"A swing board," you say, "that's easy. Who doesn't know how to make a swing board?" Of course it is easy, and because it is so it is a good example to show that even in the making of the simplest things there is a right way and a wrong way. The usual way is to cut a V-shaped nick in each end, and, every time any one jumps off, the board falls into the trampled dust below. Here is the right way:

Get a board about six inches wide and as long as the ropes are apart at the top of the swing. Square off the ends with the saw and then draw some one-inch squares as shown in the drawing.

Next take the compasses and draw the circles for the rope and the curve at each corner, placing the point of the compasses exactly on the points marked with the black dots in the drawing. Bore the two holes for the rope and saw out the tapering piece at each end so that the rope can just be forced into the holes. Round off the corners, sandpaper the edges and you will have a board that will not catch and tear or fall off.