodges practised to overcome difficulties. If, for instance, in 
 drawing along the line of solder it misses a spot here and there, as it 
 will sometimes do, the iron must be drawn over that spot again, and 
 very often the same break in the solder will occur again and again from 
 some slight] greasiness, oxidation, or chance dirtiness. If now the iron 
 is drawn along as before and the solder blown upon sharply close behind 
 the iron it is cooled before the drop has time to run back, and the seam 
 is thus left complete and sound. This is just one of those trifling 
 matters that hardly appear worth mentioning, yet it may save time 
 and trouble. 
 
 Soldering ought not to be allowed to become a dirty operation,. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — BRAZING AND SOLDERING. l49 
 
 yet it is so frequently, the hands becoming foul very quickly if the 
 soldering fluid or resin is allowed to touch them, nor is this dirt easy of 
 removal, except by hot water with a good lump of washing soda in it. 
 The fluid should always be applied with a small brush — a painter's 
 flat brush or hog tool being very convenient — and the resin taken up 
 with a slip of tin or dusted on from a box with a hole in the lid and a 
 small tin spout soldered into it. A very little resin will suffice, and if 
 more is used it will but melt and spread beyond the line of solder, 
 necessitating its being scraped off, to the detriment of the job, especially 
 if of new tin, the surface of which is brilliant, and at once shows any 
 scrape or rub of emery paper. The neat tin work now so general, such 
 
 we see in Sardine tins, preserved milk tins, mustard and other cases, 
 is of itself a lesson to the amateur, and shows him what is meant by a 
 neatly soldered joint. 
 
 Of brazing or hard soldering, used on iron and steel, copper and brass, 
 I will make a few general notes, because such work may be needed and 
 occasionally practised, especially if the amateur has a small portable 
 forge, which is a most serviceable addition to the appliances of the work- 
 shop, even if forging and welding are not attempted. Any handy 
 amateur can heat his iron or steel, and bend it or flatten it out, or 
 draw it down and point it for making drills and for other purposes, 
 after a little practice and instruction at the hands of some friendly black- 
 smith ; and brazing, as well as hardening and tempering tools, is an art 
 so very handy as to be well worth a trial. 
 
 The main secret of brazing is to have the surfaces to be united clean 
 and well fitted, and so placed and secured as not to be liable to separate 
 or shift their position. Borax is the flux, and as this swells up on being 
 heated until the water it contains has been driven out, it should be first 
 heated by itself and then powdered and kept for use. The fire must be 
 a clear one of coke or cinders, without soot and smoke, which would 
 sully the work and prevent it from becoming coated by the solder. 
 Of the latter, called spelter, which is simply a kind of easily fusible 
 brass, there are several qualities. In many cases brass wire is used, 
 especially for brazing iron, the joint being wrapped with several layers 
 of it, which fuse and run together. Sometimes silver solder — silver and 
 brass melted and run into strips — is used, and this is especially advisable 
 in all fine neat work and for steel. The spelters are, however, in some 
 samples, more fusible, to be used with brass, and in others harder, for 
 copper or for iron, and these require great heat to fuse them. 
 
 To fasten together the pieces which are to be united by brazing 
 without which the heat would cause the joint to open, various devices 
 
150 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 are used, according to the nature of the job. Binding with loops of iron 
 wire is the usual method adopted when brazing thin tubes. Sometimes, 
 however, the edges are clipped, and are made to interlap. At other 
 times a wall of fireclay may be advantageously so built up about the 
 joint as to keep it in place ; but this is an expedient more suited to work 
 which is brazed by a jet of gas made to play on it — a very superior 
 method, owing to its cleanliness and the speed with which it accomplishes 
 the fusion of the solder. Any of such plans may be adopted for brazing 
 those toys that need to be hard soldered, which are not many. The 
 boilers of engines ought to be so made ; but for the most part they are 
 dependent on soft solder, with perhaps a rivet here and there for 
 additional security. 
 
 The actual operation is always the same, whatever the work may be. 
 The parts having been scraped clean, a little borax mixed into a paste 
 with water, is smeared upon the joint, and upon this are laid the grains 
 of spelter, or a slip of silver solder, except in work which can be 
 enveloped in coils of brass wire. Thus prepared, it is held in a pair of 
 light tongs a little above the surface of the coals, and the heat gradually 
 raised as may be needed by the steady but gentle use of the bellows. In 
 a minute or two the borax will begin to fuse and run, and very soon the 
 solder will also melt and flow into the joint. The work should be gently- 
 tapped, to shake it, to facilitate the flow of the metal, the fusion of 
 which is shown by a light blue flame. The moment this appears the 
 work must be removed, especially if of brass, or it will itself melt. 
 When cold, the superfluous solder is cleaned off by file and emery paper. 
 
CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM— SIMPLE 
 STATIONARY ENGINES. 
 
 These are always to boys sources of great delight, because they so 
 nearly approach to reality. An engine is something more than a toy, 
 size alone deciding on which side of the border land we are to place it. 
 A single inch, more or less, in the diameter of an engine cylinder may 
 make all the difference between a toy and a useful machine. Engines, 
 too, are essentially modern toys, and, like all of a scientific character, 
 are calculated to teach the possessor many useful lessons about what 
 are now everyday wonders, the secrets of which the present generation 
 of boys and girls may easily fathom. Take a boy into an ordinary toy 
 shop, and unless he be very young his interest in the treasures which 
 are on all sides will not be by any means great ; but walk him into 
 a shop, like that of Bateman, Stevens, or Lee's, and he will find anew 
 excitement indeed if he be a country boy. Engines stationary, engines 
 locomotive, traction engines, marine engines, steam ships, sailing boats, 
 lathes worked by steam that will go into a doll's house, steam hammers, 
 tools — every scientific toy that can delight the eye and teach the mind 
 is to be seen and bought at no high figure. 
 
 The boys of England are indeed indebted to the gentlemen I have 
 named in a degree they are not yet old enough to understand. There 
 are other similar shops, but these are pre-eminent, because it was here 
 that the system originated and developed of supplying not only finished 
 toys of this class, but all the separate parts, with necessary tools, to 
 enable lads and men to build up engines and machines at home. We can 
 buy any single part, or all the parts, finished, half finished, or as rough 
 castings, to say nothing of screws, taps, and other tools and appliances 
 to facilitate the process of construction, and that, too, as easily in the 
 country as in London. 
 
152 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 Many years ago to set about making a model or toy engine was 
 a matter of anxious consideration, even for those possessed of a 
 lathe and tools. First there was the cylinder. If it was to be cast, 
 the pattern had to be made in wood, and few knew exactly how this 
 should be done. To escape this task, it may have been determined to 
 use tubing of some sort ; but where was it to be obtained ? and if 
 obtained, there were the ports, and valve casing, and flanges to be 
 attached, and every little screw and nut had to be made at home. The 
 boiler ofPered still greater difiiculties ; and then a flywheel had to be got, 
 and plummer blocks, and a multitude of etceteras, which ingenuity had 
 to supply, but which generally resulted either in a very clumsy model or 
 an utter failure. 
 
 How different is the case now ! We can take up a catalogue and 
 pick out just what we need to set us going, and of any size — from 
 the smallest toy to the real useful engine — and making out the list, 
 and hunting up the moderate capital required, we can have all sent 
 down, and certain to be fit for the purpose. Moreover, we can get 
 working drawings and directions for the construction of a satisfactory 
 machine from these materials. It would be most unwise in the present 
 day to try and make up a patchwork engine from odds and ends, unless, 
 indeed, it is to be a very small and simple affair, and the materials thus 
 chosen really suited to the work. It affords a far better lesson in 
 engineering to buy an entire set of parts in the rough, and to shape 
 them with lathe and file. Screws and small bolts and nuts may now 
 also be purchased beautifully made, and of all sizes ; and small screw 
 taps in handles to match the screws are likewise sold, so that no real 
 difficulty should' occur in fitting together the several parts of these 
 interesting toys. If, in fact, the cylinders are ready turned, the only 
 tools absolutely necessary are a vice to screw to the table, a pair of 
 pliers, a few small files, Archimedean drill-stock and drills, and a screw 
 tap or two, as above mentioned, with screwdriver. If the cylinder and 
 flywheel are not already turned the lathe must be added. I may, how- 
 ever, recommend one or two taper broaches to enlarge screw holes. 
 With these few tools alone a great deal may be done. Mr. Bateman 
 has brought out his Eclipse lathe for this special kind of work, and 
 although I have spoken already of another by the Britannia Co., I must 
 not omit to speak of this one at, I think, ^83 or £o 10s., as it is a very 
 neat little tool indeed. 
 
 Mr. Lee, of Victoria Yard, Broadway, Westminster, who is in a large 
 way of business, also makes all kinds of models and scientific apparatus, 
 and supplies them entire or in parts, finished or in the rough. More- 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SIMPLE STATIONARY ENGINES. 153 
 
 over, Mr. Lee claims as a speciality tenoned castings — i.e., each casting 
 that needs to be turned has a projecting tenon by which it can be 
 gripped in a die chuck or in a wooden chuck, thus facilitating greatly 
 the operation of turning. Mr. Lee's small table lathe, with Cyclop' s 
 foot motor, or independent treadle, seems also an excellently designed 
 
 Fig. 70.— Simple Form of Stationary Steam Engine. 
 
 tool, and its accuracy is guaranteed. Toymakers have, therefore, 
 plenty of choice, and an inspection of the catalogue of Mr. Lee will show 
 what a vast amount of material and finished work is kept in stock for the 
 accommodation of an aspiring amateur. 
 
154 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 The simplest of all the engines is a toy, par excellence (Fig. 70), for 
 it is nothing hut a toy, yet it may be worth making, if only for practice 
 in the manipulation of tools. It consists merely of a boiler, for which 
 tin will answer quite well enough — a small empty milk tin or mustard 
 tin, for instance — with the lid soldered on, and supported on a tripod, 
 or on legs of stout wire over a lamp, which can be made also of tin. 
 On the top of the boiler, in which a small hole is first made, is soldered 
 a small short tin pipe, through which steam will pass and impinge on 
 the vanes of a wheel, which is thereby made to revolve at a great rate. 
 Simple as it is, the toy gives much pleasure to a very small boy — say, of 
 3 or 4 years old — and it is, after all, a true steam engine, made on the 
 oldest plan devised for using steam as a motive power. I have even 
 seen lately a suggestion made to use steam in this way again on a large 
 scale, and with one or two modifications. It may be as well, therefore, 
 to point out here why this and the next arrangement have been dis- 
 carded. In order to get the full power out of steam, you must so 
 confine it as to compel it to exert its inherent elasticity, and the more 
 pressure you can put it under, the more available power will be got out 
 of it. In a jet of steam playing upon the vanes of a wheel exposed 
 freely on all sides the steam can shirk its work. If you have steam 
 of 1001b. per inch pressure, yet you can easily stop the rotation of such 
 a wheel, because the steam can escape into the air, and so expend its 
 elasticity without turning the wheel. The only possibility of using 
 such wheel effectively would be to inclose the vanes in some way in a 
 circular case, or annular chamber, and drive the steam through this 
 so that it could not escape, except by pushing the vanes out of its 
 way. Such an arrangement would be very like a fan, as is now used 
 in the portable forges, and for many other purposes where a current 
 of air is required. But though the arrangement looks simple and easy 
 to carry out, it presents many serious difficulties. It is evident that 
 connection must be made by spokes, or a thin disc between the vanes 
 and centre of the wheel ; and for this there must obviously be an open 
 slit all round the inner part of the annular case. This must be steam 
 tight ; and, again, the vanes must fit the chamber in which they revolve, 
 so as not to allow the steam to get by without moving them — another 
 practical difficulty ; indeed, to allow freedom of revolution, the vanes 
 ought not to fit the chamber; and it is here that the plan breaks 
 down, for there is enormous waste of steam, and this cannot be avoided j 
 and waste of steam means waste of fuel, and great cost in working 
 for comparatively little power. Practically, the free wheel, with no 
 case at all, is the best ; because it is the most simple, and it will work. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SIMPLE STATIONARY ENGINES. 155^ 
 
 especially if the vanes are made differently, but the waste of steam is 
 too great to bring this arrangement into use at the present price of 
 fuel. We must, therefore, still regard this as a toy and treat it as 
 such. It is as well here to warn the reader against the unprin- 
 cipled mode often used of advertising such toys in a way that gives 
 a false impression of what is really meant. Such an engine, with 
 just a tap inserted in the little pipe which forms the jet, is often 
 advertised after some such fashion as the following : *'A real steam 
 engine for Is. 6d. This engine has a good sized metal boiler, with 
 steam pipe, regulator, furnace, safety valve [the cork which is inserted 
 in the short tube by which it is filled !] supply pipe, brass flywheel, 
 &c., &c., the whole beautifully finished and japanned." The brass fly- 
 wheel is, of course, meant as a lure, implying that there is a cylinder 
 with its fittings, and that such an engine as this unique affair is not made 
 with a cast tin or lead fly wheel, but a real brass one ; and thus the 
 reader is led to send his money in the fond belief that he will obtain 
 what he certainly will not. I know how bitter is the disappointment 
 experienced when some poor little boy has spent his small hoard in 
 this way, and I do not hesitate to say that any advertisement purposely 
 worded so as to deceive ought to render the advertiser liable to punish- 
 ment. It is one of the cruellest of the many tricks of trade. Mr. 
 Bateman advertises honestly and fairly, and his goods may be always 
 trusted to be exactly in accordance with the published description. 
 Nor does he stand alone, for in this case the misleading advertiser is 
 the exception, although an exception far too easy to find. 
 
 The next form of steam engine, of about equal practical value to the 
 first, and yet far more difficult to make well, is that shown in two varia- 
 tions in Figs. 71 and 72, pp. 156, 158. This is an engine in which the jets 
 of steam escaping from the orifice of one or more pipes, bent in opposite 
 directions, produce re-action by impinging against the air, and cause the 
 rotation in an opposite direction of the reservoir of steam, to which they 
 are attached. The little glass one represented at Fig. 71, p. 1 56, has, however, 
 but one jet, and this small glass bulb is often used to send out a vapour 
 or jet of steam from scent, which is put in the bulb instead of water, 
 and here, by the bye, is a little mystery for our young readers. How 
 shall we get the scent or the water into the bulb through so small a jet ? 
 Evidently it would need a fairy funnel to do it in the ordinary way. 
 Upon the mystery centre one or two important facts immediately con- 
 nected with the subject of steam engines which may at once be explained. 
 If the bulb be warmed by the fire, or by dipping it in hot water, and the- 
 end of the little pipe is dipped into the scent, the latter will rise and 
 
156 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 flow into it as it gradually cools. After once filling the bulb no future 
 difficulty will be experienced, for a single drop left in it will, on being, 
 warmed, become steam and expel the air, and, as this steam condenses, 
 the scent will rise and fill it as before. Steam occupies a great deal more 
 space than the liquid which produced it — a cubic inch of water will make 
 a cubic foot of steam or thereabout. Heated air likewise expands and 
 occupies more space than cold air, and is therefore, bulk for bulk, much 
 lighter. When we warmed the glass bulb we expanded the air inside it ; 
 a great proportion of it, therefore, not finding room, escaped through 
 the jet into the outer air. We next dipped the jet into cold scent, 
 
 covering its orifice. When the air left in the bulb cooled there was not 
 enough to fill the bulb, and a vacuum (or empty space) was created, i.e., 
 there was now less pressure upon the surface of scent inside the little 
 tube than on that in the bottle or vessel containing it, and just as the 
 heavy end of a pair of unequally loaded scales descends while the 
 opposite end rises, the pressure on the scent exposed to the air (and 
 thus more heavily weighted) drove up the lighter, and caused it to enter 
 the globe, and it continued to do so until a balance was gained, i.e., till 
 the air inside equalled in elasticity that on the outside. If we stop up 
 
 Fig, 71.— Single Jet Engine, with Glass Bulb. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SIMPLE STATIONARY ENGINES. 157 
 
 the end of the little tube and then heat the bulb, the air inside will 
 expand and burst it, and, if a drop of water or scent remaining in it is 
 converted into steam, under the same conditions, the same result will 
 follow. 
 
 Toy engines are made with boilers of tin, or brass, or copper, the 
 latter generally brazed or riveted. If there is no safety valve these little 
 boilers become dangerous. The pipe for the escape of steam may get 
 stopped up, and all at once the boiler may burst without warning, and 
 the young engineer may be seriously scalded and otherwise hurt. Hence, 
 even for the simplest engine, provision must be made against accident. 
 The most direct way is to close the tube by which the boiler is filled 
 by a cork, which will blow out if the pressure becomes excessive, but I 
 will give directions by and bye for making a proper and efficient safety 
 valve. For the vane wheel, however, and reaction engines which is here 
 illustrated, the cork is quite as good as anything that can be devised. 
 It would be a waste of time to apply a regular safety valve to such a 
 toy as this. Very often the water hole, or man hole," as it is called, 
 is closed by a screw cap, and no provision against accidents is made, 
 probably because it is considered that the steam can freely escape. So it 
 can, unless some bit of dirt in the water gets carried down into the jet, 
 in which case an explosion is what may be confidently expected. 
 
 The glass engine, or Aeolipile, the toy maker will probably not attempt 
 to make, although it is a simple job to one who can blow glass tolerably 
 well. The construction of the one with a jet acting on a vane wheel will 
 present very slight difficulty. This wheel is easiest made of a circular 
 piece of tin about the size of a halfpenny, with slits made all round it 
 at equal distances to receive the vanes, or rather just enough of each 
 vane to steady it while it is being secured by a minute drop of solder ; 
 an axle of wire is soldered into it at the exact centre, and tin supports 
 are soldered on the top of the boiler to receive the ends of this axle. 
 The steam pipe is best made by drilling a piece of brass wire to form a 
 tube, but a tin penholder with a small hole drilled in the rounded top, 
 cut off to about an inch in length, will answer capitally, or a bit of thin 
 tin can be rolled up into a conical tube, and soldered up the side. The 
 vanes of the wheel must be arranged to come well over the jet, just 
 clearing it as they revolve. Sometimes the steam pipe is bent so that 
 the jet of steam is horizontal. A little tap is also inserted, which can be 
 bought at Bateman's, where small brass tubing may be also obtained. 
 
 All . this is, of course, matter for choice, but perhaps it is wiser not 
 to expend more than is absolutely necessary upon these exceedingly 
 simple toys, but to reserve capital for those which need skill in 
 
158 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 ■construction, and are altogether of a more important character. The 
 tin reaction engine (Fig. 72) is variously constructed, but that illustrated 
 here is a circular tin box, with bent jets attached at four equi-distant 
 points on the rim. The jets must all point in the same direcbion. They 
 may be made straight if found difficult to bend, but must be soldered 
 on at an acute angle like the spout of a coffee pot, lying, as it were, on 
 their sides to a great extent. To allow the box to rotate freely on the 
 short pin A, the bottom is depressed as shown at B to form a hollow 
 oone, and the wire spindle above, turning in a loop D of the wire C, will 
 allow perfect freedom. F and G are the wick holders of the spirit lamp 
 below, which forms the stand as well as furnace, and the round box has 
 
 a short tube by which to fill it, secured by a cork ; a similar one at E 
 is for the introduction of spirit to the lamp. The wick should be the 
 soft cotton sold in balls. Here, as before, I have suggested round tin 
 boxes, because it is easy to find such ; blacking boxes, for instance, are 
 light and suitable, and sample tea boxes (Roberts and Co., of Water- 
 street, Liverpool, send out samples in just such light clean boxes). A 
 larger box for the lamp, a bit of brass wire, and the materials are all 
 found, and nothing remains but to solder neatly, and get up steam. 
 A very small flame will keep up steam when once the water boils, and 
 a large flare of spirits will not only not be required, but will melt the 
 
 Fig. 72.— Simple Form of Re-action Engine. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SIMPLE STATIONARY ENGINES. 159 
 
 solder and loosen the jets as soon as the water is well below them. If 
 the water be too high you will still see the rotation, but it will be caused 
 by jets of boiling water instead of steam, making a mess, endangering 
 ihe face of the engineer, and probably putting out the light. In the 
 illustration given there are two wick tubes, but one will prove sufficient 
 if the box be light. If there appears danger of making a hole in the 
 bottom of the steam box in depressing its centre with a blunt punch, 
 solder on a little lump of brass and drill it with a small hole to receive 
 the pivot. It is not difficult, however, to make a depression in the box 
 itself if, before the cover is put on, it is laid upside down on a block 
 of wood with a hollow place turned in it, and gentle blows are given 
 about the centre until the bottom takes a cupped form. Then gfraduaUy 
 depress the centre still more, and finish with a wooden punch of box wood 
 turned to a blunt core— always strike tin with wooden mallets in making 
 apparatus, as these will not bruise it like an iron hammer. One end of 
 the mallet should be rounded off to form a good sized convex plane, the 
 other should be much moie pointed. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.— STATIONARY 
 CYLINDER ENGINES. 
 
 We now advance to cylinder engines, which are of two kinds, each 
 more or less like those in practical use. The principle of action is 
 simple. An accurately bored cylinder is fitted with a piston or plunger 
 free to move up and down within it, but not so loose as to permit 
 steam to pass around it. A rod fastened to this piston is carried through 
 a hole in the cylinder cover by which connection is made with the crank 
 or the axle of a heavy flywheel, either directly or through the interven- 
 tion of a connecting rod hinged to it. In the first case the cylinder 
 must be allowed to oscillate to accommodate the piston rod to the 
 movement of the crank, this being provided for in the other case by 
 the hinge attaching the piston rod to the connecting-rod. Steam being 
 admitted to one side of the piston, it is thereby forced onwards until the 
 supply is cut off, which is arranged to take place when it has reached 
 nearly to the end of the cylinder. In a single-acting engine the 
 momentum of the flywheel suffices to carry the piston back to its original 
 position, when a fresh supply of steam is admitted. Each time that the 
 piston reaches the end of its stroke an arrangement is made to allow 
 the steam to escape, so that the descent of the piston shall not be 
 hindered, and this only ceases when steam is about to be re-admitted 
 from the boiler. 
 
 In the double-action engine, which is ordinarily used, steam is alter- 
 nately admitted to either side of the piston, thus driving it in both 
 directions, and doubling the power of the engine. It is probable, 
 nevertheless, that for many purposes single-acting engines would answer 
 very well, and they are easier and less expensive to make, if less 
 economical to work. We will, at any rate, begin with one of these in its 
 simplest form. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 161 
 
 We shall require a boiler, cylinder, piston, piston rod, crank, axle, 
 and fly wheel, also a steam block, which will be presently explained. As 
 the boiler ought in this case to be of somewhat better construction than 
 those previously described, attention should be paid to the following 
 directions : It will be quite unnecessary to attempt brazing, as there 
 is no danger whatever of ordinary solder giving way if the engine, when 
 made, be carefully used. It is quite as unlikely to fall to pieces as a tea 
 kettle. If we allow the water to evaporate till the vessel is empty, 
 the solder will melt, no doubt ; but there is not the least necessity for 
 this, and with ordinary care the boiler will last as long uninjured as any 
 other part of the engine. The materials required are a short length of 
 brass tubing and a pair of flanged ends, which are castings, and will be 
 supplied to fit the tube selected. The best plan is to order a set of 
 castings and boiler materials for an engine of a certain size, usually 
 reckoned by the diameter of the cylinder, ^in. bore or lin. bore, or any 
 other that may be preferred. The set will include the parts named 
 above, but it must be also stated that they are for a single action 
 oscillating cylinder, for a beginner should make at least two of these 
 before attempting those of double action, or those made with a slide 
 valve. To make these, a good deal of manipulative skill is needed, and 
 it is always a mistake to undertake a task of the kind without some fair 
 prospect of success. Many a learner starting with a job too difficult 
 for him gets disgusted at his failure, and takes a dislike to such work ; 
 whereas if he had attempted less and succeeded, he would have probably 
 advanced to work of a more important character and become proficient 
 with his tools. 
 
 A lathe is required for engine making, as it is not worth while to 
 buy all the parts turned, and merely to put them together. This can 
 be done certainly, but it affords no practice in mechanical work, and is 
 not worthy to be called toymaking. On arrival, the ends of the boiler 
 will be just as they left the sand, quite rough on both sides of the form 
 of A (Fig. 73, p. 162). The bit of tubing will be smooth, as it is drawn 
 between dies in the process of making, but will need cleaning. The two 
 ends will have been already turned true and even. The first step will, 
 therefore, be to mount one of the cast ends in the lathe. For this a 
 wooden chuck carefully hollowed out to take the disc of brass will be 
 the best to use, and the disc should be mounted with the flat side (not 
 flange) outwards, because when this face is finished the chuck can easily 
 be turned out a little more, and wiU then fit the edge of the disc. 
 This edge, moreover, will allow of being turned when the disc is held at 
 first by its flanged part, and it must be finished at this time, because if 
 
 M 
 
162 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 it is not, another chnck will be requisite to receive the flange after the 
 latter has been finished. B (Fig. 73) shows the disc in section placed in 
 the chuck, and held by its flange for commencing to turn the outer face ; 
 B is the chuck with recess turned, C the brass, shown also at A in 
 
 Fig. 73.— -Castings, Ac, for Cylinder Steam Engine. 
 
 perspective, with the flange upwards ; D shows the chuck again, hollowed 
 out suflGici«ntly to receive the disc when placed with the flange outwards 
 while the latter is being turned to fit exactly the inside of the bit of 
 tubing. It will not be necessary to turn farther than the flange, as the 
 central part may be left rough. Supposing the brass mounted as 
 directed, a point tool or a round end can be used to take off the rough 
 outside. 
 
 In the castings usually sold the surface is tolerably clean, otherwise it 
 would need to be pickled for a short time in dilute sulphuric acid, or filed 
 to remove the sand and grit so detrimental to tools. In any case it will 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 163 
 
 •be best to hold a file against the outer edge while it is in motion, to clean 
 a place for the first action of the tool, which will thus get under the hard 
 ^kin at once and cut it readily. After the whole of the outside has been 
 turned with the roughing tool, a flat ended one is used to remove any 
 slight ridges or inequalities. The end of this tool should not be abso- 
 lutely flat, but form part of a large curve, F, and the edge should be 
 square to the two flat sides, as it is essentially a scraping tool. It is 
 held on the rest as shown at E. A little manipulative skill is needed to 
 produce a good surface on brass, which is very apt, from the vibration 
 it undergoes, to become wavy. If this once begins it is increased 
 momentarily, and then a point tool will have to be used to cut across 
 the ridges and produce an entirely new surface. This is peculiar to 
 brass, and arises solely from the vibrations set up by the action of the 
 tool. Some kinds of brass seem more liable to it than others, and it is, 
 perhaps, best prevented by using a thin tool and a light cut, and keeping 
 the tool in constant motion from side to side. A bit of leather or the 
 end of the finger underneath the tool on the rest, acting as an elastic 
 pad, will sometimes answer as a preventive, but practice enables a 
 inirner so to manipulate his tools as to check the tendency to set up these 
 vibrations in the metal. 
 
 After using the flat tool the surface is finished with fine emery cloth, 
 and then polished with rotten stone, whitening, and a clean, dry chamois 
 leather. It can afterwards be further finished by a coat of lacquer. The 
 flange is not carried to the same extent of finish, because all that is 
 necessary is to turn it to fit, and thus also to render it clean and 
 smooth, so that it can be tinned and soldered. The latter operation 
 and also the finishing must, however, be postponed until one or two 
 £ttings are made, especially if the engine is to be of a complete character. 
 In the simple oscillating cylinder and single action few boiler fittings are 
 Tequired. These will be detailed presently, but it will be as well to 
 describe the mode of attaching these ends securely after they have been 
 turned and fitted as directed. The flanged part, which will be in contact 
 with the inside of the tube, requires to be tinned. For this purpose it 
 should be heated till it will almost melt a bit of solder when applied to 
 it. A soldering iron having been also heated, some solder is to be 
 worked about all around the disc, resin or Baker's fluid being also used 
 as a flux, until the surface is well coated with the solder. In the same 
 way the inside of the tube is to be tinned. To unite the two it is now 
 only necessary to heat both tiU the solder melts, but it is a good plan 
 to lay the disc with its flange upwards on a close stove, such as an 
 ironing or cooking stove, and, when the solder begins to melt, the 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 tube already tinned i3 to be placed in position and pressed down 
 close. The whole should be left a few seconds, so as to insure thorough 
 melting and union of the soldered surfaces. If the turning has been well 
 done, and the parts well l&tted, an excellent joint will be made, and the 
 solder will be almost or quite invisible. Both ends will, of course, bo 
 
 Fig. 74.— Simple Stationary Cylinder Engine. 
 
 fitted exactly alike, only that which will join the top has to be drilled 
 with a few holes to receive the necessary fittings. These are the steam 
 blocks against which the cylinder oscillates ; the water hole with its cap, 
 and the safety valve. In the tube itself, one or two small gauge taps 
 should be fitted as a means of ascertaining at what height the water 
 stands. Fig. 74 represents the complete toy, and A, C, and D the several 
 parts to be made and fitted on the top of the boiler. The steam block 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 165 
 
 is represented here as forming the base of the pillar which is used to 
 carry the axle of the fly wheel. This will be found a convenient plan, 
 but, if preferred, the two can be separate, the axle being supported on 
 two standards instead of one, and in this case they can be filed out of 
 «heet brass instead of being of the form of pillars. 
 
