A. F :w T fe^ •K»i5'i(»i' Book, Gopighi:)^^ COPiiyGHT DEPOSm THE HOME HANDY BOOK BY A. FREDERICK COLLINS The Home Handy Book Keeping Up with Your Motor Gar The Book of Wireless The Book of Stars The Book of Magic The Book of Electricity D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Publishers New York tee B THE HOME HANDY BOOK t/ A COMPENDIUM OF USEFUL THINGS TO DO AROUND THE AVERAGE HOUSE AND HOW TO KEEP IT IN REPAIR / BY A. FREDERICK COLLINS / ADTHOB OF "THE BOOK OF WIBELE8S," "tHE BOOK OF STABS," "tHE BOOK OF MAGIC,' "the BOOK OF ELECTBICITT," ETC. / FULLY ILLUSTRATED D. APPLETON AND COMPANY NEW YORK LONDON 1917 -7 Ts^ I ^liyCM • 10 c< if Copyright, 1917, bt D. APPLETON AND COMPANY / MAY 21 1917 V Printed in the United States of America ©C! A4J37056 ^^\|^^ TO JOSEPH GARFIELD BANDY A .WORD TO YOU There are always a hundred and one things to do around the average house ; and to keep it in repair and make it a nice, comfortable place to live in, it is strictly up to you to see that these things are done. And if you don't do it you are missing a fine experi- ence by not learning how to use tools, and, besides, you will have to send out every little while for the carpenter, the plumber, the locksmith and divers other journeymen to fix up things ; or, failing to do this, the house will go to rack and ruin. Now mechanics usually charge about seven prices for doing odd jobs, but it must be remembered that they not only figure up the actual time they put in and the materials they use, but they also count the time it takes for them to make the call and to get back to their shops again, and time with them is money. On the other hand, to neglect the little repairs as they are needed means that the house will soon show signs of shiftlessness and this is an indecent burden that no self-respecting family needs to carry, for the reason that any one can do all the little odd jobs that ought to be done if he or she goes about it in the right way. There are some other important gains that will accrue to you by using tools and doing the work yourself, and among them is that you can save the money which would have to be paid for outside help, and this is no incon- • • Vll A WORD TO YOU siderable amount in a year's time; that your home will take on an aspect as spick and span as a lady's bandbox, which gives you a wonderful feeling of pride; and, finally, that it will set the red blood a-tingling in your arteries in virtue of the fact that your brain and hands are doing the finest kind of team work. A. Frederick Collins. ''The Antlers;' Congers J N. Y, PAGE 1 20 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. TOOLS EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE . Wood working tools— How to use wood working tools— How to sharpen wood working tools- Metal working tools— How to use metal work- ing tools— Taking care of your tools— Your workshop — Materials you need. IL INDOOR MECHANICS .... How to clean a clock— To keep a carpet sweeper in order— Fixing an oil-stove— To solder tin- ware—Mending a window shade roller— New shears for old— The right way to sharpen knives— How to repair your bicycle— To keep a sewing machine in repair. in. BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH ... 38 How to fix a door knob — How a lock is made — How to pick a lock— How to make keys. IV. DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS ... 46 Charging new and re-charging old batteries — Testing out electric bell circuits— Testing and fixing telephones— Testing and fixing annuncia- tors—How to make a refrigerator alarm— How to make an electric alarm clock— How to make an electric door alarm— How to make an elec- tric fire detector— How to install an electric gas ix CONTENTS CHAPTEB PAGE lighting apparatus — How to install a burglar alarm trap — How to solder and tape wires — Re- placing fuses — Coloring and frosting electric light bulbs — Testing and fixing electric heating apparatus. V. THE AMATEUR PLUMBER . . . . 74 Stopping leaks in lead pipes — Soldering lead pipes — How to make a cup- joint — How to clean out pipes — Putting new washers in faucets — How to prevent water pipes from freezing — When leaving a house for the winter — How to thaw out frozen water pipes^— A handy clean- out plunger — The mechanism of a flushing tank and how to keep it in order — Pumps, how they work and how to fix them — How to clean a gas jet — How to detect gas leaks — Keeping gas cooking stoves in order. YI. THE HANDY GLAZIER .... 90 About window glass — Tools vised for cutting win- dow glass — How to cut window glass — How to make a cutting board — Removing old putty from sash — How to make glazing putty — How to put in a light — To clean windows. VIL THE FURNITURE REPAIRER . . 98 Easing doors and drawers that stick — Re-seating chairs — Repairing broken chairs — Castors that won't fall out — Tightening dresser and side- board handles — Taking dents out of furniture — To prevent hinges from creaking — How to clean furniture — A good furnitiu-e varnish — A good furniture and piano polish — A fine polish for leather — How to re-upholster furniture. X CONTENTS CHAPTEB ^^^^ VIII. THE HOME DECORATOR . . .108 About wall paper — The amount of paper re- quired — The tools and apparatus you need — How to prepare the walls — How to size the walls — How to make the paste — How to paste the paper — How to trim the paper — How to paper the ceiling — How to paper the walls — A few helpful hints — Curing damp walls — How to kalsomine a ceiling — How to make stenciled decorations — Interior varnishing — Varnishing new floors and woodwork — ^\^amishing old floors and woodwork — Interior painting — Cleaning painted walls- -To remove old paint — Interior enameling — How to put on stained glass paper. IX. HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE . 125 How to make a self-drying soap stand — How to make a self -setting mouse trap — How to make an adjustable book rack — How to make a quick ice cream freezer — How to make a shower bath while you wait — How to make a window ventilator — How to make a window cupboard — How to make a cheap water filter and cooler — How to make an efficient fire extinguisher — How to make an aquarium — How to make a sleeping window — How to make a folding bath- tub. X. ODDS AND ENDS . . . . . . 147 Shop helps — How to clean files — Common steel wire nails — Watch and machine oils — The use of expansive bits — A patent nail holder and set — How to etch your name on steel tools — House- hold helps — To tell the weight of a cake of ice xi CONTENTS •without scales — To keep a broom in good condi- tion — To make sticky fly paper — To make a good household paste — To tell how old an egg is — How to make putz pomade — To prevent lamp chimneys from breaking — To take a glass stopper out of a bottle — To remove a cork from the inside of a bottle — How to fit a cork — To make a cement for glass, chinaware, etc. — How to make a kitchen reminder. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. — Wood working tools you should have 2. — The right way to start a saw 3. — The proper way to hold a chisel . 4. — The correct way to bore a hole 5. — Metal working tools you need 6. — A wire holder for your soldering iron. it is used. B. How it is made 7. — A vise with wood and lead cheeks 8. — ^A good bench .... 9. — An ordinary clock 9. — B. The clock taken out of its case 10. — It is easy to solder tinware 11. — X-ray view of a window shade roller 12. — New shears for old 13. — How to sharpen a knife 14. — Making bicycle repairs 15. — Parts of a sewing machine 16. — Phantom view of a door knob 17. — The inside of a door lock . 18. — The inside of a drawer lock 19. — Lock picks. A. Door lock pick. B lock pick 20. — A warding file 21. — A door and a dresser key 22. — Testing out the battery 23. — Testing out the bell 24. — Testing out the push button 25. — A. A gravity drop annunciator How Dresser PAGB 3 6 7 8 10 15 16 18 21 21 26 28 29 30 31 35 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 48 49 51 Xlll CONTENTS without scales — To keep a broom in good condi- tion — To make sticky fly paper — To make a good household paste — To tell how old an egg is — How to make putz pomade — To prevent lamp chimneys from breaking — To take a glass stopper out of a bottle — To remove a cork from the inside of a bottle — How to fit a cork — To make a cement for glass, chinaware, etc. — How to make a kitchen reminder. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. — Wood working tools you should have 2. — The right way to start a saw 3. — The proper way to hold a chisel . 4. — The correct way to bore a hole 5. — Metal working tools you need 6. — ^A wire holder for your soldering iron it is used. B. How it is made 7. — A vise with wood and lead cheeks 8. — A good bench .... 9. — An ordinary clock 9. — B. The clock taken out of its case 10. — It is easy to solder tinware 11. — X-ray view of a window shade roller 12. — New shears for old 13. — How to sharpen a knife 14. — ^Making bicycle repairs 15. — Parts of a sewing machine 16. — Phantom view of a door knob 17. — The inside of a door lock 18. — The inside of a drawer lock 19. — Lock picks. A. Door lock pick. B lock pick 20. — A warding file 21. — A door and a dresser key 22. — Testing out the battery 23. — Testing out the bell 24. — Testing out the push button 25. — A. A gravity drop annunciator A. How Dresser PAGB 3 6 7 8 10 15 16 18 21 21 26 28 29 30 31 35 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 48 49 51 Xlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 25. — B. The electro-mechanism of a gravity drop . 52 26. — Wiring diagram of a form drop annmiciator . 54 27. — An electric refrigerator alarm .... 55 28. — The float for the refrigerator .... 56 29. — The contact device for the alarm clock . . 57 30. — The electric alarm clock complete ... 59 31. — The contact for the door alarm .... 60 32. — The electric door alarm complete ... 61 33. — An easily made thermostat 62 34. — The electric fire detector installed ... 63 35. — A. A plain electric lighting gas burner. B. A ratchet gas lighter burner. C. A gas light- ing spark coil 65 36. — Wiring diagram for gas lighting spark coil . 67 37. — A burglar alarm trap 67 38. — Wiring diagram for a burglar alarm trap . . 68 39. — A. A wire splice. B. A wire joint ... 69 40. — Soldering a spliced wire 70 41. — A cut-out block 71 42. — How a cup joint is made 75 43. — A lead pipe S trap 76 44. — A handy clean-out plunger 79 45. — The supply tank 80 46. — Cross section of supply valve. Cross section of flash valve 81 47. — A cross section of the bowl 82 48. — A. A pitcher spout pump 83 48. — B. Plunger and valves 84 48. — C. Top \dew of foot valve for simple lift pump 84 49. — A. A double acting force pump .... 86 49. — B. Cross section of a double acting force pump 87 50. — A. A steel wheel glass cutter .... 92 50. — B. A diamond glass cutter .... 92 51. — How to cut a window light 94 • • . . . I/O 52. — A glass cutting board XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 53.- 54." 55.- 55.- 56.- 57.- 57.- 58.- 59.- 60.- 61.- 62.- 62.- 63.- 63.- 64.- 65.- 66,- 67.- 67.- 68.- 69.- 70.- 71.- 71.- 72.- 73.- 74.- 74.- 75.- A putty knife -A. A glazier's point. B. -Ready made chair seats -A. Repairing" a chair round -B. Tightening up the legs . -Tools needed for paper hanging -A. Oiled paper stencil -B. A stencil brush -Stenciling on a border -Coating the paper with isinglass size -Putting the paper on the window -A self -drying soap stand -A. A self -setting mouse trap -B. The mouse had a right to live -A. An adjustable book block . -B. The book blocks in use . -The can of a quick ice cream freezer -The stand of a quick ice cream freezer -The ice cream freezer in use -A. An improved shower bath -B. He would fain be clean -A window ventilator . -A window cupboard . -A cheap water cooler and filter -A. The tin cone for the end of the tube -B. -An aquarium -A sleeping window -A. The frame of a folding bath tub -B. Making the canvas tub . -A spiritualistic cork extractor The fire extinguisher in use PAGE 98 99 100 101 111 118 118 119 122 123 125 126 127 128 129 130 130 131 132 133 134 136 137 139 139 141 142 144 145 153 THE HOME HANDY BOOK THE HOME HANDY BOOK CHAPTEE I TOOLS EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE To do a job like a mecliaiiic you must, first of all, use the kind of tools a meclianic uses, for good tools count for every whit as much as the skillful use of tools. It is a truism that a poor workman will do just as good, or bad, a job with good tools as a good work- man will do when handicapped with poor tools. 'Now the purpose of this book is to tell you not only what kind and make of tools to buy but how to use and what to do with them. A large assortment of tools is not at all necessary but the important thing is that you should get the very best and as a sort of an index the price of each one is given so that you will know what good tools are likely to cost. Wood Working Tools. — The following list of wood working tools comprise about all of those that my son and I have used in our house for the past ten years and they have served practically every purpose. 1 THE HOME HANDY BOOK TOOL COST a) Nail hammer $ -50 b) Hand saw 1.75 c) Back saw 1.20 d) Miter box 35 e) Block plane .90 f ) Adjustable smooth plane 1.25 g) Two firmer chisels ^ and i inch 35 and .40 h) Twa firmer gouges^ and i" inch 25 and .35 i ) Brace and three bits, i, | and i inch 75 j ) Two gimlets 25 k) Lathing hatchet or Boy Scout ax 50 1) Try square 20 m) Two-foot folding rule 25 n) Nail set 10 o) Washita oilstone 1.30 p) Vise 1.50 (a) Nail Hammer. — This should be made of a fine grade of cast-steel. An adze eye, bell-faced ham- mer made by the Ohio Tool Company, weighing 1 pound and 3 ounces, will give satisfaction. It is shown at a in Fig. 1. (b) Hand Saw, — A Disston or Atkins saw made of silver-steel and having a 20-inch blade will serve all ordinary needs. A rip saw for sawing boards the way the grain runs is useful but you can get along without it. (c) Bach Saw. — This saw should also be made of silver-steel and one with a 12-inch blade will be large enough. It is used with a miter box. (d) Miter Box. — This is a box formed of a bot- tom and two sides and is usually made of beech or 2 TOOLS EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE other hard wood. Slots are sawed in the box at angles of 45 and 90 degrees. A good size is 2l inches high, 3i inches wide and 18 inches long. %) Block PZ^ne.— Get a block plane with an ad- t ^ J«.AOZE EYE 6-CR0S5 CUT HANDSAW c-BACKSAW 6ELL FACED HAMMER J^ small or the thread too large; too sharp an edge through which the thread passes, and this is often at the thread guides, and finally, that the needle is set too high or too low. PRES5ER BAR PRESSURE REGULATJNG, THUMB SCREVy PRESSERBAR SPRING-. PRE5SER BAR LIFTER SLACK THREAD REGULATO THREAD ^ ,, CUTTEfTN .4 FOOT THUM Bill' SCREW fRESSER FOOT 05CILLATI hook: THREAD TAKE OP LEVER ^_^ „^ ARM SPOOL PTN FEED CAM BOBBIN WINDER FEED REG-ULATOtt THUMB SCKEV/ FEED FORKED NNECTIOM 05CILLATI BEl> OSCILLATING- HOOK HOOK CRANK PITMAN OSCILLATING HOOK BELL CRANK Fig. 15. — Parts of a sewing machine. (15) Missed stitches are often caused by a bent needle or a bent needle bar; when the needle is not set straight in the bar; the needle striking the side of the pressor foot or the needle plate ; the needle be- ing too large or too small for the cloth; not enongh pressure on the pressor foot ; the needle being set too high or too low or the shuttle moving too fast or too 35 THE HOME HANDY BOOK Proper Sizes of Needles and Thread. Sizes of Needles. Class of Work to Sew. Sizes of Cotton, Linen or Silk. Very thin Muslin, Cambrics, Linen, etc. 100 toll50 Cotton, 000, 00 Silk Twist. B Very fine Calicoes, Linens, Shirt- ings, Fine Silk Goods, etc. 80 to 100 Cotton, Silk Twist. ¥2 Shirtings, Sheetings, Bleached CaHcoes, MusHns, Silk and general domestic goods and all classes of general work. 60 to 80 Cotton, A & B Silk Twist. X All kinds of heavy Cahcoes, hght Woolen Goods, heavy Silk, Seaming, Stitching, etc. 40 to 60 Cotton, C Silk Twist. 