In Fig. 72 another movement is shown, in which progression is made by a succession of ‘steps’ from round to round, first from one round to the next, and afterwards increasing the length of the step by missing four, five, or six rounds, as the length of reach will permit.
BY CHARLES SPENCER, Author of _The Modern Gymnast_, &c.
Comparatively few years ago bodily exercises were mostly confined to walking, running, and rowing; now, happily, it is an exception not to find some sort of gymnastic exercise desired by boys where apparatus is necessary. My object in this article is to tell as briefly and succinctly as possible, how any one, with a slight knowledge of carpentry, can make at home all that is requisite for a gymnasium, and that too at a comparatively small expense.
As you will, of course, require some tools, I will begin by supposing that you have the ordinary commonplace ones, but may mention that, as you will find the truth of the adage, ‘A bad workman finds fault with his tools,’ you must not attempt to cross-cut a piece of timber with a rip saw, or split your wood by using a gimlet instead of a bradawl, blaming the tools, spoiling the wood and also your own temper.
Let us begin with the construction of the horizontal bar, as it is the simplest apparatus to make, and affords the greatest variety of exercises. There are several ways of forming the supports. We will take the two most suitable, one as a fixture and the other portable, to be used in a room or anywhere else desired.
With wooden uprights to fix in the ground (_See_ next page, Fig. 1):
_Tools._ Hand-saw (cross-cut). | Inch chisel. Jack plane. | Hammer. Spike gimlet (three-eighths of an | Rule and Pencil. inch). |
2 Yellow battens 14 ft. long, 7 in. by 2-1/2 in. at 3-1/2_d._ 8 2 4 Struts, yellow, 4 ft. 6 in. long, 4 in. by 1 in. 1 0 1 Bar 6 ft. long, 1-7/8 in. in diameter 6 6 2 Pins 6 in. long, 3/8 of an inch in diameter, at 4_d._ 0 8 20 nails 2-1/2 in. long 0 4 2 lb. lead-colour paint, at 8_d._ 1 4 1 lb. ultramarine blue 1 0 ------- 19 0 =======
The first thing to be done is to order your wood of the nearest timber-merchant. There are various kinds of fir-timber, and those mostly used are pine, spruce, and yellow deal. The latter is the best for our present purpose, as it is easy to work and will best stand the inclemency of the weather. I need scarcely tell you where to get the other materials, as most ironmongers and colourmen keep everything you may require in this way.