 We must now consider the steam block and its purpose, as upon the 
 arrangement of this part depends the working of the engine. It consists 
 
 Fig. 75,— Arrangement of Steam Block and Cylinder. 
 
 of a block of brass (which, as stated, may or may not form the base 
 of a pillar) drilled to communicate with the interior of the boiler and 
 with another hole at right angles leading into the first and terminating 
 on the flat side of the block, against which the lower part of the cylinder 
 is pivoted and oscillates. In this latter a hole is drilled leading into the 
 bottom of the cylinder, which hole in one position of the cylinder tallies 
 with that in the block, so that while the two coincide steam will pass 
 
166 
 
 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 into the cylinder below the piston. When, however, the crank causes the- 
 cylinder to oscillate, it soon assumes such a position as to shut off the 
 entrance of steam, and this will continue until the fly wheel, by ita 
 momentum, has restored the steam ports to their first position. But in 
 the meantime some exit has to be found for the steam as soon as it has 
 done its work and raised the piston. In a small model, where joints are 
 all rather slack, it generally suffices to bore a small hole near the top ofi 
 the cylinder, so that as soon as the piston gets above it the steam can 
 escape. 
 
 A better, and equally easy plan, is to file a notch or slot in the face of 
 the steam block, which may communicate with the steam port in the 
 cylinder, as soon as the latter is clear of the steam port in the block. 
 Pig. 75, p. 165, represents this, showing the lower part of the cylinder and 
 block, the latter shaded with diagonal lines ; a is the steam port in the 
 block, h the notch for escape of steam, not yet reached by the port in the 
 cylinder, but which will communicate with the latter, and so remain when 
 it oscillates to the left after the crank has passed the centre ; c is the 
 pin on which the cylinder is pivoted. Just below the block by itself is 
 shown, with c, the hole for the pin ; a, the steam port, widened a little at the 
 top so as to enable it to remain in agreement with that of the cylinder a 
 little longer ; 6, the notch for escape of steam. A side view is given at A. 
 The ports may communicate above the point of oscillation, or below it, 
 as most convenient ; their position in either case is marked by describing 
 two arcs of a circle with one point of the dividers in the pin hole, as 
 dotted in the drawing of the steam block. The cylinders of these small 
 engines are made in two parts (Fig. 75), a bit of tube, d, being screwed 
 into a casting, which forms the lower part, and requires to be more solid 
 to allow of the face being filed flat, as seen at /. A little cap, g, screwed 
 or soldered on, forms the top of the cylinder, and is drilled for the passage 
 of the piston rod. The crank axle is in this case a bit of bent wire, and 
 it is to be remembered that the crank must be as long as half the stroke 
 is — if the cylinder is lin. long, and the piston can travel three-quarters 
 of that distance, which is called its stroke, the crank must be fin. long 
 at most. The pin on which the cylinder oscillates is screwed on to the 
 flat side of it, or driven in tightly, and passes freely through the steam 
 block. A small nut secures it, but generally it is as well to have a little 
 coiled spring of thin brass wire under the nut to keep the faces of the 
 cylinder and block in close contact. Here is the only difficulty in con- 
 structing such a toy. The two faces must meet, steam-tight, and yet be 
 free to slide on each other smoothly and easily with very little friction. 
 If the faces are not quite flat, or the centre pin not exactly at right 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 167 
 
 angles to both, the engine cannot possibly work as it ought to do. The 
 faces should be filed down carefully and finished by careful grinding, 
 by rubbing with oil on a bit of oilstone, or on a slab of smooth iron 
 with finest emery or oilstone powder, or with water on a slate. It is not 
 difficult to drill truly for the central pin, and this too can be bent a little 
 to adjust it after it is fixed in its place. 
 
 To make the cylinder very neatly and in the best manner, the thicker 
 part, which is at the bottom, should be chucked and bored on the 
 lathe, and an inside thread cut to receive the male screw on the other 
 part of the cylinder. But if the toymaker is not quite up to the 
 somewhat difficult art of tracing screws with a hand tool, he must fit 
 the two parts as nicely as he can and solder them together, and this 
 can be done so neatly as not to show where the joint is. All that 
 is required is to tin both parts, place one inside the other, and heat 
 on a stove till the solder melts, as already described in speaking of 
 boiler making. Even a tightish fit without any solder will do well 
 enough, as it will also for the top cap, because the pressure of steam 
 in so small a toy is a mere nothing. It is not absolutely necessary to 
 construct such a cylinder in two or three parts — a bit of tubing thick 
 enough to allow a flat to be filed for the parts will answer just as well ; 
 but where made in numbers for sale, it is more economical to make them 
 in the manner described. 
 
 It is also a very easy matter to get bits of tube quite smooth inside, 
 and thus to avoid the operation of boring in the lathe. If the toy maker 
 is a good hand at turning, he will find very little difficulty in hunting 
 up a short bit of brass that will make either the lower part of a small 
 cylinder or the whole of it, just as he can also easily make a small 
 tube by drilling a stout brass wire, and then reducing it on the outside. 
 A workshop is sure to contain a store of odds and ends, which can be 
 thus used, although it is far better to go at once to Lee*s, Bateman's, 
 or some other repository, and buy what is wanted. Even if some of 
 our toy making readers reside in Devon or Cornwall, it is a matter of 
 little more difficulty to have a parcel sent from London than to walk into 
 the shop and carry off its treasure in their own pockets, and it is rare to 
 meet with shops of the kind out of London. 
 
 The boiler described has as yet no special fittings, but these should be 
 added, as the same boiler can be arranged to drive a better kind of 
 engine when desired. It is, indeed, an excellent plan to make it alto- 
 gether a separate affair, and lead a steam pipe from it to any engine 
 which it is desired to try ; or, if it is of tolerable size, it will drive two 
 or more engines at the same time. You can get steam pipe of small 
 
168 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 size, and connecting joints (unions) at model makers* shops, as well as 
 small taps, which are difficult and tedious articles to make nicely. Every 
 boiler will be found to be the better for what is called a steam dome, 
 i.e., a reservoir upon the highest part of the boiler, into which its steam 
 can ascend, and whence it can be conducted by the steam pipe. Where 
 this is not done the spray from the ebullition of the water is apt to get 
 into the pipe ani cylinder, making a great mess and impairing very 
 considerably its efficiency. This is technically called "priming," and 
 even in railway engines is apt to occur if there is not ample steam 
 room. 
 
 It may be stated here that most models make a mess when in action, 
 not because they prime, which is more than probable, but because the 
 steam, when first it is turned on into the cold cylinder and steamways, 
 condenses into water, and this goes on till all parts of the engine have 
 become sufficiently hot to prevent it. This occurs in large engines, and 
 our readers have probably noticed that on starting from a station the 
 engine driver opens two cocks in the cylinders, which, at every stroke of 
 the piston, send out a jet of water and steam with great noise. As soon 
 as water no longer issues, but only steam, the engine driver knows that 
 his cylinders are hot enough to prevent condensation, and he then closes 
 these cocks and sends the exhausted steam into the funnel, where it 
 increases the fire draught. All this can be imitated in a model, but still 
 there will be some mess, because the steam and water must needs blow 
 out upon the table or floor. 
 
 Although the youthful engineer may not be altogether averse to these 
 watery displays, an engine should have plenty of steam room, and 
 therefore will be all the better for a dome, and it must also have 
 gauge cocks, by which the height of water can be readily ascertained. 
 The dome may be such literally, with a hemispherical top, or it may be 
 a short tubular structure, with a flat top, and in either case it may be 
 made use of as the site of the safety valve as well as the origin of the 
 steam pipe. The readiest way is to make it of tubing, and to use a flat 
 casting of brass for the top. This is all the more easily done, because 
 we can get a bit of Sin. tube for the boiler with two cast ends, and on 
 this mount on the cylindrical part a short bit of 2in. tube, l^in. high, 
 out of which to form the steam chest or dome. Well shaped domes 
 can be had ready made of any size, and either of copper or of brass. 
 Copper is the best metal to use for boilers, but it is expensive, and ought 
 always to be brazed or riveted. No metal, perhaps, equals it in beauty 
 when it is well polished, and it will not only stand a high pressure, but 
 if it should burst will not fly into pieces, but tear asunder. It is very 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 169 
 
 malleable, and can be readily domed up under the hammer, but it is not 
 often used by amateurs owing to the facility offered by stout drawn 
 tubing of brass, which, of course, needs no seam at all. 
 
 To mount a steam dome with flat top, the dome formed of tubing, the 
 lower part must be filed out to fit accurately the cylindrical part of the 
 boiler. This needs a good deal of care, but must on no account be 
 slurred over. The fit must be so accurate that the least possible quan- 
 tity of solder will secure the parts together. If this cannot be managed 
 it will be far better not to add a dome, as it will be an element of danger. 
 In any case in which such a dome is affixed by solder only let it be done 
 by tinning the parts which are to be placed in contact, and then heat- 
 ing them sufficiently to melt the solder and sweat them together. The 
 dome of copper or of brass made specially is spread out below to form a 
 flange, which, whether riveted, brazed, or soldered, will be far more 
 secure than the tubular shaped one merely filed out to fit, because in this 
 case it is secured by its edge alone. 
 
 A catalogue such as that of Bateman or Lee will show how rarely a 
 steam dome is used, except in locomotives and marine engines ; but 
 when it is omitted it will be seen that the steam pipe is first carried 
 directly upwards for some distance before it is brought down to the 
 cylinder of the engine. It is equivalent to a small dome, and prevents 
 priming to a great extent. The method answers perfectly for the 
 small models to which it is applied, and as already stated is far safer 
 and better than a dome which may not be perfectly fitted and securely 
 fixed. As I have known cases of forgetfulness which impaired the 
 efficiency of a model to an extent easily understood, let me warn the 
 toymaker who adds a dome to his boiler that he must not forget that 
 highly necessary work of making a connection between dome and boiler 
 by one or more holes, and the latter plan is better than a large single 
 hole, as it is less likely to allow the water to enter the dome, which 
 is meant specially to contain steam, and steam only. 
 
 In Fig. 76, p. 170, a flat-topped steam dome filed out and fitted is 
 represented as carrying a lever safety-valve. This essential of a steam 
 boiler, if safe working is to be guaranteed, consists of a short hollow 
 plug screwed or soldered into the top of the boiler and turned truly in 
 the hollowed part to a conical form, to carry a valve or plug by which 
 it is closed steam tight. This plug is so placed as to be held down in 
 its seat by a lever carrying an adjustable weight, by which the pressure 
 upon it can be accurately regulated. The valve and its seat must be 
 turned to a blunt cone, because otherwise it is sure to stick fast, and 
 this may cause a dangerous explosion. I will presently show one or 
 
170 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 two different forms, because they can be made quite flat instead of 
 bevelled so as merely to lie upon the edge of the valve seat, but this 
 will need very accurate work to render it steam tight, and a blunt cone 
 or even a valve of spherical or hemispherical form will not stick fast if 
 it is kept clear. This keeping clear is, indeed, most essential to the 
 working of all models. No parts, moreover, of smaU engines which are 
 to have motion must fit tightly, friction being here a terrible enemy. 
 Pistons must be lightly packed or left without any packing, which is 
 the more usual plan; and all joints, such as that of connecting rods and 
 cranks, to say nothing of brasses and bearings, must be allowed some 
 amount of free play. The more so the smaUer the model. Hence the 
 
 Fig. 76.— Flat Topped Steam Dome, with Lever Safety Valve. 
 
 toymaker must not be too nice about steam leakage, but be satisfied if 
 the flywheel spins merely, or the locomotive " makes tracks " with 
 tolerable rapidity. The lever of the safety valve may be hinged on a 
 projecting stud on the plug joining the valve seat, or upon a separate 
 one behind it; but the former method is the better of the two, as it 
 saves the extra hole by which to fix such plug into the boiler, and each 
 hole is an element of weakness. The flat bar for the lever can be made 
 out of ary suitable bit of steel, its length regulating the pressure when 
 the weight is hung upon it. The nearer the weight is to the end of the 
 lever, further from the hinge or fulcrum, the greater is the pressure on 
 the valve. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 171 
 
 In small models the area of the valve will probably be from i to f of 
 an inch, from which it is easy to reckon in the usual way the actual 
 pressure per inch, this being the ordinary mode of calculation : One^ 
 ounce in a valve i of an inch in area will of course be equivalent to 
 4oz., or ilb. on one inch of surface of the boiler, and this again will 
 be multiplied by the distance of the weight from the fulcrum. Practi- 
 cally, it is not very easy to burst a small boiler, if heated by a spirit 
 lamp and well put together. The locomotive boilers are some of them 
 stated in Lee's catalogue to stand safely 731b. pressure on the square 
 inch, and his welted iron boilers 401b. These are for engines of some 
 power, but the small locomotives, such as the little 10s. 6d. one, which 
 is a marvel of cheapness, does not require that tight fitting of its parts 
 that needs high pressure to overcome the friction caused thereby, and, 
 
 D 
 
 Fig. 77.— Sectiokal Drawing op Safety Valve. 
 
 instead of bursting the boiler, the steam would find its way out at various 
 places before attaining a dangerous elasticity. 
 
 A safety valve may be made with or without a spindle to guide it in 
 its ascent. In a small model such spindle would be omitted. It has 
 a certain advantage, however, irrespective of acting as a guide, inasmuch 
 as it prevents the valve from falling off and getting lost. In the illus- 
 trations. Fig. 77 (A) is a sectional drawing of a safety valve. Fig. 
 76 showing the perspective view of it with the plug and lever. A 
 bit of brass is turned to a neat cup form (6), and the bottom^ which 
 
172 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 is flat, is then drilled with a few holes for the escape of steam, 
 and with a central hole for the spindle. The valve (D) is turned 
 conical, to fit the inside of the cup, and this has a saw cut, a h, made 
 straight across it, in which the lever is to lie, and in which one of 
 its ends is pivoted. The lower part of the cup is tenoned and cut 
 with a thread (C) to screw into the boiler, or it may be soldered instead. 
 If screwed it should have a lead washer to insure its being steam tight. 
 E shows this cupped part looking into it from above. 
 
 Fig. 76 shows another neat form. Here the brass is turned flat on 
 the top with a milled edge, and a conical valve seat is made. The lever 
 
 edge of its seat; a disc of vulcanised rubber may be cut out and 
 attached under this valve, as in those of similar form, so much used in 
 water cisterns. 
 
 In all cases where spindles are used they should be of copper or brass 
 wire, preferably copper wire, which will not rust. Copper wire can be 
 made straight as a needle by putting one end in the vice, and then 
 pulling till it is felt to stretch slightly. This will take out every sign 
 of coil or irregularity. A needle will do, however, or steel wire if the 
 valve is lifted out and the spindle wiped after and before use, but it 
 may give trouble, and it is easy to get copper wire or brass. It may 
 be as well to state, in order to facilitate a knowledge of the pressure 
 actually tending to burst a boiler, that in the case of a lever safety valve 
 the pressure equals the weight suspended multiplied by its distance 
 from the fulcrum. If Fig. 76 represents such a lever with weight of 
 21b., C, the fulcrum, and A, the position of the valve, the distance of 
 the latter from the fulcrum originating the scale of distances on the 
 lever, the pressure will be 21b. with the weight at 41b. at B, 61b. at C, 
 and 81b. at D. If the valve is of an inch area, these numbers would 
 represent the pressure in pounds per inch. If, as suggested, the valve 
 is iin. area, these pressures, multiplied by four, will give the pressure 
 per inch. It is not very likely in practice that a 21b. or lib. weight 
 would be used on so small a boiler. 
 
 Fig. 78,— Form op Safety Valve. 
 
 is pivoted in a short turned 
 pillar screwed into the flat top 
 of the piece. Fig. 78 is another 
 pattern. In this case the brass 
 is turned out like a small box, 
 with a sharp edge, which must 
 be very true. The valve is 
 a flat disc, with a spindle to 
 guide it, and it lies flat on the 
 
TOYS WOEKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 173 
 
 It is more likely to be an ounce, or even much less, and the pressure 
 can only then be made great by increasing the length of lever and 
 diminishing the distance of the fulcrum from the valve. By using a 
 spring instead of a weight much greater pressure can be brought to bear, 
 as a very small coiled spring may be made of steel wire sufficiently 
 stout to be very stiff. Safety (spring or lever) valves are advertised 
 complete in the catalogues from Is. each, the lever pattern being rather 
 more expensive than the other. 
 
 The next bit of fitting to be considered is the gauge, Fig. 79, which 
 may be made with glass tube, fitted into a brass socket at each end, or 
 may consist of two or three separate small cocks, placed one above the 
 other. The latter are the most used as being simpler, and the glass 
 
 gauges should certainly be bought ready made as well as the cocks, and 
 then they can be fitted at home. The upper end of the glass communi- 
 cates with the steam, the lower with the water space, and thus forming 
 part of the boiler,^ enables the height of the water to be always clearly 
 seen just as if the boiler itself were transparent. Of the gauge cocks 
 the lower one should always give water, the upper one steam, and if 
 this does not happen it shows that there is too much or too little water 
 in the boiler. A third tap is sometimes placed intermediate between 
 the top and bottom ones, as a still further guide to the engineer in 
 ascertaining the condition of the inside of the boiler. These gauge cocks 
 are made to screw into tapped holes, or made with a nut, and washer 
 
174 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMA.TEURS. 
 
 of lead or copper. If made in the latter way they must be secured 
 before the ends of the boiler are soldered in. In placing them allow 
 one-third the space in the boiler to the steam, and place the lowest tap 
 at iin. diameter from the bottom, and when this gives steam instead of 
 water, fill up at once till water just begins to run from the upper tap 
 placed at Jin. from the top of the boiler. You will thus save the 
 destruction of the boUer, which so often results from allowing all the 
 water to boil away. 
 
 The manhole, which is used as the water filler, consists of a ring of 
 brass (Fig. 80) with screw cut inside for a screw plug, or outside for a 
 
 may be fitted, and a second valve, such as we see on railway engines. 
 Lee and Bateman supply all these, finished to perfection or in the 
 rough ; and when the parts of entire engines are sent out directions 
 (and, I believe, drawings) are included, to assist the amateur. 
 
 The steam pipe is better fitted up by screwing or soldering on the 
 steam dome or top of the boiler ; a short tube and screwed socket, 
 called a union, by which the additional length of tubing leading to the 
 engine can be connected at pleasure. This renders the boiler independent 
 of any particular engine. Steam tube of brass, from Jin. bore, is sold 
 in lengths of 1ft., and can be cut as required, and bent in any direction. 
 This bending requires great care, as any sudden sharp bend must be 
 carefully avoided. Tubes large enough may be filled with sand, powdered 
 rosin, or (if brazed) melted lead, or fusible metal, and then bent, after 
 which the substance used is poured out. But the very small tube must 
 be manipulated carefully by hand and gentle taps of a small mallet while 
 laid on a convex surface. If the curve required is gradual, a bit of wire 
 may be threaded through the tube while it is straight, and subsequently 
 withdrawn ; but gentle manipulation will generally suffice with tubes of 
 
 Fig, 80.— The Manhole. 
 
 screwed cap, and can be made 
 to solder or screw into the 
 top of the boiler. The casting 
 can be obtained, or any suit- 
 able bit of tube or solid rod 
 may be pressed into service 
 and turned to fit. These are 
 the usual boiler fittings, and 
 are quite sufficient for good 
 class toys; but for more 
 perfect models, in which exact 
 imitation of reality is aimed 
 at, circular pressure gauges 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 175 
 
 SO small size, the great thing to avoid being flattening of any part of 
 the tube, for if this happens it will bend sharply, and thus become 
 reduced in size or absolutely stopped up — a serious matter when intended 
 as a steam pipe. 
 
 "We may elaborate engines and boilers to any extent, but the more 
 perfect ones, with every detail of large engines reproduced in miniature, 
 are not contemplated in this series, it being devoted to toys and not 
 to models, which are valued at perhaps ^10 to <£50, and are made 
 at considerably higher prices even than these. The only addition, there- 
 fore, to a boiler that need be alluded to is that of a single central flue 
 or tube, which, by conducting the heat right through the middle of 
 the boiler renders the generation of steam more rapid. Fig. 81 (p. 176) 
 represents such a boiler, an upright one, cut away to show the external 
 tube. A and B are the two cast flanges forming the end of the actual 
 boiler. This may stand on legs, or may be advantageously made as a 
 cylindrical tube, with air holes punched round near the bottom to admit 
 air in sufficient quantity to supply the lamp, the frame of which passes up 
 the central tube, and may be of good size. This tube is better made 
 conical, but if such cannot be purchased, a straight bit of brass tube 
 will do well enough soldered into the top and bottom plates. But 
 these must be carefully bored in the lathe to fit very accurately the 
 tube — a good tight fit, and, indeed, if capable of such a job, the toy- 
 maker may chase a thread and screw the two together, simply using 
 a little red or white lead to make the joint steam and water tight 
 if necessary. The best sort of tube, however, is cast with a flange, 
 like that shown, to enable it to be riveted down on the bottom plate 
 when in close approximation to the flame of the lamp. 
 
 Another very good plan to avoid solder is to use a tube, T>, cut with a 
 screw thread at each end. The tube is passed quite through the boiler 
 ends, and a washer of copper being slipped on, a hollow nut, E, is 
 screwed up outside. Such a tube acts as a brace or stay to a boiler, 
 holding its ends together. Now it may be stated that this is not the 
 way the tubes are fitted in locomotive boilers ; but the real plan of 
 action there adopted would be less easy to manage successfully in a 
 model. The method is as follows : I is a section of the thick plate 
 forming the end of the boiler ; F and G are sections of tubes. These 
 being fitted, they are secured by driving in short conical ferules, as 
 shown at K in section, and also in the drawing of the plate I and 
 tubes. The tubes of copper are thus very securely fixed, and very 
 quickly too, and the result is a neat and durable job, steam and 
 water tight to any pressure likely to be brought to bear upon them. In 
 
176 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 our model boiler the funnel or visible chimney is to be fitted over the 
 slightly projecting end of the fire tube C in the central figure. A boiler 
 arranged thus will make steam far more rapidly than it will without this 
 
 Fig. 81.— Upright Boiler with Single Central Flue. 
 
 inside tube. A number of tubes would be of little use over a lamp, but 
 are of great value when the furnace consists of a fire box arranged to 
 burn charcoal, as is usual in the case of large model engines. 
 
 In any riveting use copper rivets. They can be bought of various 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEA.M. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 177 
 
 sizes and lengths, and copper is so malleable that it is easy to hammer it 
 down into a good head. A riveted copper boiler well put together is 
 of very smart and beautiful appearance, but to get seams tight is not 
 at all easy. Hence, for toys, the ready-made brass tubing is far 
 preferable, and nearly always used in the trade. 
 
 It will now be as well to speak of another kind of engine, the boiler 
 being an independent matter. We have as yet only considered the 
 single-acting cylinder, in which steam acts under, but not above, the 
 piston, and the down-stroke is accomplished solely by the momentum of 
 the flywheel. In double -action engines steam is admitted alternately to 
 either side of the piston, which is thereby forced up and down. The 
 momentum of the flywheel renders the movement more steady, and in 
 addition carries the crank over its dead points and serves often as a 
 driving wheel, having a strap, or being made with a cogged rim to drive 
 the machinery to which it is attached. Steam is admitted to the piston 
 just above, and then below, by one or two different arrangements to be 
 presently described, but it has also to be alternately withdrawn or per- 
 mitted to escape from one side after its work is done, while fresh steam 
 from the boiler is being admitted to the other. This used to be done by 
 a system of valves and levers, worked by a boy, who had to be very 
 attentive, or the piston would have been blown right out of the 
 cylinder, or other damage would have ensued. Then the engine was 
 made to perform this work by tappets attached to the steam and exhaust 
 valves, worked by an upright rod armed with pins and rods, which 
 came into contact with the tappets or valve levers as the massive 
 beam above oscillated like a gigantic scale beam upon its central 
 pivot. These old heavy and clumsy engines are now quite out of date, 
 and the slide valve has driven out the older and more complicated 
 arrangements. 
 
 There is, however, another method which is much used for marine 
 engines for model steamboats — an outcome of the very simple valve already 
 described. The plan is so simple and acts so well that the toy maker 
 will hardly find a better, nor is it difficult to rig up. A (Fig. 82, p. 178) 
 is the face of a steam cylinder, with B C, a projecting piece on one side 
 standing not quite so high as the central circular boss. These are 
 drilled or cast hollow, and form steam ways, shown in the section, one 
 leading to the top, the other to the bottom of the cylinder, into which 
 they open. These steam ways do not meet, but are quite independent of 
 each other, and each has its own opening, D and E, in the flat face of 
 the central boss. Suppose the piston at the bottom of the cylinder, as 
 shown in the section, it is evident that we must admit steam by the 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 lower port in order to raise it, and at the same time the air or steam 
 above it must be allowed free escape by the upper port, so that it may 
 not become compressed as the piston rises, and thus interfere with its 
 ascent. 
 
 This is beautifully accomplished by the steam block F, which is 
 screwed down to the base plate of the engine. The block is solid, and 
 accurately faced on the port side. G H are two semicircular or curved 
 channels, the curve being struck from the centre, I, which carries the pin 
 on which the cylinder oscillates. G we may call the steam port and H 
 
 Fig, 82.— Arrangement of Double Action Cylinder Engines for Steamboat. 
 
 the exhaust port. A hole is bored from the back, or top, or bottom, as 
 the case may be, into the curved steam port, and another into the 
 exhaust port. Into the first the end of the steam pipe from the boiler 
 passes, and the other is left open to the air, or a little jet pipe can be 
 fitted into it. If we now pivot the cylinder to the pin I, so that the flat 
 circular face of the boss is close to the block, it will be seen that when 
 the cylinder is quite upright the little holes communicating with its 
 interior will both be between the curved slots in the box, so that no 
 communication is made between the ports in the block F and those of the 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 179 
 
 cylinder. In such case the engine stands still. But if we now push the 
 cylinder into a slanting position — the upper end leaning to the left — ^the 
 upper port will be brought opposite the upper end of G in the block, and 
 steam will enter and continue entering as long as the cylinder moves 
 downward. But this brings the lower port of the cylinder opposite the 
 curved steam port H, and, therefore, the lower side of the piston is in 
 free communication with the air, as long as the upper side is being acted 
 on by the steam. But presently the crank passes over its dead point 
 and the cylinder begins to incline in the opposite direction. Its lower 
 port, therefore, now comes opposite the steam port of the block, and its 
 upper port now communicates with the exhaust or escape port. The 
 piston, therefore, is now driven upwards. Thus by the oscillation of the 
 cylinder the ports are alternately opened and closed without the inter- 
 vention of tappets or slide valve or any similar complication. This is, 
 therefore, the simplest of all double action engines, and will answer for 
 those called small power engines to drive lathes as well as for mere toy 
 models. 
 
 Let us now consider the practical difficulties or otherwise of making an 
 engine of this class. We may thus divide the work : Boring the cylinder ; 
 drilling the steam ways and ports : fitting the covers ; and, facing the 
 boss and the steam block, and so arranging them that they will work 
 truly in contact without loss of steam during the oscillation of the 
 cylinder. There is more than one way in which a cylinder may be bored, 
 and the plan selected will depend on the appliances available for that 
 purpose, of which appliances a lathe is almost essential, although it is not 
 absolutely so, for cylinders have been bored without it. Nevertheless, 
 it appears absurd for anyone to commence model making without at 
 least a small lathe fitted with slide rest, and a few of the more ordinary 
 chucks. 
 
 In the first place, look at the casting, and see which end of it seems 
 the best and flattest. Remove with a file any excrescence above the 
 general level, and render the entire end tolerably level, just sufficiently 
 so to enable it to bed down well on a face plate or other chuck. Clamp 
 it down on that end to the face plate if you have one suitable, or hold it 
 in an American three jaw chuck, or drive it into a boxwood one, taking 
 oare in either case to bed the face alluded to well and truly on the face of 
 the chuck, or, if you prefer it, and the bore is already a fairly smooth 
 one, you can mount the cylinder on a short projecting arbor or stud 
 turned on the boxwood chuck and made to fit tightly inside the cylinder ; 
 but turn the face of the chuck true and level at the base of such stud 
 -and drive the cylinder on till it beds fairly on the face so turned. You 
 
180 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 can also bring up the point of the back poppit, which will often fit and 
 allow a cylinder to run truly upon it, and if so, this will vastly steady 
 it. If mounted thus, you can now face up one of the ends and also the 
 edge of both flanges. If mounted as just proposed, you can only get at 
 one end to face it, which is practically what is required, because, in order 
 to bore the cylinder, it must be mounted on one accurately faced end. 
 Having turned, therefore, at least one end, you may take the cylinder 
 out of the lathe, as you have an accurate surface to start with to 
 commence boring. You have also not only one end turned, but one 
 flange turned on the edge squarely and accurately, by which you can 
 now remount the cylinder in a fresh chuck. 
 
 The American jaw chuck immensely facilitates engine making, because 
 it will grip work centrally in a moment and hold it firmly, so that you 
 may turn one flange and bore the cylinder at one operation. Then mount 
 it on a mandril and face and finish the other flange. But suppose you 
 have no such grip chuck, you need not be in any serious difficulty. After 
 one end and flange are turned, make a boxwood chuck, hollow accurately 
 to about iin. or fin. deep, taking great care to level truly the bottom of 
 the recess. Turn this to take the flange you have turned tightly and 
 drive it in, not with hard blows, but with slow, steady, moderate taps 
 with a hammer, until it is bedded down fairly on the bottom of the recess. 
 This will hold it quite securely enough for boring it with a light cut. 
 Supposing you have got thus far, you have but to fix an inside tool in 
 the rest and take two cuts through to finish the bore nicely, unless the 
 casting is full of hollow places, when three or four successive cuts will be 
 needed to get a good surface. See that your rest is set for parallel work 
 first of all, or you will bore the cylinder with a conical instead of a 
 cylindrical interior. 
 
