The Boy Mechanic Part 10

Each long projection represents a leg, which is bent at right angles on the center line by placing the metal in the jaws of a vise and hammering the metal over flat. If just the rim is gripped in the vise, it will give a rounding form to the lower part of the legs. The small projections are bent in to form a support for the bottom.

The bottom consists of a square piece of metal, as shown in Fig.

2. Holes are drilled near the edges for stove bolts to fasten it to the bottom projections. Two of the larger holes are used for the ends of the coiled rod and the other two for the heating-wire terminals. The latter holes should be well insulated with porcelain or mica. The top consists of a square piece of metal drilled as shown in Fig. 3. Four small ears are turned down to hold the top in place.

One end of the coiled rod is shown in Fig. 4. This ill.u.s.trates how two pins are inserted in holes, drilled at right angles, to hold the coil on the bottom plate. The coiled rod is 3/16 in.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pattern for Parts of the Electric Stove]

in diameter and 27 in. long. The rod is wrapped with sheet asbestos, cut in 1/2-in. strips.

The length of the heating wire must be determined by a test. This wire can be purchased from electrical stores. Stovepipe wire will answer the purpose when regular heating wire cannot be obtained.

The wire is coiled around the asbestos-covered rod, so that no coil will be in contact with another coil. If, by trial, the coil does not heat sufficiently, cut some of it off and try again.

About 9-1/2 ft. of No. 26 gauge heating wire will be about right.

The connection to an electric-lamp socket is made with ordinary flexible cord, to which is attached a screw plug for making connections.

** Gla.s.s-Cleaning Solution [31]

Gla.s.s tumblers, tubing and fancy bottles are hard to clean by washing them in the ordinary way, as the parts are hard to reach with the fingers or a brush. The following solution makes an excellent cleaner that will remove dirt and grease from crevices and sharp corners. To 9 parts of water add 1 part of strong sulphuric acid. The acid should be added to the water slowly and not the water to the acid. Add as much bichromate of potash as the solution will dissolve. More bichromate of potash should be added as the precipitate is used in cleaning.

The chemicals can be purchased cheaply from a local drug store, and made up and kept in large bottles. The solution can be used over and over again. -- Contributed by Loren Ward Des Moines, Iowa.

** Automatic-Closing Kennel Door [32]

When the neighborhood cats are retired for the night and there is nothing more to chase, my fox terrier seems to realize that his usefulness

[Ill.u.s.tration: Diagram of Closing Door]

for the day is over and begs to be put in his kennel that he may not bark at the moon as some dogs are apt to do. This necessitates my putting him out at a time when it may not be convenient.

Frequently in stormy weather this is a disagreeable duty and I found a way to obviate it by making a trapdoor device for his kennel as shown in the sketch whereby he may lock himself in when he crosses the threshold.

The outer half A of the hinged trapdoor is made heavier than the inner half B by a cleat, C, and a strip, D, to cause the door to swing shut. The tripper stick E is set between cleats C and F to hold the door open. When the dog steps on the inner half of the trapdoor B, it falls to stop G, releasing tripper stick E (which is heavier on the top end H) to cause it to fall clear of the path of the trapdoor. The door then swings shut in the direction of the arrow, the latch I engaging a slot in the door as it closes, and the dog has locked himself in for the night. The latch I is made of an old-fashioned gate latch which is mortised in the bottom joist of the kennel. When releasing the dog in the morning the door is set for the evening.

--Contributed by Victor Labadie, Dallas, Texas.

** Polishing Cloths for Silver [32]

Mix 2 lb. of whiting and 1/2 oz. of oleic acid with 1 gal. of gasoline. Stir and mix thoroughly. Soak pieces of gray outing flannel of the desired size--15 by 12 in. is a good size--in this compound. Wring the surplus fluid out and hang them up to dry, being careful to keep them away from the fire or an open flame.

These cloths will speedily clean silver or plated ware and will not soil the hands.

In cleaning silver, it is best to wash it first in hot water and white soap and then use the polishing cloths. The cloths can be used until they are worn to shreds. Do not wash them. Knives, forks, spoons and other small pieces of silver will keep bright and free from tarnish if they are slipped into cases made from the gray outing flannel and treated with the compound.

Separate bags for such pieces as the teapot, coffee pot, hot-water pot, cake basket and other large pieces of silverware will keep them bright and shining.

--Contributed by Katharine D. Morse, Syracuse, N. Y.

** A Book-Holder [32]

Books having a flexible back are difficult to hold in an upright position when copying from them. A makeshift combination of paperweights and other books is often used, but with unsatisfactory results.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig 2. Box Corner Makes a Book Holder]

The book-holder shown in the sketch will hold such books securely, allow the pages to be turned easily and conceal the smallest possible portion of each page.

The holder can be cut out of a box corner and fitted with two screw eyes, which have the part shown by the dotted lines at A (Fig. 1) removed. The length of the back board determines the slope for the book rest.

--Contributed by James M. Kane, Doylestown, Pa.

** Clamping a Cork [33]

It is aggravating to continually break the cork of the stock mucilage bottle because of its sticking to the neck of the bottle after a supply has been poured out. If a stove bolt is inserted lengthwise through the cork with a washer on each end and the nut screwed up tightly, as shown in the sketch, the cork may be made to last longer than the supply of mucilage and can be placed in a new bottle and used over and over again.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cork Clamp]

** Withdrawing Paper from under an Inverted Bottle [33]

Invert a bottle on a piece of paper near the edge of a table top and ask anyone to remove the paper without overturning the bottle.

They will at once jerk the paper with the result that the bottle will turn over. To remove the paper just strike the table top with your right fist while pulling the paper slowly with your left hand. As you strike the table the bottle will jump and release the paper.

--Contributed by Maurice Baudier, New Orleans, La.

** Emergency Tire Repair [33]

A bone collar b.u.t.ton makes a good subst.i.tute for a plug in repairing a puncture in a single-tube bicycle tire.

** Broom Holder Made of a Hinge [33]

The broom holder shown in the sketch is made of an ordinary hinge with one wing screwed to the wall. The loose wing has a large hole drilled in it to receive the handle of the broom. The manner of holding the broom is plainly shown in the sketch.

--Contributed by Theodore L. Fisher; Waverly, Ill.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Broom Holder]

** Making Proofs before the Negative Dries [33]

A correspondent of Camera Craft makes proofs from his developed, but unfixed, negatives, by squeezing a sheet of wet bromide paper into contact with the wet film and giving an exposure several times longer than would be required under ordinary conditions, using the paper dry. If the developer is well rinsed out of the film, the exposure to artificial light necessary to make a print will have no injurious effect upon the negative, which is, of course, later fixed and washed as usual.