2 Tickings, Woolen Goods, Trous- ers, Boys' Clothing, Corsets, Cloaks, Mantles, etc. 30 to 40 Cotton, D Silk Twist. 3 Heavy Woolens, Tickings, Bags, Heavy Coats, Trousers, etc. Heavy Clothing generally. 24 to 30 Cotton, E Silk Twist. 60 to 80 Lmen. 4 Bags, Coarse Clothes, Heavy Goods of any texture. 40 to 60 Linen or very Coarse Cotton. slow. In any event use the best thread and the best needles and some of the troubles will take wings unto themselves and fly away. Fig. 15 shows all the parts of a Singer sewing machine. Caution (1). — Never run the machine with the presser-f oot resting on the feed without cloth between them. 36 INDOOR MECHANICS Caution (2). — Practice upon strips of cloth and do not attempt practical sewing until you can guide the goods and at the same time produce a regular motion of the machine. Caution (3). — Do not try to help the machine hy pulling the goods, for this is apt to bend the needle ; the machine moves the work without any assistance. Caution (4). — Never run the machine when both the shuttle and the needle are threaded except while you are sewing. CHAPTEE III BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH How to Fix a Door Knob. — A loose door knob is very annoying and being no respecter of persons every household has one sooner or later. The reason door knobs work loose is because the SET.SCRE.W K^OB SHANK^ ^\ ESCUTCHEOff ^ PLATE Fig. 16. — Phantom view of a door knob. threads of the screw which hold the knob on the spindle or the threads in the spindle, or both, wear off. See Fig. 16. To tighten the knob tap out the screw hole, slip one or more washers over the spindle close up to the escutcheon plate, put the handle on the spindle again and screw in a new screw. How a Lock is Made.— To know how to pick a 38 BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH lock or how to make a key for a lock the first thing you should do is to learn how a lock is made. Door Lochs. — Ordinary door locks are of two kinds, and these are (1) rim locks, and (2) mortise locks. A rim lock is the kind that is screwed to the LATCH BOLT LATCM BOLT DEAD BOLT SPRING ftnCL OR DEA0 BOLT FACE--* ^P^ O BITTING O OF KEY ^ ^ GOES HERE LOCK CASE -TAILPIECE HUB -HEEL OF TAILPIECE L£VER. TU/^BLER KEY MOLE Pig. 17. — The inside of a door lock. outside of the door, while a mortise lock is set in a mortise in the edge of the door. The advantages of a mortise lock over a rim lock are (1) that there are no unsightly projecting parts; (2) it cannot be broken off by pressure applied to the outside, and (3) it cannot be tampered with from the inside. 39 THE HOME HANDY BOOK These ordinary door locks are of the lever-tumbler type, that is, the lock is worked by one or more piv- oted levers, or tumblers, the construction of which is clearly shown in Fig. 17. The simplest form of this lock has only three parts, and these are (1) a bolt, called a dead-bolt; (2) a lever-tumbler, and (3) a spring. In some locks (A) the lever rests on top of the bolt, and in others (B) the bolt rests on top of the lever, and but for this small difference they are quite alike. A matter of a little more importance is that in a lock of the first, or (A) kind, the ward notch, or hit- ting, as locksmiths call it, slips over the lever and the bit of the key forces the latter up and throws the bolt over, while in the second or (B) kind the ward notch slips over the bar of the bolt and the bit then raises the lever and throws over the bolt. On both the bolt and the lever there is a projecting piece of metal — the one on the bolt is called the fence, and the one on the lever is called the gating — the purpose of which is to keep the bolt in position, or locked, when it is thrown back as well as when it is thrown out, and to the end that this may be done a flat steel spring is fixed in the lock so that one of the ends presses down on the lever; now when the bolt is clear in or clear out the gating on the lever engages the fence on the bolt and the spring prevents them from slipping past each other, or in other words the bolt is locked. This is all there is to a simple lever-tumbler lock, 40 BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH but you should by all means take one off a door, un- screw the cap and examine its construction and action when you will know more about a lock in five min- utes than you probably knew in all your life before. Dresser Drawer Locks. — The average lock on a dresser drawer is far more simple than the door lock I BOLTPm Fig. 18. — The inside of a drawer lock. just described since the whole mechanism consists solely of a bolt with a small straight steel spring fixed to it to give it tension. There is a half round cut made in one side of the bolt and any kind of a barrel key with a blade on it having the right length will open it. Fig. 18 shows a lock of this kind with the back removed. How to Pick a Lock. — Door Locks. — From the construction and operation of rim and mortised locks 41 THE HOME HANDY BOOK it must be clear that in order to open a lever-tumbler lock it is only necessary to force up tbe lever when the bolt can be easily thrown. ISTow if a door is locked and the key is lost bend a piece of steel wire about -J inch in diameter and 4^ inches long to exactly the shape shown at A in Fig. 19, which is a half-sized lock pick with a pick on each end. Pig. 19. — Lock picks. A. Door lock pick. Dresser lock pick. B. To open the lock put the pick into the key-hole with the projecting end up and then without turning it press it up, when it will strike the lever, raise it and so release the bolt; still pressing the pick tight against the lever turn the pick to the left if you are on the outside of the door, or to the right if you are on the insida When you turn the pick the projecting end presses against the Y-shaped notch in the bolt and this turns the latter back. Dresser Drawer Lochs, — To make a pick to open a simple lock of this kind all you have to do is to 42 BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH bend over the end of a stout wire as shown at B ia Fig. 19. Put the bent end of this wire into the key- hole, to one side of the pin, and by turning it round you can easily get it into the half-round cut of the lever and throw it back. How to Make Keys.— It is a mighty good plan to save all of the keys you find lying around loose, for it is often possible to get one that will fit a lock, and this saves the time and trouble of picking it and of making a key. But for fear that you might have to make a key you should have a dozen hey blanks as they are called, Fig. 20. — A warding file. that is, keys in which ward notches have never been filed, and these can be bought of any hardware dealer for a few cents each. In fitting keys to locks you should have a couple of warding files, as shown in Fig. 20, that is, files made especially for locksmiths for filing the ward notches, or bittings, in keys. To fit a key to a lock that has been taken from a door is easy, for you can see and measure the length of the bit and the depth of the ward notch in it and file it accordingly. But to fit a key to a lock on the door is somewhat harder. A door key is shown in Fig. 21. A good way to find the exact position where the ward notch should be filed in the bit, smoke the latter 43 THE HOME HANDY BOOK by holding it over a lighted match. IN'ow when you insert the key turn it to the right and left as far as it will go; in striking the lever-tumbler or the dead-bolt the smoke will be rubbed off and you can file a ward notch into the bit where it is rubbed bright. In the kind of a lock where the edge of the bit in the key throws over the bolt, if the bit is too long the key can be turned only part way round and if the bit BOW r^ x^^s/ SHOULDER PirJ BIT BITTI/IG-OR WARD nOTCM; Fig. 21. — A door and a dresser key. is too short the bolt will be thrown only part way in or out. But in the kind of a lock where the ward notch of the bit fits over the bolt and works it if the notch is not filed deep enough the key cannot be turned completely around, and if the notch is too deep the bolt will not be thrown either in or out far enough. Notwithstanding these little peculiarities it is not at all hard to fit a key after you know how a lock is made and how it works. And the very best way to know these things is to take a lock apart and see for yourself just what goes on inside of it, then when a key is lost you will understand exactly how to give 44 BE YOUR OWN LOCKSMITH first aid to the careless person, and that is to pick the lock and then make a new key. A dresser drawer key is made a little differently from a door key in that it has a barrel instead of a pin, and the lock has a pin over which the barrel fits as shown in Fig. 21. CHAPTEE TV DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS There are always a lot of odd electrical jobs to be done around a house, whether it is wired for lighting or not, and by doing them your genius will shine forth even as an incandescent light does on the front porch at night. Charging: New and Recharging Old Bat- teries. — There are two kinds of batteries in general use for ringing bells, working annunciators, operating telephones, etc., and these are (a) dry batteries, and (b) sal ammoniac batteries. A battery is made up of two or more cells con- nected together. A dry cell battery can be used to good advantage wherever it can be set in a perfectly dry place, but if the battery is likely to get damp, as it sometimes does in a basement, then a sal ammoniac battery should be used. Recharging Dry Cells. — ^Dry cells are so cheap and last so well it is hardly worth while to try to re- charge them when they are run down. It can be done to a certain extent by drilling several -J-inch holes through the asphaltum top and pouring in each hole a few drops of a solution made by adding 1 ounce of sulphuric acid to 3 ounces of water, filling 46 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS the holes with either pitch or soap and letting the cell stand overnight. This will start up the action of the cell, but the current will not be very strong nor will it last very long. It will serve as a makeshift how- ever until some new cells can be ordered and in- stalled. Charging Sat Ammoniac Cells. — A cell of this kind consists of a glass jar, a cylinder of pressed carbon and manganese and a rod of zinc. To charge a new cell fill the jar two-thirds full of warm water, put in 4 ounces of sal ammoniac and stir with a stick until it has completely dissolved. Set the cylinder in the jar and slip the zinc rod into the middle of the cylinder when the cell will generate a current in a very short time. To Recharge Sal Ammoniac Cells. — ^When a sal ammoniac cell gets out of order it is usually due to the solution being worn out or to the zinc having been eaten away. Whatever the cause take the carbon cylinder out of the jar and immerse it in a jar of hot water; clean the battery jar and fill it with a fresh solution of sal ammoniac; then replace the carbon and either clean the old zinc rod well or better put in a new one, when the cell will deliver a current. Testing Out Electric Bell Circuits.— When an electric bell will not ring and you are commis- sioned to '^x it you can find the trouble by a process called elimination. The first thing is to test out the battery and to 47 THE HOME HANDY BOOK do this properly you should have an extra electric bell. Connect the binding posts of the bell directly HOUSE ELECTRIC BELL yOURTESTIMG- BELL Fig. 22. — Testing out the battery. with the zinc and carbon ends of the battery as shown in Fig. 22, and if your bell fails to ring, clean and recharge, or renew the battery. If it rings it shows that the battery is O. K., and then you should test out «3^ TESTIIMG CELL " Pig. 23.--Testing out the belL the other bell, which can be done by trying it with a dry cell as shown in Fig. 23. 48 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS If it fails to ring you will know that it is out of adjustment or that a screw is loosa Clean the plati- num contact point of the adjusting screw and the little platinum contact disk under the latter and which is fixed to the trembler; then tighten the ad- justing screw until it just makes contact with the platinum disk. Test it by connecting it directly to the battery again, and when you have it in adjustment set the WIRE FiQ. 24. — Testing out the push button. nut on the screw good and tight to keep it from working loose. Tighten up the binding post and other screws to which the wires of the bell are fast- ened and screw the bell back where you took it from. Should the bell ring when you test it out with the battery, or on short circuit as it is called, and still not ring when you press the button of the bell circuit you will know that the trouble then is either due to a broken wire or that it is in the push button. Short circuit the push button as shown in Fig. 24 by con- necting a piece of wire across the circuit so that the current does not have to go through the push. 49 THE HOME HANDY BOOK "Now if the bell fails to ring something is wrong with the wires, and you will have to follow them along and test them as you go until you find the break. If the bell rings on short circuiting the push button but does not ring when you push the button, clean the contacts, see that the wires outside of it are not broken and that they make good connection with the screws. These things done, put the push back in place and the bell is guaranteed to ring. When bare wires are used for the lines and these get crossed and make a short circuit which cuts out the push button the bell will ring continuously, but if the wires should get crossed so that the battery alone is short circuited the bell will not ring, but the bat- tery will soon run down. By examining the bat- tery, the bell, push button and circuit you will have no difficulty in finding the trouble and right- ing it. Testing and Fixing Telephones. — ^Where regu- lar telephone service is used the company has its own trouble men and they attend to fixing the telephones, but where interior telephones are in- stalled in the house you are the one the folks will look to to ^x them up. The ringing apparatus of interior phones is an ordinary bell system which is energized by ordinary batteries, and if these should fail in their operations look after them as described above under the caption Testing Out Electric Bell Circuits, A telephone transmitter has a little pocket in it 50 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS filled with carbon granules ^ and taking one of these apart is very like taking a watch to pieces — in that it is hard to get it all back together again. Sometimes a transmitter gets packed, that is, the granules get packed too closely together, and this prevents clear articulation; by tapping the edge of the transmitter gently with the handle of a screw driver the granules FiQ. ^. — ^A. A gravity drop annunciator. are separated, and this improves the transmission of the voice. It is seldom that the receiver needs attention, but it is well to keep the cover screwed down tight. The contacts of the switch-hook should be kept clean, and if you will look after these little details your tele- phone will always work well. Testing and Fixing Annunciators. — An an- nunciator is a device operated by electromagnets for showing a number, or a name, and at the same time ringing a