Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/51
time, experience, and several bottles to get knives to exactly suit you.
Fasten three knives together with wax (Fig. 30) so that each shall point in a different direction, bind on this three slips of thin wood lengthwise to hold the wax and glass firmly, and cover it neatly with cloth or kid.
A piece of twine looped at each end should pass through the apparatus lengthwise. This, of course, to be put in before the slips are bound together. Excellent cutters can be made of blades from an old penknife.
A much simpler weapon is made with a piece of stout twine one foot long, dipped in glue and rolled in pounded glass until thickly coated with a glistening armor of sharp points. Two of these incorporated in the lower half of the kite's tail will be found to be effective cutters.
Boys participating in this war of kites should always bear in mind the fact that it requires but little skill to cut an unarmed kite, and that there is no honor or glory to be gained in vanquishing a foe who is unable to defend himself.
There are many other attachments, improvements, and amusing appliances that suggest themselves to an enthusiastic kite-flyer.