How to construct wireless outfits, boats, camp equipment, aerial. gliders, kites, self-propelled vehicles engines, motors, electrical apparatus, cameras and hundreds of other things which delight every boy. With 800 illustrations.
A Model Steam Engine- The accompanying sketch illustrates a two-cylinder single-acting, poppet valve steam engine of home construction. The entire engine, excepting the flywheel, shaft, valve cams, pistons and bracing rod...
- Magic Spirit Hand
- The magic hand made of wax is given to the audience for examination, also a board which is suspended by four pieces of common picture-frame wire. The hand is placed upon the board and answers, by rapp...
- Making Skis And Toboggans
- During the winter months everyone is thinking of skating, coasting or ski running and jumping. Those too timid to run down a hill standing upright on skis must take their pleasure in coasting or sk...
- Homemade Life Preserver
- Procure an inner tube of a bicycle tire, the closed-end kind, and fold it in four alternate sections, as shown in Fig. 1. Cut or tear a piece of cloth into strips about 1/2 in. wide, and knot them tog...
- How To Make Boomerangs
- When the ice is too thin for skating and the snow is not right for skis, about the only thing to do is to stay in the house. A boomerang club will help to fill in between and also furnishes good exerc...
- How To Make An Eskimo Snow House
- By GEORGE E. WALSH Playing in the snow can be raised to a fine art if boys and girls will build their creations with some attempt at architectural skill and not content themselves with mere rough wo...
- Secret Door Lock
- The sketch shows the construction of a lock I have on a door which is quite a mystery to those who do not know how it operates. It also keeps them out. The parts of the lock on the inside of the door ...
- A Convenient Hot-Dish Holder
- When taking hot dishes from the stove, it is very convenient to have holders handy for use. For this purpose I screwed two screw eyes into the ceiling, one in front of the stove directly above the pla...
- Magic-Box Escape
- The things required to make this trick are a heavy packing box with cover, one pair of special hinges, one or two hasps for as many padlocks and a small buttonhook, says the Sphinx. The hinges must b...
- A Flour Sifter
- When sifting flour in an ordinary sieve I hasten the process and avoid the disagreeable necessity of keeping my hands in the flour by taking the top from a small tin lard can and placing it on top of ...
- A Funnel
- An automobile horn with the bulb and reed detached makes a good funnel. It must be thoroughly cleaned and dried after using as a funnel. ...
- How To Make Comer Pieces For A Blotter Pad
- To protect the corners of blotting pads such as will be found on almost every writing desk, proceed as follows: First, make a design of a size proportionate to the size of the pad and make a right-an...
- Boring Holes In Cork
- The following hints will be found useful when boring holes in cork. In boring through rubber corks, a little household ammonia applied to the bit enables one to make a much smoother hole and one that ...
- Self-Lighting Arc Searchlight
- A practical and easily constructed self-lighting arc searchlight can be made in the following manner: Procure a large can, about 6 in. in diameter, and cut three holes in its side about 2 in. from the...
- A Traveler's Shaving Mug
- Take an ordinary collapsible drinking cup and place a cake of shaving soap in the bottom ring. This will provide a shaving mug always ready for the traveler and one that will occupy very little space ...
- Homemade Snowshoes
- Secure four light barrel staves and sandpaper the outside smooth. Take two old shoes that are extra large and cut off the tops and heels so as to leave only the toe covering fastened to the sole. Purc...
- Fish Signal For Fishing Through Ice
- Watching a fish line set in a hole cut in the ice on a cold day is very disagreeable, and the usual method is to have some kind of a device to signal the fisherman when a fish is hooked. The tip ups...
- Homemade Floor Polisher
- A floor polisher is something that one does not use but two or three times a year. Manufactured polishers come in two sizes, one weighing 15 lb., which is the right weight for family use, and one weig...
- Tying Paper Bag To Make A Carrying Handle
- In tying the ordinary paper bag, the string can be placed in the paper in such a way that it will form a handle to carry the package, and also prevent any leakage of the contents. The bag must be long...
- Equilibrator For Model Aeroplanes
- On one of my model aeroplanes I placed an equilibrator to keep it balanced. The device was attached to a crosspiece fastened just below the propeller between the main frame uprights. A stick was made ...
- Repairing Christmas-Tree Decorations
- Small glass ornaments for Christmas tree decorations are very easily broken on the line shown in the sketch. These can be easily repaired by inserting in the neck a piece of match, toothpick or splint...
- Homemade Scroll Saw
- A scroll saw, if once used, becomes indispensable in any home carpenter chest, yet it is safe to say that not one in ten contains it. A scroll saw is much more useful than a keyhole saw for sawing sma...
- How To Make A Watch Fob
- The fixtures for the watch fob shown --half size-- may be made of either brass, copper, or silver. Silver is the most desirable but, of course, the most expensive. The buckle is to be purchased. The c...
- An Austrian Top
- All parts of the top are of wood and they are simple to make. The handle is a piece of pine, 5-1/4 in. long, 1-1/4 in. wide and 3/4 in. thick. A handle, 3/4 in. in diameter, is formed on one end, allo...
- Pockets For Spools Of Thread
- A The being needle. to be detachable pocket for holding thread when sewing is shown herewith. dimensions may be varied to admit any number or size of spools. Each pocket is made to take a certain size...
- Cleaning Leather On Furniture
- Beat up the whites of three eggs carefully and use a piece of flannel to rub it well into the leather which will become clean and lustrous. For black leathers, some lampblack may be added and the mixt...
- A Baking Pan
- When making cookies, tarts or similar pastry, the housewife often wishes for something by which to lift the baked articles from the pan. The baking tray or pan shown in the sketch not only protects th...
- A Broom Holder
- Broom Holder A very simple and effective device for holding a broom when it is not in use is shown in the sketch. It is made of heavy wire and fastened to the wall with two screw eyes, the eyes formi...
- Stringing Wires
- A string for drawing electric wires into bent fixtures can be easily inserted by rolling it into a small ball and blowing it through while holding one end. ...
- A Darkroom Lantern
- Procure an ordinary 2-qt. glass fruit jar, break out the porcelain lining in the cover and cut a hole through the metal, just large enough to fit over the socket of an incandescent electric globe, the...
- Preventing Vegetables From Burning In A Pot
- Many housekeepers do not know that there is a simple way to prevent potatoes from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot. An inverted pie pan placed in the bottom of the pot avoids scorching po...
- A Clothes Rack
- A clothes-drying rack that has many good features can be made as shown in the illustration. When the rack is closed it will fit into a very small space and one or more wings can be used at a time as t...
- Homemade Shower Bath
- A Shower Bath That Costs Less Than One Dollar to Make While in the country during vacation time, I missed my daily bath and devised a shower bath that gave complete satisfaction. The back porch wa...
- How To Make Small Sprocket Wheels
- As I needed several small sprocket wheels and had none on hand, I made them quickly without other expense than the time required, from scrap material. Several old hubs with the proper size bore were s...
- Pot-Cover Closet
- The sides of the cover closet are cut as shown in Fig. 1 and shelves are nailed between them at a slight angle. No dimensions are given as the space and the sizes of the covers are not always the sam...
- Aid In Mixing Salad Dressing
- Some cooks find it a very difficult matter to prepare salad dressing, principally mayonnaise dressing, as the constant stirring and pouring of oil and liquids are required in the operation. The simple...
- Saving Overexposed Developing Prints
- In using developing papers, either for contact printing or enlargements, you are, by all rules of the game, entitled to a certain number of overexposed prints, says a correspondent of Camera Craft. Bu...
- An Ironing-Board Stand
- An ordinary ironing board is cut square on the large end and a slot cut 1-1/2 in. wide and 4 in. long to admit the angle support. The support is placed against the table and the board is pressed down ...
- A Desk Blotting Pad
- Procure four sheets of blotting paper, preferably the colored kind, as it will appear clean much longer than the white. The size of the pad depends on the size of the blotting paper. Fold four pieces...
- Sleeve Holders For Lavatories
- A very handy article is an attachment on wash basins or lavatories for holding the sleeves back while washing the hands. It is very annoying to have the sleeves continually slip down and become wet or...
- Removing Tarnish
- A pencil eraser will remove the tarnish from nickel plate, and the ink eraser will remove the rust from drawing instruments. ...
- How To Make A Brass Bookmark
- Secure a piece of brass of No. 20 gauge, having a width of 2-1/4 in. and a length of 5 in. Make a design similar to that shown, the head of which is 2 in. wide, the shaft 1 in. wide below the head and...
- Cheesebox-Cover Tea Tray
- The cover from a cheesebox can be converted into a tea tray that is very dainty for the piazza, or for serving an invalid's breakfast. First sandpaper the wood until it is smooth, then stain it a mah...
- Piercing-Punch For Brass
- Drill a 1/2-in. hole through a block of pine or other soft wood 2 in. thick. Tack over one end of the hole a piece of pasteboard in which seven coarse sewing-machine needles have been inserted. The ne...
- Kitchen Chopping Board
- Cooks can slice, chop or mince vegetables and various other food rapidly by placing the little device, as shown, on a chopping board. Ii is an ordinary staple, driven in just far enough to allow a spa...
- Carrying Mattresses
- Sew straps to the sides of mattresses and they can be handled much easier. ...
- A Carpenter's Gauge
- The home workshop can be supplied with a carpenter's gauge without any expense' by the use of a large spool and a round stick of wood. The stick should be dressed to fit the hole in the spool snugly a...
- A Flatiron Rest
- The iron rest and wall hanger shown in the sketch is made of sheet iron. The upturned edges of the metal are bent to fit the sloping sides of the iron. The holder and iron can be moved at the same tim...
- Use For Paper Bags
- When groceries are delivered, save the paper bags and use them for staring bread and cakes. Tie the neck of the bag with a string and it will keep the contents fresh and clean. --Contributed by Mrs. L...
- Use Chalk On Files
- If a little chalk is rubbed on a file before filing steel, it will keep the chips from sticking in the cuts on the file and scratching the work. ...
- A Homemade Steam Turbine
- By William H. Warnecke Procure some brass, about 3/16 in. thick and 4 in. square; 53 steel pens, not over 1/4 in. in width at the shank; two enameled, or tin, saucers or pans, having a diameter on t...
- Homemade Telegraph Key
- A simple and easily constructed telegraph key may be made in the following manner: Procure a piece of sheet brass, about 1/32 in. thick, and cut out a strip 3-1/2 in. long by 3/4 in. wide. Bend as sho...
- Keeping Food Cool In Camps
- Camps and suburban homes located where ice is hard to get can be provided with a cooling arrangement herein described that will make a good substitute for the icebox. A barrel is sunk in the ground in...
- Homemade Work Basket
- Secure a cheese box about 12 in. high and 15 in. or more in diameter. It will pay you to be careful in selecting this box. Be sure to have the cover. Score the wood deeply with a carpenter's gauge ins...
- A Window Display
- A novel and attractive aeroplane window display can be easily made in the following manner: Each aeroplane is cut from folded paper, as shown in the sketch, and the wings bent out on the dotted lines....
- How To Make A Flint Arrowhead
- If you live where flints abound, possess the requisite patience and the knack of making things, you can, with the crudest of tools and a little practice, chip out as good arrowheads as any painted sav...
- An Opening Handle For A Stamp Pad
- A stamp pad is a desk necessity and the cleanliness of one depends on keeping it closed when it is not in use. The opening and closing of a pad requires both hands and consequently the closing of a pa...
- Concrete Kennel
- The kennel shown in the illustration is large enough for the usual size of dog. It is cleanly, healthful and more ornamental than the average kennel. Finished Kennel This mission style would be ...
- Nutshell Photograph Novelty
- Split an English walnut in the center, remove the contents, and scrape out the rough parts. Make an oval opening by filing or grinding. If a file is used, it should be new and sharp. Ill: Photogra...
- Spoon Holder On A Kettle
- In making marmalade and jellies the ingredients must be stirred from time to time as the cooking proceeds. After stirring, some of the mixture always remains on the spoon. Cooks often lay the spoon on...
- Repairing Cracked Gramophone Records
- Some time ago I received two gramophone records that were cracked in shipment but the parts were held together with the paper label. As these were single-faced disk records, I used the following metho...
- New Use For A Vacuum Cleaner
- An amateur mechanic who had been much annoyed by the insects which were attracted to his electric lights found a solution in the pneumatic moth trap described in a recent issue of Popular Mechanics. H...
- Filtering With A Small Funnel
- In filtering a large amount of solution one usually desires some means other than a large funnel and something to make the watching of the process unnecessary. If a considerable quantity of a solution...
- A Postcard Rack
- . The illustration shows a rack for postcards. Those having houses with mission-style furniture can make such a rack of the same material as the desk, table or room furnishings and finish it in the s...
- Substitute Shoe Horn
- A good substitute for a shoe horn is a handkerchief or any piece cloth used in the following way: Allow part of the handkerchief or cloth to enter the shoe, place the toe of the foot in the shoe so as...
- Building A Small Photographic Dark Room
- In building a photographic dark room, it is necessary to make it perfectly light-tight, the best material to use being matched boards. These boards are tongued and grooved and when put together effect...
- The Versatile Querl
- Querl is the German name for a kitchen utensil which may be used as an egg-beater, potato-masher or a lemon-squeezer. For beating up an egg in a glass, mixing flour and water, or stirring cocoa or c...
- An Emergency Soldering Tool
- Occasionally one finds a piece of soldering to do which is impossible to reach with even the smallest of the ordinary soldering irons or coppers. If a length of copper wire as large as the job will pe...
- Smoothing Paper After Erasing
- When an ink line is erased the roughened surface of the paper should be smoothed or polished so as to prevent the succeeding lines of ink from spreading. A convenient desk accessory for this purpose c...
- A Cherry Seeder
- An ordinary hairpin is driven part way into a small round piece of wood, about 3/8 in. in diameter and 2 or 2-1/2 in. long, for a handle, as shown in the sketch. The hairpin should be a very small siz...
- A Dovetail Joint
- The illustration shows an unusual dovetail joint, which, when put together properly is a puzzle. The tenon or tongue of the joint is sloping on three surfaces and the mortise is cut sloping to match. ...
- Base For Round-End Bottles
- Base Made-of Corks The many forms of round-bottomed glass bottles used in chemical laboratories require some special kind of support on which they can be safely placed from time to time when the c...
- Rustic Window Boxes
- Instead of using an ordinary green-painted window box, why not make an artistic one in which the color does not clash with the plants contained in it but rather harmonizes with them. Such a window bo...
- Antidote For Squirrel Pest
- To the owner of a garden in a town where squirrels are protected by law, life in the summer time is a vexation. First the squirrels dig up the sweet corn and two or three replantings are necessary. Wh...
- Homemade Electric Stove
- By J. F. THOLL The construction of an electric stove is very simple, and it can be made by any home mechanic having a vise and hand drill. The body is made of sheet or galvanized iron, cut out and d...
- Glass-Cleaning Solution
- Glass 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 cl...
- Automatic-Closing Kennel Door
- 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 for the day is over and begs to be put in his kennel that h...
- Polishing Cloths For Silver
- 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. ...
- A Book-Holder
- 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...
- Clamping A Cork
- 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 lengthwis...
- Withdrawing Paper From Under An Inverted Bottle
- 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 wil...
- Emergency Tire Repair
- A bone collar button makes a good substitute for a plug in repairing a puncture in a single-tube bicycle tire. ...
- Broom Holder Made Of A Hinge
- 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 hol...
- Making Proofs Before The Negative Dries
- . 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...
- Flower-Pot Stand
- A very useful stand for flower pots can be made of a piece of board supported by four clothes hooks. The top may be of any size suitable for the flower pot. The hooks which serve as legs are fastened ...
- A Line Harmonograph
- As an apparatus capable of exciting interest, probably nothing so easily constructed surpasses the harmonograph. Your attention will be completely absorbed in the ever changing, graceful sweep of t...
- Cutting Circular Holes In Thin Sheet Metal
- In arts and crafts work, occasion often arises to cut a perfectly circular hole in sheet copper or brass. To saw and file it out takes time and skill. Holes up to 3 in. in diameter can be cut quickly ...
- Key Card For Writing Unreadable Post Cards
- A key card for use in correspondence on postals that makes the matter unreadable unless the recipient has a duplicate key card is made as follows: Rule two cards the size of postal, one for the sender...
- Homemade Carpenter's Vise
- The sketch shows an easily made, quick-working wood vise that has proved very satisfactory. The usual screw is replaced by an open bar held on one end by a wedge-shaped block, and the excess taken up ...
- Toning Blue On Bromide And Platinum
- After some experimenting to secure a blue tone on bromide prints, a correspondent of the Photographic Times produced a very pleasing bluish green tint by immersing the prints in a solution composed of...
- Cutting Loaf Bread
- When cutting a loaf of bread do not slice it from the outer crusted end. Cut through the center, then cut slices from the center toward the ends. The two cut surfaces can be placed together, thus excl...
- How To Make An Electric Toaster
- The electric toaster shown in the sketch is not hard to make. The framework comprising the base and the two uprights may be made either of hardwood or asbestos board, says Popular Electricity. If cons...
- Cabinet For The Amateur's Workshop
- One of the most convenient adjuncts to an amateur's workbench is a cabinet of some sort in which to keep nails, rivets, screws, etc., instead of leaving them scattered all about the bench. A very easi...
- Uncurling Photographs
- Photograph prints can be kept from curling when dry, by giving them the same treatment as was once used on films. Immerse for 5 minutes in a bath made by adding 14 oz. of glycerine to 16 oz. of water...
- Soldering For The Amateur
- Successful soldering will present no serious difficulties to anyone who will follow a few simple directions. Certain metals are easier to join with solder than others and some cannot be soldered at al...
- Washboard Holder
- When using a washboard it will continually slip down in the tub. This is considerable annoyance, especially if a large tub is used. The washboard can be kept in place with small metal hooks, as shown ...
- A Mission Bracket Shelf
- The shelf consists of six pieces of wood A, B, C, D, E and F. The material can be of any wood. I have one made of mahogany finished in natural color, and one made of poplar finished black. The dimensi...
- How To Make A Finger Ring
- While the wearing of copper rings for rheumatism may be a foolish notion, yet there is a certain galvanic action set up by the contact of the acid in the system of the afflicted person with the metal ...
- How To Bind Magazines
- A great many readers of Popular Mechanics Magazine save their copies and have them bound in book form and some keep them without binding. The bound volumes make an attractive library and will always b...
- Metal Coverings For Leather Hinges
- A method of making a leather hinge work as well as an ordinary steel butt is to cover the wings with sheet metal. The metal can be fastened with nails or screws over the parts of the leather attached ...
- Removing Plaster From Skin
- A hot-water bottle held against a porous plaster will assist in quickly removing it from the skin. ...
- How To Make A Cheap Bracket Saw
- For the frame use 3/8-in. round iron, bending it as shown in the diagram and filing a knob on each end, at opposite sides to each other, on which to hook the blade. For the blade an old talking-machin...
- How To Make A Cannon
- A cannon like the one in the cut may be made from a piece of 1-in. hydraulic pipe, A, with a steel sleeve, B, and a long thread plug, C. Be sure to get hydraulic pipe, or double extra heavy, as it is ...
- Controller For A Small Motor
- An easy way of making a controlling and reversing device for small motors is as follows: Cut a piece of wood (A) about 6 in. by 4-1/2 in., and 1/4 in. thick, and another piece (B) 6 in. by 1 in., and...
- How To Make A Simple Water Rheostat
- Wiring Plan for Water Rheostat The materials necessary are: One 5-point wood-base switch, 4 jars, some sheet copper or brass for plates, about 5 ft. of rubber-covered wire, and some No. 18 gauge w...
- How To Build A Toboggan Sled
- By A. BOETTE The first object of the builder of a sled should be to have a winner both in speed and appearance. The accompanying instructions for building a sled are designed to produce these resu...
- How To Make Small Gearwheels Without A Lathe
- To make small models sundry small gears and racks are required, either cut for the place or by using the parts from an old clock. With no other tools than a hacksaw, some files, a compass, and with th...
- How To Make Four Pictures On One Plate
- Secure two extra slides for the plate holders and cut one corner out on one of them, as shown in Fig. 1. Make a hole in the other, as shown in Fig. 2. With a lead pencil draw on the ground glass one l...
- Electric Blue-Light Experiment
- Take a jump-spark coil and connect it up with a battery and start the vibrator. Then take one outlet wire, R, and connect to one side of a 2-cp. electric lamp, and the other outlet wire, B, hold in...
- Interesting Electrical Experiment
- The materials necessary for performing this experiment are: Telephone receiver, transmitter, some wire and some carbons, either the pencils for arc lamps, or ones taken from old dry batteries will do....
- A Cheap Fire Alarm
- An electrical device for the barn that will give an alarm in case of fire is shown in the accompanying diagram. A is a wooden block, which is fastened under the loft at a gable end of the barn; B is a...
- How To Make A Small Electric Furnace
- Take a block of wood and shape into a core. One like a loaf of bread, and about that size, serves admirably. Wrap a layer of asbestos around it and cover this with a thin layer of plaster-of-paris. Wh...
- How To Make An Ammeter
- Every amateur mechanic who performs electrical experiments will find use for an ammeter, and for the benefit of those who wish to construct such an instrument the following description is given: The o...
- How To Make An Ammeter #2
- The outside case of this instrument is made of wood taken from old cigar boxes with the exception of the back. If carefully and neatly made, the finished instrument will be very satisfactory. The meas...
- How To Make A Three-Way Cock For Small Model-Work
- In making models of machines it is often necessary to contrive some method for a 3- or 4-way valve or cock. To make one, secure a pet cock and drill and tap hole through, as shown in the cut. If fo...
- Easy Experiments With Electric-Light Circuit
- An electric-light circuit will be found much less expensive than batteries for performing electrical experiments. The sketch shows how a small arc light and motor may be connected to the light socket,...
- How To Make An Interrupter
- The Wenult interrupter is an instrument much used on large coils and is far more efficient than the usual form of vibrators. It can also be used with success on small coils as well as large. Although ...
- A Miniature "Pepper's Ghost" Illusion
- Probably many readers have seen a Pepper's Ghost illusion at some amusement place. As there shown, the audience is generally seated in a dark room at the end of which there is a stage with black han...
- Experiment With Colored Electric Lamps
- To many the following experiment may be much more easily performed than explained: Place the hand or other object in the light coming from two incandescent lamps, one red and one white, placed about a...
- To Explode Powder With Electricity
- A 1-in. hole was bored in the center of a 2-in. square block. Two finishing nails were driven in, as shown in the sketch. These were connected to terminals of an induction coil. After everything was r...
