Playing dart games is much more fun if you have well-made darts, so accurately machined that they will give a consistently uniform performance.

Ever play the game of darts with your lathe? It's double-barreled fun, for after you have spent an enjoyable two or three hours making some darts, you can have the added pleasure of throwing them at a target.

Steps are illustrated in the machining of a dart body from a 7/16" aluminum aircraft bolt. If round bar stock is used, the opera tions are the same.

Clamp the stock in a chuck or collet with about 1 3/4" projecting. Face off the end if necessary. With a center drill in a tailstock chuck, spot a hole in the rod end; then drill it as shown in Fig. 1 to a depth of about 3/8" with a bit of the diameter required to receive the steel point in a drive fit.

Machine about 1 1/2" of the rod to a diameter of 3/8", and round the end for a distance of 3/8" as shown in Fig. 2 to a contour approximating that of the nose of a bomb or rocket. Knurl lightly as shown in Fig. 3 the next 3/8" to enable you to get a firm grip on the dart when throwing it.

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If there's a small child in your home, why not take an evening or two to make this toddler scooter? Children like the toy because it glides in any direction. Keep in mind, this child's walker pattern is from the 1940's. In recent years, walkers had become a safety concern for parents. So please, when your little angel is enjoying this walker/scooter, observe all the usual safety precautions.

The main frame require a piece of 5/8" or 3/4" plywood 9" x 16". Cut it to shape as shown in Fig. 1 and save the waste material to make seat brace. Either a jig saw, band saw or hand compass saw may be used for cutting the curves. Read the rest of this entry

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This is an adorable doll cradle which is easy to assemble from common household objects.

What you will need:

2 baskets (1 for the bed part, 1 for the hood part)

2 wooden coat hangers (hooks removed)

paint

clothe to line cradle

Now, to make the cradle:

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These are easy directions for making a simple pinwheel.

You will need:

• construction paper - approximately 9 inches square (9 in. x 9 in.)
• a straight stick/branch for the handle
• a straight pin to hold the pinwheel onto the handle

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