Show I HOW SOME SMART BOYS S BUILT A FINE RAFT r Of the boys who live near the water in the summer time there are many perhaps who would like to own a houseboat I house-boat An inexpensive one was built by four boys at a moderate cost chiefly because their time in building It was not considered The large illustration shows their hut at anchor on a float that they made themselves The four youngsters clubbed together putting in 7 each and their raft was made in about a week The material for the deck and hut came from a lumber yard but such logs can be obtained at a saw mill or cut from the forest Four good straight logs were chosen that measured twentyfive feet long and which were sound and not windracked Their full measurements were twentyfour inches in diameter at the butt and spruce pine or hemlock can be chosen Chestnut logs will answer very well but avoid hard wood as it sinks too low Two of these logs were laid with the large ends at the bow and two the reversed go a uniform displacement dis-placement was gained thus giving equal spaces between the logs the entire en-tire length of the raft Across their ends the builders nailed a temporary strip to hold them in place then placed at right angles the cross timbers of two by ten Inch I spruce Eleven I or twelve of these tim i 110 eti i hers each thirteen feet long were attached I at-tached firmly to the logs with large galvanized Iron spikes driven through the lower edges of the timbers The drawing Fig 1 will show the position of the logs and cross timbers This work the boy builders did in the water close to shore so the logs might be 1 handled easily rolled over readily and the best vantage points thus chosen I when spiking them together It Is not a difficult matter to lay a raft frame but the boys found it necessary occasionally occa-sionally to cut a lap in a log for the timbers to lay in if they did not fit evenly on the surface of the raft After the logs had been timbered the entire length they obtained several oil barrels or pork barrels that are watertight water-tight and depressed them so they rose under the bow and stern These barrels bar-rels of course gave a greater displace I ment and buoyancy to the raft in the places needed that is the bow and stern where a landing was made from a boat The position of logs and barrels bar-rels should be sufficient for a raft of this size Two lines of braces were after this run the entire length of the raft before the flooring was laid Fig 3 J V I f I FlSl FRAMING THE RAFT AND HUB I The beams were placed between the outer log and the one next to it The deck the young carpenters laid of spruce planking one inch and a quarter quar-ter thick and not more than six Inches wide having matched edges Beginning Begin-ning at the middle they planked to the outer edges or port and starboard sides A spruce plank across the bow and t S r S tI I flit H r de I < S S U t r = S S 11wLwAiJ1 d S 5 S 11191T171111 I I I I I It it I IlIlIllIllIll S S S n r m t 55L S S S A RAFT HUT stern made a good finish and similar ones extended along the sides as well After the deck was laid the huts framework began of two and a half by four Inch joist This hut measured nine by thireen feet thus giving deck room of six feet at each end and two I feet at the sides of the hut The joists were laid on the deck to form an oblong ob-long of nine by thirteen feet securely nailed fast At each corner was placed an upright joist and connected with a top rail of the same dimensions as the base rail The studding was then ready to accommodate doors and windows win-dows as shown in Fig 1 This figure shows one end and side framework and the other a duplicate thus giving two doors and six windows Between the side windows two bunks found lodgment high enough to slip trunk underneath them The cabin measured seven feet high clear and over the top a deck was formed by placing two by six inch timbers tim-bers and flooring it like the deck but with lighter material Bear in mind when building a similar raft that nails must be used generously generous-ly else the constant rocking from the motion of the water would soon tear a poorlyfastened hut apart Doors and windows the boys easily found in stock sizes at a mill and the sashes they obtained there also Attaching a ladder at the rear end of the hut a stairway to the upper deck was made and as there was a little money to spare it was spent on a canvas awning to cover the deck as shown in the illustration Uprights two inches square supported such a canvas and a rail was neces I sary about the edge of the deck to prevent pre-vent accidents This deck afforded a space to hang hammocks and sleep at night when the weather was clear Over the rear deck a canvas awning was supported by poles to form a kitchen serviceable In fair or foul weather and here for the vacation months the boy builders found endless comfort and pleasure wondering how they had ever taken their holidays happily without the fun and privileges of a floating snuggery |