 I have pre-supposed the cylinder to be large enough to enable a slide-rest 
 tool to enter it freely, but this will not be the case if it is not over iin. 
 bore in the rough casting. For such you must go to work in an altogether 
 different manner, which, indeed, you may adopt with larger ones if pre- 
 ferred. Instead of using a slide-rest and fixed tool, a slight recess is 
 turned just to start the cut truly, and a rose bit, or D bit, or half-round 
 bit, as it is often called, is made to enter the turned recess, and, being 
 centred on the back poppit point at its other end, is gradually advanced 
 into the cut, being prevented from itself rotating by having a spanner or 
 hand vice clamped upon its shank, which spanner will be on the top of 
 the rest during the operation. 
 
 Some of the very small cylinders of iin. bore are cast solid and 
 drilled out, and the twist drills should do this truly. Sometimes, 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 181 
 
 liowever, they are too keen in the edge for brass, but any drill will do the 
 work with proper care. First mark and punch the centre at each end, 
 and bore thence with a drill running in the lathe (for solid cylinders), but 
 use a drill of teui, if you want a ^in. hole. Then run a ^in. bit or a 
 reamer through, and true up the hole to size from one end only. In this 
 case it is better to bore first and then turn up the flanges, having driven 
 the cylinder for that purpose on a wooden mandril, so as not to injure the 
 bore. Boring the cylinder of a small engine is not by any means the main 
 difficulty to be overcome. To a turner it is a very simple operation, and 
 with a grip chuck, slide rest, and inside tool, cylinders might be bored 
 by any amateur with the utmost ease and rapidity. A well made rose 
 bit, or D bit, will do the work quite as easily, so that a slide rest for 
 cylinders up to fin., or even lin. bore, is not a sine qudj non, A 
 tolerably long experience, however, has taught me that it is not a good 
 plan to work with inefficient tools or with an insufficient supply of 
 apparatus. It is simply waste of time to do so, besides the risk incurred 
 of spoiling good material ; and although once in a way a lathe without 
 a slide rest may do very well, it is far better, if possible, to add that 
 useful appendage. 
 
 The cylinder covers are cast as circular discs, the lower one having 
 merely to be turned with a flange to enter a little distance into the 
 cylinder, and it is then faced up with a circular moulding or two, and 
 drilled with from four to six holes for the screws by which it is attached. 
 The upper cover is differently made. It is shown in Fig. 82, in section 
 at M, and again below G, fitted complete with its gland or stuffing box. 
 The part below the line L is in a single casting ; that above it is the 
 gland shown in section at K. The lower part is mounted by the flange, 
 while the upper part is neatly faced and moulded (or left plain). Then, 
 while still in the lathe, the central hole is drilled for the piston and 
 partly enlarged to receive the gland, this enlargement being somewhat 
 cup shaped at the bottom, but perpendicular in the sides. The whole 
 cover may be turned at the same time as far as it can be got at. The 
 work is now taken out of the chuck and reversed ; and the chuck 
 being turned out very accurately to receive it ; the greatest care must 
 be taken to bed down well the turned surface (a). The flange below 
 is now turned and faced just to enter the cylinder as a good fit. It is 
 perhaps safer to begin with this under side and flange, but there is this 
 advantage in working in the other way, that after the smaller cavity in 
 the chuck which received the flange has been used for the purpose, a 
 touch or two of an inside tool will enlarge it to take the diameter of a, 
 whereas, if we work the other way, we must turn down the entire face 
 
182 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS, 
 
 of the chuck before making a small cavity to hold the cylinder cover by 
 its flange. 
 
 In all cases like this, in which both sides of an object have to be 
 faced up, it is absolutely necessary to turn the bottom of the cavity 
 in the chuck very true, and then to bed down upon it the face of the 
 work which has been turned. If this is done, it is not generally of great 
 consequence which side is first turned, but the matter should be 
 nevertheless considered before commencing the work. Even in econo- 
 mising chucks a little forethought is of advantage, but this consideration 
 is a secondary one compared with that of so arranging matters as 
 to insure accuracy in the finished work. In the present case, if the two 
 sides of the cover are not parallel planes, the central hole will not be at 
 right angles to them both, and when the piston rod is in its place it will 
 point to one side, and not take up a position in the axis of the cylinder. 
 This will vastly increase friction and probably prevent the piston from 
 moving at all, because it will jamb it against the side of the cylinder. 
 The gland K may be held by its smaller end in a boxwood chuck while 
 the top is being faced and the hole drilled for the piston rod ; then the 
 chuck cavity may be enlarged, the gland remounted with the other side 
 outwards, and the lower part turned to fit easily, but nicely, the hollow 
 turned to receive it. It is generally cupped a little at the bottom. 
 
 This gland serves to compress against and around the piston rod 
 a little packing —greased tow — which is wound round it after it is in 
 place. The gland, being slipped on over the rod, presses down this 
 packing into the cup-shaped cavity of the cylinder cover, and compresses 
 it so closely about the piston rod as to prevent even the slightest escape 
 of steam. There are two modes of forcing down the gland. In the 
 illustrations given two small steel rods are screwed into the cylinder 
 cover and passed through holes in the gland. A pair of small nuts will 
 hold all securely together and provide the requisite downward pressure. 
 Instead of this, the outside of the gland and the inside of the cavity in 
 which it fits are frequently cut with a screw thread, which is a very neat 
 plan, and answers well if correctly done. But in a small engine this 
 thread (inside) cannot be traced in a lathe, the hole not being sufficiently 
 large to admit the chasing tool. This necessitates using a screw tap, 
 and as it is not a thoroughfare hole which has to be threaded, it will 
 need two taps at least to cut the screw, and they must be very fine in 
 thread, finer than is usual for a tap of the diameter here required. 
 Hence it will be found a far easier job to attach the gland to the cylinder 
 cover by the method which is here described. The covers are 
 attached to the cylinders by screws or small bolts and nuts, and screws 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 183 
 
 and taps to suit them fitted in neat handles, or the little bolts and nuts 
 beautifully finished can be bought ready for use. 
 
 The next process will be the facing of the boss on the steam cylinder 
 — an important operation, upon the accuracy of which the working of the 
 engine will mainly depend. This face must form a plane at right angles 
 to that of the cylinder ends. If it is not thus placed a failure will be the 
 result. With proper care, however, correctness may be easily insured. 
 In the first place, turn the two flanges of the cylinder exactly the 
 same size. Upon these the cylinder will rest in the chuck now to be 
 prepared. Hollow out a boxwood chuck so that it will hold the cylinder 
 laid flat down on it, and keep it tightly held. It should bed down 
 in the chuck to its diametrical line or axis, and will look like Fig. 83. 
 
 Fig. 83.— Cylinder Bedded Down in Chuck. 
 
 It is apparent from the drawing that it will touch at four points — 
 A, B, C, D, which will suffice to hold it securely. See that the face, 
 E, of the boss lies as true as possible with the face of the chuck, 
 tapping the work in lightly at first till such is the case, and then 
 bedding it down firmly. You can now face up the boss easily by hand 
 with a round end tool, followed by a flat tool, or by help of the slide 
 rest. Try it with a straight edge, that you may make sure you have 
 neither hollowed it nor coned it in the least. It must be dead flat, 
 and as smooth as tool can make it. Drill also at the same time 
 a small central hole for the pivot, and turn the edge of the boss a 
 little way to give it a neat finish — yVin. to ^in. will do, unless it pro- 
 jects further ; anyhow, turn as much as yon can to a square edge, do 
 
184 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 not round it off. Now drill the hole for the pin or pivot on which the 
 cylinder will oscillate. For this purpose first hold a graver against it 
 so that its point will cut a slight conical recess to guide the point of the 
 drill. The latter should be fixed in a handle or held in a small hand vice 
 or in a drill chuck, and its point presented to the work while it is in 
 rotation. This will make a central hole quite square to the surface of 
 the boss, which is essential to the working of the engine. The pin 
 will be screwed into this hole after it has been tapped, or it may be 
 driven in tightly or soldered, but the proper way is to screw it. 
 
 In this description the boss of the cylinder is supposed to be in the 
 centre, equidistant from the two flanges, so that when mounted in a 
 chuck in the way described the face of it can be turned true. But 
 such is not always the case. It often happens, especially with engines 
 not meant for model steamboats, that the boss is at the bottom of 
 the cylinder, like that first described, although not so frequently in 
 double action cylinders as in the simpler form. When this is the 
 case there is a little more diflficulty in turning the face of the 
 boss, because, being further from the centre, it comes against the 
 tool with a greater shock, tending to knock it out of the chuck. 
 With hand tools this is always a difficulty, and even with a slide 
 rest the greatest care is required to advance the tool by very slow 
 degrees as the work proceeds. This, however, can be at once avoided 
 by using an eccentric chuck, if such is at hand. By means of this 
 the centre of the boss can be made coincident with that of the man- 
 dril, so that the boss is brought into the same position as if it 
 were cast centrally upon the cylinder. In nearly aU cases in which 
 double-action cylinders are shown in the catalogues, the boss is central, 
 so that no difficulty will be experienced in obtaining that form of 
 casting. There is also a certain advantage in using cylinders of this 
 pattern — viz., that the cylinder when at work is not top heavy, but 
 nicely balanced, and, therefore, will work more smoothly when in action. 
 The steam block may be filed, planed, or turned up to a true face. 
 
 It is quite a mistake to suppose that only circular objects can be 
 satisfactorily worked in a lathe, and it is often advantageous to turn 
 those of cubical form, as it secures the relative positions of the several 
 planes. A set of dice, such as are used for playing backgammon, 
 can easily be turned and made more quickly in this way, if a proper 
 chuck is used, than by filing. A steam block is generally shaped like 
 Fig. 84, p. 185 (B), which can be mounted in an ordinary boxwood chuck, 
 as shown at C, when the centre of rotation is at A, and the piece 
 is fixed by its corners so as to be easily faced up. But here the centre 
 
TOYS WOKKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 185 
 
 is not that, perhaps, on which it will be convenient to centre 
 the pivot— it is rather low down at D, and therefore the hole for the pivot 
 would have to be drilled afterwards. This need present no difficulty, 
 however, if the drill be mounted in a drill chuck and the steam block 
 brought against it by the cylinder of the back poppit, with,.its boring 
 flange mounted on it as usual. Even with a hand drill there is no real 
 difficulty. 
 
 It will, however, be often advantageous to mount such an object as 
 this in order to bring any point central that we may wish to place in 
 such position, and there are two other ways in which we can mount 
 them in a lathe. First there is turners* cement, used upon a flange or 
 flat chuck. This is a composition of pitch, resin, and brickdust, melted 
 
 Fig. 84.— Steam Block : Ordinary Form and Mounted in Chuck. 
 
 on the face of a wooden chuck, and the bit of brass is laid upon it while 
 both are warm, and centred as may be required. In a few minutes it 
 will be firmly fixed, and capable of bearing the action of the turning tool, 
 if used with care. This is a most useful chuck in model making, as 
 any shaped bit of metal can be thus mounted on the lathe, and any 
 part of it can be brought to the line of centres. The other plan, also 
 of great service, is to use solder to unite the piece of metal to the chuck. 
 Both are to be heated, but the chuck itself need not be sufficiently so to 
 melt the solder, which can be rubbed on its face with the soldering 
 iron until the surface is well tinned. A brass chuck will take the tin 
 better than one of cast iron, but either will do. Then the bit of metal, 
 filed to a clean surface, is to be similarly tinned and heated till the 
 
186 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 tinning is in a melting condition upon it. It is then to be placed in 
 position on the chuck, and in a few seconds it will be perfectly secure. 
 In this way the steam block can be mounted and faced, drilled, and 
 two concentric circles marked upon it with a point tool or graver to 
 denote the position of the steam ways which have to be cut into it. 
 These steam ways are drilled out and finished by means of a small 
 chisel. If there is a drilling spindle at hand to fix in the slide rest 
 they can be beautifully done before removing the piece from the lathe, 
 the drill being driven from overhead, and the work caused to oscillate 
 slowly to and fro, by taking hold of the lathe pulley and moving it 
 by hand. 
 
 There is another way of turning the face of the boss on the steam 
 
 Fig. 85,--Plan to Centre Cylinder, showing Surface Tlate and Scriber. 
 
 cylinder when it is placed centrally. In Lee's engine castings the 
 cylinder has a projecting tenon exactly opposite to the boss, the end of 
 which receives the centre screw by which the cylinder is kept close up to 
 the steam block. Mr. Lee has exercised much forethought in planning 
 all parts of his engines, to facilitate turning such as require it, and 
 this tenon gives great assistance, in mounting a cylinder in quite a 
 different manner from that described, and by which as correct practical 
 results maybe obtained. Figs. 85 and 86 represent such cylinder, and in 
 turning it we have to get the line D E (Fig. 86), its horizontal axis at 
 right angles to P G, its vertical axis, and the plane of A B perpendicular 
 to D E. It is evident from the sketch that we may mount the cylinder 
 
TOYS WOEKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 187 
 
 between the centre points of the mandril and back poppit (I and K), and 
 that, using a driver chuck, the pin of the driver will catch against it, and 
 that it will thus become its own carrier, while C, the tenon, is being 
 turned. Reversing it we shall get at the entire face (A B) as well as its 
 edge, and be able to turn up the boss. In order correctly to centre 
 the cylinder thus by its flange and tenon (and if there is no tenon by a 
 centre hole punched in the cylinder at the opposite side of the boss), 
 it ought, after the ends have been turned flat and true, to be placed 
 upon a surface-plate A (Fig. 85), and a scriber brought up to it as at 
 B, to mark a horizontal line on the face of the boss and on that of 
 the tenon at exactly the same height. The plane on which these lines fall 
 will be then parallel to that of the surface-plate and perpendicular to the 
 
 
 
 F 
 
 K 
 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ _ 
 
 B 
 
 
 G 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 G 
 
 E 
 
 Fig, 86.— Plan for Turning Cylinder, 
 
 axial plane of the cylinder. The hollow centres for the lathe points can 
 then be easily found by a pair of compasses, and may be lightly punched 
 and tested by mounting the cylinder upon them in the lathe, and giving 
 it a turn by hand. Of course in using the surface plate and scriber, the 
 cylinder is to be turned end for end on the surface plate until the 
 true centre is found. 
 
 We will now go a step further and show the use of the surface plate 
 more perfectly. We jhave marked a line on the little face of the tenon 
 and on that of the boss, and then by help of the compasses made a 
 central mark upon it for the punch ; but we can do this in another and 
 more accurate way with the scriber, by laying down the cylinder as in 
 Fig. 87, and crossing the first line by a second, turning the cylinder over 
 
188 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 and back till we get the line to bisect the first, then bringing round the 
 scriber to the end of the tenon, we scratch a line upon it without altering 
 the height of the scribing needle, holding also the cylinder, so that it shall 
 not roll over in the least. It is generally laid on V blocks like A, which 
 hold it and prevent it from rolling, or any little blocks may be placed 
 on each side as lies upon its flanges upon the surface plate. 
 
 If model making is to be a hobby, the toy maker should most cer- 
 
 YiG. 87.— Marking Cylinder : Surface Plate, Scribers, and V Block. 
 
 tainly obtain some sort of scribing block and plane table. For the 
 latter a simple expedient is a carefully selected sheet of thick plate glass, 
 which is almost a true plane, the surface plate proper being an 
 expensive article. A scribing block may be cheaply purchased or 
 home made, and all that is needed is some sort of stand with a level 
 base, and a pedestal on which the scribing needle can be adjusted 
 to any height likely to be required. B and C are simple forms, 
 but there are many varieties, some depending on the lathe for their 
 formation, others on the file and planer. Even a wooden block fitted up 
 with an adjustable steel needle about T«in. to ^in. thick, and pointed, 
 
TOYS WORKED BI STEAM. — STATIO^JARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 189 
 
 may be pressed into service if cheapness is an object. In Fig. 87 (D) 
 is shown a scribing block made of a turned boxwood base with a pedestal 
 made of stont brass or iron rod, on which slides a boxwood block 
 to carry the needle, which, like the block, is secured by a clamping 
 screw. This can almost as easily be made of metal, and most amateur 
 workshops will contain some odds and ends suitable for the purpose. 
 The base may, for instance, be made of an old cogwheel faced up 
 nicely, with or without turning off its teeth, or may be a lead casting, 
 or chipped out of thick brass plate and finished in the lathe. An 
 ingenious mechanic is seldom at a loss for materials for a thing of this 
 sort. 
 
 In getting up the steam block by hand, the scriber and surface- 
 plate are essential to accurate work. The block is laid on one side, 
 which has been roughly levelled, and a line scratched a little below the 
 level of the upper surface all round its edge. This surface is then filed 
 true to such line. It is then reversed on the newly finished face, and a 
 line drawn all round as before, marking the true edge of the upper sur- 
 face, and setting it out parallel to the first. Being filed to this line the 
 two opposite faces must evidently be parallel and true, and the edges are 
 then worked by the aid of a square and file, till they prove at right 
 angles to both the above surfaces. The surface -plate and scribing 
 block are, therefore, it will be seen, of immense use in measuring and 
 marking pieces of metal, and are employed for finding centre points 
 of bars and shafts required to be turned, as well as for seeking inequalities 
 in the thickness of plates, and for innumerable other purposes. It can- 
 not be said that it is absolutely essential in centreing the cylinder in 
 the way described, because centre points can be struck lightly with a 
 finely pointed punch, and the work mounted and tried, and, if necessary, 
 readjusted, till true ; but the practical mechanic marks all his work by the 
 scribing block, so as to leave no doubt of its truth and accuracy. 
 
 We may now suppose the respective faces of the cylinder boss and 
 steam block to have been reduced to perfect planes, so that when working 
 together there will be no escape of steam. Means have now to be 
 provided for keeping these in close contact when all parts are put 
 together. In the cylinder illustrated, which has a projecting tenon 
 opposite to the boss, there is a centre already made during the process of 
 turning to receive a centre screw on which the cylinder can oscillate. 
 By means of this the faces of the steam block and boss can be readily 
 adjusted, the block being, of course, permanently attached to the bed 
 plate. In this case there is no need of a central screw in the block, a 
 mere point projecting r&th of an inch or less will amply suffice, a corre- 
 
190 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 spending hollow being made in the face of the cylinder. Fig. 88 is a part 
 section of such a cylinder and its attachments. It is represented as 
 mounted on the top of the boiler C. D is the pedestal carrying the 
 centre screw, A the steam block, and a the short point on that side upon 
 which the cylinder B oscillates. Mounted thus, there will be no necessity 
 for a steam pipe, as the steam way in the block communicates with the 
 
 liiiiiiiiiipi ^iiiiiiiiiiiiiini 
 
 Bin 
 
 IP 
 
 i 
 
 lllllllliiii :iiilllllllBlllB 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 Fig, SS.—Part Section of Oscillating Cylinder and its Attachments. 
 
 boiler direct, and the engine will cease working if the cylinder is held for 
 a moment upright — this position cutting off communication between its 
 interior and that of the boiler. Such mode of mounting an oscillating 
 cylinder is much stronger than that used in the small single-acting 
 engines, which oscillate on one pin only, and it is always used for double 
 action cylinders for steamboats, which work in pairs, one on each side 
 of a central steam block. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — STATIONARY CYLINDER ENGINES. 191 
 
 There is no occasion to enter into details of the fly-wheel and crank- 
 axle, as there is no practical difficulty about these, and much will depend 
 on the design of the engine used. In a marine engine, for instance, with 
 paddles, there is no fly-wheel, and two cylinders are required, so as to 
 produce no dead points, as they are called — that is, the cranks being 
 placed at right angles to each other, and the cylinders being of double 
 action, the axle is being palled round continuously, one crank acting 
 fully when the other is on its dead point or neutral position. In screw 
 steamers a small heavy fly-wheel is often added to the crank axle to give 
 impetus to the screw and assist in overcoming the resistance to its 
 rotation offered by the water. Again, in the case of locomotive engines, 
 the smallest are made with one single-action cylinder, and seldom work 
 well. The others have a pair of single- action ones working a pair of 
 cranks at right angles to each other. Here, of course, the driving 
 wheels are the flywheels, and there is no dead point, so that these small 
 engines should work well. But for anything larger the pair of double- 
 action cylinders, oscillating or slide valve, are far preferable, as with 
 these there is ample power, and the force tending to move the engine is 
 constant. As regards the particular design of engine, much will 
 probably depend upon the castings offered for sale. They may be hori- 
 zontal engines, with bedplate, or vertical to fit on the boiler or table, 
 with cylinder upright or reversed, the horizontal appearing to be the 
 most generally used, but for this the cylinder should be formed with a 
 flat plate below, or with lugs to bed down on the foundation plate. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM-SLIDE VALVE 
 ENGINES. 
 
 These are rather more difficult to make, but are always considered a 
 superior class of engine to those previously described. They are almost 
 universally used where steam power is adopted to drive machinery, as 
 well as for railway locomotives and steamboats, although the engines of 
 the latter are usually direct acting, with oscillating cylinders — i.e., there 
 is no connecting-rod intervening between the piston rod and crank. To 
 accommodate the motion of the latter, therefore, it is plain that the 
 cylinder must be allowed to oscillate upon pivots, or trunnions, as they 
 are called when of large size. Naturally it would occur to the mind of 
 the engineer or model maker to admit steam at the trunnion, either as 
 explained and illustrated here, or in some equally simple and efficacious 
 manner; but in nearly all cases the slide valve proves the better 
 expedient, and is more easily kept in working order. Moreover, it gives 
 power to use steam expansively — i.e., to admit and cut it off before 
 the entire stroke of the piston has been completed, leaving the greater 
 part of the stroke to be accomplished by the expansion of the steam in 
 the cylinder itself. 
 
 Although it might perhaps suffice, as far as mere toymaking is con- 
 cerned, to carry the subject of engine making no further than I have 
 already done, merely describing some others with oscillating cylinders, 
 yet it would be a pity not to describe the slide valve engine and mode of 
 constructing it. The boring of the cylinder and fitting the covers will be 
 precisely similar to what is required in the case of double-action oscillating 
 engines, and the steam ways drilled or cast in the substance of the cylinder 
 wiU also be similar, ending, however, in a rectangular boss instead of a 
 round one. But there will now be in the face of such box a third port, 
 intermediate between the other two, and not directly connected with either 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SLIDE VALVE ENGINES. 
 
 193 
 
 of them, but with an escape hole in one side of the boss. All the three 
 ports will have to be neatly chiselled to an oblong form, as delineated 
 here in Fig. 89, at A. If the steam ways are not cored out in the 
 casting— and they seldom are, except in engines of larger size — they 
 
 Fig. 89.— Cylinder for Slide Valve Engine. 
 
 should be drilled out as large as the substance of the cylinder will 
 allow ; or two should be drilled side by side, which is often the better 
 plan. This drilling requires much care lest the drill swerve and run out 
 of its course into the inside of the cylinder or otherwise. The best way 
 
 Fig. 90. —Position op Cylinder on Surface Plate, Method of Using 
 scriber, &c. 
 
 to insure a straight course is to drill in the lathe, and here again the 
 scribing block and surface plate will come into requisition to mark the 
 position of the hole or holes. Fig. 90 represents the cylinder laid on 
 
194 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 the surface plate C, and secured by blocks B, of lead, to prevent it from 
 rolling or shifting. A shows the scriber in one of its two positions, by 
 which a line is to be drawn, a h, on the turned ends of the cylinder. 
 Such lines will be in precisely the same relative position. At D the line 
 is again marked, as it would appear on the end of the cylinders. Upon 
 a h, with a pair of spring dividers, set off c d, the centres of the holes to 
 be drilled, and with a punch indent them to form an entry for the drill 
 point.. Eepeat this at the opposite end of the cylinder. You will now 
 have distinctly marked the axial line of the required hole, so that a drill 
 entered at one end will, if it runs correctly, eventually appear at the 
 other, at the point marked. If the drilling is done on the lathe, this 
 straight course will be readily secured by bringing the point of the back 
 poppet centre to the mark made at one end by the punch, while the drill 
 is entered at the other. The hole should not be drilled, however, in a 
 hurry, or even this precaution may fail to insure its correct progress. 
 It should be sent in a short distance and then withdrawn, and, the 
 cylinder being reversed, the hole should be commenced at the opposite 
 end. Then the work should be carried on at alternate ends, a drill 
 being also used a size or two smaller than that ultimately required. 
 These holes are not to meet and so form a single continuous steam 
 way, but each must cease at the port nearest to the end at which 
 it was commenced. It will therefore be safer practice to cut these two 
 ports roughly before drilling to meet them. They wiU be drilled first of 
 all like B, Fig. 89, and then cut out with a small chisel made for the 
 purpose of hard steel. These can be bought at the model shops, but 
 are easily made. Use the scribing block to mark a, &, c, (Z, defining the 
 ends of the ports, and upon these lines, by the aid of sharp compasses 
 (with a set screw), set off the ports at equal distances from each other 
 and of equal width. The central one, however, may subsequently be 
 widened with advantage, but the width between its outside edges and 
 those of the ports above and below it must on no account be made 
 unequal. In setting out the ports draw first the central line of each, 
 and then set it out on each side of this. Of course, the face of this part 
 must be first turned or filed up quite level. 
 
 In order to insure this last requisite, which is all important, the 
 scriber again comes to the fore, to mark the lines which define the position 
 of the plane surface. Fig. 91, A, B, and C, show what is to be done. 
 The face, c, of the boss must be at right angles to the diameter, a, h, 
 as seen at A, not as drawn at B, which is a fault often committed by 
 careless workmen. Hence the cylinder is adjusted on the surface plate 
 to bring this face in position as nearly as possible in the rough casting, 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SLIDE VALVE ENGINES. 195 
 
 and secured, as before, by a couple of lead weights and a line, c, d, at C, 
 Fig. 91, marked as a guide to the file. 
 
 We may now consider the cylinder bored and the ports made. The 
 next operation will therefore be the turning the cylinder covers and 
 making the stuffing box or gland through which the piston rod is to work. 
 This, however, has been described as a part of the double-acting oscillating 
 engine. It is a simple bit of lathe work, which should not present any 
 great difficulty to the toy maker, who can use a hand turning tool. The 
 
 Fig, 91.— Slide Valve— Method op Cutting the Steam Holes in the 
 Cylinder. 
 
 bottom cover is the same as the other, but without the gland and stuffing 
 box, unless, as sometimes happens, the piston rod is carried right through, 
 working a force pump at one end and the main crank of the driving axle 
 at the other. We may pass on, therefore, to the slide valve and its 
 adjuncts. As yet the steam ways that were drilled are open at each end, 
 and do not communicate with the inside of the cylinder. The ends must 
 therefore be plugged with brass wire screwed or driven in tightly and 
 faced off flush, and porta cut just inside the cylinder to communicate with 
 
 02 
 
196 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 the drilled steam way. These can be drilled from the inside by a little 
 management of the drill spindle, or cut with a small chisel, or drilled 
 right through from the outside, but if this is done there will be the 
 necessity for plugging the outside of the hole so made, and it is better 
 to avoid this if possible. There is little difficulty in drilling from inside, 
 only there is not much room to work ; a h, Fig. 92, show the plugs 
 (black) ; c d, the inside ports ; e /, the steam ports, and ^ the exhaust 
 port of the valve face of the cylinder, all in section, which will make the 
 matter clear to the reader. 
 
 Let us now consider the action of the slide valve so as thoroughly to 
 
 Fig. 92.— Sectional Parts of Slide Valve. 
 
 understand what its office is. It consists of a kind of box, with a flat 
 flange (B, Fig. 92), generally represented, however, in a model engine by 
 a square bit of brass, about iin. thick, cut out in the inside like C. The 
 use of the slide is to connect two ports on the valve face [[together. 
 Suppose such a box turned upside down upon the ports, and slid upwards 
 until the upper and central ports both fall inside it. These would now 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.— SLIDE VALVE ENGINES. 197 
 
 be connected as one steam way, while the lower port would be outside the 
 box, and therefore remain open. Now let the box or valve be slid 
 downwards until the upper port is clear ; the two lower ones would be in 
 connection with each other. Thus the central or exhaust port is always 
 open to the inside of the box, and is alternately made to communicate 
 with the two steam ports by sliding the valve up and down. It is evident 
 that in designing these ports we must make this valve of such a size as 
 to comprehend two ports and leave out the third, but the flange or flat 
 face outside the hollow part must also be of such width that when the 
 valve is central all three ports shall be exactly covered by it. All this 
 part of the engine requires to be enclosed in a case — the valve-casing as 
 it is called — into which the steam from the boiler is admitted, to be 
 thence allowed to enter the cylinder by whichever port is left open by 
 the action of the slide. This valve-casing consists of a box, D, open at 
 top and bottom. Sometimes, for models, it is made with a back, however, 
 in one piece with the sides, but is not so easy to fit up. At the top is a 
 stuffing box and gland, identical in form with that of the cylinder cover, 
 but smaller. 
 
