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Show BOYS' HANDICRMtI By A. NEELY HALL I Author of "Handicraft for Handy Boy" and "The Boy Craftsman" 1 P 2 4" -1 : FIG 3 Ceoss-Sectiom Fig. 4 -Diagonal BEACe (MAKE 2 FBAfES LIKE THIS) A OCTANGULAR BO'X-KITE. A BOX KITE, Of the more prat-entious kites, none Is more popular than the rectangular box-kite. It approaches nearest to the form of the biplane aeroplane of any kite yet devised, and is one of the steadiest of fliers. I'ox-kites can be purchased ready made In a number of sizes, but they are not cheap, and it will pay any boy to take the time necessary to make one. While their construction requires considerable more work than the monoplane mon-oplane form of kite, it Is not difficult, and is so interesting chat no boy can tail to enjoy it. The illustrations show a kite of scientifically developed proportions. Pine, spruce and whitewood are the best materials for making these kites, though any strong, light-weight wood of straight grain may be used if easier to obtain. The horizontal sticks and braces must be cut straight and of uniform thickness, as in the making of any kite. If you live near a lumber yard or planing mill, possibly pos-sibly you can get strips of just the size you require from the waste pile for the mere asking, or for a few-cents few-cents get them Tipped out of a board. If not, you w ill find It an easy enough matter to cut them yourself, with a sharp rip-saw. Short kite sticks can be whittled straight enough with the 1 i jack-knife, but long ones can be cut easier and with greater accuracy with the saw. Cut the four horizontal sticks Inch thick and inch wide, by 36 Inches long (A, Fig. 2), and the four connecting upright sticks (B, Fig. 2) Vi Inch thick, inch wide, and 10 Inches long. Tack the upright sticks to the horizontal ones, 6 inches from the ends of the latter, as shown in Fig. 2, using slender brads for the purpose, and clinching the projecting ends. In fastening these sticks be careful to set sticks B at right angles to sticks A. After fastening these sticks together togeth-er In the form of two frames similar lo that shown in Fig. 2, lay them aside until you have prepared the covering lor the end boxes, or "cells." For this a light-weight muslin or tough paper pa-per should be used. Cheesecloth will do, if after it has been put on you give it a coat of varniBh to fill up tbe pores and make it air tight. The light-weight brown paper so commonly com-monly used now for wrapping-paper is good covering material. The band coverings for the kite illustrated il-lustrated should be 10 inches wide and 69 inches long. If of cloth, they should be hemmed along each edge to prevent raveling and to make a firm edge: If of paper, the edges should be folded over a light cord and pasted. Bew together the ends of the cloth bands, or paste the ends of the paper bands, lapping, them so that the measurement meas-urement around the inside will be exactly ex-actly 6S Inches, the proper measur ment around the sticks of the finished finish-ed kite. Slip the bands over the stick frames, spread the frames to their fullest extent, ex-tent, and hold them in this position by means of sticks sprung in temporarily tem-porarily between upright sticks B. Then measure the proper length for the diagonal braces C (Fig. 3). These sticks should be notched at their ends to fit over the sticks A, as shown In Fig. 4, and they should be a trifle long so they will be slightly bow-shaped when put in place. In this way the frames will keep the cloth or paper bands stretched tight. The notched ends of the diagonals Bhould be lashed lash-ed with thread to keep them from splitting. Lashings of thread around the frame sticks A, as shown In Figs. 2 nnd 4, will keep the ends of the braces from slipping way from the uprights B, which is the proper position posi-tion for them. Bind the braces together to-gether at their intersections with thread, as shown in Fig. 1. The cloth or paper binds should be fastened fas-tened to each horizontal frame stick with two tacks, placed' near the edges of the bands. This can be done to best advantage with the diagonal braces removed. Fig. 1 shows one good attachment Tor the bridle. Of course, the kite Is flown other side up, with the bridle underneath. A good way of attaching the bridle is to Blip the loop end through a fancy-work ring, loop It over Itself, and then tie the loose ends to sticks A of the framework. The vertical distance between the ring and the kite Bhould be about 3 feet. Three and four point attachments for the kite bridle are used, but the two-point method Is generally considered the most satisfactory, and is most commonly com-monly employed. (Copyright, 1912, by A. Neely Hall.) |