BILLY BOYS WORKSHOP.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 June 1932, Page 16 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS WORKSHOP.

A CRICKET BAT AND STUMPS. To' make this fine cricket bat you will require a piece of straight-grained wood, at least one inch thick, 21 inches long and 3i inches wide. The stumps can be made from a J-inch dowel rod, 4 feet 6 inches long. Prepare the piece of wood for the bat by planing it on both sides and edges. Then' mark out the handle and sloping shoulders, as shown in diagram A. The width of the handle must equal the thickness of the wood. Saw away the wood not required, so that you form the handle and sloping shoulders of the bat, keeping the saw just outside the marked lines. With a sharp chisel, curve the shoulders, as shown in diagram B, and carefully pare away the corners of the handle till you get it as round as possible. When this

is done, remove any roughness with, a coarse file and finish with glasspaper. Saw off the bottom corners of the bat, as indicated in diagram A, and finish this part with a chisel. Now lay the bat on its face, and plane a tapering bevel along the two back edges running from the shoulders to the bottom as shown at CC. After this, round the corners of the bevel, as in diagram 11, which shows a section of the bat.

Give the bat a good rub all over with glasspaper, and then bind the handle with thick black thread, as shown in diagram E, starting about one and ahalf inches from the top. Fix the finishing end of the thread with two small tacks at the back of the handle, and then give the bat a coating of varnish. To make the stumps, take the dowel rod and cut off three pieces, each 16| inches long. Chisel one end of eacii to a point, as shown in diagram E, and finish smooth with glasspaper. If you wish to use bails, chisel a curved slot across the middle of the top of each stump.

The Hut Carpenter,