21 
January, 1923 
indicated and turned down into the edges 
of the holder as shown in the assem¬ 
bled drawing. If properly put together, 
the holder can now be moved back and 
forth and will remain upright and rigid. 
The edges of the tin should be smoothed 
off and oil added if necessary. 
The remaining item to assemble is the 
cover for the back of the box. This is 
made from two pieces of one-inch board. 
One is cut slightly smaller than the in¬ 
side dimensions of the rear opening and 
the other the size of the outside dimen¬ 
sions. Both are nailed together, the 
grain of the wood of one running cross- 
ways with that of the other. To prevent 
•warping, they should be glued also and 
placed under a heavy object to set. Two 
pieces of cork spring bent as shown and 
fastened one to the top of the box and 
the other at the bottom, will hold it in 
place. 
One other feature which should be 
added is the tube in the top through 
which the operator sights when focusing 
the image on the back. This may be the 
handle from an old tin dipper or a sheet 
of tin rolled into a tube and soldered. 
A hole is bored through at an angle 
and the tube run through. If the fit is 
rather tight no other means of fasten¬ 
ing will be necessary. A cork should 
be provided to exclude all light when an 
exposure is made. 
Now set the camera in the opening 
and line up with the center of the nega¬ 
tive holder. If the fit is rather loose, 
two or three layers of a strip of black 
cloth is wrapped about it. This will 
prevent possible marring of the camera 
box and at the same time prevent light 
from entering. This adjustment need 
not be very accurate, for a slight change 
can be easily made if, when sighting 
through the tube, the image is a little 
off center. 
To use the outfit, place a negative in 
the holder, turn the apparatus toward a 
strong light and with the shutter of the 
camera open and the camera back off, 
sight through the tube. Then work the 
camera bellows out or in until the image 
is sharply focused. To change the size 
of the image, move the negative holder 
back or forward. The enlarging paper, 
usually a bromide paper, is held in place 
on the box back with thumb-tacks. The 
light used may be artificial and the 
length of exposure can be best deter¬ 
mined by two or three trials. If you 
have some black paint handy give the 
inside of the box one or two coats. 
Dale R. Van Horn. 
A HANDY LITTLE DUCK- 
BOAT 
r T' HE success, comfort and safety of 
the duck hunter depends largely on 
his boat. The most common types are 
long, narrow and open, a cross between 
a canoe and a skiff, adapted to the 
meadow, swamp and inland waters; and 
-Bor- 
the wide, flat, sneak-boat type, for the 
numerous bays and open waters along 
the coast. Around Cape Cod neither of 
these seem to fit although both would 
come in handy. Few can or care to have 
two boats, nine-tenths of the value in 
specially made boats is divided between 
labor and profit; so many build their 
own along their pet ideas. 
Most of us have an inborn desire to 
build boats and it is assumed that being 
a duck hunter is a guarantee of at least 
average ability and unlimited patience, 
which are the prime requisitions of 
amateur boat building. The plan here¬ 
with gives a fair idea of one that was 
built at slight expense either for ma¬ 
terials or tools and has been in constant 
use for more than a dozen years. 
Its dimensions are as follows. Length 
74", beam 36", draught 3", capacity 400 
lbs., weight 58 lbs. Its bottom, sides 
and deck are made of l /i" cedar, frames 
1" chestnut and transom and seat 1" 
spruce. 
It behaves well in rough, open water, 
will carry a good load, can be dragged 
or pushed through very shallow water, 
is handy to set out decoys with and 
to shoot from either on the water 
where the birds pay no attention to it, 
or on the bank where it is very easily 
concealed, and light enough to be 
launched quickly to pick up the birds. It 
is of the simplest type to build. 
It is not necessary to exactly repro¬ 
duce the design, as slight modifications 
will hardly be noticed in the performance 
of the finished boat if the general outline 
is followed. In planning this boat, card¬ 
board models were made on an inch 
scale, given a coat of shellac and tested 
in water. Though somewhat crude, 
these tests conveyed an excellent idea as 
to expected performance. One in par¬ 
ticular, that of placing a small bottle of 
shot on the center, which was found 
by balancing the model on a pin, and 
by adding a few pellets until the model 
capsized, plainly showed the carrying 
power of the different designs. The 
model as adopted being considered as 
the smallest practical one-man duck- 
boat, although able to carry two men 
and a dog, and it has since fulfilled all 
expectations. 
As simplicity of construction makes 
for lightness, the cross frames were 
spaced one foot apart, making five in all. 
No. 2 and No. 5 are alike, as are No. 3 
and No. 4 and are simplicity itself. The 
bottom pieces of No. 2 and No. 4 face 
the bow while those on No. 3 and No. 5 
face the stern. 
A sewing machine crate furnished the 
chestnut for these frames which has 
proven tough and has held its fastenings. 
All frames are one inch thick. The bot¬ 
tom pieces are lj /2 inches wide. The 
deck beams and side pieces of No. 1 and 
No. 2 and No. 5 are 3 inches wide. 
Side pieces of No. 3 and No. 4 are 4 
inches wide. 
The transom or stern board and the 
seat are of spruce, 9 inches wide and 
1 inch thick The stern or bow piece is 
of bakinatak and all in one piece. 
(Continued on page 32) 
