T H E S PO R T S M A N ’ S W O R K S H O P

By

WARREN H . MI! ! ER

’ Author 0! Camping Out.Camp Craft.The Boy s Book oi h Hunting and Fis ing.etc .

IHusb and by Bursa Miller

CINCINNATI STEWART KIDD COMPAN! S Q ! ” 6,

n n the United Sta es f eri Pri ted i t o Am c a C o n te n ts

PAGE EQ UIPPING THE Snop TENT MAKING MAKING PACK A ND TRAIL GEAR HOME-MADE TENT STOV Es A ND COOK KITS LEATHER WORKING DECO ! MAKING

TH E GUN SHO P

Roo REPAIRING AND LURE MAKING MA KING Roo A ND GUN CABINETS

! ist o f Illu stration s

PAG E

’ able Be nc h Cabine t T , and for a Sportsman s Workshop Some Tent Designs Fac ing — ’ The Handy Tent The Author s Midget Wall Tent Mosquito Net Front Shelter Tent— The Lone ’ Hiker s Stretcher- Bed Tent — — Army Type Pack The Duluth Pack Grom — met Set Ruck Sack, Front View — Side-Opening Du fii e Bag Design for Army Type Pac k 47 Tent Stoves and Grub Bags Fac i ng 5 8

’ The Author s Two- Hole Hiking Stove .59

ylindrical tove with Three- Part ooking C — S — C Pots Oven Stove The Stratton Re flec tor Baker Folding Wire rate— Hand ewing Awl G — S Wind- Shield Grate Pattern for Axe Sheath Wading Sandal and Rod Rests— Leather Pack Harness 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAC 8 Gunman Holster and Moccasin Sewing Awl Rawhide Stitch Knife Sheath — Duck ng Battery Design Patterns for Hollow i — Duck Decoys Duck and Crow Stools — — Snipe Stools Three-Leaf Rifle Sight Leather Ditty- Bag — — Bullet Mould Folding ! e a f Sight Rifle hecking and trap—The leaning Brush C —S C — for the Trip Rifle Screwdrivers Flex ible Peep — Shell Reloading Board Rifle Reloading Tools and Shell Crimper — Lures and Spinners Salt Water Tackles — Salt Water Rod Windings How to Make Invisible Knot THE SPORTSMAN 'S WORKSHOP

CHAPTER I Equ ipping the Shop SUPPOSE that back in the mind of each one of us there lurks a certain dark and obscure l scheme, carefully concealed from the fema e r some membe of the family, that day we are going s — to grab a room that small one off the u per hall — p will answer and in that room we are goi ng to ’ establish a shop, a sportsman s den , where none of the conquering sex may enter. We visualize that ’ In . shop our mind s eye We long for it, yearn for a i i it, espe ci lly what t me the var ous repair jobs on ac t kle, camp gear, and shooting Irons become press in l g y urgent, and we have to upset the kitchen and ’ get in everybody s way to make them . We curse t t our way hrough hese jobs, hunting up lost tools, trying to make a chair do the work of a regular t bench, using feet, hands, and tee h to take the place of the vise that should be there right to hand “ ’ — all u r you all know abo t it. Ain t it the t uth, brothers ! Some of us have been bold enough to assert a modicum of masculine authority and seize said ro . om , to have and to hold There is no escaping the fact that camp gear will come back from the 7 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

t r s r z hunt sho to pieces, eels and rod go on the f it , guns get rusty and in vast need of taking apart and overhauling throughout . We just m ust have a place we can call our own to do these things in . ! e t me describe you my ideal of a shop, and see if the picture is attractive enough to make a ! o struggle for A small r om, with two windows in l it, and eight by ten feet in dimensions or even ess In of is plenty . it I want, first all , a place to work on t t , and for his I do not hink you can equal the r a t e ordina y de l kitchen table wi h stout legs , compar d ’ to any carpenter s contraption whatever. You want a place to stow your legs under and to work in comfort while the Old pipe sozzles in its bowl and the snow and sleet are beating against the panes h outside. As you work you dream over t e cam s and tramps of the se ason before and plan for the ones to come when spring again wakens the forest to life . 6 This table, then , may be 3 feet inches long by 2 2 f t feet wide , standing eet high , wi h plain board

top . On it , at your right, is a husky vise, with anvil and horn ; a vise that will hold gun barrels, woodwork being planed , and the like . At the left f for end is a little ellow holding fine work, small fish- r gun parts, reel pinions, hooks being conve ted

Of . into artificial baits, delicate work all kinds The only other fixture on the table is a small lathe f head, with chucks and ace plate, set well back to f the le t, and with a round belt going to a wheel and treadle under the table . This will be for turn

- ing small parts, rod winding, and various polishing jobs . It is all the lathe you will ever need. 8 EQ UIPPING THE SHOP

f of In ront the table goes a bench, an ordinary — low laundry bench not a chair. Why ! Because you cannot beat a bench as a place on which to lay long pieces of timber being sawed, while you hold down with a knee ; and, moreover, you can shift along it with ease to front your j ob and set hammers and tools beside you on it, where they will be handy to pick up when wanted and no t cluttering up the surface of the table where the work is . Am I right ! ! All right On the table, at the back, and pushed

flat against the wall , we have to have a flat cabinet, say 2 8 inches wide by 36 inches high and 9 inches deep . This cabinet has a row of drawers, one 6 above the other on each side, deep drawers, inches 8 for by inches , holding our sets of tools and ma te rials for mending and making camp gear and r tents, the leather wo k on straps and moccasins ; a drawer for reloading tools for rifle and shotgun cleaning implements , broken shell extractors, etc .; a drawer for your rod- winding and repairing ma te rials u , and parts for making baits and l res ; a o f couple drawers on each side, as flat as trays, for n holding ails, screws , rivets, grommets, and all those small odds and ends that we men keep against the day they may come useful . The space above the drawers and in between them is kept clear and open for hanging saws, - s hammers, wrenches , planes, metal working tool , — brace and bits those tools that we have found from long usage are just what we need and no more . T Now, as to tools . his is going to be a joy a w shop, place here the philosophical sportsman 9 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP can sit him down and enjoy the pleasure o f seeing good work grow under his eyes with good tools . Nothing is more aggravating and nothing induces the furious cussword more readily than to see good material for - a or well planned work being spoiled by dull, we k, i do inept tools, things to work w th that not only l not do what we ask of them , but spoil the materia ou t of by being too large , too small, too dull, or

. re order, like a sticking saw We a going to avoid all all that and enjoy our winter evenings , while the time dreams of what we shall do with all this in the woods next season float through the mind . A long experience in making gear of all kinds ’ for outdoor use has shown me that the sportsman s fe w workshop needs but tools, and most of these d specialties . But they must all be goo , the best ; is steel that steel , that no carpenter would be ashamed to use in his business . That refers even to f so . hammers, that use ul tool often slighted It of will be good steel, well balanced , with a hard, flat face that will stay flat and not glance off the Of next nailhead . wood saws we will need three first- s - a class cro s cut, ditto compass, ditto back - f saw . Then we want a metal cutting saw or the ’ - of shootin iron bench, and the tale toothed help Of two ! - meets is done . planes , an iron jack plane for edging and smoothing, about a foot long across

for l . the flat, and a small , keen hand plane litt e jobs o A g od ratchet brace comes next, and such drills and bits and metal-working twist drills as we need for the various jobs that come up . Buy as you go along; they will accumulate fast enough ! A breast I O ’ A N H A ND A IN FO R A S poRT SMA N s T BLE , BE C C B ET WORKSHOP THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP drill is a wrist saver not to be despised . I for one vote for it and repeat. See that it has a chuck that will hold metal drills . v f Of screwdri ers you will need quite a set, rom the big fellow that can be used as a pry and will turn an obstinate quarter- inch screw stuck fast in l one ou t oak, to a litt e slender that will take the smallest thing on your reel or your rifle mechanism . On the pliers list come first a heavy one with good i f O side cutt ng jaws, and then a small ellow, also f l stee , with hatched face to hold the smallest hook, and then one round-nosed one for turning things . — z files . Half a do en rounds, flats, and triangles

Two 8 - - . cold chisels , inch and 4 inch That is about all the regular line tools ; perhaps you have a good many Of them already. And now for the special tools that we woods men find indispensable in our business . In tent making the 96 -inch brass grommet is the one that will give universal satisfaction— and you will need ’ and . em to stick in here there in pack gear, too A grommet set for it costs about $3, and consists o f n a die anvil and a punch with lo g, smooth nose, which curls the thimble o f the grommet over its f ring. A single blow o the hammer sets the grom f met ring ast in the hem of your tent, where it grips the cloth tight, and is finished over in a neat r to round hole . Beats the scheme of t ying turn t of the thimble edge wi h a big nail out sight, makes for a round hole your rope to pull through , and holds the cloth like grim death . For leather working we want two kinds Of rivets the tubular, with a blunt cone punch to set them, 1 2 EQ UIPPING THE SHOP

a and the split, which comes in sm ll boxes, with a holding tool to seize the head of the rivet while you put it on the spot and hit it a crack with the

t . hammer, which drives it through the lea her are Turning it over, the points started apart by a blow on a small round bar like the shank of a screw t driver, and then flattened out wi h a finishing thwack of the hammer face . The shoemakers use a sort of lever punch for one setting tubular rivets . I have , but never got f of much satis action out it, and generally prefer to drive my rivet into the leather and meet it on the on other side with the set punch, a single blow which curls over the edges O f the tube so that they roll down on the leather and hold . A third type of rivet is the common copper one with copper s for wa her, used big strap corners where a heavy strain is to come on straps or woodwork and you need something to hold till the leather breaks first.

This type requires a punch to make the hole first, which punch is also used in making buckle-holes in straps . It is a sort Of pliers with a steel -inch punch and a brass seat on the lower jaw . For larger holes, particularly through canvas in setting 5 - one grommets , a plain {5 inch punch that hits with a hammer, with a block of wood underneath for anvil , is a tool that you cannot make camp gear without . A small cousin of the grommet is the f eyelet, that little brass ellow that you see in boots for the lacings to run through . An exceedingly useful critter in leather is the eyelet ; in canvas he will not hold well enough to be worth setting in . Better use a grommet instead . A combination tool I 3 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

for punching and setting the eyelet is sold at the f hardware stores or about $2.

Three or four awls, straight and curved, a s s hank of stout twine with bra s needle attached, a ’ patent hand sewing awl, a ball of linen shoemaker s thread, a blob of beeswax, and a ball of cotton w s t ine, make up your outfit for tent and mocca in repairing . The sewing is best done wi th two needles e at once , pushing through from opposite sid s and so making a double lock stitch along the seam . Using the awl to punch holes, almost any moccasin seam can be repaired that way . For leather work where you cannot get at the inside a special tool “ ” the comes, called hand sewing awl , handled by most sporting goods houses and hardware stores . It consists O f a stout needle with a spool o f twine on the handle . ! ou punch it through the leather and pull out again . A length o f thread is left in

side . Putting your hand into the moc, you guide this thread through the needle point loop for the

. How next punch, and so get a lock stitch many f per ectly good mocs have we thrown away, simply because they had a hole in the sole up near the toe where they could not be gotten at with a needle ! ’ This tool will save $ s in repairing such soles ! For - further tent and leather working tools , add O n a stout, sharp pair f shears ; a sharp k ife, with a bevel edge for cutting leather and making moc - casin thong strips, and a small Minch chisel for making holes where an overhand seam Of flat raw hide is to go . It may not seem that there is so very much Of leather and canvas work to do in the ’ — Sportsman s workshop but just look over your I 4 EQ UIPPING THE SHOP

cam p gear ! Here are burn- holes and tears in the Off dufile tents , straps and rivets torn out in bags and pack harness, mocs with leaky seams and holes in — of t the soles no end it to be fixed up, so hat you will hit the woods with outfit in good order next

tl m e .

ff ! new And then, making new stu We all plan

tents, new packs, new sleeping rigs . We lost our if hunting knife, perhaps, and we just could make of a good sheath , there are plenty fine butcher knives at one tenth the price that will answer just as well— if they had a sheath ! And then that big Of ax of ours has never had a sheath its own , having gone along wi th its edge swathed in gunnysack . Why not make a real sheath for it this winter ! I should say that the metal- working part of the shop comes next in importance . The cook outfits

get out of repair, lose their bails and wire, need

rivets, get battered and bent, and the guns and reels have a way Of accumulating rust and dirt that passes belief . I would rather blow myself on

that big vise, for a starter . There is a very good 2 - one with % inch jaws, opening about five inches, with an anvil and horn on the body end . Blessed tool ! There is hardly a metal job in the shop that does not get into or on that vise at some time or For other. metal rivets, a store of the ordinary round- head soft iron rivet will be in one Of those for tray drawer pockets, and is requisitioned cook

kit repairs, also for new work like tinkering up a ou camp stove that y swear is the best bet ever, or making a new- fangled camp grate ou t Of a broiling spider . Then the hardware stores are full of near I S THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP good camp utensils that have a foolish gadj e t or ou t handle sticking somewhere, and this the metal bench removes and you are the proud possessor of something new and good to hit the trail with next tl m e . You try that salt-water reel . Gummed fast ; its drag sets itself; its take- apart doohic kie is fast with green rust ; it needs taking all to pieces and each part cleaned, oiled, and vaselined . Out come O the screwdrivers, the il can , and the kerosene

- ou f . f dropper, and y go a ter him The resh water reels are not apt to suffer much from this sort o f thing ; their troubles are mostly working loose or having been squeezed in a pack until the frame is O ou skewed or out f round, when y take it apart and fix the frame at the metal bench . A general overhauling o f the guns finds the actions inside caked with old grease, rust, powder corrosion ; and that new sight that you intended putting on has come in by mail . With the metal bench and the Oils and screwdrivers a happy eve f ning is s pent, ending with the satis actory and f smooth clicking of a clean gu n . In these days O ten-cent cartridges it more than pays to save the shells and do your own reloading . Both the Ideal and Winchester people have new tools now for the big high- power rifles . A Bunsen burner and stand for it is the first special tool I would want . A very good substitute for it is one o f those little cast iron blue flame gas burners with level wings to set i pots on . Either of them s to be connected to your o f gas tap with a length flexible hose, and you thus a for have clean, safe means melting lead, soldering, I 6

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

f o the need ul, especially during the later perations . Another special tool is a metal rammer. Mine is made of brass . The wooden one furnished will not stand much tapping with your m allet. ! ou are supposed to use the cup of your hand, but this f becomes irksome long before fi ty shells are done, let alone a hundred of them . No ; a brass rammer the i and a light mallet make ideal combinat on . Passing on to the fishing- tackle section of the rod- shop, the first thing wanted will be a winding Two appliance . wooden uprights with V notches make the simplest combination that can be built. If one of these is fixed permanently at the right of be hand end the table , to the rear, it can used ff or l very e ectively, turned by hand with the litt e ru hand emery wheel aforementioned, by nning a light tape belt over the wheel and around a wooden r T flanged wheel slipped over the rod fe rule . his is not so complicated as it sounds . One size wheel is se t enough, and it is provided with a of bushings to fit snugly on the male ferrules of your own rods . The proper bushing for the particular rod makes the wheel available for use . I find that the left V i m xe too and hand upr ght may as well re ain fi d, , on the bench is a movable rest with half-round a adjustable support, which is to be set up longside the place where the actual winding is being done . A more elaborate rod winder is the lathe head aforementioned . It is nothing more than the ordinary small polishing wheel head, sold for a few bi dollars in the hardware stores, and has a chuck g enough to hold any small work or the end of a rod V- section . A notch upright and a rest complete I 8 EQ UIPPING THE SHOP

the outfit as before . This lathe head Is run by a round belt running down through holes In the table a r e to la ge grooved wheel, with treadle fix d to a diagonal brace bolted to the left- hand pai r of table legs . Those who want both a lathe and a rod winder may well consider putting in such a fixture . This sketch covers in general the indoor ac tiv

. I f ities of the shop t is per ectly capable, however, " skifl of building you a fishing and gunning , a canvas or an t decked sailing canoe, a dog kennel, y o her large wooden construction requiring more room in which to lay out and build . Mine has turned out e ff all thes delectable commodities, a ording me many weeks of carefree vagabondage out in the great open . The boats were built down in the cellar, with part of the shop tools moved down there for the t me be ng. The dog houses were u u right i i p—t p in the sho and eased ou t of its door after the p “ ” alarming di scovery that theywould just make It by taking the door itself off Its hinges ! The shop Is a t of lways busy, especially after the s renuosities the m r su mer and fall camping trips, when eve y i f thing comes n more or less razzled . Who shall say that the pleasure of renewing the vigor of those war- worn commodities and of designing and making newer and better ones does not bring the outdoors i indoors, an aura of the p ney woods and the open o of waters surr unding each one them, and the ponderable odor of fly dope and wood-fire smoke filling the shop with the aroma of the woods ! As pe rhaps one of the first activities Of your I a shop will be building Its own cabinet, give here r sketch f om which a design , modified to suit the I 9 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

c an original preferences of the builder, be made . as r And, prices of ordina y tools have soared to -o f O unheard heights, I give here a list f the present hardware- store costs Of good tools comprising the f selection suggested in the first part o this article .

Ham m er steel best uali t , , q y Saw ross-c ut Disston , c , Saw om ass . , c p Saw ba k 1 6 -in I , c , ch Saw a k m etal . , h c , Ratche t brace Bits

a k lane iron 1 2-in J c p , , ch Han lane sm all d p , Pliers side uttin lar e , c g, g Files

! ar e steel vise anvil and orn g , , h Sm all v ise .