- Simple Wireless System
- The illustrations will make plain a simple and inexpensive apparatus for wireless telegraphy by which I have had no difficulty in sending messages across 1-1/2 miles of water surface. It is so simple ...
- Stop Crawling Water Colors
- To prevent water colors from crawling, add a few drops of ammonia or lime water, or a solution of sal soda. ...
- Small Electrical Hydrogen Generator
- A small hydrogen generator may be made from a fruit jar, A (see sketch), with two tubes, B and C, soldered in the top. The plates E can be made of tin or galvanized iron, and should be separated about...
- Gasoline Burner For Model Work
- When making a small model traction engine or a locomotive the question arises, What shall the fuel be? If you have decided to use gasoline, then a suitable burner is necessary. A piece of brass tubi...
- A Homemade Telephone Receiver
- A telephone receiver that will do good work may be built very cheaply as follows: For the case use an ordinary 1/2-lb. baking-powder box with a piece of heavy wire soldered on the inside, 1-5/16 in. f...
- How To Bind Magazines #2
- An easy way to bind Popular Mechanics in volumes of six months each is to arrange the magazines in order and tie them securely both ways with a strong cord. It is well to put two or three sheets of to...
- A Homemade Acetylene-Gas Generator
- A simple acetylene-gas generator used by myself for several years when out on camping trips was made of a galvanized iron tank, without a head, 18 in. in diameter and 30 in. deep, B, as shown in the s...
- Homemade Annunciator
- When one electric bell is operated from two push-buttons it is impossible to tell which of the two push-buttons is being operated unless an annunciator or similar device is used. A very simple annunci...
- How To Make A Box Kite
- As some of the readers of Amateur Mechanics may desire to build a box kite, a simple method of constructing one of the modern type is given in detail as follows: The sticks should be made of straight ...
- Lubricating A Camera Shutter
- An experienced photographer uses blacklead [graphite] for grooves about a camera or holder. A small quantity is rubbed well into the grooves and on the edges of shutters, that refuse to slide easily, ...
- Simple Open-Circuit Telegraph Line
- By using the circuit shown in the sketch for short-distance telegraph lines, the extra switches and wiring found in many circuits are done away with. Closing either key will operate both sounders, and...
- How To Make A Thermo Battery
- A thermo battery, for producing electricity direct from heat, can be made of a wooden frame, A, with a number of nails, B, driven in the vertical piece and connected in series with heavy copper wires,...
- How To Discharge A Toy Cannon By Electricity
- A device for discharging a toy cannon by electricity can be easily made by using three or four dry batteries, a switch and a small induction coil capable of giving a 1/8-in. spark. Fasten a piece of w...
- Simple Electric Lock
- The illustration shows an automatic lock operated by electricity, requiring a strong magnet, but no weights or strings, which greatly simplifies the device over many others of the kind. Lock Oper...
- Direct-Connected Reverse For Small Motors
- A simple reverse for small motors can be attached directly to the motor as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows the construction of the reverse block: A is a strip of walnut 5/8 in. square and 3/8 in. thick ...
- A Handy Ice Chisel
- Fishing through the ice is great sport, but cutting the first holes preparatory to setting the lines is not always an easy task. The ice chisel here described will be found very handy, and may be made...
- More Uses For Pipe Fittings
- It would seem that the number of useful articles that can be made from pipes and fittings is unlimited. The sketch shows two more that may be added to the list. A and B are front and side views of a l...
- Sealing-Wax Bent While Cold
- If a piece of sealing-wax is supported in a horizontal position by one end, as shown at A in the sketch, it will gradually bend to the shape indicated by the dotted lines B. To attempt bending it with...
- Homemade Pottery Kiln
- A small kiln for baking clay figures may be built at a cost of $1. The following shows the general plan of such a kiln which has stood the test of 200 firings, and which is good for any work requiring...
- How To Make A Small Medical Induction Coil
- The coil to be described is 3-1/2 in., full length of iron core, and 3/4 in. in diameter. Procure a bundle of small iron wire, say 1/4 in. in diameter, and cut it 3-1/2 in. long; bind neatly with coa...
- Mechanical Trick With Cards
- The following mechanical card trick is easy to prepare and simple to perform: First, procure a new deck, and divide it into two piles, one containing the red cards and the other the black ones, all c...
- How To Make A Rain Gauge
- An accurate rain gauge may be easily constructed from galvanized iron, as shown in the sketch herewith. The funnel, A, overlaps and rests on the body, B, and discharges into the tube, C, the area of w...
- How To Make An Aquarium
- In making an aquarium, the first thing to decide on is the size. It is well not to attempt building a very large one, as the difficulties increase with the size. A good size is 12 by 12 by 20 in., and...
- Homemade Pneumatic Lock
- Mount an old bicycle hand-pump, A, on the door by means of a metal plate, B, having a swinging connection at C. Fasten the lever, D, to the door knob, and make a hinge connection with the pump by mean...
- A Homemade Water Motor
- By MRS. PAUL S. WINTER In these days of modern improvements, most houses are equipped with a washing machine, and the question that arises in the mind of the householder is how to furnish the power ...
- How To Make Silhouettes
- Photography in all branches is truly a most absorbing occupation. Each of us who has a camera is constantly experimenting, and everyone of us is delighted when something new is suggested for such expe...
- How To Make A Galvanoscope
- A galvanoscope for detecting small currents of electricity can be made from a coil of wire, A; a glass tube, B, full of water; a core, C; and a base, D, with binding posts as shown. The core C, which ...
- Lubricating Sheet Metal
- To lubricate sheet metal mix 1 qt. whale oil, 1 lb. white lead, 1 pt. water and 3 oz. finest graphite. Apply with a brush before the metal enters the dies. ...
- An Optical Top
- One of the latest optical delusions, and one not easy to explain, is Benham's color top. Cut out the black and white disk shown in the figure, and paste on a piece of stiff cardboard. Trim the edges o...
- Card Trick With A Tapered Deck
- Another simple trick to perform but one not easily detected, is executed by using a tapered deck of cards as shown in Fig. 1. A cheap deck of cards is evened up square, fastened in a vise and planed a...
- A Constant-Pressure Hydrogen Generator
- By fitting three bottles, A, B, C, with rubber stoppers and connecting with glass tubes as shown in the sketch, hydrogen or other gases produced in a similar manner may be generated under constant pre...
- Restoring Tone To A Cracked Bell
- Many a bell with a deadened tone due to a cracked rim, can be given its original clear ringing sound by sawing out the crack with a common hacksaw. Make the saw cut along the line of the crack. The op...
- How To Make A Paper Phonograph Horn
- Secure a piece of tubing about 1-3/4 in. long that will fit the connection to the reproducer, and wrap a quantity of heavy thread around one end as shown in the enlarged sketch A, Fig. 1. Form a cone ...
- How To Make A Hygrometer
- A homemade hygrometer, for determining the degree of moisture in the atmosphere, is shown in the accompanying sketch and consists of a board, A, with a nail at each end to hold the silk thread B. A se...
- The Protection Of A Spring Lock
- After shutting the front door and hearing the spring lock snap into its socket, most people go off with a childlike faith in the safety of their goods and chattels. But the cold fact is that there is ...
- A Controller And Reverse For A Battery Motor
- Secure a cigar or starch box and use to make the base, B. Two wood-base switches, S S, are cut off a little past the center and fastened to the base with a piece of wood between them. The upper switch...
- How To Build A Grape Arbor
- A grape arbor made of white pine, put together as shown in the sketch, will last for several years. The 2 by 4-in. posts, A, are 7 ft. long. The feet, B, are made 2 by 4 in., 4 ft. long, and rest on a...
- How To Make A Toy Steam Engine
- A toy engine can be easily made from old implements which can be found in nearly every house. Toy Steam Engine Assembled The cylinder A, Fig. 1, is an old bicycle pump, cut in half. The steam ch...
- Writing With Electricity
- Soak a piece of white paper in a solution of potassium iodide and water for about a minute and then lay it on a piece of sheet metal. Connect the sheet metal with the negative or zinc side of a batter...
- To Photograph A Man In A Bottle
- Neither a huge bottle nor a dwarfed man is necessary for this process, as it is merely a trick of photography, and a very amusing trick, at that. First, photograph the person to be enclosed in the bo...
- A Musical Windmill
- Make two wheels out of tin. They may be of any size, but wheel A must be larger than wheel B. On wheel A fasten two pieces of wood, C, to cross in the center, and place a bell on the four ends, as sho...
- Optical Illusions
- By giving the page a revolving or rinsing motion the three circular figures printed on the next page appear to rotate. The best effect will be produced by laying the book down flat on the desk or tabl...
- An Optical Illusion #2
- The engraving shows a perfectly straight boxwood rule laid over a number of turned brass rings of various sizes. Although the effect in the illustration is less pronounced than it was in reality, it w...
- An Optical Illusion #3
- When looking at the accompanying sketch you will say that the letters are alternately inclined to the right and left. They are not so and can be proved by measuring the distance of the top and bottom ...
- Optical Illusions #4
- If a person observes fixedly for some time two balls hanging on the end of cords which are in rapid revolution, not rotation, about a vertical axis, the direction of revolution will seem to reverse. I...
- Optical Illusion #5
- Can you tell which of these three figures is the tallest? Make a guess, and then verify its correctness by measurement. ...
- Another Optical Illusion #6
- After taking a look at the accompanying illustration you will be positive that the cords shown run in a spiral toward the center, yet it shows a series of perfect circles of cords placed one inside th...
- Optical Illusions #7
- The accompanying sketch shows two optical illusions, the first having a perfect circle on the outside edge appears to be flattened at the points A, and the arcs of the circle, B, appear to be more rou...
- Barrel-Stave Hammock
- A hammock made of barrel staves is more comfortable than one would think, considering the nature of the material employed in making it. Good smooth staves should be selected for this purpose, and if o...
- A Singing Telephone
- Those who have not already tried the experiment may be interested to know that a telephone may be made to sing by holding the receiver about 1/16 in. from the transmitter, as shown in the illustration...
- A Microscope Without A Lens
- By E. W. DAVIS Nearly everyone has heard of the pin-hole camera, but the fact that the same principle can be used to make a microscope, having a magnifying power of 8 diameters (64 times) will perha...
- How To Make A Telegraph Key And Sounder
- The sounder, Fig. 1, is made from an old electric-bell magnet, D, fastened to a wooden base. The lever, A, can be made of brass and the armature, C, is made of iron. The pivot, E, is made from a wire ...
- How To Make A Music Cabinet
- A neat music cabinet can be made as shown in the accompanying sketch. Each side, AA, Fig. 1, is cut from a board about 36 in. in length and 16 in. wide. Both are alike and can be cut from the same pat...
- Easily Made Wireless Coherer
- A good wireless coherer may be made with very little expense, the only materials necessary being a glass tube, two corks: a magnetized needle and a quantity of iron and silver filings. Push a piece of...
- One-Wire Telegraph Line
- The accompanying wiring diagram shows a telegraph system that requires no switches and may be operated with open-circuit batteries on a one-wire line with ground connections at each end. Any telegraph...
- How To Make A Water Rheostat
- A water rheostat may be made by fitting a brass tube with a cork, through which a piece of wire is passed. The brass tube may be an old bicycle hand pump, A (see sketch), filled with water. Pushing th...
- Electric Door-Opener
- A very convenient and efficient device for unlocking any door fitted with a spring lock is shown in the accompanying sketches. A fairly stiff spring, A, is connected by a flexible wire cord to the kno...
- How To Tighten A Curtain-Roller Spring
- A common table fork can be used to hold the little projection on the end of a curtain roller for tightening the spring. Hold the fork firmly with one hand while turning the roller with the other. Do n...
- Alarm Clock Chicken Feeder
- An automatic poultry feeder, which will discharge the necessary amount of corn or other feed at any desired time, may be made by using an alarm clock as shown in the sketch. A small wire trigger rests...
- Homemade Disk-Record Cabinet
- Select some boards that have a nice grain and about 1 in. thick and 12-in. wide. Cut the end pieces each 36-in. long and trim down the edges so as to make them 11-3/8 in. wide. The top board is made 2...
- A Battery Rheostat
- In a board 7 in. long and 5 in. wide bore holes about 1/4 in. apart, in a semicircle 2 in. from the bottom, and cut notches in top end to correspond with the holes. From a piece of brass a switch, C, ...
- Automatic Time Switch
- This device may be used to either open or close the circuit at any desired time. An alarm clock is firmly fastened to a wooden bracket and provided with a small wood or metal drum, A, to which is fast...
- How To Make A Rotary Pump
- Details of Rotary Pump A simple rotary pump is constructed on the principle of creating a vacuum in a rubber tube and so causing water to rise to fill the vacuum. Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show all the par...
- How To Make A Fire Screen
- FIG.2 Made of Strap Iron A screen which will not interfere with the radiation of the heat from the fire, and will keep skirts and children safe can be made at little expense out of some strap iron...
- Trap For Small Animals
- This is a box trap with glass sides and back, the panes of glass being held in place by brads placed on both sides. The animal does not fear to enter the box, because he can see through it: when he en...
- Homemade Grenet Battery
- Procure an ordinary carbon-zinc, sal-ammoniac battery and remove the zinc rod. If the battery has been used before, it is better to soak the carbon cylinder for a few hours to remove any remaining cry...
- Door-Opener For Furnace
- The accompanying diagram shows an arrangement to open the coal door of a furnace. When approaching the furnace with a shovelful of coal it is usually necessary to rest the shovel on the top of the ash...
- How To Make An Efficient Wireless Telegraph
- By GEORGE W. RICHARDSON A simple but very efficient wireless telegraph may be constructed at slight cost from the following description: The sending apparatus consists of nothing but an induction co...
- Beeswax For Wood Filler
- When filling nail holes in yellow pine use beeswax instead of putty, as it matches the color well. ...
- How To Make A Lathe
- A small speed-lathe, suitable for turning wood or small metal articles, may be easily made at very little expense. A lathe of this kind is shown in the cut (Fig. 1), where A is the headstock, B the be...
- To Use Old Battery Zincs
- When the lower half of a battery zinc becomes eaten away the remaining part can be used again by suspending it from a wire as shown in the cut. Be sure and have a good connection at the zinc binding p...
- Callers' Approach Alarm
- This alarm rings so that callers approaching the door may be seen before they ring the bell and one can exercise his pleasure about admitting them. If one has a wooden walk, the alarm is easy to fix u...
- Easy Method Of Electroplating
- Before proceeding to electroplate with copper, silver or other metal, clean the articles thoroughly, as the least spot of grease or dirt will prevent the deposit from adhering. Then polish the article...
- An Ingenious Electric Lock For A Sliding Door
- The apparatus shown in Fig. 1 not only unlocks, but opens the door, also, by simply pressing the key in the keyhole. In rigging it to a sliding door, the materials required are: Three flat pulleys, a...
- Parlor Magic For Winter Evenings
- By C. H. CLAUDY You are seated in a parlor at night, with the lights turned low. In front of you, between the parlor and the room back of it, is an upright square of brightly burning lights, surroun...
- Reversing-Switch For Electrical Experiments
- A homemade reversing-switch, suitable for use by students of electrical and engineering courses in performing experiments, is shown in the diagram. FIG.2 Suitable for Students' Use Referring to ...
- How To Receive Wireless Telegraph Messages With A Telephone
- Any telephone having carbon in the transmitter (all ordinary telephones have carbon transmitters) can be used to receive wireless messages by simply making a few changes in the connections and providi...
- Connecting Up Batteries To Give Any Voltage
- Referring to the illustration: A is a five-point switch (may be homemade) ; B is a one-point switch, and C and C1 are binding posts. When switch B is closed and A is on No. 1, you have the current of ...
- A Simple Accelerometer
- A simple accelerometer for indicating the increase in speed of a train was described by Mr. A. P. Trotter in a paper read before the Junior Institution of Engineers of Great Britain. The device con...
- An Egg-Shell Funnel
- Bottles having small necks are hard to fill without spilling the liquid. A funnel cannot be used in a small opening, and pouring with a graduate glass requires a steady hand. When you do not have a gr...
- Handy Electric Alarm
- An electric alarm which one may turn off from the bed without arising combined with a light which may be turned on and off from a lying position, so one can see the time, is the device of H. E. Redmon...
- To Keep Dogs And Cats Away From The Garbage-Can
- Last summer I was annoyed a great deal by dogs upsetting our garbage can on the lawn, but finally executed a plan that rid the yard of them in one afternoon. I first secured a magneto out of an old t...
- How To Cross A Stream On A Log
- When crossing a water course on a fence rail or small log, do not face up or down the stream and walk sideways, for a wetting is the inevitable result. Instead, fix the eye on the opposite shore and w...
- Relay Made From Electric Bell
- It is not necessary to remove the adjusting-screw when changing an electric bell into a relay. Simply twist it around as at A and bend the circuit-breaking contact back as shown. It may be necessary t...
- The Equipment
- Many amateur mechanics who require small metal castings in their work would like to make their own castings. This can easily be done at home without going to any great expense, and the variety and use...
- II - How to Make a Mold
- Having finished making the flask and other equipment, as described, everything will be ready for the operation of molding. It would be well for those who have never had any experience in this line to ...
- III- Melting and Pouring
- Having prepared one or more molds, the next operation is that of melting and pouring. An ordinary cast-iron glue-pot makes a good crucible and can be easily handled by a pair of tongs, made out of ste...
- Battery Switch
- In cases where batteries are used in series and it is desirable to change the strength and direction of the current frequently, the following device will be found most convenient. In my own case I use...
- New Method Of Lifting A Table
- To perform this feat effectively the little device illustrated will be required. To make it take a sheet-iron band, A, 3/4 in. wide and attach a strap to fasten on the forearm between the wrist and el...
- How To Make A Paddle Boat
- A rowboat has several disadvantages. The operation of the oars is both tiresome and uninteresting, and the oarsman is obliged to travel, backward. By replacing the oars with paddles, as shown in ...
- Peculiar Properties Of Ice
- Of all the boys who make snowballs probably few know what occurs during the process. Under ordinary conditions water turns to ice when the temperature falls to 32, but when in motion, or under pr...
- Return-Call Bell With One Wire
- To use only one wire for a return call bell connect up as shown in the diagram, using a closed circuit or gravity battery, B. The current is flowing through both bells all the time, the same as the co...
- Circuit Breaker For Induction Coils
- Amateurs building induction coils are generally bothered by the vibrator contacts blackening, thus giving a high resistance contact, whenever there is any connection made at all. This trouble may be d...
- Spit Turned By Water Power
- Many of the Bulgarian peasants do their cooking in the open air over bonfires. The illustration shows a laborsaving machine in use which enables the cook to go away and leave meat roasting for an hour...
- A Short-Distance Wireless Telegraph
- The accompanying diagrams show a wireless-telegraph system that I have used successfully for signaling a distance of 3,000 ft. The transmitter consists of an induction coil, about the size used for au...
- Automatic Draft-Opener
- A simple apparatus that will open the draft of the furnace at any hour desired is illustrated. The parts are: A, furnace; B, draft; C, draft chain; D, pulleys; E, wooden supports; F, vertical lever; G...
- A Window Conservatory
- During the winter months, where house plants are kept in the home, it is always a question how to arrange them so they can get the necessary light without occupying too much room. The sketch shows ho...
- How To Make An Electroscope
- An electroscope for detecting electrified bodies may be made out of a piece of note paper, a cork and a needle. Push the needle into the cork, and cut the paper in the shape of a small arrow. Balance ...
- Miniature Electric Lighting
- Producing electric light by means of small bulbs that give from one-half to six candle power, and a suitable source of power, is something that will interest the average American boy. These circular ...
- How To Make A New Language
- Anyone possessing a phonograph can try a very interesting and amusing experiment without going to any expense. Remove the belt and replace with a longer one, which can be made of narrow braid or a num...
- How To Make A Cup-And-Saucer Rack
- The rack is made of any suitable kind of wood, and the sides, A, are cut just alike, or from one pattern. The shelves are made in various widths to fit the sides at the places where they are wanted. T...
- Reversing A Small Motor
- All that is necessary for reversing the motor is a pole-changing switch. Connect the two middle posts of the switch with each other and the two outside posts with each other. Then connect one of the o...
- To Drive Away Dogs
- The dogs in my neighborhood used to come around picking up scraps. After I connected up my induction coil, as shown in the sketch, we were not bothered with them. A indicates the ground; B, switch; an...
- An Automatic Lock
- The illustration shows an automatic lock operated by electricity, one cell being sufficient. When the circuit is broken a weight, A, attached to the end of the armature B, tends to push the other end ...
- Experiment With Two-Foot Rule And Hammer
- An example of unstable equilibrium is shown in the accompanying sketch. All that is needed is a 2-foot rule, a hammer, a piece of string, and a table or bench. The experiment works best with a hammer ...
- Simple Current Reverser
- On a block of hardwood draw a square (Fig. 1) and drill a hole in each corner of the square. Fill these holes with mercury and connect them to four binding posts (Fig. 1). On another block of wood fa...
- Alarm Clock To Pull Up Furnace Draft
- A stout cord, A, is attached to the draft B of the furnace, run through a pulley, C, in the ceiling and has a window weight, D, attached at the other end. A small stick is put through a loop in the co...
- How To Transmit Phonograph Music To A Distance
- An interesting experiment, and one calculated to mystify anyone not in the secret, is to transmit the music or speech from a phonograph to another part of the house or even a greater distance. For an ...
- How To Make A Telescope
- With a telescope like the one here described, made with his own hands, a farmer boy not many years ago discovered a comet which had escaped the watchful eyes of many astronomers. First, get two piece...
- How To Make "Freak" Photographs
- The freak pictures of well-known people which were used by some daily newspapers recently made everybody wonder how the distorted photographs were made. A writer in Camera Craft gives the secret, wh...
- Another Electric Lock
- The details of the construction of an electrically operated lock are shown in the illustration. When the door is closed and the bolt A pushed into position, it automatically locks. To unlock, push the...
- How To Mix Plaster Of Paris
- For the mixing of plaster of Paris for any purpose, add the plaster gradually to the water, instead of the contrary, says the Master Painter. Do not stir it, just sprinkle it in until you have a cream...
- Enlarging With A Hand Camera
- Everyone who owns a hand camera has some pictures he would like enlarged. It is not necessary to have a large camera to do this, as the process is exceedingly simple to make large pictures from small ...
