928 



Popular Science Monthly 



A Door Catch Made from a 

 Spring Shoe Tree 



WITH this simple homemade catch 

 you can push the door as wide open 

 as you like and it will remain so. There are 

 no levers to push down. It is self-contained 

 and very cheap. 



First secure a pair 

 of "shoe trees." 

 Take one portion, 

 as shown in the illus- 

 tration, and fasten 

 the metal end on 

 your door about 6 

 in. from the floor. 

 Fasten it with nails, 

 screweyes or any- 

 thing that will hold. 

 It is advisable to 

 hold the metal end 

 over the gas range 

 for a few moments 

 to take out the tern- 



Manner of fastening 

 the spring shoe tree 

 to door for a stop 



per; then a nail driven through it will not 

 split the metal. The tension of the metal 

 after it is fastened on will push the wooden 

 knob firmly on the floor. With the pres- 

 sure "just right" you can move the door 

 freely, yet it will remain wherever it is set. 

 The knob will slide over a rug or doorstep. 

 It will not be in the way if fastened on the 

 inside of the door, and the wind will not 

 be able to blow the door shut or further 

 open. — Clarence T. Hubbard. 



Tearing a Pack of Cards in 

 Half with Ease 



ALTHOUGH the popular trick of tearing 

 l\ and quartering a deck of cards can be 

 classed as a feat of strength, there is a 

 "wrinkle" which, if mastered, will permit 

 the pasteboards to be torn with very little 

 exertion. The method described 

 is a sure one, and is j ust as effect- 

 ive as if actual strength were 

 used. A girl can do the trick 

 if the. instructions are 

 carried out. Take a 

 pack of new cheap cards 

 and "bake" them in an 

 oven for more than an 

 hour. Cut a slit about 

 Y2 in. deep on each 

 side of a card case. 

 This cannot be seen, 

 and when the cards are passed around for 

 the usual preliminary examination, by the 

 spectators the case is retained by the per- 



The cards will tear in 

 two easily after they 

 have been baked 



former, by whom the cards are returned to 

 the case after the inspection. The cards 

 after being baked will be very brittle and 

 when placed in the case will tear easily, as 

 the slit will give away and the two portions 

 of the card case will act like grips in severing 

 the 52 cards it holds. 



Reshaping Artists' Paint Tubes 

 for Refilling 



THE tin-foil tubes used as containers for 

 artists' colors are usually thrown 

 away when empty. These can be refilled 

 or used for other purposes by blowing them 

 out with a bicycle pump. Sufficient pres- 

 sure will straighten out all the kinks and 

 render them almost as good as new. When 

 blown out to their original size, open the 

 bottom end, insert the contents and fold 

 over again as before. — L. B. Robbins. 



An Automobile Steering Wheel 

 for a Bob-Sled 



NO automobile ever has its steering 

 wheel directly over the front axle, and 

 no bob-sled to steer best should have the 

 wheel over the front bob. The illustration 

 shows an arrangement which has the "feel" 

 of a real automobile when coasting down a 



Cylinder drum attachment for a bob-sled. It 

 is like the steering mechanism of an automobile 



hill. The steering wheel and post were set 

 nearly half way back on the top plank of the 

 bobs in a leaning position, like the wheel 

 and post of an automobile. On the lower 

 end of the post a wooden roller about 6 in. 

 in diameter was fastened. About the 

 middle of this a 34 _m - rope was wrapped 

 several times, and then the ends were taken 

 through a pulley on either side to the ends 

 of the cross-piece of the front bob. Any 

 turn of the wheel thus revolves the roller 

 which wraps the rope, pulling the front bob 

 in the direction desired. Such a pair of 

 bobs can be built at home with materials 

 found in the scrap heap. For my bobs I 

 used seasoned oak, soft pine for the top 

 plank, and old carriage tires for the runners. 

 The wheel of an old corn cutter makes a 

 fine steering wheel, or the steering wheel 

 may be sawed out of hard wood with a 

 compass saw. — F. E. Brimmer. 



