782 



Popular Science Monthly 



To Keep the Ends of Rafters 

 from Spreading 



IT frequently happens that ridge boards 

 show a tendency to spread at the mitered 

 joint. When they do, it is usually difficult 

 to draw them and keep them together with 

 nails. Even if 

 they have been Galvanized 

 drawn together iron strip 

 they may spread 

 later under 

 changed atmos- 

 pheric condi- 

 tions. 



A simple, un- 

 failing and per- 

 manent way to 

 cure this defect 

 is to take a strip 



of galvanized sheet iron i3^ or 2 in. wide 

 and from 18 in. to 2 ft. long, depending on 

 the size of the ridge boards, and nail it over 

 the top of the joint as shown in the sketch. 

 Care should be taken to make it fit tight. 

 This can be accomplished by nailing one 

 side fast, then bending and hammering 

 the other end down and pulling it by 

 skewing some of the nails. It will be 

 found that the boards can be drawn to- 

 gether tighter this way than by merely 

 spiking them together. 



A strip of metal used 

 to tighten rafter ends 



Making a Substantial Cardboard 

 Pulley for Belts 



TURN two metal washers of the re- 

 quired diameter, having the center 

 hole a tight fit on the shaft. Cut out 

 enough cardboard disks to make the 

 pulley of the required width. Soak these 

 disks in hot beeswax and place them on the 



A number of cardboard disks clamped 

 between metal washers to make a pulley 



shaft between the two washers. After 

 carefully squaring them with the shaft, 

 clamp them tightly together with three 

 screw-clamps. Between the clamps drill 

 three rivet holes. Rivet together as tightly 



as possible, leaving the clamps in place until 

 all three rivets are in. After removing the 

 clamps place three more rivets between the 

 first three. The set-screw is made by 

 screwing a wood-screw .into a previously 

 drilled hole. 



While the beeswax is not absolutely 

 necessary it aids greatly in solidifying the 

 pulley and affords an excellent grip to the 

 belt. — Frank L. Matter. 



An Insulator and Fire Protector for 

 a Stovepipe 



RECENTLY when cutting through a 

 stone wall preparatory to running a 

 stovepipe, I found the pipe would be too 

 close to a wood stud. Being without the 

 proper chimney-pot, I made one from a 

 small flower pot. 



I first made a saw cut all the way 

 around, as in Fig. 1, then smeared the edge 

 with cement, as in Fig. 2, and placed it in 



FIG 2 FIG.3 



A flower pot used to make an insulator 

 for a stovepipe passing through a wall 



the opening as in Fig. 3. To cut a pot like 

 this it is better to use a grindstone instead 

 of a saw. There is much less chance of the 

 pot breaking. — James M. Kane. 



A Solution for Electro-Plating 

 with Aluminum 



DISSOLVE any desired quantity of an 

 aluminum salt, such as the sulphate, 

 acetate, or nitrate, in distilled water and 

 concentrate these solutions to twenty 

 Baume in a suitable vessel to hold the arti- 

 cles to be plated. 



The battery to be used should be three 

 pairs of Bunsen cells with the wires coupled 

 up for intensity and an anode of aluminum 

 attached to the negative wires. The solu- 

 tion should be slightly acidulated with its 

 approximate acid heated to 140 deg. F. 

 and kept at that temperature during the 

 operation. — Herman Neuhaus. 



