BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

MAKING A TOY SUBMARINE. - 1 (By the Hut Carpenter.) This novel working toy can easily be made from a few odd© and ends. For the hull you will need a piece of wood, ten inches long, one and three quarters nf an inch wide, and fiveeighths of an inch thick; after planing it on both sides, mark a centre line on one side. Now, with a pencil, carefully set out the shape of the hull A, as shown in the bottom diagram. Saw off the parts not required, and then bevel round the top edge with a sharp penknife or chised. Cut the raised deck B to shape from a piece of three-eights of an inch wood, and in the middle of this screw on a cork to serve a© a conning tower. Fix the deck in position with two threequarter inch nails. You can make the periscope from part of an aluminium curtain pin which is simply pushed intb a small hole made in the cork with a bradawl. The bearing bracket C is a strip of thin sheet brass having two holes near the top end for screwing it to the hull. The little hole at the bottom of the bracket is for the propeller shaft to pass through. To make the propeller, take a flat piece of tin and on it make a circle one and a half inches in diameter; then set out the shape of the propeller blades — top left-hand diagram. Cut away the metal not required with a pair of old scissors, and then, with a sharp nail and a hammer, punch the hole through for the shaft, which can be made from a one and a half inch length of plated wire taken from a thick paper fastener. Now get a friend to solder the propeller on to the end of the shaft, and twist the blades at the angle shown in the sketch. Slip a couple of glacs beads on tho shaft, pass the other end through the hole in the bearing bracket which has been screwed, in place, and. with a pair of pliers, bend it to form a hook.

The front hook D can he formed from a thin nail or strong pin, and is driven into the bottom of the hull at a slight angle. For the rubber "motor,” obtain one yard of very narrow rubber strip and, after binding the two ends together with strong thread, slip the strande over the hooks as shown in the diagram.

Wind up the rubber “motor’ by means of the propeller, place the boat on the water, and it will glide along quite naturally until the strands become unwound.