Books in Dover Woodworking series

Expensive electronic toys come and go, but the toys children really like the best are often the simplest. The plain handmade wooden train, doll cradle, or circus animal can provide the key that unlocks a young imagination.This book makes it easy to create toys that will win a permanent place in any child's heart. After years of working with young children, veteran woodcrafter and educator James. T. Stasio has distilled his expert knowledge into a handy, inexpensive guide to making 12 wooden toys of enduring appeal: helicopter, oil truck, biplane, destroyer, freight train, cargo ship, rocking horse and squirrel, circus animals and acrobats, doll cradle, work truck, truck bank, and fighter plane. You don't have to be a master craftsman or purchase expensive materials. If you can use a saw and a screwdriver, you can make any of these charming toys. For each project, a list of materials indicates how much wood and the kind of hardware you'll need. Exact-size templates for every part make cutting out the wood simplicity itself. And a large, easy-to-grasp exploded diagram shows precisely how to fit the parts together. The introduction also provides handy tips on selection of wood, finishing, and more. Best of all, these sturdy toys will stand up to almost any amount of rough handling. And there are no batteries to replace!

Here is a complete, down-to-the-last-detail guide for building attractive, sturdy, and genuinely inhabitable wooden birdhouses that will add a touch of natural beauty to garden, backyard, or anywhere else they are placed. Step-by-step instructions, clear diagrams, and many helpful illustrations and tables are included. All designs can be adapted to the use of simple hand tools ― saw, hammer, screwdriver ― making these projects ideal for woodworkers of all ages and levels of experience. Includes clear, easy-to-follow coverage for these topics: the selection of woods, helpful construction tips and techniques, hanging and supporting birdhouses, inspection and cleaning, proper placement, construction of pest guards, and much more.More than just a collection of projects, this complete guide shows not only how to construct birdhouses, but also how to insure that birds will actually be able to nest in them. It even shows how to attract specific species: bluebirds, doves, finches, swallows, and many others. Included is much valuable and practical information not found in the usual craft book: nesting requirements for each species, proper size of entrance holes, data on the habitats and behavior of particular types of birds, and more.The rewards and satisfaction of building your own well-designed, durable birdhouse make this book a welcome addition to the library of the experienced craftsman as well as beginning and intermediate woodworkers.

Anyone, even a novice woodworker or a child with adult supervision, can build this spacious dollhouse. All it takes is six basic tools (a folding rule, square, saber saw, rasp, sander, and hammer) and a single sheet of 4' x 8' plywood. The finished two-story model measures 36 1/2" x 26" (scale 1" x 1') and boasts six rooms, plus a staircase, windows, shutters, and a front door.The easy-to-follow instructions offer advice on purchasing the appropriate kind of plywood and trimmings and explain exactly how to cut and assemble the pieces. Helpful tips include suggestions on sanding, which pieces to nail first, constructing the roof, and finishing the project with paint or siding.The basic house design is simple, so builders have ample room to refine the house to suit their own preferences. Dozens of diagrams and instructions show how to add optical touches such as dormers, windowpanes, a fireplace, flower boxes, and much more. All instructions are clarified by illustrations — over 40 diagrams and photographs appear throughout the book, showing the dollhouse in various stages of completion.

Gnomonics is to the scientific what the Art of Dyalling is to antiquaries: both refer to the art, science, and craft of sundials. The sundial, the oldest mechanical clock, is also the truest — when properly set and corrected it is more accurate at its longitude than modern "standard" time clocks. For beneath and behind the shadows on the dial operate principles of celestial mechanics, geography, trigonometry, and magnetism. But can a sundial be built with this knowledge? Yes, in fact, with proper guidance, a good deal of sundial science can be learned in the making. Here is the guide. The book gently leads beginning diallists into sundial lore and construction. Novice craftsmen who can wield a saw, wood-burning pen, matte knife, sandpaper, and a few other simple tools can make five different kinds of sundials; plans are flexible and allow for embellishment, alteration, and variety of materials. Pre-calculated templates can be removed from the book and transferred by carbon paper to wood. Illustrated step-by-step instructions show how to build these sundials: Horizontal; Direct South Vertical; Folding Equatorial; Bowstring Equatorial; and Diptych. Ultimately, one can design a working pocket sundial! Tables are included for four different latitudes (25º, 32º, 40º, 45º), applicable throughout the United States and much of North America. A table of more than one hundred cities gives latitude, longitude, time, zone, magnetic variation, and the necessary time adjustments. A special section is given to dial correction; the equation of time, longitude, magnetic variation, hour angles. A bibliography and a list of sundial mottoes complete this comprehensive beginning manual.