First we built the towers to support the wheel.  One tower was 16 feet high and the other only 10 feet.  The large tower was made something like a very tall and narrow saw-horse.  Two stout poles 17 feet long were flattened at their upper ends and nailed together, with the ends projecting about a foot, as shown in Fig. 251.  At the bottom these poles were spaced 8 feet apart by a cross bar, and about 9-1/2 feet from the bottom a pair of boards were nailed to opposite sides of the pole to serve as supports for the axle of the water wheel.  Another pair of 17-foot poles was now similarly fastened together and then the two pairs were spaced about 12 feet apart and connected at the top and bottom with boards.  At the top two smooth boards were used and these were nailed to the inner sides of the projecting ends, which were tapered off.  In this manner a V-shaped trough was formed.  The boards were firmly nailed together at their meeting edges so as to prevent them from warping apart.  A diagonal brace at each corner made the wedge-shaped tower very substantial.  A number of cleats nailed to one of the poles provided a ladder by which we could mount to the top of the tower.  The shorter tower was a three-legged affair, made of three 12-foot poles.  At first two of these were flattened and nailed together at their upper ends, and they were braced at the top and bottom.  The third leg was then nailed in place and braced by cross bars connecting it with the other two poles.

[Illustration:  Fig. 252.  The Large Tower.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 253.  V Shaped Trough.]

The Wheel.

We were now ready to make the wheel.  From Lumberville four 1/2-inch boards, each 3 inches wide and 15 feet long, were procured; also a bar of iron 3/4 of an inch in diameter and 2 feet long.  At the center of one of the boards a block of wood 4 inches long and 4 inches in diameter was nailed on for a hub.  A 3/4-inch hole was now drilled through this hub and the board.  Holes were also drilled into the other boards at their centers.  Then they were all strung onto the bar and spaced like spokes at equal angles apart.  Bill had figured it out some way that the ends of the boards should be just about 5 feet 10-1/2 inches apart.  When the boards were all arranged we nailed them together at the center, and connected the ends with narrow tie boards, as indicated in Fig. 256.

[Illustration:  Fig. 254.  The Small Tower.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 255.  The Hub.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 256.  The Water Wheel. ]

The Buckets.

Eight large tomato cans were now procured and fastened to the spokes at the ends on the inner side, that is, the side the hub was nailed to.  We couldn’t very well nail on the cans, so we punched two holes in the side of each can and then secured them to the spokes by passing bolts through these holes and the boards.

The Paddles.

Then we cut sixteen paddles of the form shown in Fig. 257.  Eight of these were 12 inches long, and the rest measured 18 inches.  A slot 3 inches deep was cut in each paddle of just the right width to slip over the tie boards.  The shorter paddles were fastened on just back of the spokes, and the rest were secured half-way between each spoke.  The paddles were braced by stretching a wire from one to another all the way around the wheel.