Bre as t drill

a r n in awl ! e the ha d sew g Gromm e t se t 2

Pun es se t un es e tc ch , p ch , - R k k and Be d Roll 2. Vre land Fo e s T 1 . uc sac r te r e nt ’ - 3 C ree Th e e b ar Sno w S hoes 4. The A u ho s W ll T . r t r a e nt - 5 . Three pot Te n S o ve 6 . Ta p for Ea ing Tab le 2 ! t t r t . % b s.

CHAPTER II T en t Making

HE trade of Omar has certain subtle satisfac tions for the male animal which makes its

practice peculiarly agreeable, even while the

- actual labor of tent making is going on . Man is never more at home with himself than when trying to make a tent of sorts . It is the women who have ot of - g us into this prodigious tangle house owning, - - f house building, house urnishing, and then wasting the better part of our lives paying for and repairing these undesirable possessions ! The tent whispers of f all to us emancipation , reedom from that, a a home that costs compar tively nothing, that is an better without y furniture, and that has no fixed abiding place . Truly that Persian poet was right when he objected to the palace the sultan had pre him sented to , on the score that it could not be moved ! I suppose that in thirty years of camping out there is hardly a type of tent that I have not used or lived in at one tiIne or another. It an in — is for credible list teepee , wall tent, shelter tent, m Ne ssm u k ester, iner, handy, , canoe, canoe cockpit, ’ - - lone hiker s, snow, Appalachian, tarp and canoe, ” “ ” Es u im o f wedge, q , per ect, Dan Beard, or “ ”— Cam fire e ! f p y red gods, what a list Six o these 2 1 THE SPORTSMAN’S WORSKHOP

s ned e and f es e has n I de ig mys lf, one, the or t r, bee ppropriated by the sporting s houses without even naming it so as to give its inventor a modicum - - re . l a d a ou too ul of c dit Ah, we l y; w ld that I , , co d grab the cash and let the c redit go ! B t all u of them , I have come to boil down my to hre and is refe ren es just t e, the first of these p c — the! s and es e olde t b t would you b lieve it, none other than the wall tent ! For general camping a little one weighing 4% pounds and covering 6 by 5 feet in area by 6 feet high is the one that goes oftenest with me . The year before the war I thought I had des gned perfect on in tents by a modified ” i i a w m Handy of the s me floor area, but ith a dor er window on the re ar slant of the roof. But that e was a a dorm r nuis nce to rig, and used up as much canvas as would m ake the rear roof grow to a com ple te wall tent with the desired window in the w would —s t back wall . A indow I have ome hing big e nough to keep the tent from turning into an oven in the daytime and to see out of when at work w inside . So my final tent as a wall tent with 1 - sod c o 4 inch walls, a loth run around inside , r of 6 f 4% by feet long, a scrim ront sewed to the door in er of all around front, and the cov flap the door T openable to make a veranda in front. his tent is always pitched by a ridge rope run from tree to o and tree, its b ttom pegged down with ten stakes, r n its eaves guyed out to the su roundi g bushes, or l On a stakes if there are no sap ings handy. e st nds up in it easily; there is room for three to sleep in a pinch ; it is easily warmed by a small cylindrical o -r m a re the st ve, and to get more head oo we g mb l 2 2

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

. bar k all a and guys The net is sta ed down round, if there is a cold wind the extra cloth side is snapped on . For both woods camping after bass in June and September and all beach camping for salt it water fish, fills the bill, is cool and airy in th - the daytime and full of e all outdoors at night . The most refreshing thing to sleep in ever ! is The third tent is the laziest of all, and used

. 2 o for lone hiking trips It weighs % p unds, all told, and includes a canvas pocketed stretcher bed O 6 weighing nine unces and a tarp by 9 feet, weigh in 0 g two pounds, including 3 feet of ridge rope . This tent sleeps and camps one very comfortably

. I indeed pitch it by cutting two long, slender poles, using the bottom lengths of seven feet from for the s each the sides of stretcher bed, and the re t two to make up pairs of shears, over which the ridge rope is ru n. The bed poles are lashed to the shear and legs about a foot above the ground , the tarp is spread over the ridge rope, pegged down flat to windward, and the front edge guyed out to form a veranda, under which a fire can be built in front of the cot in rainy weather. A mosquito canopy hangs down over face and shoulders at night, hung by a string from the ridge rope. A very comfort able little tent for lone hiking or going with a party where each has his own tent and cooking gear. These are my three favorite tents ; you prob To ably have your own . make any and all of them , certain principles of tent design must be respected . NO strain must come on any part of the tent ex f cept the seams . Up these the stress o guy ropes and pegs runs to the rafter or ridge rope . Tent 24 THE HAND! TENT

’ TH E AUTHOR S MIDGET W A ! ! TENT 25 THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

- duck, eight ounce, is now around forty cents a yard, but bids fair to go lower . The department ou stores do not carry brown khaki , but y can get a bolt of it from any Of the big outfitters or from such manufacturers as the John H . Meyers Com pany, of Fourth Avenue, New York . Most of it - F - i s in 30 inch widths . or general tent making - n ordinary eight ounce duck is good e ough, but a ‘‘ ” bit heavy . The waterproof brown army tent r i ings weigh about six ounces to the unn ng yard, Parafli ne d or some four . linen cotton , usually dyed to green , runs about three ounces the yard, and now costs somewhere around 6 0 cents ; used to be 38 own cents when I was making my tents . This, too f , can be bought rom the outfitters, and comes 36 and 40 inches wide . I t is best gored down the middle with a single fold, as you will want your pegs nearer than 30 inches . The usual width be tween seams is 1 8 inches . The ordinary house sewing machine is per fe c tl O duffl e y capable f making tents, packs, bags , sleeping bags, and all the usual canvas camp gear . I t will sew anything it can drive its needle through, an incredible number of thicknesses, even five, O having gone under the foot f my machine . It does, however, want a stout needle and stout 0 thread ; 4 cotton brown is best . The needle is the stoutest the machine will take, something that will punch down through the toughest canvas corner, even if you have to aid it with your hand on the the wheel for first few stitches . I usually pin my seams with a three- quarter- inch single overlap and run the upper seam first just inside the edge of the 26 TENT MAKING

ou t . n goods, taking pins as I come to them The and turn over do the other edge, which goes much easier. In cu tting for the dimensions it is a good plan to make a miniature of the tent of stiff white paper a . to sc le, particularly if it is a complicated one Then from the diagonal edges take off the dim en ’ — sions with an architect s scale without which I I for would not be happy. n cutting a complicated i s tent, like a snow or a handy, It well to outline the ff run entire tent with a skeleton string a air, from poles and tacks in the floor to represent corner pegs .

The cloth can then be cut to meet the strings, two allowing inches overlap for seams and hems, and the whole tent built with pins every six inches to hold it together. When just right and with overlap enough allowed on all seams, take it apart, one on the section by section, and sew each up machine . Then assemble the sections until the entire tent is done . I For a wall tent the roof is to be made first. n 6 my small one the roof was a rectangle 9 by feet, sewed up out of two 40- inch-wide lengths of par afli ned - w muslin, with one inch laps do n the center

. ll of each gore It was then hemmed a around . w l I 6 The al s were next gotten out, inches high by 6 feet long, and hemmed along the bottoms . The tops were then sewed inside the lap of the roof a hems, so that the l tter would project out an inch and leave a hem for grommet holes for the side l wal guys . The two ends were cut and sewed f h and finally run in under both end hems o t e roof. Grommets were then put in at the ends of each 27 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP — had a h seam , and I then a plain w ll tent wit no modern conveniences - hot as thunder in the day arafline d time and breathy at night, for p muslin will not pass air through its weave . So I set it up and cut ou t a two-foot tri angular window in the

k O a fine - . pea f the re r wall , filling it with mesh scrim

The piece cut out hangs down in clear weather, and can be hauled up under a hood run ou t on the

a s . h re r ridge rope in cold, blowy sea ons I find t at a foot length Of triangular hood stretched out on the ridge rope from the sides of the window will s f . I a hield it rom rain For a door w nted first, a l si l a foot high , to keep sand and dirt from being tracked into the tent and keep out small visitors while I was away in the woods . The door could be made about four foot six to the top and be eighteen inches wide before running into the peak f so and of the roo , this much canvas was cut out a h added to, with long, flaring di gonals, so t at it would grow to a respectable shade at some four feet from the tent . I did not sew up the remainder the except above flap, where it should be tightly f waterproof. There are times when the whole ront of the tent should be open to let in the warmth h and cheer of the camp fire . The sill , t en , was made so it could be unlaced from the grommets at its edges and the whole thing turned back .

Now, in fighting black flies, punkies, and mos quitoes I have come to learn that no net front except one sewed to the tent all along its inside wa edges is worth a whoop . The one for this tent s the cut with a much wider angle than roof peak, so that it would fall in easy folds, with a foot of lap 2 8 TENT MAKING

. one below the sill Lifting this, could get inside as easily, or it could be raised like a curtain so to

let in the fire heat unobstructed . o O Except for the ridge rope, which sh uld be f 3 é - for stout / inch cotton , there is no need the addi tional of weight anything heavy for the wall guys . O f c odfish I use a hank Banks line, such as are I on §- caught , a green braided line / inch in diameter,

1 00 - and pounds strong . Six foot lengths of this for u are ample g y ropes, and very light . For peg ties the least aggravating and lightest are short two- foot lengths of common brown tape . Rope is mighty apt to kink and make the hardest of knots ' of dufl after a week dampness in the , setting the knot like grim death . Tape unties more easily and is less bulky and heavy . A final addition to this tent was a light edging sod o of cl th eight inches wide, sewn around the bottom hem inside . It is of the lightest brown i and for muslin , and is well worth its we ght bulk , the sod cloth seals many an irregularity in the evenness o f the forest fl oor and keeps out enter prising mosquitoes and black flies which would work in that way even through a considerable banking fl' up of du . More than once I have had a night spoiled by the unaccountable presence of mos uitoe s or q midges which had gotten in , heaven knows how, but the mystery was explained when the flasher showed a hollow under the bottom hem of the tent not completely filled with leaves . A sod ’ la o f cloth, held down by the p one s blanket bag, would have sealed that hole . While on the important subject of insects, a 29 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

word on the bar material to keep them out ! Or dinary mosquito netting is too coarse and too flimsy to be worth much in the woods . The hex mesh bobbinet is proof against mosquitoes, but punkies and black flies go through it as through a tennis net . Cheese cloth will keep them out, but is stuffy and apt to draw its mesh so ou t Of the true weave as to leave holes In places where they can get through . I have come to rely upon e c rou curtain scrim, which you can get in the upholstery depart

of o . i s ment m st stores This scrim a fine mesh net,

f . strong, and proo against mosquitoes and black flies TO be free from annoyance from the pestiferous -fire midge the only sure is a canvas, totally closed tent . The forest air seeps through its weave at f night, keeping it free rom breathiness, and upon retiring you first close and tape the front flaps, which will have a loose strip of light cloth sewed down one edge to make a seal, and then with the

flasher hunt down and slay each and every midge, black fly, and mosquito that may be found on the tent walls . Peace will then be yours for the rest of the night . It is the only tent I would take into a pest hole like the Adirondacks in summer. Supposing that you have made the tent in or dinar - re y eight ounce duck, the first thing it will quire when it comes off the machine and before grommeting will be waterproofing. I have used ’ Ne m k - ss u s lime alum recipe for years . Ordi nary duck tents waterproofed with it turn the most h violent of thundershowers wit ease, nor does the ’ process add appreciably to the tent s weight . “ The recipe ! To ten quarts of water add ten 30

THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

f f ounces o lime and our ounces of alum . Let it stand until clear. Fold tent and put in another vessel ; pour the solution upon it, let it soak for

twelve hours ; then rinse in lukewarm rain water, su n and stretch and dry in the , the tent is ready for ” use . In practice I found that you had to heat the lime and alum solution over a fire to get the f lime to slake . Perhaps it was the ault of the lime, a or perhaps the alum kept it from slaking ; nyway, if you see nothing doing with your lime, put it on the fire and she will soon start . An ordinary gal aniz v e d iron pail will hold ten quarts of water. The lime you get from any lumber concern . They

will tell you where a building job is going on , and you hike over there and graft the ten ounces of quick lime where they are making fresh mortar. None of the drug store or hardware store limes are l any good, being all slack . The a um you get at the drug store . ’ Ne ssm uk s direction to fold the tent I found would not do with new duck canvas . There is sure to be a large spot somewhere In the center of the folds entirely untouched by the liquor even after ’ twenty- four hours submersion . I always dip in the tent loose until the new, fresh cloth Is wetted through and through . I t can then be folded and capillary attraction will draw In the solution during ’ the twelve hours submersion . The chemical t eac tion is a double sulphate o f lime and alum which gradually forms In the fibers . As this Is insoluble i n fresh water, it makes the tent waterproof for all slants over one in four . After a shower I find the

w . tent roof ith a sleek , soapy feel 32 TENT MAKING

I have never tried the sugar-of-lead and alum process . It seems simple enough and is probably ffi e cacious, as it is used by the Boy Scouts and many military organizations . One half pound each of alum and sugar-o f-lead are dissolved in separate vessels containing four gallons of boiling rain water or other soft water . Allow to cool and settle until ’ clear. After four hours precipitation the clear liquors resulting of both solutions are poured together into a container holding the tent . You i w ll note that it mixes to eight gallons, which will f take care o quite a large tent . The cloth is thor oughly immersed in this pickle ; just how long is a not stated , probably twelve hours, to llow the chemical reaction of the alum and sugar-o f-lead to f of in fix itsel into the fibers the cotton . As it is is soluble by water, all that now needed is to squeeze out the liquor, hang up tent and let dry , when the next rain that comes will run off down the surface of the cotton . A third process that I have used a fe w times consists in dissolving a couple of cakes of grocery ffi o f T h store para n in a can turpentine . o do t is “ ” you must heat the turps , either in a double boiler or back on some safe part of the kitchen -u stove, when it will readily dissolve the cut p “ f ar fli t shavings o p a n. A pint of urps will take f ffi on up a brick o para n . I used this once a very light tent made of American drilling . I painted ” ru it on with a flat b sh, when the turps evaporated, leaving the drill impregnated with the paraffin . Then I set up the tent and turned a garden hose Spray on her. She leaked in a number of spots . 3 33 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP These were repainted and the process kept up until it leaked nowhere . For another light tent I tried rubbing on the parafli n brick and following with a

d arafli n . hot iron . This imme iately drove in the p - h ff f It proved water tig t, but sti , and I am a raid that if used in cold weather that tent will crack . I was not much impressed with either of the par

affin on . processes light goods However, to make araffine d a light p muslin tent, soak it in this solution

after sewing up , and then stretch and dry . I would be inclined to shrink it first by soaking in the lime l ffi alum mixture, then dye, then fina ly para n . s As to dyeing tents, the plain white is ea ier to

find in the woods, and also easier for others to find while you are away . The green and brown look or less disreputable when dirty mildewed, and we are not so conspicuous in the woods . I usually dye

- my tents brown with ordinary drug store dyes . They should be well stirred while in the liquor of boiling, for, if allowed to rest, the area tent next the bottom will surely take on a darker color than tan - the rest . Kephart gives a dye, home brewed, of two pounds of white- oak bark dissolved in three and one - half gallons of boiling water . I never tried

- so . it, as the ten cent dye was much less trouble

In conclusion , let me call your attention to two more tents that I still regard with approving “ ” . so- memory The first is the called Handy tent, f o 6 f a little totally enclosed ell w, feet wide by 5 eet

6 . 1 8 deep and feet high It has walls inches high , a flat front of the same shape as the ordinary wall s r tent, but the ide and back oof slants are triangles, sloping down to the walls from the single pole in 34 TENT MAKING

front, with which it is put up . This tent is my inse c t favorite for very y country, and I prefer it made of plain single- filling department- store c ight so ol ounce duck, that I get a constant change air during the night . Its roof is so steep that the lime alum process waterproofs it completely . One can stand up to dress in the front part of it . With two cots inside it is ideal for a man and his wife . When three men sleep side by side on the floor its six f of h and eet widt gives them plenty of room , the front face can be set out enough to accommodate their feet . Three friends of mi ne got away with

the a so . I this stunt once in Adirond cks, I know do not think that sportsmen in general are sufli c ie ntly acquainted with the excellenc ies of this little one tent. Only sporting goods house makes it, so far as I know . The second tent is the good old Forester. ! w Lord love us, how time flies It was just t enty years ago when I designed and built the first one f - of them . It is still my avorite cold weather tent when I do not want to tote a stove . All its angles reflect the fire - heat rays down on the sleepers . It is very light, only six pounds, with hood, in ordinary - department store duck , and it is quickly put up with three poles cut in the nearest thicket . No thunderstorm has yet gotten through the steep w f roof of that tent, aterproo ed by the home lime ’ alum process . A pack o f houn dawgs once pro nounc e d of it the warmest all open tents, for out of three different selections before the same fire they all m insisted in crowding into y tent . Could any flattery equal that ! I give here the pattern of the 35 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP hooded forester which anyone can make for himself. The original open type is the one grafted by the too of various manufacturers, but it is leaky good fire heat up the ridgepole and too vulnerable to driving rains to suit me . I put the hood on the second one I made, and have never sold anyone an open one .

