Things To Make by Archibald Williams (which ebook reader TXT) 📕

[Illustration: FIG. 184.—Large wrestlers made of stout wood.]

Large Wrestlers.—A more elaborate and realistic pair is shown in Fig. 184. The originals of the sketch are 8 inches high. Half-inch deal was used for the bodies, 3/8-inch for the legs and arms. The painting-in of hair, features, tights, and shoes adds considerably to the effect. The heads and limbs are mere profiles, but anyone with a turn for carving might spend a little time in rounding off and adding details which will make the puppets appear more lifelike.

The small-sized bellows which have become popular in sitting-rooms are usually more ornamental than efficient, and make one think regretfully of the old-fashioned article of ample capacity which is seldom seen nowadays.

Fig. 185 illustrates a method of coupling up two small bellows in such a manner as to provide an almost continuous blast, besides doubling the amount of air sent through the fire in a given time, at the coat of but little extra exertion. A piece of wood half an inch thick is screwed across one bellows just behind the valve hole. The two bellows are then laid valve facing valve, and are attached to one another by a strip of tin passed round the wood just behind the nozzles and by tying the two fixed handles together.

[Illustration: FIG. 185.—Double-acting bellows. Two methods of coupling shown.]

Make a rectangle of stout wire somewhat wider than the handles and long enough to reach from the outer face of one moving handle to that of the other, when one bellows is quite closed and the other full open. The ends of the wire should be soldered together, and the ends of the link held up to the handles by a couple of staples.

An alternative method is to use a piece of wood with a screw driven into it at right angles near each end through the staples on the handles (Fig. 185, a). In place of the staples you may use screw-in eyes fitting the screws.

The pantograph is a simple apparatus for copying drawings, maps, designs, etc., on a reduced or enlarged scale, or to the same size as the original.

[Illustration: FIG. 186.—Details of simple pantograph.]

A sketch of a pantograph is given in Fig. 186. Four rods are jointed together to form a parallelogram, the sides of which can be lengthened or shortened to suit the scale of reproduction. One is attached by a fixed pivot at a to the board on which the drawing is done. At b and e are removable pivots, used for adjusting the rods; at c is a pivot which projects an inch or so below the rods. The pointer is inserted at d for enlargement, or at f for reduction, the pencil being in the unoccupied hole at d or f.

If a same-sized copy is desired, the fixed pivot is transferred to d, and the pencil and pointer placed at a and f respectively.

Construction of an Enlarging and Reducing Pantograph.—Cut out of 1/8-inch oak, walnut, or beech four rods 5/8 inch wide and 19 inches long. Smooth them well all over, and make marks near the ends of each, exactly 18 inches apart. The graduation of the rods for the adjustment pivot holes is carried out in accordance with the measurements given in Fig. 187. It is advisable to mark out and bore each rod separately if you do not possess a machine which will drill holes quite perpendicularly; if you do, all four rods can be drilled at one operation.

In Fig. 187 the lower row of numerals indicates the number of times (in diameters) the original is enlarged when all four holes similarly figured are used; the upper row, the size of the copy as compared with the original in case of reduction.

If proportions other than those given are required, a very little calculation will locate the necessary holes.

Pivots.—All the pivots must fit their holes accurately, as any looseness at the joints detracts from the truth of reproduction. For pivots band b and e may use brass screws and small pieces of hard wood as nuts to hold them in position. The nuts should screw on rather stiffly, and not be forced hard against the rods, as free motion with little friction at all joints is essential for good work.

[Illustration: FIG. 187.—Diagram showing how to mark off pantograph rods. The dotted lines above rod give distances of holes from ends.]

The fixed pivot at a may be merely the shank of a wire nail of the proper size driven into the board, a cork collar being slipped over it to keep the rod the proper distance from the board. For c use a screw to the head of which has been soldered half an inch of a round-headed brass nail, which will move easily over the paper. At d is needed a hollow pivot, fashioned out of a quarter of an inch of pencil-point protector or some other thin tube, burred over slightly at the ends so as not to fall out. The end of B at f has a slotted hole to grip the pencil or pointer, as the case may be.

A Same-size Pantograph.—For making a same-size copy, tracing may be preferred to the use of a pantograph; but if a pantograph is adopted, a special apparatus may be constructed for the purpose. The arrangement is exactly the same as that already described, excepting that the only holes needed are those at a, c, d, f, at the middle points of the four rods, the parallelogram formed by the rods being equal-sided. The fixed pivot is situated at d, and pencil and pointer holes are made at a and f.