bell when a corresponding button is pushed, thus giving a visible and an audible signal at the same time. See Eig. 25 A. 51 THE HOME HANDY BOOK The principle on whicli an annunciator is worked is this: a push button and battery are connected in circuit with an electromagnet, and in front of the latter there is a bent lever made of iron and a part of which forms the armature; this lever is pivoted in the middle, the lower and front end has a small catch on it and the upper and rear end is slightly weighted to keep the armature away from the magnet. WEIGHT /LEVER .EVER CATCH Fig. 25. — B. The electro-mechanism of a gravity drop. A second, or drop lever, is pivoted at the rear end, while the front end, which is bent up, carries the name, or the number, and this lever has a slot cut in it so that when it is raised up it slips over the catch in the armature lever and is held there as shown at B in Fig. 25. When the drop is screwed in its case and the number is up it cannot be seen. Now when the circuit is closed by a push button the magnet is energized and this draws the armature to it when the catch slips back and so releases the number lever, and it drops down to the position 52 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS shown by the dotted lines at B when the number is exposed through the clear glass of the case. [Now suppose there are four of these gravity an- nunciator drops, as they are called, in one case with a bell on top, then there can be four push buttons in different parts of the house. This brings five sepa- rate wires into the annunciator box, since one serves as the return wire for all of the drops and the bell, and the others lead to the basement or wherever the battery is located, and from there the circuits branch out to the push buttons as shown in Fig. 26. Instead of running these wires separately from the annunciator to the basement you can get any number of wires you like in a cable and each wire will be of a different color so that you can instantly tell where the wire runs to. Occasionally the number lever will have to be bent a little to make it catch or release the drop lever properly, but this is all the adjustment that is ever needed. Testing out the circuits is done in exactly the same manner as described for electric bells. How to Make a Refrigerator Alarm. — To al- ways remember to empty the drip-pan of the refrig- erator is a pretty hard thing to do, and when it over- flows it is not only a great annoyance but sometimes causes considerable damage. You can easily make an alarm so that when the water in the drip-pan reaches a certain level an elec- tric bell will ring until the pan is emptied. The alarm consists of an electric bell, a dry cell 53 THE HOME HANDY BOOK AHNUNCIATOH HAGNCTS Ox z Fig. 26. — Wiring diagram of a four-drop annunciator. 54: DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS and a float as shown in Fig. 27. To make the float, Fis:. 28, saw out a block of wood l~ inch thick and 3 inches square j bore a ^-inch hole through the center Fig. 27. — An electric refrigerator alarnu of the block and fit a piece of brass tube ^ inch in diameter and 2J inches long into it. To the lower end of the tube solder a strip of flat spring brass and run a little solder around the end to make the bore a trifle smaller; also solder a short length of ISTo. 20 double cotton covered wire to the tube. ISText take a piece of brass rod J inch in 55 THE HOME HANDY BOOK diameter and 3 inches long, thread it two-thirds of its length and drop a bit of solder on the end to make it a trifle larger so that it can't slip out of the lower end of the tube. Fig. 28. — The float for the refrigerator. Get a piece of flat cork ^ inch thick and 3 inches in diameter and drill a -J-inch hole in the center. If a cork of this size is not at hand take a number of smaller corks and fasten them together with wire instead. This done, make a flat brass spring like the first one, only drill a J-inch hole in one end of it, screw a nut on the rod until it is 1^ inches from the 56 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS end, slip on the brass spring, loop a 3-foot piece of ^o. 20 double cotton-covered wire around it, screw on another nut to hold the spring and wire on tight, slip the cork on the rod and screw on another nut to hold the cork in place. The cork can then be adjusted bv means of the nuts. iNail the wood block of the float to the bottom of Fig. 29. — The contact device for the alarm clock. the refrigerator near the drip-pipe ; connect the wires leading from the float to the bell and battery, which may be fastened to the side of the refrigerator as shown in Fig. 27. ]^ow when the water rises in the pan it forces the cork up, and this brings the springs into contact, which closes the circuit and so rings the bell. How to Make an Electric Alarm Clock.— To 57 THE HOME HANDY BOOK make an alarm clock that won't have a friend in the world get an ordinary 98-cent alarm clock, an electric bell and a dry cell. Then cut out a strip of brass ^ inch thick, -J inch wide and 1 J inches long. Drill a iV inch hole through the lower end as shown in Fig. 29 and a tV inch hole in the upper end ; solder a very thin wire to the lower end of the bar and coil it up, the purpose of which will be seen presently. Slip a wire through the lower hole and bend it to form a pivot or shaft for the brass bar to turn on, and bend it up enough to keep the bar clear of the base when it swings. Fasten the bent ends to a base made of wood ^ inch thick, 3 inches wide and 5 inches long, with a couple of staples. Cut out of spring brass a strip ^ inch wide and IJ inches long, drill a -J-inch hole in one end and bend up the other end as shown in Fig. 29. Screw this spring to the base and loop a piece of annunciator wire around the head of the screw and screw it down tight. Connect the wire of the bar to a dry cell, fasten the wire of the spring to the electric bell and then connect the dry cell and the electric bell together. Take the bell off of the alarm clock, tie a thread around the hammer of the alarm, pass the other end of the thread through the upper hole in the bar and tie it fast as shown in Fig. 30. Now when the alarm goes off the movement of the alarm hammer will pull the bar down, and when 68 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS tills drops on the spring it closes the circuit and the bell will ring until you get up and attend to it. You won't like this alarm clock but you will always be on time for your coffee and cakes. Pig. 30. — The electric alarm clock complete. How to Make an Electric Door Alarm.— Sometimes it is a convenience to have a bell ring in the kitchen when the front door is opened. To make a door alarm of this kind get an electric bell and a couple of dry cells. Now cut out two strips of spring brass f inch wide and make one of them H inches long and the other 2 J inches long. Drill three -J-inch holes in the short piece for the 59 THE HOME HANDY BOOK screws and binding post and bend over one end ^ inch as shown in Fig. 31 ; drill three holes in one end of the other piece and bend it as is also shown in Fig. 31. After fastening a binding post on each spring screw the long spring to the door case above and close Fig. 31. — The contact for the door alarm. to the hinge, and screw the other contact to the top of the door directly under the long spring so that as the door opens the two pieces of metal will rub on each other and so close the circuit. Wire up the battery to the spring contact, connect the lower contact on the door with the bell and join 60 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS the bell and the battery together, all of which is clearly shown in Fig. 32. When the door is closed the position of these con- tacts is like that shown in Fig. 31, and of course the Fig. 32. — The electric door alarm complete. circuit is broken; as the door opens the door contact strikes the spring contact and this closes the circuit and the bell rings. But as the door opens wider the contacts slip by each other, the circuit is broken and the bell stops ringing. 61 THE HOME HANDY BOOK How to Make an Electric Fire Detector.— This fire detector, or automatic fire alarm thermostat, to call it by its real name, is so made that should a fire break out in the room in which it is installed the heat will expand the mercury in the tube and this closes an electric bell circuit. To make a thermostat of this kind get a piece of Pig. 33. — ^An easily made thermostat. glass tube ^ inch in diameter, inside measurement, and not too thin, and have it a foot or so long. Hold it at both ends with your fingers in the flame of your gasoline torch and keep rolling the tube in order that all parts that are in the flame may be equally heated ; when the glass is soft enough bring the ends together gently and slowly until you have formed a U tube of it. When the tube is cold file a nick in each tube, or leg, as it is now called, with your three-cornered file 3 inches above the middle of the bend as shown in 62 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS Fig. 33, when it will easily break off by applying a little pressure to it about J inch on each side. Put enough mercury in the tube to half fill it, cut \V0ODEM WAUL Fig. 34. — The electric fire detector installed. 63 THE HOME HANDY BOOK off two strips of copper just wide enougli to fit into the ends of the tube and about 2 inches long, solder a wire to each strip, put the latter into the end of the tube so that it will come to within J inch of the mer- cury and bend the strip over to keep it in place. If, now, you will connect the wires soldered to the strips with a bell and a battery and heat the tube the mercury will rise until it touches the lower tip of the strip, and when it does so the circuit will be closed and the bell will ring. The thermostat can be fast- ened anywhere there may be danger of fire, as for instance between the wainscoting and the cook stove as shown in Fig. 34, and when it gets hot enough the bell will ring out an alarm. Tlie thermostat should be adjusted to close tlie circuit when the temperature reaches 125 degrees Fahrenheit ; you can do this by placing it in an oven with an ordinary thermometer, and when the latter indicates 125 degrees adjust the former accordingly. Metal thermostats already adjusted can be bought for as little as 60 cents. How to Instal an Electric Gas Lighting Ap- paratus. — There are several kinds of electric gas lighters, or burners, as they are called, on the market, but all of them work on the same principle. The scheme is this: When a wire, or a chain, is pulled down it causes a lever, which is pivoted to the burner, to raise a second lever; this has a bit of spring wire fastened to its tip and when this strikes and makes contact with a wire fastened to the jet and 64 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS breaks apart from another wire fixed to, but Insulated from, the burner, a hot spark is made and this lights the gas. In a plain burner, see A Fig. 35, there is no valve and the gas must be turned on first by means of the regular gas kej. Another burner is made which Fig. 35. — A. A plain electric lighting gas burner. B. A ratchet gas lighting burner. C. A gas lighting spark coil. operates with a ratchet wheel and pawl, see B Fig. 35, the first pull of the chain turning on and lighting the gas and the next pull turning off and extinguish- ing the flame. A plain burner costs 50 cents and a ratchet burner costs about $1.00. In order to produce a spark hot enough for lighting a gas burner with three or four cells of battery a 65 THE HOME HANDY BOOK gas ligMing spark coil must be connected in circuit. This is simply a coil of Xo. IG or 18 double cotton- covered magnet wire wound on a soft iron coil, see C Fig. 35, and its purpose is to increase the in- tensity of the current, by the inductive action of one turn of wire on the one next to it, with the net result that a hot spark takes place between the contact pins tOLDEREO Fig. 36. — ^Wiring diagram for gas lighting spark eolL when the circuit is broken. An 8-inch spark coil, meaning that it is 8 inches long, is large enough for all ordinary work, and a battery of three or four dry cells at least should be used. To instal a gas lighting system unscrew the old burner from the gas fixture and screw on the electric burner. Set the battery and the spark coil in any convenient place and ground the carbon of the bat- tery, that is, connect it to the gas pipe at any point. Connect the zinc of the battery to one of the binding 66 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS posts of the spark coil, run a wire from tlie other binding post of the coil to the insulated contact of the burner, or to as many burners as you have, all of which is shown in the wiring diagram in Fig. 36; the gas pipe itself completes the return circuit as it is directly connected with the movable contact of the burner. The wires leading from the fixed contact Fig. 37. — A burglar alarm trap. wire can be run along the pipes so that they are hardly noticeabla How to Instal a Burglar Alarm Trap.— There are forty different kinds of burglar alarm traps to catch the forty thieves, but all of them work on the contact principle. A simple and effective burglar alarm trap is shown in Fig. 37; it costs $1.50 and it works like this: When the trap is screwed to the wall as close to the 67 THE HOME HANDY BOOK place where the protection is wanted as may be con- venient and the thread which is fastened to the con- tact lever is attached by the other end to a window, a Fig. 38. — ^Wiring diagram for a burglar alarm trap. window^ shade, transom, door, or is stretched across a room or hallway, the slightest pull or pressure on 68 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS the string will move the needle to the right and this closes the circuit. Or if an intruder runs against the thread, or cuts it, a spring pulls the needle to the left and this com- pletes the circuit, and so you catch your burglar either going or coming. This trap will also act as a fire-alarm if the string should be burned away. A couple of dry cells and a good loud-ringing bell com- plete the outfit. It is wired up as shown in Fig. 38. Pig. 39. — A. A wire splice. B. A wire joint. How to Solder and Tape Wires. — At least a good half of all the troubles with apparatus using battery current can be traced to badly made joints and splices. The first thing to do in making a joint or a splice is to skin the insulation off of the wires with your knife and then scrape them clean with the hack of the blade. If a splice is to be made cross the wires 1 inch from the ends and twist the end of each wire around the other wire as shown at A in Fig. 39. To make a joint wrap the end of the branch wire 69 THE HOME HANDY BOOK around tlie main wire as shown at B in Fig. 39, using your pliers to tighten up the turns of the wire. While joints and splices for battery circuits are seldom soldered it is always the surer way to solder them. If the wires are hanging free you can direct Fig. 40. — Soldering a spliced wire. the flames of your blow-torch directly on the joint, and after putting on a little flux touch it with the end of your wire-solder as shown in Fig. 40; but if the wires are close to a wall you must use your soldering copper to do the job with. Always use your soldering paste for the flux in soldering wires, as the acid solution will rot the in- sulation. When annunciator wire is used wrap the 70 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS joints and splices with a single layer of electrician's tape (15c. for ^ lb. roll). Where electric light wires are spliced tape them first with rubber tape, or splic- ing compound, and then cover