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 .