People are always writing in , asking me, What !” is balloon silk It is not silk at all , but a light of weight cotton fabric, close wove, long fiber sea isle cotton . It is used a good deal in fine yacht

- sails and in tent making . Most of the big ship chandleries keep it in stock ; also such houses as

John Boyle, of Broome Street, New York . The weight is about four ounces to the yard . Do not try to put eyelets in tent seams . The is temptation to do so great, particularly in lacing f seams like a ront . But the only thing which will hold is the grommet . And in fastening tapes where a strain is to come on them , like ridge tapes to go around an outside pole , give yourself plenty of the anchorage to tape, sew it all around the edges, and then di agonally across the rectangle in both directions . CHAPTER III Making Pa c k an d T rail G ear OST of us who hit the trail to the woods frequently as the seasons roll by love to plan new gear or alter something already ’ manufactured to mold it nearer to the heart s ” or - desire, else haunt the army goods shop to pick ff a fe w n up military stu th t, with a cha ges, can be made into right serviceable woods equipment . ’ of r n Then , at the end the yea s campi g, the winter nights see us mending and repairing this and that so that we may go afield bright and early next year

- with everything tip top and good as new . To do all this does not ne cessarily presuppose a and shop, but it does require a few special canvas - of leather working tools, so as to make a job work of whatever we set our hands to . First and fore ' the -su fl e rin fa most, long g mily sewing machine needs two additions to make it worth while as a sewer of trail goods . It needs the stoutest needle o f the holder will take, and it needs sundry spools at least twenty cotton weight . Your home sewing machine will sew anything it can drive its needle r f of if th ough , as much as five olds canvas necessary, but to do it it needs a stout needle with a big eye that will pass heavy thread . No light garment thread will answer . It may look strong as the seam 37 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

‘ comes ofl the machine and you give it a tentative r yank, but sooner or later a st ain will come on the very end of that seam and it will peel down and out like stripping a banana, and almost as easily . A seam of twenty brown cotton will hold almost any in if thing crosswise or longitudinal strain , but by maneuvering the strap you can put a pull on it of backward, over the head the seam , so to speak for better put in a rivet as a stop, this rivet will prevent the seam starting.

As to what can be sewed, you can tackle all grades of duck canvas with confidence , including the heavy brown ten ounce waterproof parafline d duck in four thicknesses ; light leather, such as small buckle straps ; army webbing straps of all arafline d sorts, and p muslins for light tents, which will not leak through the seam holes if you use a light needle for them . This will include nearly all t camp gear material except heavy lea her, such as harnesses, tump straps, and moccasins . These latter may be worked by rivets and sewing with f the hand leather sewing awl . This use ul little tool costs sixty cents at the hardware stores, and has a set of needles of various fineness and curves in its hollow handle . Behind its chuck you will find a metal spool holding considerable heavy black sewing twine . The needle selected for the work is put in the chuck and the end of the thread slipped through its eyehole . You then punch through the two thicknesses of leather to be sewed and run the trailing thread through the loop left by the needle in withdrawing . This tail thread is caught and partly drawn into the hole as you pull tight, so 38

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP make and repair camp gear . When it comes to ‘ stufl making new , the list of things that a woodser wants is almost endless . You can make at home about everything sold in the outfitting stores . I have made my own canvas pails even , and had them come out waterproof and O . K . Nearly all of ou r us have own ideas of the ideal packsack, ba sleeping g, cook kit, and war bag . In general the packsack may be classified in two mai n di visions . the square or pear- shaped bag o f general knapsack type, and the long, cylindrical army type , fli starting from the du e bag as its progenitor . Both ways are convenient and depend, I should say, on how you prefer to carry your tent and bedding .

These two are the bulkiest of your trail articles , but the grub Is always the heaviest and most com pact, wherefore, to make your pack hang right, the place the heaviest thing is to go is the first c onsid if is c ration . My experience has been that weight packed high it tends to make the bag sag away from the shoulders and enormously increases the shoulder pressure and fatigue . If carried low the pack hugs in tight to the back . In both types , v then , the hea y weights, ammunition, canned grub , and . the like, should go in the bottom of the pack ff Above them the tent, then war bags of small stu , and finally the blanket roll . In the ideal pack both hips and shoulders should take part in sustaining ’ the load . To do this in practice one puts one s or fists a rolled coat or sweater under the belt, where they will bear against the bottom of the knap or of sack, , with the long type pack like the Alaska 40 ARM! T! PE PAC K THE DULUTH PAC K

G O MET S ET SAC K ON VI Ew R M RUCK , FR T 4 1 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

' ofl se ts and the army , a hip brace is provided, with r a and a st ap which engage the hips, tipping the p ck at a slight angle to the shoulders . to f not As carrying strap astenings, I am yet convinced whether two straps se t a fe w inches r a t V w s apa t a ith separate anchorage eams, or a D- t ring with bo h straps coming from a single point, or . a yoke curving around the neck, is the best - The two strap is the staunchest, will not let the of on pack sling out place a sudden lean , and holds D- it flat across the back . The ring anchorage brings both straps crossing over the big muscles of

the neck, but it tends to draw the pack to a peak

like a bag, and it allows it to slue easily when one is

of . thrown out balance The yoke fits snug, but is

- hot and likely to chafe . For the two strap anchor

age I use broad straps of thin , strong leather sewed down the canvas with D- rings at their tops . The carrying straps are riveted in these and have broad sliders of heavy leather on them which can be slipped into position over the shoulders, thus dis tributing the pressure and preventi ng stoppage of r V h t blood ci culation . For the anchorage, wit bo h f D- straps starting rom a single large ring, I use a a of canv s patch the same goods as the pack, sewed to it with double seams all around the edge , and with cross seams running down from each edge of D- n f the ri g . This multitude o seams makes it proof agai nst being pulled ou t by a backward tear. There 13 never any danger from the weight of the f pack itsel , because that strain comes down the 2- D- whole seam . For a inch ring, a triangular patch of doubled canvas eight inches wide by five 42 MAKING PACK AND TRAIL GEAR

n inches deep , with the neck slipped through the ri g, has proved strong enough for durable service . For of a yoke I make one, straps and all , the same f canvas as the pack, ten inches wide by our inches deep where it sews across the back of the pack . The curve of the yoke 13 a half- circle on a three-inch or - radius six inch diameter, widening in a long slant until , at the lower ends where the buckle

comes , the strap is but an inch wide . The strap part is m ade by simply turning under the edges of the goods one- half inch on each side and sewing the two faces with a seam down each edge and two or three down the middle . This is a strong strap . Its principal trouble is that canvas will not hold eyelets well , so that the buckle tongue sooner or later breaks them out . I prefer sewing with button

hole stitch wherever, on adjustment, the straps show to need a buckle hole . To fasten the yoke to the pack it needs two seams run all around the edge and two diagonals across the corners . A rivet put in at the two upper corners will prevent the seam starting if it i s to be used for very heavy F r - loads . o an ordinary forty pound load the above scheme is plenty secure enough with twenty cotton thread . For straps we have the choice of leather or army webbing . I find that the pairs of cartridge yoke straps sold at the army goods stores for 50 cents a pair make good packsack straps . They are used

to support the heavy army cartridge carrier, and of run over the shoulders like a pair suspenders ,

with hooks at the lower ends and adjustable buckles . T of - hey are made wide woven olive drab webbing, 43 THE SPORTSMAN’S WORKSHOP

fl‘ fining down to narrow at the ends . Cutting o one end of each and taking off the metal retaining collar which holds each pair together, I rivet them around the pack D-ring with two tubular rivets . The cut ofl ends are put on the pack to engage the of of hooks the other ends the straps, taking the place of buckles . The adjustable sliding buckle does the rest in fitting the pack to one ’s personal measurements . Many of us are far from any army- goods supply f store, but we can all get leather straps . I pre er the I % - inch strap of fine strong leather and pro vide it with a pair of sliders of thick leather 8 inches long by 2% inches wide . A slit is cut about

an inch from top and bottom of these pieces, and

they are then slipped on the strap . To use the buckle at the end of each strap you can either cut it off with two inches of the strap fastened to it and then sew these pieces to the bottom of the

pack with the hand sewing awl, or else cut the buckle loose entirely and mount it in a c anvas o anchorage f its own , sewed to the pack canvas on the machine . Very little strain comes on these

buckles . They should go well out toward the lower outer edges of the pack ; the lower the flatter the pack will hang. Do not try to rivet on leather straps to the canvas . The rivets will surely pull

out, tearing a seam in the canvas in doing so, or maybe taking a strip of the canvas with them . dufli e For packsacks, bags, and such camp gear I do not think you can beat ten-ounce waterproof

- parafline d duck canvas . All the yachting goods stores and camp outfitters carry it in stock in 20 MAKING PACK AND TRAIL GEAR

- and 37 inch widths . It is waterproof, so you are protected against driving spray in a canoe, rain ,

and . on upsets It is strong, easily sewed the home r machine, holds g ommets well , does not get smeary ' in the heat of the sun or stifl in icy weather . I have tried it in all climates and weathers and prefer it ‘ to any lighter but less dependable stufl . It comes o dyed a dark brown , a good col r for all camp gear. - du flle Of it I make packs , side opening bags, pails, anything wanted strong and waterproof . For ‘ stufl lighter , such as cook kit, grate and baker

covers, I use a light brown strong drilling. For f o f arafli ned ou ood bags all sizes, p muslin , which y can buy from the outfitters or make yourself by m ffi im ersing the goods in a solution of para n bricks,

s . shaved fine, turpentine, and a little bee wax One friend makes a very good solution by dissolv ing them in gasoline, setting the solution away for a considerable time for the slow process of dis solving to take place . In sewing up the goods the edge-to- edge outside seam is the neatest, covered with a turn of brown tape . It is no trick at all . The tape is started folded over the seam and held with a few pins . As the work feeds under the machine foot you fold

the tape double over the edge of the seam, making sure that both top and bottom are being taken In f by the needle . For turning in a hem you just old over the heavy brown canvas and crease it . Its of ffi body para n will make it lie flat, tight down, until held there by the thread . o f I give here two designs packsacks, the square and the army type . The working drawings of the 45 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

m patterns will be all anyone needs to ake up one . A brief description of the merits of various pack

no t . ou designs will be amiss, however I give y first f the o f the Duluth pack, rom home the pack country, northern Minnesota . A good large size would be the 2 28 6 of 9 inches by inches by inches, made ten

arafline d s . ounce brown p duck canva Front, bot tom 6 , back , and flap is in one long strip, 9 inches 28 - 6 - long. Cut out two inch by inch sides and sew to strip with outside seam covered with a of doubling brown tape . You have then , roughly, a canvas box of the pack dimensions . Before sew ing up it should have been hem med along top and bottom edges and the D- ring and buckle anchor ages sewed on. For a wide pack like this I would f D- pre er two carrying strap ring anchorages, spaced about six inches apart . Facing to the rear on the bottom are the two carrying strap buckles, and facing to the front the three flap buckles for - inch straps. The tails o f these are next sewed on the

of . hem the flap , and the pack is done For a smaller 20- inch by 20 - inch by 4- inch pack I would use the single large D- ring in the center of the back and lead out my shoulder straps diagonally . The second pack shown is a modification of the m of c lin ar y regulation, and is a type the long, y dric al pack that sits low and takes some support from the hips . It is made of a single sheet of 37 f 6 inch brown waterproo duck, 5 inches long . It is to cut out, as shown in the drawing, leave flaps I 5 inches wide by 1 0 inches deep at the bottom and

1 6 inches at top . The edges are then finished all around with doubled tape, and the pack is ready 46

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP for carrying and tying straps . The latter are 3 - 6 - for plain / inch by 3 inch leather straps, sewed a six inches in the middle to the b ck of the pack . They are three In number, the top and bottom ones two inches from the edges of the wide part of the pack and the other one central . Any form of carrying strap that you prefer can next be secured F on the back . or a narrow pack like this I would prefer a large two- inch D-ring anchorage at the top and two buckle anchorages sewed to the lower cor ners just above the lower flap . On the upper flap 13 next sewn a bellows pocket 1 2 1 2 with flap , inches by inches being about right . m a of f m This y be lighter canvas, but I pre er the sa e f to husky waterproo brown duck, as it is hold grub and will be the thing on your pack most exposed to D- a rain . Two rings to secure this mess kit b g are f also sewn to the rear edge o this pocket . The pack

is now done . To use, you roll up tent, blankets , h canned t ings, etc ., to make a long, cylindrical roll about 30 inches long by 1 0 inches in di ameter. f Lay this in the center of your pack, old the cloth a round it with bottom flap tucked in , and secure with the three tie straps . The food pocket is then arafli ne d f filled with your p muslin ood bags, dry

of . poke socks, night toque, etc , and folded over

the top of the pack, where two thongs from its D- rings secure it to the upper tie strap . Needless

to . i t say, this is a summer pack St ll , wi h a light - sleeping bag of one inch quilting, one could tote a for winter outfit short hikes, putting the tent above the quilt bag . The pack itself makes a fair ground ’ cloth to lay under one s bedding on the browse, 48 MAKING PACK AND TRAIL GEAR

6 1 6 being 5 inches long, inches wide at head and ’ 6 n . foot, and 3 inches wide where o e s body comes A third pack that will bear description is the ’ ru little cksack, for short hikes of a few days dura T - w tion . his bag is made of tight woven ater proofed brown or green canvas of about four-ounce weight . I t consists essentially of a square bag 1 6 b 1 8 inches high y inches wide, thus requiring a 2 1 8 piece of canvas 3 by inches to begin with . This is hemmed top and bottom and then sewed with inside seam ; that is, sewed edge to edge and turned inside out . This is of course the last opera a tion in practic l making, for the strap anchorages, . an pockets, and upper flap go on first The strap c horage is a mere triangle of canvas sewed to the - u top, with the 0 4 inch webbing strap slipped nder it to come out in a 45-degree V and secured with several seam s driven through the triangle and webbing and pack canvas . This webbing goes to D- two rings at the lower corners of the bag, and is adjustable by a “suspender adjuster” sliding flat ring, which can be purchased to fit the strap at a f harness shop . On the front o the pack is sewed a b fla bellows pocket 7 y 7 inches, with p, and cen trally located at the top rear edge is a closing flap 6 6 inches by % inches, oval in shape, and finished all around the edge with doubled tape . A row of grom mets is put in all around the top hem after the pack is sewed up. They begin at the two lower corners of the flap, and then are spaced three and two inches alternately around the hem . A cotton rope is roved through them and secured by a knot beyond ea ro e o e in the u fla so the ch g mm t h l pper p, that 49 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

rope cannot get out of place or get lost. After

filling the bag, this rope is pulled taut, when the

bag closes up until its upper edges nearly meet . The flap is then pulled down over it and secured . In the manufactured article this is done for both

pocket flap and pack flap by a snap button , but a woodsman would prefer a regular button with

buttonhole, as holding more securely, no matter how tight the pack is filled . The snap button has a way of coming undone of its own accord in going through sc raggs that will call out many a curse from the bedeviled outdoorsman who may have lost something irreplaceable out of his pack thereby . This little rucksack will hold an astonishing lot o f . plunder Putting the grub, ammunition , extra

clothes, dry poke , and a tent tarp into it, I will roll

up my sleeping bag atop of it and go anywhere, in

reasonably mild weather, with it. It weighs about twelve ounces . — dufll e We now come to bags easy to make, one of the best rigs for a canoe or hunting trip yet de vised . Two of them carried side by side in a leather harness ought to take all the outfit any man should

be allowed, and they simply cannot get sunk in an upset nor drowned in a heavy rain storm . The plain 8 - inch by 29- inch duflle bag is made by cut ting a 27- inch length from your roll of 29- inch arafli ne d - brown duck p ten ounce, hemming the

- - upper end, sewing an edge to edge double seam , ou t and turning the thing inside , when the seam will

- come inside . A nine inch circle is next cut and one - sewn into end, with a finish of turned over and row of the u r tape, a grommets is put in ppe 50 MAKING PACK AND TRAIL GEAR

. ou end, with a pucker rope to tie it in If y want a of neck, sew in a length brown drilling before mak ing up the bag, and if a handle in the center side appeals to you , get one out of your brown canvas goods and sew the handle ends to your bag while the canvas is still out flat . duflle - not A long bag, end opening, does appeal for to me much, the reason that so much has to be pulled out of it and dropped in the leaves (where i t see ks a hiding place!before the thing you want c an

- f . 13 be ound The side opening bag more elaborate, but Is a winner for general camping or for c arrying

for . the grub a large party To make it, first of all , a piece of your brown parafli ne d duck 22 inches - o f long is cut from the 37 inch width goods . Next, 8 for two circles % inches in diameter the ends, and finally two pieces of brown drilling 8 inches by twelve inches will be wanted fo r end fillers . These various pieces will sew up to make a side-opening 22 bag 8% inches by inches long . The handiest places to put the carrying handles will be on the for ou t ends, you will always be pulling those bags ’ of the bottom of the canoe, and there s a handy place to grab ! Make those end straps of brown 6 1 canvas % inches by 5 4 inches, and sew them to of the ends, reinforcing with a bit leather and two rivets . Inside the bag will be one of its chief c onve n ie nc es , rows of pockets to hold spoons, forks, salt or shakers, and such small deer, personal belongings i f you are using the bag to carry your main outfit. of This pocket material is brown drilling, sewn in in ten-inch loops in three seams about seven inches 5 1 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

apart, and the cloth is nine inches deep, although the seam at the bottom is only eight. This leaves t e h three pockets loose and baggy, so they will hold a good deal . Three more pockets are run , row overlapping the upper three inches, so you have six pockets In whi ch to stow things . Now as this bag 13 to be carried by a couple o f straps passing around it through a strap handle , it needs two short pieces o f leather sewed on the bottom where the straps will pass through . After doing this the bag is ready to assemble . The two I - lips are first hemmed with a broad % inch hem , and then the round ends sewn in with tape finish

ing, and finally the drill end fillers are sewn in along the bag edges and the top half of the circular

f-c oo a . ends, cutting out a hal ircle In the g ds to m tch When done you have aJdee p side- opening bag with circular ends and bottom . A sti ck 13 next slipped into the hem above the inside pockets and two grommets are put in at the ends of both lips . To

- - close, fill the bag with eight inch friction top cans of - arafline d butter, pork, bacon , etc ., eight inch p muslin f f ood bags, until it is ull and its contents form a

- long, eight inch cylinder. Then match the lips and roll them together around the stick . Secure with t e h outside straps, and you have a waterproof - du fll e ba for side opening g, ideal canoe trips or - i n back packing . To use camp, drive In two stakes 20 inches apart and hang the bag up on them by the grommet holes in the lip stick hem . It will then hang open with the rows of pockets up and the contents ready to hand . The cook will appreciate the convenience of that bag when he starts a 52 MAKING PACK AND TRAIL GEAR

for t meal eight, wi h the thing hung up handy to his fire . If for using it hiking, the tent and sleeping bag or blanket roll form the cylindrical center of the 8 duflle pack, and one small personal occupies the pockets. There Is room in one end for grub stores the lower end if you want it to carry well . I would recommend two of them a a good pack for the “ ” s of his t hunting sport, who has most ruck carried

- - by guides . For a stand-on- your own feet hiker it t has no hing much to attract, as the thing has little use in camp except to form a wall pocket to hang fll up your spare du e in . No pack that I take along can be useless in camp . The army pack you can f sleep on as a ground cloth . Best o all the light trip rigs is Dwight Franklin ’s webbing carrying t f harness, wi h his tent and sleeping bag roll orming the outside of the pack itself. He loses no weight in toting anything that has not a use in camp .