the rubber tape with electrician's tape, or friction tape, as it is called. Replacing Fuses. — Where the electric light serv- ice wires run into a house, and at different junctions of branch circuits, you will find an iron box, and in it B A PLUG FUSE A CUT- OUT Tig. 41. — ^A. A cut-out block. B. A plug fuse. there is one, or more, porcelain hlocJcs called cut-outs. These cut-outs usually have screw holes, or sochets, as they are called, in them, as shown at A in Fig. 41. The kind of fuses that are made to fit these sockets are called plug fuses, see B Fig. 41, and these are screwed into the sockets of the cut-out like an incan- descent lamp screws into a lamp socket. Before attempting to talce out or put in a plug fu^e throw off the main switch; the safest way to do this is to tie a stout cord to the handle and then you can pull it down without touching it when you throw 71 THE HOME HANDY BOOK it off and use a stick to push it hack when you throw it on. And always stand on a dry hoard to do it. When a single light goes out it stands to reason that the lamp has burned out. When two or more lamps go out at the same time it is a foregone con- clusion that a plug fuse in one of the branch cut-out boxes has blown. Should all of the lights in the house go out simul- taneously you will know that the fu^es in the main cut-out box have blown. For a house of ordinary size. 10 ampere fuse plugs are about the right size for the branch cut-outs. Coloring and Frosting Electric Light Bulbs. — The bulbs of incandescent lamps can be given any color by cleaning them in warm soap suds, rinsing in clear water, drying with a cloth, polishing with tissue paper and then dipping them into the following so- lutions : First beat the white of an egg to a froth and thor- oughly mix it with 1 part of rainwater and filter, and be sure there are no bubbles on the surface of the solution. Tie a string around the plug end of each lamp, dip it in the solution and hang it up to dry; after drying thoroughly dip it a second time and let it dry again. Next make a solution by dissolving 20 grains of soluble aniline dye, which can be had in any color, in 4 ounces of collodion. Dip each bulb in the solu- tion, hang it up and let it dry over night. Dip the bulbs again and again, letting them dry thoroughly 72 DOING ELECTRICAL JOBS each time until the color is deep enough to suit your aesthetic taste. Frosting Bulbs, — Dip the bulb in a solution made by dissolving as much alum in the water as it will take up. By adding cochineal for red, turmeric for yellow, and indigo for blue to the solution frosted bulbs in these colors may be made. Testing and Fixing Electric Heating Appa- ratus. — Should an electric iron or other piece of electrical heating apparatus fail in its action test out the connecting cord first, as the fault is usually to be found in either it or the socket ends. To test it simply connect the plug end with a bat- tery and bell and short circuit the socket terminals with a piece of wire. Very often the screws in the plug end work loose, and if this is the case loop the ends of the wires around their respective screws and tighten up the latter. Sometimes the wires of the connecting cord break at the socket, although the spiral coil of wire outside of the cord is put on for the express purpose of pre- venting this from occurring. In any event the iron or other apparatus will more than likely work all right if the cord and plug and socket are in good condition. If not, then take the iron apart, examine the heat- ing element, which is a piece of flat resistance wire, and see if it is burnt out. If this is the case order another heating element from your dealer in elec- trical supplies or from the maker of the iron. 73 CHAPTER V THE AMATEUR PLUMBER Stopping Leaks in Lead Pipes. — The best way to stop a leak in a lead pipe is to either solder it or to make a new joint entirely. But as an emergency makeshift a leak can be quickly stopped by making a tapering wooden plug, say half an inch long, cover it with a single thickness of muslin, smear it with red-lead 'putty and then drive it gently into the hole. Wrap the pipe with electrician's friction tape to keep the plug from coming out. Red-lead putty can be made by mixing red-lead with linseed oil to the consistency of dough. Soldering Lead Pipes. — Since it is next to im- possible to solder a lead pipe when there is water in it the latter should be let out first. IText scrape the lead around the hole clean and bright; use a large soldering copper, have it very hot, but never red-hot, use resin as a soldering flux and regular plumber s solder. This can be bought at any hardware store, or you can make it yourself by melting 1 part of tin with 1 part of lead. How to Make a Cup-Joint.— Whenever you find it necessary to join two pieces of lead pipe you can 74 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER do it easily and make a fairly good job of it by means of a cup-joint. The first thing to do in making a cup-joint is to saw off the ends of the pipe where the union is to be made, nice and smooth ; then taper off the lower end UJ UJ <_9 Fig. 42. — How a cup joint is made. of the upper pipe with a rasp, that is, a rough cut file in which each tooth is single pointed and is separate from the other. The upper end of the lower pipe must be cut away on the inside to form a cup into which the tapered end of the upper pipe sets as shown in Fig. 42. Scrape both of the connecting ends bright and clean, put some powdered resin round the flange and run some solder round the joint with your soldering copper. How to Clean Out Pipes. — Drain pipes of all 75 THE HOME HANDY BOOK kinds around the house get clogged up every once in a while for any one of a number of reasons. If the water will not run out of a sink unscrew the cap at the bottom of the S trap as shown in Eig. 43, when the dirt or other obstruction can be removed. A long piece of electric light wire with the in- sulation on it, or a piece of telegraph wire is very ef- fective in cleaning out a straight or a bent pipe if CAP Fig. 43. — A lead pipe S trap. there are no sharp turns in it, for all that is needed is to run the wire back and forth several times through it, when the obstruction can generally be broken up and dislodged. Putting New Washers in Faucets. —When the water cannot be turned entirely off by a faucet, or hib-cock, as a faucet with its nozzle pointing down- ward is often called, the trouble can be remedied by putting in a new washer. To do this unscrew the brass nipple of the faucet with your monkey wrench and unscrew the valve- stem, which can then be taken out. On the lower end of the stem you will see a rub- 76 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER ber, or a leather washer, or gasket, or what there is left of it ; remove the machine screw, replace the worn out washer with a new one. Put the machine screw back into place, screw in the valve stem, screw on the nipple and it will work as well as it ever did. How to Prevent Water Pipes from Freezing. —-Where the water pipes are inside the house there is little danger of them freezing, but if for any reason you think they should be protected it is a good scheme to cover them with an asbestos and hair pipe covering. This comes in sectional form 3 feet long and split open on one side so that it can readily be placed around the pipe. If the line of pipe is particularly exposed where it will be subjected to the same temperature as it would be out-of-doors, use two layers of the asbestos and hair covering, that is, one layer over the other so as to break all longitudinal and abutting joints. Zero pipe covering is a good kind to buy, and the present list price is about 17 cents per running foot for the 1-inch pipe size, and 22 cents for the 2-inch size. It is sold by H. W. Johns-Manville Co., Madi- son Avenue and 41st Street, 'Eqw York. When Leaving a House in Winter.— Before leaving a house in or for the winter open all of the faucets and cocks and let all of the water in the pipes run out, as well as the water in the flush tank of the closet outfit. ^ Open the cover in the bottom of each trap, the func- tion of which is to shut out the foul air of the house 77 THE HOME HANDY BOOK drains from the rooms, and let tlie water out of these, and finally the water in the trap of the bowl of the closet outfit can be taken out without removing the stool by using a large sponge. Take all of these precautions on going away in the winter and then when you return you will be saved a lot of work and worry. Be sure and have the covers of the traps screwed on tight before the water system is used again. How to Thaw Out Frozen Water Pipes.— If the pipe is exposed wrap the place where you think it is frozen with woolen cloths and pour hot water on it until it thaws out. Should the pipe be an under- ground one the only thing you can do is to dig down until you reach it and then give it the hot water treatment. Of course if there is no object in sparing the pocket you can perform the operation with an electric pipe thawing outfit. Where your water supply is taken from the street mains and the intake pipe freezes telephone the Water Company or the Water Depart- ment if the utility is owned by the City, and they will thaw it out by electricity, for most of them have outfits for this express purpose. At any rate it is their business and not yours. A Handy Clean-Out Plunger. — This is a very simple kind of a force-pump ; it is formed of a hard- wood handle about 3 feet long to which a rubber cup, or plunger is attached, as shown in Fig. 44. It is a very useful device for forcing stoppages in waste and 78 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER drain pipes, especially the traps of the howls of closet outfits. It costs ahoiit 50 cents. The Mechanism of a Flushing Tank and How to Keep It in Order.-— A closet outfit consists of two parts and these are (1) the tank and (2) the howl. The mechanism of the tank is shown in Fig. 45 and the details of the supply valve and flush valve Fig. 44. — A handy clean-out plunger. at A and B in Fig. 46. ISTow heginning with the water supply when the tank is full of water the hol- low copper ball floats on top and the supply valve A is closed and of course no more water can run into the tank from the supply pipe. When the chain is pulled the flush valve B is opened and the water rushes down the flush pipe. The copper float falls with the water and this opens the valve of the supply pipe and the tank begins to 79 THE HOME HANDY BOOK refill. When the float has again risen to its top level it closes the supply valve and no more water can flow into the tank unless the supply valve leaks. To prevent the tank from running over, the flush valve is fitted with an overflow pipe as shown at B, FLUSH VALVE LEVER CMAiri— ZINC LINED TANK HOLLOW COPPER. FLOAT FLUSH PIPE Fig. 45. — The supply tank. which also shows the flush-valve when taken out of the valve seat. The supply valve is shown in cross section at A. If the valve is faulty then it will let a certain amount of water flow all the time into the tank, and this not only wastes the water but it makes an unnecessary noise. To ^x it unscrew the float rod and take the plunger out of the supply cock and you will most likely find 80 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER that the rubber washer, or gasket, shown at A, has worn out. Replace it with a new one and it will work O. K. Another and worse trouble is when the tank keeps filling and emptying automatically and making a noise that is very disheartening. In this case the VALV ^LOAT P,00 RUBBER WASHER. RUB&ER. WASHER ^.,:^r OVER- FLOW HOLES SPOUT VALVE SEAT Fig. 46. — A. Cross section of supply valve. section of flusli valve. B. Cross rubber ring, or washer on the flush valve, see B, is probably at fault and needs renewing. The construction of the bowl is shown in Fig. 47. Should the trap in the bowl get clogged up a piece of copper wire with a hook on the end can be forced into it from above and the obstruction removed, or, what is better, a clearirout 'plunger can be used. Pumps, How They Work and How to Fix Them* — Pitcher Spout Pump, — This is a pump that 81 THE HOME HANDY BOOK is largely used in kitchens where the cistern is near by and where there is no regular plumbing system. A pump of the kind, see A, Fig. 48, can also be FLUSH PIPE.- TA^IK -SUPPLY PIPE Fig. 47. — A cross section of the bowl. used for wells that are not over 20 feet deep. It is very simple in construction and a small one can be bought for a dollar or so. As B in Fig. 48 shows, it consists of a barrel or 82 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER cylinder, a piston rod and piston head, a piston valve and a barrel or cylinder valve, and in action it works like this : When the piston is raised up it exhausts some of the air from the pipe, whose lower end dips into the water in the cistern, through the valve, and this carries the air into the barrel of the pump because of the pressure of the air on the water in the cistern. Tig. 48. — ^A. A pitcher spout pump. On the down stroke the cylinder valve closes again and the piston valve is pushed up, thus giving the air that is in the barrel a chance to escape up through it. This action is continued until all of the air in the pipe has been pumped out, and then of course the water is forced up and the piston works on it just the same as it did with the air. When a lift pump has to be primed each time just before pumping or when it gets so that it won't lift the water at all you can take it for granted that the leather washer on the piston head, or simply leather, 83 THE HOME HANDY BOOK F:^ PiSTOn ROD r-^BrPLU/SG-ER. ^\ AMP VALVES VALVE LEATHER WASHER Fig. 48. — B. Plunger and valves. as it is called for short, does not fit the barrel per- fectly, and consequently there is a leakage of the air. To fix it scribe a circle iV inch larger in diameter VALVE LEATHER BRASS WEIGHT CrVALVE Fig. 48. — C. Top view of foot valve for simple lift pump. than the diameter of the barrel, on a piece of leather i inch thick and scribe another circle IJ inches ia 84 THE AMATEUR TLUMBER diameter inside the larger one; cut out a washer and soak it in linseed oil for 24 hours, when it can be fitted on the piston and the trouble will end. Plunger leathers can be bought already cut out for about 5 cents each. The pump valve is made of brass; this and the seat are ground to make them fit air tight ; the oxide accumulating on these valves can be cleaned off bj using fine emery paper, and finally be sure the joint where the supply pipe is connected with the pump is tight or this will also let the air leak out. The piston Talve is shown at B in Fig. 48 and the barrel valve at C. Double Acting Force Pumps. — ^^early all pumps which are made to supply storage tanks in attics or other elevated places in order that a constant flow of water may be had in the bath room and kitchen are of the double-barreled type, as shown at A and B in Fig. 49. A pump of this kind is merely a lift pump like the pitcher spout pump, except that it has two cylinders, and these empty into an inclosed part of the pmnp, which in turn is connected with the pipe that leads to the tank. This kind of a pump, shown in cross section at B, Fig. 49, also has a valve in the pipe which supplies the tank to keep the water that has been forced into it from running back into the pump between strokes, and after you have stopped pumping. The piston leathers are about the only things that wear out, though the leather check valve in the tank supply 85 THE HOME HANDY BOOK pipe may need to be replaced. A new valve can be made by cutting one out of ^-incli thick sole leather, using the old valve as a pattern. It is often hard to start the water to flow if the pump is an old one. When this happens unscrew the ShANKOF HANDLE WALKIMGp^ ROD PIPE TO TAMK PRIMING PLUG CyU/NDER. &A$E SUPPLY PIPE Fig. 49. — A. A double acting force pump. 86 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER priming plug and pour a quart of water into the bar- rel through the hole; this will make the piston leathers fit the cylinders air tight when the pump will again do its work. How to Clean a Gas Jet. —When particles of dust get into a gas jet the flame bums uneven, smokes WALKirrG- BEAM SHAnK OF IV PU/>APMAr«DLE ? CyUAIDER SUPPCy PIPE LEADIMGTQ CI5TERW LEATHER WASHER PISTO/M VALVES P\$TOfi MEAD OR LEATHER WASMER Fig. 49. — B. Cross section of a double acting force pump. 87 THE HOME HANDY BOOK and the light is poor. To make a cleaner cut out of thin sheet brass, or tin will do, a strip ^ an inch wide and 2 inches long. Bend over one edge -J inch and then again -J inch, making the cleaner ^ inch wide, and the folded back will give it the stiffness it needs. To clean the jet simply run the sharp edge of the cleaner through the slot of the tip and it will remove all the little particles that clog it up. How to Detect Gas Leaks.