W* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1439 
Farm Mechanics 
Conducted by Robert H. Smith, of the Canton Agricultural School 
Canton, New York 
Building a Jigsaw 
A jigsaw is needed for my work. If 
in your opinion one could be made in the 
farm shop, I would appreciate it if you 
could givQ me a few suggestions for mak¬ 
ing one. c. A. R. 
Middleport, N. Y. 
With a little care a very satisfactory 
jigsaw can be made with the ordinary 
strap to spring - A 
*- - post from C e.'hny 
-braces 
and Cross head 
- guides 
oJ soaked 
bearing 
belt 
tJIG JAW 
should tell you whether the trouble is at 
this point or elsewhere. It seems scarcely 
possible that rust in the pipe alone is 
causing this trouble, and I am inclined to 
think with you that the trouble lies else¬ 
where, although from the description fur¬ 
nished I am unable to say where. 
Dilute hydrochloric acid is sometimes 
used to remove rust from iron, but as it 
attacks iron as well as the rust its use is 
not advised where its action cannot be 
watched. Clogged pipes are sometimes 
opened by taking them up at the elbows 
and working a stiff wire through the 
straight sections. When badly rusted re¬ 
newal is the best means of putting an end 
to trouble. 
Leak from Chimneys 
We have a chimney problem that we 
hope to have solved by The R. N.-Y. 
During heavy showers our chimneys leak. 
The water that falls inside chimneys is 
not absorbed by the bricks, but leaks 
through, causing stains; indeed, in very 
heavy showers it almost pours through. 
If we should rebuild the chimneys, using 
new bricks, will the new bricks absorb 
the moisture? Would it bo well to paint 
them on the outside, or should they be 
left so that they will absorb water on 
the outside also? We have them tinned 
so there is no leaking on the outside. 
A Farm-built Jigsaw 
tools of the farm shop. The crank and 
crank-shaft can be made from the discard¬ 
ed crank-wheel and shaft of an old reaper. 
The crank of a mowing machine can be 
used, but it has too short a stroke for 
best results, being about half that of the 
reaper. The shaft can be sawed off to 
the proper length and a belt pulley built 
up of circular pieces of board attached to 
the end for driving it. Bearings of maple 
soaked in oil make satisfactory bearings 
for the shaft to run in. 
Just beneath the table a cross-head is 
arranged to slide up and down between 
guides. This is attached to the crank- 
wheel by means of the connecting rod, 
and in this way imparts an up-and-down 
motion to the saw when the crank-shaft 
is turned. The connecting rod and cross¬ 
head is hidden in the cut, being under the 
table and just beneath the saw. 
The saw does all of its cutting on the 
down stroke, and is kept in tension, like 
the blade of a bucksaw, by means of a 
spring attached to the upper end. This 
spring, which is usually made from a 
springy piece of wood, is attached to the 
post above the saw and may be connected 
with it by means of a strap, providing 
adjustment to regulate tension. 
The post referred to is securely at¬ 
tached to the ceiling and hebl rigid by 
braces. The lower end carries guides 
and a cross-head to which the upper end 
of the saw is fastened, and of course 
these must be directly in line with the 
corresponding parts below the table. This 
arrangement of a post projecting down 
from the ceiling leaves the whole top of 
the table clear upon which to turn work, 
nothing being in the way. A visit to a 
local shop which has a jigsaw in its 
equipment will be a big help to one who 
intends building such a machine. A 2-in. 
belt will be sufficient to drive it, and it 
should make from 500 to 700 revolutions 
per minute. 
Trouble with Windmill Pump 
I am having trouble with my windmill 
pump. The packing blew out three times, 
and the plumber claims this is due to 
rust in the pipe line. Could it be any 
other cause? Is there any way to dis¬ 
solve rust in an old pipe by some chem¬ 
ical action, or is new pipe the only way? 
A few days after new packing was put 
in I noticed a full stream coming out of 
the pipe, then the packing come out again. 
This made me think it may be other trou¬ 
ble. I am sure the packing is strong 
enough. J. S. n. 
Sugarloaf, N. Y. 
I am unable to give you a definite 
answer in regard to the trouble with this 
pump. You have neglected to give me 
the make or type of pump, the size and 
length of line, position of valves, etc., or 
to tell me where the packing is that is 
giving the trouble. 