- Positioning A Hanging Lamp
- Don't pull a lamp hung by flexible cord to one side with a wire and then fasten to a gas pipe. I have seen a wire become red hot in this manner. If the lamp hung by a cord must be pulled over, use a s...
- A Curious Compressed Air Phenomenon
- Push a pin through an ordinary business card and place the card against one end of a spool with the pin inside the bore, as shown in the sketch. Then blow through the spool, and it will be found that ...
- Simple Switch For Reversing A Current
- Take two strips of copper or brass and fasten them together by means of gutta-percha (Fig. 1); also provide them with a handle. Saw out a rectangular block about one and one-half times as long as the ...
- Novel Mousetrap
- A piece of an old bicycle tire and a glass fruit jar are the only materials required for making this trap. Push one end of the tire into the hole, making sure that there is a space left at the end so ...
- Polishing Nickel
- A brilliant polish may be given to tarnished nickel by immersing in alcohol and 2 per cent of sulphuric acid from 5 to 15 seconds. Take out, wash in running water, rinse in alcohol, and rub dry with l...
- Homemade Arc Light
- By rewinding an electric-bell magnet with No. 16 wire and connecting it in series with two electric-light carbons, as shown in the sketch, a small arc will be formed between the carbon points when the...
- Lighting An Incandescent Lamp With An Induction Coil
- An incandescent lamp of low candlepower may be illuminated by connecting to an induction coil in the manner shown in the sketch. One wire is connected to the metal cap of the lamp and the other wire i...
- How To Make A Jump-Spark Coil
- The induction coil is probably the most popular piece of apparatus in the electrical laboratory, and particularly is it popular because of its use in experimental wireless telegraphy. Ten years ago wi...
- Combined Door Bell And Electric Alarm
- This device consists of a battery and bell connection to an alarm clock which also acts as a door bell, the whole being mounted on a board 18 in. long and 12 in. wide. Referring to the sketch accompa...
- To Build A Small Brass Furnace
- Bend a piece of stout sheet iron 23 in. by 12 in. round so that the inside diameter is 7 in., and then rivet the seam. Fit in a round piece of sheet iron for the bottom. Make a hole about the size of ...
- Avoid Paper Lamp Shades
- Don't wrap paper around a lamp for a shade. You might go away and forget it and a fire might be started from the heat. Use a glass or metal shade. That is what they are for. ...
- Why Gravity Batteries Fail To Work
- Many amateur electricians and some professionals have had considerable trouble with gravity batteries. They Settine Up A Gravity Battery Setting Up a Gravity Battery follow directions carefully ...
- A Skidoo-Skidee Trick
- In a recent issue or Popular Mechanics an article on The Turning Card Puzzle was described and illustrated. Outside of the scientific side involved, herein I describe a much better trick. About the ...
- Effects Of Radium
- Radium acts upon the chemical constituents of glass, porcelain and paper, imparting to them a violet tinge; changes white phosphorus to yellow, oxygen to ozone, affects photograph plates and produces ...
- Naval Speed Record
- On its official trial trip the British torpedo boat destroyer Mohawk attained the record speed of a little over 39 miles an hour. ...
- How To Enlarge From Life In The Camera
- Usually the amateur photographer gets to a point in his work where the miscellaneous taking of everything in sight is somewhat unsatisfying: There are many special fields he may enter, and one of them...
- Steel Pen Used In Draftsman's Ink Bottle Cork
- A steel pen makes an ideal substitute for a quill in the stopper of the draftsman's ink bottle. The advantage of this substitute is that there is always one handy to replace a broken or lost pen, whil...
- How To Make A Pilot Balloon
- By E. Goddard Jorgensen Unusual interest is being displayed in ballooning, and as it is fast becoming the favorite sport many persons would like to know how to construct a miniature balloon for maki...
- How To Clean A Clock
- It is very simple to clean a clock, which may sound rather absurd. For an amateur it is not always necessary to take the clock to pieces. With a little care and patience and using some benzine, a clea...
- How To Make Blueprint Lantern Slides
- Lantern slides of a blue tone that is a pleasing variety from the usual black may be made from spoiled or old plates which have not been developed, by fixing, washing well and then dipping five minute...
- A Substitute For A Ray Filter
- Not many amateur photographers possess a ray filter. A good substitute is to use the orange glass from the ruby lamp. This can be held in position in front of the lens with a rubber band. A longer exp...
- Electric Lamp Experiments
- Incandescent electric lamps can be made to glow so that they may be seen in a dark room by rubbing the globe on clothing or with a paper, leather or tinfoil and immediately holding near a 1/2-in. Ruhm...
- How To Make A Simple Wireless Telegraph
- By ARTHUR E. JOERIN An efficient wireless-telegraph receiving apparatus for distances up to 1,000 ft. may be constructed in the following manner: Attach a watchcase telephone receiver to a dry cell, ...
- To Preserve Putty
- Putty, when left exposed to the air, will soon become dry and useless. I have kept putty in good condition for more than a year by placing it in a glass jar and keeping it entirely covered with water....
- How To Make A Small Storage Battery
- The cell of a storage battery consists of two plates, a positive and a negative, made of lead and placed in a dilute solution of sulphuric acid. Large batteries made of large cells have a great number...
- Fitting A Plug In Different Shaped Holes
- A certain king offered to give the prince his liberty if he could whittle a plug that would fit four different shaped holes, namely: a square hole, a round one, an oblong one and a triangular one, say...
- How To Make A Lightning Arrester
- Secure a piece of wood about 3-1/2 in. square that will furnish a nice finish and round the corners and make a small rounding edge as shown in the sketch. From a piece of brass 1/16 in. thick cut two ...
- A Home-Made Punt
- A flat bottom boat is easy to make and is one of the safest boats, as it is not readily overturned. It has the advantage of being rowed from either end, and has plenty of good seating capacity. This ...
- Photographers' Printing Frame Stand
- When using developing papers it is always bothersome to build up books or small boxes to make a place to set the printing frame in front of the light. Details for making a small stand that is adjustab...
- Heat And Expansion
- Take an electric light bulb from which the air has not been exhausted and immerse it in water and then break off the point. As there is a vacuum in the bulb it will quickly fill with water. Shake the ...
- Photographing A Streak Of Lightning
- The accompanying illustration is a remarkable photograph of a streak of lightning. Many interesting pictures of this kind can be made during a storm at night. The camera is set in a place where it ...
- How To Make A Small Single-Phase Induction Motor
- By C. H. Bell The following notes on a small single-phase induction motor, without auxiliary phase, which the writer has made, may be of interest to some of our readers, says the Model Engineer. The...
- Carbolic Acid Burns
- The pain of carbolic acid burns can be relieved promptly by washing with alcohol, if applied immediately. If too late for alcohol to be of use, brush with water containing saturated solution of picric...
- How To Make A Paper Book Cover
- Book covers become soiled in handling and especially school books. Various methods are applied for making a temporary cover that will protect the book cover. A paper cover can be quickly made by using...
- How To Make Lantern Slides
- The popularity of lantern slides, and especially of colored ones, as a means of illustrating songs, has caused so large a demand for this class of work that almost any amateur may take up slide making...
- How To Make Lantern Slides #2
- A great many persons who have magic lanterns do not use them very much, for after the slides have been shown a few times, they become uninteresting, and buying new ones or even making them from photog...
- How To Make A Porch Swing Chair
- The material needed for making this porch swing chair are two pieces of round wood 2-1/2 in. in diameter and 20 in. long, and two pieces 1-1/4 in. in diameter and 40 in. long. These longer pieces can ...
- How To Find The Blind Spot In The Eye
- Make a small black circular dot 1/2 in. in diameter on a piece of cardboard and about 3 in. from the center of this dot draw a star. Hold the cardboard so that the star will be directly in front of on...
- Beeswax Substitute
- A wax from the rafie palm of Madagascar is being used as a substitute for beeswax. ...
- Home-Made Water Wheel Does Family Washing
- The accompanying sketch illustrates a very ingenious device which does the family washing, as well as to operate other household machines. A disk 1 in. in thickness and 10 in. in diameter was cut f...
- Home-Made Micrometer
- It often becomes necessary to find the thickness of material so thin, or inconvenient to measure, that a rule or other measuring device will not serve the purpose. A simple, fairly accurate, and easil...
- Another Electric Lamp Experiment
- Break a portion of the end off from a 16-cp. globe that has been thrown away as useless. Shake the globe until all the filament is broken away, leaving only the ends of the platinum wire exposed. Scre...
- Removing Ink Stains
- Two or three applications of milk which are wiped up with a dry cloth will remove india ink spots on carpets. ...
- Feat Of Balancing On Chairs
- Among the numerous physical exercises is the feat of balancing on the two rear legs of a chair while one foot rests on the front part of the seat and the other on the back of the chair. This may ap...
- How To Make A Merry-Go-Round Swing
- A 6 by 6-in. piece of wood 12 ft. long is used for the center pole. Bore a 3/4-in. hole in each end to a depth of 6 in. Place a 3/4-in. bolt in each hole, the bolt being long enough to protrude 2 in. ...
- Home-Made Arc Lamp
- The frame of the lamp is made from bar metal 3/4 in. wide and 1/8 in. thick, bent and welded to make a continuous loop in the shape as shown at G in the sketch. This frame should be about 10-1/2 in. l...
- Irrigation
- The Mexican government has appropriated $25,000,000 for irrigation work. ...
- How To Hang Your Hat On A Lead Pencil
- Take a smooth hexagon lead pencil, one without either rubber or metal end, and place it against a door or window casing; then with a firm, heavy pressure slide the pencil some 3 or 4 in. and it will s...
- Tying A Knot For Footballs
- One of the most prominent English football clubs kept the tying of this knot on the rubber hose of their football a secret and never allowed all of its members to know how it was tied. This tie can be...
- Stove Polish
- Stove Polish #1 Stove polish consists of 2 parts graphite, 4 parts copperas and 2 parts bone black, mixed with water to form a paste. Stove Polish #2 A good stove polish can be made by mixing toget...
- How To Give An Electric Shock While Shaking Hands
- There is nothing quite so startling as to receive an electric shock unexpectedly and such a shock may be given to a friend while shaking hands upon meeting. The shock produced is not harmful and the a...
- Experiment With Heat
- Place a small piece of paper, lighted, in an ordinary water glass. While the paper is burning turn the glass over and set into a saucer previously filled with water. The water will rapidly rise in ...
- How To Attach A Combination Trunk Lock
- A small combination lock for chests can be purchased for a small sum of money and attached to a trunk cover after first removing the old lock as shown in Fig. 1. It is necessary to add 1/2-in. to t...
- An Electric Illusion Box
- The accompanying engravings show a most interesting form of electrically operated illusion consisting of a box divided diagonally and each division alternately lighted with an electric lamp. By means ...
- Replace Dry Putty
- Painting over putty that has not become dry will cause scaling or cracking around the edges of the putty. ...
- Photo Print Washing Tank
- The accompanying sketch shows a simple form of a print washing tank that tips from side to side by the weight of the water. For prints 4 by 5 and 5 by 7-in. a tank 2 ft. long and 1 ft. wide will be ab...
- Home-Made Soldering Clamps
- Take a cotter pin and bend it over a small rod to bring the points together, as shown in the sketch. This will make a spring clamp that is opened to slip over the articles to be clamped together by in...
- A Telephone Experiment
- If the small apparatus, as shown in the accompanying sketch, is attached to the under side of an ordinary dining table, it will, if connected to a telephone circuit, set the table in vibration, so tha...
- Wax Wood Screws
- Some workmen use tallow on lag or wood screws. Try beeswax for this purpose. It is much cleaner to use and is just as good if not better. ...
- How To Make An Induction Coil
- A small shocking coil, suitable for medical purposes, may be constructed Of materials found in nearly every amateur mechanic's collection of odds and ends. The core, A, Fig. 1, is a piece of round sof...
- Home-Made Toaster
- Each outside frame of the toaster is made from one piece of wire 30 in. long. These are bent in a perfect square making each side 7-in. long. This will allow 1 in. on each end for tying by twisting th...
- Home-Made Shocking Machine
- An ordinary electric bell may be connected up in such a way as to produce the same results as an expensive shocking machine. The connections are made from the batteries to the bell in the usual manner...
- Mahogany Wood Putty
- Mix venetian red with quite thick arabic muscilage, making it into a putty, and press this well into the cracks of mahogany before finishing. The putty should be colored to suit the finish of the wood...
- How To Make A Thermoelectric Battery
- By Arthur E. Joerin A novel way of producing an electric current by means of hot and cold water, heat from a match or alcohol lamp, is obtained from a device constructed as shown in the sketch. Take...
- Softening Leather In Gloves And Boots
- The leather in high-top boots and gauntlet gloves may be softened and made waterproof by the use of plain mutton tallow. Apply hot and rub in well with the fingers. ...
- How To Make A Mission Library Table
- The mission library table, the drawings for which are here given, has been found well proportioned and of pleasing appearance. It can be made of any of the several furniture woods in common use, such ...
- A Hanger For Trousers
- Secure two clothes pins of the metal spring kind for the clamps of the hanger. The pins are fastened one to each end of a looped galvanized wire. This wire should be about 6 in. long after a coil is b...
- How To Make An Adjustable Negative Washer
- The sketch herewith shows a washing box for negatives made from an ordinary wooden box. As can be seen, the grooved partition, A, is removable, and as several places are provided for its insertion, th...
- Turn-Down Shelf For A Small Space
- The average amateur photographer does not have very much space in which to do his work. The kitchen is the room used ordinarily for finishing the photographs. In many instances there will not be space...
- Home-Made Electric Battery Massage
- A simple and cheap electric massage device can be made by using three or four cells of dry battery connected to two ordinary silver tablespoons, as shown in the sketch. The handles of the spoons shoul...
- How To Make Tint Lantern Slides
- Purchase some lantern slide plates and fix them in hypo without exposing, in the usual manner, same as you would an exposed plate, says the Moving Picture World. This leaves a thin, perfectly transpar...
- A Bicycle Catamaran
- The accompanying photographs show a bicycle boat made to carry two persons. This Catamaran Carries Two People This boat is constructed by using two galvanized iron tubes 18 ft. long and 12 in. i...
- How To Make A Lead Pencil Rheostat
- Take an ordinary lead pencil and cut seven notches at equal intervals on the pencil down to and around the lead, leaving it bare. A seven-point switch is constructed on a board of suitable size making...
- Homemade Shoe Rack
- The accompanying sketch explains how a boy can make his own shoe rack that can be placed on the wall in the clothes closet. Figure 1 shows the construction of the bottom to permit the dirt to fall thr...
- How To Waterproof Canvas
- The method used by the British navy yards for waterproofing and painting canvas so it will not become stiff and cracked is as follows: One ounce of yellow soap and 1/2 pt. of hot water are mixed with ...
- Building A House In A Tree Top
- The accompanying photograph shows a small house built in a tree top 20 ft. from the ground. The house is 5 ft. wide, 5 ft. 1 in. long, and 6 ft. 6 in. high. A small platform, 2 ft. wide, is built on t...
- How To Make A Lamp Stand And Shade
- A library light stand of pleasing design and easy construction is made as follows: Square up a piece of white oak so that it shall have a width and thickness of 1-3/4 in. with a length of 13 in. Squar...
- Illuminating A Watch Dial At Night
- This picture shows a watch holder, with a device to receive an ordinary electric pocket lamp and battery. The battery is set in a bracket under which a reflector extends downward to throw the light on...
- Home-Made Photographic Copying Stand
- The difficulties of bad lighting on small articles can be entirely avoided by the use of a suitable support for the camera, the object and the background. Secures Good Light on Small Objects For...
- Home-Made Pocket Lamp
- A simple and safe pocket lamp that will last for about 6 months without extra expense can be made at home for a few cents. Have your druggist take a strong vial of clear glass, or a pill bottle with ...
- How To Make A Tangent Galvanometer
- Secure a piece of wood 1/2 in. thick and cut out a ring with an outside diameter of 10-1/2 in. and an inside diameter of 9 in. and glue to each side two other rings 1/4 in. thick with the same inside ...
- Home-Made X-Ray Instrument
- Two cylinders, AA, are mounted on a base, B, and mirrors, CC, are fitted at an angle of 45 deg. into these cylinders. Corresponding mirrors, EE, are put in the base parallel with those in those cylind...
- How To Make A A Non-Polarizing Battery
- Bichromate batteries are very expensive to maintain and dry cells do not furnish enough amperage for some kinds of experimental work. A cell of a battery that will run 10 hours with an output of over ...
- A Home-Made Barometer
- Take 1/4 oz. of pulverized campor, 62 gr. of pulverized nitrate of potassium, 31 gr. nitrate of ammonia and dissolve in 2 oz. alcohol. Put the solution in a long, slender bottle, closed at the top wit...
- Lock Lubricant
- A door lock may be lubricated by using some lead scraped from the lead in a pencil and put in the lock. This may be done by putting the scrapings on a piece of paper and blowing them into the lock thr...
- Rust Proofing Bolts
- Where bolts are subject to rust, the threads should be painted with pure white lead; then they will not rust fast. ...
- Painting Yellow Pine
- When painting yellow pine exposed to the weather add a little pine tar with the priming coat. ...
- Revolving A Wheel With Boat Sails
- A novel windmill or revolving wheel can be made by placing a light wheel so it will turn freely on the end of a post, and placing four small sailing boats at equal points on the rim of the wheel. It m...
- A Floating Electromagnet
- A piece of iron placed in a coil of wire carrying a current of electricity becomes an electromagnet. If such a coil and iron core be made small enough they can be attached to a cork and the cork, floa...
- A Fish Bait
- A very effective fish bait is made by inclosing a live minnow in a short section of glass tube, which is filled with water and both ends closed with corks. This is used in place of the spoon. ...
- Homemade Air Thermometer
- The illustration shows the complete thermometer. The water in the glass tube is caused to rise and fall by the expansion and contraction of the air in the tin box. A paper-fastener box, about 1-1/4 in...
- Home-Made Battery Voltmeter
- Secure a piece of brass tube 3 in. long that has about 1/4-in. hole. Put ends, A, 1-1/4 in. square and cut from heavy cardboard on this tube. Make a hole in the center of each cardboard just large eno...
- How To Make A Folding Canvas Cot
- All the material required to make the cot as shown in Fig. 1 consists of wood 1-1/2 in. square of which two pieces are 6 ft. long; two pieces 2 ft. 3 in. long; two pieces 2-1/2 ft. long; four pieces 1...
- How To Make A Small Geissler Tube
- At first this would seem to be a difficult piece of work, yet a good and beautiful Geissler tube can be made at home in the following manner: Procure a glass tube about 3-1/2 ft. long having a hole t...
- Loosening Rusted Nuts
- Nuts that are rusted fast can often be loosened by giving a hard turn in the tightening direction. ...
- Cleaning Greasy Stoves
- Greasy stoves may be cleaned with a strong solution of lye or soda. ...
- How To Make A Take-Down Background Frame
- Many amateur photographers who desire to do portrait work at home have left the subject alone for the want of a suitable background. A frame such as is used by the professional is entirely out of the ...
- Home-Made Kite Reel
- This kite reel is constructed from two old pulleys and a few pipe fittings. The large pulley is about 14 in. in diameter, on the face of which are riveted flat strips of iron with extending arms. Thes...
- Attaching Runners To A Bicycle For Winter Use
- Instead of storing away your bicycle for the winter, attach runners and use it on the ice. The runners can be made from 1/4-in. by 1-in. iron and fastened to the bicycle frame as shown in the sketch. ...
- A Paper That Makes Green Prints
- A coating for ordinary paper that is said to give green prints is made with a two per cent solution of gelatine, says Photography, and sensitized with the following solution: Potassium Bichromate 15 ...
- Copies Made From Wax Molds By Electro-Deposition
- Fine copies of wax impressions can be made in the following manner: Procure an ordinary tumbler and fill it with a strong solution of sulphate of copper, which is made by dissolving two cents' worth o...
- How To Make Skating Shoes
- Remove the clamp part, as shown in Fig. 1, from an ordinary clamp skate. Drill holes in the top part of the skate for screws. Purchase a pair of high shoes with heavy soles and fasten the skates to th...
- How To Make A Self-Setting Rabbit Trap
- Secure a good-sized box, say, 1 ft. high, 1-1/2 ft. wide, and 3 ft. long; and to the bottom, about 10 in. from one end, fasten a 2-in. square piece, A, Fig. 1, extending the width of the box. Place a ...
- How To Make An Atomizer
- Secure a good-sized test tube and fit it with a cork. Take two glass tubes, with about 1/8-in. hole, and bend them as shown in the sketch. This is done by heating them at the proper point over a gas f...
- Home-Made Kits For The Camera
- If you have a 5- by 7-in. camera and wish to use some 4- by 5-in. plates, make a few simple kits to hold the smaller plates and fit the larger holders, says Camera Craft. Take two pieces of pasteboard...
- How To Make A Miniature Stage
- A good smooth box, say 8 in. wide, 10 in. high and 12 in. long, will serve the purpose for the main part of this small theater. Out two rectangular holes, Fig. 1, one in each end and exactly opposite ...
- A Floating Compass Needle
- When a thoroughly dry and clean sewing needle is carefully placed on the surface of water the needle will float even if the density of steel is 7 or 8 times that of water. A sewing needle thus floatin...
- Home-Made Dog Cart
- The accompanying photograph shows a boy with his dogmobile. The photograph was taken when they were on a new pavement which had 2 in. of sand left by the pavers and a grade of 6 per cent. The machin...
- How To Make A Dry Battery Cell
- Dry battery cells are composed of the same materials for the poles, but instead of the liquid commonly used a paste is formed by mixing sal ammoniac and other salts with water and packed in the cell s...
- How To Paraffin Wire
- The following description of how to make an apparatus with which to paraffin wire as needed makes clear a method of construction that is simple and easy to put together in a. short time. Secure a pan...
- Uses Of Peat
- Peat is used in Germany for bedding, fodder, filter, fuel and packing purposes. ...
- Scientific Explanation Of A Toy
- In a recent Issue of Popular Mechanics an article on The Turning Card Puzzle was described and illustrated. Outside of the scientific side involved herein I describe a much better trick. About the t...
- Skidoo-Skidee Trick Continued
- The foregoing article describing the Skidoo-Skidee Trick appeared in a recent issue of Popular Mechanics. I have been told that a similar arrangement is used by a tribe of Indians in the state of Wa...
- Home-Made Lantern
- Tin Can Lantern The accompanying picture shows a lantern which can be made almost anywhere for immediate use. All that is needed is an empty tomato or coffee can, a piece of wire and a candle. Mak...