— The odor of the gas is usually the first indication that there is a leak, and there are a couple of ways by which the exact place of the leak can be found. The first and safest is to put a drop or two of soap- suds on the suspected spot when, if you have guessed right, a little bubble will be formed. The second and easiest way is to run a lighted match all around the pipe when the gas will ignite and so show where the leak is. Never use a match if the odor of gas is very strong. Keeping Gas Cooking Stoves in Order.— There are several little things that the chef de cui- sine, or just plain cook, as we call Oscar here at home, ought to know about using gas stoves and which if he, or she, does not know, or knowing does not heed, will soon make the stove cut up capers, and as the handy person around the house you will quickly be called into consultation. Like the gas-fitter's helper, look wise and inform him, her or it, as one who speaks by the card, that the water, or coffee, or soup must not be allowed to 88 THE AMATEUR PLUMBER boil over and run into the burners ; that the burners should be taken out at least once a month, and oftener if necessary, turned upside down and the soot tapped gently out of them ; that they should then be washed in clean soap-suds and thoroughly dried, and that when these instructions are adhered to there will be no reason for bothering you. CHAPTER VI THE HANDY GLAZIER About Window Glass. — There are two grades of window glass and these are called (1) single thick or single strength, and (2) double thick or double strength. Single thick glass is about -^-j of an inch thick and double thick glass is about ^ of an inch thick. The thickness of window glass varies some- what, but it is graded by the makers to conform to this standard as nearly as possible. Tools Used for Cutting Window Glass.— There are two kinds of tools used for cutting window glass, and these are (1) steel cutters and (2) dia- mond cutters. A steel cutter is good enough for all ordinary purposes but to cut plate glass a diamond cutter must be used. Steel cutters are fitted with either a hardened steel point in the end or else a steel wheel, which is better, and cutters of this kind can be bought for as little as 25 cents. A steel wheel cutter is shown at A in Fig. 50. A diamond glass cutter has a chip of genuine diamond mounted in a swivel end, and it is a pleasure to cut glass with one of these. It is shown at B in Fig. 50, and it costs about $4.50. 90 Sizes and Prices of Window Glass Simple Double No. of J 5ing le Double No. of Size. Thick Thick Lights r rhif >k Thick Lights Per Per in a Size. Pej r Per in a Light. Light. Box. I _.igh t. Light. Box. 7x 9 $0.04 $0.05 114 20x22 % ;o.4 $0.49 16 8x10 .05 .07 90 20x24 .4 3 .52 15 8x12 .06 .09 75 20x26 .4 6 .56 13 8x14 .07 .10 64 20x28 .5 .60 13 9x12 .07 .09 67 20x30 .5 4 .65 12 9x14 .08 .12 57 20x32 .6 .73 11 10x12 .07 .10 60 20x34 .6 .73 11 10x14 .09 .12 51 20x36 .4 3 .52 10 10x16 .10 .15 45 22x24 .4 6 .55 14 10x18 .13 .17 40 22x26 .5 .60 13 10x20 .13 .19 36 22x28 .5 i .65 12 10x22 .15 .20 33 22x30 .& .73 11 10x24 .16 .22 30 22x32 .6 7 .81 10 10x26 .21 .25 23 24x24 .& 1 .65 12 10x28 .22 .27 26 24x26 .& i .65 12 10x30 .24 .29 24 24x28 .6 .73 11 10x32 .28 .34 23 24x30 .6 7 .81 10 12x14 .11 .18 43 24x32 .7 S .91 9 12x16 .12 .19 38 24x34 .7 S .91 9 12x18 .16 .22 33 24x36 .8 % 1.02 8 12x20 .18 .25 30 24x38 .9 5 1.09 8 12x22 .19 .23 27 24x40 .9 5 1.09 8 12x24 .22 .27 25 26x26 ,& D .73 11 12x26 .25 .30 23 26x28 .7 9 .91 10 12x28 .28 .33 21 26x30 .7! ^ .91 9 12x30 .32 .39 20 26x32 .9. 5 1.05 9 12x32 .34 .41 19 26x34 .9^ 5 1.09 8 12x34 .37 .43 18 26x36 .71 i .91 8 12x36 .38 .46 17 28x28 .7! i .91 9 12x40 .44 .54 15 28x30 .9i ; 1.09 9 14x16 .14 .21 32 28x32 .9. > 1.09 8 14x18 .16 .22 29 28x34 l.OJ i 1.15 8 14x20 .17 .24 26 28x36 1.0! ^ 1.16 7 14x22 .20 .29 23 28x38 1.2' 7 1.46 7 14x24 .22 .32 21 28x40 .91 ; 1.09 6 14x26 .29 .43 20 30x30 .9. ; 1.09 8 14x28 .36 .44 18 30x32 l.OJ J 1.25 8 14x30 .38 .46 17 30x34 1.0! » 1.35 7 14x32 .40 .49 16 30x36 1.2" 7 1.46 7 14x34 .43 .53 15 30x38 1.2' 1 1.46 6 14x36 .46 .56 14 30x40 l.K B 1.91 6 14x40 .51 .63 13 30x44 l.Oi ) 1.35 5 16x20 .20 .29 23 32x32 1.35 7 16x22 .23 .33 20 32x34 1.46 7 16x24 .24 .35 19 32x36 * • • 1.59 6 16x26 .38 .46 17 32x40 1.91 6 16x28 .40 .49 16 32x42 1.91 5 16x30 .43 .52 15 32x44 1.91 5 16x32 .46 .56 14 36x38 • • 1.91 5 16x34 .50 .60 13 36x40 1.91 5 16x36 .61 .62 13 40x40 1.44 5 16x44 .70 .82 10 40x42 1.44 4 18x20 .29 .41 20 40x44 3.59 4 18x22 .36 .44 18 40x46 2.59 4 18x24 .38 .46 17 40x48 2.85 4 18x26 .43 .52 15 42x48 2.85 4 18x28 .46 .56 14 44x44 2.85 4 18x30 .50 .60 13 44x46 3.86 4 18x32 .50 .60 13 44x48 3.85 3 18x34 .56 .67 12 44x50 3.86 3 18x36 .60 .73 11 46x48 • • 3.85 3 20x20 .36 .44 18 48x48 4.4S 3 91 THE HOME HANDY BOOK Fig. 50. — A. A steel wheel glass cutter. How to Use a Steel Wheel Cutter. — The secret of using a steel wheel cutter is to dip the wheel into Fig. 50. — B. A diamond glasa cutter. kerosene before each cut is made, and when this is done it is surprising how well it will cut. A handy 92 THE HANDY GLAZIER way to do this is to keep a wide-moutlied bottle of kerosene ready for use. How to Use a Diamond Cutter. — Hold the handle at the lower end, which is three-sided, between your thumb, index and medius fingers — one on each side — as shown at B in Fig. 50, but closer to the swivel joint; press firmly and draw it along the straight edge on the glass firmly and evenly. It requires some skill to use a diamond cutter properly, and for this reason it is best to practice on some small pieces before attempting to cut a light of any size. How to Cut Window Glass.— TFi7^ a Pattern, — Lay a large sheet of paper on your table or bench and mark the size of the glass you want to cut on it. Lay the glass over the sheet of paper and a straight edge, that is the edge of a rule, a T square or anything that has a true edge, nearly on the mark and run your glass cutter along the latter and over the glass. This is an easy and sure way where only an occasional light is needed. - Another way is to lay the glass flat on your bench and place a T square with the arm on one edge of the glass as shown at A in Fig. 51 ; now measure off the width or length whichever you are cutting, slide the blade of the T square along until the edge coin- cides with the mark on your rule and then hold it down firmly. Start your glass cutter from the side of the glass that is away from you and draw it toward you with a firm pressure and an even stroke. 93 THE HOME HANDY BOOK After the cut has been made if it does not readily break, tap it gently with the handle of a screw- driver. All glass cutters have notched shanks, the purpose of which is to enable you to slip it over the edge of the glass when a little pressure will break the glass at the cut. How to Make a Cutting Board. — Where any considerable number of lights are to be cut as in Fig. 51. — How to cut a window light. making hotbed sashes for a green house, a cutting board is a very convenient accessory. To make a glass cutting board get a drawing board of any size and screw a strip of wood to one end as shown in Fig. 52. Take two ten cent tape meas- ures such as dressmakers use and glue these along the sides of the board so that the figures begin at the strip and be sure to have the numbers of both tape measures even. With this board you can cut glass to any size easily, quickly and accurately. Removing Old Putty from Sash. — The usual way to remove old putty is to use a knife, and some- times a hammer is needed where the putty is very hard. 94 THE HANDY GLAZIER Another way, and this is easier though it takes longer, is to make a paste of 1 ounce of soft soap, 1 ounce of pearl-ash to which a little powdered lime has been added, and mix with 4 ounces of fuller's earth. Smear this mixture over the putty and let it remain over night, when the putty will be more ] ) 1 ) } i ) J } i ? > 1 1 , ) > i i f J ? ^ 7 STRIP OF WOOD ^^^TAPE/AEASURE GLUED TO BOARD i U 2- Fig. 52. — ^A glass cutting board. or less soft. After removing the putty wash the Ited of the sash frame, as the part is called against which the glass rests, with soap and water. How to Make Glazing Putty. — To make glaz- ing putty mix one-half or a pound of whiting, which is pulverized chalk, with enough raw linseed oil to make a stiff dough, leave it over night and then knead it again and pound it with a mallet. To make it keep better add about 5 per cent of cotton-seed oil. To make a putty that dries harder than the one just described use ;J of a pound of white lead and f 95 THE HOME HANDY BOOK pound of whiting and mix these together before add- ing the oil. How to Put in a Light. — After having taken out the old glass, removed all the hard putty and washed the bed of the sash frame, cut the light to fit and clean it. Next spread some putty thinly along the bed on which the light is to rest — ^hence this part of the job is called tedding the light — set it in and press it firmly against the putty. A B Fig. 53. — A. A glazier's point. B. A putty knife. This done, drive eight or more glazier s points, little three-cornered bits of zinc as shown at A in Fig. 63, into the frame to hold the light in place. A quarter of a pound of these points can be bought for 10 cents or less. Take a dab of putty, roll it into a thin strip and lay it around the edge of light and the frame. Use a putty Icnife, as shown at B in Eig. 53, to press the putty into place and to smooth it off. Put on enough putty so that the top of the zinc points do not show. With very little practice you can work the putty into a smooth layer and make neat looking square corners. To Clean Windows. — While you may not con- sider cleaning windows as one of your jobs, still if 96 THE HANDY GLAZIER jou have to do it, it is just as well to do it right. First whittle a stick to a sharp point and clean out the dust and dirt that have hardened in the cor- ners of the sash; second wash the windows with clean water in which you have poured a little concentrated liquid ammonia, and third wipe the windows dry with a clean cloth. If you want to do an extra good job, make a thin paste by mixing some whiting with alcohol. Eub this paste on the glass, let it dry, and then rub it off with a clean cloth and it will take on a polish that will rival the colored boy with the black face and shiny eye. CHAPTER VII THE FURNITURE REPAIRER Easing" Doors and Drawers That Stick. — The doors of a bookcase, china-closet or sideboard and the drawers of a sideboard, dresser or chiffonier often get so that they stick when you try to open or close them. This untoward condition is caused (1) by the piece of furniture not setting level and (2) by the wood swelling in damp weather. Before ever plan- ing the door or drawer try this expedient first. Cut out two wedges of wood 1 inch thick at the large end, 1 inch wide and 6 inches long and drive these under the different castors in turn thus raising the comers. Very often it will be found that a door or a drawer that has stuck before will, when the piece of furniture is raised on one comer a little, swing open and shut or slide out or in with as much freedom as when it was bought. A harder thing to remedy is the sticking caused by damp weather. Sometimes a door or a drawer can be made to work by rubbing French chalk on the places where it strikes the frame. If this does not do the business, then you can use your smooth plane if you do it very carefully, because if you 98 THE FURNITURE REPAIRER take off too mucli when the wood dries out there will be a gap when the door closes or a rattle if it is a drawer. Re-Seating Chairs.— Cane chairs and lots of other kinds are thrown away after the seats are worn out, but this is certainly a poor way to practice econ- omy around the house. A VENEER SEATS B FIBER BOARD SEATS C REMOVABLE READY MADE SEATS Fig. 54. — Beady made chair seats. The honest way is to re-seat the chairs and this can be done in three shakes of a dead lamb's tail by removing whatever kind of a seat the chair has and then putting on a veneer or fiber hoard or an upholstered seat, any one of which can be bought at prices ranging from 10 cents up to 75 cents each. Three-ply veneer seats are built up of three pieces of stock to prevent them from warping and these can be bought in various colors, see A Fig. 54. The fiber board seats, see B Fig. 54, can be had 99 THE HOME HANDY BOOK in various sizes, shapes and styles. They are nicely embossed in various designs and look and wear almost as well as leather. The veneer or the fiber board seats can be nailed in place with either round headed brass tacks or enameled upholsterer's tacks. A removable ready made chair seat, see C Fig. 54, is built up of veneer stock and then covered with imitation black leather over elastic cotton. There are four hooks on the bottom of the seat to fasten it to the chair. Repairing Broken Chairs. — Cheaply made chairs go to pieces usually for the want of a little BRASS ROD V VI' 7/7^/C NEW PIECE Fig. 55.— a. Eepairing a chair round. glue. Whenever a round or any part of a chair works loose don't wait for the rest of it to follow suit ; but glue it in at once or the chair will surely go to pieces like the one-horse shay. If a round breaks off close to the leg, cut the round off smooth and make a piece of wood to build it up to its original length; drill a :J-inch hole 1^ inches in the round and clear through the piece; smear some glue on the abutting ends of the sticks and drive a ^ inch brass or iron rod through the piece and into the end, as shown at A in Eig. 55, and saw off the end of the rod with your hack saw. l^ow bore out the broken off piece in the leg and glue in the 100 THE FURNITURE REPAIRER round. To tighten np the legs while the glue is dry- ing loop a piece of strong cord around the legs just BIT OF WOOD AND TWISTED STRING Fig. 55. — B. Tightening up the legs. below the round as shown at B in Fig. 55, and tighten it up by twisting the cord with a stick. Arms of chairs that are broken can be fixed in much the same manner I have just described, that is 101 THE HOME HANDY BOOK by smoothing off the broken part, boring out the hole in the abutting part and setting in a metal or wooden dowel pin. Castors That Won't Fall Out. — It is very an- noying to have castors that persist in dropping out every time the corner of a bed, a table or a dresser is raised. You can put a castor in tight by slipping in two or three strips of sheet lead about iV inch thick, ^ inch wide and as long as the stem of the castor and then driving the latter gently in. Don't strike the wheel with a hammer or even a mallet, but hold a cold chisel on the plate of the castor and strike the head of the chisel. Castors having what is called a grip-neck can be bought for as little as 10 cents a set and once in they will not drop out. Tightening Dresser and Sideboard Handles. — Knobs and handles are always coming loose and without a handy person and the right kind of tools they are seldom fixed. The reason handles and knobs get loose and come off is because the nuts on them are not tight enough to begin with. The constant pulling on the handles soon wears off the threads on the shank and on the nuts and then it is impossible to screw the latter on. l^ow right here is where your set of taps and dies comes in, for you can cut new threads on the shanks and by using new nuts they will be as good or bet- ter than when they were put on in Grand Rapids. 