462 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Building Sink Box at Home 
Simple Plans Worked Out for the Novice 
By Redwing 
With the duck season close at hand a most im- 
* portant item is the sink 'box. In construction, it 
is one of the simplest bits of carpentry imagin¬ 
able, and will furnish considerable pleasure as 
you see it progress. The outline and plans given 
herewith are made from a home built boat, there¬ 
fore, may be reproduced in your own backyard, 
if carefully followed: 
The box in platform should be made of %-inch 
best white pine; or still better, white cedar, if 
to be had. The ends of box should be of white 
“platform” as follows: Have two oak carlings 
cut out 6 feet long, 1% inches thick and 2% 
inches wide in the middle, tapering off to about 
1% inches at ends with 1 inch spring or 1% 
at most. Bolt these securely to ends of box, 1 
inch below the top. You are now ready to put 
on the platform or deck. This should be of %- 
inch white pine or cedar, 6 feet wide and 10 feet 
long, the seams of the deck to be well fitted to¬ 
gether and especially made tight where it fits 
around the box, which will project above the deck 
platform by three heavy sole-leather hinges in 
such a manner as to give free play with plat¬ 
form with the strips of drill or duck nailed over 
the head wing. In addition to the battens nailed 
under the platform there should be one on each 
side of box amidships on under side of platform, 
which should be braced to box by an iron ell. 
The ends of all these battens should project 
beyond the sides of the platform about an inch, 
so that the side wings will have something on 
which to rest, as the leather hinges must be 
SIDE VIEW 
PLAN 
(--15"--) 
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oak, 1% inches thick- The box should be 5 feet 
10 inches long, in the clear (this will accommo¬ 
date any man not over 6 feet in height, as both 
his knees and neck are bent in lying in the posi¬ 
tion to shoot), 15 inches deep in clear and 22 
inches wide, sides straight perpendicularly, but 
sprung together at ends to 14 inches at head and 
foot. The simplest way is to make the box the 
same depth all over, but it is by no means the 
best way. The foot should be of full depth, viz., 
15 inches. Cut away the head of box to, say, 6 
inches, because the shooter, in lying down, has to 
have his eyes above the level of the box in order 
to watch the flight of the fowl, so that very little 
depth is required at the head. 
Make a %-inch drain board to be in bottom 
of box, and the sink is completed so far as the 
box is concerned. Around the box is built the 
% inch; On each end of deck, nail on a batten 
of %-inch strip, 3 inches wide, on under side 
of deck. At the head of platform is the head 
wing, which should be made of three 3%-inch 
pine or cedar boards, each 12 inches wide, and 
fastened together by strong iron straps, with 
hinges at each board, and also where the wing 
joins the platform. These hinges should be so 
arranged as to give the board composing the 
wing free play to swing down at right angle 
with platform, and to hold back on top, tack 
loosely, so as not to interfere with swing of wing, 
strips of heavy drill or duck, over each crack 
between wing board and between inner wing 
board and platform. This completes the head 
wing. Side wings to be of %-inch pine or cedar 
boards, two on each side, each board 8 or 10 
inches wide and connected together and with 
long enough to let them fold over the foot wing 
when the boat is folded up- The foot wing 
should be made like the side wings, extending 
across the foot of box, or a single board 14 to 
16 inches wide may be used at foot. Connecting 
the wings at each of the four corners are trian¬ 
gular pieces of duck, or heavy drill, tacked to 
the wings and having a stout cord sewed to 
their outer edges; on cord use small corks to 
keep the corner pieces on top of the water. The 
leads consist of two rows of sheet lead six 
inches wide, the inner row to be tacked round the 
edge of box along the inner edge of the lead in 
such a manner that the outer edge can be bent 
up to keep the sea out. The outer row of lead 
is nailed round the platform half way between 
the box and the edge of the platform all round. 
Paint box, platform and wings as near the color 