- A Study Of Splashes
- When a rough, or greasy, or dusty sphere falls into a liquid, the liquid is forced away from the sphere. If the sphere is quite smooth the liquid rises up around and enclosing it in a sheath says Know...
- How To Make A Stick Pin
- A fine stick pin or button can be made from a new one-cent piece. Carefully file out all the metal around the Indian head and slightly round the edges. Solder a pin to the back of the head when it is ...
- How To Make A Miniature Electric Locomotive
- A miniature electric railway is a thing that attracts the attention of almost any person. The cost of a toy electric locomotive is beyond the reach of many boys who could just as well make such a toy ...
- Demagnetizing A Watch
- A test can be made to know if your watch is magnetized by placing a small compass on the side of the watch nearest the escapement wheel if the compass pointer moves with the escapement wheel the watch...
- How To Make A Pocket Skate Sharpener
- Secure a square file and break off a piece, Fig 1, the length of a paper clip, Fig. 2. Draw the temper in the ends of this piece of file, but do not heat the center. This can be done by wrapping a wet...
- Trick With A Coin In A Wine Glass
- The accompanying sketch shows a. trick of removing a dime from the bottom of an old -fashioned wine glass without touching the coin. The dime is first placed in the bottom of the glass and then a silv...
- Untying-A-Knot Trick
- Tie a double knot in a silk handkerchief, as shown in the accompanying sketch and tighten the last tie a little by slightly drawing the two upper ends; then continue to tighten much more, pulling vigo...
- Gear-Cutting Attachment For Small Lathes
- When in need of small gears for experimental or model machines the amateur usually purchases them, never thinking that he could make them on his own lathe. A small attachment can be made to fasten in ...
- Wire Terminals For Battery Connections
- Cotter Pin Wire Terminal. Good connections on the end of wires for batteries can be made from cotter pins, Fig. 1, about 1-1/2 in. long. Each end of the wire is put through the eye of a cotter pin...
- Simple Arts And Crafts Leather Work
- Very interesting and useful pieces of leather work can be done with nothing more for equipment than a cup pointed nail set such as carpenter use, and a nut pick. The accompanying illustrations show s...
- How To Make A Simple Still
- A still to distill water can be made from a test tube, some heavy rubber hose, and an ordinary bottle. Secure a stopper for the test tube, and bore a hole through the center, into which fit a small pi...
- Homemade Mariner's Compass
- Magnetize an ordinary knitting needle, A, and push it through a cork, B, and place the cork exactly in the middle of the needle. Thrust a pin, C, through the cork at right angles to the needle and sti...
- Brighten White Paint
- Add aluminum bronze to a white or light paint that is to be used for lettering on a dark ground. ...
- Quartz Electrodes Used In Receiving Wireless Messages
- Details of the Receiving Instrument Wireless messages have been received at Washington, D.C., from Key West, Florida, a distance of 900 miles, through a receiving instrument in which two pieces of...
- How To Make A Glider
- By Carl Bates A gliding machine is a motorless aeroplane, or flying-machine, propelled by gravity and designed to carry a passenger through the air from a high point to a lower point some distance aw...
- Boys Representing The Centaur
- This is a diversion in which two boys personate a Centaur, a creature of Greek mythology, half man and half horse. One of the players stands erect and the other behind him in a stooping position with ...
- Home-Made Ladle For Melting Babbitt
- Secure a large sized old bicycle bell and rivet a heavy wire or strap iron on one side for a handle. When heated a little, hammer out the edge on one side for a lip to pour from. This makes a good lad...
- How To Make A Flash Lamp
- Indoor photographs are made much better with the use of a flashlight than by depending on light from windows. The lighting can be made from any direction to suit the operator. If lighting flash powder...
- Photographing The New Moon
- To make a photograph of the moon is quite difficult and no good picture can be made without an expensive apparatus. At home and with your own hand camera you can make a good picture of the new moon by...
- Old-Time Magic- Part II [175] Removing Scissors From A Cord
- A piece of strong cord is doubled and fastened to a pair of scissors with a slip knot, as shown in Fig. 1. After passing the ends of the cord through the thumb hole of the scissors they are tied fast ...
- Coin And Card On The First Finger
- This is a simple trick that many can do at the first attempt, while others will fail time after time. It is a good trick to spring upon a company casually if you have practiced it beforehand. A playin...
- How To Make Sealing Wax Hat Pins
- Select a stick of sealing wax of the desired color for the foundation of the hat pin. Hold the end of the stick over a flame until the wax is soft enough to drop; then put it on the hatpin head. When ...
- Disappearing Coin
- While this is purely a sleight-of-hand trick, it will take very little practice to cause the coin to disappear instantly. Take a quarter of a dollar between the thumb and finger, as shown, and by a ra...
- Sticking A Coin Against The Wall
- Cut a small notch in a coin--ten cent piece or quarter will do--so a small point will project. When this is pressed firmly against a wood casing or partition the coin will stick tightly. ...
- A Chinese Outdoor Game
- The accompanying illustration shows the grand whirl, or the Chinese students' favorite game. This game is played by five persons, four of them turning around the fifth or central figure Chinese...
- Home-Made Photograph Of A Lightning Flash
- How many times has each amateur photographer tried to photograph the lightning's flash? Some good pictures have been obtained by a ceaseless effort on the part of the operator. Here is a method by whi...
- How To Make A Static Machine
- Static electricity is produced by revolving glass plates upon which a number of sectors are cemented; these sectors, passing through neutralizing brushes, distribute electric charges to collecting com...
- A Concrete Swimming Pool
- Several boys from a neighborhood in the suburbs of a large city concluded to make for themselves a swimming tank of concrete. The money was raised by various means to purchase the cement, and the work...
- Cutting A Thread Inside Of A Glass Bottle
- This is a trick which can only be performed when the sun shines, but it The Glass Directs The Sun's Rays The Glass Directs the Sun's Rays is a good one. Procure a clear glass bottle and stick a ...
- Removing A Key From A Double String
- Tie the ends of a 5-ft. string together, making a double line on which a key is placed and the string held as shown by the dotted lines in the sketch. Turn the palms of the hands toward you and reach ...
- How To Bore A Square Hole
- You would not consider it possible to bore a square hole in a piece of cardboard, yet such a thing can be done. Take a cardboard or a thin piece of wood, fold and place it between two pieces of board ...
- How To Make Copper Trays
- Copper trays such as are shown in the accompanying illustration are very useful as well as ornamental about the house. They can be used to keep pins and needles, pens and pencils, or cigar ashes, etc....
- Photograph Of A Clown Face
- At first glance the accompanying photograph will appear as if the person photographed is wearing a false face or has his face painted like a clown. On close observation you will notice that the face i...
- Finger Mathematics
- By Charles C. Bradley All machinists use mathematics. Ask a machinist what would be the product of 9 times 8 and his ready reply would be 72, but change the figures a little and say 49 times 48 and ...
- Steam Engine Made From Gas Pipe And Fittings
- Almost all the material used in the construction' of the parts for the small steam engine illustrated herewith was made from gas pipe and fittings. The cylinder consists of a 3-in. tee, the third open...
- How To Make A Copper Bowl
- To make a copper bowl, such as is shown in the illustration, secure a piece of No. 21 gauge sheet copper of a size sufficient to make a circular disk 6-1/2 in. in diameter. Cut the copper to the circ...
- Cleaning Furniture
- After cleaning furniture, the greasy appearance may be removed by adding some good, sharp vinegar to the furniture polish. Vinegar, which is nothing else than diluted acetic acid, is one of the best c...
- Melting Lead In Tissue Paper
- Take a buckshot, wrap it tightly in one thickness of tissue paper, and, holding the ends of the paper in the fingers of each hand, place the part that holds the shot over the flame of a match just far...
- The Principles Of The Stereograph
- Each of our eyes sees a different picture of any object; the one sees a trifle more to the right-hand side, the other to the left, especially when the object is near to the observer. The stereoscope i...
- Mercury Make-And-Break Connections For Induction Coils
- Induction coils operating on low voltage have a make-and-break connection called the buzzer to increase the secondary discharge. Two types of make-and-break connection are used, the common buzzer ...
- How To Make A Barometer
- Atmospheric pressure is measured by the barometer. The weight of the air in round numbers is 15 lb. to the square inch and will support a column of water 1 in. square, 34 ft. high, or a column of merc...
- Home-Made Post Or Swinging Light
- Remove the bottom from a round bottle of sufficient size to admit a wax or tallow candle. This can be done with a glass cutter or a hot ring; the size of the outside of the bottle, which is slipped qu...
- A Checker Puzzle
- Cut a block from a board about 3 in. wide and 10 in. long. Sandpaper all the surfaces and round the edges slightly. Mark out seven 1-in. squares on the surface to be used for the top and color the squ...
- Gold Railroad Signals
- Covering railroad signals with gold leaf has taken the place of painting on some roads. Gold leaf will stand the wear of the weather for 15 or 20 years, while paint requires recovering three or four t...
- How To Make A Bell Tent
- A bell tent is easily made and is nice for lawns, as well as for a boy's camping outfit. The illustrations show a plan of a tent 14-ft. in diameter. To make such a tent, procure unbleached tent duck, ...
- Simple X-Ray Experiment
- The outlines of the bones of the hand may be seen by holding a piece of rice paper before the eyes and placing the spare hand about 12 in. back of the rice paper and before a bright light. The bony st...
- How To Make A Candle Shade
- Layout the pattern for the shade on a thin piece of paper, 9 by 12 in., making the arcs of the circle with a pencil compass. As shown in the sketch, the pattern for this particular shade covers a half...
- A Putty Grinder
- Having a large number of windows to putty each week, I found it quite a task to prepare the putty. I facilitated the work by using an ordinary meat cutter or sausage grinder. The grinder will soften s...
- Home-Made Small Churn
- Many people living in a small town or in the suburbs of a city own one cow that supplies the family table with milk and cream. Sometimes the cream will accumulate, but not in sufficient quantities to ...
- Home-Made Round Swing
- Gas pipe and fittings were used wherever possible in the making of the swing as shown in the photograph. The d i a g ram drawing shows the construction. A 6-in. square cedar post is set in the ground ...
- The Disappearing Coin
- This is an uncommon trick, entirely home-made and yet the results are as startling as in many of the professional tricks. A small baking-powder can is employed to vanish the coin, which should be mark...
- How To Keep Film Negatives
- There are many devices for taking care of film negatives to keep them from curling and in a place easily accessible. Herewith is illustrated a method by which anyone can make a place for the negatives...
- Home-Made Match Safe
- Details of the Match Safe Cut a piece of tin in the shape and with the dimensions shown in Fig. 1. Bend the saw-toothed edges at right angles to the piece on the dotted lines. Bend the part that i...
- An Electric Post Card Projector
- A post card projector is an instrument for projecting on a screen in a darkened room picture post cards or any other pictures of a similar size. The lantern differs from the ordinary magic lantern in ...
- A Handy Calendar
- Thirty days hath September, April, June and November, etc., and many other rhymes and devices are used to aid the memory to decide how many days are in each month of the year. Herewith is illustrate...
- The Fuming Of Oak
- Darkened oak always has a better appearance when fumed with ammonia. This process is rather a difficult one, as it requires an airtight case, but the description herewith given may be entered into wit...
- How To Make An Electrolytic Rectifier
- Electrolytic Rectifier and Connections Many devices which will change alternating current to a direct current have been put on the market, but probably there is not one of them which suits the ama...
- The Rolling Marble
- Take a marble and place it on a smooth surface, The top of a table will do. Ask someone to cross their first and second fingers and place them on the marble as shown in the illustration. Then have the...
- A Gas Cannon
- If you have a small cannon with a bore of 1 or 1-1/2 in., bore out the fuse hole large enough to tap and fit in a small sized spark plug such as used on a gasoline engine. Fill the cannon with gas fro...
- Old-Time Magic-Part VI
- A Handkerchief Mended after Being Cut and Torn Two persons are requested to come forward from the audience to hold the four corners of a handkerchief. Then beg several other handkerchiefs from the au...
- The Magic Knot
- This is a very amusing trick which consists of tying one knot with two ends of a handkerchief, and pulling the ends only to untie them again. Take the two diagonal corners of a handkerchief, one in ea...
- A Good Mouse Trap
- When opening a tomato or other small can, cut the cover crossways from side to side making four triangular pieces in the top. Bend the four ends outward and remove the contents, wash clean and dry and...
- Finishing Aluminum
- Rubbing the surface of an aluminum plate with a steel brush will produce a satin finish. ...
- How To Make A Sailing Canoe
- A canvas canoe is easily made and light to handle, but in making one, it must be remembered that the cloth will tear, if any snags are encountered. Therefore such a craft cannot be used in all waters,...
- A Home-Made Hand Vise
- A very useful little hand vise can easily be made from a hinge and a bolt carrying a wing nut. Get a fast joint hinge about 2 in. or more long and a bolt about 1/2 in. long that will fit the holes in ...
- Proper Design For A Bird House
- This bird house was designed and built to make a home for the American martin. The house will accommodate 20 families. All the holes are arranged so they will not be open to the cold winds from the no...
- Boomerangs And How To Make Them
- A boomerang is a weapon invented and used by the native Australians, who seemed to have the least intelligence of any race of mankind. The boomerang is a curved stick of hardwood, Fig. 1, about 5/16 i...
- How To Make Water Wings
- Purchase a piece of unbleached muslin, 1 yd. square. Take this and fold it over once, forming a double piece 1-1/2 ft. wide and 3 ft. long. Make a double stitch all around the edge, leaving a small op...
- How To Make An Equatorial
- Condensed from article contributed by J. R. Chapman, F.R.A.S. Austwick Hall. W. Yorkshire. England This star finder can easily be made by anyone who can use a few tools as the parts are all wood and ...
- Electric Light Turned On And Off From Different Places
- How nice it would be to have an electric light at the turn in a stairway, or at the top that could be turned on before starting up the stair and on reaching the top turned out, and vice versa when com...
- How To Make A Bunsen Cell
- This kind of a cell produces a high e.m.f. owing to the low internal resistance. Procure a glass jar such as used for a gravity battery, or, if one of these cannot be had, get a glazed vessel of simil...
- One Way To Cook Fish
- One of the best and easiest ways of cooking fish while out camping is told by a correspondent of Forest and Stream. A fire is built the size for the amount of food to be cooked and the wood allowed to...
- Hardening Copper
- A successful method of hardening copper is to add 1 lb. of alum and 4 oz. arsenic to every 20 lb. of melted copper and stir for 10 minutes. ...
- Packing Cut From Felt Hats
- Felt from an old hat makes good packing for automobile water-circulating pumps. Strips should be cut to fit snugly in the stuffing box. When the follower is screwed down, it will expand the felt and m...
- Homemade Gasoline Engine
- The material used in the construction of the gasoline engine, as shown in the accompanying picture, was pieces found in a scrap pile that usually occupies a fence corner on almost every farm. The cyli...
- Dripping Carburetor
- If gasoline drips from the carburetor when the engine is not running, the needle valve connected with the float should be investigated. If the dripping stops when the valve is pressed down, the float ...
- A Merry-Go-Round Thriller
- Swinging on the Merry-Go-Round As a home mechanic with a fondness for amusing the children I have seen many descriptions of merry-go-rounds, but never one which required so little material, labor ...
- How To Make And Fly A Chinese Kite
- The Chinese boy is not satisfied with simply holding the end of a kite string and running up and down the block or field trying to raise a heavy paper kite with a half pound of rags for a tail. He mak...
- Home-Made Vise
- An ordinary monkey wrench that has been discarded is used in making this vise. The wrench is supported by two L-shaped pieces of iron fastened with a rivet through the end jaw, and these in turn are b...
- Home-Made Changing Bag For Plate Holders
- A good bag for changing plates and loading plate holders and one that the operator can see well to work in can be made by anyone on a sewing machine. Ten yards of black cambric or other black cloth an...
- Home-Made Asbestos Table Pads
- Asbestos table pads to prevent the marring of polished table tops from heated dishes can be easily made at home much cheaper than they can be bought. Procure a sheet of asbestos from a plumbing shop a...
- How To Make A Ladies' Handbag
- To make this bag, get a piece of Russian calf modeling leather. A shade of brown is the best as it does not soil easily and does not require coloring, which spoils the leather effect. The dimensions ...
- Removing Wire Insulation
- The claw of a hammer can be used for removing the insulation on copper wire, if not more than 1 in. is taken off at a time. ...
- A Small Electric Motor
- The drawing herewith shows a simple electric motor which can be easily constructed by any boy who is at all handy with tools. I made this motor many times when a boy and can say that if carefully cons...
- Moving A Coin Under A Glass
- Place a penny or a dime on a tablecloth, towel or napkin and cover it over with a glass in such a way that the glass will rest upon two 25 or 50 cent pieces as shown in the sketch. The coin is made to...
- Improving Phonograph Sound
- When playing loud and harsh records on a phonograph the music is often spoiled by the vibration of the metal horn. This may be remedied by buckling a valise or shawl strap around the horn, near the ce...
- How To Make Paper Balloons
- Balloons made spherical, or designed after the regular aeronaut's hot-air balloon, are the best kind to make. Those having an odd or unusual shape will not make good ascensions, and in most cases the ...
- A Simple Steamboat Model
- The small boat shown in the accompanying sketch may have a length of 12 to 18 in. and is constructed in the following manner: A small steam boiler, A, is supported by two braces over an alcohol lamp i...
- To Remove Grease From Machinery
- A good way to remove grease or oil from machinery before painting is to brush slaked lime and water over the surface, leaving the solution on over night. After washing, the iron is dried and the paint...
- A Game Played On The Ice
- Two lines are drawn parallel on the ice from 50 to 100 ft. apart and blocks of wood are placed every 6 ft. apart on these lines. The player opening the game skates to the line and delivers, in bowling...
- Making Photo Silhouette Brass Plaques
- Secure a brass plate having a smooth surface the right size for the photograph and cover it with a coat of paraffin. This is done by heating the paraffin in a vessel hot enough to make the wax run fre...
- Aligning Automobile Headlights
- Automobile headlights should be set to throw the light straight ahead, not pointed down at the road at an angle. ...
- Telescope Stand And Holder
- With the ordinary small telescope it is very difficult to keep the line of sight fixed upon any particular object. To meet the situation I constructed the Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Made of a Camera Tripod d...
- How To Make An Electrical Horn
- Secure an empty syrup or fruit can, any kind having a smooth flat bottom will do. If the bottom is not perfectly flat, it will interfere with the regular tone vibrations, and not produce the right sou...
- Driving A Washing Machine With Motorcycle Power
- The halftone illustration shows how 1 rigged up my washing machine to be driven by the power from my motorcycle. I made a wheel 26 in. in diameter of some 1-in. pine boards, shrunk an iron band on it ...
- Home-Made Aquarium
- A good aquarium can be made from a large-sized street lamp globe and a yellow pine block. Usually a lamp globe costs less than an aquarium globe of the same dimensions. Procure a yellow pine block 3 ...
- Protect Your Lathe
- Never allow lard oil to harden on a lathe. ...
- Frame For Displaying Both Sides Of Coins
- It is quite important for coin collectors to have some convenient way to show both sides of coins without touching or handling them. If the collection consists of only a few coins, they can be arrange...
- How To Make A Developing Box
- A box for developing 3-1/4 by 4-1/4 -in. plates is shown in detail in the accompanying sketch. It is made of strips of wood 1/4-in. thick, cut and grooved, and then glued together as indicated. If des...
- Staining Wood
- A very good method of staining close-grained woods is to use muriatic acid. The acid is put on with a brush like any ordinary stain. The colors thus obtained are artistic and most beautiful, and canno...
- Sheet-Metal Whisk-Broom Holder
- A whisk-broom holder such as is shown in the accompanying picture may be easily made by the amateur. The tools needed are few: a pair of tin shears, a metal block of some kind upon which to pound when...
- How To Make A Camp Stool
- The stool, as shown in Fig. 1, is made of beech or any suitable wood with a canvas or carpet top. Provide four lengths for the legs, each 1 in. square and 18-1/2 in. long; two lengths, l-1/8 in. squar...
- A Small Home-Made Electric Motor
- The accompanying photographs show the construction of a very unique electric motor, the parts consisting of the frame from an old bicycle pedal wrapped with insulated wire to make the armature and thr...
- Rocker Blocks On Coaster Sleds
- The accompanying sketch shows a coasting sled with rocker blocks attached on both front and rear runners. The runners and the other parts of the sled are made in the usual way, but instead of fastenin...
- How To Make A Watch Fob #2
- This novelty watch fob is made from felt, using class, college or lodge colors combined in the making with emblems or initials colored on the texture. Two pieces of felt, each 1-1/4 in. wide and 4-...
- Drill Lubricant
- A good lubricant for drilling is made by dissolving 3/4 to 1 lb. of sal-soda in one pailful of water. ...
- New Way To Remove A Bottle Stopper
- Take a bottle of liquid, something that is carbonated, and with the aid of a napkin form a pad which is applied to the lower end of the bottle. Strike hard with repeated blows against the solid surfac...
- Imitation Fancy Wings On Hinges
- The accompanying sketch shows how I overcame the hardware troubles when I was not able to find ready-made hinges in antique design for a mission sideboard and buffet. This method allows a wide range o...
- How To Make A Child's Rolling Toy
- Secure a tin can, or a pasteboard box, about 2 in. in diameter and 2 in. or more in height. Punch two holes A, Fig. 1, in the cover and the bottom, 1/4 in. from the center and opposite each other. The...
- How To Make A Portfolio
- Secure a piece of Russian modeling calf leather of a size equal to 12 by 16 in. Make a paper pattern of the size indicated in the accompanying drawing, putting in the design. The necessary tools cons...
- Gear For Model Work
- When a gear is needed to drive a small pinion and there is none of the right size at hand, one can be made in the following manner: Turn up a wood disk to the proper diameter and 1/4 in. thicker than ...
- A Home-Made Vise
- A Home-Made Vise #1 While making a box I had some dovetailing to do, and as there was no vise on the bench I rigged up a substitute. I secured a board 3/4 in. thick, 3 in. wide and 20 in. long and bo...
- Cardboard Spiral Turned By Heat
- A novel attraction for a window display can be made from a piece of stiff cardboard cut in a spiral as shown in Fig. 1. The cardboard should be about 7 or 8 in. in diameter. Tie a piece of string to t...
- A Workbench For The Amateur
- The accompanying detail drawing shows a design of a portable workbench suitable for the amateur woodworker. This bench can be made easily by anyone who has a few sharp tools and a little spare time. I...