If the pump is of the type which has 
the plunger rod coming up through the 
air chamber and passing through a gland 
and packing at the top, and this is the 
packing that you refer to as blowing out, 
it may be that the pump rod is rusted or 
rough, or that it binds in this gland and 
tears the packing out as it works. An¬ 
other possible cause is a waterlogged air 
chamber. The air chamber may fill with, 
water, and this water being, practically 
incompressible does not permit the cush¬ 
ioning of shocks as did the air with which 
it should be filled, with the consequence 
that the packing is blown when the 
plunger moves upward. Examining these 
parts and working the mill by hand 
densation of creosote because of the slug¬ 
gish circulation in the smoke pipe and 
chimney. 
If the chimney is built tight and warm 
and protected with a cap which prevents 
the entrance of snow or rain, it will also 
help. Rather than being porous, the in¬ 
side of the chimney should be lined with 
tile flue lining. It should, of course, have 
a clean-out opening below the entrance of 
the smoke pipe, but this would be of little 
service to catch creosote. In some cases 
the smoke pipe is put together backward, 
so that any liquid running down the 
chimney will be conducted back to the fur¬ 
nace. The main thing, however, is to 
make sure of a tight and warm smoke 
pipe; avoid running it through cold 
rooms and chimney, as the heated air 
current in the pipe is what takes the 
creosote out before it can condense and 
make trouble. 
Piping Water Supply 
I would appreciate advice in regard to 
piping water from a spring situated on 
a sidehill about 1,800 ft. from the house. 
There is a fall of about 100 ft. down the 
hill from the spring a distance of about 
1,000 ft. before it strikes the level, then 
300 or 400 ft. of almost level, then there 
is a rise of about 20 ft, then level on to 
the house. There is an abundance of 
water in a deep dug-out spring 8 ft. 
square, stoned tip, and at least 0 ft. deep. 
Twenty ft. below the spring is a con¬ 
crete reservoir. A number of years ago 
this spring was piped, and neighbors say 
ic gave an abundance of water with pres¬ 
sure enough to throw a stream of water 
over the house. I find on examination 
that the pipe is a very thin lead or eoin- 
The Evolution of Homemade Sausage 
Heating from the Hot Water Tank 
Expecting to build a dwelling or bun¬ 
galow next Spring, I heard of a man who 
had radiators connected to his hot-water 
tank, kitchen range, and I was wonder¬ 
ing if you could advise me how it is done, 
if you have ever heard of it. I saw such 
an arrangement in a barber shop here, 
but the stove was simply connected to 
pipe about S ft. in length with about 
seven sections of pipe. G. \v. b. 
Ocean View, Va. 
Many farms could utilize the excess 
heat of the kitchen hot water tank to 
heat other rooms at little cost and no 
additional fuel cost. The farmer could 
do the work with two pipe wrenches, in 
addition to his ordinary equipment. Any 
plumbing or steam supply house would 
cut and thread every pipe from a sketch 
supplied by the farmer. A few simple in¬ 
structions are here given, with a rough 
sketch of such an installation. Wall 
coils, made of pipes, heat well; cast-iron 
wall radiators look neater; sectional, ver¬ 
tical, cast-iron radiators look best. All 
heat well. Each radiator must have two 
pipe connections, that the water may flow 
and return. The moving heated water 
gives its heat to the rooms through 
radiating surfaces. While such an in¬ 
stallation looks formidable and difficult on 
paper, it is as easy to erect as many 
things the farmer does. daily. A few 
simple rules must be strictly followed to 
insure success. 
There must be two connections to each 
radiator. Pipes must have a continuous 
grade. An air valve must be placed on 
top of each radiator, or the radiator 
would not fill with water. No radiator 
will heat if located above the source of 
the water supply. One valve at each 
radiator will control the heat. The 
radiator pipes need not exceed 1 in. in 
interior diameter. Both pipe connections 
must be of the same size. The flow pipe 
should start at the top of the hot water 
tank, and grade upward to each radiator. 
The return pipe should run to the bottom 
of the hot water tank. Hot water cir¬ 
culates to the radiators because water ex¬ 
pands when heated, and when expanded 
is lighter per cubic foot than unexpanded 
denser water. It must expand when 
heated, and will follow any pipe leading 
upward, always going by the most direct 
route. The hottest water goes to the 
highest-point. As it cools in the radia¬ 
tors it gets denser, and falls down toward 
the source of heat. While heat is sup¬ 
plied it must circulate. While it circu¬ 
lates it radiates heat to all rooms in 
which radiators are placed. 
