130 



Flying this kite 

 pleasure. It is a 

 ethereal object at 



looking like a (lock of soaring birds more 

 than anything else. It is hard to make, 

 but it pays its way when finally finished 

 in the pleasure it 



Popular Science Monthly 



Making a Two-Fuse Switchblock 



TO ol)viate the annoyance of fitting 

 up a new fuse when one has blown 



will afford much 



most delicate and 



a great height, 



out, a switchblock may be made, which 

 carries two fuses. A block of fiber, 3-2 ''i- 



by 1^ in. 



gives Its possessor. 



A Feii< Words 

 About Flying 



Have a pair of 

 gloves, duck or can- 

 vas with pieces of 

 sole leather sewed in, 

 to handle the Hying 

 line, if you use wire. 

 The strain should 

 never come on the 

 reel. A clamp like 

 this, made of cast- 

 iron with two wing- 

 nuts, should be used 

 to clamp on the 

 wire. A short piece 

 of chain with a 

 i/^-in. rod at the end 

 attached. The rod 



^/n itnp connec/ion. 



Bro56 strip 



small convenient switchblock 

 accommodating two fuses 



/'2/j(? ly/re-. 



If one fuse blows out simply switch over to 

 the other fuse 



15 ins. long is 

 is pushed into 

 the ground up to the eye, and the foot 

 is held down on it to prevent its inil- 

 ling up from the strain. The chain 

 should be as strong as the flying wire. 

 Of course if cord is used for the lower 

 part of the flying wire, it can be handled 

 by snubbing around the frame of the 

 reel, or any convenient stationary ob- 

 ject such as a fence post, fire-plug, 

 chimney , etc. , when a large battery is aloft. 

 Smaller kites can be made by reducing 

 the above proportions, and correspond- 

 ingly lighter equipment can be used, 

 If Malay kites less than 3 ft. high are 

 used they can be covered with paper, 

 although, owing to the imperfect pocket, 

 the headsail action is not so pronounced, 

 and the kite docs not fly as steadily as 

 one with cloth sails. 



An Emergency Fountain-Pen 



SELECT two i)en nibs of the round 

 variety and place them together, 

 one above the other, in the penholder. 

 This expedient not only enables one to 

 write about sixty words with one di]) 

 in the ink, but prevents the ink from 

 <lropping off the pen and blotting tlu 

 paper. — W. Li hks. 



by 3 ins. is used as a base. 

 Drill two holes 5/16 

 in. away from each 

 end and "^/^ in. from 

 each side, large 

 enough to take a 

 4-32 bolt. Drill the 

 same size hole in 

 each end of two thin 

 strips of brass, i in. 

 by 34 '"• Pass one 

 end of each strip 

 over the bolts and 

 bolt the other ends 

 with two nuts, one 

 underneath and one 

 above the strip. 

 Leave the bolts long 

 enough to receive 

 battery post nuts. 

 The end of the block 

 just prepared is used as one binding 

 post, the details being shown in the dia- 

 grams. The other ends of the strips are 

 l)olted lightly to the base, the bolts being 

 long enough to recei\e battery post nuts. 

 These Ixjlts are to act as the terminals of 

 the two fuse wires. 



Two morf holes to take 4-32 bolts are 

 drilled 13-2 ''is. from either end and ^s in- 

 from either side of the block. After 

 placing the bolts in these holes, a strip of 

 co])per or tin is hanmiercd over them 

 and fastened down with brass screws. 

 File down the screws to form a smooth 

 surface. Another hole for a 4-32 bolt is 

 Itored 5/16 in. from the end, as shown in 

 the diagram. A piece of brass, 1 in. by 

 Yl in. by I s in., is bored at each end with 

 a 4-32 drill, and slipped over a bolt of the 

 same bore. A block of fiber, J 2 '»• I'Y 

 3^2 ill- by 3 2 ''!•. 's bored with a 3-32 drill 

 and forced o\er the bolt. The bolt is 

 then pushed through at the other end. 



A nut is placed between the fiber base 

 and the bar to allow for the thickness of 

 the two contact screws and the head of 

 the nut at the other end of the bar. A 

 tlouble set of nuts are used to hold the 

 mit tight. At the top of the bolt is 

 .inniiur b.itterypost nut lo be used as 

 tin uilur iiiniinal. — L. A. KuiiHNE. 