 For the purpose of attaching it to the valve face of the cylinder, the 
 casing in models is drilled through the thickness of the sides for long 
 bolts, as seen at D, such bolts also holding on the back of the case ; or 
 it may be made with lugs for short bolts, as at E, or flanged all round, 
 the first plan being usual in small models. There should in any case be 
 a rebate, seen at Ji, k, in the section of the steam ports (Fig. 92), fitting 
 the inside of the hollow casing, so as to keep it accurately in position 
 while inserting the bolts to secure it. F (Fig. 92) is the back of the 
 valve casing, showing a central hole where there is generally a boss or 
 projection. This hole is tapped to receive the end of the steampipe 
 from the boiler. 
 
 Such is the general arrangement of the slide valve, which is worked by 
 its valve rod. This rod, passing as it does through the stuffing box of 
 the casing, must not be attached rigidly to the slide valve, or it might lift 
 it from the port faces, against which it has to work steam tight. The 
 valve is actually kept against the port faces by the pressure of the steam 
 on its back, and therefore the valve rod requires to be so fitted as to 
 allow a little play. A simple plan is to make the end of the rod like G, 
 and to put a pair of short pins, a & of B, in the back of the valve over 
 which the notches in G will fit easily, or there may be four such pins as 
 at H, or the end of the rod can be slotted like I, and fit over a rect- 
 angular projection or two pins. There is no play necessary except such 
 as to allow the valve to bed fairly against the port face, so that it 
 
198 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 shall not be drawn away in the least by the up and down traverse of the 
 valve rod. 
 
 Indeed, the less side play the better, and it will be an advantage to 
 make the width of the slide valve as nearly as possible that of the in- 
 side of the steam chest or valve casing, this forming a guide for the 
 accurate to and fro motion of the valve. The form I of valve rod common 
 in locomotives is made in large engines to embrace within the slot, not a 
 mere projection, but the whole back of the valve, which is sketched 
 at B, and the rod is often repeated below the square frame and passed 
 through a second stuffing box, thus giving a very steady motion to the 
 valve. There is not much difficulty to be apprehended in fitting the valve 
 casing, the main point to be attended to being accurate facing of all 
 bearing surfaces, which ought to fit quite tight, but may be assisted by 
 a washer of sheet lead or a little smear of white or red lead when put 
 together. F may be faced in the lathe and the boss turned, drilled, and 
 tapped while so mounted ; the flange chuck, with cement or solder, being 
 the best to use. All surfaces should be tested on a surface plate, and 
 not allowed to pass muster if at all defective ; after being fitted they can 
 be ground a little with emery and oil, or a smooth plate of iron or brass, 
 not on the surface plate, or it will be soon spoilt ; a very slight grinding 
 only ought to be needed. All these parts, too, ought to be lined out 
 with the scribing block, so as to insure the parallelism of their opposite 
 faces, as for instance those at D at Fig. 92, marked a &. Careful lining 
 out saves a world of trouble and insures a good fit. 
 
 Pistons were at one time invariably made steam tight by means of a 
 packing of greased hemp or tow wound round them in a groove or 
 grooves turned to receive it. For toy engines the plan answers suffi- 
 ciently well, but in the smaller ones even this light packing is too much, 
 owing to the friction which it creates, and the pistons have to be left 
 wholly without packing, even though, no doubt, steam frequently passes 
 by them, an evil which reduces power to a minimum. But loss of power 
 or entire stoppage of the engine is the only choice left to the model 
 maker, who is made to learn in a very practical way the rather trouble- 
 some doctrine of frictional resistance. 
 
 When, however, we come to the construction of toys which are almost 
 useful machines, and propose to make engines of l|in. to 2in. bore, the 
 pistons may be made with what is called metallic packing, i.e., with one 
 or more rings of metal cut through and allowed to spring open, the cut 
 in one being placed opposite the solid part of the next. There are a 
 great many ways of accomplishing this, some of which, however excellent, 
 are far too complicated for adoption in toy engines. For these it will 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SLIDE VALVE ENGINES. 199 
 
 suffice to turn a rectangular groove on the edge of the piston ^in. deep, 
 to receive the packing rings, like Fig. 93. The rings are of steel, iin. 
 eich way, put on a mandril and turned to 
 fit the cylinder tightly, being also reduced in 
 thickness so that either one by itself or two 
 together will fit into the groove in the solid 
 piston. Of course, if two are used, the 
 groove must be made sufficiently wide to re- 
 ceive them. They are, after being turned, 
 sawn through and sprung open sufficiently to 
 allow them to be got into place. They will 
 then be found to tend to spring open, and so 
 fit the cylinder truly. 
 
 Another way to arrange the packing is 
 to turn the piston with a rebate instead of a 
 groove, like Fig. 94, and then to add a sepa- 
 rate disc or flange, securing it by a nut on 
 
 Fig. 93.— Piston and Eing, 
 
 Fig, 94.— Arrangement of Packing, with Flange 
 AND Nut. 
 
 the piston rod, or by three screws tapped into 
 the piston. In this figure, A is the piston 
 and part of its rod, B the lower flange, C the 
 nut, the same flange being also shown with 
 three screw holes for its attachment. The 
 whole is shown again at E in section, with 
 the rings a 6 in place. 
 By this method it is far 
 easier to put the rings 
 in, because they can be 
 slipped over the rebate 
 and turned up true 
 in place after having 
 been sawn through and 
 sprung open. If a bit 
 of leather is put as a 
 washer above and be- 
 low the rings, they will 
 be held firmly enough 
 by screwing on the 
 
 flange to allow them to be turned ; this can be removed afterwards. 
 
 The packing rings will be more likely to spring open properly if hammered 
 on the inside before being sawn through, as the metal is thereby expanded 
 and in a state of tension. The outside of the ring during the process should 
 
200 
 
 TOYMAKTNG .FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 be allowed to rest on a block of hard wood, so as to concentrate the blows 
 more completely upon the inside surface. Hammered brass of square 
 section will form very good springs for pistons, and is easier to work in 
 some respects than steel ; cast iron is also used in engines of large size. 
 In point of fact the material is probably less important than the work- 
 manship, and the toymaker may very well use any one of the metals 
 spoken of which will form a spring, and may chance to be at hand. 
 There will seldom be any necessity for turning the piston rod of a model 
 or toy, as wire — steel as well as iron — may be had, drawn bright, of any 
 size likely to be needed. This should be annealed at the end where a 
 screw is desired, as it is rendered very hard by the process of drawing, 
 and will, in this state, unnecessarily try the temper of the screw plate or 
 dies. 
 
 The design of an engine should be settled before the cylinder is pur- 
 chased, because some special appliance may be required by which to 
 secure the latter in position. If intended for a horizontal engine or loco- 
 motive, the cylinder must be cast with lugs, or with a flat plate on one 
 side, for the purpose of attaching it to the framing, boiler, or bed plate. 
 If, however, a beam engine is preferred, the cylinder can be screwed down 
 to the bed plate, which may even form its lower cover. Then, again, it 
 may be fitted in an upright position, on what is called an A framing, 
 with the crank axle and fly-wheel above it. All these details should be 
 settled beforehand, and full working drawings made, with details of the 
 various parts all drawn carefully to scale, or of full size, which is very 
 much better. 
 
 The A frame is represented in Fig. 95, and is a simple means of apply- 
 ing a vertical cylinder, whether oscillating or otherwise, the latter case 
 needing a much lower and more compact frame, as the piston rod is then 
 attached direct to the crank without any intervening connecting rod. The 
 only fault of this arrangement is that either a short cylinder is necessary, 
 or the frame must be made very high to allow of a sufficiently long con- 
 necting rod. Although not represented, a brace can be carried on each 
 side from A to B to tie the frames together and stiffen the whole. The 
 eccentric is represented rather too far from the crank, and perhaps the 
 two A frames are too far apart, but the drawing will give a very good 
 idea of this kind of engine frame, and serve as a hint in fitting up any 
 cylinder which has no special plate or lugs for securing it to the bed plate 
 in a horizontal position. C and D are of course the guides, sliding up 
 and down in the slots made to receive them in the thin web cast between 
 the main uprights of this frame. With an oscillating cylinder of double 
 action, like that previously described, the eccentric and also the connect- 
 
Fig. 95.— Vertical Cylinder Engine on "A" Frame. 
 
202 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 mg rod, E, would not be necessary, and in this case a very good engine 
 might be made of this pattern to work a small lathe or sewing machine. 
 
 In fitting up an A frame, the nicer plan is to plane or file truly square 
 the outside parts here represented without shading, and to darken the web, 
 of which only the inner edges of the slots need be filed. The latter may 
 be filed into V's and the brasses similarly grooved, or they may be cast 
 with projecting edges or rims, like F, and these, in such case, would be 
 filed up bright and true, the sliding blocks being then shaped accordingly. 
 If, however, it is considered too troublesome a job to brighten three sides 
 of each leg of the A pieces, let a h (the front ones) be painted a nice 
 dark green, bronze, or black, and file up the edges only which adjoin the 
 web. The latter, being left rough and painted, will make the bright edges 
 look all the better by contrast. The same may be said of the flywheel, 
 of which the three sides of the rim and both sides of the boss ought to be 
 turned, but if this cannot readily be done the edge alone may be thus 
 finished, and the boss and all the rest painted. The best paint for the 
 purpose is called japan — it is simply a mixture of well ground paint and 
 varnish, and it makes a very bright handsome surface. It may be pur- 
 chased at the model shops. The base plate of such an engine will be of 
 brass if of small size, and this will look well mounted on a bit of mahogany, 
 with a neat moulding run round it ; but if the cylinder is of l^in. bore 
 and upwards, iron will be preferable, which can be cast with a moulded 
 edge. The surface should be planed to look well, or, if no planing 
 machine is at hand, it may without great difficulty be ground upon a 
 common grindstone, and then worked to a surface with files and emery 
 until a good polish is obtained. 
 
 In many respects this is a much easier pattern to fit up than a hori- 
 zontal engine, because it is one in which the various parts can hardly 
 fail to come true and square. The cylinder's place is readily found by 
 drawing diagonal lines on the bed plate from corner to corner, and 
 drawing a circle from the point thus obtained, such circle being of the 
 same size as the bottom flange of the cylinder. Through this centre 
 two lines should be drawn at right angles to each other, as centre lines 
 from which to set off the exact position of the feet of the A frames. 
 These feet having been rendered quite flat underneath, should be now 
 drilled for the screws, the hole forming a guide for those to be made in 
 the bed plate. The two standards must then be laid down flat and the 
 axle holes drilled in both at the same time, after marking with a dotting 
 punch on each side of them the exact point for the drill to enter. This is 
 quite sufficient in a mere model, but for anything of larger size the tops 
 of the frame have separate brasses fitted to them. In the present case 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — SLIDE VALVE ENGINES. 203 
 
 an inspection of the drawing will show that the engine can be put 
 together very easily without these separate split bearings, the flywheel 
 being keyed on after the whole has been set up. 
 
 The sliding blocks, C and D, are merely fitted to the ends of the 
 long turned bar or cross head, which at the same time acts as the pin 
 on which the fork of the piston rod and the boss of the connecting rod 
 are pivoted. The web between the sides of the frame is often pierced 
 and made to assume an ornamental character. 
 
 It is easy to make patterns of these standards to suit the taste of 
 the toy maker, and castings will then cost a mere trifle, whether of iron, 
 brass, or gun-metal. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.— ECCENTRIC AND 
 CRANK TURNING. 
 
 It will be as well in this chapter to give a few details of lathe work re- 
 quired to be done on the eccentric and crank. The former is merely a 
 disc of iron or brass fixed to the crank axle, the hole for such axle not 
 being made through its centre, but a short distance from it. The dis- 
 tance equals haK the length of the stroke or travel of the slide valve over 
 its ports. This disc is surrounded by a hoop of brass nicely fitted to it. 
 The hoop is made in two parts in large engines, but for models it will do 
 in one. A rod screwed into one part of the hoop goes to the valve either 
 direct or with an intervening quadrant, link motion, or lever. The motion 
 of an eccentric is very smooth and quiet, and is always used to actuate 
 slide valves of engines, and very generally in place of a crank where the 
 travel required is but short. The disc of the eccentric being itself 
 circular can only be turned in one of two ways. It can have a hole made 
 through its geometrical centre, and then be mounted upon an arbor, 
 and faced on its edge and sides, or it can be placed in a wooden or other 
 chuck to about the depth of half its thickness, and one flat side can then 
 be turned, and also the edge as far as it can be got at. Then the turned 
 part being mounted in a fresh chuck recessed to take it, the other half 
 can be got at, and if when it is mounted for the second time it is not 
 driven into the chuck so far as to conceal the already turned edge, this 
 will be a sufficient guide, and the work can thus be finished perfectly. 
 But as there must be a groove turned in the edge, or the edge must be 
 turned to a rebate, it is easier to manage when mounted on a spindle. 
 There is, however, still one other plan, and that is cement or solder, 
 which is very fit for a purpose of this kind, where a difficulty in means 
 of chucking presents itself. 
 
 The only reason that exists for preferring a chuck in the present in- 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — ECCENTRIC AND CRANK TURNING. 205 
 
 stance to a spindle, is that the hole by which it is thus mounted will not 
 serve subsequently ; and the second hole which has to be made may, if 
 at all near to the first, run into it and spoil its appearance. An eccen- 
 tric can indeed be turned like the pin of a crank (of which it is actually 
 only a large edition), after it is mounted upon its axle by a hole eccen- 
 tric to its geometrical centre ; but, perhaps, it is hardly to be considered 
 an easy method, or one suited to the toy engine. I shall speak of it by- 
 and-bye, when treating of the turning of the crank axle. 
 
 The hoop or ring of the eccentric, if made with a projecting part to 
 receive the end of its rod, or if made with lugs (Fig. 96, a, and 6), 
 cannot evidently be turned 
 entirely on the outside, 
 but only bored out accu- 
 rately. The usual way is 
 to mould the eccentric 
 hoop something like Fig. 
 96, so that the two flats, 
 a h, may be turned up 
 bright, while the rest of 
 the brass is finished by 
 dipping, leaving it rough, 
 but bright and clean. 
 This dipping is largely used to finish surfaces of brass or gun metal, 
 either of which is inserted for a few moments only in nitric acid, and 
 then well washed in clean water and brushed with a wire brush. The 
 sort of surface thus produced is very effective when brought into juxta- 
 position with parts which have been finished in the lathe. All bright 
 work should have a coat of lacquer applied with a brush while the metal 
 is warm to protect it from the action of the atmosphere. Brass lacquer 
 of various tints, more ©r less golden in character, can be readily pro- 
 cured at the tool shops. If the metal be heated until it is just too hot 
 to hold, this lacquer will dry directly. It must be laid on thinly and 
 rapidly, otherwise it is sure to run, and it will then become streaky. It 
 ought to be quite transparent and scarcely appear like a varnish laid on, 
 but rather as if it was itself the outside skin of the metal. 
 
 In small engine models the casting of this part is generally in one 
 piece, which is bored out and turned, and then divided in the line c, d, 
 Fig. 96, with a thin metal saw. This must be mounted on a chuck and 
 bored, but it is as well first of all to drive it on a mandril of wood or 
 metal, wood being preferable, such as the nose of a chuck turned down 
 to enter it tightly, and then to face up one or both of the flat sides. This 
 
 Fig, 96.— Eccentric and Hoop. 
 
206 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 will enable the piece when put inside a chuck ready to be bored to be 
 bedded down quite flat and true on the bottom thereof, so that the inside 
 will be rendered truly at right angles to the sides when bored, and if this 
 operation is done by hand, as it wUl be in the case of small models, care 
 must then be taken to get it true, or the eccentric rod will stand at an 
 angle instead of perpendicular to the sides of the hoop, and will not work 
 the valve properly. The whole secret of success in this and similar 
 mechanical work consists in attention to accuracy in little details. Coni- 
 cal holes instead of cylindrical ones, very slight deviation from the square 
 fitting of parts, a little carelessness in chucking or in turning some 
 detail which may seem of no great importance, will almost invariably 
 ruin the whole. 
 
 Forethought and distinct understanding of what you have to do is also 
 of immense importance in all mechanical work. You may find perhaps 
 that for want of it you are suddenly brought to a standstill. You have 
 perhaps to bore out some bit of work accurately and also to shape it on 
 the outside, and by doing the inside before the out or the outside before 
 the in, you may find that you cannot complete the job in a satisfactory 
 manner. Suppose that you have to turn a round metal ball with a pro- 
 jecting tenon requiring a screw to be cut upon it : if you turn the ball 
 first, holding the forging by its tenon, you will have to turn the latter as 
 well as you can to size by the aid of frequent measuring with callipers, 
 and at last you must cut it off before you can screw it. Now you have 
 to screw the ball in a vice or to fit it in a chuck, but the first will 
 damage it and the second is not easy, as a ball is a thing that does not 
 fit and hold very tightly. The fact is, the operation is better reversed. 
 Put the piece between centres, and turn the tenon and rough down the 
 ball, just to give it something like its proper shape and to clean off the 
 skin. Then you will not hurt it by gripping it in a vice to cut the screw, 
 or you can trace this by hand in the lathe, the tenon being next the back 
 centre. After having cut the thread and made the shoulder behind it 
 quite true, fit it by the screw into a boxwood chuck drilled and tapped to 
 receive it, or into a brass chuck, if you have one. The box will hold it, 
 however, quite securely, and you can then with a graver turn up the ball 
 very easily, and make a well-finished job of it. 
 
 This chucking by means of its own screwed tenon is very serviceable 
 indeed in model making. The better way is to work all such tenons to 
 standard sizes of which you have taps or chasers, and to keep a set of 
 brass plugs fitted into a main chuck and tapped each with a screw of the 
 sizes most generally used — rising by 32nds from iVin. to iin. Matching 
 this set there should also be one with short projecting screws of steel of 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.—ECCENTRIC AND CRANK TURNING. 207 
 
 similar pitches, on which to mount and finish nuts and any pieces which 
 can be first drilled and tapped. We have an instance of such here — viz., 
 the end of the eccentric hoop or tenon into which the eccentric rod will 
 have to be fitted (Figf. 96, e f). It can be turned, indeed, between 
 centres, but a better plan is to drill and tap the end into which the rod 
 is to be screwed, and mount it on a screw chuck of the same gauge. 
 The shoulder, e /, can thus be turned very easily. The back centre can 
 be brought up at the opposite side of the hoop as a temporary support, 
 but this will hardly be necessary, as the part to be turned is so close to 
 the chuck and so small. It is quite possible, when the hoop is thus 
 mounted with the back centre to help support it, to turn up the edge 
 to a rounded form, missing the lugs when the tool comes near them. But 
 it is rather ticklish work, and needs a steady hand and light cut, and it 
 is better to finish the part as already described. You can scrape it up 
 
 0^ 
 
 -a 
 
 (6) 
 
 1 [ c 
 
 A 
 
 Fig. 97.— Crank Turning, 
 
 when on a mandril by taking hold of the lathe cord to enable you to 
 stop at the lugs, but chipping or filing is preferable. 
 
 With the cranks it is not absolutely necessary to turn up the pin upon 
 which the connecting rod works, but there is no great difficulty in so 
 doing. Of course, if the crank pin is at the end, outside the standard, 
 it can be turned separately and screwed in and riveted, but some- 
 times the crank is formed in the middle of the axle, to which it is 
 eccentric, and we must then contrive means so to centre the axle in 
 the lathe that its crank pin may be in the centre line of the mandril. 
 Fig. 97 shows a very common way of doing this : B, C, is the axle first 
 turned between centres at h and c, missing the crank. Two pieces of 
 iron (a) are then keyed temporarily on the ends, and in these centres are 
 punched or drilled in the line a a, which, it will be seen, is the centre 
 
208 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 line of the crank pin (e), which now, therefore, will run true in the lathe, 
 and can be turned. 
 
 It is evident that the ends of such an axle may be bent down in lieu 
 of attaching these pieces, and these ends can easily be cut off after the 
 crank pin has been turned true. This is a much quicker method than the 
 first, which is, however, almost necessary when the axle is of large size. 
 It will probably be rightly conjectured that the axle or crank will be 
 liable to yield, and so escape from the centres, to the detriment of the 
 work. To prevent this, blocks are generally placed between the sides of 
 the cranks and the attached end pieces. These, of course, take the 
 thrust as if the whole were one solid bar. Few crank pins of model 
 engines are turned, but they look much better, as nice shoulders are thus 
 made at the ends of the crank pin ; but mere bent wire, such as forms the 
 axle of many model engines, does not admit of this finish, nor does it 
 require it. Wherever it can be done, and this is the case in most 
 engines, the crank should be like A, Fig. 100, at the extremity of the 
 axle, to which it can be easily riveted. It is made in two pieces, the pin 
 being screwed in or turned with a tenon, placed in position in a drilled 
 hole, and riveted by a few taps of a light hammer. 
 
 In fitting up short forked pieces, like Fig. 98, to be attached to the 
 piston rod or slide rod to form a joint, we have 
 another instance of the use of small screw 
 chucks. The lower part of these could with 
 difficulty be got at in any other way, but by 
 first boring and tapping the hole for the rod, 
 they can be mounted on one of these chucks 
 and turned easily enough. The long fork, 
 Fig. 98, seldom needs turning, but if there 
 is a boss, which would look better, it can be 
 held in a similar way. Also for polishing or 
 finishing the heads of screws the hollow screw 
 chuck is very convenient, as the little screw 
 is thereby secured at once very truly while 
 its head is entirely exposed to the action of 
 the turning tool. Knucklejbints, like those 
 of the forked connecting rod shown on a 
 larger scale in Fig. 99, can be shaped on the 
 outside to a great extent by grinding on an emery wheel running 
 between centres in the lathe. A bar is turned to go easily into the pin 
 holes of the fork. It has a squared end, which can be held in the 
 tool holder of the slide rest, either vertically or horizontally. The 
 
 Fig. 98.— Forked Con- 
 necting eod. 
 
TOYS WOEKET) BY STEAM. — ECCENTRIC AND CRANK TURNING. 209 
 
 fork being held on, this is turned about while the revolving wheel is 
 allowed to grind it as it is swept backwards and forwards upon its bar. 
 By first holding the fork horizontally and grinding as far as can be 
 reached, and then placing the bar so as to hold it vertically, the greater 
 part can be got at, leaving only the angle for the file to work upon. 
 At A the wheel and the joint are seen in profile, the bar on which it is 
 
 Fig. 99.— Shaping Bosses (showing Forked Connecting Rod). 
 
 pivoted being omitted for the sake of clearness. The outside of the joint 
 can evidently be got at until the arm of the fork is in one of the two 
 positions shown by the dotted lines, and as the centre upon which the 
 joint rotates during the process is fixed, it is plain that the outside will 
 be made truly concentric with the hole through which the pin will pass, 
 which connects this fork with the end of the piston rod. There is a 
 similar knuckle joint at the opposite end of the fork, and on one or two 
 other pieces, which can, of course, be finished in the same way. 
 
CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM.— TURNING FLY 
 WHEELS AND SMALL BOLTS AND NUTS. 
 
 This is a simple operation if the article is properly chucked, but as the 
 axle is generally small in comparison with the wheel, the latter cannot 
 well be turned by being mounted upon it in the lathe, especially if it 
 is of brass. The latter metal gets into a state of vibration, and the tool 
 produces a number of " chatters," or undulations, instead of a smooth 
 surface, unless the chucking gives ample support to the metal. There 
 are two chucks specially useful in model making if the outlay can be 
 managed, the American three jaw scroll chuck, and he die chuck, a pair 
 of sliding dies actuated by two independent screws. With these alone 
 nearly or quite all of the parts of an engine can be turned. The wheel 
 of which we are speaking can be gripped by its rim in the scroll chuck, 
 and the side of such rim as well as base can be faced up and the boss 
 bored. Half the edge of the rim can also be got at, and then the wheel 
 being reversed the other half can be done. If this chuck is not at hand, 
 drive into a boxwood chuck, face up one side, reverse in a new chuck, 
 and turn the other. Having thus got off all the hard skin and made the 
 wheel fairly true, it can be mounted on a truly turned spindle or arbor 
 chuck, and gone over with a very light cut to finish it and make it run 
 perfectly true upon its own axle. 
 
 You will nearly always find it necessary to chuck such a wheel by its 
 rim in the first place, or, if it be an iron one, by laying it on a face 
 plate and securing it by bolts and clamps by its spokes, and then the 
 edge and face can be got at both of the rim and boss. But in this case, 
 as in the other, you will probably need three cuts — i.e., after mounting 
 it, turn one side flat, reverse, and bed down upon this and turn the other 
 side, then mount on its own spindle, or upon a truly turned arbor, and 
 take a very light cut all over it. It will by this means run true. But 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — TURNING FLYWHEELS, ETC. 211 
 
 with small brass wheels the spokes are often too light to be so utilised 
 without danger of fracture or bending, and a cup chuck or scroll chuck 
 becomes necessary. The latter involves an outlay of two sovereigns, 
 perhaps, but it will save its cost by economising time. 
 
 The eccentric strap of which I have already spoken must be prevented 
 from slipping off the disc. If this is made with flanges, so that the 
 strap fits between them, it will of course be secured from slipping ; but 
 if not, let the disc have a shallow groove turned in its edge, and screw 
 a pin into the strap so that it shall project into the groove. This is a 
 simple plan, and very suitable for a model. 
 
 The directions for setting the eccentric are very well given in a 
 mechanical work by Watson, published in America, and he points out 
 that the long diameter, so to speak, of the eccentric and that of the 
 crank are always at right angles to each other. I copy the description 
 
 a 
 
 Fig. 100.— Setting an Eccentric. 
 
 and drawing (Fig. 100), as it can hardly be improved upon, and it also 
 gives the means of finding the proper length of the eccentric rod. The 
 latter, in a model, is screwed into the strap, and, if desired, it can also 
 be made with a screw at the valve end with two nuts, one of which will 
 lie on each side of the boss on the back of the slide valve, as in 
 Fig. 101 (A), where C C are the nuts and B the screwed rod, which 
 must, as explained, pass quite freely through the boss of the valve, so as 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 not to tie it in the least. By thus screwing the rod at one or both 
 ends its length can be perfectly adjusted. 
 
 To find the length of the rod, put the straps on the eccentric and 
 connect the valve gear as in working order. (The back of the valve 
 casing must be taken off so that the slide can be seen as it works, and 
 if this casing is in one piece, with no separate back, so that there is no 
 stuffing box and no guide, a temporary guide must be made by soldering 
 on a bit of tin shaped to form one.) Disconnect the engine, and slip 
 the eccentric round on the shaft, and observe what takes place in the 
 valve box. The eccentric is as yet not keyed on the shaft, and, if turned 
 round, will have the same effect on the valve as it would if fixed on the 
 shaft and turning with it. Doubtless the valve will uncover one port 
 
 Fig. 101. — Setting an Eccentric (showing means for finding length of rod), 
 
 clear to the exhaust, while the other is entirely or nearly shut. This 
 shows the rod to be too long or too short, as the case may be. If the 
 port nearest the crank in a horizontal engine is wide open, and the 
 other port shut, the rod is too long, and must be shortened half the 
 difference only. I say half the difference, because it must be remembered 
 that what is taken off one end is put on the other. When the valve 
 **runs square," as it is called, or opens and shuts the ports properly, 
 set the eccentric, as shown in Fig. 100, p. 211. The eccentric is always in 
 this position in every case, whether the engine be vertical, horizontal, or 
 inclined. The wide part of the eccentric and the crank are always at 
 right angles to each other, excepting such departure from a right angle as 
 the lead and lap takes off. Fig. 100 represents an eccentric without 
 lead, working a valve without lap. (This will suit a model.) Such a 
 coincidence seldom obtains in practice, and the true position of the 
 eccentric is shown by the dotted line, a. This indicates that the eccentric 
 is turned on the shaft a little away from the crank, thus pulling open 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — TURNING FLYWHEELS, ETC. 213 
 
 the port in front, and driving the crank in the right direction. It will 
 be easily understood why the eccentric is always in this position, when 
 it is borne in mind that the eccentric must commence to open the valve 
 a little before the crank gets to the centre ; in other words, the eccentric 
 must commence its stroke a little ahead of the crank. 
 
 It wiU be seen from the above directions how much more convenient 
 it is to have the steam chest or valve casing made as a box without top 
 or bottom, and to have the back separate. In this way, at any time, the 
 latter can be taken off, and the action of the valve seen. If the sides 
 and back, on the other hand, are a single casting, and it is desired to 
 examine the valve for some defect in the working of the engine, it 
 becomes necessary to clamp on a gmde of some sort to keep the valve in 
 position as it slides to and fro over the port faces. This is not of any 
 great importance in a very small model, where it is advantageous to have 
 as few pieces as possible to connect together in building up the engine ; 
 but in a larger model, or in an engine of useful size, it is far better to 
 have a separate cover or back to the valve casing ; and the same bolts 
 which hold the casing to the cylinder secure also this loose back, so that 
 there is no more trouble in putting it together. 
 
 It will be necessary to have a hinge or knuckle joint between the valve 
 rod and eccentric rod, but no guide is required here, as it is with the 
 piston rod and connecting rod, the stuffing box and the inside of the 
 valve casing serving the purpose well enough in practice. These joint 
 pieces are best made separate for models, and can be filed out of suitable 
 bits of brass, and then drilled and tapped to receive the ends of the rods 
 to which they are to be joined. 
 
