Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/459

 Popular Science Monthly

��443

��Cutting Stencils from a Discarded Photographic Film

PHOTOGRAPHIC films, which are usu- ally destroyed when they are spoiled, make excellent material for stencils. Pic- tures or other designs to be stenciled may be pasted on the film and the outline cut out with a sharp knife. It is necessary to

���The stencil is cut with the dull side of the film down, to prevent it from slipping

use care in selecting a design suitable for stencil work. For large designs it is neces- sary to leave binding strips to secure a satisfactory stencil. The films are used with the dull side down to prevent their slipping. A large variety of designs may be made from pictures clipped from publica- tions of various kinds.

��Ironing a Four-in-Hand Tie Without Making Glossy Streaks

IT is not an impossible task to wash a four-in-hand tie. The difficulty comes in ironing it in such a way that its original shape will be restored. To do this it is necessar>^ to proceed carefully. Start by placing the wide end of the tie upon the board with the seam up, then thrust in the finger and take hold of the lining. Grasp the silk cover in the other hand and pull it back from over the lining for about half of its length. Then with a hot iron run over the lining to straighten it out. Cut a piece of stiff cardboard to fit into the wide end of the tie and long enough to reach to the narrow band. Slip this in between the lining and the seam side of the outer layer. Then dampen a clean cloth, lay it over the tie and iron in the usual way.

The cardboard form will prevent the pressure of the iron from causing a glossy mark to appear on the silk front opposite the seam. When through, put the form aside for another time. — Emile Parent.

��Pulverizing the Powder in Fire Extinguisher Tubes

WHEN the powder in fire extinguisher tubes becomes caked, the inspector usually empties the contents of the tube on a paper and re-pulverizes it with a crusher. It is more convenient to use a sifter like the one illustrated and screen the extinguisher powder through it.

Take an ordinary one-quart flour sifter and a funnel of sufficient size to fit over the lower end of the sifter. Remove the spout of the funnel so that an opening of at least ^ in. is formed. Make a cylinder of tin, slightly tapered toward one end, about 3 in. long and of sufficient diameter to fit snugly into the mouth of the dr>' powder tube. Make %-'m. slits, about ^ in. apart, around the larger end of the cylinder and press it over the lower end of the funnel so that the flanges, formed by cutting, bend outward to conform w^ith the shape of the funnel. Solder firmly in this position.

The powder should be emptied from one of the tubes into a convenient receptacle.

���The ordinary floiu- sifter with a funnel at- tachment for pulverizing caked powder

Then place the end of the funnel into the empty tube and sift the powder from a full tube into the empty one. Fill the last tube with the powder from the first one.

�� �