- Repairing A Worn Knife Blade
- When the blade of a favorite pocket knife, after constant use, becomes like A, Fig. 1, it is more dangerous than useful. To cut down the already worn blade would leave only a stump, but if the blade i...
- How To Make A Leather Spectacle Case
- The spectacle case shown in the accompanying illustration may be made of either calf or cow skin. The calf skin, being softer, will be easier to work, but will not make as rigid a case as the cow skin...
- Waterproofing A Wall
- The best way to make a tinted wall waterproof is to first use a material composed of cement properly tinted and with no glue in it--one that will not require a glue size on the wall. After this coatin...
- Polishing Flat Surfaces
- The work of finishing a number of brass castings with flat sides was accomplished on an ordinary polishing wheel, from which the first few layers of cloth were removed and replaced with emery cloth...
- Rubber Tip For Chair Legs
- An inexpensive method of preventing a chair from scratching the floor is to bore a hole of the proper size in the bottom end of each chair leg and then procure four rubber stoppers of uniform size ...
- Adjusting A Plumb-Bob Line
- When plumbing a piece of work, if there is no help at hand to hold the overhead line, it is common practice to fasten the plumb line to a nail or other suitable projection. On coming down to the lo...
- Drier For Footwear
- A drier for footwear can be readily made by a tinner, or anyone that can shape tin and solder. The drier consists of a pipe of sufficient length to enter the longest boot leg. Its top is bent at right...
- Repairing A Roller Shade
- A very satisfactory repair can be made by using a good photographic paste to fasten a torn window shade to its roller. ...
- A Shot Scoop
- In the ammunition department of our hardware store the shot was kept in regular square bins and dished out A Small Square Scoop Made of Tin for Dipping Up Shot Stored in a Square Bin with a round...
- Removing Grease Stains From The Leaves Of A Book
- Happening to get a grease spot on a page of a valuable book, I found a way to remove it without injury to the paper, which has been tried out several times with success. Heat an iron and hold it as n...
- Tightening Cane In Furniture
- Split cane, used as part of furniture, such as chair seats, often becomes loose and the threads of cane pull out. This can be prevented by sponging with hot water, or by applying steaming cloths to th...
- Cleaner For A Stovepipe
- A long horizontal pipe for a stove soon fills with soot and must be cleaned. The usual method is to beat the pipe after taking it down to be cleaned, but a much better device for the purpose is shown ...
- Mounting Photo Prints On Glass
- Photograph prints can be mounted on glass with an adhesive made by soaking 1 oz. of sheet gelatine in cold water to saturation, then dissolving in 3-1/2 oz. of boiling water. Let the solution cool to ...
- Dropping Coins In A Glass Full Of Water
- Take a glass and fill it to the brim with water, taking care that the surface of the water is raised a little above the edge of the glass, but not running over. Place a number of nickels or dimes on t...
- Hollow-Grinding Ice Skates
- The accompanying sketch illustrates a practical method of clamping ice skates to hold them for grinding the small arc of a circle so much desired. The U-shaped clamps are made of 3/4-in. soft steel w...
- How To Make A Bicycle Coasting Sled
- The accompanying drawing and sketch illustrate a new type of coasting sled built on the bicycle principle. This coaster is simple and easy to make, says Scientific American. It is constructed of a goo...
- Spelling Names With Photo Letters
- There are, no doubt, many amateur photographers who make only occasional trips afield or through the more traveled thoroughfares with their cameras during the winter months. Each one is generally inte...
- Holding A Loose Screw
- A piece of sheet lead put on each side of a screw will fill up and hold the threads in a too large hole. ...
- A Checker Board Puzzle
- Place eight checker men upon the checker board as shown in the first row in the sketch. The puzzle is to get them in four piles of two men each without omitting to jump over two checker men every time...
- A Home-Made Rabbit Trap
- Rabbit in the Trap A good serviceable rabbit trap can be made by sinking a common dry goods box in the ground to within 6 in. of its top. A hole 6 or 7 in. square is cut in each end level with the...
- Old-Time Magic - Changing A Button Into A Coin
- Place a button in the palm of the left hand, then place a coin between the second and third fingers of the right hand. Keep the right hand faced down and the left hand faced up, so as to conceal the c...
- Buttonhole Trick
- This trick is performed with a small stick having a loop attached that is too small for the stick to pass through. Spread out the string and place it each side of the buttonhole, then draw the cloth a...
- How To Remove Paper From Stamps
- Old stamps as they are purchased usually have a part of the envelope from which they are taken sticking to them and in removing this paper many valuable stamps are torn or ruined. Place all the stamps...
- Imitation Arms And Armor Part I
- Genuine antique swords and armor, as used by the knights and soldiers in the days of old, are very expensive and at the present time practically impossible to obtain. The accompanying illustration sho...
- A Dovetail Joint Puzzle
- A simple but very ingenious example in joinery is illustrated. In the finished piece, Fig. 1, the dovetail appears on each side of the square stick of wood, the illustration, of course, shows only two...
- Radiator Water
- Pure rain water is the best to use in a cooling system of an automobile engine, as it is free from the mineral substances which are deposited in the radiator, piping and jackets by hard water. ...
- Springboard For Swimmers
- A good springboard adds much to the fun of swimming. The boards are generally made so that the plank will bend, being dressed down thin at one end and fastened. The thinness of the plank, or an insecu...
- Taking Button From A Child's Nostril
- A three-year-old child snuffed a button up its nostril and the mother, in an attempt to remove it, had caused the button to be pushed farther up the channel. Doctors probed for the button without succ...
- Brass Frame In Repoussé
- Punches can be purchased, as can the pitch bed or block. Both can be made easily, however. Several punches of different sizes and shapes will be needed. A piece of mild steel, about 3/8 in. square, ca...
- Finding The Horsepower Of Small Motors
- A small motor often excites curiosity as to its true horsepower, or fraction of a horsepower. Guesses in this direction vary remarkably for the same motor or engine. It is comparatively easy to determ...
- Illusion For Window Attraction
- Gold fish and canary birds, living together in what seems like one receptacle, make an unusual show window attraction. Secure two glass vessels having straight sides of the same height, one 18 in. in ...
- Cleaner For White Shoes
- Finely ground whiting mixed with water to the consistency of paste makes a very good coating for white shoes. A brush can be used in applying the mixture which will dry in a few minutes. It is best to...
- Crossing Belt Laces
- Belt laces should never cross on the side next to the pulley as they will cut themselves in two. ...
- How To Make A Candlestick Holder
- A candlestick of very simple construction and design can be made as follows: Secure a piece of brass or Candle Holder Complete Candle Holder Complete copper of No. 23 gauge of a size sufficient ...
- A Home-Made Duplicator
- The usual gelatine pad, which is the principal part of the average hectograph or duplicator, is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, as it is apt to sour and mold in the summer and freeze in the winter, which,...
- Paper-Clip Bookmark
- The combination of a paper clip and a calling card makes a good bookmark. The clip and card can be kept together by piercing the card and bending the ends of the wire to stick through the holes. ...
- Aerating Water In A Small Tank
- A simple way of producing air pressure sufficient to aerate water is by the use of a siphon as shown in Fig. 1. The siphon is made of glass tubes, the longer pieces being bent on one end as shown. The...
- Imitation Arms And Armor-Part II
- Imitation swords, stilettos and battle-axes, put up as ornaments, will look well if they are arranged on a shield which is hung high up on a wall of a room or hall, says the English FIG 1 FIG 2 F...
- How To Make A Round Belt Without Ends
- A very good belt may be made by laying several strands of strong cord, such as braided fishline, together as shown in Fig. 1 and wrapping them as shown in Fig. 2. When wrapped all the way around, the ...
- Old-Time Magic - The Growing Flower
- This trick is performed with a wide-mouthed jar which is about 10 in. high. If an earthen jar of this kind is not at hand, use a glass fruit jar and cover it with black cloth or paper, so the contents...
- Water And Wine Trick
- This is an interesting trick based on the chemical properties of acids and alkalies. The materials needed are: One glass pitcher, filled with water, four glass tumblers, an acid, an alkali and some ph...
- Cheap Nails Are Expensive
- The life of iron shingle nails is about 6 years. An iron nail cannot be used again in putting on a new roof. Solid zinc nails last forever and can be used as often as necessary. As zinc is much lighte...
- Cutting Lantern Slide Masks
- It has long been a puzzle to me why round cornered masks are almost invariably used for lantern slides, when most works of art are included within rectangular spaces, says a correspondent of Photo Era...
- Relieving The Weight Of A Talking Machine Reproducer
- Too loud reproduction from a record, the scratching noise sometimes heard and the forcing of the needle into a soft record, because the extension arm and reproducer are too heavy, can be remedied in t...
- How To Make A Thermometer Back In Etched Copper
- Etching copper is not a very difficult process. Secure a sheet of No. 16 gauge copper of the width and length wanted for the back of the thermometer. In the design shown the extreme width is 3-1/2 in....
- To Make An Electric Piano
- Make or buy a table, about 3 ft. long and 1 ft. or more wide, and about 2-1/2 ft. high. Nail a board, A, Fig. 1, about 8 in. wide and of the same length as the table, to the table, as shown in the ill...
- Imitation Arms And Armor - Part III
- Maces and battle-axes patterned after and made in imitation of the ancient weapons which were used from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century produce fine ornaments for the hall or den, says the Eng...
- Playing Baseball With A Pocket Knife
- An interesting game of baseball can be played by two persons with a common pocket knife on a rainy day or in the winter time when the regular game cannot be played outdoors. The knife is opened and lo...
- How To Remove Paper Stuck To A Negative
- When making photographic prints from a negative, sometimes a drop of moisture will cause the print to stick to the gelatine film on the glass. Remove as much of the paper as can be readily torn off an...
- Old-Time Magic - A Sack Trick
- The magician appears accompanied by his assistant. He has a sack similar to a meal bag only on a large scale. The upper end of this bag is shown in Fig. 1, with the rope laced in the cloth. He then se...
- The Invisible Light
- The magician places two common wax candles on a table, one of them burning brightly, the other without a light. Members of the audience are allowed to inspect both the table and the candles. The magi...
- Using The Sun's Light In A Magic Lantern
- The light furnished with a small magic lantern does very well for evening exhibitions, but the lantern can be used in the daytime with good results by directing sunlight through the lens instead of us...
- A Handy Drill Gauge
- The accompanying sketch shows a simple drill gauge which will be found very handy for amateurs. The gauge consists of a piece of hard wood, 3/4 in. thick, with a width and length that will be suitable...
- A Home-Made Daniell Cell
- An effective Daniell galvanic cell may be constructed from material costing very little money. A common tin tomato can with a copper wire soldered to the top forms the jar and positive electrode. A pi...
- A Home-Made Equatorial
- By Harry Clark The ordinary equatorial is designed and built for the latitude of the observatory where it is to be used. This is necessary since the hour axis must point to the north pole of the heav...
- A Ground Glass Substitute
- Ordinary plain glass coated with the following mixture will make a good ground glass substitute: Dissolve 18 gr. of gum sandarac and 4 gr. of gum mastic in 3-1/2 dr.. of ether, then add 1 2-3 dr. benz...
- A Miniature War Dance
- A piece of paper, 3 or 4 in. long, is folded several times, as shown in the sketch, and the first fold marked out to represent one-half of an Indian. Cut out all the folds at one time on the dotted li...
- Saving An Engine
- Turning the water on before starting the gas engine may prevent breaking a cylinder on a cold day. ...
- Old-Time Magic
- Removing 36 Cannon Balls from a Handbag The magician produces a small handbag and informs the audience that he has it filled with 20-lb. cannon balls. He opens up the bag and takes out a ball which h...
- A Rising Card Trick
- A rising card trick can be accomplished with very little skill by using the simple device illustrated. The only things needed are four ordinary playing cards and a short rubber band. Pass one end of t...
- Sliding Box Cover Fastener
- While traveling through the country as a watchmaker I found it quite convenient to keep my small drills, taps, small brooches, etc., In boxes having a sliding cover. To keep the contents from spill...
- How To Chain A Dog
- A good way to chain a dog and give him plenty of ground for exercise is to stretch a clothesline or a galvanized wire between the house and barn on which is placed a ring large enough to slide freely....
- Water-Color Box
- There are many different trays in the market for the purpose of holding water colors, but they are either too expensive for the average person or too small to be convenient. I do a great deal of water...
- Saving Ink Pens
- Ink usually corrodes pens in a short time. This can be prevented by placing pieces of steel pens or steel wire in the ink, which will absorb the acid and prevent it from corroding the pens. ...
- A Plant-Food Percolator
- Obtain two butter tubs and bore a large number of 1/4-in. holes in the bottom of one, then cover the perforated part with a piece of fine brass gauze (Fig. 1), tacking the gauze well at the corners. T...
- Lathe Safety
- Always caliper the work in a lathe while it is standing still. Never use the ways of a lathe for an anvil or storage platform. ...
- Folding Quilting-Frames
- The frame in which the material is kept stretched when making a quilt is usually too large to be put out of the way conveniently when other duties must be attended to; and especially are the end piece...
- A Drip Shield For The Arms
- When working with the hands in a pan of water, oil or other fluid, it is very disagreeable to have the liquid run down the arms, when they are raised from the pan, often to soil the sleeves of a clean...
- How To Cane Chairs
- There are but few households that do not have at least one or two chairs without a seat or back. The same households may have some one who would enjoy recaning the chairs if he only knew how to do it,...
- Repairing A Cracked Composition Developing Tray
- Fill the crack with some powdered rosin and heap it up on the outside. Heat a soldering-iron or any piece of metal enough to melt the rosin and let it flow through the break. When cool, trim off the s...
- How To Lay Out A Sundial
- The sundial is an instrument for measuring time by using the shadow of the sun. They were quite common in ancient times before clocks and watches were invented. At the present time they are used more ...
- Imitation Arms And Armor-Part IV
- The ancient arms of defense as shown in the accompanying illustrations make good ornaments for the den if they are cut from wood and finished in imitation of the real weapon. The designs shown represe...
- An Emergency Babbitt Ladle
- Take an old stove leg and rivet a handle on it and then break the piece off which fastens on the stove. The large and rounding part of the leg makes the bowl of the ladle. This ladle will be found con...
- How To Make Japanese Portieres
- These very useful and ornamental draperies can be easily made at home by anyone possessing a little ingenuity. They can be made of various materials, the most durable being bamboo, although beads of g...
- Makeshift Camper's Lantern
- While out camping, our only lantern was accidentally smashed beyond repair, and it was necessary to devise something that would take its place. We took an empty tomato can and cut out the tin, 3 in. w...
- New Tires For Carpet-Sweeper Wheels
- The rubber tires on carpet-sweeper wheels often become so badly worn and stretched that they fail to grip the carpet firmly enough to run the sweeper. To remedy this, procure some rubber tape a little...
- Gauntlets On Gloves
- When the fingers or palms of gloves with gauntlets wear out, do not throw away the gloves, but cut off the gauntlets and procure a pair of gloves with short wrists to which the old gauntlets can be se...
- How To Make An Ornamental Brass Flag
- The outlines of the flag--which may be of any size to suit the metal at hand--and the name are first drawn on a sheet of thin paper and then transferred to the brass by tracing through a sheet of carb...
- An Adjustable Punching-Bag Platform
- A punching-bag platform, suitable for the tall athlete as well as the small boy, is shown in the accompanying sketch. The platform is securely fastened to two strong wooden arms or braces, which in tu...
- Clasp For Holding Flexible Lamp Cords
- A very easily made drop-light adjuster is shown in the illustration. It consists of a piece of copper wire 7/8 in. in diameter, bent as shown. This clasp is capable of standing a strong pull and will ...
- Protect Camel Hair Brushes
- Camel hair brushes for painters' use should never be allowed to come in contact with water. ...
- Home-Made Electric Clock
- The clock illustrated herewith is driven by means of electromagnets acting directly on the pendulum bob. Unlike most clocks, the pendulum swings forward and backward instead of laterally. The construc...
- Method Of Joining Boards
- The amateur wood-worker often has trouble in joining two boards together so that they will fit square and tight. The accompanying sketch shows a simple and effective method of doing this. Secure a boa...
- Toy Gun For Throwing Cardboard Squares
- The parts of the gun are attached to a thin piece of wood 1 in. wide and 5 in. long. It is best to use a piece of wood cut from the side or cover of a cigar box. A rectangular hole 3/16 in. wide and 1...
- Photographic Developing Tray
- Plates developed in an ordinary tray must be removed from the bath occasionally for examination. The film when in a chemical-soaked condition is easily damaged. The tray illustrated herewith was made ...
- Iron Putty
- A good filler used as a putty on iron castings may be made as follows: Take, by weight, 3 parts of stiff keg lead, 5 parts of black filler, 2 parts of whiting, 5 parts of pulverized silica and make in...
- Rubber Bands In Kite Balancing Strings
- Kite flyers will find it to their advantage to place rubber bands of suitable size in the balancing strings to the kite, as shown in the illustration. This will prevent a break-away and also make th...
- An Aid In Sketching
- Sketching requires some little training, but with the apparatus here illustrated an inexperienced person can obtain excellent results. The apparatus is made of a box 8 in. deep, 8 in. wide and about 1...
- How To Make Miniature Electric Lamp Sockets
- A socket for a miniature lamp can be made as shown in the sketch. A brass spring wire is wound around the base of the threads on the lamp and an eye turned on each end to receive a screw and a binding...
- Imitation Arms And Armor-Part V
- The preceding chapters gave descriptions of making arms in imitation of ancient weapons, and now the amateur armorer must have some helmets to add to his collection. There is no limit to the size of t...
- How To Repair Linoleum
- A deep crack or fissure right in front of the kitchen cabinet spoiled the appearance of the new linoleum. The damaged spot was removed with a sharp knife and from a left-over scrap a piece was cut of ...
- How To Make An Electric Stove
- The parts necessary for making an electric stove are: Two metal pie plates of the same size; 4 lb. of fire clay; two ordinary binding posts; about 1 lb. of mineral wool, or, if this cannot be obtained...
- How To Make Weights For Athletes
- Many times boys would like to make their own shots and weights for athletic stunts, but do not know how to go about it to cast the metal. In making a lead sphere as shown in the illustration, it is no...
- Removing Pies From Pans
- Sometimes the juices from a hot pie make it stick to the pan so tightly that a knife blade must be run under to cut it loose. If a knife with a flexible blade is not used, the pie will be damaged. ...
- Stretcher For Drying Photograph Prints
- A quick and convenient way to dry prints is to place them on a cheesecloth stretcher. Such a stretcher can be made on a light wood frame, constructed of 3/4-in. square material in any size, but 12 by ...
- A Temporary Funnel
- The amateur photographer often has some solution which he desires to put into a bottle which his glass funnel will not fit, says the Photographic Times. The funnel made by rolling up a piece of paper ...
- An Electric Engine
- The parts of this engine are supported on a base 3/4 in. thick, 4 in. wide and 7 in. long. The upright B, Fig. 1, which is 1/2 in. thick and 3 in. high, is secured across the base about one-third of t...
- Child's Home-Made Swing Seat
- A very useful swing or seat for children can be made from a box or packing case. Procure a box of the right size and saw it out in the shape shown in the illustration. The apron or board in front slid...
- Clay Flower Pots Used For Bird Houses
- A novel use of the common garden flower pot may be made by enlarging the small opening at the bottom with a pair of pliers, and carefully breaking the clay away until the opening is large enough to ad...
- Location Of A Gas Meter
- The gas meter should not be located in a warm place or the gas will expand before the meter measures it and the gas bill will be proportionately increased. Gas expands by about 1/491 part of its volum...
- How To Make Rope Grills
- Beautiful and useful household ornaments, grills and gratings for doors, windows, shelves, odd corners, etc., can be made by the following method at a slight cost and by anyone possessing a little ing...
- A Simple And Effective Filter
- Procure an ordinary lamp chimney and fit two or three thicknesses of cheese cloth over the end of it. Press a tuft of absorbent cotton into the small part of the neck to a depth of about 3 in. Insert ...
- Cutting Tools
- The cutting point of a tool should never be below the centers. ...
- Imitation Arms And Armor-Part VI
- A mass of any kind of clay that is easily modeled and fairly stiff must be prepared and kept moist and well kneaded for making the models over which paper is formed to make the shape of the articles i...
- Home-Made Hand Vise
- A vise for holding small articles while filing can be made as shown in the illustration. The vise consists of three pieces of wood, two for the jaws and one a wedge. The hinge for connecting the two j...
- Detector For Slight Electrical Charges
- A thin glass bottle is thoroughly cleaned and fitted with a rubber stopper. A hole is made through the center of the stopper large enough to admit a small brass rod. The length of this rod will be gov...
- Fishing Through Ice With A Tip-Up
- The tip-up, used for signaling the fisherman when a fish is caught, is made of a 1/4-in. pine board, about 15 in. long, 2-1/2 in. wide at one end and narrowing down to about 1 in at the other. At a po...
- Home-Made Candle Holder
- The candlestick or holder shown in the illustration is made of an ordinary tin can, such as is used for canning salmon or potted ham. Three triangular cuts are made in the cover or bottom of the can a...
- How To Make A Match Holder Of Wood And Metal
- A very simple piece of art craft work is easily made, as follows: Secure a piece of paper and upon it draw the outline and design, as indicated in the accompanying sketch. The size may be made to suit...
- Protecting The Fingers From Chemicals
- The finger nails and fingers may be easily protected from stains of chemicals by coating them with a wax made up as follows: Melt white wax in the same manner as melting glue. This may be done by cutt...
- Combined Turning Rings And Swings
- This trapeze, with rings for the large boys and a swing for the smaller ones, can be made on the same standards. Instead of the usual two short ropes, tied and bolted through the top crosstimber bore ...
- Homemade Telegraph Key #2
- Key and Connections A piece of wood, 1/2 in. thick, 2 in. wide and 5 in. long, is used for the base of this instrument. Two wire nails, each 1 in. long, are used for the cores of the magnets. Eac...
- Protecting Sleeves
- Bicycle trousers-guards make excellent sleeve bands when the cuffs are turned back and rolled above the elbows. ...
- Imitation Arms And Armor-Part VII
- The helmets, breastplates and gauntlets described in parts V and VI can be used in making up a complete model for a full suit of armor of any size, as shown in Fig. 1. All of the parts for the armor h...
- A Home-Made Tripod Holder
- An inexpensive tripod holder, one that will prevent the tripod from slipping on a smooth floor, and prevent the points from doing damage to the polished surface or puncturing an expensive rug or carpe...
