774 



Popular Science Monthly 



A Lathe Polishing Kink 



TO polish small 

 round boxes, 

 napkin rings, and 

 the like, after they 

 have been taken 

 ' from the lathe, 

 take a board. A, 

 and with an expansion bit bore a hole 

 the size of the object to be polished, B, 

 and place it in this hole so that part of 

 it projects. 



Screw the board to the face-plate, C 

 and put it on the lathe. The edges of 

 the board may be turned down with a 

 chisel and the object given its final 

 smoothing and polishing without grip- 

 ping it in metal. — R. F. Cummings. 



Tapping Blind Holes 



EFORE tap- 

 ping blind 

 holes, much time 

 and trouble can 

 be eliminated by 

 first making sure 

 that the holes 

 have been drilled 

 to the right 

 depth. This is 

 done by placing 

 a leather washer on the spout of an oil-can 

 so that the end will just touch the bot- 

 tom of the hole, the washer resting on 

 the face of the work. — C. H. Anderson. 



B' 



How to Cut Metal and Not Cut 

 Yourself 



w 



HEN making a long cut in a strip 

 of sheet metal, the metal is likely 



to bend 

 up be- 

 hind the 

 shears 

 and cut 

 the hand 

 of the 

 worker. A guard 

 can be made from 

 a rectangular piece 

 of sheet metal. Cut off the two corners 

 of one end and bore two holes as shown 

 in the diagram. Bend the smaller end 

 along a longitudinal line through the 

 middle. Fasten to the bottom handle 

 of the shears by means of a small bolt. 



J. LlEBMAN. 



Handling Small Brads 



AN ordinary 

 . pen greatly 

 facilitates the 

 handling of small 

 brads or pins. 

 The brad should 

 be placed be- 

 tween the blades 

 of the nib and 

 then hammered 

 in part way, after which the pen may be 

 removed. — Joseph Braff. 



Using Ice to Lower Heavy Stones 



THE placing 

 of finishing 

 stones, weighing 

 several tons, is 

 often difficult be- 

 cause spikes can- 

 not be used, ow- 

 ing to the posi- 

 tion of the stone 

 in the building. 

 The stone can be easily lifted to the de- 

 sired level with ropes, but it cannot be 

 lowered with them, since they would 

 wedge in the sides. By placing several 

 cakes of ice in the hole, the stone can 

 be lowered on to them, directly above 

 the opening. Streams of hot water will 

 melt the ice and let the stone sink into 

 place easily. — A. J. Cowen. 



An Emergency Pipe- Cutter 



PIPES of 

 brass or 

 other soft metal 

 can be threaded 

 with a lock-nut 

 of the proper 

 size. A lock-nut 

 is cut at opposite places across the 

 threads, the two threaded halves thus 

 formed comprising a very crude pipe- 

 cutter. The pipe should be held by a 

 vise and the nut gripped with a monkey- 

 wrench. — C. A. Faiman. 



Whistle on Engine of Motor-Boat 



A WHISTLE in place of the pet-cock 

 or priming cock, of a twin cylinder 

 marine engine will be of use in signaling 

 from a motor-boat. 