53 CHAPTER IV

H om e - Made T en t Stoves an d C ook Kits

LONG ago became converted to the tent stove . It won its way into my heart by sheer merit and against the prejudices of years of camping out before an open fire . Said fire required an axe to be taken along that weighed more than a stove ; ’ it required at least an hour s chopping each day, and that hour when one was tired ou t from the ’ ’ day s hunt and longed to take one s ease . The f campfire was bright, light, and cheer ul while it lasted, but all too soon it relapsed into smoky embers . And there was no getting away from the drifts of smoke that would waft into the tent and ! I stay there n windy, rainy, or snowy weather it - ! was an acrid eye watering nuisance , no less The matter came to the parting of the ways when my State passed fire laws requiring a license to build i an open fire in the woods . There were no re str c s videli c et tion on closed fire , a tent stove ; but the license for an open camp fire had to be sought from the fire warden of the township in which I proposed to camp . He made matters altogether too complex “ ” sivilize d for and me , so I set about designing of my own tent stoves, for none the outfitters 54

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP the mixing tins are aluminum they make good bake pans by pouring a batter into one, setting it in the stove hole, putting a shallow tin plate on top, and covering it with a pile of live coals . I first intended making a single cylindrical stove that would take both pots end to end in it, but the trouble with this is that it has only one hole when

- set up, and a one hole stove is a sheer aggravation . You need two holes to cook a meal on . All right; side b side put the pots y , then , and make an oblong stove to just fit around them, and you will have used no more metal than with the simple cylinder . So this was the form the stove finally took . A sheet of 28 - gauge iron was first gotten out, 7 inches wide 6 by 3 inches long . This was bent around the two pots and riveted where the metal overlapped in o f the middle one flat side . A top was next made, with edges turned over to fit down on the oblong

- sheet iron sides and lap three eighths of an inch , when rivets secured it at 3-inch intervals. In this top was ou t two holes 6 % inches in diameter to just fit the two aluminum pots . Between them was a narrow bridge left by the overhang of both pot t covers . To prevent his bridge sagging in the heat, f V- I riveted inside a narrow rein orcement, a shaped piece of 2 8 - gauge . I also cut ou t two hole covers 7 inches In diameter and provided with three angle stop pieces riveted underneath to keep the covers th centrally located on e holes . I am not in favor of for s ! ou a holeless stove two reason first, because y cannot manage the fire properly without being able off f to take the lids ; and second, because you o ten have a fine bed of live coals in the stove which would 56 TENT STOVES AND COOK KITS cook splendidly if only you could get the pot bot e toms down to it, which you cannot do with a hol less stove . Anyone who has waited for hours for things to cook on a holeless stove will know what I mean . This stove had no bottom . In setting it up I of t get a flat rock, or two hem , and chink up around the bottom edges . If more draft is needed than one the v can get through door, remo e a chink stone or two and she will draw like a major and all be well . Managing a tent stove so it will not smoke is purely a matter of draughts— letting in air enough when wanted to cause complete combustion and prevent f smoke . This you cannot do satis actorily with a bottomed stove, because you are limited to the

d f . door raught, which is o ten not enough I put a 3 by 3- inch door in the rear end with a sliding cover in two metal grooves riveted to the f shell, and a chimney flue in the bottom of the ront 2 the end by 3 inches, with lips arranged to engage bottom of the chimney pipe . This hole was put in the the bottom, not top, of the stove, because the ff front po t is sure to blank it o when in its hole . It draws just as well if put in the bottom of the stove . The chimney itself was two 1 6 - inch lengths of 2%- inch pipe . The bottom section had a 2 by 3- inch hole notched out of its lower side and pro vided with two strips of metal reinforcing, which allowed the lips projecting from front end hole of the stove to slip in between them and the walls of the pipe . To set up, you put the stove on a flat of stone, and then shove down the bottom section 57 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

f stovepipe over the lips, when it would stand ast upright at the end of the stove . The top section

I originally made to telescope inside the bottom, for but this was a mistake, after a few camps the o t bottom section g dirty and caked inside , and the top section would stick in it abominably . I finally s s made the top ection with a light draw in its end, so it could be put together like ordinary stove pipe . It might seem that a chimney only 32 inches high s would not draw well , but uch is by no means the case . If the fire is well managed, so as to keep a column of hot air in the pipe it will draw fine if only 1 4 inches high . two This stove, pipes and all, weighed and - three quarter pounds, and went with its pots in place in an oilcloth wrapper which formed my ground cloth under the sleeping bag at night . The two pipes went side by side on top of the stove and proved an excellent place to carry fresh meat ’ s arafli ned . in , wrapped in the butcher p paper I took it on many hiking trips into the mountains during the hunting season . We set it up in the door of the tent and used it for both cooking and tent warming, besides being free from all fire ’ warden s restrictions . To keep the pot bottoms from coming down on the hot coals I bored two l {g-inch holes on each side of the stove three inches down from the top. Through these went long -inch bolts on which the pot bo ttom rested . Meanwhile I had by no means forgotten the ’ possibilities of a cylindrical tent stove . It takes up m less roo than the oblong, and is easier set up, besides giving a higher and deeper fire . When the 58 - 1 . 3 ! C lind ic l T ve . ! h b . a e n S o 2 2 b . Tw ole S ve y r t t 94 o to - 3 . Side o pe ning Food Bags

4. ! Di B 5 . Th r wl C e ather tty ag e G o e r ook Kit

’ TH E AUTHOR S Two-HOLE HI KING STOV E

59 THE SPORTSMAN’S WORKSHOP t - fireless hree section cooker pots came out, all three f orming a circle to go in one hole, I had what I wanted to make the cylindrical stove a success ; for now you had something that would boil coff ee in one, rice or mulligan in another, and bake a corn cake in the third . The rather shallow set,

for . six inches deep, is the one adapted camp use Why ! Because the other and deeper set is meant for a source of heat reaching the walls o f the pots as well as the bottoms, whereas in a camp stove only the bottoms are reached . The fire less cooker people intended these shallow sets to go, one above r the other, in the same hole, but we campe s had other uses in mind, for that set would make possible o an ideal tent stove and cook kit for two, to g in a in small closed tent. The set is nine inches diameter - l and six inches deep . Allowing a three inch coa bed and an inch of fire space above that, I made the height of the stove ten inches and rolled up a steel shell to fit the set snugly . All it then needed was a three- inch square sliding door in the bottom front and a circular come- out hole 2% inches in f diameter cut in the back, with its upper edge our inches below the top to allow the pots a good depth . As this stove was to go with my walled I tent, decided to risk an elbow, so as to have my stove- hole in the wall instead of the roof of the all tent. Such an elbow, seven inches long over , will pack inside the stove . It has a draw at the stove end so as to drive in snugly into the hole . A single length of stovepipe 24 inches long by 2 was inches In diameter made, something that would lie snug atop my pack . This had a draw to fit into 6 0

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

1 6 say 2 inches wide by inches long . Under the forward edge of it is a shallow rabbet inch deep . You slip the edge of your sheet in there and fold the upper bo ard over on the lower . It will bend a f lip over double on the sheet . Two o these lips In opposite directions form the seam for your pipe or joint . Having no roller machine, you can bend up the pipe over a wooden mandrel with hammer and vise, catch the lip seams and secure by hammering them flat. Riveting jobs are a mere matter of drill r ing with a breast drill, inse ting the ordinary round f head so t steel rivet, and upsetting with a hammer over a piece of iron pipe . By dint of careful ham ar mering it is rem kable what serviceable, if not h andsome, tin work can be done at home . My f riend, Arthur Stratton, made a splendid reflector

m a . baker that way, and I yas well describe it here h The dimensions are given i n t e drawings . Having his gotten out and bent top, bottom , and back one s piece all In strip, he turned over the edge , cut the two sides, and riveted and soldered them to gether ; for Strat wanted to have his baker water so as - tight, as to use it a dish washing container in to camp . (By the way, his tent was folded just fit so inside the baker, he lost no space by it on the 3 trail .! An iron brace of 4 - inch by 1 8 - inch by i - j g inch strip iron was next fitted inside the baker, so as to turn in flat against the side when not f for wanted, and turn up to orm a rest the bake pan when in use . This was riveted through the sides of the baker j ust loose enough to turn stiffl y . Legs to v were next added , riveted the sides and pro ided with a stop rivet to hold them secure when the 6 2 C! LINDRICAL STOV E WITH THREE-PART COOKING POTS

OV EN STOV E THE STRATTON REFLECTOR BAKER

6 3 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

legs were turned down to rest on the ground, and the baker was done . It worked fine . Many a good mess of corn bread and biscuits have I eaten f . u rom it He had an upper lip on it, so it co ld be hung over the stove side, when its weight would pull it in snug against the stove wall . On lone hiking trips I have taken along the little folding grate that came with the Stopple cook

. f 8 kit It weighs little, olds to 4 inches by inches, and goes in a canvas bag that also holds spoons and f fr m orks, so as to keep them and it o getting the f rest o the things in the pack dirty . The utensils for the go- light safari consist of a 1 0 - inch aluminum the of plate, stowed in back the pack, an enamel ware cup hung on the belt with a thong, an oval 1 aluminum baker 9 inches by 7 inches by % inches, 6 - fr t with cover, a inch steel y pan wi h folding 6 - for cover, a inch tin mixing pan cake batters, and a three-quart kidney- shaped tin growler 8 h 2 i inches wide by 9 inc es deep by V nches thick, with cover . In these arid days I suppose that f u i s utensil Is no longer manu act red, but it a whale for w f small and sudden camps, and goes ith me o ten , a u slung in a canvas water p il that j st fits over it, t with a strap over shoulder , so tha the thing lies ’ f arm . rr f flat under one s le t In it I ca y resh meat, u r packages of bacon , b tte , and small perishable ff foodstu s generally . r is se t To cook up a meal, the little g ate up, the growler filled with the e lements of a stew or a grab or r two of rice in wate , the baker unlimbered and fl -u set on the grate with a batter in it . The first are p of the fire starts off the growler; afterwards a bed 6 4 TENT STOVES AND COOK KITS o f r coals is maintained under the g ate, so that the cake will not come to grief . After fifteen minutes it is done and set to one side, on edge, to keep hot and the mixing pan goes on the grate to brew coffee or n tea . Finally the fry pan is put o to do me a hunk of steak, and when that is done the rice or spuds in the r growler eport ready, and the meal is served . A light kit . The whole of it does not weigh two pounds . This grate had two objections ! It was not large d enough, and its legs were too spin ly . It seemed to me that a grate could be devised that would fold up to a mere bundle of rods . So I got me some l {g- inch rodding and made a collapsible grate . The two side frames have the legs eyed to them . Across the grate you lay as many rods as seem needful according to the business in hand . The hooks on their ends prevent them from coming off . This 1 6 8 grate is inches long by inches wide , and will accommodate a fry pan and a pot at the same time .

It weighs a pound . Anvil, vise, pliers, and hammer ll were a the tools needed to make it. All wire grates are open to the objection of windy weather blowing most of the heat out from under - the pots . A folding three sided open stove is easily 1 6 8 made, inches long by inches wide, with hinges

28- . bar of as shown , of gauge sheet metal A stout iron I inch by inch by I 6 inches long goes across the f the open front at top, and orms a rest for all -i pots set on the stove . Its two turn n lips have stud bolts set in them , with wing nuts outside . The ends o f these studs project through holes in the top corners of the side, and, clamping up the wing nuts, the stove is ready for use . I 6 5 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP From there to a folding camp stove is but a f step . It needs a ourth side to engage the two ends two with skewer rods, and a cover with holes and - 8 turned down lip . Dimensions of inches by 8 inches by 1 6 inches will make a handy little two hole stove . Door in one end and chimney flue with lips as in the Forester stove to take two lengths f 2 - n 1 6 o % i ch pipe inches long. Back and sides f old up, front is laid on them, and the whole nested in the cover . Put the entire contraption in a flat bag big enough to permit sliding in the pipes side f s by side, and you have your olding rig. It answer very well where your existing cook kit does not happen to fit any particular stove . For a hunting party occupying a 1 0 by I 5-foot wall tent, a larger stove than any of these will be f needed, something with an oven in it, eight eet of

- stovepipe, and room enough inside to hold night logs . As this is packed by horse or canoe, its weight and bulk do not matter. Now, in designing a stove of the this character, one decides first on the size of f oven and builds the rest o the stove around that. - To take an ordinary 9 inch plate or dish, the oven 1 should be 0 inches deep and the same wide . Eight f r inches will be enough o the height. Such an oven will go well in a stove 24 inches long by 1 2 inches 1 1 of 20- wide by inches high , gauge sheet iron , as for giving the right strength these dimensions . A very good design is shown in the working drawings herewith Two 8 - c u (page inch pot holes are t in the top, ' ofl se t as shown , and the flat spaces reinforced under ' f I - neath with bars o iron inch by fi inch . Ofl se t ting the holes gives more room for small diam e tere d 6 6 TENT STOVES AND COOK KITS

ff cooking utensils, like a co ee pot, to find a place while the larger pots set in or on the holes . The oven is located well forward, and the chimney for f - f uptake , our inch pipe, is in the front orward n corner, where it will draw the flames over the ove

top . A large filling door is put in the side to add the on small chips, and rear end is one large door,

hinges , hanging downward, so that billets can be fe d in for night wood while using the stove for tent

warming. By opening the side door one can get abundant draft when the fire threatens to smoke for lack of air . This stove will need a bottom to r Is for give it st ength and rigidity, and the better ' so i t du fl legs, that will stand above the forest and

not start a smoking ground fire in the tent . It 2 weighs about 0 pounds . The whole art of ru nnin a non-smoking tent stove is the judicious use 0 firewood and drafts . off f On starting up , the lids should be and all dra ts

. t wide open A brisk fire is hen started, and when

giving pure flame the lids are put on , when the flame f darts or the chimney as the one available outlet . o f Once going up the chimney, it heats the walls its pipe and so establishes a column o f hot air

which IS your draft . Even a short length of pipe hot off the of kept will take your smoke, taller,

course, the better, but the principal thing is to have

the chimney bot. After a bed of live coals is estab lished not , add wood as needed, in big lots which will give off more smoke than the chimney can take

of fe w . care , but a sticks at a time Even then the i stove will somet mes start to smoke . The reason is n that there is not enough heat goi g up the chimney, 6 7 as our an on it will t ll ou . Tak 0 3 a y h d e y e lid, o en all fts and fan or b w the wood to a flam . p dra , lo e Wh n we ll o u t bac k the i s and the e e g ing, p l d pip w ll draw w l for now has a h a te c olum n of i el , it e d air a a n i i all g i es tabl shed . That s there is to it. This article may well c onclude with the making of an r n oo ki I bi am un r eme ge cy c k t. n no g g e c o t y should a m an se t ou t without a sm all package of em r n food in oc on bel so h if f e ge cy p ket or t, t at le t ou t n i fire c o h eso over ight he can bu ld a , ok a w ol me

al and a i o f the er n . h me , m ke l ght exp ie ce Somet ing to in i the r c o he cook s fi st nsideration . I find that t square cans that chocolate and coc oa c ome in make m r n i the be st e e ge cy t ns . It holds abo ut a pint and i s 3 inches by 2 in ches by 4 in ches high . There Is nothing to fit over it manufactured that I

kn o f. wi two s the for ow Just as it is, th hole In lip ire es o e r i t a w bale, it mak a go d me gency kit w h its i fri of c over. I g ve here a pattern that a end mine published for a tin container that would just fit

o r i him two . as all ve it, g ving pails But we carry an r the enamelwa e cup hung to our belt, plain cocoa tin does well enough . A canvas cover should

i t . be sewed up for it, w h belt straps and a flap Inside goes the wire bal e to hang it over a small h of of campfire wit , a package tea, some lumps i a dom no sugar, small bags of rice and cornme l, and a c ube of powdered soup . Here also a few bars of emergency chocolate, In case you wish to push on wi thout making any fire at all . Al together this kit ’ can carry twenty-four hours rations and weighs a pound .

