Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/950

 934

Winding a Coil Spring Automatically and Evenly

A SPRING-WINDER that will wind accurate and evenly spaced coils can easily be made out of two pieces of hard- wood and an ordinary stove-bolt.

Take 2 pieces of Yi by 1 in. close - grained hardwood, one about 8 in. long, the other 3 in. long. In the center of the 3- in. piece drill a hole of a size to easily take a stove - bolt. end of the long A small block

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���The wire is held tight until the winder can be placed as shown and clamped tight

��About

��in. from one piece drill a similar hole, of wood A, of the same diameter as the mandrel on which the spring is to be wound, completes it.

To wind the spring, fasten the mandrel and the end of the wire in the chuck. Start the lathe slowly, winding the spring by hand until the proper space between coils is obtained. Hold the wire tight until the winder can be placed as shown in the sketch and clamped down tight enough to force the wire into the wood. If it is too tight for the lathe to turn, loosen slightly.

By letting the end of the winder rest against the lathe bed, it will feed itself along automatically, thus leaving both hands free for handling the coil of wire. — F. L. Matter.

��Making Butt Mortises with an Ordinary Rabbet Plane

LEVELING the bottom of a butt _-/ mortise is usually the most difficult part of the job, but this work can be done quickly by us- i n g a small plane, prefera- bly a narrow wood rabbet plane. All that is necessary is to set the cutter

down below the bottom of the plane a distance equal to the depth of the mortise and cut out the stock to be removed after making a few chisel cuts in the customary manner. The plane will cut out the chips and accurately level and gage the bottom.

���Cutter set deep in plane to cut mortise

��Making a Talking Machine Stylus Out of a Toothpick

OWNERS of talking machines will find a toothpick an excellent substitute for a record needle should the supply of steel needles give out. The toothpick should be whittled to a fine point at one end and cut off blunt at the opposite end. Insert this improvised needle in the reproducer, point end down. The result will be a soft, pleasing tone. It can be tried as a novelty or to help out in case of an emer- gency. — Clarence T. Hubbard.

��Making a Whistling Weather Vane for the Barn

AN ordinary wood or metal whistle is used for this novel device. It is at- tached to the crossbar of an ordinary arrow weather vane with the open end toward the arrow head. A number of these whistles,

���The whistle placed on the weather vane is always in the right direction to sound its note

each of a different tone from the others, all on the same scale and each attached to an individual weather vane will make a pleasing and peculiar concert on a windy day. — Vaughn Baker.

��Hand Bob-Sleds Made of Barrel Staves

THE illustration on the following page shows a pair of hand bob-sleds that did fine service about a farm, when it became necessary for one man to carry bags of feed, grain, wood, etc. They can be made in half an hour's time and from no other material than some barrel staves and pieces of 2 by 4-in. sticks.

Select four good staves for the runners. On each one nail a block of the 2 by 4-in. stock of any convenient length by its thin edge. Spike a cross-piece 15 in. long from

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