- How To Weave A Shoestring Watch Fob
- Having procured a pair of ordinary shoestrings, take both ends of one of them and force the ends through the middle of the other, leaving a loop 1-1/2 in. long, as shown in Fig. 2. In this sketch, A i...
- How To Make A Table Mat Of Leather
- The table mat, the design of which is shown herewith, is to be made of leather. It may be made of Russian calf and the background modeled down as has been described in several previous articles dealin...
- Sad Iron Polisher
- A small amount of wax is necessary on an iron for successful work. The wax is usually applied by hand to the heated surface of the iron. A much better and handier way is to bore five or six holes in o...
- Making Coins Stick To Wood By Vacuum
- Take a quarter and place it flat against a vertical surface of wood such as the side of a bookcase, door facing or door panel, and strike it hard with a downward sliding motion, pressing it against th...
- Simple And Safe Method For Sending Coins By Mail
- Sending coins by mail is not as a rule advisable, but sometimes it becomes necessary, and usually a regular coin mailer is not available. A very simple and secure way to wrap a coin or coins for maili...
- Mounting Photographs In Plaster Plaques
- Purchase a few pounds of plaster of paris from your local druggist and select a dish of the desired shape in which to make your cast. The size of the dish will depend on the size of the print to be mo...
- Iron Rest For An Ironing Board
- A flatiron rest can be made on an ironing-board by driving a number of large tacks into one end of the board. The tacks should be about 1 in. apart and driven in only part way, leaving about 1/4 in. r...
- Instantaneous Crystallization
- Dissolve 150 parts of hyposulphite of soda in 15 parts of water and pour the solution slowly into a test tube which has been warmed in boiling water, filling the same about one-half full. Dissolve in ...
- Decoloration Of Flowers By Fumes Of Sulphur
- Dissolve some sulphur in a small dish which will inflame by contact with air thus forming sulphuric acid fumes. Cover the dish with a conical chimney made of tin and expose to the upper opening the fl...
- How To Preserve Egg Shells
- Many naturalists experience difficulty in preserving valuable egg shells. One of the most effective ways of preserving them is as follows: After the egg is blown, melt common beeswax and force it into...
- Homemade Phonograph
- Make a box large enough to hold four dry cells and use it as a base to mount the motor on and to support the revolving cylinder. Anyone of the various battery motors may be used to supply the power. T...
- A Substitute For A Compass
- An easy way to make a pencil compass when one is not at hand, is to take a knife with two blades at one end, open one to the full extent and the other only halfway. Stick the point end of the fully op...
- A Novel Rat Trap
- A boy, while playing in the yard close to a grain house, dug a hole and buried an old-fashioned fruit jug or jar that his mother had thrown away, says the Iowa Homestead. The top part of the jug wa...
- A Nut-Cracking Block
- Holes in Block for Nuts In the sketch herewith is shown an appliance for cracking nuts which will prevent many a bruised thumb. To anyone who has ever tried to crack butternuts it needs no further...
- A Jelly-Making Stand
- Every housewife who makes jelly is only too well acquainted with the inconvenience and danger of upsets when using the old method of balancing a jelly-bag on a couple of chairs stood on the kitchen ta...
- How To Make An Egg-Beater
- There is no reason why any cook or housewife should be without this eggbeater, as it can be made quickly in any size. All that is needed is an ordinary can with a tight-fitting cover-a baking-powder c...
- Cart Without An Axle
- The boy who has a couple of cart wheels is not always lucky enough to have an axle of the proper length to fit the wheels. In such a case the cart can be constructed as shown in the illustration. This...
- An Illuminated Target
- My youthful nephews some time ago were presented with an air rifle and it worked so well that it became necessary for me to construct a target that would allow the fun to be carried on at night. I re...
- Feed Box For Chickens
- The sketch shows the construction of a feed box designed to prevent the scattering of feed and give the coward rooster as much chance to fatten as the game cock. The base may be made of a 1/2-in. boar...
- A Book Rest
- A book that does not open flat is rather inconvenient to write in when one of its sides is in the position shown in Fig. 2. A wedge-shaped piece of metal, stone or wood, as shown in Fig. 1, will, when...
- Window Shelf For Flower Pots
- On the ledge formed by the top part of the lower sash of the window I fitted a board 7 in. wide into each side of the casing, by cutting away the ends. I placed a small bracket at each end of the shel...
- Magnet For The Work Basket
- Tie a ribbon or strong string to the work basket and fasten a large magnet to the other end. Needles, scissors, etc., can be picked up without any trouble. This device is very convenient for invalids....
- Knife Made From A Hack-Saw Blade
- A very serviceable knife with excellent cutting qualities can be made easily from a discarded hack-saw blade. The dimensions given in the sketch make a knife of convenient size. The saw teeth are gro...
- Killing Mice And Rats
- A simple and inexpensive means for killing mice and rats is to leave yeast cakes lying around where they can eat them. --Contributed by Maud McKee, Erie, Pa. ...
- Roller Coaster Illusion Traveling Up An Incline
- A toy car with a paddle wheel and a shaft on both ends traveling upward on a chute in which water is flowing down, is shown in the accompanying sketch. The paddle wheels travel in a reverse direction ...
- Block For Planing Octagonal Wood Pieces
- The little device shown in the illustration will be found very useful in any workshop. Two or three of them will be necessary for planing long pieces. Each one is made of a hardwood block, 1 in. squar...
- A Letter Holder Of Pierced Metal
- The letter holder shown in the illustration will be found convenient for holding outgoing letters that await the postman's coming. It can be made of either copper or brass and need not Finished L...
- Imitating Ground Glass
- Make a mixture of white lead in oil, 1 part; varnish, 3/4 part; turpentine, 1/4 part, and add sugar of lead as a dryer. Make a very thin paint of this and use a broad, flat brush, says Master Painter....
- Draw Before Cutting
- A detail drawing made of a piece of furniture before starting the work will often save time and mistakes. ...
- Making "Spirits" Play A Violin
- A very pretty trick, that can be worked in your own parlor, will produce as much sensation as a fake medium. In all appearance, a violin, mandolin or guitar, placed on a table, will begin to produce...
- Sizing A Threaded Hole
- It sometimes becomes necessary to transfer the size of a threaded hole from some out-of-the-way place to the shop in order to make a piece to fit it. With proper tools this is easy; without them, it m...
- Leaded-Glass Fire Screen
- The main frame of the fire screen shown in Fig. 1 is made from two pieces of 1/2-in. square bar iron. The longest piece, which should be about 5-1/2 ft. long, is bent square so as to form two uprights...
- A Revolving Teeter Board
- Details Ot Leeter Csoara Details of Teeter Board The accompanying sketch shows the details of a revolving teeter board for the children's playground that can be constructed in a few hours. Secure...
- Home-Made Pot Covers
- Empty thread spools and the tins used as extra inside covers in lard cans are usually thrown away, but these can be put to good use as kettle covers, if they are made up as follows: Saw the spool in h...
- An Outdoor Gymnasium Part I-The Horizontal Bar
- Gymnastic apparatus costs money and needs to be housed, because it will not stand the weather. Gymnasiums are not always available for the average boy who likes exercise and who would like to learn th...
- Electrostatic Illumination
- Anyone having the use of a static machine can perform the following experiment which gives a striking result. A common tumbler is mounted on a revolving platform and a narrow strip of tinfoil is faste...
- Balloon Ascension Illusion
- By C. W. Nieman In these days of startling revelations in air-craft flight we are prepared to see any day some marvelous machine driven bird cutting figure-eights all over the sky above our heads. O...
- A Cork Extractor
- The device shown in the sketch is for removing a cork or stopper from a bottle whether full or empty where the cork has been pushed inside. A wire about No. 14 gauge is bent as shown at B, Fig. 1, to ...
- An Outdoor Gymnasium Part II-Parallel Bars
- Parallel bars hold a high place in the affection of those who frequent gymnasiums as the best apparatus for development of the back and shoulder muscles, as well as a promoter of ease and grace of mov...
- Combined Ladle And Strainer
- When using a strainer in connection with a ladle the operation requires both hands. A convenient article where a ladle and strainer are needed is to swing a cup-shaped strainer under the bowl of a lad...
- Cleaning Gloves
- A solution consisting of 1 dr. of sodium carbonate and 1 qt. of milk makes an excellent cleaner for motorists' gloves. ...
- Turpentine In Cutting Oil
- When cutting steel or wrought iron in a lathe, milling machine, drill press or planer, it is sometimes necessary to leave a smooth surface. Oil, or various cutting compounds of oil, is used for this p...
- Center Of Gravity Experiment
- This experiment consists of suspending a pail of water from a stick placed upon a table as shown in the accompanying sketch. In order to accomplish this experiment, which seems impossible, it is neces...
- Lathe Accuracy
- A heavy lathe cut will not do accurate work. ...
- An Outdoor Gymnasium Part III-The Horse
- The German horse is that peculiar piece of apparatus which is partly a horizontal obstruction to leap over, partly a barrier for jumps, partly a smooth surface of long and narrow dimensions over and a...
- Spoon Rest For Kettles
- A rest for keeping spoons from slipping into kettles can be made from a strip of metal bent as shown in the illustration. The spring of the metal will make it easy to apply to the kettle. The spoon pl...
- Reason For Bursting Of Gun Barrels
- Gun barrels do not burst without a cause and usually that cause is one of which the shooter is entirely ignorant, but nevertheless, no one is responsible but himself, says the Sporting Goods Dealer. G...
- Hand Sled Made Of Pipe And Fittings
- The accompanying sketch shows how an ordinary hand sled can be made of 3/4-in. pipe and fittings. Each runner is made of one piece of pipe bent to the proper shape. This can be accomplished by filling...
- Emergency Magnifying Glass
- When in need of a microscope in the study of botany, one may be made in the following manner: Bend a small wire or the stem of a leaf so as to form a small loop not larger than the ordinary drop of wa...
- Bent-Iron Pipe Rack
- Strips of soft iron, 1/4 or 3/16 in. in width and 1/32 in. thick, are used in making the pipe rack shown in Fig. 1. This material can be obtained from any local hardware dealer who carries bar iron in...
- To Clean Silver
- A good method to clean silver of any kind is to place the articles in an aluminum vessel and add a few pieces of zinc. Hot water is added and the silver boiled until clean. It is best to use soft wate...
- Sharpening Skates With A File
- Two methods are shown in the sketches for filing skates-one for hollow filing and the other for filing flat and straight across the blade. The method shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is for filing the blade fla...
- Lines And Letters Made With A Carpenter's Pencil
- The sketch shows some unusual work made with a carpenter's pencil. If the flat lead is notched with a three-cornered file (Fig. 1), two parallel lines may be drawn at one stroke, or various rulings ma...
- Insulating Aluminum Wire
- Aluminum wire plunged hot into a cold solution of carbonate of soda becomes coated with a strong layer of oxide which forms an excellent insulator to electricity. ...
- How To Build An Ice-Yacht
- Condensed from an article by H. Percy Ashley in Rudder. The plans and specifications shown in the illustrations are for making a 400-ft. class ice-yacht, having a double cockpit to accommodate four ...
- Turning Lights On And Off From Any Number Of Places
- This can be done by the use of any number of reversing switches such as those shown at Band C. These are inserted between the two-way switches A and D. Turning such a switch up or down connects the fo...
- How To Make An Electric Pendant Switch
- It is often desired to use a pendant switch for controlling clusters of incandescent lamps. When such a switch is not at hand, a very good substitute can be made by screwing a common fuse plug into a ...
- Measure
- Never guess the length of a piece of work--measure it. ...
- Home-Made Water Motor
- The small water motor shown in the illustration is constructed in the same manner as a German toy steam turbine. The wheel, which is made of aluminum 1/16 in. thick and 7 in. in diameter, has 24 blade...
- Device For Baseball Throwing Practice
- Anyone training to be a baseball player will find the device shown in the accompanying illustration a great help when practicing alone. It consists of two cement slabs, one flat and upright, the other...
- How To Mail Photographs
- Cut a piece of cardboard 1 in. longer and 1 in. wider than the mount of the photograph and lay the picture on it in the center. This allows a 1/2-in. border on all sides of the photograph. Punch two h...
- A Mystifying Watch Trick
- Borrow a watch from one of the audience and allow the owner to place it in the box, as shown in Fig. 1. This box should be about 3 in. long, 4 in. wide and 2-1/2 in. deep, says the Scientific American...
- Locking Several Drawers With One Lock
- A series or row of drawers can be secured with one lock by using the device shown in the sketch. This method takes away several dangling locks and the carrying of many keys. A rod is used through the ...
- Testing Small Electric Lamps
- The accompanying sketch shows the construction of a handy device for testing miniature electric lights. The base is made to take in an electric flash lamp battery. Two strips of brass, C and D, are co...
- How To Make A Pin Ball
- The pin ball shown in the illustration is made of calfskin modeling leather and saddler's felt. Two pieces of leather are used, and one piece of felt, all three being cut circular to a diameter of abo...
- Cleaning Woodwork
- An easy method of removing the dirt and old varnish at the same time around a kitchen sink is told by a correspondent of National Magazine as follows: Make a soft soap from common yellow laundry soap...
- Bill File Made Of Corkscrews
- An ordinary corkscrew makes a convenient file for small bills or memoranda. It may be thrown in any position without danger of the papers slipping off. A rack to hold a number of files can be made of ...
- Ornamental Metal Inkstand
- The metal required for making this stand is 3/16 in. in width and may be steel, brass or copper. The shaping is done as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. There are, in all, eight pieces to be bent. The two supp...
- Holding Eyeglasses Firm
- Persons who wear noseglasses and who are troubled with excessive perspiration, should chalk the sides of the bridge of the nose before putting on the glasses. The latter will then never slip, even in ...
- Substitute For Gummed Paper
- Gummed paper is a great convenience in the home especially for labels, but it is not always found among the household supplies. The gummed portions of unsealed envelopes in which circulars are receive...
- Repairing A Broken Phonograph Spring
- As I live a great distance from a railroad station, I did not care to pay the price, and await the time necessary to deliver a new phonograph spring to replace one that broke in my machine, and I repa...
- Calls While You Are Out
- If you wish to know whether or not the door or telephone bell rings during your absence, place a little rider of paper or cardboard on the clapper in such a way that it will be dislodged if the bell r...
- A Small Bench Lathe Made Of Pipe Fittings
- The most important machine in use in the modern machine or wood-working shop is the lathe. The uses to which this wonderful machine can be put would be too numerous to describe, but there is hardly a ...
- Holder For Flexible Lamp-Cord
- The holder is made of a round stick--a piece of a broom handle will do--as shown in Fig. 1. It is about 1 in. long with two notches cut out for the strands of the cord. These holders are easily made a...
- Support For Double Clotheslines
- Anyone using a double clothesline over pulleys will find the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 for supporting the lower line quite convenient. The support is made of a piece of 3/4-in. square or round wood ...
- Hot Pan Or Plate Lifter
- Unless a person uses considerable caution, bad burns may be suffered when taking hot pies from an oven. If one reaches in and takes hold of the pie pan with a cloth, the arm is liable to touch the ove...
- Weighting Indian Clubs
- An ordinary Indian club can be fixed so that different weights may be had without changing clubs. Each club is bored to receive lead washers which are held in place by a spiral spring. A bolt is ru...
- Venting A Funnel
- When using a tight-fitting funnel in a small-neck bottle, trouble is usually experienced by the air causing a spill. This can be easily remedied by splitting a match in half and tying the parts on the...
- Lubricating Woodscrews
- A screw may be turned into hardwood easily, by boring a small hole and lubricating the screw threads with soft soap. ...
- To Make "Centering" Unnecessary
- For drilling a hole in a chucked piece, centering is just one operation too many, if this method is followed: First, face off the end of the piece, making a true spot at least as big as the diameter ...
- Fountain Pen Cap Used As A Ruler
- When it is necessary to draw a short line and there is no ruler at hand, take off the cap of your fountain pen and use it as a ruler. If the cap is fitted with a retaining clip, all the better, as thi...
- Vanishing Handkerchief Trick
- The necessary articles used in performing this trick are the handkerchief, vanishing wand, a long piece of glass tubing, a bout 1/2 in. shorter t h a n the wand, and a paper tube closed at one end and...
- Removing Glass Letters From Windows
- Glass letters are removed in the same way as metal letters, by applying caustic soda or potash around the edges of the letters. As the cement softens, manipulate the point of a pocket knife under the ...
- A Guitar That Is Easy To Make
- A guitar having straight lines, giving it an old-fashioned appearance, can be made by the home mechanic, and if care is taken in selecting the material, and having it thoroughly seasoned, the finished...
- Greasing The Front Wheels Of An Automobile
- The front wheel bearings of an automobile can be greased without removing the wheels in the following manner: Remove the hub caps and fill them with heavy grease and then screw them in place. Continue...
- Removing Mold
- Mold on wallpaper can be removed at once by applying a solution of 1 part salicylic acid in 4 parts of 95% alcohol. ...
- How To Make A Paper Boat
- A Light Boat That Can Be Easily Carried Now you might think it absurd to advise making a paper boat, but it is not, and you will find it in some respects and for some purposes better than the wooden ...
- To Hang Heavy Things On A Nail
- Boys will find many places around the house, where a hook to hang things on will be a great convenience. Instead of buying hooks use wire nails, and if driven as shown in the cut, they will support ve...
- A Home-Made Elderberry Huller
- As we had only one day to pick elderberries, we wanted to get as many of them as we could in that time. We could pick them faster than they could be hulled by hand so we made a huller to take along wi...
- How To Make A Bulb On A Glass Tube
- As a great many persons during the winter months are taking advantage of the long evenings to experiment in one way or another, the following method of forming bulbs on glass tubes may be of interest....
- How To Make A Sconce
- A sconce is a candlestick holder, so made that it has a reflector of brass or copper and is to hang upon the wall. The tools necessary are a riveting hammer, file, metal shears, rivet punch, flat and ...
- How To Make A Hectograph
- Making Copies with the Hectograph A hectograph is very simply and easily made and by means of it many copies of writing can be obtained from a single original. Make a tray of either tin or pastebo...
- How To Make A Sailomobile
- By Frank Mulford, Shiloh, N. J. I had read of the beach automobiles used on the Florida coast; they were like an ice boat with a sail, except they had wheels instead of runners. So I set to work to ...
- A Home-Made Magic Lantern
- The essential parts of a magic lantern are a condensing lens to make the beam of light converge upon the slide to illuminate it evenly, a projecting lens with which to throw an enlarged picture of the...
- A Quickly Made Lamp
- A very simple lamp can be made from materials which are available in practically every household in the following manner: A cheap glass tumbler is partly filled with water and then about 1/2 in. of sa...
- How To Make A Paper Aeroplane
- A very interesting and instructive toy aeroplane can be made as shown in the accompanying illustrations. A sheet of paper is first folded, Fig. 1, then the corners on one end are doubled over, Fig. 2,...
- Bronze Liquid
- Banana oil or amyl acetate is a good bronze liquid. ...
- A Wrestling Mat
- The cost of a wrestling mat is so great that few small clubs can afford to own one. As we did not see our way Made Of Bed Mattresses Made of Bed Mattresses clear to purchase such a mat, I made o...
- A Pocket Voltammeter
- Remove the works and stem from a discarded dollar watch, drill two 3/16 in. holes in the edge, 3/4 in. apart, and insert two binding-posts, Fig. 1, insulating them from the case with cardboard. Fold t...
- A Film Washing Trough
- Washing a Negative Film The washing of films without scratching them after they are developed and fixed is very difficult in hot weather. A convenient washing trough for washing full length films ...
- Wood Burning
- Burnt wood work done with an ordinary reading glass and the sun's rays. ...
- The Diving Bottle
- This is a very interesting and easily performed experiment illustrating the transmission of pressure by liquids. Take a wide-mouthed bottle and fill almost full of water; then into this bottle place, ...
- How To Make An Inexpensive Wooden Fan
- Select a nice straight-grained piece of white pine about 1/4 in. thick, 3/4 in. wide and 4 in. long. Lay out the design desired and cut as shown in Fig. 1, and then soak the wood in hot water to make ...
- Combination Telegraph And Telephone Line
- The accompanying diagrams show connections for a short line system Wiring Diagram (metallic circuit) of telegraph where a telephone may be used in combination on the line. The telephone receiver...
- How To Make A Miniature Windmill
- The following description is how a miniature windmill was made, which gave considerable power for its size, even in a light breeze. Its smaller parts, such as blades and pulleys, were constructed of 1...
- How To Make A Telegraph Instrument And Buzzer
- The only expenditure necessary in constructing this telegraph instrument is the price of a dry cell, providing one has a few old materials on hand. Procure a block of wood about 6 in. long and 3 in. ...
- How To Make A Water Bicycle
- Water bicycles afford fine sport, and, like many another device boys make, can be made of material often cast off by their people as rubbish. The principle material necessary for the construction of a...
- How To Make A Small Searchlight
- The materials required for a small searchlight are a 4-volt lamp of the loop variety, thin sheet brass for the cylinder, copper piping and brass tubing for base. When completed the searchlight may be ...
- Electric Alarm That Rings A Bell And Turns On A Light
- The illustration shows an alarm clock connected up to ring an electric bell, and at the same time turn on an electric light to show the time. The parts indicated are as follows: A, key of alarm clock;...
- How To Hold A Screw On A Screwdriver
- A screw that is taken from a place almost inaccessible with the fingers requires considerable patience to return it with an ordinary screwdriver unless some holding-on device is used. I have found tha...
- How To Make A Lead Cannon
- Any boy who has a little mechanical ability can make a very reliable cannon for his Fourth-of-July celebration by following the instructions given here: Lead Cannon Construction Take a stick--a ...
- Homemade Electric Bed Warmer
- The heat developed by a carbon-filament lamp is sufficiently high to allow its use as a heating element of, for instance, a bed warmer. There are a number of other small heaters which can be easily ma...
- Making A Fire With The Aid Of Ice
- Take a piece of very clear ice and melt it down into the hollow of your hands so as to form a large lens. The illustration shows how this is done. With the lens-shaped ice used in the same manner as a...
- How To Make A Crossbow And Arrow Sling
- In making of this crossbow it is best to use maple for the stock, but if this wood cannot be procured, good straight-grained pine will do. The material must be 1-1/2 in. thick, 6 in. wide and a trifle...
- Temporary Dark Room Lantern
- Occasionally through some accident to the regular ruby lamp, or through the necessity of, developing while out of reach of a properly equipped dark room, some makeshift of illumination must be improvi...