6 8

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP leather edges are matched and set in the vise on your bench . Begin by pulling out about a foot of thread from the spool and threading the end of the l of it through need e eye, leaving a tail about an inch . Push the nee dle through the leather where you propose to begin your seam . Get hold of the thread end and dr aw all the slack through h t e hole . Then draw the needle back and punch the second hole of your seam . Pu ll it back about f f hal an inch, when a loop will push out rom the f needle end . Shove the end o your slack through this loop, pull the needle out, grab slack and needle l in your two hands, and pull tight . The result wil r be your fi st lock stitch . You can sew a seam a foot long in ten minutes when you get used to it . When the thread gets used up, add more by pulling back fe w off on handle , when a inches more will come

. o f the bobbin Needless to say, the length thread first pulled out should give slack enough to go the full length of the seam on the other side . The first job that will probably come to this f o f the awl will be a moccasin , with hal inch or so ’ so uppers seam ripped open , as often happens after a week in the woods . To sew this, you use the bent point needle and pick out the former awl holes, bending the moccasin so as to throw up the seam F r handy to get at . o a hole in the toe I find the best scheme is to rip enough of the upper seam to f ou bend the oot last down , so y can get at the inner side of the patch seam . For holes in the heel ’ one can get one s fingers down into the moc so as to manipulate the thread slack and feed it through the needle loops . These two holes are the ones that 70 LEATHER WORKING

most often afflict moccasins . They are generally all that ails them, for the uppers and instep piece N are almost always intact. O use throwing away a perfectly good moccasin for a mere hole In the ! no sole An Indian would not, and he has sewing of u awl , either . The patch , co rse, goes on outside, where it will not afli ic t your foot . No less than four pairs of good mocs have gone through my shop so — patched a considerable saving in these days of eight-dollar moccasins ! A knife sheath and a revolver holster are two articles that the enthusiastic camper will often wish to make for himself . All hunting knives come s with their sheaths, but the knives get lo t and the sheath will rarely fit anything that can be bought in a hardware store . Yet these same hardware store butcher knives are admittedly the best of of camping knives, being superb steel and very cheap . In making a sheath for one I prefer the overcast rawhide lacing stitch . This can be made in two ways ! with a square o f the leather showing of or between each turn the white rawhide, with the rawhide in close folds . To make the former the narrow, sharp chisel is brought into play to make slots, and the rawhide worked through as in the r For he ordina y overcast sewing seam . the latter t are so chiseled slots put in at a slight diagonal , as to nearly overlap each other . When the rawhide Is t i t - - pulled hrough meets edge to edge, as it will be of - i i s V Inch str p, which a trifle wider than the slots c u t in the leather . A paper pattern had better the first be gotten out for knife, and then opened f out and laid on the leather be ore cutting out . 7 1 THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

The holster is made o f stout saddle leather o f th I 2 i 54 an inch ick . A piece % nches by 1 0 in i ches wide w ll be needed to take a .38 caliber ’ oflic r i - e s model Colt w th 7 inch barrel . The pat as w s f tern is cut out sho n , 95 4 inche rom muzzle - for ri n i to top, with cut out t gger finger and ha g ng flap lip projecting up 3 inches . It is then folded over and the edges sewed wi th overcast rawhide seam . To hang from c artIi dge belt a loop o f the same saddle leather 2% inches wide by 8 inches o ut o f f - long is cut the le t over stock, bent double u and sec red with a flat copper rivet. This is the old- timer gunman rig ; allows free movement of the the holster when same is strapped to leg, and is supplemented with a rawhide thong three feet for long securing to leg, rove through two buckle holes in the rear face of the muzzle . I prefer adding to this holster a thong to go over the gun hammer to n tie it in when traveli g, as I do not want the gun constantly on my mind when going through “ ” sc ra s gg , where it is likely to be frisked by some passing branch . A scabbard for the c arnp axe is another bit of leather goods that the shop is likely to turn out.

All belt axes come with their covers on , and only o f need a bit seam sewing now and then , but the big axe is more often bought at the hardware store and taken along with its edge tied up in a wad of ’ gunny sacking . This is sure to get lost in a week s of camp , and the big axe has a fine time it cutting things during the trek ou t to civilization . A scab I r of é- bard fo it will be made / inch saddle leather,

n . cut out in o e piece with flap, as per pattern Its 72 FOLDING WIRE GRAT E

HAND

WIND- SHIELD GRATE

PATT ERN FOR A ! E SHEATH 73 THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP e es a r dg are best f stened with coppe rivets, spaced as n an inch apart, one ca not depend on a seam to

d . guar the edge The axe will never go on a belt, yet two slits in the back of the scabbard will not for come amiss, , when lashed atop a horse pack, it helps a lot to feel that a rope is rove th ough those h slits, so that the axe cannot get away, alt ough it m ay come loose . the A mighty useful trail accessory is ditty bag, that little leather pouch that is carried either by a narrow strap over shoulder or is slipped on the belt by straps for the purpose. It is by no means the unwieldy converted shell bag sold by the outfitters “ ” h under the name ditty bag, which t ey have some ’ how confounded with the sailor s ditty-box or carry h all . No ; t e true ditty bag as first described by Ness muk, the father of modern camping out, is a small pouch about six by eight inches, meant to hold all sorts of small useful things such as easily get lost if carried anywhere in the main pack . Most of these ’ ’ things are heavy. When you want em you want em ver all ou bad, but a y small pouch will carry that y ’ should burden yourself with on even a three- weeks

r u . rifle- t ip into the mo ntains Your cleaning set, your f screw calk wrench , set of olding screwdrivers, oil r dropper, cart idge extractor, supplementary cart ridge holder, spare sinkers and fish hooks, screw r calks, general utility pocket knife, eme gency match safe, a small file, some nails and tacks, a u l candle st mp, a salt box, a can opener, a brass she l case filled with assorted pills and a roll of surgical ’ a all s t of t pe ( in package , let s hope!, a ube gun a ot for gre se, some wire, and some chain p hooks 74 LEATHER WORKING — hanging things over the fire these are heavy enough for an allowable list . A good many o f my friends and readers who have made up ditty bags on the above dimensions add a bellows side and bottom . This increases the f capacity considerably, but I pre er the simple pouch, with flap, sewed up on the sides, with a - inch strap going over shoulder, something that ’ will lie flat against one s coat and not tempt the wearer to fill it with so much junk that it becomes artifi a nuisance. Such things as emergency kits, c ial u . bait l res, etc , belong elsewhere than in the

ba . r ditty g In selecting the strap to ca ry it, be not an sure to get a good live piece, one t ned by chemicals until the leather is doubtful . Then c ut S it in two and sew the cut ends to the bag, or lip them flat between the side seams and sew all to gether wi th the hand awl . The buckle and hole are t f the end hen ree to adjust, so as to raise ditty bag well up on the left side , where it will be out of - trouble, and the left over hole end is then trimmed ' ofl . no t a . Once adjusted, it will require it gain One of the best ways to carry a pack is to roll — o f the whole thing tent, blanket, and a core small — dufli e into a cylindrical pack about 30 inches long by 1 2 inches in diameter and carry it in a pack harness . The article sold by the outfitters for this purpose does not awaken much enthusiasm . Who ever designed it must have intended it for a cart for o f horse, the straps are the heaviest leather, long enough and strong enough to carry a steel the safe with . When we reflect that average sports w a - man is ell content with forty pound pack, there 75 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP seems little sense in designing a harness to carry f u o . our h ndred p unds, which only an Indian can do Hence we turn to the shop for relief. Something light and simple and strong enough for the purpose f is all we wish . I do not like the usual yoke form o for t s strap his harness, as it requires a brea t strap, so that the pack cannot be slipped out o f quickly when down in a windfall or in some similar peck of r ! e t the D- t ouble . us try ring, with triangular a r canv s anchorage to the upper pack st ap, as shown 2- in the design herewith . This will call for a inch D- w ring, hich can be bought from the harness shop . We will use I M- inch straps 42 inches long e for upp r and lower pack straps, and get the carry ing straps out o f good strong leather stock 2% inches 1 8 I wide by inches long, tapering to 54 inches at - their lower ends . One more store-bought I 54 inch strap 54 inches long and an extra buckle for It will be neede d . Of this get out the two carrying straps the i that join upper and lower pack straps, spac ng them side by si de and eight inches apart . The s will l on econd one need the spare buck e put , just r to below the lower pack st ap, match the other one, and the left-over lengths are sewed to the yoke straps wi th the hand awl and buckle holes punched f in the blank piece . To assemble this rig, our copper r hr i ivets will be needed , put t ough at the junct ons o f carrying straps and pack straps which go around D- of the pack . The ring yoke Is made doubled 8 canvas inches wide and 5 inches high, folded through the D- ring and sewed along the seams and to the upper pack strap between the two carrying r of e strap rivets . The wide pa t th carrying straps 76

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP which go over the big muscles of the neck are riveted through the D- ring with three tubular for rivets each . This harness is light, carries well a cylindrical pack, and is not very expensive to make . - r n For a heavier load, such as single t ippi g it a dufli e over a c rry with, say ninety pounds of on l for board, you wil do better with a tump line, shoulder straps with this load are s ure to compress the chest muscles so as to stop circu lation in the f f arms . The forehead strap o this is a piece o f 1 8 2 strong, so t leather inches long by % inches I f wide by /é inch thick, but so t tanned like elk hide . Some makers anchor to it two buckle straps 6 inches long, sewed with three strong seams and provided with a rivet at the lower ends . These buckles allow one to adjust the length from neck to pack to carry it at the right height . I would of I - prefer the anchor strap Minch leather, seamed to f the orehead strap and fining down to Is inch, where a buckle serves to add on a long six- foot ' - length o f shawlstrap ties of V inch sru fl . Two pairs of the thin strap lengths on a side are enough off S joined by taking the buckles, cutting a lit lengthwise near the ends, and slipping one strap h the t rough slit in the other, when they make a close knot which Is as strong as the original strap . A little practice in making up the pack will tell within an inch or so of the right length to leave to f r m bring the orehead st ap right, when an adjust ent of the 56 - inch buckles on one or both straps gets the length where it will carry easiest . To make up the ou t a tump pack, tent tarp is laid flat and the u f t mp line laid on it, with its straps about two eet 78 LEATHER WORKING

of he h f apart. The edges t tarp are t en olded in r dufli e h over the st aps, and the piled on them, wit the the folded blanket or sleeping bag at bottom, so as to lie flat against back . The tarp is then folded up into a bundle and the ends of the tump lines pulled, shirring the ends of the tarp to close up fli r tight around the du e . Each st ap is then tied t and crossed over the pack like ying up a parcel, ’ i and the whole thing is cinched up t ght and secured . I - o f The forehead strap with the }4 inch part the strap will remain in a loop outside the pack . Trying the it over forehead, any further adjustment is made by the buckles and ends of the - inch straps l where they pass through the buck es . There are two articles of leather wear in which the fisherman will be mightily interested, and both of which are easy to make in the home shop . The of to first these is the leather wading sandal , strap on - over your rubber boot sole , and so prevent those impromptu sit- downs in midstream which are nei ther so funny nor so harmless as they look to the streamside observer . The sole o f the wading sandal 8 2 is % inches long by 4 inches wide, fining to 94 inches at the instep . It is a tap only, having no heel . Choose good sole leather one-quarter inch f thick to make it of . Fi teen hobnails are put in a the of round edge the sole, with five more down the center . These are the square quarter- inch wrought of iron hobnails, and the steel points them are upset

- over small inch copper washers inside the sole . of o f f Over the toe the sole goes the vamp, so t,

x - .tough x x inch leather . It is made in two pieces, laced down the center with rawhide thong . Each 79 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

f s the hal is a spherical triangle, 45 4 inches acro s 6 base, 5 inches on the lacing edge, and inches of along the seam, which sews along the edge the sole. The two halves are sewed to the sole by turn ing in the edge all around and running the seam the inside sandal, which is permitted because the two vamp is in halves, so you can get inside it to m run the sea with the hand sewing awl . When u done, the leather will naturally c rve over to form a wide leather vam p that will fit over the toe of a rubber boot. Four lacing holes are then punched the in edges and a short thong run through them, by which the vamp c an be laced snugly over the toe of the boot. u the e 4- r are To sec re h el, two 5 inch st aps riveted to the two rear corners o f the sole inside with copper washer rivets . The buckle strap is 5 inches long, the hole stra ! 1 1 inches . This air is to strap over the instep oi your boot . To these two straps are 2 n riveted a second pair, i ches up from the sole and rivets, to go around behind the heel prevent the sandal coming off backward . The buckle end of this pair i s 4V inches long and the hole end n t e 9 inches . After securi g the Instep strap his latt r i s an pair buckled around the heel, and the s dal Is on to stay . The second article of leather work I have in mind for fishermen concerns more nearly the salt the rod w water angler, and is re t, ithout which “ ” s one is ou t of luck when fighting a determined ’ channel bass of some 30 pounds weight. There are two ! forms of this rod rest the pocket type, hung ’ the - from the front of one s belt, and sole leather 80 LEATHER WORKING socket rest tied loosely around the waist with a strap of its own . The former is the easiest to make and lightest to carry in a pack . It is simply a - 6 fi inch leather back, 4 inches wide by % inches - 1 8 long, with a 3 4 inch strap inches long sewed to 2 -i it at the upper end with a % nch lap for the sc am . The front of the pocket is 5 inches wide by 5 inches r deep, cut away on its upper edge in a cu ve that comes down to 3 inches deep in the center. It is sewed to the back with a single seam, so as to bag f out in ront, due to its extra width, and has two tubular rivets put in at the upper corners to pre vent the seam starting . A buckle hole is also punched in the bottom to let water run out if the fisherman gets a douse of surf spray . The long 1 8- inch strap is doubled over backward and secured, in the manufactured article, by two snap buttons .

These require a special tool to set them, and come in boxes of several gross, containing the various al parts of the male and fem e ends, but as this is rather an expensive outfit to purchase, the home shop will be content with a button and a couple of slits for it, cut in the strap so it can be adjusted at the right height . A narrow leather collar is put around the strap, so as to slip up over it and hold ’ it flat and secure to one s belt. To put this rod ou rest on , y slip the loop through your belt and tighten the collar up against the belt. Two large holes are punched in the back piece on each side of the strap end, and through these holes are rove a strip of rawhide lacing to tie the holder to one ’s . I f leg seldom use this feature mysel , as, once the rod t f butt is in the pocket, it stays here, and I pre er 1 8 . THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP the pocket free to move instead of being strapped fast to the leg. The socket type of rod rest has the advantage of not making such a drag on your belt, as its strap goes over the hips around your back, so it is far

. of of less fatiguing to wear It is made , two pieces 8 of sole leather inches wide by 4 inches deep, the - shape shown in the drawing. A belt of 74 inch leather is seamed into the ends of this sole- leather 1 0 back, the buckle end inches long, the hole end 30 inches . This is long enough to go on outside a canvas coat or mackinaw, such as the surf fisherman is often glad to wear on cold autumn nights . The for s socket this rest is a collar of sole leather, 3 inche 2 2 wide by % inches high, % inches deep at the lower end and inch deep at the upper end . To - make it, the thin 94 inch ends of the collar are shaved down , so as to overlap about an inch, and then seamed together. The pattern for it is 1 0 % inches long . When set on the sole leather back piece its lower side sticks out on a bevel of about 30 degrees . When trimmed and shaved to lie flat f all around the collar, it is then sewed to the ront face of the rod rest with a bevel seam . s To assemble this rod rest, the two flat piece o and the collar are first cut out, the collar bent int an oblong ring and sewed with a seam around its f shaved ends, and the collar then fitted to the ront piece and sewed to it . The ends of the straps are next set in and the back piece put on, after which a two seam is run all around the edges, including extra V seams to give additional anchorage to the strap ends . 82 HOLSTER AND MOCCASIN SEWING

RAWHIDE STITCH KNIFE SHEATH

33 CHAPTER VI De c oy Making With a Foo tnote on a Duck Battery

S I look back over the various shops that I have worked and sung and puttered and of burnt pounds good old tobacco In , the one I love best Is my shop of boyhood days . I was a lonely critter; could play no known game (if there were nine boys in the field I played right field ; if off a ten, I was put the te m!, and most of my time o o out of scho l was spent in the wo ds, or on the waters, or in my shop . That shop had every known I tool in it, and it had a jigsaw. I wish had a jig saw now ! For if I had I would cut out my own decoys instead of sending the patterns to the mill M to be shaped out on a band saw . y boyhood - o s ou t i e foot p wer jigsaw could ea ily cut sn p decoys, for and, if provided with a husky saw inch soft

of . the timber, could saw things out that, too For s best duck decoy is hollow, and the ea iest way to make it is to saw out a set of flat sections with the r m cente s cut out via jigsaw, and then screw the

up, layer by layer, to make a hollow duck decoy . i r e The back and bottom are sol d boa ds, of whit

. t er pine, white cedar, or spruce The hree cent are ou t w en sc e ed layers all cut inside, so that h r w 84

THE SPORTSMA N ’ S WORKSHOP whic h you c an buy v ery che a ply a t an y hardware store v him the rou h bo hi h was e n , ga e g dy, w c th form e d to shape with the rasp. The duck head was of white n of I - n o dr s . The pi e, M i ch st ck, e sed ou line was c u t ou t rs wi h the sa s t fi t t jig w or compa s, and the n whittle d to a ne a t job . Wi th o t es l o n and the b h typ , hol ow w ode cork, firs th n to a r f s the d t t i g do, fte a tening on hea s wi h a dowel run down through the head to come out at the ase r s was se t fl b of the b ea t, to the decoy a oat and u t a r al r p on t i weight, to find whe e and how much she would need o f ballas t to h i m her. Around the o was t n c al a sp t he hiseled a sh low squ re, in which a couple of tacks were driven . Tur ning the o l was ou decoy b ttom up and leve , molten lead p red in . It se ts quickly and does not burn the wood . h a l T e t ck or nai heads hold it securely in place . or er o A stout screweye or staple leath lo p, in salt w as r n in l water gunning, then d ive be ow the breast n and e was for the a chor rope, the d coy ready for finishing. -finish s of Dull paint, with exce s turpentine and o f dryer, is what is needed . The plumage the real of duck does not shine, no matter what the angle f the sun , yet how o ten have we noticed a whole flock of decoys gleaming white as the rising sun strikes their smoo th- finishe d bodies ! The fraud is plain to Sir Mallard, who has far keener eyes than I you or , and can see that flash as well as he sees you r dark hat in the blind if you are foolish enough a to we r one . Shiny finish is, however, admissible in those parts of the duck plumage that are naturally and of metallic sheen, such as the head wing spec 86 DUCKING BATTER! DESIGN THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP ulum of m allards and the w n e c u m of al o , i g sp lu m st

