616 



Popular Science Monthly 



Making a Simple Press of Boards 

 for Trousers 



WHY not let this simple board device 

 press your trousers while you sleep ? 

 Two pine boards, cleated as at A, are 

 hinged together, and the inside surface 



^ 



^ 



Clamping your trousers between boards 

 for creasing them by pressure overnight 



covered with canvas. The latter is 

 slightly dampened before the trousers 

 are put in. The bolts, B, are tightened 

 by means of wing nuts, which rest upon 

 washers, as shown. Simply lay the 

 article to be pressed flat and close the two 

 sections of the press like a book. After 

 the wing nuts are turned down tightly, 

 the press may be hung up out of the 

 way. Either clear white pine or cypress 

 is suitable for making the press. Fasten 

 with brass screws. — H. Adlon. 



An Interesting Demonstration of 

 Spontaneous Combustion 



A VERY simple and effective dem- 

 onstration of spontaneous com- 

 bustion can be made as follows: 



Dissolve a piece of yellow phosphorus, 

 about the size of a pea, in a small bottle 

 containing a tablespoonful of the liquid 



carbon disulphide. Pour the solution 

 over a small, thin piece of porous paper. 

 After waving the paper back and forth for 

 about thirty seconds, it suddenly bursts 

 into flame. The carbon disulphide 



quickly evaporates, leaving the phos- 

 phorus, in a finely divided state, spread 

 over the surface of the paper. Since 

 phosphorus oxidizes very rapidly and 

 has a low kindling temperature, the heat 

 of oxidation quickly brings it to this 

 point with the result already described. 



Phosphorus produces very severe burns 

 and must be kept and cut under water. 

 Do not handle it with the fingers — use 

 forceps. Keep the carbon disulphide 

 away from a free flame. If care is 

 exercised, no danger attends this experi- 

 ment. It is rather odoriferous, though. 



Temporary Repair on a Broken 

 Front Wheel Spindle 



IF a front wheel spindle of an automo- 

 bile, or any axle of a similar type, 

 or a shaft or rod becomes broken, a semi- 

 permanent repair may be made by the 

 following method. 



Remove the axle or spindle A by dis- 

 connecting the steering arm from B and 

 removing the spindle bolt from the hole 

 C. Place A and its broken member D 

 in a clamp with the broken and rough 

 edges E in their original places; then drill 

 out a hole and tap it to receive a 7 16 

 in. S. A. E. bolt of sufficient length to be 

 about equally distant from .4 and D. 

 Do not tap threads in D, but ream to 

 just sufficient clearance for the bolt. 



Draw the bolt up snugly. The wheel 

 may then be replaced after the spindle is 

 connected. The outside cone is adjusted 

 by the locknuts on the threads F. To 

 further insure safety, drill a ] ^m. hole G 



Fastening the end of a broken 

 front wheel spindle to its shank 

 with a standard machine bolt 



in the bolt head //and insert a long cotter. 

 The hub cap may then be replaced and 

 the car used as before, or until a new part 

 arrives. — P. P. Avery. 