- Runny Paint
- The paint will sag and run if too much oil is put in white lead. ...
- Camps And How To Build Them
- There are several ways of building a temporary camp from material that is always to be found in the woods, and whether these improvised shelters are intended to last until a permanent camp is built, o...
- Brooder For Small Chicks
- A very simple brooder can be constructed by cutting a sugar barrel in half and using one part in the manner described. Line the inside of the half barrel with paper and then cover this with old flanne...
- Faucet Used As An Emergency Plug
- A brass faucet split as shown at A during a cold spell, and as no suitable plug to screw into the elbow after removing the faucet was at hand, I drove a small cork, B, into the end of the faucet and s...
- Automatic Electric Heat Regulator
- It is composed of a closed glass tube, A, Fig. 1, connected by means of a very small lead pipe, B, to another glass tube, C, open at the bottom and having five pieces of platinum wire (1, 2, 3, 4 and ...
- Repairing A Washer On A Flush Valve
- When the rubber washer on the copper flush valve of a soil-basin tank becomes loose it can be set by pouring a small quantity of paraffin between the rubber and the copper while the valve is inverted,...
- Cleaning Discolored Silver
- A very quick way to clean silver when it is not tarnished, but merely discolored, is to wash the articles in a weak solution of ammonia water. This removes the black stains caused by sulphur in the ai...
- How To Make A Small Electric Motor
- By W. A. ROBERTSON The field frame of the motor, Fig. 1, is composed of wrought sheet iron, which may be of any thickness so that, when several pieces are placed together, they will make a frame 3/4...
- Protecting Tinware
- New tinware rubbed over with fresh lard and heated will never rust. ...
- Substitute For Insulating Cleats
- In wiring up door bells, alarms and telephones as well as experimental work the use of common felt gun wads make a very good cleat for the wires. They are used in the manner illustrated in the accompa...
- Electrically Operated Indicator For A Wind Vane
- The accompanying photograph shows a wind vane connected with electric wires to an instrument at considerable distance which indicates by means of a magnetic needle the direction of the wind. The beari...
- A Home-Made Floor Polisher
- An inexpensive floor polisher can be made as follows: Secure a wooden box with a base 8 by 12 in. and about 6 in. high, also a piece of new carpet, 14 by 18 in. Cut 3-in. squares out of the four corne...
- How To Make A Lady's Card-Case
- A card-case such as is shown here makes a very appropriate present for any lady. To make it, secure a piece of ooze calf skin leather 4-1/2 by 10-1/2 in. The one shown in the accompanying picture wa...
- Home-Made Fire Extinguisher
- Dissolve 20 lb. of common salt and 10 lb. of sal ammoniac in 7 gal. of water, and put the solution in thin glass bottles, cork tightly and seal to prevent evaporation. The bottles should hold about 1 ...
- Crutch Made Of An Old Broom
- An emergency crutch made of a worn-out broom is an excellent substitute for a wood crutch, especially when one or more crutches are needed for a short time, as in cases of a sprained ankle, temporary ...
- Toy Darts And Parachutes
- A dart (Fig. 1) is made of a cork having a tin cap, a needle and some feathers. The needle is run through the center of the cork A and a pin or piece of steel is put through the eye of the needle. Tak...
- A Tool For Lifting Can Covers
- A handy tool for prying up varnish paint, syrup and similar can covers car be made from an old fork filed down to the shape shown in the illustration. The end is filed to an edge, but not sharp. --Con...
- Keeping Rats From A Chicken Coop
- After trying for months to keep the rats from tunneling their way into my chicken coop by filling in the holes, laying poisoned meat and meal, setting traps, etc., I devised a simple and effective met...
- Homemade Telephone Receiver
- The receiver illustrated herewith is to be used in connection with the transmitter described elsewhere in this volume. The body of the receiver, A, is made of a large wooden ribbon spool. One end is r...
- How To Clean Jewelry
- To cleanse articles of silver, gold, bronze and brass use a saturated solution of cyanide of potassium. To clean small articles, dip each one into the solution and rinse immediately in hot water; then...
- Ornamental Iron Flower Stand
- The illustration shows an ornamental iron stand constructed to hold a glass or china vase. This stand can be made by first drawing an outline of the vase on a heavy piece of paper. The vase is to have...
- How To Make A Coin Purse
- The dimensions for a leather coin purse are as follows: from A to B, as shown in the sketch, 6-3/8 in.; from C to D, 4-1/4 in.; from E to F, 3-1/2 in. and from G to H, 3-1/4 in. Russian calf modeling ...
- Window Anti-Frost Solution
- A window glass may be kept from frosting by rubbing over the inner surface a solution of 55 parts of glycerine and 1,000 parts of 60 per cent alcohol. The odor may be improved by adding a little oil o...
- How To Make A Turbine Engine
- In the following article is described a machine which anyone can make, and which will be very interesting, as well as useful. It can be made without the use of a lathe, or other tools usually out of r...
- Painting A Car
- When painting the automobile body and chassis be sure to stuff the oil holes with felt or waste before applying the paint. If this caution is not observed the holes will become clogged with paint whic...
- How To Build An Ice Boat
- The ice boat is each year becoming more popular. Anyone with even small experience in using tools can construct such a craft, and the pleasure many times repays the effort. Ill: A Four-Runner Ice ...
- Electric Rat Exterminator
- Some time ago we were troubled by numerous large rats around the shop, particularly in a storehouse about 100 ft. distant, where they often did considerable damage. One of the boys thought he would tr...
- How To Make A Simple Fire Alarm
- A fire alarm which is both inexpensive and simple in construction is shown in the illustration. Its parts are as follows: A, small piece of wood; B, block of wood nailed to A; S S. two pieces of shee...
- To Build A Merry-Go-Round
- This is a very simple device, but one that will afford any amount of amusement. The center post rests in an auger hole bored in an old stump or in a post set in the ground. The stump makes the best su...
- Arbor Wheels
- Emery wheel arbors should be fitted with flanges or washers having a slight concave to their face. ...
- Novelty Clock For The Kitchen
- An inexpensive and easy way to make an unique ornament of a clock for kitchen use is to take an old alarm clock or a new one if preferred, and make it into a clock to hang on the wall. Take the glass,...
- How To Make A Small Silver Plating Outfit
- Take an ordinary glass fruit jar or any other receptacle in glass, not metal, which will hold 1 qt. of liquid and fill it with rain or distilled water and then add 3/4 oz. of silver chloride and 1-1/2...
- Removing A Tight-Fitting Ring From A Finger
- When a ring cannot be removed easily from the finger, take a string or thread and draw one end through between the ring and the flesh. Coil the other end of the string around the finger covering the p...
- A Photographic Jig-Saw Puzzle
- Take any photographic print and mount it on heavy cardboard, or, if you have a jig saw, a thin smooth wood board and mark out various shaped pieces as shown in the accompanying cut. If the picture is ...
- Rolling Uphill Illusion
- This interesting as well as entertaining illusion, can be made by anyone having a wood-turning lathe. A solid, similar to two cones placed base to base, is accurately turned in a lathe, the sides slop...
- Annealing Chisel Steel
- Persons who have occasion to use tool or carbon steel now and then and do not have access to an assorted stock of this material find that the kind most readily obtained at the hardware store is the un...
- How To Make A Post Card Holder
- This holder is designed to lay flat on the counter or to stack one on top of the other, keeping each variety of cards separate, or a number of them can be fastened on any upright surface to display ei...
- Unused Paint
- Do not allow paint that is left over from a job to stand uncovered. The can should be. tightly sealed and the paint will be found suitable for use for several days. ...
- Perfume-Making Outfit
- The real perfume from the flowers is not always contained in the liquid purchased for perfume. The most expensive perfume can be made at home for less than 10 cents an ounce. The outfit necessary is a...
- Home-Made Duplicator For Box Cameras
- The projecting tube of the lens on a hand camera can be easily fitted with a duplicator while the box camera with its lens set on the inside and nothing but a hole in the box does not have such advant...
- Use Of Kerosene In Polishing Metals
- Anyone who has polished a flat iron or steel surface with emery cloth knows how soon the cloth gums and fills up. The cloth in this condition will do little or no cutting. A simple remedy for this tro...
- How To Make Lamps Burn Brightly
- For a good, steady light there is nothing better than a lamp, but like most everything it must have attention. After cleaning well and fitting it, place a small lump of camphor in the oil vessel. This...
- A Practical Camera For Fifty Cents
- By C. H. Claudy I say for fifty cents, but really this is an outside estimate. If you possess a few tools and the rudiments of a shop, by which is meant a few odds and ends of screws, brass and nail...
- Use For An Old Clock
- Remove the hair spring of the clock, and fasten a spring to one end of the pawl and a small wire to the other end. Make a slit in the case of the clock opposite the pawl. Fasten the spring on the outs...
- Renewing Dry Batteries
- Dry batteries, if not too far gone, can be renewed by simply boring a small hole through the composition on top of each carbon and pouring some strong salt water or sal ammoniac solution into the hole...
- Saving A Brush
- If a round brush spreads too much, slip a rubber band over the upper part of the bristles. ...
- How To Make A Simple Burglar Alarm
- Take a piece of any wood about 6 by 8 in. for the base. This may be finished in any way desired. For the contact points use brass or any sheet metal which will be satisfactory. Take a piece about 2-1/...
- How To Fit Corks
- Occasionally odd-sized bottles are received in stores which require corks cut to fit them. No matter how sharp a knife may be, it will leave some sharp edges after cutting the cork, which will cause l...
- Right Handed Engine
- Standing at the cylinder end and looking toward the flywheel of an engine, the wheel will be at the right if the engine is right-hand. ...
- Home-Made Crutch
- While a fractured bone was healing in the limb of my boy he needed a pair of crutches and not being able to secure the right length, I set about to make the crutches from two broom handles. I split th...
- Home-Made Necktie Holder
- The gas bracket is considered a good place to hang neckties, even if it does crowd them together. The illustration shows a better method, a curtain rod attached to one end of a bureau. Two long-shanke...
- How To Make A Trousers Hanger
- Secure from your tinsmith a piece of sheet metal 7 in. wide and 12 in. long. Cut the metal as shown in Fig. 1 and make a close bend at the point A, but not too close to cause it to break. The piece wi...
- Easy Designs In Ornamental Iron Work
- Many an industrious lad has made money manufacturing the common forms of wood brackets, shelves, boxes, stands, etc., but the day of the scroll saw and the cigar-box wood bracket and picture frame has...
- How To Make A Water Wheel
- Considerable power can be developed with an overshot water wheel erected as in Fig. 1. This wheel is made with blocks of wood cut out in sections as indicated by the lines, so as to form the circle pr...
- How To Build An Imitation Street Car Line
- An imitation street car line may sound like a big undertaking, but, in fact, it is one of the easiest things a boy can construct, does not take much time and the expense is not great. A boy who lives ...
- Clean Before Painting
- Apply a coat of raw starch water to a dirty wall before painting; this, when dry, may be brushed or wiped off. ...
- Varnish For Electric Terminals
- A good varnish for electric terminals is made of sealing wax dissolved in gasoline. To prevent brittleness add a little linseed oil. ...
- Measuring The Height Of A Tree
- Method of Applying the Triangle Measure Near the end of the season our boy announced the height of our tall maple tree to be 33 ft. 'Why, how do you know?' was the general question. 'Measure...
- White Putty To Black
- White putty on a black window frame can be made to harmonize by rubbing the fresh putty with a piece of cotton dipped in lampblack. ...
- Using Sandpaper
- Sandpaper may be kept from slipping under the hand by chalking the back. ...
- An Interesting Electrical Experiment
- Anyone possessing a battery having an electromotive force of from 4 to 20 volts can perform the following experiment, which is particularly interesting on account of the variation of results with appa...
- Novelty Chain Made From A Match
- The accompanying engraving shows what is possible to do with a penknife. Lay a Match on the Picture A small chain composed of several links was cut from the wood that forms the match. ...
- Keeping Doors Closed
- Glass doors in bookcases may be kept from swinging open by boring a hole, about 1/4 in. deep, either at the top or bottom in the edge of the door, 2 in. from the closing edge, and inserting an ordinar...
- Restoring Broken Negatives
- Whoever has the misfortune to break a valuable negative need not despair, for the damage can be repaired most effectively. In case the negative be broken into many pieces, take a clean glass, the same...
- Coin And Tumbler Trick
- The accompanying sketch shows how a good trick may be easily performed by anyone. Lay a piece of heavy paper that is free from creases on a board or table. Secure three tumblers that are alike and sti...
- Another Way To Renew Dry Batteries
- There are many methods of renewing dry batteries, and I have used several of them, but I found the following the best: Remove the paper cover and with a 1/4-in. drill make about six holes around the s...
- Simply Made Wire Puzzle
- The object of this simply made wire puzzle is to get the ring off, which is not easy unless you know how. To do so it is necessary to move the triangle with ring to one of the hinge joints and fold th...
- Pronunciation
- Diabolo is pronounced Dee-ab-lo. ...
- Repairing Box Cameras
- In repairing the inner part of box cameras which have been broken loose, use a binding of strong black cloth well glued in place. This will materially strengthen the joints where the wooden pieces are...
- A Fishhook Box
- A box that may be used to hold fishhooks, sinkers, matches or any small articles, can be made from two empty shotgun cartridges as shown in the sketch. The paper is cut from the brass part of one shel...
- A Tin Drinking Cup For The Camp
- If in need of a drinking cup while camping, a temporary cup can be made of a tomato or baking-powder can. Punch two holes near the top of the can; bend a piece of wire and place the ends through the h...
- A Bookmark
- A very handy bookmark can be made by attaching a narrow ribbon to an ordinary paper clip and using it as shown in the sketch. The clip is slipped over the binding in the back of the book as shown in t...
- Kitchen Knife Sharpener
- A good serviceable knife sharpener may be made from a piece of steel cut as shown with two screw holes drilled for fastening it to a piece of wood or to a table. The knife is drawn through and sharpen...
- Devices Of Winter Sports-How To Make And Use Them
- In the north the red-cheeked boy digs a hole in the ice and while he amuses and invigorates himself at skating the fish underneath the icy sheet Tip Up Pole fasten themselves to the hook he has...
- "Jumping-Jack" Fisherman
- Jumping-Jack Fisherman If the small boy has a jumping-jack left over from Christmas. he may make this do his fishing for him and serve as well as the tip-up, or he can easily make the jumping-...
- Merry-Go-Round Whirl On Ice
- A German device for the amusement of children is a whirl on an ice merry-go-round. It is made by placing a vertical shaft or stake, provided with a couple of old cart-wheels, in a hole in the ice. One...
- The Running Sleigh
- Another winter sport, very popular in Sweden, and which has already reached America, is the running sleigh, shown in the illustration. A light sleigh is equipped with long double runners and is prop...
- The Winged Skater
- With the actual speed of the wind a skater may be hurled along the ice if he is aided by sails. He has been known to travel at the rate of 40 miles an hour, Frame for Skater's Sails And the spor...
- Ice Boating
- But the sport that is greatest of all, the one that used to be part of the life of every northern boy, and which is being revived in popularity after years of stagnation, is ice boating. With the aid ...
- Coasters And Chair Sleighs
- Make your own sled, boys! There is no use in buying them, because your hand-made sled is probably better than any purchased one and then you can take so much more pride in it when you know it is of yo...
- Folding Chair Sleigh
- Fig. 3-Folding Chair Sleigh-Top Parts Disconnected Fig. 4-Folding Chair Sleigh Open A folding chair sleigh is even more enjoyable and convenient than the device just described. If the ice pon...
- The Toboggan Sled
- When the snow is very deep a toboggan sled is the thing for real sport. The runners of the ordinary sled break through the crust of the deep snow, blocking the progress, and spoiling the fun. The tobo...
- The Norwegian Ski.
- You have often read of the ski, the snowshoe used by the Norwegians and other people living in the far north. With them the men and women glide down the snow-covered mountain sides, leap across ditche...
- Home-Made Settee
- Many people have old wooden beds stored away which can easily be made into handy settees like the one shown in the accompanying photograph. A few nails and one-half dozen 3-in. screws are all the mate...
- Enameling A Bicycle Frame
- Make an enamel by mixing 2 oz. burnt umber with 1 qt. boiled oil, heating, and then adding 1 oz. asphaltum. Keep the mass hot until thoroughly mixed, says the Master Painter. Thin with turpentine whil...
- How To Make A Sewing Bag
- A very practical and novel sewing bag for odds and ends necessary for mending, etc., can be made of a folding camp stool. If an old stool is not at hand, a new one can be purchased for 25 cents. Remov...
- Home-Made Roller Skates
- The rubber-tired wheels of an old carpet sweeper can be used to advantage in making a pair of roller skates. In Fig. 1 is shown how an iron washer or two may be fastened to the wood with a piece of sh...
- Adjuster For Flexible Electric Wires
- The accompanying illustration shows an adjuster for changing the drop of an electric light. The main feature of this adjuster is that it can be removed from the cord at any time. The adjuster is made ...
- Making Photographs On Watch Dials
- Beat to a foam the white of an egg, with the addition of a little ammonia. Add 9 oz. and 3 dr. of water and beat again. After the egg has settled, filter and let the liquid run over the dial, which ha...
- Home-Made Overhead Trolley Coaster
- The accompanying sketch shows a playground trolley line which furnished a great deal of amusement to many children at a minimum cost. The wire, which is 3/16 in. in diameter, was stretched between a t...
- How To Make An Electric Furnace Regulator
- We have a furnace in our house and a part of my work each evening last winter was to go down in the basement at 9 o'clock, fill the furnace with coal for the night and stay there until it was burning ...
- Weatherproofing For Tents
- Dissolve 4 oz. sulphate of zinc in 10 gal. water; add 1/2 lb. sal-soda; stir well until dissolved, and add 1/2 oz. tartaric acid. Put the tent cover in this solution and let lie 24 hrs. Take out (do n...
- Sawing Sheet Metal
- Sheet metal placed between two boards in the jaws of a vise and clamped tightly, can be sawed easily with a hacksaw. ...
- A Monoplane Weather Vane
- The toy windmill or weather vane shown in the sketch is made to represent a Blériot monoplane. The propeller is turned by the wind. The frame is made of heavy wire and connected with straps of tin. Th...
- How To Make A Minnow Trap
- Glass minnow traps that will give as good service as those purchased at the tackle store can be made without difficulty. If a trap should be banged carelessly against the side of the boat or some othe...
- A Remedy For Leaking Fountain Pens
- Fountain-pen leaks may often be prevented by unscrewing the joint and lightly smearing the screw with vaseline. This also makes it easy to unscrew the joint for filling. ...
- Kites Of Many Kinds And How To Make Them
- One of the prettiest of all is the butterfly kite. To make this get two thin kite sticks of equal length. Bend each in an are, tying one end of a strong string to one end of each stick and the other e...
- How To Make Rubber Stamps
- India rubber, especially prepared for stamp-making, should be procured from a dealer or manufacturer, if good results are to be obtained. As an experiment, it is possible for an amateur to prepare the...
- To Light A Gaslight Without Matches
- It is probably well known that if you rub your feet briskly over a carpet on a dry, cold day and then touch any metallic object with your finger it will emit a small spark. The following amusing exper...
- How To Make A Trap For Rabbits, Rats And Mice
- From an old 6-in. pine fence board cut off four pieces 2-1/2 ft. long and one 6 in. square for the end of the trap and another 4 in. by 8 in. for the door. Use old boards, as new boards scare rabbits....
- Novel Electric Motor
- The materials necessary to make this motor are an old electric bell of the buzzer type and a cogwheel from an old clock. Remove the hammer-head and gong from the bell, then bend the end of the hamm...
- How To Print Photographs On Silk
- Silk, satin or any other fine material can be used to make photographic prints, but the most attractive results for the amateur are obtained on silk, the best color for this purpose being either cream...
- Removing Old Paint
- A chair more than a hundred years old came to me by inheritance. It was originally painted green and had been given two coats of dark paint or varnish within the last 30 years. Desiring to improve the...
- A Window Lock
- Bore a hole through the sash of the lower window and halfway through the sash of the upper window, where they meet in the center, and insert a heavy nail or spike. This will fasten the sash together s...
- Homemade Magnifying Glass
- A very good magnifying glass can be made from an ordinary incandescent lamp of about 16-cp. size which has been rendered useless by being burned out or having the filament broken. Grind or break off t...
- Trailer For A Bicycle
- Fig. 1 -Trailer Attached to a Bicycle Instead of using a seat on the handlebars or frame of a bicycle for my little girl, I made a trailer, as shown in Fig. 1, to attach to the rear axle. I made i...
- Home-Made Telephone Transmitter
- The parts for transmitting the sound are encased in a covering, H, made from the gong of an old electric bell. A round button, D, is turned or filed from the carbon electrode of an old dry cell and a ...
- Quickly Made Lawn Tent
- A very simple way of erecting a lawn tent for the children is to take a large umbrella such as used on delivery wagons and drive the handle into the ground deep enough to hold it solid. Fasten canvas ...
- How To Make A Windmill Of One Or Two Horsepower For Practical Purposes
- A windmill for developing from 1/2 to 2 hp. may be constructed at home, the expense being very small and the results highly satisfactory. The hub for the revolving fan wheel is first constructed. One...
- To Renew Old Dry Batteries
- Remove the paper that covers the cell and knock several good-sized holes in the zinc shell. Place the battery in a glass jar, fill it two-thirds full of strong sal ammoniac (or salt) solution and conn...
- Blue Dye
- Prussian blue and Chinese blue are both the same chemically but they do not cut or look the same. ...
- Acetylene Lamp
- When an acetylene lamp is in good order it will light up slowly with a hissing noise followed by a pure white flame. Should the lamp light up quickly with a yellowish flame, it is a sign of a leak som...
- Another Electric Motor
- This form of electric motor is used largely in England in the form of an indicator. It is very easily made and if you have an old electro-magnet will cost practically nothing. Ill: Electric Motor ...
- How To Make A Propelling Vehicle
- Any boy, with a little knack and a few odd tools, can rig up various contrivances which will be a source of pleasure to himself and oftentimes can be sold, to less ingenious boys, for a snug little...
- Ringing A Bell By Touching A Gas Jet
- The experiment of scuffling the feet over a carpet and then producing a spark which will light the gas by touching the chandelier is described on another page. One of our correspondents says that if a...
- Lead Kills Knots
- The covering quality will be greatly improved if some dry red lead is added to the shellac varnish used for killing knots. ...