In c oloring up dec oys the gunner will se lect h h a c t e duc ks t at bound in his own se tion . Two i e e c o w an r for all e c s a s z s of d ys ill swe sp ie , the m llard sc a iz as i l be o ed fr the f l and the up s e, w l n t om ol ow . in a the r al zes o f r us i g t ble, giving no m si va io k nds

M 2 G a allard 3 re a ter Sc up . Black Du ck 22 ! ess er Scaup

24 Te al

For coloration one can copy from any of the thou sands of pictures of popular duck spec ies that exist

c al ars a ers . on end , mag zine cov , etc The a s l be l c hec ked f i he d hou d we l , to ull w dth and ni l n s e and of pine stock , bill ce y fi i h d painted true to natural coloration. Mr. Le opold is very insistent upon altering the position o f each head in o d as o the f his flock , a g o idea, c ntributing to li e l e a oo ike app rance of the st l, for even a human being l m fr r notices decoys and tel s the om eal ducks, principally because all the heads face fixedly straight ahead. You may recall that po int yourse lf when you cam e to a decision whether a give n flock of him ducks were decoys or not. I would go one a s h e f better, and that Is to rrange at lea t t r e or our o f my decoys to upend so that the tail and part of the body only show above water. Who ever saw a real flock of ducks in which at least one or two not ! e were feeding To do this in practice, I driv a small wire staple in the breas ts of some of them 8 8 DECO! MAKING and bring along some lead weights that have been tested out at home as heavy enough to upend the decoy . These are hung on the ones selected . The qu estion o f eyes is well worth givi ng care ful attention to . One paints the circular iris with

- a fine brush , but the pupil should be a glass head tack of the right color . These may be had by a on - e of raid the ten cent store, wh re pins various colored heads may be bought . Cutting the pins to ou tack length, y have the commodity you need . A fin al decoration that Walter used a good deal to with his decoys was tack on real wings . He saved f of - those rom many the ducks shot, kiln dried them in the oven to cure the meat, and then tacked them to his decoy bodies . Walter always swore by that scheme, and claimed that ducks stooled better to his winged decoys than to any others . The second large division of decoy making is of shore birds . My boyhood shop turned out quan ou t of tities of the flat wooden decoys, sawed - i V inch pine stock on the j gsaw . These, when painted up, carried easily and answered very well ' f far- for the unsuspicious snipe o that ofl period . Nowadays the larger shore birds have become wary f - and suspicious, and a ull bodied decoy is needed . for The folding tin ones are fine, those who can ff on a ord them , carry well In a pack a beach hike, and have but one disadvantage, and that Is that when the surf downs one he i s gone beyond re

c over . o y The wo den and cork decoys float, and are either cast up on the next comber or can be re trie ved by going in after them . As most snipe shooting begins in the early dusk before dawn and 89 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

of by aid a duck boat, a couple of dozen solid snipe or decoys, either wooden cork, will generally be found piled in the stern rack . Standard snipe dimensions are 1 0 % inches f of o f s rom crown head to tip tail, by 3% inche f o f deep, measured rom full breast to back . This

for - . - is black bellied plover Lesser yellow legs, 1 1 inches by 3% inches ; greater, % inches by 3% inches ; robin snipe and dowitchers, 9 inches by 3

f 8 2 . inches ; sur snipe, inches by % inches These measurements do not include bills . For willet and greater yellow- legs the bill should be whittled of locust or pinoak, with a neat taper flaring properly at the head . For the plover a large nail or telegraph wire driven through from the back of the head ' blufl imitates well enough the thin , bill of this 2 0 species . Leg sticks 4 inches and 3 inches long should be provided for these decoys, as the short 1 2- inch leg made by the tin-decoy manufacturers is f f only use ul in the little sur snipe, now all protected by the federal migratory bird laws . As seen from a distance the most noticeable feature of a real i flock of feeding shore birds is their be gltt. They look like cranes looming up on the strand . A thirty-inch is f leg none too long, a ter shoving down to get a good anchorage in the mud . Snipe decoys may be sawed from profile out of 2- or of o f inch pine stock, rasped out cork slabs, which the left- over pieces from duck decoy making Our will provide plenty of stock . sketches give the markings o f five of the most used species of snipe decoys . They should be dull finish painted,

- with black pin head eyes . 9° DECO! MAKING The principal art in snipe shooting is to learn ff the whistles of the di erent kinds, and how to dis tinguish them at sight when flying in a flock far over the green marsh horizons . The usual tendency to whistle the yellow-leg call for any and all snipe seen is stu pid to a degree . If the flock happens to be black- bellies or curlew they will have little in c lination to respond to a tattler call . As the human ou whistle has but a short range, y will find that most of the baymen have a bone whistle that they swear - w by, generally home made . It has the wild t ang I t that s absent from the human whis le, and, once having made a bone one , with the proper pitch w t and tone quality, your bayman would not part i h ! it for several farms A thin leg bone, about 3 inches d long by 5 4 inch in iameter is good stock to u work on . Cut a lip and mo thpiece in one end, and whittle for it a wooden whistle plug . Blowing the on it, you get the lowest note of call , shorten h ing the other end with t e hacksaw until just right. The second note is got by boring an eighth-inch hole about ; 4 inch from the end . A second one goes in } 4 inch further up the shank from that , - - and you have the hu-lzu l m! of the yellow leg . o h There is still ro m for a t ird hole, about an inch below the lip, which will give the high note of the two-note call of the black-bellied plover. Closing ou w all but that one, y open the second hole do n , and get the wee-you! of the black-belly . A trial whistle will give some idea of just where the holes should go to give the exact pitch . The shape of the o i the b ne, well scraped out inside, g ves snipy timbre so much desired . 9 I THE SPORTSMAN’S WORKSHOP

And l a oo k a , whi e m king decoys, do not overl o ol 1 s b s e ou t o f cr w sto , 4 inche y 4 inche , whittl d o f 2- toc t two slabs inch s k and doweled toge her . The crow is a large bird and wary; anything under sized will keep him at a safe distance . During the

se aso w .22 r a clo d se n, ith a ifle and a hide ne r said o ou t in a l one c an le t o f decoy, st od fie d, have p n y sport and do the farmer a service while ge tting good practice the while . I promised a foo tnote to this chapter on building a battery box. There is no pu blished dr awi ng o f t s c an e n v hi that one work to, xcept a pla iew that has be come incorporate d in a handbook com piled the s al by writer ome time ago . The centr feature of h n box 0 26 t is battery is a si k , 4 inches by inches by 6 e se t ss the so a tw 3 inches de p, cro wise in raft th t o gunners can squat in it side by side . It is built o f - d s e and heavy 3 4 inch pine stock, re s d, is caulked in the se am s and painted ou tside . The battery is 26 f 6 l 1 1 f s wi eet inche s ong by eet 4 inche de . A stout platform 8 feet by 8 feet is first built arou nd s box 2 s 6 s e m s bo l the ink on inche by inche b a , te d - f to the 40 inch edges o the box . This platform is then laid down in -inch tongue-and-groov e k f a f a 1 2 f l I 1 stoc . A orw rd r me eet ong by fee t 4 n f - inc hes wide is then go tte out o light 4 inc h by I - n h to e 2- stIi s }4 i c s ck and deck d over with inch p , c nv as c ov re . s be on a e d Thi is not to walked , bu t serves to steady the raft from tipping and kee ps

f i . the waves off . It is hinge d to the ra t n the bay ’ s out rri e a l and man fit, or it may be ca d separ te y m bolted to it when the battery is asse bled . Astern o f m r 6 t n the raft goes a si ila float, fee lo g by 1 1 92

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP f c eet 4 in hes wide, made the same way, bolted or hinged to the rear edge of the raft . Two n arrow st are 8 rips of the same material let In , feet long by 20 h e inc es wide, to fill out the sides b tween the front

r s . and rear floats, and the batte y Is as embled The whole raft lies flush with the water, the movable end and side floats taking the swell of the waves and preventing a wash coming inboard . Around the lips of the box are lead flanges which can be turned up four inches to prevent a thin wash , f f sweeping over the battery sur ace, rom lapping into the sink box . ! e t into the plank floor of the f f ra t are two long boxes, a oot wide by six feet long, in which are put the iron weights that sink the box down to water level after the men have gotten in and one can tell how much more weight is necessary . About two hundred pounds will be needed .

94 CHAPTER VI I T he G u n Shop

’ PON the gun bench o f the Sportsman s work shop falls the upkeep and repai rs of his 13 f arsenal, and, if he one of those delight ul u so ls who love to putter, the reloading of his shot - gun and rifle cartridges . The old timer can read the character of any sportsman by a single glance i at his gun cabinet, a single Inquir ng look through i - the barrels of his ron mongery . It is a fact never sufli c iently taken to heart that a very little ru st and corrosion does more to ruin the shooting qualities of a good barrel than a thousand shots ’ fired from it . Look through your friend s gun a e —or us —if b rr ls , let say, your own they show ru and ou e st worse, he, she, or y may be convict d at and once of laziness, carelessness, that happy go-lucky spirit that ho es for the best and charges “ p” all failu res up to luck . But if the guns are spot out and o f un less inside and , a nice coating good g oil shines in the bore, you can lay to it that that to owner is a good man camp with, careful, thought ful of the well-being of the faithful Shooting irons that will mean so much to him when the big mo of ment of the next trip comes, and possessed a quiet pride in the efficiency of the tools he works with that stamps the real woodsman . 95 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

And so your gu n drawe r will be well equipped m oni so i n for rem o n al fo l n ru t a lut o vi g met u i g, s rem overs ni ro solven s and un o ls . In a it n , t t , g i dd io , will l ok for ri s sc w ri r we o the ght file and re d ve s, c roc us c o h l a s to u t in i so l t , e d plate p the v se jaws, as to un w ho arr n hold g s it ut m i g the metal finish, an w a a d a fe sm ll c l mps to compress loc k springs. Also a brass ma llet and a c ouple of hardwood ll es for ri in ou t h and and t bi i d v g t is that, at leas one - ed e l for i . long nos , hard st e punch start ng pins The shotgun arse nal will not require much at tention if well c leane d and oiled after each day f k afield . Oc casionally the sa ety in some ma es gets gummed fast by salt wrack getting into the locks ; but aside from this it is seldom that Sir Shotgun requires anything but cleaning. It is rather differ

the . As fr f ent with rifle it comes om the actory, it ’ n o h arr is every ma s weap n , wit no c ying strap, no f r e nd a an s checking on o e or t ng, d the cheape t set of sights that c an be described as reasonably efli i cient . Now a rifle is such an int mate part of the hunter as to require a good deal of adaptation to the particular eye and arm and trigger finger of its “ ” . f l owner The sights will do airly wel as is , but m uch finer shooting can be had by changing them to ones more adapted to your own tastes and eye sight. You owe it to yourself to equip your rifle the f h ou with ront, rear, and tang peep sight t at y have found you shoot best with . The rear leaf sight should have facilities for instantly c hanging 1 00 the range, with yards as its zero , while the rear tang peep is to be set and left at 1 00 yards. For 96

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP sun glare . I have had military leaf sights get loose ” o the on their pins, making me shoot all ver lot; have had ivory beads crumble on an unsympathetic n granite boulder, and gold beads turn up missi g, with no explanations except that I must have ’ knocked it off somewhere during the day s clim b ; but never yet has the old steel front faile d to be f for er there . In act, the last ten years I have nev given it a thought ! The rear sight should fold flat on the barrel . has - c Mine two leafs, a deep notch wide V, whi h I seldom use except for very fine still sights ; and a t o flat bar with ivory riangle, p int up, showing the center of the bar. This I use for all woods shooting for ne when it is too dim the peep to defi well . I - t e ars w t the would prefer a three leaf sight, hr e b i h m i sa e triangle in each, giv ng me one, two, and three hundred yards with a push of the thumb . Before going on a Rocky Mountain hunt for goat and sheep I certainly would buy one and put it on . for 1 00 for The present sight, set yards, will do Eastern shooting. To put in a new sight is the simplest thing in the world . The dovetail on the barrel draws from l right to left . Knock out the o d sight with mallet and a short piece of brass rodding. Put In the ne w i - s ght until It begins to draw hard . Then bore S ight the rifle ; that Is, set it up firmly bearing on a distant c an mark, which you see looking through the bore, and then drive the rear sight in until it and the front also line up on the mark . As this cannot be h c u e done wit a lever action rifle, the pro ed r in that case will be to scratch a center line on the barrel 98 THE GUN SHOP

th dovetail from the old sight center, and drive in e new until it coincides . It is then roughly sighted; ’ but to get it right for the rifle s zero take out a

a the . ar t rget and shoot groups on it, moving re ’ sight until they center around tiie bull s- eye . r ! eo e Suppose, howeve , they shoot high som n asks . That will mean that you must watch to see just how much of the front to cut off with the bar to shoot true center. Remember how much it ’ was and carry it always in your mind s eye, for it is ’ the rifle s range zero at one hundred yards . Of course if you are sighting in at a fifty- yard target e th groups will come high anyhow, and the published mid- range trajectory of your cartridge will tell you how much high to expect the groups . If the rifle s off so shoot low, with a coarse sight showing, file me of the knife until you get a fair amount over the bar for a hundred yards . The next sight improvement for the shOp to make is to put on a peep . For a light rifle a t e c e iver i for the peep is all r ght, one can bend head ’ forward to get one s eye close to it ; but for heavy ri f fles of big recoil I pre er the tang peep, as the receiver peep is almost useless In dim light. For a - . 2 20 the rifle like the 3 receiver peep is very handy, however. It comes with its pivot screw attached, and the hole for it is already bored and tapped In the receiver frame . Back out the dummy screw in that hole and put in the receiver peep frame . It has a cam lever on it, by which the peep can be instantly raised to 200 and 300 yards and fractions thereof. If you want to use your rear open sight, the c am can be loosened and the whole receiver frame 99 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP raised so you can see under it. The old buckhorn notched sight should be taken off and a folding leaf sight put on, for the buckhorn Is very much In the

i n . way ; fact, a hindrance if using the peep In selecting a tang peep for your big-game rifle the first thing to be considered is the recoil . The receiver frame will kick back about 2% inches t o s wi h g od hard holding, so that about 3 inche from the eye is the limit distance to set the tang peep back toward your eye . The tang peep sold ’ for the Model 95 Winchester sets it so far back n as to land right into the eye in prone firi g, and to bark the eye socket painfully with off- hand and kneeling positions . It was evidently designed to t of clear the bolt, wi h no thought whatever the ’ t . shooter s op ic However, the remedy is a Model ’ u r 94 sight, which sets nearly inch f rther fo ward

the . - f on tang It should be spring olding, so as to the re fall back when bolt rides over it, and then turn to shooting position when the action is closed .

the . This sight is one I put on my 35 Winchester, and has given entire satisfaction . It comes mounted ’ bar 3 on a flat steel , with screws and holes to fit one already bored and tapped In the upper tongue of the i . rece ver frame There Is a setting wedge, by which it can be held fast when laid back on the tang and not the wanted, and the shank of peep is graduated fift - in y yard marks, with a knurled sleeve to raise or lower it quickly, and a knurled outer sleeve to

h . f lock the ot er one fast A ter putting it on, it needs throwing to right or left to bring the peep in t 18 the exact center, and his best done by loosening tang screws and inserting a thin strip of vi si ting 1 00

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

u the tong e and same around the top tongue, carry f ing it down 54 inch back of the receiver rame butt. h l T is out ine Is filled In with checking, and makes - a good right hand grip . Checking Is not all orna ! i ts ment, let me tell you It has very definite use in the art of shooting . The next shop job on the rifle will be pu tting on

. o e h is the strap For all western sh oting, wher t ere f t plenti ul mountain climbing, and bo h hands and f both eet may be needed for it, a strap is a necessity,

too . and I , for one, want a strap in the East, Some the use military strap, which is long enough to wind around the arm and aid in steady holding. of Out of the question , course, in big game shoot t h ing, being too slow ; but my own s rap does all t at for instantly, and is also the right length carrying over shoulder or on the back when climbing . This length is so adjusted that when the rifle is at shoul der and the crook of the left elbow is slipped inside the strap a powerful triangle of forces is at once set up which steadies the rifle like a rock against

- right shoulder and left hand fore end grip . And too o f this is instantaneous, , done in the act raising the rifle to aim . The right strap length (for me! to do this is 2 feet 4 inches ; one alters this length for ’ one s personal measurements until the rifle comes up and locks fast In your holding just right . To put r on the strap you need two flat bronze strap ings, which can be bought from any big gun store, the stock ring hinged and put on 35 4 inches from the f - heel, and the ore end ring swiveled and put on with - 2 of a plate inside the fore end, inches back its

