934 



Winding a Coil Spring Automatically 

 and Evenly 



A SPRING-WINDER that will wind 

 accurate and evenly spaced coils can 

 easily be made out of two pieces of hard- 

 wood and an ordinary stove-bolt. 



Take 2 pieces 

 of Yi by 1 in. 

 close - grained 

 hardwood, one 

 about 8 in. long, 

 the other 3 in. 

 long. In the 

 center of the 3- 

 in. piece drill a 

 hole of a size to 

 easily take a 

 stove - bolt. 

 end of the long 

 A small block 



Popular Science Monthly 



The wire is held tight 

 until the winder can 

 be placed as shown 

 and clamped tight 



About 



in. from one 

 piece drill a similar hole, 

 of wood A, of the same diameter as the 

 mandrel on which the spring is to be wound, 

 completes it. 



To wind the spring, fasten the mandrel 

 and the end of the wire in the chuck. Start 

 the lathe slowly, winding the spring by 

 hand until the proper space between coils is 

 obtained. Hold the wire tight until the 

 winder can be placed as shown in the sketch 

 and clamped down tight enough to force the 

 wire into the wood. If it is too tight for the 

 lathe to turn, loosen slightly. 



By letting the end of the winder rest 

 against the lathe bed, it will feed itself along 

 automatically, thus leaving both hands free 

 for handling the coil of wire. — F. L. Matter. 



Making Butt Mortises with an 

 Ordinary Rabbet Plane 



LEVELING the bottom of a butt 

 _-/ mortise is usually the most difficult 

 part of the job, 

 but this work 

 can be done 

 quickly by us- 

 i n g a small 

 plane, prefera- 

 bly a narrow 

 wood rabbet 

 plane. All that 

 is necessary is to 

 set the cutter 



down below the bottom of the plane a 

 distance equal to the depth of the mortise 

 and cut out the stock to be removed after 

 making a few chisel cuts in the customary 

 manner. The plane will cut out the chips 

 and accurately level and gage the bottom. 



Cutter set deep in 

 plane to cut mortise 



Making a Talking Machine Stylus 

 Out of a Toothpick 



OWNERS of talking machines will find 

 a toothpick an excellent substitute for 

 a record needle should the supply of steel 

 needles give out. The toothpick should 

 be whittled to a fine point at one end and 

 cut off blunt at the opposite end. Insert 

 this improvised needle in the reproducer, 

 point end down. The result will be a 

 soft, pleasing tone. It can be tried as a 

 novelty or to help out in case of an emer- 

 gency. — Clarence T. Hubbard. 



Making a Whistling Weather 

 Vane for the Barn 



AN ordinary wood or metal whistle is 

 used for this novel device. It is at- 

 tached to the crossbar of an ordinary arrow 

 weather vane with the open end toward the 

 arrow head. A number of these whistles, 



The whistle placed on the weather vane is 

 always in the right direction to sound its note 



each of a different tone from the others, all 

 on the same scale and each attached to an 

 individual weather vane will make a 

 pleasing and peculiar concert on a windy 

 day. — Vaughn Baker. 



Hand Bob-Sleds Made of 

 Barrel Staves 



THE illustration on the following page 

 shows a pair of hand bob-sleds that did 

 fine service about a farm, when it became 

 necessary for one man to carry bags of feed, 

 grain, wood, etc. They can be made in 

 half an hour's time and from no other 

 material than some barrel staves and pieces 

 of 2 by 4-in. sticks. 



Select four good staves for the runners. 

 On each one nail a block of the 2 by 4-in. 

 stock of any convenient length by its thin 

 edge. Spike a cross-piece 15 in. long from 