- How To Make A Wood Turning Lathe Out Of An Old Sewing Machine
- With a hack-saw, cut off the arm containing the needle on line AB, Fig. 1, leaving the shaft only. On the end of the shaft will be found a round plate, in which drill four 3/16-in. holes. Now secure, ...
- Reversing Small Battery Motor
- Make the switch out of a piece of slate (for the base) two strips of brass, a rubber strip and handle and some binding-posts from old dry batteries. Fasten the brass strips at 5 and 6, Fig. 1, so they...
- Cleaning Bronze Bearings
- Bronze bearings may be cleaned with a solution of washing powder and water run through the oil cups while the machine is running without any load. The solution, cutting out the dirt and grime, will co...
- A Water Candlestick
- A glass of water makes a fine emergency candlestick. Weight one end of the candle with a nail just large enough to hold the candle in the water so that the water comes near its top edge, but does not ...
- How To File Soft Metals
- When filing soft metals, such as solder or babbitt metal, the file, after a few strokes, will become filled with metal, causing scratches on the surface being filed. The surface may be filed smooth, p...
- To Make A Magazine Binder
- Get 1/2 yd. of cloth, one shoestring, a pasteboard box for covers, and some heavy paper. Cut the pasteboard into two covers, 1/4 in. larger all around than the magazine, except at the back with which ...
- Temporary Spline
- A piece of wire solder makes a good temporary spline for the draftsman. ...
- A Library Set In Pyro-Carving
- By Helen Westinghouse The multitude of indifferently executed small articles which followed the introduction of pyrography is beginning to disappear. People are considering the art more seriously ...
- Cleaning Brass
- Small brass castings can be cleaned by heating them slightly and then dipping them in a solution of sal ammoniac. The pieces will come out as bright and clean as if new. This cleaning process is the s...
- A Phoneidoscope
- The phoneidoscope has many and varied forms, but the simplest can be made by bending the forefinger and thumb so as to form a circle and then drawing a soap film across the opening. This is done in a ...
- A Home-Made Yankee Bobsled
- A good coasting sled, which I call a Yankee bob, can be made from two hardwood barrel staves, two pieces of Runners Made of Barrel Staves 2 by 6-in. pine, a piece of hardwood for the rudder and ...
- How To Make A Small Microscope
- Theoretically a simple microscope can be made as powerful as a compound microscope, but in practice the minute size required by the simple lens to give the highest power makes it almost impossible to ...
- Freezing Pipes
- The water in hot water supply pipes will freeze quicker than water that has not been heated. This is because the air, which is a poor conductor of heat, has been driven out by the heat. ...
- How To Carry Books
- Almost all school children carry their books with a strap put around and b u c k led very tight. This will make dents in the cover where the board overlaps the body of the book. If the strap is left l...
- Bottle Pushers
- BOTTLE PUSHERS. --This is a game in which the competitors push bottles on the ice with hockey sticks. All the bottles must be the same size and make. The persons participating must keep their bottl...
- How To Make A Hammock
- Anyone can make a hammock as good as can be bought and that at a cost so small that every member of the family can possess one providing there are places enough for hanging them. The materials requir...
- How To Obtain Cheap Dry Batteries
- Not very many people realize that good, serviceable dry cells can be obtained from an automobile garage very cheap. These cells having been run out beyond the required number of amperes for automobi...
- How To Make A Water Telescope
- The Water Telescope Before you decide on a place to cast your hook it is best to look into the water to see whether any fish are there. Yes, certainly, you can look into the water and see the fish...
- How To Rid Your Yard Of Cats
- The following is a description of a device I built at my home in Brooklyn, which not only gave us relief from the nightly feline concerts, but also furnished much amusement to my friends. Ill: Ele...
- Substitute For A Drill Bit
- A gouge may be used as a substitute bit if a proper sized bit is not at hand. The gouge can be placed in the brace the same as a bit. ...
- Drying Films
- The drying of photographic film in full lengths without scratching or curling is quite difficult. Various devices are used to keep the film straight, and push pins or thumb tacks are supplied with alm...
- Grooved Pulley Made From Sheet Tin
- A grooved pulley which will run true and carry a round belt may be made without the use of other tools than a compass and pair of shears, with a drill or punch for making two rivet holes. Layoff a ci...
- An Emergency Glass Funnel
- Secure a glass bottle having a small neck and tie a string saturated in kerosene around the outside at A and B as shown in the sketch. Light the string and allow it to burn until the glass is heate...
- An Electrical Walking Stick
- A cane that will produce an electric shock when shaking hands is one supplied with the electrical apparatus shown in the sketch. An ordinary cane, 1 in. in diameter at the top and having a metal band ...
- Convenient Shelf Arrangement
- A convenient device for crowded shelves and cupboards is shown in the accompanying sketch. Halfway between shelves A and B is installed a second shelf C which is only half as wide as the other shelves...
- A Shoe Scraper
- On steps of public buildings, shops and dwellings is usually found some sort of a mud scraper for the shoes. These remove the mud from the sole of the shoe and leave it on the edge and sides. The scra...
- Fastening A Shade To A Roller
- Tack the shade A in the usual manner and roll it as far back as possible and while in this position apply an ample quantity of glue near the tacks, as shown at B. A shade attached in this manner ...
- Vegetable Slicer
- The slicer is made of a knife blade, screw and pin handle. The screw is soldered into the end of the knife blade. As the screw feeds into the vegetable or fruit, the blade will slice it in a curl of e...
- How To Make An Etched Copper Picture Frame
- Secure a heavy piece of copper about 8 or 10 gauge, cut to 7 by 7-3/4 in. Make a design on a piece of paper. The accompanying sketch offers a suggestion. Etched Copper Picture Frame If the desig...
- How To Make An Easel
- A strong and substantial easel may be made at home with very little expense and no great difficulty. Smooth down with a plane, four pieces of pine, 1 in. thick, 4 in. wide and 4 ft. long, until suita...
- How To Make A Wind Propeller
- A wind propeller may be constructed with four old bicycle wheels arranged with shafts pretty much like the shafts of a hand-propelled cart. The platform is flatter, however, and the body one tier so t...
- Replacing Ball Bearings
- Never change a single ball in a bearing. Renew them all. ...
- How To Construct An Annunciator
- Oftentimes a single electric bell may be connected in a circuit so that it can be operated from more than one push button. These push buttons are usually located in entirely different parts of the bui...
- How To Make A Steam Calliope
- Secure ten gas jet valves, the part of the gas fixture shown in Fig. 1, and prepare to place them in a piece of 1-in. pipe, 12 in. long. This is done by drilling and tapping 10 holes, each Detail...
- Sharpening Scissors
- When sharpening scissors on a grindstone it is very difficult to procure a straight edge. For those not having the facilities of a grinding arrangement a very handy device that will produce a straight...
- Counter Brush For A Shop
- A very serviceable brush for use around a shop can be made from a discarded or worn-out push broom as shown at A. Pull out the bristles from one-half of the brush and shape the wood of that end with a...
- A Curtain Roller
- Procure a window-shade roller, an umbrella rib and two strips of oilcloth, each 1 in. wide and 4 in. long. Cut the roller off so that it will be 6 in. longer than the distance across the window, then...
- Shade-Holder Bracket For A Gas Jet
- An old umbrella rib makes a very effective shade-holder bracket for a gas jet. The ends of the rib are bent to fit around the pendant upright and the support end is shaped into a hook. It can be quick...
- To Longer Preserve Cut Flowers
- A good way to keep cut flowers fresh is to place a small amount of pure salt of sodium in the water. It is best to procure this salt at a drug store because commercial salt will cause the flowers to w...
- Glass Blowing And Forming
- Fortunate indeed is the boy who receives a stock of glass tubing, a Bunsen burner, a blowpipe, and some charcoal for a gift, for he has a great deal of fun in store for himself. Glass blowing is a use...
- Cadmium And Solder
- The addition of cadmium to soft solder composed of tin and lead, lowers its melting point and increases its strength. ...
- Telegraph Codes
- Telegraph Codes: Morse Code is Used In The United States And Canada, Continental Code is Used in Europe and elsewhere. Phillips Code is used in the United States forpresswork. Dash =2 dots. Lon...
- How To Make A Cruising Catamaran
- A launch is much safer than a sailing boat, yet there is not the real sport to be derived from it as in sailing. Herein is given a description of a sailing catamaran especially adapted for those who d...
- Alligator Photo Mounts
- Rough alligator finished photograph mounts will not receive a good impression from a die. If a carbon paper is placed on the mounts before making the impression, a good clear imprint will be the resul...
- How To Attach A Sail To A Bicycle
- This attachment was constructed for use on a bicycle to be ridden on the well packed sands of a beach, but it could be used on a smooth, level road as well. The illustration shows the main frame to co...
- Removing Iodine Stains
- A good way to chemically remove iodine stains from the hands or linen is to wash the stains in a strong solution of hypo sulphite of sodium, known as hypo, which is procurable at any photographic-su...
- Drying Photograph Prints Without Curling
- Having made some photograph prints at one time that I wanted to dry without the edges curling, I took an ordinary tin can and a strip of clean cotton cloth, as wide as the can was long, and wound it o...
- Piercing Glass Plates With A Spark Coil
- Anyone possessing a 1-in. induction coil and a 1-qt. Leyden jar can easily perform the interesting experiment of piercing glass plates. Connect the Leyden jar to the induction coil as shown in the dia...
- A Home-Made Still
- Remove the metal end of an old electric light globe. This can be done by soaking a piece of twine in alcohol and tying it around the globe at the place the break is to be made. Light the string and af...
- Balancing Forks On A Pin Head
- Two, three and four common table forks can be made to balance on a pin head as follows: Procure an empty bottle and insert a cork in the neck. Stick a pin in the center of this cork so that the end wi...
- The Buttoned Cord
- Cut a piece of heavy paper in the shape shown in Fig. 1 and make two cuts down the center and a slit as long as the two cuts are wide at a point about 1 in. below them. A string is put through the sl...
- Experiment With An Incandescent Lamp
- When rubbing briskly an ordinary incandescent lamp on a piece of cloth and at the same time slightly revolving it, a luminous effect is produced similar to an X-ray tube. The room must be dark and the...
- How To Make A Small Motor
- The accompanying sketch shows how to make a small motor to run on a battery of three or four dry cells and with sufficient power to run mechanical toys. The armature is constructed, as shown in Figs. ...
- Aluminum Polish
- An emulsion of equal parts of rum and olive oil can be used for cleaning aluminum, says Blacksmith and Wheelwright. Potash lye, not too strong, is also effective in brightening aluminum, and benzol ca...
- Homemade Blowpipe
- Procure a clay pipe, a cork and a small glass or metal tube drawn to a small opening in one end. Make a hole in the cork just large enough to permit the tube to pass through tightly so no air can pass...
- Substitute Sink Or Bathtub Stopper
- Milk-bottle caps make good substitutes for the regular rubber stoppers in sinks and bathtubs. The water soon destroys them, but as a new one usually is had each day, they can be used until a regular s...
- Safety Tips On Chair Rockers
- Some rocking chairs are so constructed that when the person occupying it gives a hard tilt backward, the chair tips over or dangerously near it. A rubber-tipped screw turned into the under side of eac...
- How To Make A Toy Flier
- While a great many people are looking forward to the time when we shall successfully travel through the air, we all may study the problem of aerial navigation by constructing for ourselves a small fly...
- How To Make An Ironing-Board Stand
- Secure some 1 by 3-in. boards, about 3 ft. long, and plane them smooth. Cut the two pieces A and B 30 in. long and make a notch in each of them, about one-third of the way from one end, 1 in. deep and...
- A Home-Made Electric Plug
- A plug suitable for electric light extension or to be used in experimenting may be made from an old electric globe. The glass is removed with all the old composition in the brass receptacle, leavin...
- How To Make An Electric Fire Alarm
- On each end of a block of wood, 1 in. square and 1 in. long, fasten a strip of brass 1/4 by 3 in., bent in the shape as shown in the sketch at A, Fig; 1. These strips should have sufficient bend to al...
- Home-Made Boy's Car
- Boys' Home-Made Auto The accompanying cut shows how a boy may construct his own auto car. The car consists of parts used from a boy's wagon and some old bicycle parts. The propelling device is mad...
- Photographs In Relief Easily Made
- Relief photographs, although apparently difficult to produce, can be made by any amateur photographer. The negative is made in the usual way and, when ready for printing, a positive or transparency is...
- Wireless Tip
- Place the transmitting instruments of a wireless outfit as close together as possible. ...
- How To Make A Wireless Telephone
- A noted French scientist, Bourbouze, was able to keep up communication with the outside during the siege of Paris by making practical application of the earth currents. The distance covered is said to...
- Eyelets For Belts
- If eyelets, such as used in shoes, are put into the lace holes of a belt, the belt will last much longer. The eyelets, which may be taken from old shoes, will prevent the lace from tearing out. I have...
- How To Make A Life Buoy
- Any boy may be able to make, for himself or friends, a life buoy for emergency use in a rowboat or for learning to swim. Purchase 1-3/4 yd. of 30-in. canvas and cut two circular pieces, 30 in. in diam...
- A Home-Made Microscope
- A great many times we would like to examine a seed, an insect or the fiber of a piece of wood but have no magnifier handy. A very good microscope may be made out of the bulb of a broken thermometer. E...
- A Novel Electric Time Alarm
- All time alarms run by clockwork must be wound and set each time. The accompanying diagram shows how to make the connection that will ring a bell by electric current at the time set without winding th...
- How To Make A Phonograph Record Cabinet
- The core, Fig. 1, consists of six strips of wood beveled so as to form six equal sides. The strips are 3 ft. long and 3 in. wide on the outside bevel and are nailed to three· blocks made hexagon, as...
- Experiments With A Mirror
- Ask your friend if he can decipher the sign as illustrated in the sketch, Fig. 1, which you pretend to have read over the shop of an Armenian shoemaker. He will probably tell you that he is not c...
- Miniature Electric Lamps
- After several years' research there has been produced a miniature electric bulb that is a great improvement and a decided departure from the old kind which used a carbon filament. A metallic filament ...
- How To Make A Magazine Clamp
- This device as shown in the illustration can be used to hold newspapers and magazines while reading. Two pieces of wood are cut as shown, one with a slot to fit over the back of a magazine and the oth...
- Pewter Finish For Brass
- A color resembling pewter may be given to brass by boiling the castings in a cream of tartar solution containing a small amount of chloride of tin. ...
- Drowning A Dog's Bark With Water
- The owner of two dogs was very much annoyed by the dogs barking at night. It began to be such a nuisance that the throwing of old shoes and empty bottles did not stop the noise. The only thing that se...
- Cost Of Water
- The average cost of supplying 1,000,000 gal. of water, based on the report of twenty-two cities, is $92. This sum includes operating expenses and interest on bonds. ...
- How To Make A Wondergraph
- By F. E. TUCK An exceedingly interesting machine is the so-called wondergraph. It is easy and cheap to make and will furnish both entertainment and instruction for young and old. It is a drawing mac...
- How To Make A 110-Volt Transformer
- Secure two magnets from a telephone bell, or a set of magnets wound for 2,000 ohms. Mount them on a bar of brass or steel as shown in Fig. 1. Get an empty cocoa can and clean it good to remove all par...
- Experiment With A Vacuum
- Experimental Apparatus Take any kitchen utensil used for frying purposes-an ordinary skillet, or spider, works best-having a smooth inner bottom surface, and turn in water to the depth of 1/2 in. ...
- The Making Of Freak Photographs
- An experiment that is interesting and one that can be varied at the pleasure of the operator, is the taking of his own picture. The effect secured, as shown in the accompanying sketch, reproduced in p...
- Hand Car Made Of Pipe And Fittings
- Although apparently complicated, the construction of the miniature hand car shown in the accompanying illustration is very simple. With a few exceptions all the parts are short lengths of pipe and com...
- How To Make A Rustic Seat
- The rustic settee illustrated in Fig. 1 may be made 6 ft. long, which will accommodate four average-sized persons. It is not advisable to exceed this length, as then it would look out of proportion, s...
- Heated Steering Wheel
- Motorists that suffer with cold hands while driving their cars may have relief by using a steering wheel that is provided with electric heat. An English invention describes a steering wheel with a cor...
- Homemade Workbench
- By C. E. McKINNEY, Jr. The first appliance necessary for the boy's workshop is a workbench. The average boy that desires to construct his own apparatus as much as possible can make the bench as desc...
- Forming Coils To Make Flexible Wire Connections
- When connections are made to bells and batteries with small copper wires covered with cotton or silk, it is necessary to have a coil in a short piece of the line to make it flexible. A good way to do ...
- Photographing The North Star
- The earth revolving as upon an axis is inclined in such a position that it points toward the North Star. To an observer in the northern hemisphere the effect is the same as if the heavens revolved wit...
- How To Relight A Match
- A match may be a small thing on which to practice economy and yet a great many times one wishes to relight a match either for economy or necessity. The usual method is to place the burnt portion of th...
- Home-Made Hand Drill
- In the old kitchen tool box I found a rusty egg beater of the type shown in Fig. 1. A shoemaker friend donated a pegging awl, Fig. 2, discarded by him due to a broken handle. With these two pieces of ...
- How To Make A Stationary Windmill
- A windmill that can be made stationary and will run regardless of the direction of the wind is here illustrated. Mills of this kind can be built of larger size and in some localities have been used fo...
- Electric Anesthesia
- It is a well known fact that magnetism is used to demagnetize a watch, and that frost is drawn out of a frozen member of the body by the application of snow. Heat is also drawn out of a burned hand by...
- A Simple Battery Rheostat
- A spring from an old shade roller is mounted on a board 4 in. wide, 9 in. long and 3/8 in. thick. A binding-post is fastened to this board at each end, to which is attached the ends of the spring, as ...
- A Frame For Drying Films
- No doubt many amateur photographers are troubled about drying films and to keep them from curling. The problem may be solved in the following way: Make a rectangular frame out of pine wood, 1/4 by...
- A Home-Made Novelty Clock
- This clock that is shown in the accompanying engraving is made in scroll work, the cathedral and towers being of white maple, the base is of walnut with mahogany trimmings, all finished in their natur...
- Fourth-Of-July Catapult
- Among the numerous exciting amusements in which boys may participate during the Fourth-of-July celebration is to make a cannon that will shoot life-sized dummies dressed in old clothes. Building the c...
- How To Make A Miniature Volcano
- A toy volcano that will send forth flames and ashes with lava streaming down its sides in real volcanic action can be made by any boy without any more danger than firing an ordinary fire-cracker. A mo...
- Wire Loop Connections For Battery Binding-Posts
- The trouble with battery binding post connections can be avoided by winding the bare end of the connecting wire around the binding-post screw and then back around its extending length as shown in the ...
- Melting Metal In The Flame Of A Match
- The flame of an ordinary match has a much higher temperature than is generally known and will melt cast-iron or steel filings. Try it by striking a match and sprinkle the filings through the flame. Sp...
- Russian Squirrels
- The squirrel slaughter of Russia amounts to 25,000,000 per year. ...
- Landscape Drawing Made Easy
- With this device anyone, no matter how little his artistic ability may be, can draw accurately and quickly any little bit of scenery or other subject and get everything in the true perspective and in ...
- Irrigating With Tomato Cans
- The following is an easy and effective way to start plants in dry weather: Sink an ordinary tomato can, with a 1/8-in. hole 1/2 in. from the bottom, in the ground so that the hole will be near the roo...
- Fountain For An Ordinary Pen
- Take two steel pens, not the straight kind, and place them together, one above the other, in the penholder. Two Pens In Holder With one dip of ink 60 or 70 words may be written. This saves time ...
- Homemade Mousetrap
- Bore a 1-in. hole, about 2 in. deep, in a block of wood and drive a small nail with a sharp point at an angle so it will project into the hole about half way between the top and bottom, and in the cen...
- Clear Wax Impressions From Seals
- A die must be slightly damp to make clear impressions on sealing wax and to keep it from sticking to the wax. A very handy way to moisten the die is to use a pad made by tacking two pieces of blotting...
- A Window Stick
- Although the windows in factories and houses are usually provided with weights, yet the stick shown in the sketch will be found very handy in case all of the windows are not so equipped. It is made of...
- How To Make A Canoe
- A practical and serviceable canoe, one that is inexpensive, can be built by any boy, who can wield hammer and saw, by closely following the instructions and drawings, given in this article. Canoe...
- Thorns Used As Needles On A Phonograph
- Very sharp thorns can be used successfully as phonograph needles. These substitutes will reproduce sound very clearly and with beautiful tone. The harsh scratching of the ordinary needle is reduced to...
- Tool Hangers
- A tool rack that is serviceable for almost any kind of a tool may be made by placing rows of different-size screw eyes on a wall close to the workbench, so that files, chisels, pliers and other t...
- Child's Footrest On An Ordinary Chair
- Small chairs are enjoyed very much by children for the reason that they can rest their feet on the floor. In many households there are no small chairs for the youngsters, and they have to use larger o...
- Drying Photo Postal Cards
- A novel idea for drying photo postal cards comes from a French magazine. The drying of the cards takes a long time on account of their thickness, but may be hastened by using corrugated paper for pack...
- Preserving Key Forms
- After losing a key or two and having some difficulty in replacing them, I used the method shown in the sketch to preserve the outlines for making new ones. All the keys I had were traced on a piece of...
- Renewing Typewriter Ribbons
- Roll the ribbon on a spool and meanwhile apply a little glycerine with a fountain-pen filler. Roll up tightly and lay aside for a week or ten days. Do not apply too much glycerine as this will make th...
- Drinking Trough For Chickens
- A quickly made and sanitary drinking trough for chickens is formed of a piece of ordinary two or three-ply roofing paper. The paper is laid out as shown, and the edges are cemented with asphaltum and ...
- Ordinary Pen Used As A Fountain Pen
- It is a very simple matter to make a good fountain pen out of an ordinary pen and holder. The device is in the form of an attachment readily connected to or removed from any ordinary pen and holder, a...
- How To Construct A Small Thermostat
- By R. A. McCLURE It is a well known fact, that there is a change in the dimensions of a piece of metal, due to a change in its temperature. This change in dimensions is not the same for all material...
- A Tailless Kite
- The frame of a 3-ft. kite is made of two sticks, each 3 ft. long. These are tied together so that the cross stick will be at a distance of 15 per cent of the full length of the upright stick, from its...
- The Levitation - A Modern Stage Trick
- This illusion has mystified thousands of the theater-going public, in fact, it has been the piece de resistance of many illusion acts. The ordinary method of procedure is as follows: The person who ...
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