772 



Popular Science Monthly 



A thin, stiff, steel wire, not exceeding 

 No. 20 gage, 6 ft. in length, is threaded 

 through holes in the forward ends of the 

 main parallel strips, and bent back at their 

 outer ends so they meet the extremities of 

 the cross strip. The detailed section of 

 the drawing shows how the wire and strip 

 are secured together by the two right- 

 angled bends, the end limb of the wire 

 resting in a groove and the short bent part 

 of the wire adapted to enter a hole, after 

 which the two parts are wrapped with a 

 thin cord. 



The fish-tail has at its margins a wire, 

 properly bent and attached to the parallel 

 strips and cross strip, thereby forming the 

 entire frame ready to receive the covering. 

 This may be of silk, glazed cotton, or 

 paper, preferably waterproofed. This 

 should be applied on both sides, or silk on 

 the lower side and water-proof paper on 

 the upper side, thereby making a neat 

 and durable job. Every part of the frame- 

 work is covered except that portion be- 

 tween the parallel bars forward of the 

 cross strip. 



Before the wire at the front part of the 

 frame is placed into position, the gyro- 

 scope wheel must be put on the wire. 

 The wheel is made as follows: A ring of 

 heavy wire (No. 12 gage will answer) is 

 bent into form, and held at the abutting 

 ends by a tin tube. This ring should be 

 not less than 20 in. in diameter, the object 

 being to make the wheel with considerable 

 weight at the perimeter, to give a proper 

 gyroscopic effect. 



A common spool is used for the hub. 

 This should have a wooden tube through 

 the axial bore, provided with a hole large 

 enough to permit the spool to rotate freely 

 on the wire. A pair of cross holes is bored 

 through each end of the spool to receive 

 wires. On each of the four sides these 

 wires are brought together in pairs, and 

 twisted to form spokes, the outer ends of 

 these twisted spokes being wrapped 

 around the ring and their ends permitted 

 to project out a distance of 3 in. and so 

 disposed that they form V-shaped arms. 

 Triangularly-formed pieces of fabric or 

 paper are then attached to these arms, and 

 folded around the twisted portions of the 

 spokes, to form open V-shaped grooves. 



When the wheel is in position, the open 

 parts of the grooves or wings thus pro- 

 vided, are so disposed that the wind will 



drive the wheel in the direction that the 

 kite moves, the upper part of the wheel 

 moving forward. This action of the wheel 

 not only steadies the kite but has a greater 

 or less tendency to draw down the forward 

 end of the kite, which permits of the flying 

 cord being placed behind the wheel. 



The flying cord is attached to the cross 

 strip behind the wheel, two points of 

 attachment being necessary, about 10 in. 

 apart. This cord is merely a loop, which 

 hangs down 1 ft. or more. To this loop 

 the main cord is fixed. As it is necessary 

 to provide a means for adjusting the cord 

 so that the proper angle may be given 

 to the kite, a pair of wire arms, each 20 in. 

 long, are secured at their rear ends to the 

 tail of the kite, the forward ends terminat- 

 ing at a point below the rear cross strip 

 of the kite. Each wire arm has a hook, 

 or return bend, so that the looped cord 

 may be wrapped around and secured to 

 the hook at such a point as to give a 

 greater or less distance between the cross 

 strip and the hook, to enable the flyer to 

 give a greater or less angle to the kite. 

 The nearer the hook is to the body of the 

 kite the flatter will be its angle in flight, 

 and by this provision the kite is adapted 

 to be adjusted for a wind of any velocity. 



A Fine-Toothed Rake With Detach- 

 able Tooth -Holder 



FINDING the ordinary garden rake 

 too coarse to use among the plants 

 just appearing, I made a rake and used it 



Screw 



Wire nail5 



The construction of a garden rake head 

 in which nails are used for the teeth 



where I could not handle a larger rake. 

 The illustration clearly shows the whole 

 construction. Wire nails placed as far 

 apart as suitable. The tooth-holding sec- 

 tion should have the tooth-holes bored 

 out to prevent splitting when the teeth 

 are driven in. By having tooth-holders 

 equipped with teeth of different sizes and 

 set at various distances apart a combina- 

 tion rake ia obtained.— James M. Kane. 