- . 4 knob The strap itself Is of soft 5 inch leather, IO2 BULLET MOULD

RIFLE SCREWDRIVERS FLE! IBLE PEEP 103 THE SPO RTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

1 n h s w o r 5 4 i c e ide, fining d wn to inch, whe e it Th f passes through the rings . e strap is 3 eet long al r and a two togethe , is djusted by bronze buttons , r o s very like the ordina y collar butt ns, which pa s h s h s the t rough lits in the leat er, ecuring two ends of the strap doubled under the button. This is a very much better arrangement than a buckle with

buckle holes, which would always be catching in ’ sc raggs and digging one s hands with its tongue . -e nd h The fore ring s ould be swiveled, so as to let the str ap lead out flat across the shoulder at all i angles of twist. This pair of buckles cost f

m r r l h . I re embe co rect y, but were well wort it They the a have been on rifle six ye rs now, and never have given the least trouble . f too As I said be ore, it cannot be much em phasized that the most important thing about a d o rifle is to keep it clean . Mo ern smokeless p wders are x r r and f e t emely cor osive, orm a wash or plating of copper and acid salts that will ruin the barrel if f r a u le t the e . Gun gre se and r st remover will not take it out. The only thing to use is strong am r f monia. If you think your ifle Is clean, a ter swab bing and scraping with the brass brush until a rag l k comes out c ean, just run in one soa ed In ammonia and watch the black residue pour out ! Colonel ’ Whelen s recipe is the best, and is given here 6 t 1 ounces s ronger ammonia, 4 ounces water, ounce m 200 ammoniu persulphate, grains ammonium car

bonate . Powder the carbonate and persulphate, and the i i add water and stronger ammon a, st rring until the salts are dissolved . Keep In a bottle with glass or rubber stopper . It should be made up 1 04

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP tri e- - ra pl blade screwdriver, a broken shell ext ctor, and a steel supplementary cartridge that takes the

. 80 for 3 au to Colt pistol cartridge in the .35 small game . While it is true that the present price of shotgun has box us i shells dropped to a , some of l ke h an to load our own , at that . To do t is with y sort “ of satisfaction requires, first, that you get organ ” . As ized to economy, loaded shells now cost “ ” s five cent per each, as dear old Unkel David would r h say, whe eas if you load t em yourself they cost 2 % cents . This is figured on powder at 8 5 cents 8 a pound, which will load 5 shells at 3 drams each 2 6 1 ( 5 drams to the pound!, and chilled shot at 5

s . 2 cent a pound Wads are now about $ a thousand, and primers 35 cents a box of 1 00 . Time was when are primers were a simple matter, but now they very complex . You used to drive out the primer h ! and set in a Winchester 25 4 and t ere was an end ff the Now each shell has a di erent kind, some old 22 anvil type, others like little . cartridges necked f down . However, the first thing to do a ter coming in from the hunt is to decap all your empties, partly to prevent corrosion of the flame hole and sticking the of the primer, and partly to get a sample of him In primer, so as to match buying a new box of them . I do not know what brass shells cost now. w Papers come about two cents each, new ; brass ill no doubt have gone to five cents . I still have a big of I 2- 2 - . stock them, gauge, % inch There is hardly t t the a gun chamber hat hey will not fit, as standard shell length is 2 inches when unc rim ped . These 106 THE GUN SHOP brassies are the goods for steady reloading ; their only objection Is a tendency to diminish In numbers, due to bending them out of round when on the burly- burly of a grouse hunt where rocks are ple n i t fu l and cheap . With them I have a shell board holding fifty . It consists of two walnut boards, 1 2 6 h inches by inches, hinged toget er at the back f and provided with two hooks in ront. The upper a t bo rd is one inch thick, and has fif y shell holes 1 1 - 1 6 inch in diameter bored in it, five rows of ten l 1 § w she ls each, 5 inches bet een centers in the ten 1 row and 1 1 ; inches in the five row. The lower oa 1 - 1 6 b rd has shallow recesses bored in it, 5 inch in diameter, to receive the shell heads, and the centers of these are countersunk to make a shallow well into which the knocked-out primers are to be dropped . All right; the board is first filled with fifty empties, folded and hooked together. The de u o all capping p nch g es over the lot, driving out the old primers . Board is unhooked and upper o b ard turned over, when all the shells are recapped, w e i not ith the tongs typ , which would requ re taking them all out, but with that recapper which s r the l t o lides ove shell head like a shel ex ract r, and indeed may be used as such . Board is again folded w h a w t together, hen all fifty s ells st nd i h their

u u . mo ths p to be powdered The wads come next, put in with a short funnel which fits over the shell down to the wood ; and then comes the shot and its card wad . T he holes for the shells should fit them closely, as in paper shells you have nothing but the wood 107 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

from pre venting the shells fattening out if ramm ed a a l t as too h rd . Br ss she ls require heir own wads, the standard gauge paper shell wads are too small to fit them . This board is equally quick and good for paper h the shells, the only ot er operation being to open soft mouth of each shell wi th a little wood cone . t not r r When his is done the funnel will be equi ed, if you go light on the ramming. r oa Really, it is in ifle shell rel ding that the greatest economy comes in the se days of ten-cent t f o 2 car ridges . A pound o p wder will load 33 thirty grain cartridges . As the average big- game load is f 2 n rom 5 to 35 grains, and the price of itro rifle a u powders ro nd a can , it brings the powder expense down to about half a cent . There are of grains in a pound weight, so that out a pound of lead in the dipper you can get abou t 28 2 0- 5 grain bullets, making the cost of them come - t - one hird cent each at ten cent lead . The rest is t w ll primer and gas check cup expense, so hat it i cost about a cent each to reload such a car tridge

- . 0 0 . 0 S . e as the 3 3 or the 3 U . , with a trifle mor for the .35 Winchester. The Ideal No . 1 0 tool will handle most of the modern big- game cartridges . With it you should buy a dipper and melting pot, with castiron rim to let it set in the ordinary kitchen u stove hole, which seems to have just abo t the right heat for making good bullets . You need the e o ladl or dipper because of its nozzle, which g es flat on the mould vent and gives you a pressure an e pour, which cannot be had out of improvis d S in kitchen spoon . This dipper hould be kept the 1 0 8

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP lead ba th n not ou r to k e ur whe p ing, e p its temperat e l the sam e as the ead . The m ould must be almost th l as hot as e ea d to ge t good bullets. A sure tes t is that the bullet should take se ve ral se conds to harden afte r be ing po ured . When your mould is e ated to ri o k e the ul s o h the ght p int, e p b let c ming in a ba h so as to ou one tc , p r a new soon enough after each c ooling to kee p the tem per ature of the l m ould up. Oc casion a ly it nee ds a touch of tallow or be e swax to keep the bullets from sticking to the l oc k h o mou d . Kn t em lo se with a blow from a l the o the ul and k the bil y on b dy of mo d, eep mould hinge oile d. e r had ro fi I n ve much t uble, after the rst few, in a ru l the re m king a nice n of bul ets . The rest of r i k loading p ocess s quic and simple . Your used shells should be c leane d as soon as possible after firing by dropping them in a bottle with soapsuds and a o i the i we k amm n a, rinsing out powder res due i —o f u se de c a in and drying In a m ld heat co r pp g, so as to get ri d of the old primer wi th its corrosive f pocket. It Is the scale residue le t In a dirty shell t all t l hat makes the rouble in re oading, for it dis places at least five grains of room meant for the powder. When you try to seat the bullet, it is no r go . Apparently some powde has to be tipped out, will too l and it have to, , if the bu let is to seat home, with consequent loss of velocity when you come to

t . fire the car ridge Wherefore be not lazy, but clean your shells if you expect to reload them ! On the reloading tool you will find a bullet sizing die, a capper and decapper, and a finishing die for forming the loaded shell so it will fit the 1 1 0 THE GUN SHOP

l th chamber nicely . A so a dingus for ope ning e l r s she l necks, which may be needed if you bullet the are not going in neck properly, but most shells come out of the rifle slightly expanded in the neck from the explosion . On the base of your bullet goes the copper gas t i check cup . It Is a lit le, Inexpens ve thing, but if you have any regard for your rifling do not omit n i t. In our great gu firing In the navy the erosion all u due to each shot Is fig red out in tables, so we know from the life of the gun just how much yard age short to allow for the erosion that has already

. t taken place Well, in rifle shooting his erosion is just as important, and it is best kept down by a gas check cup . A pure lead base will melt and the - fray around edges, due to the white hot gases th behind It . This cup is to protect e base . My own experience with reloading rifle shells r has been a pleasurable sort of putte ing, by no means the mystery or mess of hard feelings that sportsmen seem to think it will be . If you want to become a good shot, practice is the only thing that will do it, and your own reloading will give you

t . hat, cheap It is a perfectly legitimate and com ’ the o mendable activity of Sp rtsman s Workshop, I ’ ll say !

I I I CHAPTER VIII Ro d Repairing an d ! u re Making

’ HE tackle departm ent of the sportsman s workshop will have two main concerns ! the of the repair rods and reels, and making of tackles and lures . All of us who do much fishing need not be reminded of the number of lures we lost on each long trip of the season . Our floating off bass baits got snagged beyond recovery, or cast the f into orest by some backlash, never to be found, f and our spoon lures one by one came to grie ,

hooked in rock crevices, into lily pad stems and

r . of s b ush snags At present prices any and all lure , ’ enough of them to last out a week s trip will cost

more than the trip, so that we, perforce, take to making our own in the shop—which is good fun and not half so hard as it sounds . t will As to rods and reels, hey come through the t - season wi h frayed wrappings, war worn varnish,

broken joints, and lost tops ; and the reels, especially - u t the salt water division , get g mmed up wi h green f - rust, while the resh water ones are apt to come t home wi h the rubber cheek plates nicked or broken , the handles bent or loose, and the quadruple mul tiplying ones slow from dirt or even bent out of r f the t ue, which o ten happens to kind made of a f shell of metal punched out to form the rame . 1 1 2

THE SPORTSMAN’ S WORKSHOP s h em e the rod ne the c is tur d with right hand, its fingernails snugging the turns so that they lie flat i i t no n s de by s de wi h bu ching and no open cracks, while the left hand fee ds the thread off the spool w u at a tension. Such a rapping is be g n by winding o r end of r the ve the the th ead laid flat on rod, and c om ple te d by making out a loop and winding over the oo for re e ur u the l p th or fo t rns, when thread en s thro the d is pu hed ugh loop and pulled taut, w thus making an invisible knot. After these rap pings are on they will all nee d thre e or four coats c e c h l na of olor fix r, whi Is co lodion and ba na oil In ’ e al a t o fr o r dru . t qu p r s, b ught om y u ggist s Wi hout it the silk will surely turn dark and muddy when o h the varnish comes n. If t e varnish already on rod oo e all the the is in g d shap , new wrappings will ee s new a n d is a ingle coat of v rnish, followed by another on the whole joint. We use spar or Val

a a t nn t al h . sp r v rnish, hi ed out wi h a little co ol Your mai n c once rn will be to do the varnishing in ro e t r and w ll some om wh re he e is, i be, no floating and ntil the t dust, not to put on a new coat u o her o t t m is thor ughly dry ; hat is, so dry hat no thu b mark will show when you press on it. If you put it on too soon the new coat melts the under one and the whole business gums up . The brush to do it w the c an u ith must be finest you buy, a sable br sh l r an that wi l not leave hai s d streaks . Often a whole new rod-wrapping job comes up ; “ ” our t e . . ro in shop many of h m , for B M is a p ” fessional all i at it, making his own rods, repa ring mine, and making up new ones from a score of old butts and tips and joints that abound in the dark 1 1 4 ROD REPAIRING AND LURE MAKING

o - recesses of the store Cl set. I had a green heart surf rod that was stiff and logy and exceedingly difi c ult Wit s to cast hout getting a backla h, as it had and . . M. who u no life whip B , had j st finished t fu u rod e a beau i l s rf of his own , look d mine over and declared that it needed rebuilding from the u I w ground p. t had a rapping every inch, which not only made it look heavy and clumsy to a de o to gree, but so b und the wood fibers as take all the resiliency out of the rod . With a razor blade s a off ff u es all the e c me in a ji y, also both upper g id and the top . The rod was then scraped down with f u an old blade, ollowing with a r bbing of steel wool the . its e until we had original grain Testing b nd,

. . u wo from B M decided on a removal of eno gh od, o of the the ferrule d wn to about half the length tip, to give that long bend that is needed for a good not u surf rod, the tight bend p near the top that you will find on poorly designed rods. A good test of a surf-rod tip is to hold it ou t with the left hand and strike it a smart blow wi th the palm of your right hand about one- third its length from the butt. I t should vibrate smartly over its whole length for at leas t a second . a tw A single pair of ag tes was then put on, enty inches from the top. To make a handsome job of t on w h his, he put two green wrappings, it black e edgings and yellow cent r line and yellow ends, followed by three narrow yellow rings about half h an inc apart at each end, and over this was put u the g ides opposite the yellow centerline, and w l toward rapped on with black silk, winding a ways h t e agate . This color scheme was repeated below 1 1 5 THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP the to o e a p and ab ve the ferrule, and onc gain about midway between the ferrule and the guides . That w w as all the rapping that went on the rod . Four o t and coats of coll dion and banana oil went on hese, e t then the varnish, taking several weeks to g on f el our coats of it, and rubbing down with ste wool after each coat to smooth down pimples and brush f roughness in the sur ace . A reversible agate top completed the rod . Before the war a good greenheart rod cost about $25 . B . M . made his own at a cost of about 1 ! $ 4, as follows From Vom Hofe, in New York , a u 6 he bought greenheart tip with ferr le, foot,

1 2 . t ounce, for $5 A Jersey spring butt, of be ha bu tt iec e bara, with reel seat and p complete cost $5 more . Four agate guides and a reversible top as the stood him $3, and he was ready to semble rod, as put on the wrappings described above, and var - . two u nish In this rod he used the g ide mounting, 1 0 22 the to with guides inches and inches from p, respectively. For ornament green cylinders with red borders and yellow center line and double yellow n u one be outer ri gs was sed as the color scheme, tween the two guides pairs and three between the lower pair and the ferrule . This tip came with a rattan-wound forward grip in front of the ferrule .

It made a fine, handsome rod when finished, and always beat mine for ease and distance of casting . During the winter our overheated houses have a great way of causing the cement in rod ferrules to so o f perish, that spring finds a good many them loose when you put the rod together . The main diffi culty about ferrules is to get them back on 1 1 6

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

i so the fu stra ght again, that rod will not be ll of ’ dog s tails when pu t together. All the old cement should be carefully scraped and cleaned from wood and the inside of the ferr ule . To put on a female ferrule it had best be first set on the male so that your eye has a chance to see that the joint is on straight before the cement sets . The rod and fer t t rule should bo h be warmed, and hen the rod covered with fresh ferrule cement and the metal

. for shoved over it Try it trueness with your eye, and either straighten by hand or take apart and do over again if it refuses to come in a straight line

the . If r with next joint there is a fe rule pin , drill a new hole for it with a fine awl before driving in th e pin . a In scraping the v rnish from split bamboo rods, be careful not to cut into the enamel of the bamboo itself . Friend Westervelt advises holding the razor blade flat for this purpose . We use it like a draw k off scraper, watching that we do not ta e anything but varnish . It is a good plan to have some extra snake guides of three sizes in the tackle repair r d awer, as more than one promising job has been hal e by a nake guide droppe and lost beyond t d — s d finding probably making its escape down an ex pec tant crack in the floor ! The same applies to s u for o spare agate for brass rods, tr mpets b at rods, and at least one large top for the surf fellows ; for an agate top once cracked will fray any amount of good line and is hopeless . For ferrule cement I prefer the kind that has to be heated to make it liquid . This can be done with even a single match the a out on the stream or beach, and p rt is loosened 1 1 8 ROD REPAIRING AND LURE MAKING

f by hand and either replaced or fixed . It Is o ten just as important to get a top off easily as to get it on ! Reel repairs are principally oiling and cleaning. A set of screwdrivers that will fit in the slots of all the screws in your reels is the first thing to look to . No use spoiling a screw head irrevocably with a or driver blade too big to fit the slot, too small to grip clear across the head. Taking your bass reel a apart, you will find a rem rkable mixture of grease,

- dirt, dust, and fine metal fouling in its pinion teeth . The reel has spun thousands of times during your t all fishing rip, and has industriously ground up i i t s the mpur ties that filtered in hrough the ca e, i until It now will hardly sp n six seconds, whereas It - ought to spin thirty two on a single whirl . Take off the pinions and clean out each tooth carefully with f a so t rag and a wooden pick point . Drop the whole t . off hing in gasoline and wash it about Clean , put back, and oil with a light machine oil, and the reel will be back to pristine spinning power . The drags li and clicks generally need cleaning and overhau ng, and perhaps you will sei ze the occasion to put on hat cork drum which you have been promi si ng t — yourself in these days of $2 .50 bass lines !