 Small bolts and nuts can now be cheaply purchased by the dozen, 
 beautifully made, but the bought ones often do not suit special cases, and 
 then it becomes necessary to supplement them by home made ones. For 
 this purpose the best way is, if possible, to use six-sided steel wire or 
 steel bar, as the bolt heads and nuts are then ready shaped, and the diffi- 
 culty of forming them by filing is thus escaped. But this steel is not 
 always at hand. It is, however, well worth keeping in stock for the 
 purpose of making small punches, chisels, turnscrews, and other articles, 
 and in that case any bit of round bar of iron or steel must of necessity be 
 substituted. For such a job as this the die chuck or grip chuck is of 
 great service ; or, in default of these, a small beU chuck, with six or 
 eight stout gripping screws. This chuck is often badly planned. It 
 should be very thick in proportion to its size, and the screws should be 
 of steel, with squared heads, to which a good steel key with cross handle 
 should be fitted. The holes for the screws should then be recessed 
 
214 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 by means of a pin drill or cylindrical countersink, so that in a general 
 way the screw heads hardly project above the general surface of the 
 chuck. A very useful chuck of this class is one made of steel, and Sin. 
 in diameter, bored to lin., leaving, therefore, an inch thickness of metal. 
 The holes should be countersunk to iin., leaving a screwed portion of 
 ^in. The screws when quite down to the centre, or all touching, should 
 just bed down with the underside of their heads resting on the metal at 
 the bottom of the recessed holes. Allowing ^in. of length for the 
 squared heads, therefore these should never project more than about that 
 distance, even when a bit of stuff of the full diameter that the chuck 
 will take is being worked. Made thus, there is also no fear of splitting or 
 bursting the chuck, though the feat is easily accomplished with one of 
 cast iron when not sufficiently thick, as the strain is very great. If cast 
 iron be used it will be better to have forged rings shrunk on the outside 
 to prevent this liability to burst. 
 
 In making a screw bolt, grip a bar of iron or steel in one of the chucks 
 named, and reduce it with a graver to the size required — a very simple 
 job if the graver is in condition to cut as it ought to do. Let the rest be 
 as close as possible to give proper support to the tool, and take care to 
 hold it steadily. Should the screw be so long as to need the support 
 of the back centre, make a centre at the end with the point of the 
 graver as it revolves, and bring up the poppit. You must make this 
 hollow centre after mounting it, but if you want it deeper, begin it with 
 a graver to get the position correct, and you can then deepen it by 
 holding a drill against it. But you may easily turn down a bar of iron 
 or steel — especially the latter — of iin. diameter, and projecting 2in. from 
 the chuck without the back poppit, and reduce an inch or more to a 
 diameter of ^in., or less, if you use the graver deftly : the grip chucks 
 are specially intended for such work. Turn the bar, then, to the required 
 size, and proceed to screw it by means of a screw plate or die stock, if 
 it be too small to chase safely with a comb or screw tool. 
 
 The best screw will be made by stock and die. There are some very 
 neat and light German or Swiss screw stocks with split dies, and made 
 with finer threads than the Whitworth standard, which do this kind of 
 work capitally. There is no need to remove the work from the chuck 
 or the chuck from the lathe mandril, but the latter may be done if it is 
 thought more convenient. Having cut the thread (and in doing it take 
 care not to bend or twist the screw, which is but too easily done with a 
 common screw plate) , proceed to turn the head, and then cut it quite or 
 nearly off with the graver, taking care to leave the right hand side of the 
 neck or notch thus made quite flat, as it will of course be the top of the 
 
TOYS WOEKED BY STEAM. — TURNING FLYWHEELS, ETC. 215 
 
 screw head. If you have a division plate to the lathe you will now, as 
 in so many other instances, find it of service, because when you have 
 turned up the screw head you can mark it with six lines to guide you 
 in subsequently shaping it as a hexagon. 
 
 But if this convenience is not at hand you may finish cutting off the 
 screw, and then hold it in the vice in copper or lead clamps while you 
 file up the sides of the head. This is always considered a difficult job to 
 execute satisfactorily, but will be facilitated by the use of a nut gauge 
 — a notch of 120deg. angle, filed in a bit of sheet steel or tin. This will 
 be the angle of each angle of a six-sided nut or bolt head. Another 
 reminder is that each side will equal in length the radius of the circle of 
 the head. Suppose, for instance, the head is ^in. diameter it will be 4in. 
 radius, and each of the six sides will be the same. File a flat, therefore, 
 to begin with, till its length is iin. or a little less to allow of finishing 
 with a fine file. Then take the nut gauge and, laying it on the bolt head 
 with one edge just over the flat already filed, scratch a line by the other 
 edge for the second face, and proceed to file this, testing it for length and 
 angle, and thus go round the entire six sides of the head. It is advisable 
 to make a few bolts and nuts, with heads fin. or lin. diameter, before 
 constructing the very small ones used for models, as this gets the toy- 
 maker accustomed to the work. Simple as it seems, this is not work in 
 which success is to be expected in a first trial, especially if a bolt head 
 is not more, perhaps, than iin. or fin. diameter. Hence it is better to 
 procure for the purpose six sided bar and wire, and to turn down the part 
 needed for the stem and screwed part of the bolt. 
 
 You must, of necessity, make the bolts singly, but can generally manage 
 to chuck sufficient length for two at least, so as to enable a second, or 
 even a third, to be turned after the first has been removed ; but with nuts 
 the case is different. You can drill a length of rod sufficient for two 
 or three, and tap it, and then file up the six faces before cutting any of 
 them off. The best way is to mount the stuff as before, drill and tap it 
 while still in the chuck, and then notch it deeply with a graver at equal 
 distances. Then, if you have a division plate, mark the six lines, ruling 
 them along the T of the rest placed level with the line of centres, and 
 next either saw off and file up each separately, or at once file up the faces 
 and saw them off, afterwards mounting each on a screw chuck of suit- 
 able size and thread to turn up the faces truly. In large establishments 
 the six faces are cut on a special milling machine, a lot of nuts being 
 placed upon a spindle side by side, and made to traverse under the 
 cutter as it revolves. The machine has its own dividing plate, so that 
 there is no practical difficulty in getting the sides and angles correct. 
 
216 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 Nicely finished nuts and bolt heads contribute not a little to the smart and 
 workmanlike appearance of an engine or other model, though amateurs 
 generally make them very carelessly, as if they were of no great import- 
 ance so long as they held the work together firmly. Even this, however, 
 they will fail to do if the faces of both are not flat and true, as the bearing 
 will otherwise be but partial. For this reason both sides of every nut 
 should be turned in the lathe to render them perfectly parallel, and the 
 holes in the parts of the engine which are to be secured by such bolts 
 should always be sufficiently large to allow a little play. 
 
CHAPTER XXIIl. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY STEAM —LOCOMOTIVE 
 ENGINES. 
 
 Having detailed the construction of stationary engines and the various 
 fittings, we will now treat of the locomotive. There is no very great 
 difference between the two, most of the parts being common to both. 
 But in a locomotive we are, in reality, using a pair of engines worked 
 by one boiler, each being complete with its cylinder and slide valve, 
 eccentrics, connecting rods, and reversing gear. The multi-tubular boiler 
 is, however, essentially a locomotive boiler, and, of course, the arrange- 
 ments of the parts are, in a great measure, peculiar to the special type 
 of engine. Such engine is, however, easily convertible to the kind of 
 work a stationary engine is wont to perform. 
 
 In the simplest form of locomotive we can dispense with everything 
 but the boiler and the cylinder, or cylinders, if the latter be of the oscil- 
 lating kind of single or double action. Some catalogues advertise these 
 with one such cylinder only, but they are not really worth buying or 
 making, and we need condescend to nothing less than a pair of single 
 action cylinders to drive the little locomotive. To commence with the 
 boiler. This will be made of tin or of brass tubing, the latter being, of 
 course, preferable for strength as well as appearance. In the little book 
 called " Engines, How to Make, Buy, and Use Them," there is a drawing 
 and description of a locomotive boiler made of brass tube, the under 
 part being cut away at the bottom, and a flat piece soldered in above the 
 lamp. Though this somewhat destroys the symmetry of the tube, it is 
 the best plan if brass be used ; but if the boiler is made of tin or of 
 copper, it is, of course, easy to give it a flat, arched, or corrugated 
 bottom, the object of the latter being to increase in the simplest manner 
 the heating surface ; for it may be remarked that the general difficulty is 
 to keep up a sufficient supply of steam without raising the wicks of the 
 
218 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 lamp nnduly high, the result of which is an overflow of spirits of wine 
 or naphtha — a great mess on the table, with some risk of producing 
 a disastrous conflagration, and the disruption of the boiler by melting 
 the solder. 
 
 It may be as well, perhaps, to sketch a few boilers suitable for small 
 locomotives before going further, if only to show how much scope there 
 is for ingenious adaptation of a few simple expedients to the desired end, 
 which is to give as much heating surface as possible, so as to make the most 
 of the sources of heat at our disposal. Fig. 102 (A) shows a cross section 
 of a boiler of strong tin plate. The upper part is merely a straight strip 
 
 Fig. 102.— Tin Boiler for Engine. 
 
 bent to a semi-circular form, and turned out at the lower edges i\in. 
 This is for the purpose of attachment to the footplate or frame of the 
 engine, as well as to give a good bed to the solder. The bottom is 
 a narrower plate similarly bent, and the edge turned out a little wider, 
 say, iin. The same figure at B shows the two parts together, and it 
 will be seen by the lines representing the water how the latter is divided 
 on each side into comparatively thin layers, and how much is exposed 
 to this lower plate, under which the flames of the lamp are to play. 
 The dotted line of A shows the plate turned out iVin. all round to receive 
 the flat end of the boiler, but if preferred, this may be turned up 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 219 
 
 instead to embrace the tube. The joint will be all the neater and 
 stronger thereby. 
 
 To solder the long seams so as to give the utmost strength, they should 
 have a thin layer of solder carried along the faces that will be in contact 
 before the two are put together. Then, if placed in position, and a well 
 heated iron carried along upon the upper one the solder will be melted, 
 and the whole breadth (iVin.) be soldered. The additional iVin. of the 
 lower plate can then be turned up over the joint and neatly laid down 
 by the hammer. This seam no amount of steam pressure can rend 
 asunder. But at the same time we must remember that the strength of 
 a boiler is the strength of its weakest part, and not of its strongest, and 
 we shall not make quite so satisfactory a job probably of the attachment 
 of the ends, owing to the peculiar shape of the cross section. We must 
 do the best we can, however, in fitting on these two crescent-shaped 
 pieces. On the whole, it will be as well not to make these the counter- 
 part of the ends of the already soldered tubes, but to make them semi- 
 circular, and to bend out the tubes all round to about xMn. Then, having 
 tinned this bit, which has been so turned out, lay it on the semi-circular 
 plate, the curved part of which is made to match the curve of the upper 
 part of the tube, and solder it on securely. 
 
 It will be as shown by C in Fig. 102, where the shoulder part is, the 
 semicircular end coming, of course, a little below the crescent-shaped 
 tube. Then in the end nearest the lamp (i.e., the hinder one) cut out a 
 place to allow the tube of the wickholder to pass it if found necessary ; 
 but the wicks should not touch the boiler, or the flames will lose power. 
 The semi-circular ends will have a better appearance than if crescent- 
 shaped, otherwise it is not of much importance which form is adopted. 
 But there is one way by which you can get a folded joint as well. Cut 
 out a crescent to overlap a little the turned-out ends of the tube, and 
 bend it up all round so that the tube fit nicely just inside it. Then, when 
 well fitted, tin as before, solder, and hammer down all round. You will 
 do this more easily if, with a pair of flat nosed pliers, you first bend 
 over the tin little by little. This done, cut out a pair of semi-circular 
 plates, and with just a touch of solder here and there solder them on 
 outside these crescent- shaped ones. Neatly done, they will be almost like 
 a single plate, but you will have gained the advantage of a good folded 
 seam to the boiler. 
 
 Tinplate work is simple, but it needs a little practice to make nice 
 joints. One hint I may give on this point is, never to use too much 
 solder, it should be a mere thin film, so that the plates may come as 
 nearly into contact as possible ; a thick layer is not only clumsy in 
 
220 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 appearance, but defeats its own object by keeping the parts asunder 
 wMcli ought to be united. The funnel, which will, of course, be added 
 subsequently, has no connection with the lamp chamber or with the inside 
 of the boiler. It is, in this case, added for appearance sake, but is essen- 
 tially a make-believe, of no use whatever. 
 
 Let us now pass to boiler No. 2, in which we shall improve matters 
 in this last respect, and in some others also. A longitudinal section 
 appears in Fig. 103. We have here a round tube or cylinder of tin, 
 brass, or copper, but there is now an additional inclined tube inside it, 
 which is preferably conical, the larger end below just over the biggest 
 wick of the lamp. This tube ends at the base of the funnel, which will 
 
 Fig. 103.— Boiler with Inside Tube. 
 
 carry off the smoke, if any, and the heat of the lamp will now become 
 chiefly concentrated in the inside tube. Other wicks can, however, still 
 be added if the first prove insufficient, but as the flame may now be of 
 good size, one wick will, in all probability, answer the purpose. This 
 boiler, whether of tin or brass, is not more difficult to make than the one 
 last described, but is a fitter arrangement for one of larger size than 
 contemplated in the previous description. Of stout tin, it will be found 
 a very good pattern up to 6in. long by Sin. diameter, and should keep a 
 pair of cylinders of fin. bore and liin. stroke at work without any 
 difficulty. 
 
 The next drawing (Fig. 104) shows two such tubes, each over its own 
 lamp wick. We do not have two funnels, but the wick nearest the lamp 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 221 
 
 can have the fumes which escape from it carried off by the little per- 
 forated cap By which will stand as a man-hole or lock-up safety valve, 
 and will not, therefore, appear out of place or unsightly. A boiler like 
 this with two tubes will keep up a good amount of steam, and here again 
 no difficulty should arise in constructing it. This, however, will be best 
 made of brass tube, and the materials should consist of a length of tube 
 2in., 3in., or 4in. in diameter and 3in., 4in., or 6in. in length, and two 
 cast ends, which will require to be turned in the lathe. These are 
 supplied by the shops to suit different sizes of tube, and in substance are 
 about fin. thick, so that gauge taps and similar fittings can be fitted by 
 screwing them. Fig. 105, p. 222, shows such a disc in plan and section. It 
 
 Fig. 104.— Boiler with Two Tubes. 
 
 will be seen that it is made with a flange, which is to fit exactly inside the 
 ends of the tube, so that with solder it can be well secured and made 
 steam tight and strong. The more flange it has the better, and only 
 sufficient thickness need remain to form a neat head, slightly larger than 
 the tube, to give a nice finish. If well done, not a vestige of solder will 
 appear on the outside, and the joint will be quite invisible. This is, 
 consequently, far better than using tin, which has to be turned up and 
 hammered over, and is not so easily manipulated, especially if the toy- 
 maker has not a good set of tinman's tools, and a fair share of practical 
 knowledge as well. Moreover, by using brass we are enabled to screw in 
 all the several fittingSj even on the tubular part, if a fine tap be used 
 to form the thread in the several holes, and if solder should be necessary 
 
222 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 at all, this is quite as easily used upon this material as upon tin plate, 
 if the spot be first tinned by rubbing a little solder upon it, using as a 
 flux either rosin or Baker's Fluid. The latter is probably much the 
 same as a solution commonly used for work in zinc, which, indeed, will 
 answer as well if the other cannot be had. Cut up a few bits of zinc 
 plate, and drop one by one into a jar of hydrochloric acid (known as 
 
 size from time to time by holding the tube against it, which is to form 
 the body of the boiler. There is no use in turning further than this 
 flange, and the rest may remain rough. Having done this, tin the flange 
 and also the inside of the tube, using just so much solder that the one 
 will barely enter the other when cold. Then, if the plate is laid flange 
 uppermost on a piece of hot iron, such as the top of a kitchen stove, 
 and the tube is placed in position and held by a woollen cloth to protect 
 the hand, the tube will presently be able to be pressed down close on the 
 flanged plate, the solder appearing, as it melts all round the joint, but in 
 very small quantity, unless too much has been used. Slip a bit of tin 
 or a knife under it to assist in lifting it, and set it aside for a minute 
 or two on a cool surface, continuing to press it, and you will find a beau- 
 tifully neat and strong joint, and the end will be quite securely fixed. 
 
 Boilers with a number of horizontal tubes, although superior in action 
 to those previously described, are much more difficult to make, and almost 
 too costly and troublesome for a toy locomotive, except only in cases 
 where the real engine is to be very closely imitated. This class, however, 
 
 spirits of salts), continuing this till 
 the acid will dissolve no more. Then 
 dilute with water, and drop in one bit 
 more of the zinc, which will most 
 likely also be consumed in time, but 
 insures saturation of the acid. The 
 amount of dilution may be five or six 
 times the bulk of strong acid, or even 
 more. A solution of sal ammoniac 
 will also enable the solder or tinning 
 to attach to clean brass. 
 
 Pig. 105. — Disc with Flange, 
 Forming End of Boiler. 
 
 The ends of the boiler may be held 
 for turning in a boxwood chuck, and 
 the larger part or outside faced up, 
 first with a pointed tool or round-end 
 tool, and then with a flat one. After 
 this the metal is reversed and the 
 flange turned accurately, testing the 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 223 
 
 belongs rather to models than toys. Such boilers require fire and smoke 
 boxes at the ends beyond the part containing the tubes, and they can 
 only be added safely by brazing or riveting. 
 
 After the two ends of the boiler (made as described of brass tube with a 
 pair of flanged ends) have been neatly soldered on, the whole is generally 
 mounted and turned in the lathe ; but this will not be necessary if the 
 flanges have been turned already, and the outsides also nicely faced over. 
 If any solder appears it must be gently scraped off, and with finest 
 emery cloth a good face can be put upon the whole by hand ; then a 
 leather, with a little fine dry sifted whiting, ought to finish the outside 
 completely. But, left thus, it would very soon tarnish, and it should be 
 
 warmed and a coat of lacquer applied thinly at once, which wiU preserve 
 it from the oxydising influence of the air. The fittings of this boiler, 
 such as safety valve, man hole (by which to fill it), gauge taps, and other 
 usual accessories, need not be here detailed, as they have been minutely 
 described already in treating of stationary engines. All those which are 
 fitted to screw in will need a thin leather, lead, or copper washer, or a 
 little red or white lead smeared over the parts which are to come in 
 contact, and which are to be made steam-tight. 
 
 The lamp, which in this case is to serve as the furnace or fire, is gene- 
 rally made like Fig. 106, p. 223, a long tube from a reservoir being fitted 
 with wick-holders at two or three places. It is suspended by means of two 
 
224 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 flat pieces of metal, A and B, which hang upon studs at the two ends 
 of the boiler, the tube coming underneath the latter. When there is a 
 tender — especially if this be made separate'and attached by the usual link 
 or chain to the engine — this may very well be made to fulfil its own 
 proper office and to carry the fuel, being, in fact, the spirit reservoir. 
 It is sketched here in Fig. 107 with a wick-holder attached. Being 
 separate, the wicks can be got at for trimming, which would present a 
 difficulty if the engine and tender were made in one piece. In all cases 
 let the wicks be tightly packed into their respective tubes, as the spirit 
 will then rise by capillary attraction fast enough to burn freely, but not 
 to overflow. 
 
 Having decided upon the kind of boiler and lamp, the next considera- 
 
 FiG. 107. —Tender with Wick-holder attached. 
 
 tion will be the framing which is to carry the boiler and support the 
 wheels, and which is also used in toy locomotives to bear the cylinders 
 with their steam blocks and fittings. These cylinders are, in the simpler 
 models, generally placed at the wrong end — viz., close to the tender, or 
 actually attached to it, when the latter is included in one frame with 
 the engine, but this is merely for economy in arranging the steam pipe 
 and for convenience, and so long as the little engine does not refuse to 
 travel, the young owner of it is scarcely likely to quarrel with the maker 
 for so arranging its details. The framing, if supplied from the shops, 
 will consist of a base plate and a pair of side frames to attach to it by 
 small screws, or of a base plate with a central cavity to receive the 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 
 
 225 
 
 boiler and side and front frames in a single casting. It is generally 
 possible with a little contrivance to find a homely substitute for this 
 part, but castings are cheap. If a sheet of brass can be obtained xVin. 
 thick, you may build up a very good frame by bending down the two 
 sides so as to form the side frames, like Fig. 108 (A) . But to bend brass 
 you have to anneal it by heating it red hot and then letting it cool slowly. 
 You must not think you can bend it while red hot, as you would do if it 
 
 IF 
 
 0- 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 '- si '--^ 
 
 11 
 
 / 
 
 — li- > 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fig. 108.— Framing (A) and Plate. 
 
 were iron ; for you would find it break off instantly. Let it cool, and 
 it will bend easily, and after having bent it you can put it over a sharp 
 edge, or hold it in a tail vice, and with gentle blows get a nice sharp 
 bend, which, when further finished with a file, will not look like a bend at 
 all, but have as good an appearance as if it were a properly made casting. 
 It matters little whether you bend down in this way the sides or the end& 
 of the plate ; only, if you prefer the former, they must be marked out ta 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 form bearings for the wheels, and be shaped accordingly. It is not ab- 
 solutely necessary to bend down the ends at all, and a large number 
 of engines have only the flat foundation plate with the two side frames, 
 but the ends serve to fix buffers and give a more correct appearance to 
 the toy. 
 
 The flat plate, before being thus bent, will have the form of Fig. 108. 
 The shaded part is that to be cut away, the white part being the plate 
 that will ultimately remain. Take the plate you design to use, and 
 hammer it on an anvil all over, rendering it as flat as possible, and then 
 file or grind it to a true surface. You need only put a finish on the 
 upper side of it. Now draw your centre lines exactly at right angles to 
 each other, C D, B E. You will notice that B E is not in the actual 
 centre line — i.e., not equi-distant from both ends — but this is because 
 you have to leave an extra length at the tender end to form the footplate 
 for the engine driver to stand on, and for another reason, to be pointed 
 out by-and-by, and B E is more convenient where placed, i.e., as the 
 centre line of the remainder of the bed plate. If the whole plate is 5in. 
 long, you must not have less than l^in. of it for the footplate, and then 
 it will divide as shown, the centre line B E being Sin. from one end and 
 2in. from the other. On each side of these primary lines we have to draw 
 others as shown, i j and k I for the edges of the sides, forming the side 
 frames ; ah, g h, are the lines to show where the plate is to be sharply 
 bent down to form these sides, cd, ef, the sides of the hole to receive 
 the boiler ; F H, G K will form the ends of this hole, and also the centre 
 lines of the wheel boxes to take the axles, this being for a four wheel 
 engine. These lines will fall half way between 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 
 respectively. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance to draw all these guide lines w ith great 
 care upon the plate and to work accurately to them, or the wheels will 
 be untrue or some part crooked, and the probable result will be that the 
 engine will refuse to work. You may also mark a little cross line, 5, 6, 
 7, 8, to show where the side frames are to be drilled for the axles of the 
 wheels, but you may have, perhaps, to test the accuracy of these after 
 bending down the plate, as you may possibly spread or stretch it more 
 on one side than the other. The hole for the boiler may be made by 
 •cutting with a sharp chisel or flat punch, or by drilling rows of holes and 
 then cutting with a small saw or punch, the file being used to finish, and 
 remember you will have to use a three square file to get into the corners. 
 You will have a difficulty in bending nicely the part which is to form the 
 side frames if you cut the latter first to the curve here delineated, 
 ))ecause the plates are thus rendered so narrow. They should not be cut 
 
TOYS WOEKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 227 
 
 further than about M N before bending, so as to leave them sufficiently 
 broad to bear the process easily, and a half round file will subsequently 
 finish them to the required shape. 
 
 The plate should be as mentioned, yVin. thick, to allow of sufficient 
 filing after it is bent to get nice sharp edges, and you will hardly succeed 
 with a lighter plate ; and, if you are making an engine of larger size — over 
 6in. — a casting should be used, as providing a more satisfactory article 
 to work upon. We have always, in these toys, to consider the weight, 
 and to diminish it as much as possible, as our driving power is at best 
 too limited, but by the time a plate, originally Tain, thick, has been filed 
 and ground and finished to a nice surface, it will hardly gauge more than 
 ^in., which will do well enough, but when the boiler is half full, and a 
 fresh supply of spirits in the lamp, it will be found to need nice fitting 
 and a very tolerable pressure of steam in the two cylinders to drive the 
 engine. The cylinders should be of ^in. bore and fin. stroke, even for an 
 engine 4in. long, with a tin boiler and a foundation plate, worked down 
 to -ioin, or 2Vin. gauge. The 6in. engines are worked, indeed, with cylinders 
 of this size, but are rather apt to hesitate in their progress unless upon 
 a very level table, or upon nicely made metal rails. 
 
 To finish the top surface of the bed plate you can buy a very effective 
 little tool called a matting punch, which, however, should not be used 
 until the plate has been brought to a bright face. The punch will indent 
 the surface in a regular pattern, making it look more like the roughened 
 surface of the footplate of a real locomotive. Having satisfactorily 
 accomplished this foundation plate, taking care not to cut the place for 
 the boiler so large as to let its bottom interfere with the axles of the 
 wheels or with the tube of the lamp, we have to decide on the position 
 of the cylinders, which are to be single (or double) action oscillating ones. 
 The second object alluded to in making a footplate l^in. long out of the 
 whole 5in. of such plate is to get room for the cylinders to act on the 
 hinder wheel. Even then, if you have them lin. long and fin. stroke, 
 they will partly overlap these wheels, and it will be the same if you place 
 them in front or between the wheels. This necessitates a longer crank 
 pin, and the steam blocks against which the cylinders work must be thick 
 enough to place them clear of the wheel. These blocks are to be fixed to 
 the side frames of the footplate, as far back as you can get them. For 
 such an engine you can use wheels liin, diameter or a little more, and 
 the crank pin will have to be inserted in one of the spokes at a distance 
 of fin. from the centre of the axle to give the fin. stroke. The two steam 
 blocks which are to convey steam to the cylinders are connected by a 
 straight tube passing under the footplate from one to the other, and 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 from the middle of this, and forming a T with it, rises through the foot- 
 plate the main pipe to the steam chamber of the boiler, into which it is 
 made to enter as high as possible above the level of the water to avoid 
 priming or getting water into the cylinder from the spray caused by 
 ebullition. If the boiler has a steam dome above the general level of its 
 cylindrical portion the steam pipe is turned up into this, so as to be still 
 further removed from the water. The small engine, however, under 
 consideration will probably not be made with a dome. 
 
 Although, in point of fact, the use of brass for the footplate and of 
 brass tube for the boiler has been mentioned, a tin boiler and lamp is 
 amply good enough for so small a toy, even if, for the sake of stiffness, 
 the footplate is made of the first-named metal. This substance is light 
 and cheap, and may be had of any degree of thickness that may be de- 
 sirable. When japanned green or bronze colour it has, moreover, a suf- 
 ficiently attractive appearance. The wheels are always of brass, as they 
 require to be nicely turned in the lathe, and should be made with a flange 
 or raised rim if meant to run on a line of railway. Moreover, when thus 
 made they have a more decided locomotive look about them, and good 
 looks count for something even in these days of education and science. 
 The axles will be of wire and quite straight, and may be attached by 
 solder, if necessary, after being inserted in a neatly drilled hole in the 
 boss of the wheel. But here again an improved method is to tap the 
 boss, cut a fine screw upon the wire, and screw the wheels on. Care, 
 however, must be taken not to make a loose fit, but rather to file the ends 
 of the wire axles slightly conical, so that they shall screw up very tightly. 
 They can be very nicely adjusted in this way to run just clear of the 
 frame, and yet to have no more play than absolutely necessary. It is 
 not generally required to make such small axles with a shoulder at the 
 bearings to prevent motion sideways, but if it appears desirable (and it 
 is no doubt a safer plan) , this can be easily done by careful filing, allow- 
 ing the wire a size or two larger at the onset so as to permit of this 
 reduction. For the pair of leading wheels, unconnected with the driving 
 power, such precaution will certainly not be necessary. The only object 
 of this extra work is to keep the driving wheels accurately in place, so 
 as never even for a moment to touch the side frames. 
 
 The oscillating cylinder not requiring a slide valve or an eccentric, 
 the toy maker will escape in the present instance the adjustments, which 
 in a slide valve engine are apt to give trouble. There is, in fact, but one 
 rod to adjust at all, namely, the piston rod, upon the end of which is 
 screwed a little brass knob drilled through to fit upon the crank pin of 
 the driving wheel, see A B, Fig. 109. The only chance of failure 
 
TOYS "WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 229 
 
 at this point, therefore, is from having the crank pin so far from the 
 centre of the wheel that it jambs the piston against the ends of the 
 cylinder. The whole stroke of the crank, it must be remembered, will 
 be twice the distance of the pin 
 from the centre of the wheel, and 
 this must be always a trifle less 
 than the whole travel of the piston, 
 which is not actually to touch ^^^W^ 
 either end of its cylinder in its A 
 alternate movement. The direc- fig. i09.~Piston Eod, with Drilled 
 tions given will sufiice for the Knob. 
 small engine, which, when com- 
 plete, will be like Fig. 110. A separate tender for the lamp is not 
 here used, but is a part of the engine itself. 
 
 Slide valve locomotives are more difficult to make, but a great part of 
 the engine will be similar to that last described. As a superior toy, 
 
 however, it wiU deserve a brass boiler with two tubes, or one with a 
 single flue traversing it from end to end, to receive the wick-holder of 
 the lamp, which should have two tubes rising at an angle, as shown 
 in the drawings of boilers. The framing may consist, as before, of 
 a base plate of brass, the side frames attached by small screws, as this 
 plate may now be a little thicker, and will not be readily bent down 
 
230 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEUES. 
 
 to form the bearings for the axles of the wheels. Small screws and suit- 
 able taps in handles are procurable at all model shops. 
 
