450
��Popular Science Monthly
��Utilizing Empty Cartridges
VERY good binding posts can be made from empty .32, .38 and .44 caliber cartridges and stove bolts in the follow- ing manner : Grease the stove bolts with
���Many useful devices, from bind- ing posts to alcohol torches, may be made from empty cartridges
tallow or vaseline, place the threaded end in the empty cartridge, and hold it in place with the U-shaped strip of tin, as shown in the diagram. Now fill the space between the bolt and the cartridge with melted lead or babbitt metal. When the lead has hardened, re- move the strip of tin, and unscrew the bolt from the lead. By drilling a small hole through the cartridge, and solder- ing a small strip of brass to the bottom to permit its being fastened to the de- sired base, an inexpensive and hand- some binding post is ready for use.
A good alcohol torch can be made from a vaseline bottle and a rim-fire cartridge as follows : Make a hole through the screw cap of the bottle large enough to admit the cartridge. File ofif the closed end of the cartridge, so as to produce a short tube with a flange at one end. Insert this through the cap, to which it should be soldered. The wick is led through the tube from the bottle, and the entire outfit forms a serviceable torch.
The Thermos Bottle as a Stove
IT is perhaps not generally known that the smallest fireless cook-stove is any one of the numerous vacuum bottles
��which have been on the market so long. In most families these are regarded as a convenience or luxury for picnic pur- poses. They really make a very useful fireless stove.
Heat soup, beans, peas, or any other vegetable that will go through the rather small opening of the bottle, leave them there for several hours, and they will come out completely cooked. The many uses of vacuum bot- tles are by no means ex- hausted by the one just men- tioned.
To Adjust a Light-Cord
IT is often difiicult to ad- just the electric drop- wire quickly and at the right height by tying knots in the cord, and worse still to un- tie these knots and put new ones in, when the light is to be moved. The wires also become dirty after they have been up some time, and if one undertakes to change the light
the result is a pair of
soiled hands.
A piece of good
stiff cardboard, about
the size of a calling
card, and a sharp pen
knife complete the
list of necessaries to
make a cure for this
evil. Cut a diamond- shaped hole in the
cardboard and draw
the wire through the
middle of the hole.
AVhen you have the
light at the proper
place, push the twist- ed wire towards the
bottom and top of the
slit, and the weight
of the fixture and
globe will prevent
further slipping.
There is no knot here
and if it is desirable to move the light
again you can do so, without any trouble,
and in a minimum time.
���A piece of card- board and a knife make ty- ing knots un- necessary
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