Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/794

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��Popular Science Monthly

��A Locomotive Spring Rack Made of Ties and Rails

ON account of the weight and shape of locomotive driving springs it is diffi- cult to handle them, especially in removing them from the stock- house. The rack shown in the illustra- tion will simplify the

���Sills and scrap-rails to make a rack for locomotive springs

problem of storing. Old car sills and scrap-rails were used in the construc- tion. This rack can be used to facilitate handling any kind of bulky or unwieldy material of a similar nature. — J. R. Minter.

��A Container for Small Safety Match Boxes

THOSE who buy safety matches in packages of i doz. boxes will find the rack shown to be very convenient. When the matches are purchased, the packages are opened and the boxes put into the container through the opening at the top. They are removed as needed through the slot A at the bottom. On the front there is a holder B for the box in use. This device may be made of metal or thin packing box wood

���INSIDE MEASUREMENT The match boxes are kept where they are easily located without a light at night

and painted or stained as desired. The one illustrated was made for a standard match box which measures 2^^ by ij^ by 11/16 in. Allowance must be made in the di- mensions when making other sizes of boxes. — H. T. Linthicum.

��A Good Marine Glue That Will Not Become Brittle

A GOOD marine glue, which should be applied hot to crevices, etc., and which becomes firm but not brittle when cold, is composed as follows:

Crude rubber i part by weight

Shellac 2 parts by weight

Pitch 3 parts by weight

The rubber is first dissolved in carbon disulphide or turpentine before mixing with the heated (not super-heated) mixture of the other two.

��To Locate the Center of a Ceiling Readily

SOMETIMES when it is desired to hang a lamp or chandelier or do certain kinds of decorating, it is necessary to find the exact center of the ceiling, and when this is attempted un- looked-for diffi- culties arise. The best meth- od to follow is to first measure the length and width of the floor of the room and mark a cross on a piece of paper so that its intersection will be the cen- ter. Without permitting the paper to be moved, hold a nail over the

��cross as accu- rately as you can and shove a glass of

���The drop of water will fall vertically if there are no air currents

��water up around it so that the nail is wet. When the glass is withdrawn, a drop will fall and if it falls directly on the junction point of the lines, you have the center. If it does not, you can shift the nail about and keep on trying until you make the drop fall true. This rule is useful for finding a spot directly overhead of any given point. It is always comparatively easy to get the location on the floor; then find the spot directly above. — H. Adlon.

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