Trout reels seldom give much trouble, being so mighty simple . In eight years the only thing that has happened to mi ne is one rubber cheek i ts broken from securing pin on the reel seat, by being dropped on the floor by some thumb- fingered dub . Fixed , by securing the pin to the next stanch ion on both sides with three turns of fine wire . This held the rubber cheek pieces down in their broken — holes and will answer for a trout reel . 1 1 9 THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

The salt-water reels are the ones that will give you many a fine surprise . Mine was taken out ” f war e and r f e as is , a ter the was ov r we we e r e to go fishing again. At the very first cast she .se t her automatic drag so tight that the handle could hardly be forced over . The unloc kin pin for the take u u apart mechanism was g mmed ast with green r st, h so that she could not be taken apart. T ere was no oilcan In the tackle box, either. In desperation the I cast again , a mighty swipe which put auto matic drag pe rmanently out of business ; but it

on . freed the spool and I went fishing Arrived home, i I took the reel apart in some trepidat on , expecting at least to find some ground-up disc or wheel that fa would have to be replaced from the ctory. The f t - least screwdriver, a little ellow wi h 54 inch blade, was f u needed to back out the o r stanchion screws, after which the rubber cheek ate was ifted out — pl —l of . t a t its recess And hen wh t ho, men here was nothing to it ! The automatic drag sets with a the hook, pushed out by a spring from plate button and engaging a notch in the drag disc . This hook f was stuck ast with sand and green rust . Push out, ! t the push in , Button Nei her moved the hook, f spring not being strong enough to ree it . All it t needed was cleaning, so hat the hook would be free to move once more . Also tightening up the O c ou e drag tension . f rs I took the whole drag

mechanism apart, and got it together again with as every single piece upside down , but it obviously wouldn ’ t work I fell to studying it and soon got at the principle o f the thing . There are two spring a pl tes and a disc plate, the latter with two notches 1 20

THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

ff ware store bu er head, with grooved wheel and two for threads a chuck and a polishing wheel bushing, f ri make the best bench lathe or winding rods . D v ing it will be a grooved wheel and treadle, which can be picked up at a junk or second- hand furnitu re ’ dealer s and attached below your work table . On it there should be a small grooved wheel about the a the one ff for s me size as in the bu er head , a rod must turn over slowly, not spin , as it would do with the big flywheel . Then, in using the head as a r t off the - d ill or a urning lathe, you take rod winding the the belt and put on large one, to go around rim of the flywheel like a sewing machine or j Igsaw wheel . The art of lure making is one that had little attention from the angling fraternity when good spinners and artificial baits were made u at prices p’ that made no appreciable hole in one s e pense — x account for a trip . But now a single look at the tackle- store counters shows an astonishing advance in the prices of these commodities . We simply must have enough lures to last out a trip, ten spin f “ ners, hal a dozen plugs, and five large red flies to use with pork minnows and chunks . One by ’ one these get lost during the days casting, until f mighty few are left or the next trip . To buy a new set will cost more than the grub and car fare of the

f for f . trip itself, where ore we turn to the shop relie s 1 8 For materials we need bra s wire of about gauge, f beads, nickel eyelets rom a package of them bought

the - f t and . at ten cent store, ea hers, spoons These

latter have caused many to hesitate, but as a matter of fact you have an inexhaustible supply of them O in your ld brass pistol and rifle cartridges . A pair 1 22 ROD REPAIRING AND LURE MAKING

’ of tin smith s shears is the only tool needed . Cut down the cylinder of the cartridge until about of an inch from the base, turn , and cut around the a of c rtridge, and you have a nice sheet brass, big for - f enough a one inch spoon , rom an empty old i .38 pistol cartridge . The sheet s curv ed and .

i . spr ngy, also dirty inside Anneal it by holding In for a blue gas flame a moment, until it glows cherry

c red . When ool it will be pliable to your fingers, and it cuts as easy as paper. For a bright brass on buff e r finish simply polish the , daub over with

- banana oil and repolish , when you get a rust proof t o f finish . To silver hem , dissolve a globule quick silver in a mixture o f two- thirds hydrochloric acid and one - third nitric and dip the spoons in the mixture, one at a time to prevent undue generation of heat . They will come ou t with a mirror finish . To make up spinners the basic elements are a of t piece brass wire, bent into a long urn , with a catch around the shank in which the hook is to be n or few of hu g; a bead, a them, as a base on which of - - the spoon is to twirl ; the eye part a hook and eye, with its eyes turned flat so as to slip over the wire o finish and carry the sp on in its U ; and, finally, the t of ing eye urned in the end the brass wire, in which the line is to be made fast. That is all there is to making a spinner. For double spoons use a longer two wire, eyes, and enough beads to space them properly . In making up Rangely spinners a single hook is hung in the bend o f the wire and the hook ’ is spun with red or green silk, with gray rooster s hackles or any other feathers that you have found i of For killing, t ed in behind the eye the hook . 1 23 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

as er a b s and pike spinn s, treble hook with red, f t the o f gray, and white ea hers tied at upper part the five - h shank, a inc wire, and one or two brass I - 54 inch spoons w ll do fine . i — For pork-rind baits I get a set of 6 0 hooks and secure over the shank of each a long-c ared and slotted sinker weighing about 5 4 ounce . This is f wrapped over with red thread, and a red eather tied on with its rib jutting up toward the hook point

l . to make it weed ess Beginning with the hook eye , r I put on a split ing, a swivel, another split ring and a second swivel . In the second split ring is hung a nickel or brass spoon about 1 5 4 inches long . The 1 pork minnow, 3 inches long, with tail split up the of the the inch, is hung in bend big hook, and revolutions of the spoon make the minnow wiggle as it is reeled back to the boat. A mighty killing - ff for rig, in most lily pad lakes. To make it e ective of the pickerel , hang a treble hook in the bend big one and stick one point of it through the side of the pork minnow . As for artificial plug lures, you will have in the shop red and white enamel paint for refurbishing your battered ones, spare treble hooks and small sc rewe yes to attach them with . To make up a or plug bait, a white body with red head throat seems the most attractive to bass . If the front f the ace is cut flat, on a slant, bait will dive and wobble . If you have the treble hook and screweye you can even make a bait in cam p by whittling a crooked holly stick, anything that is white, tying your line a bit back of the head, and making the h h front fac e a slant . With t e hook hung in t e 1 24

THE SPORTSMAN’S WORKSHOP

th o wi l and e tte l r at it l catch bass, is the b r for a tai hook for pickere l . - -w s It is the heavier than ater lure , however, that one loses . It is seldom that a floating lure is snagged be yond rec ove ry. What they principally need is

so as f e . repainting, to keep them bright and r sh In preparing for a salt- water tIi p the shop will need

to make up half a dozen standard tackles, consist h - i l o f ing of a bronze t ree way sw ve , a leader bronze u two f n an for pict re wire eet lo g, with eye the hook s e o f -o r n ll in one end it, and 4 unce pyramid sinke s attached to the lower swivel eye with a 6 - inch f o l length o line with tw bowline oops in it . For n s - cha nel ba s a inch rawhide loop, with the sinker line attached to it and a bone button strung on the has line below the loop been found good , as it per mits the fish to pick up the bait and run o ff with it without noticing the drag o f the sinker and be o f coming suspicious . Another modification the same rig is a large bone button with the line pass ing through one hole and the sinker line tied through the other . A split shot or even the knot on the end of the line will suffice to hold this in casting. It works the same way as the loop . For bay we akfish and a light trout rod we find that an ordinary float bobber with the center stick t taken out makes a goo d rig. The line Is rove hrough the hole and a match stick or an ofli c e paper clip 13 put on where the depth below the float Is right . 18 When the fish strikes , the line free to come back through the hole withOIi t the drag and inertia of the float . This 13 also good for still fishing for bass in deep water . 1 26 CHAPTER I! Making G u n a n d R o d Cabinets

’ VE for a whole lot of respect the man who says, “ ’ ” a — Go to, now, let s make well , anything he ’ ff can t a ord to buy, be it a sail or motor boat, a portable house or any other article where two-thirds of the price is in labor and profits . These winter days are great times for puttering and fussing about with a saw and a hammer; a busy season for the ’ sportsman s workshop . A good many yea rs ago — when gun cabinets were selling for about $35 and not really artistic ones at that— I swore a round oath that my high- priced arsenal of guns Should no longer be sequestered all winter in swaddled and oil- soaked rags and poked away out of sight in travel-worn leather gun cases . To be deprived of all sight of the beloved rifles and shotguns all winter was asking too, too much, yet if you hung them up on horns the beauties were sure to accumulate streaks of rust all along the tops of the barrels and th e off dust soon took the handsome gloss lock, stock, and barrel . ’ ! Wherefore Go to, now, let s make a gun cab inet !” I wanted something handsome enough to take its place beside the best library or living- room furniture made ; something that would show off my pets to best advantage, and something with 1 27 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

t for k du flle plen y of drawers In it tac le, camp , shells, loading tools ; everything that would spell OUTDOORS at me through the long winter evenings . There were three shotguns and three rifles to be taken care of; shell belts ; boo ts ; a little five -pound tent; a camp

s . axe, and five gun ca es It seemed to me that pol ’ ishe d black walnut with brass fittings and a hunter s green felt lining to the gun compartment would fum iture make a rather handsome piece of , espe c ially if it had a pair of plateglass doors in front so as to show off the polished artillery inside . And I ’ couldn t see anything to admire in the folding table- board put in front of some cabinets . Not only would it cover the gunstocks and locks when down , . but it would not give room enough for a really enjoyable shell- loading bee if used for that pur of ll pose as advertised . Then I wanted plenty sma drawers in it, at least a dozen, so it would not be hard to find anything when wanted. There was a lot of fun planning these dr awers . 1 0 Taking the standard, 4 inches by 4 inches by n 6 s inches deep, you eeded two inches by 4 inche by 1 0 inches at the bottom on each side for shell crimpers and powder cans . Then you needed a drawer for wads, another for shot, another for shells, h for for anot er primers and loading tools, one rifle l loading set and rifle she ls, a drawer for compass,

du fli e al . small camp , surgic kit, etc ; another for ditty bag and hunting knife; another sacred to reels, one for lines and flies, and one exclusively for ll hooks, sinkers, lures, and such sma deer. Above the drawers ought to be a 1 0 -inch space on each h u r side for favorite outdoor textbooks, w ile nde 1 28

THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

wood 1 0 inches wide and se t up out of the se the r - 1 - h m a lowe 55 4 inch by 4 inc c o p rtme n ts on ea ch f lo i i ar ions side, ol w ng with the long drawer s de p tit , running from the top of the cabinet down in to the top board of the side com partments . The n there were days of fussing wi th the drawe r par ti tions and making the drawers ; particularly getting them t w n o f hey ould not stick, but fi ally every last one i the dozen slid back onto ts stop like an angel . The bottom drawer was 3 inches by 26 in ches by 1 0 s was inche , and upon its completion I ready for the decorative work . s t To begin with, the flat side were any hing but so h handsome, to relieve t eir monotony I skir m ishe d around in the moulding stock of a nearby carpenter shop and got out a lot of flat white wood h moulding wit cove and bead edge, the moulding

being 1 % inches wide and 54 inch thick . This I of ran around the sides the cabinet, bringing it the just under the cornice, and crossing below on of level with the bottom the cabinet, so that the All arch of the feet came below this trim . the cor o f s ners of it were, course, mitered and it was fa tened i on the sides with concealed brads, flush w th front 2- and back faces . For a top cornice I used inch m ouldirf O. G . g mitered around front and sides, and this in its turn was supported by a 1 54 - inch corner trim of fancy pressed and beaded corner

moulding . After sandpapering all over and sink and ing puttying all brads , I gave the entire cabi a o f net coat black walnut stain , through which the grain of the white wood showed beautifully . o f 1 Then three coats No . carriage varnish, rubbing 1 30 MAKING GUN AND ROD CABINETS

0 down each coat with No . sandpaper, horsehair,

and pumice stone and oil, and finally polish only . all In this way I soon got a smooth , glossy oil finish ’ f over it, and then put in the hunter s green elt lining o f the gun compartment . To make the bot tom racks for the gunstocks I concealed 54 - inch by - 8 - f for 54 inch by % inch sleepers under the elt, and

ou t two 2 - - the barrel racks I cut 5 4 inch semi circles,

2 - spaced % inch centers for each gun . This was screwed to the back o f the cabinet 3 feet 3 inches a - bove the floor, and each semi circle was lined with a strip of felt so as not to mar the precious gu n barrels . The front doors of the cabinet were ne xt made of 2- inch by 5 4- inch stock white pine frames 1 3 inches wide by 5 5 inches long . They were I of - 1 0 rabbeted to receive the panes /4 inch glass, %

2 nd . inches by 5 % inches, a then stained and polished The glass was held in the rabbets by strips of

- i - inch by f g inch rock elm, also stained . and

polished, and secured by tiny brads so that the glasses can be taken out and packed in their own box whenever the gun cabinet has to go into a moving van .

It was now time to go after display, in the of brass work the hinges, latch and knobs of the f drawers . The photographs will give some idea o

- how this looked . The drawer knobs are 54 inch diameter, of heavy brass, with knurled edges, and I had a dozen 2- inch circular flat pedestals turned “ - i out by a wood lathe artist, wh ch gave some class to the securing of the knobs to the drawers . I used

- altogether ten knobs for the 4 inch drawers, two for 6 - ring handles inch drawers, two square plate 1 3 1 THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP

n for ha dles for bottom drawer, four fancy hinges cabinet doors ; one fancy lock ; two heavy brass - and hooks for revolvers and shell belts, and top bottom brass concealed bolts in cabinet doors . About $4 worth of fancy brass work . The rest of a the the c binet did not cost over $5 , all told, except

for f 1 .0 . e glass the ront doors, which came to $ 4 Lumb r

! 1 8 . . D2S - and sundries bill B F , 54 inch white wood ;

- 0 F. - d 2 1 3 B . , inch white woo ; 5 feet 5 4 by 54 inch moulding ; 6 feet 2 inches by 54- inch O . G . mould 6 1 22 2 ing ; feet 5 4 inch pressed moulding ; feet inch ’ by 54- inch dressed joist ; 2 yards hunters green felt ; can of walnut stain ; 2 cans carriage varnish . I - - f a man is an all around four sided sportsman , his gun cabinet is sure to slowly but steadily fill up with beauty double shotguns and world- beater

rifles, until there is a considerable overflow meeting in some corner of the den of fishing rods and other outdoor pieces of bric-a- brac which have been crowded out of the sacred precincts of the gun of - it- - - cabinet . This Is one those did ever happen to ’ t did you s hat happen to me, and forced, in time, ! the inevitable query , Why not a rod cabinet Here were seven homeless rods with their attendan t a reels , whole menagerie of gaudy flies, wooden worms and wonder minnows, tackle and angling — paraphern alia galore and no fixed locus for any of them . And so a rod cabinet began to take shape in my thoughts . I had never seen one, nor do I

believe there is such a thing on the market, but it seemed to me that such a cabinet should be ar ranged to hang all tips and second joints from some sort of curtai n pole and ring device which would 1 32

THE SPORTSMAN ’ S WORKSHOP

fro e d e o f c a n m akin s for nt g the bi et, g a reces the N w r - glas s door. o o der some 5 4 inch white wood and m k two draw rs 6 s 6 a e e , one inche deep by in hes and 1 2 n h s W i and 6 c high i c e de, the other h 1 2 w inc es dee p by 3 inches high by inches ide . ! ou wi l wi l w l 2 l note that they l come, hen c osed, nc e s fro c o f r i h m the ba k the cabinet, whe e you should nail a stop to prevent them going in any 2- n hi fu rther. This i ch space in be nd the dr awers lea ves room for your long one- piece rods and surf rod t s e d the ful o f ip , which ne l height the cabinet - w to go in at all. The upper 3 inch dra er will only nee d 5 4 - in ch by - inch by 8 - inch stri p runners un e r - b d r it, but the lower d awer wants a 5 4 inch y 8- I o - n r inch by i ch bottom boa d, nailed in just above it for rod butts to rest upo n . It must have round holes cut in the back to pass the butts of - i one piece rods and long surf t ps . Line the interior of the cabinet with dark red felt or leave it natural w t al finish and stain i h Coloni art finish, tobacco r brown , or weathered oak, to suit you fancy . The stain is rubbed on with a rag and brings out the A ll i r grain beautifully . it then needs s ubbing down ” with furnitur e polish to acquire a truly pro fesh appearance . The door you had best order from some for am door and sash mill, as it is impossible an atc ur without machinery to get neat corners and f S muntin joints. The rame hould be of white wood ,

1 4 . 8 % inches by 5 inch stock Lights , four inches I if by 5 inches , plain panes, or, you prefer diamond

panes, the mill can get you up something of stock

a . If sizes, but it will cost a good de l more your 2 cabinet is 5 feet inches high inside, the door will 1 34 MAKING GUN AND ROD CABINETS

1 0 need to be 5 feet 3% inches by 94 inches, allowing ' - the sam e for 54 inch stock . Stain at time you do

a . a the c binet As to hardware, the less of it th t is seen in mission design the better. Have your a - 1 hinges sm ll , 94 inch by 54 inches, brass, butt d the pattern, countersunk flush into the woo , and backs coming just flush with the face of the cabinet . The lock should be a small brass mortise lock with h e s plain, inconspicuous keyhole, wit out any cutcheon . f Your cabinet is now ready or the rod fittings . For tips and second joints get some - inch black 8 - walnut curtain poling, and cut two inch pegs

from it, which drive into the back board of the cabinet so that they will stick out horizontally into the interior of the cabinet . Place them 3 inches f the apart and 3% inches rom sides of the cabinet, th w and of e height to s ing clear your longest tip . Get brass curtain rings to fit the poles with a small brass hoo k dangling from each . The left- hand peg will hang a dozen tips and the right- hand the sec ond joints . The latter will need small brass screw eyes screwed into the stopper plugs to hang them

a . up by, as it is essential th t they hang down straight

There remain the various butts . On each side

you will have room for at least four. Turned and polished black walnut curtain pole sockets are the thing for a recess to hold the bottom ends of your

butts, while a corresponding row of brass cane

- spring clips, which you can get from any big hard are ware store, what you want to hold the upper

ends of the butts . Each one carries its reel attached, and two as no reels are at the same height, it is not I 3S THE SPORTSMAN ’S WORKSHOP difficult to get them all placed without interfering ; and if you own a collection of marvelous minnows and thousand- hook centipedes you can displa y a row n on as k of twe ty of them br s hoo s, screwed in just below the upper drawer all around the interior of the cabinet. ’ The raison d am! of the rod ab net s the sam e — c i i as the gun cabinet protection from deterioration and the placing of your pet rods where you can see h m and r m t t e d ea over hem in idle moments . Your delicate tips are not warped as they would be from er in the rod a wint bag, nor are your beautiful rods poked away in some closet where rust doth corrupt ak and al and moths bre through ste , only to be taken out and looked at on rare occasions. Instead they are a continuous delight to the eye during the e an winter venings in the den , and if y rod needs repairing you are reminded of it every time you “ a glance at your c binet. The cost of it, as I have r desc ibed it, will not exceed $4 for lumber, hard ware fe and a n. , lt, st i

1 36