102 THE FURNITURE REPAIRER Another little trick is to slip on a loclc washer before you put on the nut and then the handle will never work loose again. Taking" Dents Out of Furniture. — If the dent or bruise is a small, shallow one it can generally be taken out by the following simple process: Put a few drops of warm water on it, then hold a very hot soldering copper as closely to it as you can without actually touching it, but do not hold the hot copper over it after the water has evaporated. Re- peat the operation until the bruise or dent disap- pears. Larger bruises and dents, if they are not too deep, can be removed by soaking a piece of clean blot- ting paper folded over several times in warm wa- ter; then lay it on the offending spot and place a hot flat iron on it to drive off the water. Repeat until the surface is level. For deep dents, cracks, etc., a filler is the only remedy. A good filler for this purpose can be made by melting 1 ounce of white resin and 1 ounce of yel- low wax in a pan, adding enough ocher, which can be had in various colors, to give it the color of the wood. Stir well and fill in while hot. This filler not only sticks firmly to the wood, but dries very hard. To Prevent Hinges from Creaking*. — Small hinges can be lubricated with machine oil, but oil is too light for door hinges; either lubricate the hinge with soap, or with graphite or better make a 103 THE HOME HANDY BOOK paste of soap, lard and graphite and rub it in well. How to Clean Furniture. — When the new finish of furniture has lost its luster it can be renovated bj washing it with a sponge wet in clean, cold water and wiping it as dry as possible with a piece of chamois skin. As fast as the chamois skin takes up the water, squeeze it out and keep on with the work. Never use a dry chamois on furniture and always rub it in the same direction, as cross or circular rubbing will leave marks. To remove white spots that sometimes appear on varnished furniture rub the surface with a soft, woolen cloth saturated with a few drops of linseed oil mixed with an equal amount of turpentine. When the spots have been rubbed away wipe the oil off dry with another soft clean cloth. A Good Furniture Varnish. — A good light var- nish can be made by dissolving 2 ounces of white shellac in |^ a pint of alcohol; strain it through a piece of fine cotton muslin, or some cheese cloth, and then add another ^ pint of alcohol. If you want a dark colored varnish use orange brown shellac in- stead of the white. Keep the varnish in a wide- mouthed bottle well corked to prevent it from evapo- rating. A pint can of good furniture varnish can be bought ready made for 25 or 35 cents according to quality. The varnish should be applied to furniture with a regular varnish brush made of black Chinese 104 THE FURNITURE REPAIRER bristles and preferably one having a chisel edge, A varnish brush of this kind 2 inches wide costs 30 or 40 cents. When through using a varnish brush wash it out in alcohol and hang it up so that it will be in good form for the next time. A Good Furniture and Piano Polish. — A dandy all-round polish can be easily made by dis- solving 1^ ounces of white shellac in ^ pint of naphtha; strain each one separately and then put them in a bottle and mix well. To use the polish make a pad by folding over a soft piece of flannel and pour on enough polish so that it is saturated with it; then cover the flannel with a bit of fine, soft linen, put on a drop or two of linseed oil and rub the surface over lightly with a circular motion. Finally finish the job by rubbing off with a soft pad on which you have put a few drops of naphtha. A Fine Polish for Leather. — Dissolve enough beeswax in turpentine until it is about as thick as the cream you get if you live in New York, that is thin cream, and you will have a polish for leather upholstered furniture that can't be beaten. How to Re-Upholster Furniture. — Usually the first thing that wears out on an upholstered chair is the covering of the seat. If the chair has been a cheap one to begin with, the covering of both the seat and the back is gen- erally made of a very poor quality of brocaded silk and it is not long before it begins to look shabby. 105 THE HOME HANDY BOOK To re-upholster almost any kind of a piece of furniture is a very simple matter and one that you should delight in doing. The first step is to buy the piece of material you are to use for the cover- ing, and often you can get beautiful remnants of brocaded velour, embossed plush, or tapestry large enough to cover a seat or a back very cheaply. Then you will want some gimp, that is, the kind of binding upholsterers use, f inch wide to match the color of the covering you intend to use, and some gimp tacks, or sharp-pointed tacks about f inch long and having a small round head made especially for this kind of work. Take off the old gimp from the chair first and draw out all the tacks, being very careful not to mar the finish on the chair. After the gimp is off you will find that the covering is tacked down and this must also be removed but do not disturb the cotton filling. In all ordinary upholstered chairs there is a depression around the inside edge of the seat or back of the frame and this makes it easy to cut the covering to just fit this space. If you are using a covering of cheap tapestry or any kind of cotton goods, dampen it after you have cut it the right size and shape, tack it around the edge with some gimp tacks, and stretch it as you put it on. The purpose of dampening the covering is so that it will be perfectly tight when it dries. When this is done you can tack on the gimp; be- gin at one of the front comers and drive in the 106 THE FURNITURE REPAIRER tacks about IJ inches apart and along the outside edge rather than in the middle. Use your nail set to drive the tacks home. When you come to a cor- ner don't cut the gimp, but fold it over until it just fits and then tack it down. After you have the gimp on all around and are back to the corner where you started from, fold under the edge of the gimp and tack it down smooth. All kinds of upholsterer's supplies can be bought of dealers in furniture and the coverings can be bought at dry-goods stores. CHAPTEE VIII THE HOME DECORATOR About WaJl Paper.— Wall paper is usually sold on the basis of a single roll, that is, a strip 16 inches wide and 8 yards long, but as there is twice this length of paper on each roll as it comes from the manufacturer, it is called a double roll and of course you pay twice as much for it as the price quoted for a single roll. Wall paper is especially designed for the kind of room whose walls are to be covered. Embossed and oatmeal papers are the proper thing at this writ- ing for parlors, libraries and dining rooms, and floral and striped papers are nice for bed rooms. The ceil- ings of these rooms can be halsomined or they can be papered with what is called independent ceiling paper, that is, a paper different from that used on the walls, while varnished tile paper is good for the kitchen, bath room and wherever else a sanitary paper is needed. When making your selection of wall paper it is well to bear in mind that a light shade of paper should be used where the rooms are dark and that darker shades of paper may be used to advantage for rooms that are light. 108 THE HOME DECORATOR The Amount of Paper Required.— The first thing to do before buying your paper is to find out how many rolls you will need. If you are going to paper the ceilings and side walls of a room, measure the width of the ceiling and divide this measurement by 18, since this is the width of a roll, and this will give you the number of cuts of paper to be used on the ceiling. ]S^w for a ceiling 8 to 11 feet long you should allow four cuts to a double roll; for a ceiling 11 to 14 feet long allow three cuts to a double roll, and for a ceiling 14 to 20 feet allow only two cuts. Sup- pose your ceiling is 7 feet 6 inches wide and be- tween 8 and 11 feet long. Dividing 18 into 7 feet 6 inches (or 90 inches), you will have 5 as a quotient, in which case you will need five strips or cuts; and since you can only get four cuts out of a double roll if the ceiling is from 8 to 11 feet, you should get one double roll and a single roll to boot. The side walls are measured for paper much in the same way as the ceiling. Find the total length of the room, that is, the lengths of the four walls added together, and divide by 18 to find the number of cuts needed. For a 7 foot 6 inch high wall you can get six cuts from a double roll ; for an 8 to 9 foot wall you can allow five cuts to the double roll, and for a wall over 9 feet high allow only four cuts to the double roll. Should you want to paper a room 9 feet square 109 THE HOME HANDY BOOK and whose side walls are about 7 feet 6 inches high, the measurement of the four walls is 4 by 9, or 36 feet, l^ow changing this to inches, you will have 432 inches and this divided by 18 gives 24 cuts as a quotient. Hence for a room 9 feet square and about 7 feet 6 inches high you will need 24 cuts, and since you can only get six cuts from a double roll to be used on a wall 7 feet 6 inches high, you will of course need four double rolls to paper the room. The Tools and Apparatus You Need. — Like every other trade, you must have the right tools if you are to do a creditable job. The first tool needed is a pair of paper-hangers shears (75 cents) 10, 12 or 14 inches long, to trim the paper with. E'ext you .will need a paste brush and this should be about 7 or 8 inches wide and set with Eussia hard bristles; and when buying any kind of a brush be sure that the center is set with bristles and not merely with a piece of wood. A good paste brush costs not less than $1.50 and on up to $5.00. A smoothing brush is better than a smoothing roller; get one 10 to 12 inches wide at a cost of from 75 cents to $1.00. A seam roller is also a nec- essary tool and one with a slightly rounded maple face can be bought for 20 cents or so. A good scraping knife with a 4-inch steel blade can be had for half a dollar. All of these tools are shown in Fig. 56. Last of all, but by no means the least, are the 110 THE HOME DECORATOR accessories. These consist of a galvanized iron pail for the paste ; two planed and trued boards 10 inches wide and 6 or 7 feet long for a pasting table, and a plank about 2 inches thick, 8 inches wide and 3 feet shorter than the room. You can either make or borrow some horses to stand the plank on, or better. 12 -.^ papermangerIs SHEARS SEAM ROLLER WALL PAPER SCRAPING KNIFE PAPERHANGERS PASTE BRUSH WALL PAPER SMOOTHING BRUSH Fig. 56. — Tools needed for paper hanging. use two step ladders. A fine pasting table can be made of two ordinary flour barrels with a 20 inch strip of wood nailed across the top of each. How to Prepare the Walls.— Having the paper, tools and accessories, you are ready to begin opera- tions. Move all of the furniture out of the room that you can, and the pieces that you can't move out cover with some old sheets. Take up the carpet, and if it is your first job it is just as well to spread some old newspapers around on the floor, that is, if it is a finished floor. JSTow take your paste brush and with some clear, 111 THE HOME HANDY BOOK cold water soak tlie paper on the wall as far as you can reach, standing in one place on the plank. After a few minutes take your scraping knife and scrape a small spot; if it scrapes easily, you have soaked the old paper enough, but if it scrapes hard, or there is more than one thickness of paper on the wall, you should wet the paper as many times as there are thicknesses. The main thing to do, however, is to give the water plenty of time to soak in before scraping. Should there be any holes or cracks in the wall point them up ; a good way to do this is to fill an old pan about half full of plaster-of-paris and then fill the pan up with water, letting it soak until it has taken up all the water, or until it stops bubbling. If any water is left, pour it off. After it has set- tled use from one side of the pan only, being careful not to mix it. In this way you can use plaster-of- paris for 30 minutes or more without its hardening. Use a wide scraper to put the plaster-of-paris in the cracks. How to Size the Walls. — The next thing to do is to make and apply a mixture, or sizing, as it is called. To 3 pints of cold water mix half a pound of ground glue and let it soak for half an hour, stirring occasionally; then add 6 quarts of boiling water, let it cool for a short while and apply with a brush. This makes enough sizing for an average room. How to Make the Paste. — ^When the sizing is 112 THE HOME DECORATOR dry you should then make your paste for the paper. A good paste can be made by mixing 2| pounds of wheat-flour with enough cold water to make a thick batter, and then thinning it down with more water to the consistency of flap- jacks. Pour on boiling water, stirring it until it becomes thick, and add a handful of granulated alum. Let it cool before using, and if possible make it the night before, v How to Paste the Paper. — Having measured the exact length of your ceiling, the next step is to cut and paste your paper. Cut the roll of paper into the required lengths, adding 9 inches to each end of each strip so that it will hang down the side walls. In this way you will have allowed plenty of paper for matching the pattern. Although this way is a trifle wasteful, it saves much time and la- bor which you would spend in matching before- hand. Having cut the strips, take one and lay it so that the top of the paper is at the right end of the table as you stand facing it. l^ow starting at the right- hand end, paste about two-thirds of the strip and then fold over the right end so that the pasted sides are together and the top of the strip comes exactly to where you have left off pasting. ISText paste the left end and fold it over until it meets the right and be sure to get the edges of the paper exactly even. How to Trim the Paper. — After you have pasted and folded the strip of paper, it is ready to 113 THE HOME HANDY BOOK be trimmed, and it should never be trimmed before. Take your shears and cut off the blank, or selvage, edge of the strip which is away from you. How to Paper the Ceiling^. — In order to get the first strip of paper on straight draw a chalk line on the ceiling lY inches from the walls; take the pasted strip, stand on the raised plank and open up the long fold; taking the long end of the strip in the right hand and guiding it with the left, paste the selvage edge of the paper on the line from right to left. After it is started use the smoothing brush to sweep it on with and shift it if the selvage edge does not butt the line exactly. To hang the next strip reverse the operation, that is, take the end of the strip in your left hand, turn your back to the strip already on and work the strip on