It is not necessary to run each set of 
radiator pipes singly to the source of 
heat. They may be branched into main 
pipes. The heat may be carried horizon¬ 
tally for great distances. Don’t leave a 
radiator with its flow of water closed in 
a room where windows are open, in very 
cold weather, because water which has 
been boiled will freeze quicker than water 
which has not been heated. If your 
kitchen is in a basement you may heat 
rooms on the floor above readily. If 
radiators are used, be sure they are water 
radiators. A steam radiator won’t do, 
because water must have a circuit in 
order to move. Steam radiators usually 
have but one passage across the interior 
of the radiator. Water must have two 
passages. 
IIow shall we know the proper size of 
radiator to use? Heating engineers make 
complicated calculations of heat units and 
surface efficiency. An ordinary thumb 
rule will be close enough for the farmer. 
Take the square feet of exposed glass, the 
square feet of exposed wall, the cubic 
feet of the room to be heated. For every 
2 sq. ft. of glass allow 1 sq. ft. of radia¬ 
tion. for each 20 sq. ft. of wall allow 1 
sq. ft. of radiation, for each 200 cubic ft. 
of space allow 1 sq. ft. of radiation. Add 
these, and you have the square feet of 
radiator needed. If rooms overhang, call 
the overhang wall surface. On exposed 
places, or northern exposures, add 25 per 
cent radiation. If the water is not steam¬ 
ing hot. add some to the radiation. The 
calculation is based on water at 200 de¬ 
grees Fahrenheit. The ordinary heat 
supply is good for about two rooms. 
J. G. 
The house is so built that these chimneys 
cannot be extended to the ground. We 
bad thought when we rebuild of making 
an outlet for the creosote. Has anyone 
tried this out? This trouble is not 
caused by green wood. During severe 
cold, wood of two years’ seasoning caused 
so much creosote that we had to change 
to coal. w. E. H. 
Newfield, N. Y. 
Trouble from creosote is sometimes 
very difficult or impossible to overcome. 
Ordinarily this material is carried in the 
smoke as a vapor. If the smoke column 
is permitted to cool, however, this vapor 
will condense, with the result that we ar e 
all so familiar with. 
Anything that will keep the chimney 
warm and dry will help in^ stopping or 
lessening this nuisance. Use as short 
and as direct a pipe as possible from the 
stove or furnace to the chimney. AVhere 
possible avoid long horizontal runs of pip¬ 
ing. If the construction of your stove 
will permit it. control the fire by admit¬ 
ting air over the fire-pot rather than 
through a damper at the base of the 
smoke pipe. This will be a little more 
wasteful of fuel, but will help to main¬ 
tain the smoke column at a temperature 
above condensation. Building a large 
fire and then checking it, while saving of 
fuel and heat, is conducive to the con- 
position, so pliable one can press it to¬ 
gether very easily. If I pipe the spring 
I intend to use a good iron pipe. Do 
you think the distance too far for it to 
be satisfactory? If not, would ^-in. 
pipe be’ large enough? Our only source 
of water now is an open well, which is 
far from satisfactory, and it gets very 
low in a dry time. W. B. c. 
Vestal, N. Y. 
• The spring that you describe, if pro¬ 
perly protected to prevent the entrance 
of surface water and insects, should 
make a very satisfactory water supply. 
Deducting the rise of 20 ft. to the house 
leaves a fall of approximately 80 ft. to 
cause a flow of water in the pipe, which 
is 1,800 ft. in length. It is not advisable 
to use a pipe smaller than 1 in. in diam¬ 
eter in this installation, and such a pipe 
when laid under the conditions should 
give a flow of about five gallons per 
minute. 
Half-inch pipe should never be. used 
except in very short lines, where it can 
be readily taken up for cleaning. Many 
waters cause a growth or deposit in pipes 
that obstructs the flow, and the bore of 
a i^-in. pipe is so small in the first place 
that it is very easily dogged. Under the 
same conditions a 1-in. pipe will carry 
about six times as much water as the 
14 -in. size will. 
coil 
Heating System from Kitchen Boiler 
