the easiest tasks set herein are very easy, the most difficult will not be
found to demand a very high degree of skill, or more than a very moderate
outlay on tools. I may say here that I have been over the ground myself to
find out its difficulties for my readers, and that I made an engine similar
to that described in Chapter XV (the most elaborate mechanism included in
the book) with very simple tools. Some of the items which I had on my
original list were abandoned, because they presupposed the possession of
comparatively expensive machines.

My selection has also been guided by the desire to cater for different
tastes. In some cases the actual manufacture of the thing described may be
regarded as the most instructive and valuable element, and may appeal most
forcibly to the "handy" boy; in others--the Harmonograph provides a good
instance--the interest centres round the experiments made possible by the
construction of a simple piece of apparatus; in some the utility of the
article manufactured is its chief recommendation.

I feel certain that anyone who follows out the pages of this volume with
hand as well as with eye, will have little reason to regret the time so
spent. The things made may in course of time be put aside and forgotten,
but the manual skill acquired will remain. Nowadays one can buy almost
anything ready-made, or get it made without difficulty; yet he who is able
to make things for himself will always have an advantage over the person to
whom the use of tools is an unprobed mystery.



CONTENTS.

I. SAWING TRESTLE