Popular Science Monthly 



447 



box saw, and is continued part way up 

 both ends as shown in Fig. 3. 



Three 18'' pieces of %" square iron 

 or soft steel should be procured and the 

 ends flattened, by hammering two 

 opposite edges, for a distance of about 

 IV2", and two 3/10'' holes bored in each 

 end so that the iron runners can be at- 

 tached to the wood, after being bent 

 while cold to the approximate shape, in 

 the exact manner shown in Fig. 3. These 

 iron runners are held in place by 3/10" 

 brass screws countersunk. The screws 

 should not be less than 1" long and 

 should have flat heads. 



If the wooden runners are over 1" 

 thick they can be made of soft wood, 

 and it will be possible to run the craft 

 over the snow even if it is only packed 

 to a small degree. 



The small runner mentioned above is 

 for the rudder, and is placed in the front 

 of the machine. A %" round steel rod 

 17" long is sunk into the center of this 

 runner to a depth of about 2", and is 

 held in place by two 3/10" steel bolts 

 which pass through the rod and runner, 

 as in Figs. 1 and 5. Four or five %" 

 washers are slipjjed on the rod. 



Fig. 4 shows plainly how to lay out 

 the sides of the boat body. Both sides 

 can be cut from 7\{/ board %" thick by 

 12" wide. The dimensions are taken 

 from the sketch and are laid out on the 

 boards in the exact manner shown. The 

 proper curve for the bow is obtained by 

 marking ofl^ various points at different 

 distances from the center lines, as 

 shown, and connecting these points until 

 a fair curve is obtained. Spruce is one 

 of the best materials, as well as the 

 cheapest, for making the body, but 

 should be free from splits. 



Nineteen i)ieces of V^" by 0" stock 

 exactly 22" long are now required. 

 These should be of selected sj^ruce and 

 are used for the bottom and deck of 

 the boat body. They arc laid on cross- 

 wise. The side boards should be held 

 the proper distance apart temporally by 

 several short sticks nailed al \;iri()us 

 points along their edges, and the entire 

 bottom nailed in place with 2" nails. 

 The bottom board should overlap about 

 %" at the front of the body. 



The rear c(]^c consists of a piece of 

 spruce 20'/:i" long by 1" thick by 



2" wide. This is nailed in place between 

 the sides before the first rear deck 

 board has been laid on, and properly 

 beveled at the same slant as the sides. 

 The rear deck board is then nailed on, 

 the nails along the back being set in %" 

 from the edge. The rear edges are then 

 rounded oft' to decrease the wind re- 

 sistance, and give the body a finished ap- 

 pearance. Two more 6" boards are then 

 laid on, thus completing the rear deck, 

 which is composed of three boards in all. 



The deck board nearest the bow is 

 now laid on in such a manner that its 

 lower edge meets the front bottom 

 board. First, however, it should be 

 beveled to the proper angle to allow of 

 a perfect fit. The top edge of the bot- 

 tom board is then rounded over to a 

 blunt point. These details are illustrated 

 in Fig. 5. Three more top deck boards 

 are then put into place. The front 

 boards should be steamed before bend- 

 ing. 



In the third boards back from the 

 front, on the top and bottom of the body, 

 %" holes should be bored midway be- 

 tween the side planks, and 2" in from 

 the rear edge of the boards in question. 

 The hole in the bottom board is re-en- 

 forced by a Vs^ iron plate, 2" square, 

 drilled in the center to correspond with 

 the hole in the bottom plank. This plate 

 is placed on the outside as shown in 

 Fig. 5. 



It is now in order to insert the up- 

 right shaft, aflixed to the small runner, 

 in the two half-inch holes bored for this 

 ])uriM)se. The top of the shaft is then 

 filed S(|uare in such a manner that it 

 makes a good fit with the hole in the 

 l)evel gear, of the rotating device of an 

 old ice cream freezer, which turns the 

 dasher. This mechanism is seen in place 

 in ¥'\g. 5. It will be noticed that in this 

 figure the housing for the gears is bolted 

 direct to the u])per deck on the outside, 

 while in I'ig. 1 it is placed under the 

 deck. The former method of outside 

 mounting is by far the simplest, and 

 probably the best. The "crank shaft of 

 the freezer mechanism is slipped into an 

 8" piece of heavy brass tube, which 

 should fit snugly over it, and should be 

 secured to prevent movement in any 

 direction by two Is" pins passing 

 through the tube and shaft. These pins 