the ceiling from right to left. Follow this rule until the ceiling is finished. Of course, as you hang each strip, you must take care to match the pattern accurately and the extra 9 inches on each end of the strip will give you plenty of leeway to do so. How to Paper the Walls. — When you come to the walls measure them from the ceiling to the top of the baseboard and cut the first strip off 6 inches longer than this measurement. "Now starting at the right of a door hang the first strip, taking pains to have it exactly straight up and down. Next take the roll and match the next strip before you cut it, to the one you have just hung 114 THE HOME DECORATOR on the wall; then cut, paste, trim and hang it. In this way the matching can be easily figured out. If a border is to be used it is hung in the same manner as the paper, that is, working from the right around to the left. After you have made a seam it should be smoothed with a seam roller before it is dry. A Few Helpful Hints. — In starting a side wall begin at a point where mis-matching will show the least. A good place to start is at the right of any large break in the wall, such as a door or a bay window. It is necessary to size a new wall before hanging the paper. Sizing has two objects, and these are to make the paper stick tight to the wall and to make it easier to remove the paper when you want to. For Uncrustas, burlaps and pressed papers add about 1 tablespoonful of Venetian turpentine to the pail of paste. This can be bought at any drug store. If a painted wall has a high gloss it must be cut before hanging the paper. To do this make a glue size of i pound of ground glue which you have soaked for half an hour and added 4 quarts of boil- ing water to it. It should then have 1^ pounds of plaster-of-paris stirred into it. This size is used while warm and it should be stirred often to keep the plaster-of-paris from settling, and apply it with a brush. When a kalsomined wall is to be papered the kal- 115 THE HOME HANDY BOOK somine sliould first be softened with a brush and then scraped and washed off with a sponge. Of course the wall should then be sized. Where an old whitewashed wall is to be papered you should first scrape off the loose whitewash and then go over the wall with equal parts of cider vine- gar and water. After drying it should be sized with glue size as before. If the wall is damp, it should be lined with damp- proof lining paper. Curing Damp Walls.— Where paper is to be hung or paint is to be put on a wall that has a tend- ency to hold moisture, the first thing to do is to pre- vent the moisture from coming through. This is done by hanging the wall with lining paper first, all joints being hutted, not lapped. Two kinds of lining paper are used, the kind de- pending on whether the wall is to be painted or papered. If painted, the lining paper is clean and white on both sides, but if papered, then the lining paper has one of its sides tar-faced. If the latter kind is used, the tar-faced side should be pasted on the wall and the clean side sized in the usual way. Only walls that show no signs of drying out need to be lined. This paper can be bought at any wall paper store. How to Kalsomine a Ceiling". — Very few j>a- per-hangers still use the old fashioned hand mixed kalsomine, and all the up-to-date ones use a hot water preparation, that is, a ready made kalsomine 116 THE HOME DECORATOR which needs only the addition of hot water to pre- pare it for use. A good kalsomine of this kind is sold under the trade name of moresco; it is made by Benjamin Moore, ^New York, and can be bought at paint stores generally. For a 12 foot square ceiling take about 8 pounds of white moresco and put it in a 10 quart pail, taking care to note how far up the sides of the pail the dry moresco comes. !Now stir in enough hot water to bring the moresco up to the same point after it is mixed. When buy- ing colors for moresco get moresco colors and stir the coloring in while the moresco is hot. The mo- resco is then chilled by setting the bucket in a tub of cracked ice or very cold water until it is gelled,, and then put on with a kalsomine brush. Before kalsomining the ceiling you should go over it with a size made of equal parts of white shellac and denatured alcohol, that is, if the ceiling is stained; but if it is clean and has never been kalsomined before, size it with equal parts of ceiling varnish and benzine. Whichever you use, allow the size to dry six hours and then put on a thin coat of white lead and turpentine with a little liquid dryer in it. How to Make Stenciled Decorations. — ^Where the side walls of a room are kalsomined, a very pretty effect can be obtained by making a border with a stencil. A stencil is a piece of heavy oiled paper with 117 THE HOME HANDY BOOK a design cut througli it with interrupted lines, as shown at A in Fig. 57. Oiled stencil paper can be bought of the larger houses that deal in painters' supplies and you can draw your own designs and BM^'^' •••••••#^•0 Fig. 57. — A. Oiled paper stencil. cut them out with the point of a sharp pocket knife, or you can buy the stencils ready made, in which case ask for decorating stencils. To use a stencil get a stencil brush (25 cents), Fig. 57. — B. A stencil brush. see B, Fig. 57, and then mix a very little moresco stenciling color with hot water, but the coloring must not be too deep for too much contrast will spoil the artistic effect. Beautiful fresco colors in fawn, 118 THE HOME DECORATOR leather brown, carmine and myrtle green are made especially for stenciling effects in dining rooms. Fig. 58 shows how a border is stenciled on. Interior Varnishing. — The keynote of success in doing a good job of varnishing is to have the fumi- FiG. 58. — Stenciling on a border. ture, floor, or whatever you intend to varnish per- fectly clean and dry. After the varnish has been put on, both light and air are necessary to make it dry and harden prop- erly, but do not let the wind blow on the varnished surface. The best results are obtained when the air is dry and the temperature of the room is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Use plenty of varnish on your 119 THE HOME HANDY BOOK bnisli and apply it witli long even strokes, rubbing it the way of the grain. Varnishing New Floors and Woodwork. — New floors should have all the cracks filled up with any good prepared filler paste. Boyle's is as good as any for this purpose. It should be mixed with tur- pentine and then do a strip say 2 feet wide and the length of the room first. When the gloss has left the filler it should be rubbed across the grain with excelsior, and then an- other strip should be done and so on. The filler should be allowed to dry for 24 hours and a shellac varnish made of 1 pint of orange shellac, 1 pint of white shellac and 1 pint of denatured alcohol should be applied to the floor. After it has dried overnight give it a heavy coat of Valentine's felspar varnish, which you should use undiluted. Varnishing Old Floors and Woodwork. — The right way to go about varnishing an old floor is to remove all of the old varnish first. The best way to do this is to use a liquid paint and varnish remover, such as the one sold under the trade name of ad-el-ite. It can be applied with an old scrubbing brush and should be allowed to soak into the floor for 20 minutes, when it must be scraped clean with an old putty knife. If any of the varnish then re- mains, another application of the varnish remover should be given it and the floor scraped again. After you have cleaned 3 or 4 feet of the floor, 120 THE HOME DECORATOR fill the cracks with the filler and nib the space thoroughly with benzine put on with a flannel cloth. The floor is then done all over in this way and given a coat of the felspar varnish. Interior Painting. — The chief thing to insure a good job of interior painting is to have the surface clean and free from smoke, dirt or grease, and all these foreigTi substances can be removed from the wood with turpentine put on with plenty of elbow grease and a flannel cloth. When it has been washed well it can be re-painted with whatever color you want to use. To make the surface look glossy you must mix the paint with oil, and to give it a dull or flat look you must thin it with turpentine. Cleaning Painted Walls. — To clean a painted wall add four tablespoonfuls of any kind of soap- powder, Gold-Dust preferred, to one quart of boiling water and cool with two quarts of cold water. Ap- ply it to the wall with a clean brush, letting it soak in for 5 or 10 minutes, but do not let it run on to a part already treated. Wash it off with warm wa- ter and let it dry. To Remove Old Paint. — Old paint should be removed as described for removing varnish from floors with ad-el-ite. The surface should be washed with benzine after all the old paint has been removed. Interior Enameling. — One of the easiest to put on and at the same time nicest finishes for certain kinds of furniture, interior woodwork, metal ceilings, 121 THE HOME HANDY BOOK bathrooms, etc., is prepared liquid paint sold under the name of enamel. Liquid enamel can be bought in white and black and in many different tints, and when it is laid on and dries it leaves a hard smooth surface. It costs about 40 cents a pint. Fig, 59. — Coating the paper with isinglas size. How to Put on Stained Glass Paper.— Stained glass paper, as it is called, is a tough paper designed and printed to imitate stained glass and made translucent with oils. It gives quite a pleas- ing effect when used for transoms, sash doors, cozy corner and bathroom windows. 122 THE HOME DECORATOR Stained glass paper is sold in sheets, or sections, 8 J by 8^ inches square; it takes two sheets to cover one square foot of glass and it costs 4 cents a sheet. To put on stained glass paper coat the paper with isinglass size — a viscous solution used for fixing the Fig. 60. — Putting the paper on the window. paper to the glass, which the dealers sell with the paper — and cover the back of the paper thoroughly, using a varnish brush to put it on with, as shown in Fig. 59. ^ow put the paper on the glass as shown in Fig. 60, and smooth it out with a celluloid scraper^ that is, a stiff piece of celluloid about 2 123 THE HOME HANDY BOOK inches long wliicli is set in a wood handle, in order to remove the air and excess size. In putting on the paper B.x the corners first and the borders next; lap the black edges of the pa- per so that they will be of the same width. Then apply the sheet as shown in the illustration and rub it down with the celluloid scraper. Be sure the air is thoroughly rubbed out and the paper smooth on the glass. Go ahead until you have covered your window. To clean your hands when applying paper use a cloth saturated with kerosene. Another kind of stained glass paper is called vitrophane and this is sold in rolls 18 inches wide and 13^ feet long and in half rolls 6f feet long. It costs 60 cents per roll and is easily applied. CHAPTER IX HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE How to Make a Self -Drying Soap Stand.— A self -drying soap stand can be easily made of a block of soft wood 1 inch thick, 3^ inches wide and 4 inches long. Put the block in a vise and saw off ONE HALF IMCH GROOVES SIDEBOARD •5\ «... Fig. 61. — A self-drying soap stand. the ends as shown in Pig. 61, and plane it smooth. Cut four grooves with your half-round gouge on the face of the block, leaving about ^ an inch be- tween the grooves. Screw two triangular blocks to 125 THE HOME HANDY BOOK the under side of the grooved board and screw two pieces of wood J inch thick. 1 inch wide and 2 inches long to the ends of the board. "Next drill two ^-inch holes in the block half an inch from the bottom; cut out two round plugs, or TRUriniOrt BASE. BOf^RD CMEESE OR BAITHOLOB Fig. 62. — A. 'A self-setting mouse trap. cheeks, 1 inch long and set them into the holes and the stand is done. The soap when placed in this stand will not get soggy and, different from a soap dish, the water drains off of its own accord. How to Make a Self -Setting Mouse Trap.— Most traps in the market are made to sell rather than to catch mice with. This one works the other way about and besides it is very simple and self- setting. Take a cigar box and cut out a tapering board 2 126 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE inches wide at one end, 4 inches wide at the other end and 8 inches long. Cut out two pieces of wood 1 inch wide and 2 inches long and screw them to the ends of a base^board made of pine 1 inch thick, 2^ inches wide and 7 inches long. Drill a iV inch hole in the middle of each of the side blocks, put the tapering board between the blocks and put in TRAP IN ACTION MOUSE \ / PAIL ^ OF WATER VsU Fig. 62. — B. The mouse had a right to live. a thin screw so that the board will be pivoted and free to move. Drive a brad into the small end of the board to hold the bait and then you are ready for Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and all the little mouses, as Fig. 62 shows. Set the trap on the edge of a table or other convenient place, directly over a bucket of water. When the mouse walks on to the movable board after the cheese it tips out from under him and he drops into the water. Since the wide end of the board is heavier than the narrow end, the instant the mouse 127 THE HOME HANDY BOOK has walked the plank the trap resets itself and is ready for another victim. A larger size can be used with equal advantage for trapping rats. How to Make an Adjustable Book Rack. — Saw out of ^ inch thick hard wood stuff of any kind two blocks 4 inches wide and 5 inches long and round off one end as shown at A in Eig. 63. SCREW HERE Fig. 63. — A. An adjustable book block. Cut out two pieces of sheet brass or heavy sheet tin, 4 inches on the side, and drill three holes along one edge. Screw each piece of brass or tin to the bottom of each block. Screw each piece to the bot- tom of one of the blocks with J-inch flat-headed wood screws and drive them in so that the heads will be flush — ^that is, even — ^with the under side of the sheet of metal. Cover the bottom of each piece of sheet brass, or tin, by gluing on a piece of woolen or other soft cloth, the purpose of which is to keep the metal from 128 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE marring tlie vamished surface of tlie table. When finished the rack will look like B in Fig. 63. By placing two or three books on each end of the rack any number of books can be set in between and all of them will be held firmly in place. Fig. 63. — ^B. The book blocks in use. How to Make a Quick Ice Cream Freezer.— This is an ice cream freezer made on a new princi- ple, for the ice is put on the inside of the can and the cream is poured on the outside. To make this freezer get a stout quart tin can and make a cover to fit it tight enough to keep it from leaking. Find the exact center of the bottom of the can and the cover with your dividers and make a dent in each of them with your center punch ; now drill a J-inch hole through each one, take an iron rod ^ inch in diameter and about 7 inches longer than the can and brighten it with a file at the place where it is to be soldered to the bottom. Bend the end of the rod to make a crank as shown at A in Fig. 64. Slip the can with the cover on it over 129 THE HO:\IE HANDY BOOK tlie straight end of the rod so that the bottom of the can will be next to the crank and solder it to the Fig. 64. — The can of a quick ice cream freezer. rod one inch from the latter. This fixes the can to the rod and leaves the cover free to be put on Fig. 65. — The stand of a quick ice cream freezer. 