Page:Popular Science December 1931.djvu/127

 MHake lead soldiers by the dozen

INDIANS, SAILORS. CAVALRY TROOPS

In an hour with one of my new Kaster Kits you can produce a whole regiment of men, each just as perfectly finished as professionally cast toys. Any live boy can make enough money in a week or two to pay for his entire Kaster Kit.

Easy to operate. Entirely electric. Have a complete toy factory in your own home. Kaster Kit complete with 2 dies, 8 bars of lead, instnic- tion book and complete set of handling and die-cleaning tools, only §4.95.

GILBERT KASTER KIT FREE — Kaster Kit Carnival Book Just fill in the coupon and mail today for the most interesting toy book ever published. The A. C. Gilbert Company. 274 Erector .Square, New Haven, Conn. Please send me a FREE copy of the new KASTER KIT CARNIVAL BOOK. Name Address City State

Now You Can Be A MASTER CRAFTSMAN Earn BIG MONEY now at home in spare hours turning out beautiful, expert woodwork, Nev- er before such as demand for small items as garden furniture, break- fast nooks, book ends, etc. Plug into any light socket. Durable, accurate, dependable Preferred by builder everywhere. Machines for home and commercial shop, including the NEW UNIT PLAN CRAFT SHOP .... Five Units with Quick Change Motor for all, SAVES PRICE of Four Motors, Send now for new FREE catalog.

HESTON & ANDERSON 812 STONE STREET, Fairfield IOWA

LOOK FOR THE FULL NAME ON THE SHANK OF GENUINE RUSSEL JENNINGS AUGER BITS 4 AT GOOD HARDWARE STORES

The Russel Jennings Mfg Co.,

SHIP MODEL FITTINGS

Extensive line of quality fittings- for sailing ships, whalers, steamships, destroyers, yachts. Single and double boxwood blocks: dead eyes: oars; water buckets; belaying pins; stanchions; propellers; anchors: etc., etc. Complete metal fittings for Destroyer Preston. Electric motors. Blue prints by Capt. McCann for Yacht Diana. Complete construction setsfor many models. Send 15c today for big, illustrated catalog.

A. J. FISHER 1002-2 Etowah Ave. Royal Oak, Mich.

CATALOG 15 ¢

CHEMISTS

Catalog Illustrating 2500 Chemist's supplies, 5000 Chemicals. Minerals, Drugs, etc, and listing 1000 scientific books sent for 50c, Glass Still as illustrated capacity of flask 1 Qt. complete $8.00.

LABORATORY MATERIALS CO. 641 East 71st St. Chicago. III.

A definite program for getting; ahead financially will be found on page four of this issue

BIG FORTUNES WON BY TINY INVENTIONS

(Continued from page 122)

merely modified an old mechanism. Lenke did not give up the fight, and his persistence finally was rewarded by Chief Justice Taft's decision. What Mr. Taft said, in so many words, was that the new invention only aeemed an easy and natural modification to others, once Lenke had had the intelligence and imagination to think of it.

THAT is the crux of the whole problem. There is nothing new under the sun — except ideas. Thousands of people had seen tree trunks floating down streams before it occurred to someone to build a boat. Thousands, too, had observed that a small portion of a leaf seen through a dewdrop appeared enlarged, but it was not until many centuries later that a genius. thought of using the principle in the microscope. Entire races had watched clay harden in the baking sun before somebody had the bright idea that pottery could be made in that way.

Accidents? Perhaps. But the history of invention shows that such "accidents" happen only to those who desert them; that is, those whose minds are prepared for them. In this connection, it is interesting to recall that the very word "invention" connotes the accidental. It is derived from the Latin invenire, meaning to come upon, or to light upon.

The original "accidents" usually did not produce the finished articles as you and I know them. Few inventions have sprung, fullfledged, from the brains of their inventors. As this is written, a patent is pending on an improvement that hinges on nothing but a little notch. Those among you who use a safety razor probably have noticed that the manufacturer of a well-known make recently put on the market a new blade with a notch at each of the four corners. This removes the parts of the blade that are grasped by those portions of the blade-holder where the little prongs are most liable to be bent when the razor is struck against the washbowl or dropped on the floor. The notches, according to the manufacturer, thus prevent the blade from cracking or being thrown out of perfect alignment. They also eliminate the ends of the blade that frequently cut the user's ear on the downstroke at the side of the face.

PERHAPS the most effective improvement produced by the smallest physical change is that in the phonograph record. Edison invented the phonograph, and in his original machine, sound was reproduced by a needle traveling through a groove that ran "up hill and down dale." The present phonograph record, however, is based on an almost microscopic adjustment patented by Emile Berliner. He made the groove of uniform depth and cut it laterally so that the needle, instead of going up and down a range of tiny hills, follows a path like a winding road. This change, almost invisible to the naked eye, worked wonders in the phonograph. The lateral groove permitted the use of cheaper records that were more easily made and yet would stand more playings. Above all, it amplified sound volume and, by eliminating distortion, improved reproduction.

Berliner's fame, incidentally, rests entirely on improvements in the inventions of others. Among other things, he invented the microphone, which took Bell's telephone out of the toy class and made it a commercial success.

It is not always necessary to make any structural (Continued on page 124)

YOU WANT A DODO ?

OR DO you want the type of lathe that compares favorably with the modern accurate and fast-producing heavy duty lathes in the industrial field?

Belt-driven lathes are fast giving way to the kind shown here.

It's the Regal, a genuine LeBlond lathe for the professional or amateur.

It has an 8-speed selective sliding geared headstock, convenient controls and quick change of speeds with safety to the operator. Equipped with a one-piece apron with rigidly supported studs and gears. Quick change geared feed. Leadscrew is reserved for chasing through use of a feed rod.

Lathe is delivered (with motor), ready to run.

Mail the coupon for interesting details.

The R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Co.

Cincinnati, Ohio

The Regal Lathe is made in five size, 10" to 18". Prices range from $273.00 to $947.00, f. o. b. factory.

The R. K. LeBlond Machines Tool Co., 208 Regal Division. Cincinnati, Ohio

Send descriptive literature of the Regal lathe. Name Address City Stte

DECEMBER, 1931 This Mark on an advertisment signifies the approval of POPULAR SCIENCE INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS... See page 8

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