 The cylinders will be made with a pair of small bosses or a flat piece on 
 one side by which to attach them to the bed plate in such a position 
 as to bring the slide valve and its casing on the inside next to the boiler, 
 but as the cylinders will be attached to the under side of the bed plate, 
 the valve rod will not be in the way of the boiler, but work quite free. 
 The eccentric will be placed, as a rule, just inside the wheel bearings, 
 while the piston rod and its connecting rod will be outside these and also 
 outside the wheel. But the valve rod will be sufficiently far from the piston 
 rod to permit this arrangement, and should there be any difficulty, owing 
 to the driving wheel having too broad a rim, it is easy to bend the eccentric 
 rod so as to keep it clear. All this is, however, provided for in the 
 bought castings, which, when turned and finished, will be found to fit 
 into place without entailing any of the suggested difficulties. It will be 
 found, however, advantageous in fitting a slide valve locomotive to turn 
 the axle of the driving wheels to a shoulder where the wheel is to go, and 
 to use a nut to secure it. The eccentrics can then be driven on at right 
 angles to each other, and so fixed ; and then the adjustment of their 
 position with reference to the cranks can be managed by turning the 
 driving wheels round until their cranks are each at right angles, or nearly 
 so, to its own eccentric, when a turn of the nut will secure the wheels 
 and cranks. Either the cranks or the eccentrics must be capable of 
 a certain amount of adjustment, and it is a less awkward job to adjust 
 the wheels, as these are outside, and easily got at. 
 
 If the eccentric is to be itself adjustable, it should be made to fix with 
 a little screw, but these are very liable to work loose and to get 
 lost, and as the adjustment is always between the crank and the valve, 
 or its eccentric, it is of no practical importance which of the two is made 
 to shift its position ; and the bigger article is the easier to handle. Of 
 course, when the cranks are themselves a part of the axle, as in engines 
 with inside cylinders, there is no possibility of working in this way. You 
 must then of necessity have the power of adjusting the disc of the eccen- 
 tric by turning it round on its axle until it is in the right position, but 
 this need not be done when the crank is made by inserting a pin into 
 one of the spokes of the driving wheel. But if the crank is not formed by 
 a pin in the spoke, but is put on outside, this crank can be the adjustable 
 part. All depends on the plan of the engine. The driving wheels of slide 
 valve locomotives are generally larger in proportion than those made 
 with oscillating cylinders, and a slot has to be made in the foundation 
 plate to permit them to project through it. The wheel bearing will be 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 231 
 
 just inside this. The piston rod guide, which is always necessary when 
 the cylinder is fixed and a connecting rod leads to the crank, is generally 
 a little brass eye screwing into the foundation plate, and the piston rod 
 has fitted upon it a small block of brass, as shown in our drawing, into 
 which is fixed the screw, which forms the pin of the connecting rod. The 
 latter in the simpler models is merely a flat brass rod drilled at each end 
 to fit on the screw just spoken of and upon the crank pin, which is, in 
 fact, another screw. This connecting rod may require to be bent to clear 
 the foundation plate and piston rod guide, but this will present no 
 difficulty. 
 
 With eccentrics the toymaker should set them on in their places at 
 right angles to each other. This is because the cranks are also to be so 
 arranged, thus doing away practically with dead points, for one engine 
 will be at full stroke when the other is at the dead points, and the 
 power tending to drive the wheels will consequently be continuous. If 
 both cranks were arranged to be in the same position an engine might 
 chance to stop when both were on a dead point, and the engine could not 
 be again started, the whole strain exerted tending only to breaJs the crank 
 pin. The only other detail which has no counterpart in an oscillating 
 cylinder engine is the link motion, as it is called, by which the motion 
 of an engine is reversed. In the case of a model it adds considerably to 
 the work and difficulty of construction, and in small engines is not worth 
 the trouble of making, although it may be so for large models, and can- 
 not be omitted in those which profess to be miniatures of those in daily 
 use upon our various railways. The use of four eccentrics is involved, 
 two to each engine, and two links, with their fittings, such as will be 
 presently described, with a common shaft leading from one to the other, by 
 which a single reversing handle is made to act upon both links simul- 
 taneously. There are several modifications, but the slotted link is 
 probably easiest to make and apply in a model. 
 
 In Fig. Ill, p. 232, A is the rod of the slide valve, which should work 
 in a guide like that of the piston rod. Its end is attached to a block of 
 brass fitted to slide in the slot of the link, or rather to allow the link 
 to slide up and down upon it. The link has two eyes or lugs, to which 
 are linked by a hinge joint the ends of the eccentric rods, B and C {i.e., 
 of the two eccentrics belonging to either of the slide valves). Of these, 
 one is the forward, the other the backward eccentric, and these are at right 
 angles to each other as regards their '* throw." In the position of the 
 parts, as seen at A, the motion of the eccentrics communicated to their 
 rods will have no effect upon the valve rod A, as the link itself will only 
 move upon the end of A as a hinge or pivot. This is the position at the 
 
232 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 time the engine is still, or with no tendency to advance or retreat. But 
 when the reversing handle or lever E, which is pivoted as shown, is 
 pulled back or thrust forward, the bell crank turning with the shaft D 
 as its centre, through the medium of the connecting rods, lifts or lowers 
 the link until the end of the valve rod is in a line with one or other of 
 
 Fig. 111.— Slotted Link Arrangement. 
 
 the eccentric rods, which is thus in a position to act on the valve rod as 
 if it were a part of it, the other eccentric rod then merely causing the 
 free end of the link to oscillate. Thus, according as the forward or back- 
 ward eccentric rod is brought in a line with that of the valve, it acts upon 
 the latter, and the locomotive is made at pleasure to proceed in either 
 direction. 
 
 The eccentric rods are arranged as regards length just as if no link 
 was present, because it is evident that when either is brought to agree 
 with the valve rod, it is practically a continuation of it, as it is when 
 there is only a hinged joint and no reversing gear. The circle D repre- 
 sents the shaft which forms the fulcrum of the bell crank, and this is 
 fitted in a pair of bearings carried by the base plate, the shaft passing 
 across from side to side under the boiler. The links here illustrated are 
 straight, and they will answer as well thus, but they are often curved, 
 the radius being taken from the centre of the shaft of the crank axle. 
 
 At Fig. 112 a sketch is given of a slide valve locomotive complete. In 
 a toy engine we can, of course, turn it upside down, and get at all parts 
 
234 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 underneath the boiler easily enough, but we can do more. We can adjust 
 all these moving parts before the boiler is placed in position — a fact that 
 the toymaker may possibly overlook, as he will be naturally anxious to 
 get the boiler fixed upon the foundation plate. But in a toy the cylinders 
 and all working parts are attached to the framework alone, and the only 
 connection with the boiler is the steam pipe. You can, indeed, actually 
 use any separate boiler to try the working of the ecgine, by inserting, 
 temporarily, its steam pipe into the valve casing, and blocking up the 
 four leading and trailing wheels, so that the driving wheels are alone left 
 free to turn. Even if you use the boiler of the locomotive itself for this 
 purpose, so as at the same time to test its steam-producing powers, it is 
 the better plan to arrange it apart from the engine with a long steam 
 pipe. You can then see exactly how the moving parts work, and alter 
 and arrange where necessary. Then you know for certain that when the 
 boiler is in its place everything will be satisfactory. 
 
 In the sketch here given it will be seen that the crank is outside the 
 wheel, on the end of the axle, and is quite independent of the spokes, and 
 the wheel is inside the side framing of the engine. Many real engines 
 are thus constructed, and this gives facilities for eccentric adjustment if 
 you like to work by means of the crank instead of by shifting the 
 eccentric. Full directions for this part of the work were given in 
 describing the stationary engine, and, of course, the details are similar. 
 The escape steam from the cylinders may easily be made to go into the 
 funnel of this engine, all that is necessary being to carry a bit of bent 
 brass tube from the exhaust port to the funnel, and then the puff -puff of 
 the little locomotive will be true to the real original. I have shown the 
 boiler with a dome and safety valve in one, which is a very common 
 arrangement, and the two can be purchased ready to put on, the valve 
 held down in the orthodox manner by a spring. A whistle is affixed 
 at the end next the tender, where also the steam pipe and cock and 
 reversing handle are seen. Between them is the manhole, covered by its 
 screw cap, for filling the boiler, and the gauge-taps for ascertaining the 
 height of the water are at the end underneath (but really on one side of) 
 the steam pipe. If a dome be used, this steam pipe, remember, must 
 turn up inside it, so as to take steam at the highest possible point. This 
 was explained in treating of the fixed or stationary engine. Difficulties 
 are sure to be met with, but these will be reduced by making, as before 
 advised, a good full-sized working drawing of every part before proceeding 
 to the manufacture. It is impossible to work satisfactorily without it. 
 
 In the toy locomotive the several joints must work easily, so as not to 
 increase friction unnecessarily, without, however, being actually loose. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 235 
 
 No one should start locomotive engineering without making a model of the 
 kind, on account of the nice fitting of so many parts, but should stick 
 for a time to those with oscillating cylinders until the band gets ac- 
 customed to the particular class of work. But when the first difficulties 
 are passed, and model making has become tolerably easy, the better plan 
 will be to commence the slide valve and reversing engine upon a tolerably 
 large scale, say, with boiler Gin. or Sin. long, and cylinders of fin. to jin. 
 bore. This will be an engine worth working at, and, when finished, worth 
 looking at. Moreover, it will give less trouble in making, because the 
 
 Fig. 113.— Diagram of Circular Eailway. 
 
 different parts will not be so small, and so difficult to finish satisfactorily 
 on that account. We are not all born watchmakers, and the small 
 models, if of a complete character, need watchmakers* tools, watch- 
 makers' handiness and skill, and, not seldom, watchmakers' magnifying 
 glasses too. 
 
 It will not be necessary to carry locomotive toymaking further, so I shall 
 conclude this chapter with a description of a circular railway, without 
 which the engine department would hardly be complete. The advantage of 
 a circular instead of a straight line of rails is that the engine can go ahead 
 
236 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 continuously, and does not need the reversing gear. It is not very 
 satisfactory to have to start a locomotive upon the table or floor, and 
 catch and carry it back, or turn it round every time it comes to its 
 journey's end. A circular railway permits pace to increase ad lihitumt 
 and a very pretty sight it is to see a little model rushing along with 
 its miniature carriages and trucks, without requiring momentary 
 attention. 
 
 The rails consist of a strip of narrow iron hoop about as thick as 
 clock spring — thin hoop, in fact, which you can get anywhere. The 
 sleepers are, practically, the spokes of a big wheel in which saw cuts are 
 made at the required distance apart to receive the hoop, edge upwards. 
 The wheel need not be actually made complete, but the sleepers must 
 radiate towards a common centre. A very good plan for a small engine 
 is to get two very large wooden hoops, such as are made for children, 
 but one about 6in. larger than the other. Place them concentrically 
 one inside the other on a level table, and then insert pieces as shown 
 at Fig. 113, p. 235, radially, and in them make saw cuts to receive the 
 rails. These latter are shown by the two black lines in the drawings. 
 They should fit nicely in the wood and stand up equally ; or, if there 
 is any difference, and you are going to run the train at high speed, 
 let the outer rail be the higher of the two, as it is in a railway curve, 
 to check the tendency of the train to fly off the rails owing to centrifugal 
 force. 
 
 A self-acting signal, for the railroad already described, is easy to make, 
 and should stand near a neat little station of wood. A (Fig. 114, p. 237), 
 shows it as it would appear, standing attached to the outer hoop of the 
 railway; C is the signal arm standing at "dangerous" or "stop." 
 After having been released by the passing engine, the arm is raised to 
 this position and held by an indiarubber cord, marked G. This may be 
 the finest of ordinary elastic. B is part of the bent lever seen in the 
 section on a larger scale at the second B, the signal post being double, 
 made of two neat strips, kept apart and parallel by blocks (H) at top 
 and bottom. When the arm of the signal is down it is caught by the 
 hook at B, and the horizontal arm (E) of the bent lever comes just 
 above the level of the rail, and, therefore, will be depressed as the wheels 
 of the engine pass over it. By the depression of E the hook (B) is 
 drawn away from the end of the arm (C), and instantly the latter flies out, 
 owing to the elastic spring, and stands at danger. It has, of course, to 
 be lowered by hand until again caught by the hook of the bent lever. 
 It will be found much easier to let the arm be raised by a spring, 
 because if it is done by a lever direct the latter will need more power 
 
TOYS WORKED BY STEAM. — LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. 237 
 
 to press it down, and it must be also depressed further to raise the 
 signal to a horizontal position. Arranged as shown, the lever can be 
 balanced so that the least touch will set it free, and the speed of the 
 engine will not even be checked. If this and the whistle, however, are 
 
 Fia. 114.~Self-Acting Signal. 
 
 to be automatically managed, a lever standing up between the rails can 
 be made to open the whistle and also turn ofP the steam, if long cock 
 handles are brought down through slits in the bed plate of the engine. 
 
CHAPTER 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY —FRICTIONAL 
 MACHINES, &c. 
 
 In this chapter it will be well to first define, so far as it is possible, what 
 is signified by a current of electricity, and then proceed to describe the 
 means by which we can most readily produce it and use it for the various 
 purposes for which experience has shown it to be adapted. These pur- 
 poses are many, and will, in all probability, become yet more numerous 
 and more important as knowledge of this force and its capabilities is 
 extended. The first and simplest method of making manifest the presence 
 of electricity is by friction, and there are comparatively few substances 
 in which it does not exist in a latent condition. A stick of sealing wax 
 or resinous substance affords a ready means of experiment, so does a rod 
 of glass or a glass bottle, a bit of gutta percha or vulcanite (indiarubber 
 hardened by sulphur) — any of these will serve the purpose. Take, for 
 instance, a dry rod of glass, and give it a rub on the coat sleeve, and if 
 held over a feather or light bit of paper or bran it will attract it like a 
 magnet, but presently it will be repelled and thrown off, to be again 
 attracted and again repelled, until, presently, the effect ceases. 
 
 This attracting and repelling force is electricity. It exists in the glass, 
 or rubber, or both, in a latent or invisible form until brought into activity 
 by the friction. Moreover, it is plain that we may compare it with a me- 
 ohanical force ; it will do a certain amount of work — lifting and repelling 
 in this case — until, in some way, a balance is attained. Then its work 
 ceases until we again call the latent power into operation. Upon the 
 whole, the most convenient theory, perhaps, is to consider electricity a 
 fluid capable of being directed in a certain course like a stream of water 
 or current of air ; but we are obliged also to recognise it as a compound 
 fluid or a kind of double force, quiet and peaceable till we separate its 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY — ERICTIONAL MACHINES. 239 
 
 component parts, when there is no rest until they come together again. 
 The one part is known as positive, the other as negative electricity. Let 
 A (Fig. 115) represent a closely coiled spring. We may mark its coils 
 alternately plus and minus (+ — ) to represent positive and negative. 
 Now, if we stretch the coils open, as seen at B, their tendency will be to 
 re-unite, and they will do so the moment we remove the force which keeps 
 them apart. This may very well represent electricity as a compound in 
 which, in its normal condition, the positive and negative elements are 
 united, but which by friction are made to separate, but only to re-unite 
 when the necessary conditions of re-union are present. 
 
 Other causes besides friction wiU destroy the balance and cause a state 
 of tension between the positive and negative elements of this fluid, and. 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 Fig. 115.— Theory of Positive and Negative Electricity. 
 
 except for experimental purposes, frictional electricity is not now made 
 use of, as there are more convenient modes of producing electrical 
 tension. Bearing in mind this compound nature of the fluid, we may also 
 consider ifc (as already stated) as a current or stream, capable of flowing 
 through, or by means of, suitable conductors, but refusing to travel by 
 these conductors unless they are made of certain materials. Acid and 
 salt water and metals are good conductors ; glass, earthenware, india- 
 rubber, and resinous substances are bad ones, and it will be at once 
 noticed that these are the substances in which electricity is excited by 
 
240 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 friction. It has, however, been proved that electricity can be excited 
 in the metals, but it passes off or resumes its normal condition so imme- 
 diately, owing to their rapidly conducting power, that its presence in a 
 state of tension is but momentary, and does not so remain long enough 
 to develop visible electric phenomena. 
 
 In toys worked by electricity the motion may be due to attraction and 
 repulsion acting alternately by some special arrangement of the appa- 
 ratus or machine, or by the current itself flowing in one direction only, 
 and without reference to its compound nature ; or by inducing magnetism 
 in a piece of soft iron, and making use of this as the motive power, the 
 latter being very much used. For it is found that magnetism — that subtle 
 force residing naturally in the loadstone — can be induced in a rod of iron 
 by causing a current of electricity to flow around it, and, on the other 
 hand, that magnetism in motion will produce a current of electricity. 
 It may be well to remark here that Heat, Magnetism, and Electricity 
 are called co-relative forces, because each will produce the other as if 
 they were in reality the same thing, in different states or under different 
 conditions. Light is again allied to these forces, making up the quartet 
 and perfecting the natural harmony. No better subjects of experiment, 
 study, and research offer themselves to scientific students or scientific 
 toy-makers. 
 
 To enter further into the question of what electricity is would be not 
 only foreign to the subject of this book, but would serve no useful 
 purpose. 
 
 We must now consider the best modes of producing or exciting 
 electricity. There is, first, the old electrical machine, a very easily made 
 toy, and a good one. We have found that by rubbing a rod of glass the 
 latent electricity is made to assume a state of tension, but this is practi- 
 cally not a very convenient apparatus. It is, however, evident that we 
 can substitute a much larger rod, which then becomes a glass cylinder, 
 and we can mount it upon an axle with a winch handle to turn it, and can 
 then apply a fixed rubber to it. We need not use a solid cylinder, because 
 it is found that electricity lies upon the surface only, so that a hollow 
 cylinder will serve perfectly well. In most books on electricity a machine 
 made with an empty wine bottle as its cylinder is shown. This will no 
 doubt serve the purpose to a certain degree, but it is difiicult to fit up, 
 and generally so uneven that a rubber cannot be made to apply very 
 efficiently to its surface, even though pressed against it by a spring. 
 Glass is very cheap, moreover, and when a thing of this kind is to be 
 made and used for scientific experiment, it is better to lay out a shilling 
 or two in order to obtain materials sure to prove satisfactory. A cylinder 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — FRICTIONAL MACHINES. 241 
 
 6in. long can be bought for 2s. 6d., or less, and as there is nothing else- 
 that need be purchased to complete the machine, it is well worth the 
 moderate outlay. I shall therefore presuppose that a small glass cylinder 
 has been purchased. 
 
 This will be like A, Fig. 116, with two necks, one at each end, meant 
 to receive a pair of brass or wooden caps (like B) to support the axles 
 on which the cylinder is to turn ; one axle to receive the handle, or a- 
 
 Fig. 116.— Details of Electrical Machine. 
 
 pulley, if a multiplying wheel is to be used. In a machine I myself made, 
 which works very well, I turned a pair of caps of dry boxwood and sub- 
 sequently coated them with sealing wax varnish. They were drilled to 
 receive a wooden axle made to pass quite through the cylinder, and then a 
 saw cut was made across the caps on the outside of each, like C. The 
 axle D, of hard wood, being passed through the caps, the cylinder is 
 secured by a pair of pins, which lie in the saw cuts, and compel the 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 TOYMA.KTNG FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 cylinder to turn with it, while at any moment, by taking away the pin 
 farthest from the handle, the axle can be wholly removed, and the cylinder 
 taken out to be dried or cleaned. The caps should be secured with 
 electrical cement, composed of rosin melted in a ladle, and brick dust or 
 red lead stirred into it while hot. This is poured into the cap, the neck 
 of the cylinder having been warmed, and when the latter is pressed on it 
 will be held with sufficient firmness. The cap should not be too tight a 
 fit, but made so as to leave room for the cement. 
 
 It must be remembered that perfect dryness of the glass is essential to 
 success. In all probability the cylinder will arrive in a more or less dirty 
 condition, and the natural impulse is to wash it inside and out ; having 
 done so you discover the impossibility of wiping the inside, owing to the 
 narrow necks. Hence you put it before the fire, and after a while it seems 
 dry, and you insert the axle and grind away, but it will not give out 
 electricity. I had a cylinder that was a great plague— dry it would not, 
 but was all over dewdrops as soon as it cooled. I mastered it by insert- 
 ing powdered quicklime, which, as I expected, absorbed every particle of 
 damp, and I never had a machine which worked so well. It exists still 
 with its internal whitewash, and is always ready for action. A substance 
 sold by operative chemists, called calcium chloride, has the same property 
 in a still greater degree, and might be used in the same way, but powdered 
 lime is very satisfactory, and, of course, easy to obtain. Never mind the 
 look of the whitewash — you want electricity. It is, moreover, a good 
 plan to keep a dry duster similarly defiled, which will dry and polish the 
 outside of the cylinder, only it must not scratch it ; and all parts of the 
 machine, glass or metal, are to be kept or rendered quite warm and dry 
 before use, otherwise disappointment is sure to occur. 
 
 The stand ought to be not merely of dry stuff, but of hahed wood, and 
 it must also be covered with a coat or two of good varnish to protect it 
 from the absorption of damp, for, as stated before, water, especially if 
 salt or acid, is a conductor, and will lead the electricity away as fast as 
 it is produced. Instead of this we want, as it were, to bottle it up for 
 use, or to lead it where we please before it has a chance of getting dissi- 
 pated. Nearly all failures with frictional electrical machines and appa- 
 ratus arise from dampness or atmospheric infiuences upon the material 
 of which the machine is made ; and, therefore, all woodwork should be 
 coated with a good varnish — that made by dissolving sealing wax in 
 spirits of wine or naphtha being very generally used for this work. The 
 stand of the electrical machine need only be sufficiently long to take the 
 uprights which support the axle of the cylinder, but it should be wide 
 enough to allow the pedestal or support of the prime conductor to be 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — FRICTIONAL MACHINES. 243 
 
 attached firmly to it. True, this support is often made separately, but 
 this is not so convenient, nor does it give so firm a base to the conductor, 
 which then is inclined to fall over, when for experimental purposes other 
 apparatus is attached to it. Do not use deal for the stand or for the 
 uprights. It is just as easy to obtain ash, beech, or mahogany, any one 
 of which is very much better than deal, which is very liable to split, and 
 is of too yielding a character for this work. Mahogany, dried or baked, 
 is probably the best, but beech or ash is satisfactory. Let the uprights 
 be fitted by mortise or dovetail, and glued into their appointed places. 
 They may be cut out of the same strip, which is planed truly square, 
 and then sawn across, but of course may be worked independently. The 
 axle should not be merely passed through holes, but these last should be 
 bushed with stout glass tubes to make the best possible job, as you thus 
 secure more perfect insulation, the electricity not being able to fly to the 
 woodwork and escape. Glass is always a good insulator — earthenware is 
 likewise good. 
 
 Keep this also in mind. You are going to excite into activity the 
 electricity on the glass cylinder, and your object is to collect and use it. 
 But the tendency of the fluid is to escape or to re-establish the balance 
 you disturb. Practically, it will escape to the earth, unless you prevent 
 it by leaving it no conductor to travel by. If the air is damp, as in 
 foggy weather, the machine will rarely work at all, the fog conducting 
 the fluid away at once. In dry frosty weather it answers exceedingly well 
 always. Another tendency to be guarded against is the escape of the 
 fluid from projecting points of metal, from which you may see in the 
 dark that it flies off like a luminous brush. There is often unsuspected 
 waste from this cause. In making an electrical machine, therefore, round 
 off corners and place knobs upon the ends of all rods of metal, and smooth 
 all surfaces as much as possible. The drawing (Fig. 116) affords full 
 instructions in the details of the simplest form of machine, but it is a 
 good plan to increase the speed of the cylinder by means of a multiplying 
 wheel, which can be fixed on a stud upon the right hand standard, and 
 have a cord carried over a small pulley on the axle of the cylinder. 
 The only practical objection to this arrangement is that cords are apt to 
 get slack or to slip, or in one way or another cause trouble ; but a leather 
 cord, united by hook and eye, screwed to its ends, such as can be pur- 
 chased at any tool shop, is by far the best and freest from drawbacks of 
 the above kind. 
 
 The rubber or cushion is the next consideration, and here, again, I 
 have practised a rather unusual mode of construction, which is, notwith- 
 standing, to be recommended. We have to arrange this so as to press 
 
 r2 
 
24>4 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 against the cylinder as it revolves, and there should be some contrivance 
 by which this pressure can be increased or diminished at pleasure, while, 
 again, the cushion should be readily got at for scraping, cleaning, or fresh 
 amalgamation (the latter will be explained in due course) . First make the 
 frame like H H K (Fig. 116), of which the top is a flat board 2in. wide, 
 on which to make a leather cushion stuffed with dry hair, quite dry and 
 warm. L is the cushion, ^in. thick, and as flat on its face as it can be 
 made. H H are mortised or half -lapped into M, which is a bar of 
 wood (ash or beech) a little longer than the cushion, which is the length 
 almost of the cylinder, and it is pivoted to short upright standards, 
 E E, fixed securely in the stand of the machine. Thus arranged, we can 
 turn back the cushion completely out of the way at pleasure. The spring 
 to keep it pressing against the cylinder is of stout brass wire, about a& 
 thick as a crow quill or stout whipcord. This is best as shown at F, and 
 again at G, and the end set in a hole in the stand of the machine. It is 
 easily adjusted in respect to the pressure it is to exert by bending it 
 more or less, and it can be lifted out and removed at pleasure. There 
 should be a knob at the end, but otherwise this part of the machine must 
 not be insulated, and it will be all the better if a brass chain is attached 
 to this spring, and the end allowed to rest on the floor. We want to get 
 here as much of the earth's electricity as we can, and it is thus the 
 supply is kept up which we take from the glass by friction. For we must 
 find some reservoir of this mysterious force, and if we were merely to 
 get from the glass all that is about it, the result would be a mere nothing, 
 a spark and no more. Now the earth is the great storehouse, which is 
 practically inexhaustible, and we therefore bring it into the circuit as 
 stated, and make all possible use of the supply thus obtainable. As 
 fast as we draw from the cylinder the earth supplies more, and we may 
 grind away as long as we like with continuous good effect. But, at the 
 same time, I may state that we cannot keep on bottling what we obtain. 
 After a while the tension is so great that with a loud crack the balance is 
 restored, sometimes causing fracture of part of the apparatus. Nature, 
 on a grand and gigantic scale, works in the same way. Electric dis- 
 turbance takes place ; tension is set up and increases until the discharging^ 
 point is reached, then come a flash of lightning, a thunder clap, and, for 
 the time, equilibrium is restored, to be again and again disturbed, how- 
 ever, until the storm ceases, i.e., until the atmospheric electricity has 
 resumed its normal quiescent state. 
 
 Fig. 117 shows an electrical machine put together, constructed in 
 accordance with details already given. A is the glass cylinder turned by 
 a winch handle, M. F F are the standards mortised into the base 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — ^FRICTIONAL MACHINES. 245 
 
 board. D is the roller of the cushion on the further side. K is a 
 silken flap attached to the cushion and varnished on the upper side. 
 Its object is to prevent the electricity which is excited by the cushion 
 or rubber escaping before reaching the prime conductor, B. This con- 
 ductor is usually a bit of brass or tin tube, about 2in. to Sin. diameter, 
 mounted on C, a glass insulating pedestal. A row of points of brass 
 wire stand out from its side, and are made just to escape contact with the 
 <}ylinder. These points collect the electricity, and lead it to the conductor, 
 from which it cannot readily escape, because of the insulating pillar. The 
 conductor need not be of metal. A very good one may be made like G, 
 
 Fia. 117.— CrLiNDER Electrical Machine. 
 
 of wood coated with tinfoil, smoothly laid on, or even coated with black- 
 lead, such as is used for grates, because the electric fluid lies upon the 
 surface only. The points are often put at one end, so that anything can 
 be hung from a rod and ball fixed into the opposite end. If the conductor 
 is of wood care must be taken that the metallic coating touches H and 
 this other rod. An insulating stand is absolutely necessary and easily 
 made by inserting a rod or tube of glass into a wooden block. A glass 
 bottle is often used to form such a stand. I have a conductor made of a 
 tin tube with rounded ends, at one of which the points are placed, and a 
 wire nail or screw, soldered by its head to the middle of the tube, goes 
 
246 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 into the cork of an empty pickle bottle containing a few bits of lead, ta 
 make it stand more securely. Nothing can answer better. Eound all 
 ends, leaving no sharp edges. A door knob soldered into the end of a 
 tube answers well for this. Where you cannot get rid of an edge, coat it 
 well with sealing wax varnish. E is called a Leyden jar, and is used to 
 bottle up the electricity, which, however, does not fill the bottle or 
 saturate the air inside it, but only affects the surface of the metal coating, 
 the latter being tinfoil pasted on outside and in, to half the height of the 
 jar. A pastrycook's jar makes a very good one. The wire with the knob 
 is passed through the cork and connected with the inner coating of foil by 
 a bit of brass chain, L is a discharging rod, of which more will be said 
 by- and- bye. 
 