130 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE and taken off of the rod which is to form the spindle. For the bearings cut out two blocks of wood 1 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 4 inches high and notch the ends as shown at B in Fig. 65 ; screw these blocks to a board 1 inch thick, 8 inches wide and 12 inches long, which will serve as a basa Fig. 66. — The ice cream freezer in use. You are ready now to make some ice cream, which TOU proceed to do by filling the can with cracked ice and rock salt; then slip the cover over the rod, and put it tightly on the can and set this revolving ele- ment into the notches of the wood blocks, when the can can be turned very easily, as shown in Fig. QQ. The next move is to wipe the can off clean, then begin to turn it and pour your ice cream mixture in a thin stream very slowly on the outside of the can, when it will freeze there and it will be no time until you have enough of the frozen stuff to make 131 THE HOME HANDY BOOK a dish, when it can be scraped from the can. Try- it and be happy. How to Make a Shower Bath While You Wait. — By a shower bath while you wait I mean one that can be rigged np in ^ve minutes. All you need for this improvised bit of civilization is a dou- FiG. 67. — A. An improvised shower bath. ble pulley wheel, a couple of lengths of clothesline, a screw hook and a sprinkling can. Thread the ropes through the blocks of the pulley over the wheels, screw the iron hooks into the ceil- ing and slip the ring of the pulley over the hook. Fill a sprinkling can with water, tie one end of the long rope to the bail of the can and tie one 132 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE end of the short rope to the handle of the can. Hoist the can above your head and over the tub, if you are taking your shower in a room, and tie the other Fig. 67. — B. He would fain be clean. end of the long rope to a cleat which you have pre- viously screwed to the wall. !N'ow by pulling down on the free end of the short rope you will have a most delightful bath ranging all the way from a gentle shower to a cloudburst, 133 THE HOME HANDY BOOK depending on how hard you pull the rope. The whole scheme is shown in Fig. 67. How to Make a Window Ventilator. — It is as necessary for your skin to breath pure air as it is Fig. 68. — ^A window ventilator. to be saturated with heat, but it is uncomfortable, if not indeed dangerous, to sit in a draft in winter especially, but this is just what happens if you are near a raised window. A good and cheaply made ventilator is shown in 134 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE Fig. 68. Make a frame as long as the window sash is wide so that it has two sides, each of which is 4 inches wide, and fasten them together with a block 4 inches square screwed on at each end. In the picture the ends are not shown so that the direction of the flow of the air currents through the ventilator may be followed. Take a board 6 inches wide and as long as the frame and bevel off one edge and then screw it to the lower strip of the ventilator frame, when it should set at an angle of about 30 degrees. To re- lieve the strain on the board, wires can be fastened to the top of the latter and run down and fixed to the upper strip of the frame. Cut out two triangular end pieces and screw these to the ends of the beveled board. To place it in position raise the window, set the box on the sill, pull the window down on it and you will have a constant supply of fresh air without any short cut drafts. How to Make a Window Cupboard. — This is a contrivance that you ought to make, for it will greatly add to the facilities of the kitchen. It is a ventilated cupboard that sets outside the window and in which meats, vegetables, and other edibles can be kept sweet and clean. Build up a frame-work as large as the lower half of the window where the cupboard is to be used as shown in Fig. 69, and then saw off and plane smooth enough laths to make slated blinds just like window 135 THE HOME HANDY BOOK shutters. In fact if you can get hold of a pair of old shutters you can saw them in two in the middle, and these will make admirable slatted sides for the frame. A solid bottom made of boards should now be nailed in the frame and a shelf should be put in Fig. 69. — A window cupboard. about half-way between the bottom and the top. The top should project a couple of inches all around the edges of the frame and slant down a little, and, finally, it should be covered with tin or roofing paper. Before the shelf is fastened in cover the three sides with wire netting to keep out flies and other insects, and it is a good scheme to make a screen door for 136 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE the inside of the cupboard. Screw or nail the cup- board to the outside of the window and put a couple of angle braces under it to relieve the weight. BOARD STONE SAND HARCOAt SAND HOLES Fig. 70. — ^A cheap water cooler and filter. How to Make a Cheap Water Filter and Cooler. — This filter will supply the family with drinking water as clear as White Rock and twice as natural as Red Raven Splits. Get two small kegs and scald them out until they are perfectly clean; bore a hole in one of the kegs near the bottom and fit in a faucet. This keg forms 137 THE HOME HANDY BOOK the cooler. Saw or cut out a hole 3 or 4 inches in diameter in the bottom of the other keg and place a saucer upside down over it. Put in enough clean pebbles to form a layer on the bottom of the keg a couple of inches deep. On top of this put a layer of clean coarse sand 1 inch thick, then a layer of fine sand, then a layer of powdered charcoal, with the dust blown out of it, two inches thick, and on top of this put a layer of fine sand; finally lay a board over the sand to keep it in place when the water is poured in. A cross sec- tion view of the whole apparatus is shown in Fig. 70. Water that is murky or discolored with iron after it has passed through this filter will come out as clear as though it had been distilled. How to Make an Efficient Fire Extinguisher. — Get a sheet of heavy tin and cut out a piece S^ inches wide and 9^ inches long, roll it into a tube 3 inches in diameter and solder the seam well. Scribe the arc of a circle, the radius of which is 5 inches (since the diameter is 10 inches), and make the arc 8^ inches long and then scribe a smaller arc 4^ inches long inside the first arc as shown at A in Fig. 71. Eoll the piece of tin up in the form of a cone and make the large end 3^ inches in diameter and the small end f inch in diameter, solder the seam and then solder the cone to the end of the tube as shown at B in Fig. 71. Cut out a circular block of wood 2|- inches in di- 138 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE ameter and cut a groove all around its peripheiy with your gouge; wrap the groove with cord until it fita snugly into the tube, and yet so that it can be worked Fig. 71. — A. The tin cone for the end of the tube. like a piston, and oil the cord well with machine oil. Cut out another circular block 3 inches in diameter and drill a ^ inch hole in the center of both of the pieces of wood. Fig. 71. — B. The fire extinguisher in use. Cut a strip of hard wood 3 inches long and 1 inch square, plane off the sharp edges to make a handle, and bore a :|-inch hole in its middle. Get an iron rod i inch in diameter and 10 inches long, cut threads on 139 THE HOME HANDY BOOK both ends and screw a nut on one of them. Slip the piston over one end and screw on another nut to hold it fast; slip the other wooden disk over the rod and then put on another nut ; set on the handle and screw on another nut to keep it in place. Cork up the small end of the squirt-gun and fill the tube with ammonia water made by mixing 5 parts of copperas, 20 parts of ammonium sulphate and 125 parts of water; when nearly full insert the piston and screw the wooden head to the barrel of the squirt-gun and your fire extinguisher is ready for use as shown at B in Fig. 71. Now when fire breaks out pull the cork and by pushing the piston home, a stream of ammonia water will play upon the flames and soon put out the fire. This is a very efficient fire extinguisher and it is easier to use it than it is to get insurance afterward. How to Make an Aquarium. — To make an aquarium is not a hard thing to do if you do it the right way. Get a piece of cypress if possible, or else oak will do, 1 inch thick, 18 inches wide and 5 feet 5 inches long. Saw off two end pieces 17 inches long and saw off the bottom which should be exactly 2 feet long. Now a half-inch from each side of the end piecee cut a groove with your chisel ^ an inch deep and groove the bottom lengthwise along the edges the same way. Screw the two end boards to the ends of the bottom board with thin 1 J inch brass wood screws as shown in Fig. 72. 140 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE The next thing is to get two double thick sheets of clean window glass 17^ inches wide bj 23 inches long for the front and back of the aquarium. Slide the Fig. 72. — An aquarium. panes into the grooves and see to it that they fit snugly. You are then ready to cement the glass in and make all the cracks water-tight. To make the cement take 1 pound of resin and add i pound of tar and J pound of linseed oil. Melt them together over a gentle fire and with this com- 141 THE HOME HANDY BOOK pound fill all of the cracks. Run a stout piece of wire around the top of the aquarium to keep the water from springing the end boards apart, and after the cement has dried for 24 hours test the tanks for leaks. If none appear give the frame a coat of shel- lac varnish and paint it if you think it will improve its appearance. When the paint is dry spread some white sand over the bottom, and rockwork — which fancy fish like — can be made by melting bottles in a hot fire. Add a few fresh water plants, and with your gold-fish and a few man-eating sharks your aquarium will be a joy for a long time to come. How to Make a Sleeping Window. — One of the surest ways of gaining health is sleeping out-of- doors, but as conditions, especially in the city, often make this impossible, a sleeping window is the next best thing. Make a frame according to the dimensions shown in Fig. 73. Use good clear hickory, oak or spruce 1 inch thick and 2 inches wide and screw the pieces together with brass wood screwSj The braces are bolted to the frame with iron bolts J inch in diameter, and through the outside ends of the braces J-inch holes are bored ; a :i-inch iron rod is slipped through the holes and nuts are screwed on. The whole frame is then painted green or with some other color of paint. Tack a double piece of canvas with upholsterer's tacks over the bed of the frame, that is, its lower 142 HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE part, and finally cover the whole frame with cotton mosquito netting or wire netting, which is better. As a precaution against bad weather a piece of wa- VA)lNDOW FRAr^E. WIMOOW^ILL H^f"' Fig. 73. — A sleeping window. terproof canvas, rubber blanket, or oilcloth should be fixed to the upper frame so that it will cover it and the windy side and so make your sleeping win- dow water tight. How to Make a Folding Bath-Tub. — If you must have a tub when you take your hawth, here is one that like your bed you can take up and walk away with, and like your tent you can fold up and silently steal away with. To make the tub you will need the following ma- 143 THE HOME HANDY BOOK terial: Two strips of wood 3 by 3 inches square and 5 feet long for the top rails; two strips 2 by 2 inches square and 5^ feet long for the lower braces ; four sticks 2 by 2 inches square, 2 feet 3 inches long for the legs; two cross sticks 1 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 20 inches long for the side braces ; two bolts HIM&E DOWEL PIN Pig. 74. — A. The frame of a folding bath-tub. •J an inch in diameter and 5 inches long fitted with nuts and washers, and two wrought-iron flap hinges. Begin by boring a -J-inch hole through the middle of each of the four sticks for the legs, bolting each pair of sticks together and bore a hole 2 inches from 144: HANDY HELPS FOR THE HOUSE the end of each leg. Spread the legs apart a distance of 2 feet and cut the ends off nearest the holes so that the legs will set flat on the floor as shown at A in Fig. 74. The tops of the legs must be sawed off square. These things done, screw the hinges to the squared ends of the legs and to the top rails. SEW - ^JERE DOUBLE PIECE OF CANVMS .SEW HERE MERE FOLD OYER FOLD OVER FOLD IN TOP Fig. 74. — B, Making the canvas tub. Cut the ends of the long 2 by 2 strips down to 1 inch in diameter and 4 inches back so that they will fit into the holes in the legs of the horses and project through 2 inches ; next bore a 1 inch hole in the end of each of the cross sticks and slip the round ends of the long strips into these; and finally drill a ^-inch hole through the round ends for a nail, or a cotter- pin, to hold the legs and cross sticks in place. To make the tub get a piece of canvas 6 feet wide 145 THE HOME HANDY BOOK and 9 feet long and waterproof it. This can be done by stretching the canvas on a frame, giving it several coats of boiled linseed oil mixed with a little dryer and set it in the sunshine to dry ; it can then be given a coat of shellac varnish or painted white. To shape the canvas into a tub double the canvas over lengthwise with the painted side in and sew up the ends of it ; fold in each end 2 feet as shown at B in Fig. 74, and double over the top edge of each end to make it straight, when you will have a V-shaped tub. Now set it into the frame and tack the edges to the top rails with brass upholsterer's tacks, fill it with water and play you are a submersibla CHAPTER X ODDS AND ENDS SHOP HELPS How to Clean Files. — 'NeYer let your files get full of dirt or of the materials you are filing, for this prevents the teeth from cutting the work as they should and it makes them look as if they were worn out. To clean files properly buy a file card for 10 cents and brush out the files after you have used them. Files are usually oily when you buy them, but you can remove it by filing a piece of charcoal with them and then brushing it out with the file card. Watch and Machine Oils. — A suitable oil for clocks and other fine mechanism must be of such a nature that it does not harden, dry up or get thick when it is cold, and which does not readily oxidize. To Make a Good Watch Oil — (1) A little pure olive oil that has been filtered can be used without further preparation. (2) A better oil can be made by mixing 1 ounce of pure olive oil and 2 ounces of alcohol in a bottle, cork it and let it stand in a dark place for a couple of days. Take a pound clean bottle and nearly fill it with distilled water, or filtered rain water will do, pour 147 THE HOME HANDY BOOK the oil and alcohol mixture into it and shake it well for several minutes. Let it stand an hour and then freeze it, being careful that the bottle does not break, when a fine fluid oil will rise to the top. Siphon this off and you will have a genuinely good fluid oil. Sewing Machine Oil. — Pure sperm oil alone is too heavy to make a good light machine oil. A good oil can be made by mixing 1 ounce of kerosene oil with 2 ounces of sperm oil. Filter and it is ready for use. Common Steel Wire Nails. — The following table gives the size, the length in inches and the price per pound, though the latter is subject to change. The letter d stands for 'penny, as the old English scheme for sizes of nails is still in use. [Number Length BSBjg 00 O Ot-<(M (M O O T-H 1— 1 rH i-H nojj C^ CO CO Th T^H xf oooooo O iWBjg i5 5$ 3S SS 00 <^ o O O O O O O rH -^ SSSSSSS" e» SBBjg ^ »0 LO O t^ 00 oo oo oo OJ Q UOJJ C^ C^ C^ CO CO CO o o o o o o O 1 ft 00 ssBjg tH "O iO lO CO o oo o o UOJJ 23 <^^ J