Three hard-wood bridges twenty-two inches long and four inches high are cut, as shown in Fig. 4, and attached to the runners with screws (Fig. 3). They support a seat eight inches wide which is screwed down to the top of the bridges.
In front of the first bridge and behind the last one short bracket-braces are attached to prevent the bridges from rocking, and these as well as the bridges can be cut from wood about an inch and a half in thickness.
The front ends of the boards are attached to a batten, and by steaming the boards may be curved up as shown and held in place with a stanchion-rope lashed fast to the batten and to the front bridge. A supporting bridge should be used to give it additional power. Fig. 3.
When the varnish wears off the bottom give it another coat, as the smooth, hard finish helps the toboggan to slide easily over the snow.
A very good coasting-sled is shown in the illustration of a rocker-coaster (Fig. 5), and for short hills a sled of this sort will prove very fast and easy to steer.
It is from four to five feet long, twenty inches broad, and seven inches high at the middle. The lower edge of each runner is curved from end to end with a long, sweeping line, and it is grooved to receive a round runner of steel, which a blacksmith will make and attach.
The frame of the coaster should be made of hard-wood five-eighths of an inch in thickness, and the three cross-ribs are one inch and a half in width and one inch in thickness. Laps are cut in the top edges of the sides, and the cross-ribs are let into them and made fast with screws. Wooden brackets or cleats are attached to the sides and to the under side of each cross-rib to strengthen the construction, and at both ends a piece of round curtain-pole is made fast as shown in Fig. 5.
The ends of the poles are trimmed off so as to form dowel ends, and these fit into holes made in the ends of the sides.
Hand-holes are cut with a bit and compass-saw at the ends of the sides; a deck of half-inch wood is laid over the ribs and held down with screws. Have the blacksmith flatten the ends of each runner and bend them over so they will lie on top at the end of each side.
A few good coats of paint will finish the wood-work nicely, and the rocker-coaster will then be ready for use.