Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/802

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��Popular Science Monthly

��diameter. The cap screw C is fastened with two rivets, one at the top and one at the bottom, to the jaw A. The rivets D are countersunk on the inside of the jaw. The brass washer on the outside of the jaw B is made of an old piece of 3^-in. brass, and allows the nut E to draw up tight and hold it in position. It is not necessarily round.

Drill J^-in. holes in the faces of the nut E and cut off the end of a nail to fit the holes. This is used as a lever for tighten- ing the nut. The nut may be drawn up very tight, when necessary, with a wrench. The 3/16-in. cap screw F is held in the jaw A with a ^-in. taper pin, as shown at G, and this bolt acts as a slide guide for the jaw B, which holds it in a vertical position. The lower hole in the jaw B is 7/16 in. in diameter — large enough to slide over the threads on the bolt F. — P. P. Avery.

��An Easily Operated Clamp for Con- crete Forms

MANY uses may be found for the clamp shown in the illustration. There are no screw threads to bother with

���An easily constructed clamp for holding the forms in making concrete structures

and there is but one moving element- A contractor can have a number of these made by the local blacksmith or machine shop and use them in construction work of any character.

A cold rolled bar, 1 in, by ^/^ in. in diameter and about 3 ft. long should be heated and forged at one end into the shape shown on yl. A short bar, 1 in. square and 10 in. long, should be fash- ioned similar to B. The hole in the latter

��should be just large enough to allow A to slip through with a close fit. It is the lever action which, pressing the diagonally opposite edges of the hole against the bar A, causes the bar B to wedge and hold. The greater the pressure tending to force the clamp jaws apart, the greater the holding resistance.

In building a large concrete structure, a contracting company used hundreds of these clamps for holding temporarily in position the wooden forms for beams, window sills, and stairways. A great saving in time as well as money was made, as they did away with the old method of nailing wooden cross-pieces to the forms. They are easily portable and may be moved from one job to another as soon as the concrete sets.— K. M. Coggeshall,

��A Receptacle for Holding Graphite in a Clean Way

EVERYBODY knows how hard it is to pour graphite from any ordinary container without having it spill or come out too fast and make everything black. If the graphite is put in a discarded tooth- powder can (the kind with the regulating slot in the top) not only can its flow be regulated but it is kept clean and dry.

A Simple Homemade Sun Drier for Fruits and Vegetables

SUN drying is undoubtedly the sim- plest and most inexpensive method of preparing fruits and vegetables for winter storing. A simple drier that can be made at small cost consists of a shallow box with a sash or piece of glass fitted over the top. Bore holes in the sides and near the top and bottom, for ventilation; but cover them carefully with netting to keep out flies and mosquitoes.

Set the box at an angle so that the sun's rays fall directly on the glass. Apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, raspberries, and almost all fruits can be dried in this way satisfactorily. First wash the fruit carefully, discarding any that show signs of being over-ripe or decaying. Slice thin, and lay out in the box without overlap- ping the slices. Turn the slices occasion- ally and take them out as they dry. The only thing to guard against in this type oi drier is dust and insects.

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