 The machine illustrated has by an error had the handle placed at 
 the wrong end ; it should be at the other, or the cushion on the near 
 side, otherwise it will turn back handed, which is awkward. If a 
 pulley is at M, however, and a multiplying wheel below, with a crossed 
 cord, it will be right, as the cylinder will turn from the cushion. 
 Turned in the other direction it will crumple up the silk flap. The 
 cushion is coated lightly with amalgam, which vastly increases the 
 effect. This can be bought at Is. per small box, but is easily made as 
 follows : Melt in a ladle loz. of zinc, ioz. tin, warm, l|oz. of mercury, 
 and stir it well together in the ladle. Pour this into a mortar, and when 
 nearly cold (it pounds better a little warm), add tallow to make a stiff 
 paste. Smear a little of this on the cushion, not too much, and with the 
 apparatus illustrated you can go to work, and exceedingly shock ** your- 
 self or your friends. First see that all is dry and warm, and free from 
 dust. The latter, however, will be sure to arrive shortly, as it will be 
 attracted to the glass and conductor. Hang a bit of brass chain from the 
 conductor to touch the outside of the Leyden jar, or hold the latter in 
 your hand, grasping its outer coating, and presenting its knob to the 
 prime conductor (this will not electrify or affect the holder in the least). 
 If all is right, and the knob does not actually touch the conductor, a 
 stream of sparks will fly from the latter to the knob of the jar, which 
 will presently be highly charged. This charge, or electrical tension, is 
 on the glass on each side, conducted to it by the metallic coating, and if 
 this coating is not pasted, but made to slip off, it may be removed, and 
 will not be found to be in an electrical condition ; and if another coating 
 be now substituted it will answer just as well. There may be possibly 
 some special state induced by or upon the foil while contact remains 
 with the glass, but it is supposed to act chiefly as a conductor to spread 
 the fluid over the glass. The result, however, is that positive and 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — FRICTIONAL MACHINES. 247 
 
 negative electricity are respectively excited on the inside and outside of 
 the glass jar; and, to restore the electricity to quiescence, they must 
 now be allowed to unite. Holding the bottle by its coated or conducting 
 surface in one hand, apply the knuckle to the knob. You thus become 
 the conductor, and receive a shock, as the positive and negative particles 
 unite with a sharp crack. Stand the jar on the table in this experiment, 
 or probably you will drop it, especially if it be a large one, in which case 
 you will feel the shock at least up to the shoulders. 
 
 Now, it is plain that you need not become the conductor unless you 
 prefer it. You may take L, the discharger, or merely a bent wire, and 
 bring the knobs one to the outside coating and the other to the knob, 
 you will thus produce a spark, but get no shock, because metal is a good 
 conductor. So much more readily, in fact, will electricity pass through a 
 metal conductor than through the human body, that if you take P, a 
 curved brass wire, in your hand and apply the knobs as before, the electri- 
 city will not fly off to the hand, but the jar will discharge itself through 
 the wire. If, however, there are several such jars, or a large one, this is 
 not a safe method, unless the wire is of good size, and the hands dry and 
 free from perspiration. The discharger, in that case, must be made with 
 a glass handle, or serious consequences might ensue ; for sometimes the 
 discharge will branch like forked lightning, part going by the wire and 
 part flying off to the body. There is no danger of this with small 
 machines, such as the reader is likely to buy or make. It may strike the 
 toymaker that a Leyden jar is but a sheet of glass rolled up into the 
 cylindrical form, and that the same effects would result if a flat sheet 
 were coated on each side. And so it will, and this form is more easy to 
 make, and will answer often better, because you can so easily dry and 
 warm it on both sides. I have largely used these coated sheets of all 
 sizes. But the foil must not extend nearer to the edges of the glass than 
 about an inch, or the tension will sometimes cause a discharge to take 
 place over the edge, the electricity leaping the narrow insulating border 
 of glass. 
 
 One advantage of a flat plate of glass is that it is so easy to coat it with 
 the foil, and having so coated it, to use it as an accumulator of the elec- 
 tric fluid. It is charged, of course, in a similar way. The plate is laid 
 flat on the hand, which is then in contact with the foil on its under side, 
 and it is held so that sparks from the conductor fall on its upper coating ; 
 or it is laid flat on the table, and a chain from the prime conductor 
 allowed to rest on its upper surface ; or the chain may be on the table, 
 and the plate laid upon it, conducting the charge to the under side. 
 In either case one side is directly and the other indirectly charged ; the 
 
248 
 
 TOYMAKING POR AMATEURS. 
 
 latter by what is called induction, for if positive electricity is made to 
 accumulate on one side, negative is developed on the other, and only by 
 the union of the two is discharge accomplished and equilibrium restored. 
 The plates of glass are so cheap that various sizes may be made. I 
 have them from Sin. or 4in. square to 14in. or more, and one of thicker 
 glass, 2ft. long by a foot wide, but the shock from this is not agreeable. 
 The several plates or jars can readily be used in combination, by con- 
 necting all the lower metallic surfaces, and all the upper by a wire laid 
 upon them, making a battery equal to one large plate. 
 
 Some pretty effects are produced by making scratches through the 
 foil, or putting it on in a series of diamond-shaped bits not quite touch- 
 ing each other, when, during the process of charging, the electricity 
 will be seen sparkling all over it as it leaps the intervals, and when 
 discharged, the whole surface is momentarily rendered very brilliant. 
 Any device or names may be thus scratched through the foil and illumi- 
 nated. In short, in scientific toymaking, electrical apparatus affords 
 great facility for amusement and instruction, and, in a darkened room, 
 the pale purple spark is very beautiful. 
 
 An electrical machine will often work better if a chain be hung on the 
 back of the cushion and suffered to trail upon the floor. The cushion 
 must on no account be insulated on glass supports, unless this chain is 
 used to bring it into communication with the earth. If made as directed, 
 it will act without such chain, as the wood is a fairly good conductor, 
 but it will be still better if the cushion is backed by a bit of wire 
 gauze, or by a plate of brass under the wood back, and a screw passed 
 through this to touch the metal. Then, by hanging a chain on the 
 screw, the conductive arrangement is very perfect. We learn much by 
 most simple experiments of this kind. Stand th machine on a sheet of 
 glass laid upon the table, or upon four saltcellars of glass, or tumblers, 
 or earthen jars, and you will grind away in vain. Then, while all is thus 
 arranged, drop a chain from the cushion to the floor or table, and at once 
 electrical effects become possible, the earth keeping up the supply; at 
 any rate this is the apparent cause, and may be accepted as a satisfac- 
 tory theory. Then, the secret of success is, do not let the electricity get 
 away to earth again until it has ^passed through whatever apparatus yon 
 'please. Keep it as your slave until you have done with it. It will give 
 light and heat and motion and magnetism, and various chemical effects, 
 such as separation of compound bodies and deposition of metals. 
 
 In making a Leyden jar we coat the inside of it with foil. Will any 
 other metallic conductor answer ? Why not ? Fill the bottle half full 
 of iron filings, and you will find it equally satisfactory. Try water. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — FRICTIONAL MACHINES. 249 
 
 especially if salt is dissolved in it, and the result will be the same. Vary 
 the experiment thus : Coat the outside of a tumbler with foil, fill it half 
 full of water, and charge it by dropping a chain from the prime conductor 
 into the water while holding the tumbler by the covered portion. Eemove 
 the chain by drawing the tumbler gently away. Now drink if you can. 
 The moment the water touches the lips the electric circuit is complete, 
 the lips form one end of the discharger, the hand the other, and equili- 
 brium is restored with a spark and shock. A small tumbler will be 
 quite enough for this experiment. Charge it again, and, holding it by 
 the outside coating, dip the finger of the other hand. The shock will 
 be felt, and more pleasantly than through the lips. All these experi- 
 ments depend on the same fact — the two surfaces of the glass are charged 
 with positive and negative electricity respectively, and are then con- 
 nected by a conductor, metal or water, or some part of the body, and 
 discharge takes place with a spark. 
 
 To make the toymaker himself a prime conductor. This is easily 
 done. Consider for a moment what the peculiarity of the other conductor 
 is. It is merely a conducting material insulated on a glass leg. Let 
 anyone place himself in a similar position, and he will fulfil the task 
 equally well. Turn upside down upon the floor an earthenware pan, or 
 place four glass saltcellars on the floor and lay a board upon them, and 
 in either case you have made for yourself a non-conducting stand upon 
 which to mount. Take in one hand a chain from the prime conductor, or 
 lay one hand upon it, taking care not to allow the clothes to touch the 
 table, and you then become to all intents and purposes a part of the 
 prime conductor. Now let someone turn the machine, and if anybody 
 standing on the floor presents the knuckle to the unhappy toymaker' s 
 nose, or lip, or ear, a spark will pass from him with the same sensation 
 as that caused by the prick of a needle. While standing in this insulated 
 position a Leyden jar can be charged by sparks drawn from the living 
 machine. 
 
 We must now consider one or two other features of the apparatus apart 
 from the Leyden jar and electric discharge. I stated the fact of attrac- 
 tion and repulsion, but did not enter into details. Hang over the small 
 wire of the conductor a narrow strip of paper folded so that the two parts 
 touch, or a bit of silk, and turn the handle of the machine. The two 
 parts will instantly separate. Both are similarly electrified, and repel 
 each other. Make an insulating stand by fixing a bit of glass tube in a 
 disc of wood (as in B, Fig. 118), or take a corked bottle and stick into 
 its cork a piece of brass wire bent at right angles similar to that shown 
 in A. From it suspend by a filament of silk a pith ball, covered with 
 
250 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 a bit of gold leaf or tinfoil. Electrify this by placing it near the con- 
 ductor, or by a bit of wire carried from the latter to the horizontal 
 arm. The ball will fly to the finger after being electrified, and having 
 thus discharged its electricity will drop back again to its former position. 
 It is easy to make a light body oscillate by electricity in this way, and 
 there are many simple arrangements to show this phenomenon. One of 
 the usual ones is the following : C (Fig. 118), a disc of metal or coated 
 cardboard is hung from the prime conductor, thereby becoming a part 
 of it, and below it is a similar disc on a wooden or metal stand. A 
 figure is cut out of paper and laid on the lower disc, or a pith ball is 
 
 Fia. 118,— Electrical Apparatus. 
 
 used, or a little bran. As soon as the cylinder of the machine is turned 
 these are attracted, as all light bodies are, and fly up to the upper disc. 
 As soon as they touch it they become similarly electrified and are repelled. 
 No sooner do they fall again on the bottom disc than they part with the 
 charge, which escapes to earth, and they are at once attracted as before 
 to the upper disc, as there is more electricity in the prime conductor 
 than they can take up by a single momentary contact ; even after one or 
 two turns of the cylinder they continue to dance up and down for a few 
 seconds after the cylinder ceases to revolve, until gradually all the elec- 
 tricity is dissipated. We find, then, that bodies similarly electrified repel 
 each other, and, when differently electrified, are mutually attracted. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — FRICTIONAL MA.CHINES. 251 
 
 Another experiment of a similar character may possibly ^ve a clue to 
 the sharp shower accompanying a thunder storm. Hang a sponge, 
 wrung out just so much that the water will not drip from it, to the prime 
 conductor. The moment the machine is set in motion, drops begin to fall, 
 which, as the electricity increases, becomes a shower. The drops being 
 similarly electrified, repel each other, and are also repelled by the sponge 
 itself. If the latter is a miniature representation of a thunder-cloud we 
 can see why, in such a case, the storm is produced, the cloud repelling, 
 while, at the same time, the earth attracts the electrified water. There is 
 no doubt about the attraction and repulsion constituting a powerful force, 
 for, if a tube is drawn out to so fine an orifice that water will not flow 
 out, yet, if we electrify the fluid, it will spurt forth as it would out of a 
 squirt, and, if these experiments with such a very minute quantity of 
 electricity give results of this kind, we can readily conceive what will 
 ensue when Nature works on so gigantic a scale. Another common experi- 
 ment depending on the same force is to make a dolFs head of exceeding 
 ugliness out of a bit of wood, and adding a quantity of tow for hair, to 
 set it up by means of a short wire in a hole on the prime conductor 
 (D, Fig. 118) of the machine. Electrical repulsion affecting each hair 
 causes the said hair to stand on end in a most grotesque fashion. By 
 many other simply constructed pieces of apparatus the phenomena of 
 frictional electricity can be shown ; but in practice there are many draw- 
 backs to this method of obtaining electricity. The simple fact of there 
 being an absolute necessity of working a handle to set the fluid in motion, 
 precludes its adoption for general purposes, and I shall now pass from 
 frictional to galvanic electricity, suitable for telegraphing and other 
 purposes. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY.— GALVANIC 
 BATTERIES. 
 
 With galvanic electricity, so long as the battery is in order, and 
 metallic connections perfect, a constant supply of the electric fluid is 
 maintained in the convenient form of a ceaseless current flowing through 
 such apparatus as may be connected with the battery. Like a faithful 
 servant awaiting orders, the power is always ready for transmission in 
 any direction through the conducting wires. With the fluid, the toy- 
 maker has at hand a ceaseless field for the exercise of his ingenuity. 
 Telegraphs and engines, clocks and bells, are but a few of the many 
 interesting scientific toys which can be constructed with the least possible 
 difficulty, and all have this great advantage over such as are actuated by 
 steam, that they need no lamp or fire. There is no danger of explosion, 
 no liability to set up an involuntary conflagration ; hence, also, the solder 
 will not melt, and the apparatus tumble to pieces ; and one battery will 
 work a number of different toys. In addition to imparting motion to 
 miniature machinery, a little toy electrotyping and plating can also be 
 carried on ; and some of the toys, moreover, can be constructed so as to 
 answer useful purposes, notably electric bells, which are of very simple 
 arrangement, and offer but little difficulty to an amateur electrician. 
 The one consideration (as in frictional electrical experiments) is to know 
 exactly the laws which govern the force. Having studied and thoroughly 
 apprehended these, it will not be a difficult matter to devise toys which 
 depend upon them for their action. 
 
 Many of our most valuable discoveries have resulted not, as has 
 been so often said, by accident, but from the attention paid by men of 
 scientific attainments to phenomena which less observant students pass 
 by unnoticed. This was emphatically the case with galvanism or elec- 
 tricity, produced by chemical agency, which proved a more valuable 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — GALVANIC BATTERIES. 253 
 
 (because more manageable) source than friction. It was noticed that 
 when two metals, one more oxidisable than the other, were immersed in 
 a fluid capable of acting upon the oxidisable one, a current of electricity 
 was set up as soon as metallic connection was made between them, 
 and that it ceased to flow when this connection was interrupted. Here 
 was quite a novel mode of exciting electricity, but it was soon proved 
 beyond a doubt that the fluid was identical with that previously obtained, 
 although in some degree differently disposed. It is, in fact, when 
 thus set in motion, more truly a current of electricity than when 
 produced by the frictional process. With the latter I have shown 
 that we can collect it by means of a coated sheet or jar of glass, 
 and then discharge it in a moment with a report and shock if the 
 operator is not protected. 
 
 The shock produced by galvanic electricity is continuous, a series of 
 shocks succeeding each other so rapidly that they produce a violent 
 cramp in the muscles, which may be so severe as to produce partial or 
 permanent injury. It is the same kind of difference as exists between 
 a violent blow and continuous pressure ; they are different in kind and 
 degree, yet the result may be the same, namely, crushing of the 
 parts subjected to the force. But however amusing it may be to give 
 a friend a shock, this is not the scientific mode of using the electric 
 current, and will not conduce to the furtherance of the art of 
 toymaking — it merely shows the effect of electricity upon our animal 
 economy. 
 
 The galvanic battery in its simplest form consists of a slip of zinc 
 and one of copper inserted in a vessel containing salt and water, or 
 dilute sulphuric, or hydrochloric acid and water. The current produced 
 by this is sufficient for some few purposes, such as electrotyping on 
 a small scale, -i.e., depositing metals from their solutions, but is not 
 powerful enough to set in motion mechanical toys. The metals must 
 not touch where inserted in the solution, but may be brought into 
 contact by leaning against each other at their upper ends, or by means of 
 a copper wire or one of platinum, both of which are excellent conductors. 
 In point of fact, metallic connection is the requisite for the passage 
 of the current, but some metals have proved more suitable than others for 
 the purpose. Platinum is too costly for general use, and next to this 
 copper wire, especially if covered with silk, cotton, or gutta percha, is the 
 most serviceable. This, however, owing to its commercial value, has to 
 be set aside if great length is required, when iron wire usually takes its 
 place. It is iron wire which is used for ordinary telegraphic communica- 
 tions, but it is coated with zinc to preserve it from the effects of the damp 
 
254 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 atmosphere, and is then known as galvanised wire. The zinc, however, 
 while preserving it from rust, greatly reduces its tensile strength, render- 
 ing it comparatively brittle. It seems to penetrate its substance to a 
 certain extent. 
 
 We need some ready means of detecting the presence of the galvanic 
 current, and a magnetic needle or small compass admirably answers the 
 purpose. The moment the current is made to pass, by connecting the 
 wires of the battery, a magnetised needle placed under or above it is 
 deflected to the right or left, standing, if the current is strong, at 
 right angles to the wire. This is the principle of the needle telegraph 
 invented by Wheat stone, and which is still used, although others are 
 
 Fig. 119.— Details op Galvanic Battery (Danibll's Arrangement). 
 
 gradually superseding it. But the simple battery described is not suffi- 
 ciently permanent and steady in its action to supply electricity for 
 telegraphic purposes, and the arrangement of Daniell is, on the whole, 
 the easiest and best for the toymaker to construct. The elements are 
 zinc and copper, as before, the exciting fluid dilute sulphuric acid, 
 but the zinc is inclosed in a porous jar of earthenware, or in a vessel of 
 canvas or brown paper, and is then kept apart by itself, but standing 
 within the copper cylinder. The latter is filled with a solution of sulphate 
 of copper kept saturated by means of crystals of the salt so placed as to 
 he gradually dissolved. Fig. 119 represents this arrangement in detail. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — GALVANIC BATTERIES. 255 
 
 A is the battery complete ; a is an outer vessel of copper, forming at once 
 the negative element and the cell to contain the solution of sulphate. 
 The capacity is from 1 pint to 1 quart, but may, of course, be varied 
 to suit circumstances. A gallipot will do just as well, with a strip 
 of sheet copper bent into the form of a cylinder placed inside it {h) ; and 
 C represents a porous cell, usually of plaster of Paris, seen again at 
 h ; E is a circular shelf of perforated copper, with hooks to support 
 it inside the outer vessel. It serves to steady the porous cell which 
 stands within it, and also to support the crystals of sulphate of copper. 
 B is one form of zinc, a flat plate supported by a cross wire, or a bit 
 of wood or tobacco pipe placed through a hole in it, and resting on the 
 edge of the porous cylinder. Instead of this, a neater plan is to cast a 
 cylindrical rod of zinc as at D, and to solder in it the wire which carries 
 the binding screw. To fit over this, a round disc of wood is made with a 
 turned flange or tenon, fitting easily inside the porous jar, and a stout 
 wire is soldered at e to the copper cylinder. 
 
 With this battery, if the zinc is amalgamated, no wasteful action goes 
 on until connection is made by a wire between the copper and zinc 
 elements. As soon, however, as this is effected, the zinc begins to be 
 acted on by the sulphuric acid, and a current of electricity is set up. 
 The zinc is gradually dissolved, and the metallic copper is deposited in 
 the form of a red-brown coating all over the inside of the outer vessel, 
 thus partially exhausting the copper solution. The waste is, however, at 
 once supplied by the crystals of copper salt placed on the shelf. We have 
 here not only a battery, but what is called a decomposition cell, in which 
 the copper is constantly being separated and deposited from the sulphate 
 of copper solution. It is this coating which keeps up the steady action of 
 the battery, the zinc element in the simpler form gradually forming a 
 deposit on the face of the copper, while bubbles of hydrogen from the 
 zinc solution also attach themselves and diminish the surface of the 
 metals exposed, thus reducing practically the size of the plates. 
 
 In some batteries on this same principle the porous cells are made 
 differently, being inserted as divisions in a long, narrow wooden trough, 
 which is thus divided into compartments. Square plates of zinc and 
 copper are then used, connected by a copper band, and these are hung 
 over the porous divisions, so that a zinc and a copper plate face each 
 other in each cell. Thus far the battery is the Cruickshank, and, filled 
 with sand saturated with the acid solution, was long used for telegraphy. 
 But the cells, being now subdivided by porous plates of unglazed 
 earthenware, so that the zinc and copper of each cell, though facing each 
 other, are yet kept apart, we have the Daniell principle, merely arranged 
 
256 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 somewhat differently. The cells are, of course, charged, as before, with 
 zinc-sulphate solution next the zinc, or sulphuric acid or salt and water 
 in the cells in which the zinc plates are suspended, and with sulphate 
 of copper in the others. With covers to prevent undue evaporation of 
 the fluid, this is an excellent battery for telegraphic purposes and for 
 working all kinds of toys. From one to six cells, holding plates Sin. 
 square, will be quite enough for experiment, and a dozen cells will work 
 a telegraph with some miles of wire between the intruments. It will be 
 well, I think, before describing electric toys, to advert to one more fact 
 of galvanic electricity. If a bit of soft iron is surrounded by coils of 
 insulated wire, or wire covered with cotton or silk or other substance, 
 so as to prevent entirely metallic contact between adjacent coils, the iron 
 will become a magnet while the current passes along the wire, but the 
 magnetism will cease as soon as the current ceases. 
 
 No more important discovery was ever made ; and electric bells, clocks, 
 and telegraphs, with electro-motive machines of various kinds, depend 
 upon this property of the electric fluid. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY.— MOTIVE 
 MACHINES. 
 
 The first and simplest of electro-motive toys I will now describe is 
 actuated in the way as mentioned in the last chapter. A, Fig. 120, 
 p. 258, is a wooden stand holding", in an upright position, the horse- 
 shoe magnet (B) ; this is a permanent magnet of hard steel, of which 
 the north and south poles are marked N.S. Between them rises an 
 upright steel rod, on the pointed end of which a soft bar of iron (E), 
 wound with coils of covered copper wire, is balanced to turn easily. 
 The ends of this wire, which are uncovered, are formed into loops, 
 from which hang loosely two bits of straight wire, amalgamated 
 with mercury at their lower ends, and dipping into a circular trough 
 of mercury, divided across by a partition of wood. 
 
 The wires from the two elements of the battery are brought through 
 the bottom of the circular trough into the mercury, one on each side of 
 the central partition. The result is that when the hanging wires are 
 each in the mercury, one on each side of the partition, the course of 
 the electric current is complete, and the fluid pervades the wire and 
 renders the soft iron magnetic, establishing in it a north and south pole. 
 But like poles repel each other, and unlike attract, and the revolving 
 magnet which forms an armature to the permanent one, takes up a 
 position at right angles to the other. But matters are so arranged 
 that by this movement the hanging wires have been carried across the 
 central division of the mercury reservoir, and have each dropped into the 
 other's original place, thereby reversing the current. The poles are 
 by this changed, the north becoming the south, and vice versd. The 
 consequence is that with the impetus which carries it on a little 
 further the circuit is completed, only to commence as before the 
 moment the pendent wires again come into their first position. A 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 TOYMAKING TOR AMATEURS. 
 
 similar apparatus can be made, in which the coils and soft iron form 
 the horseshoe magnet and the suspended needle the permanent one. This 
 answers as well, but it is more difficult to arrange a commutator to 
 reverse the current. 
 
 Passing from this, which, although it will keep in rotation, has very- 
 little power, we may go on to those in which there are several magnets 
 arranged in a circle, coming successively into action. The main difficulty 
 with all electro-motors is that, great as is the power of attraction between 
 
 Fia. 120.— Simple Electro-Motive Tot. 
 
 a magnet and its keeper, the distance is but small through which this 
 is exerted. If the keeper be nearly close, it may be attracted with 
 immense force, but at an inch distance the power of attraction may be 
 quite inappreciable. Battery power also, when it is obtained, as it 
 usually is, by the sacrifice of the zinc, is too costly for economical 
 application. This has much retarded research in this direction, and only 
 recently have fresh attempts been made to arrange something practically 
 useful as an electro-motive engine. As yet, however, nothing has been 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTEICITY. — MOTIVE MACHINES. 259 
 
 contrived which can be called even promising. There appears to be a 
 sonrce of enormons power at hand, and yet, from the above reasons, it 
 appears impossible to apply it satisfactorily. It is easy to arrange the 
 machine, and no power is so well controlled, but unless it can be used 
 more economically than steam, the latter will retain the important place 
 which it has so long held. Batteries are made, indeed, with other 
 elements, but somehow the zinc is the one not easy to replace, and it 
 must be consumed, or there is no electricity generated. The negative 
 element may be silver, copper, gold, platinum, coke, carbon, and, 
 possibly, many other substances, but the zinc still remains as the 
 positive element. 
 
 A number of magnets are arranged round the periphery of a wheel, 
 disc, or cylinder turning upon an axle, and around these are ranged a 
 succession of keepers, permanent magnets or otherwise. Each of the 
 magnets on the cylinder is therefore tolerably close to its keepers at any 
 moment, so that as soon as the battery power is made to act upon the 
 electro magnets, attraction takes place. Just as the magnet and keeper 
 are on the point of contact, or exactly opposite to each other, connection 
 is broken for a moment, so that the impetus is allowed to carry the wheel 
 round towards the next set of keepers, on approach to which the power 
 is again brought into action and the wheel pulled a little farther round. 
 In principle the action is simple, but when it is worked out in detail it 
 has not given quite such satisfactory results as might have been expected. 
 This is, nevertheless, of necessity the principle of all motive engines 
 actuated by electrical agency, and very large sums are constantly expended 
 in the attempt to produce in this manner a really satisfactory machine, 
 that may be used for railway and other purposes. 
 
 We can construct a toy motor as follows : Arrange four, six, or as 
 many electro magnets as can be managed, round a horizontal axis, and 
 these, being in succession connected with the terminals of the battery, 
 must attract or be attracted by one or more fixed magnets or pieces 
 of steel arranged as armatures. I will now give details of one such 
 toy, from which it will not be difficult to devise others ; but before 
 describing it it will be as well to remark here that the wire of the 
 electro magnet and its coil, however well covered, is not always so 
 perfectly insulated as to prevent electricity from passing sideways 
 from coil to coil, or from some one coil of the first layer to the 
 magnet itself. Hence, care taken in the perfect insulation is always 
 sure to be well repaid. Do not, therefore, wind the first coil directly 
 upon the soft iron core, but insert the latter through the hole of 
 a bobbin made like a cotton reel with big ends, or put on a cylinder 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 of card, and wind outside it, and if the work is important, roll 
 round each coil a strip of thin sheet gutta percha, or coat it with 
 paraffin wax. Use wire of 16 or 20 gauge, and lay on about four 
 coils, one over the other, but leave out the ends, as you will need to 
 use them. 
 
 For the machine or toy under consideration, the electro magnets need 
 not be over two inches long. They will be of soft iron, the size of a 
 cedar pencil, and, for a mere toy, we need use no bobbins, but just wind 
 round a fold of bladder or paper cut in a strip and wound in a coil. We 
 will wind four layers on each, and set five of them round an axis of box 
 or other wood. The best way is to turn down a bit of each about ^in. 
 long, and cut a screw on it, or make the magnets of wood screws, which 
 will do very well, as the iron is soft, and, being pointed, we can readily 
 screw them into a wooden axle, like so many spokes of a wheel. For the 
 
 Fig, 121.— Coil, Axle, &c., showing Means of Making and Interrupting 
 Communication. 
 
 purpose of getting more power, we can, if we like, make two sets of such 
 spokes, but one will do for a toy. The axle is made of wood, but it has 
 a cap of brass upon the end, the use of which is to enable metallic con- 
 tact to be made with the battery, each magnet being alternately acted 
 upon. This arrangement is called the commutator, or break, because 
 the current is thereby alternately sent through the magnets and cut off 
 again. There are other ways of making this part, but I give that which 
 appears to me the most simple and efficient. 
 
 It will be readily understood that on each coil there must be two ends of 
 wire, and that, in order to send a current through the coil, one end must 
 be in metallic communication with the zinc or positive element of the 
 battery, and the other with the copper or negative terminal. Now, if 
 Fig. 121 (A B) is inspected, we shall see how this communication is 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — MOTIVE MACHINES. 
 
 261 
 
 made and broken as the axle revolves. Let P N be the two battery wires ; 
 these are soldered to D C, which are two strips of hammered brass rising 
 from the stand of the instrument. F and H are the two ends of the wire 
 surrounding one of the magnets. Of these, one is sunk into the axle by 
 laying it in a groove in the wood, but its end, scraped clean and freed 
 from its cotton covering, is in metallic contact with M, the metal cap of 
 the axle. F, the other end of the wire, stands above the surface, and is 
 scraped bright, and is in contact with the spring (D). Whenever, there- 
 fore, the revolution of the axle brings D and F into contact, a current of 
 electricity will pass from the zinc of the battery through the coil and back 
 to the copper, the circuit being complete ; but when by its revolution the 
 axis carries F away from the spring (D), the latter falls on the wood of 
 the axle, which is a non-conductor of electricity, and the circuit is broken, 
 and the soft iron core of the coil ceases to be magnetic. All the wires 
 have one of their ends connected to the metal cap and the other lying 
 above the surface, the end only being bent down and inserted in a hole in 
 the wood to keep it secure. 
 
 Then the spring which lies in contact with the projecting wires passes 
 over the sunken ones, and these may be further protected by a coating of 
 sealing-wax varnish. Where contact is intended to take place, both wires 
 should be coated with mercury, or amalgamated, as it is called, to 
 prevent corrosion, and, as I have also spoken of amalgamating the zinc 
 of the battery, I will now describe the process, because it is of common 
 occurrence in galvanic apparatus. The zincs are washed clean, and then 
 wiped over with a little dilute sulphuric acid and fluid mercury, which 
 may be placed in a dish and the zinc held in the same while it is being 
 wiped over with a bit of tow ; or the zinc may be laid flat in the dish in 
 the mercury and acid and wiped in this way until a bright coating is spread 
 over the surface. The sulphuric acid of the battery will act but very 
 slightly upon zinc thus protected until the wires are connected, so that 
 waste of the metal is to a great extent prevented. When a single 
 cell is not powerful enough to drive a machine, two or more can 
 be connected, uniting the zinc of one to the copper of the next by 
 a bit of wire. The terminals of a Daniell generally end in brass 
 knobs with binding screws for the purpose, but it will be equally 
 effectual, and often more so, to twist together an inch or two of 
 the wire to be joined. Flat copper bands are also excellent terminals, 
 especially if amalgamated. 
 
 In the sketch (Fig. 122, p. 262,) of the electro-motive engine which 
 I have been describing, the support of the revolving cylinder and the 
 commutators are not shown, but will be understood from the drawing 
 
262 
 
 TOYMAKING rOR AMATEURS. 
 
 in connection with the previous figure. Here A is a circle or ring 
 of wood, supporting at equal distances short bars of steel, preferably 
 magnets, marked C. This is fixed to a base and stand (F). D is the 
 capped end of the revolving cylinder E, into which, as explained, radiating 
 electro magnets (B) are fixed. The wires from the coils, here made with 
 wooden bobbins, are carried as shown in the previous figure, so as to 
 bring the magnets alternately into action. When, however, there are a 
 
 Fig. 122.— Electro-Motive Engine. 
 
 number of these, it is easy so to arrange the commutators as to cause 
 electricity to affect two, four, or all six, as may be desired, so that they 
 shall be attracted by the fixed magnets (C). But matters must also 
 be so arranged that the electric action shall cease the moment the fixed 
 and rotary magnets are opposite each other, to permit the motion to 
 be carried on by impetus alone until each magnet again comes within 
 attractive reach of the fixed magnet. Now, if we add to the single circle 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — ^MOTIVE MACHINES. 263 
 
 of magnets two or three others on the same axis, and set circles of fixed 
 magnets intermediate to the first, we can obtain a continuous power, the 
 magnets being placed so as to form a spiral like the thread of a large 
 screw. In this way, far greater power is obtained, since every magnet 
 may be so placed as to be almost close to the fixed one, upon which it is 
 momentarily to act. In every case, however, the power so obtained fails 
 to become an economical one ; otherwise it is so manageable and generally 
 advantageous that it is no wonder our engineers are constantly recurring 
 to it as a motive power. There is not one which is so promising, yet 
 so tantalising. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 TOYS WORKED BY ELECTIIICITY.— BELLS. 
 
 There are few persons who have not at various times and places been 
 annoyed by inefficiently hung bells, and there are not many houses in 
 which one or more are not defective. However well arranged at first, 
 rust very soon obstructs the freedom of their action, or paper-hangers and 
 painters and whitewashers one and all cause the cranks to stick fast or the 
 wires to corrode and break. None of these drawbacks attend the use of 
 electric bells, because the wires and their supports have not to move at 
 all, but simply to convey the electric current from the battery to the 
 magnetic arrangement, by which the hammer or clapper is made to act 
 upon the bell. The latter may thus be placed at any distance from the 
 bell pull or **push, " and the wire can be carried round corners and 
 bent about in any direction without detriment to the ringing powers 
 of the apparatus — an advantage of itself sufficient to recommend the 
 system for general use. Nevertheless, so wedded is John Bull to old 
 contrivances, that the electric bell is but slowly supplanting the old and 
 imperfect arrangement. Perhaps, like many other scientific appliances, 
 the electric bell is generally considered a mere toy, not of very much use 
 for practical purposes. This is quite a mistake, but the idea being 
 exactly suited to the subject of the present book, we will call it a toy, 
 and as such describe it. 
 
 There are two forms of electric bells in use. In one the bell makes but 
 one stroke on pushing in the handle ; in the other it continues to ring like 
 the alarum of a clock as long as the hand of the operator presses in the 
 handle or push which connects it with the battery. A third arrangement 
 is sometimes used, in which the operator cannot himself stop the 
 ringing after once setting it in action, and it is then thrown out of action 
 by the servant or other attendant who answers the signal. Only one bell 
 is required for several rooms, and there is an indicator in the circuit. 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTRICITY. — BELLS. 
 
 265 
 
 which acts upon a sort of telegraph, and causes a disc to display a 
 certain letter or number to indicate the particular room from which the 
 signal has been made. Here is another advantage over the old system, 
 in which each room has its own particular bell, with its connecting wire, 
 cranks, and other fittings, all costing money, and all liable to injury by 
 rust or breakage. The only question that really arises is, whether the 
 battery can be relied on as the source of power ; and in practice this 
 has been favourably answered where the Leclanche carbon cell is 
 used. But, permanency not being, as a rule, a characteristic of toys, we 
 can experiment with the Daniell battery, which will serve the purpose 
 very well indeed. 
 
 The electric bell is made to act by the magnetisation of a bar or 
 horseshoe of iron like that previously described, a coil of covered 
 copper wire conveying the current of electricity from the battery to the 
 magnet. The hammer which strikes the bell is attached to, or itself 
 forms, the keeper, and its sudden attraction, when the current passes, 
 causes it to give the blow. Fig. 123, p. 266, will sufficiently explain such 
 a bell, and will be found to represent one of a very simple form, easy to 
 construct. It is a single stroke bell, i.e., one blow is given each time the 
 key is depressed by the person sending the signal. A is the bell, which 
 can be bought for a shilling at any clock maker's. It is mounted upon a 
 short and stout wire driven firmly into the wooden board forming the 
 support of the apparatus. Its edge need but just clear the board, so as 
 to allow it to sound freely. B is the hammer attached to C, a steel or 
 hammered brass spring, fastened by the screw D, so that the hammer 
 is about ^in. from the bell at E — the middle of the spring is riveted — an 
 armature (E) just clearing the poles of the horseshoe magnet (F). This is 
 also fixed to the board by a strap over its bent part, or by a holding down 
 clamp of any other kind. I have already described this kind of magnet> 
 and need only observe that the soft iron should be fitted with brass 
 bobbins, and wound with eight or ten layers of cotton-covered wire> 
 number 25 or 26, or thicker if preferred. The horseshoe may be of iron of 
 fin. thick and Sin. long in each leg, and bent so as to bring the poles fin. 
 apart. The keeper, like the magnet, is to be made of a short, flat bit of 
 soft iron, as steel, if used, will become permanently magnetic, and the 
 object in this case is to prevent any trace of magnetism as soon as the 
 connection with the battery is broken. 
 
 In winding the bobbins, it is essential to keep the coils in the same 
 direction upon both, and here a mistake is easily made, for the direction 
 is shown at R S, which at first sight looks wrong ; but wind a coil upon 
 a bit of stick, break it in half, and turn the two pieces up on end, like 
 
TOYS WOEKED BY ELECTRICITY. — BELLS. 
 
 267 
 
 the legs of the horseshoe, and the wire or string* will be seen to take the 
 direction here illustrated. Let the ends be ultimately brought to two 
 binding screws (G H), or twisted round two screws of ordinary form. 
 From one of these a covered copper wire goes straight to on© pole of 
 the battery. 
 
 We have now to turn our attention to K L. This is one form of 
 "push" or touch, " by which the magnet is put in connection with 
 the battery, but it may be varied in any convenient way to suit a 
 particular case. L is a lever of brass turning upon a pivot or axle. It is 
 bent up at each end, and to one of these ends is attached the wire leading 
 to the magnet ; at the other end is screwed a knob (K) of porcelain or 
 wood, but care is taken that there shall be metal underneath to touch the 
 pin or stud (M), also of metal, when the knob is depressed by the hand. 
 When not depressed it is held free of the stud by a spring underneath it. 
 We can now see exactly by what means the bell is rung. When the handle 
 is pressed down it will be observed that the connection with the battery 
 and electro magnet is complete. The current flowing from P passes to the 
 binding screw (G), thence to the coil from which it emerges at K, thence, 
 passing to the metallic lever (L), it proceeds by the stud (M) to the second 
 wire attached to the other pole of the battery. As the circuit is thus 
 complete the horseshoe becomes a temporary magnet, and attracting the 
 keeper (E), this is brought down quickly, causing the hammer to make a 
 stroke upon the bell ; as soon as the hand is again lifted from off th© 
 knob (K) the circuit is broken, the horseshoe ceases to be a magnet, and 
 the bell hammer again flies up to its original position over the edge of the 
 bell. However rapidly the knob is again and again depressed the magnet 
 will answer so that the bell may be made to keep up a peal or only caused 
 to utter a single sound. 
 
 In practice with a powerful battery it suffices to have one wire the same 
 as now used for conveying telegraphic messages, but two will be far better 
 in a toy or model. No. 16 covered wire is about the best to use, and 
 a battery of two of Daniell's quart cells will provide sufficient electricity 
 to ring from the top of the house to the bottom. To make a bell that 
 will continue to ring as long as the hand is steadily pressing down the 
 touch, it is only necessary to make the hammer spring a part of the 
 circuit. A stud is placed at E, behind the spring, against which it rests, 
 and from this stud one of the wires goes to the battery ; the other wire is 
 led to D, the push being, of course, in the circuit as before. In this case^ 
 as soon as the magnet attracts its keeper — giving also a stroke upon the 
 bell — the keeper being drawn away from the stud behind, it causes the 
 circuit to be broken ; it then flies back again against the stud, which. 
 
268 
 
 TOYMAKING rOR AMATEURS. 
 
 instantly renewing communication with the battery, causes attraction to 
 take place again, with the same result of instantly breaking the circuit. 
 This goes on with lightning rapidity, so that the strokes upon the bell 
 are renewed instantaneously, the hand remaining steadily upon the touch. 
 It is quite as easy to arrange matters thus as to make a bell to give but 
 a single sound. 
 
 All connections which are made and broken by simple contact of the 
 metallic terminals require close attention. They should always be made 
 by means of amalgamated copper or small discs of platinum soldered on. 
 If there be rust or dirt at any one such point the circuit will be rendered 
 incomplete. This would be the case with the top of the stud (M) and the 
 metallic termination of K. It will, of course, be necessary to strip off 
 the cotton covering of the copper wire where it passes the binding screws, 
 and here again the screws as well as wire should be amalgamated 
 with mercury. 
 
 At Fig. 124 is illustrated a different form of push to that previously 
 described, in order to show the variation that may be made in this 
 part of the apparatus. It consists of a bent lever of brass, with a 
 handle or knob of porcelain at one end for the finger and thumb. It 
 turns upon a central screw, to which one wire of the battery is connected. 
 The battery wire goes from F to the stud H, to which one end of 
 the wire from the magnet is also fastened. The other wire from H 
 on the bell board comes to the other stud, marked G. If the handle 
 of the push is moved to the left till it touches the stud L, the other 
 end of the bent lever then resting against G, the current will pass from 
 one pole of the battery by the studs and bent lever to G, thence to H, and 
 along the hammer-spring to the stud (C). It will then go to the magnet, 
 and by its coils and line wire to H, and finally to F, the opposite pole of 
 the battery. The connection being complete, and the horseshoe magnet 
 drawing down its keeper and making a stroke on the bell, connection will 
 be instantly broken between the keeper and the stud (C), and the former 
 will fly back to the stud owing to the cessation of magnetic attraction, 
 then at once renewing the circuit and causing the same effect as before. 
 The stud on the opposite side of the push handle is merely a stop 
 for the lever to rest against. 
 
 The indicator, which allows of one bell being used for several rooms, is 
 in itself a very simple affair, which is illustrated in Fig. 125, p. 270. A 
 mahogany box contains a set of small electro magnets, which are connected 
 each with the line wire of a particular room, and are thus brought into 
 the circuit between the touch of that room and the electric bell common 
 to all the rooms. To the keeper is attached a slide carrying a tablet 
 
TOYS WORKED BY ELECTEICITY. — BELLS. 
 
 269 
 
 or disc, which is seen through a hole in the front of the case when the 
 keeper draws it down, but is out of sight otherwise. As soon as the 
 touch is depressed or moved, so as to complete the circuit, the tablet is 
 then displayed at the instant that the bell also sounds. A (Fig. 125) 
 shows the case, and B the internal arrangement ; a the small magnet, h its 
 keeper, to which is attached a wire with the slide and disc (c). When the 
 attendant notices the signal, he raises the slide and keeper by means of 
 the button until it is stopped by a stud or studs, which prevent its 
 
 Fig. 124.— Alarum Electric Bell with Continuous Action. 
 
 being raised too far and taken out of reach of the attraction of the magnet. 
 One disc only is needed if but two rooms are to be signalled, but, with 
 several, one case is used fitted with a row of the small magnets, each 
 having its own shutter, so that a servant can at once see from which of 
 the rooms the signal was sent. Although the continuously sounding bell 
 is in one sense the more effective of the two, yet the single stroke has this 
 one advantage — that signals can be arranged so easily. One stroke, for 
 instance, may summon the footman, two the housemaid, or, in an office, 
 the different clerks ; and such a code can, of course, be indefinitely 
 
270 
 
 TOYMAKING POB, AMATEURS. 
 
 extended to suit the special requirements of the establishment in which the 
 system of electric bells is used. 
 
 I have not said a great deal about the electric or galvanic battery 
 because the best form for electric bells is not one which the toymaker is 
 likely to make for his own use. But I may as well, perhaps, explain here 
 the nature of the carbon battery that has now very generally taken the 
 place of the Daniell cells. I believe Bunsen's was the first battery with 
 coke instead of copper or silver as the negative element, and the power 
 of his arrangement was enormous. The vessel containing the elements 
 was glass or earthenware, in which stood a porous pot, as in Danieirs 
 battery. But in this pot was a rod or block of carbon or gas coke acted 
 on by the strongest nitric acid ; around the porous pot was a cylinder of 
 
 Fig. 125.— Electric Indicator. 
 
 zinc, open at both ends, and excited by a solution of dilute sulphuric acid. 
 The fault of this battery is that the fumes given off from the coke and 
 nitric acid are so deleterious and suffocating that the actual battery must 
 stand out of doors or under a chimney or special air shaft. Grove's 
 battery, in which the carbon is replaced by a plate of platinum, the same 
 acids being used, presents a similar disadvantage, but is also of great 
 power, and very suitable for the performance of brilliant experiments when 
 persistent and long-sustained action is not specially required. But for 
 telegraphy and bell ringing we require a power not necessarily very great 
 but well sustained — a power that shall go on for weeks or months with- 
 out special attention. One or two batteries possess this qualification in 
 an eminent degree. The bichromate battery is Bunsen's arrangement, 
 
TOYS ■WOUKED BY ELECTRICITY. — BELLS. 
 
 271 
 
 but with bichromate of potash around the carbon, acidified with sulphuric 
 acid. This is a constant battery much liked by many. 
 
 Another form is made by a plate of zinc between two plates of carbon, 
 excited by bichromate of potash in a concentrated solution, with a little 
 sulphuric acid as before. But the Leclanche cell is so good and so 
 constant in its effects that it is fast supplanting all others. In this 
 the carbon rod stands in a porous cell as before, but instead of an acid 
 solution, a mixture is used of powdered coke, manganese, and carbon, 
 and the inner cell is sealed up so as to prevent corrosion from the sal 
 ammoniac, which is used in the form of a concentrated solution in the 
 outer cell to act upon the zinc. 
 
 The carbon batteries at the shops are beautifully got up, the carbons 
 being sawn neatly into square bars, or made by a process of moulding ; 
 but it is by no means difficult to make one good enough for home 
 experiments by obtaining a bit of gas carbon or coke at the gas works, 
 and sawing and grinding it to such a form that it can be suspended inside 
 the porous cell. The zinc will hardly answer if cut from a sheet, owing to 
 its thinness, as it will soon be altogether consumed by the acid or sal 
 ammoniac. It ought to be cast to a thickness of iin. or thereabout, and 
 well amalgamated. You may effect this operation of casting by using a 
 clay mould well dried or baked, or by making use of such a thing as a 
 drain tile and standing in the middle of it a solid cylinder of dried and 
 baked clay large enough to allow a space of iin. between it and the pipe 
 to receive the melted metal. To make a clay mould in another way, 
 heap up a mass of well worked clay, and having flattened it at the top, 
 press down into it a common gallipot or jam pot, mouth downwards, 
 or, preferably, any smooth cylinder open at both ends. This will, when 
 withdrawn, leave an annular space or groove, into which to pour the 
 melted zinc. Take care, however, not to use the clay too moist, and on 
 no account hold the face near it, in case the sudden formation of steam 
 from the wet mould should drive out the molten metal, as will occa- 
 sionally happen, in spite of ordinary precautions. 
 
 All parts of a battery made of metal which are liable to corrosion should 
 be coated with some one of the varnishes sold for the purpose, or with 
 melted paraffin (wax) poured over them. A battery so sealed and pro- 
 tected will often work for two years without any attention whatever, and 
 when it ceases to act all that is necessary is to unfasten the wires and 
 replace it by a new or freshly- charged one, a mere work of a minute or 
 two. When removed, the worked out cell or cells must be emptied and 
 well washed, new zinc placed in the cells, and all metal connections and 
 screws cleaned and revarnished. It will then act again as well as ever. The 
 
272 
 
 TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
 carbon will not require renewal in most cases, but only to be well soaked 
 and brushed in hot water, without using soap or soda. There is nothing- 
 difficult in the construction of this or any other form of electrical appara- 
 tus if attention be paid to the metallic connections. It matters little that 
 home-made apparatus is of a rougher kind, and that the insulated wire 
 may not, perhaps, be wound with perfect evenness. At the same time, 
 as I have advised throughout the whole of this book, let every 
 endeavour be made to attain neatness in the construction of toys, 
 whether of a scientific kind or otherwise. They may or may not work 
 the better for extra care in this respect, but they will, at any rate, be 
 more creditable as well as more satisfactory to the maker. 
 
 I have now fulfilled the task which I undertook, and have carried the 
 toymaker onward from lesser to greater and more important work, still* 
 however, leaving him to encounter such difficulties as time and practice 
 alone will enable him to overcome. This is, in point of fact, the difficulty 
 inseparable from all such instruction books as the present. One is obliged 
 to assume a proficiency and a rapid advance in constructive skill which 
 cannot possibly take place within that imaginary period intervening 
 between chapter and chapter — a period wholly theoretical. A toy cart 
 or doll's house will not in reality be made to-day and an engine to-morrow 
 by an unpractised hand, but I hope that the descriptions given may, 
 nevertheless, stimulate the amateur carpenter and toymaker to work with 
 patience and deliberation, as showing him how he may advance in know- 
 ledge and manipulative skill by ordinary care and painstaking. With 
 every good wish for his success, I now, therefore, bid the toymaker 
 farewell. 
 
EE"TS. 
 
 CLOCKWOEK TOYS. 
 
 Clockwoek Locomotives, 135 
 Boiler, wooden, 137 
 Lathe centres, substitute for, 136 
 Substitute for lathe centres, 136 
 Wooden boiler, 137 
 
 Clockwork Mechanical De- 
 vices, 139 
 
 Arrangement for conjuringTurk's 
 figure, 143 
 For figure procession, 141 
 
 Conjuring Turk's figure, arrange- 
 ment for, 143 
 
 Crank, revolving, with three 
 arms, 140 
 
 Figure procession, arrangement 
 for, 141 
 
 Forked lever, with revolving 
 
 wheel of one cog, for figure 
 
 tolling bell, 142 
 Horizontal platform, 141 
 Mechanical movement toy, plain 
 
 crank for, 139 
 Plain crank for mechanical 
 
 movement toy, 139 
 Platform, horizontal, 141 
 Eevolving crank with three 
 
 arms, 140 
 Wheel of one cog, 142 
 Wheel of one cog within 
 
 forked lever for figure 
 
 tolling bell, 142 
 Snail, 140 
 
 With steps, 140 
 Wheel, revolving, of one cog, 142 
 
 Principles or Construction, 122 
 Arbor, fixing brass wheel to, 129 
 
 Principles of Construction 
 
 (^continued.) 
 
 Brass wheels, 122 
 Caliber or plan of the wheels, 126 
 Click wheel and ratchet arrange- 
 ment, 131 
 Construction, principles of, 122 
 Cutter and cutter frame, 124 
 Driving power for toy clock, 133 
 Fan fly, 131 
 
 Fixing brass wheel to arbor, 129 
 Frame cutber and cutter, 124 
 Index, 123 
 
 Eatchet arrangement and click 
 
 wheel, 131 
 Toy clock, driving power for, 133 
 Wheel plan or caliber, 126 
 Wheels of brass, 3 22 
 
 ELECTEICAL TOYS. 
 
 Bells, 264 
 
 Alarum electric bell, 269 
 Electric indicator, 270 
 Indicator, electric, 270 
 Single stroke electric bell, 266 
 
 Frictional Machines, &c., 238 
 Apparatus, electrical, 250 
 Cylinder electrical machine, 245 
 Electrical apparatus, 250 
 
 Machine, cylinder, 245 
 
 Machine, 241 
 Electricity, producing, 240 
 Machine, electrical, 241 
 Positive and negative electri- 
 city, 239 
 Producing electricity, 240 
 
274 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Galvanic Batteries, 252 
 
 Details of galvanic battery, 254 
 
 Motive Machines, 257 
 
 Coil, &c., showing means of 
 making and interrupting 
 communication, 260 
 Electro-motive engine, 262 
 Simple electro-motive toy, 258 
 
 SAND TOYS. 
 
 Principles of Construction, 
 113 
 
 Acrobat toy, self-acting, 115 
 Construction, principles of, 113 
 Self-acting acrobat toy, 115 
 
 SIMPLE WOODEN TOYS. 
 
 American clamp, 12 
 Appliances for lathe, 15 
 Bench with mortice holes, 13 
 Boards, contrivance for holding, 10 
 
 Wedge for holding, 11 
 Carts, farm, 57 
 
 Large, 55 
 
 Small, 43 
 
 Tip, or tumbrill, 59 
 
 Wheels for large, 49 
 Chairs, miniature, 106 
 Chest of drawers, miniature, 108 
 Clamp, American, 12 
 Click-clack mills, 84 
 Contrivance for holding boards, 10 
 Doll's house, 99 
 
 House furniture, 104 
 Drawers, miniature chest of, 108 
 Engines, simple locomotive, 90 
 
 With oscillating cylinders, 93 
 Expedients and makeshifts, 10 
 Farm cart, 57 
 
 Furniture for doll's house, 104 
 Gardener's wheelbarrow, 73 
 Glue, preparation of, 7 
 Glueing, 8 
 Grinding tools, 38 
 Hand mills, 75 
 
 Hand rollers, 65 
 Horse rollers, 66 
 Horses, 47 
 House, doll's, 99 
 Introduction, 1 
 Large carts, 55 
 Lathe appliances, 15 
 
 Simple, 15 
 Locomotive engine, simple 90 
 
 Engine with oscillating 
 linders, 93 
 Metal turning, 29 
 
 Turning, slide rest for, 35 
 Mills, click-clack, 84 
 
 Hand, 75 
 
 Wind, 75 
 Miniature chairs, 106 
 
 Chest of drawers, 108 
 
 Sofa, 107 
 
 Table, 105 
 Mortice work, tools used in, 67 
 Navvy's wheelbarrow, 73 
 Ordinary wheelbarrow, 71 
 Painting, 8 
 Paints, 9 
 Planning stop, 11 
 Rollers, hand, 65 
 
 Horse, 66 
 Sharpening tools, 38 
 Slide rest for metal turning, 35 
 Small carts, 43 
 Sofa, miniature, 107 
 Stool with mortice holes, 13 
 Stop, planing, 11 
 Table, miniature, 105 
 Tip cart, or tumbril, 59 
 Tools for metal turning, 22, 29 
 
 For wood turning, 16 
 
 Grinding, 38 
 Tools necessary, 5 
 
 Used in mortice work, 67 
 Turning in metal, 29 
 
 In Wood, 23 
 Waggons, 61 
 
 Wedge for holding boards, 11 
 Wheelbarrow, gardener's, 73 
 
 Navvy's, 73 
 
 Ordinary, 71 
 Wheels for large carts, 49 
 Windmills, 75 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 275 
 
 Wood turning, 23 
 
 Turning, tools for, 22 
 Woods used in toymaking, 7 
 
 STEAM TOYS. 
 
 Brazing and Soldering, 144 
 Locomotive Engines, 217 
 
 Arrangement for lamp, 223 
 
 Boiler of tin for engine, 218 
 With inside tube, 220 
 With two tubes, 221 
 
 Circular railway, 235 
 
 Framing and plate, 225 
 
 Lamp arrangement, 223 
 
 Piston rod, 229 
 
 Plate and framing, 225 
 
 Self-acting signal, 236 
 
 Signal, self-acting, 236 
 
 Slide valve engines, 229 
 Valve locomotive, 233 
 
 Slotted link arrangement, 232 
 
 Tender, 224 
 
 Tin boiler for engine, 218 
 Turning ends of boiler, 222 
 
 Simple Stationary Engines, 
 151 
 
 Jet engine, single, with glass 
 
 bulb, 155 
 Heaction engine, simple form of, 
 
 158 
 
 Simple form of reaction engine, 
 158 
 
 Stationary steam engine, 153 
 Single jet engine, with glass 
 
 bulb, 155 
 Stationary steam engine, simple 
 
 form of, 153 
 
 Slide Valve Engines, 192 
 Arrangement of packing, with 
 
 flange and nut, 199 
 Bosses, shaping, 209 
 Crank turning, 207 
 Cutting steam holes in cylinder, 
 
 195 
 
 Cylinder, cutting steam holes in 
 the, 195 
 
 Slide Valve Engines (con- 
 tinued). 
 
 Cylinder for slide valve engine, 
 193 
 
 Eccentric and hoop, 205 
 Forked connecting rod, 208 
 Hoop and eccentric, 205 
 Packing, arrangement of, with 
 
 flange and nut, 199 
 Piston and ring, 199 
 Ring and piston, 199 
 Sectional parts of slide valve, 196 
 Shaping bosses, 209 
 Slide valve engine, cylinder for, 
 
 193 
 
 Valve, sectional parts of, 196 
 Turning crank, 207 
 Vertical section cylinder on ''A" 
 frame, 200 
 
 Stationary Cylinder Engines, 
 160 
 
 Arrangement of double action 
 cylinder engines for steam- 
 boats, 178 
 Steam block and cylinder, 165 
 
 Bedding- cylinder in chuck, 183 
 
 Block, steam, 185 
 
 Boiler, upright, with single cen- 
 tral flue, 176 
 
 Castings, &c., for cylinder steam 
 engine, 162 
 
 Centreing cylinder, 186 
 
 Cylinder bedded out in chuck, 
 183 
 
 Engine, simple stationary, 164 
 Marking, 188 
 Double action cylinder engines 
 for steamboat, arrangement 
 of, 178 
 
 Flat topped steam dome, with 
 
 lever safety valve, 169 
 Gauge, 173 
 
 Lever safety valve, with flat 
 topped steam dome, 169 
 
 Manhole, 174 
 
 Marking cylinder, 188 
 
 Oscillating cylinder and attach- 
 ments, part section of, 190 
 
276 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 STATIONA.RT CYLINDER ENGINES 
 
 (continued) . 
 
 Part section of oscillating 
 cylinder and its attach- 
 ments, 190 
 
 Plan for turning cylinder, 187 
 To centre cylinder, showing 
 surface plate and scriber, 
 186 
 
 Safety valve, sectional drawing 
 
 of, 171 
 Scribers, 188 
 
 Sectional drawing of safety 
 
 valve, 171 
 Simple stationary cylinder 
 
 engine, 164 
 Steam block, 185 
 
 Stationary Cylinder Engines 
 (continued) . 
 
 Steam block and cylinder, 
 arrangement of, 165 
 
 Surface plate, 188 
 
 Turning cylinder, plan for, 187 
 
 Upright boiler, with single cen- 
 tral flue, 176 
 
 V block, 188 
 
 Turning Fly Wheels and 
 Small Bolts and Nuts, 
 210 
 
 Eccentric, setting an, 211 
 Making screw bolts, 214 
 Screw bolts, making, 214 
 Setting an eccentric, 211 
 
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 FLY-FISHING. A Treatise on. By James Tayler ("Red 
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 FOX TERRIER STUD BOOK. Vol. L, containing the 
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 GAME AND GAME SHOOTING, NOTES ON. Mis- 
 
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 Pheasants, Hares, Rabbits, Quails, Woodcocks, Snipe, and Rooks. 
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 GARDENING, DICTIONARY OF. A Practical Encyclo- 
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 GARDEN PESTS AND THEIR ERADICATION. 
 
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 GREYHOUND, THE : Its History, Points, Breeding, 
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 LILY OF THE VALLEY: All About It, and How to Grow 
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 MEASUREMENT OF CHILDREN, SCIENTIFIC. 
 
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 PAINTING, DECORATIVE. A Practical Handbook on 
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 PHOTOGRAPHY (MODERN) FOR AMATEURS. 
 
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 PICTURE-FRAME MAKING FOR AMATEURS. 
 
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