Using the Pantograph.—When adjusting the instrument for reduction or enlargement, make sure that the adjustment pivots are in the holes corresponding with the scale. The fixed pivot, pointer, and pencil must be rigid, and, with pivot c, be of such a length that the pantograph as a whole moves parallel to the paper. A little sliding weight to place on the rod near the pencil will be found useful for keeping the pencil point in constant contact with the paper.

If the apparatus works stiffly, ease the holes a trifle and lead-pencil the wood at all points where two surfaces rub. It is absolutely impossible to make a good reproduction with a stiff, jerky pantograph.

To decide the positions of original and the paper for the copy, get the pointer centred on the original and adjust the paper till its centre is under the pencil.

With this very simple apparatus you will be able to give good entertainment to such of your friends as may wish to have black paper records of their faces in profile.

The machine is merely a long rod, with a sliding pencil attached to one end and a metal pointer stuck into the other, supported near the pencil end on a pivot which permits free movement in all directions.

For heads and busts only, the rod and pointer combined need not be more than 4 feet 6 inches long. The rod is a 1/2-inch blind rod, the pointer a stout knitting-needle driven axially into one end of the rod. This pointer, being of small diameter, follows the minor curves and angles of the features much more closely than would be possible with the rod.

The support is a piece of wood, 1-1/2 inches square and 12 to 15 inches long, screwed on to a large foot, which should be fairly heavy, as any tilting or slipping will, of course, spoil the silhouette. The universal joint for the rod is made by soldering a small U-shaped piece of metal to the end of a short metal bar. The ends of the U are drilled for a pin passing through the rod; and a hole is sunk into the top of the support to take the bar. The fit should be close, to prevent the pivot rocking about, and the hole in the support deep enough to bring the bottom of the stirrup down against the wood.

If a series of holes half an inch apart is drilled, through the rod, the nearest 9 inches from the pencil end, the size of the silhouette proportionately to the original can be varied by moving the pin from one hole to another.

[Illustration: FIG. 188.—Silhouettograph in use.]

[Illustration: FIG. 188a.—Group of silhouettes drawn with the machine described.]

The pencil holder is 4 inches of tubing, in which the pencil can slide easily without shaking. If necessary, the size of the pencil should be reduced by rubbing with glass paper. Bind the holder tightly to the end of the rod away from the pointer, so that one extremity just overhangs the rod. A piece of thin elastic is tied to the unsharpened end of the pencil and to the pencil tube, the adjustment allowing the pencil to project an inch when the elastic is taut but not stretched.

A fairly soft pencil and a thick, smooth paper or card give the best results. Paper should be backed by something hard to prevent the pencil digging in. Attach the paper to a firm vertical surface, such as the side of a box, a drawing board, a wall, etc.

Using the Machine.—The rod support, paper, and sitter should be arranged so that the rod is level at the height of the sitter's nose and the pencil on the centre of the paper. Bring the support near enough to the paper to drive the pencil back into the tube until the point projects only half an inch.

A thread attached to the pencil will enable you to keep the pencil off the paper until you wish to begin drawing the profile.

Begin with the pointer pressing against the sitter's chest, and bring it over the face and down the back of the head and neck. Do not press it into the hair, but carry it along what you consider to be the outline; though it must be in actual contact with the features and clothes. It is hardly necessary to mention that the sitter must keep perfectly still if the silhouette is to be at all accurate.

The tracing is cut round with fine-pointed scissors, and the paper blacked and stuck on a piece of white card. Some trouble is saved by using paper white on one aide and black on the other. If duplicates are needed, two or more pieces of paper should be stuck together by the corners and to the paper on which the silhouette is drawn, and all be cut through at one operation.

With a little practice the actual tracing of the outline occupies but a few seconds. Things are expedited if an assistant adjusts the paper and pencil.

Visual signalling is effected at night in the Morse code by means of a lamp fitted with an easily-moved shutter, which passes or cuts off the light at the will of the operator. Readers who know the Morse code might well go to the trouble of constructing in duplicate the simple apparatus to be described, as the possession of an outfit will enable them to extend their signalling capabilities.

The stand for the lamp is admirably supplied by the ordinary camera tripod.
For the illuminant we may select any good acetylene cycle lamp.

For this a holder is made of 1/2-inch wood, according to the sketch shown in Fig. 189. The width of all the four parts should be about 2 inches greater than the front glass of the lamp. B and C should be sufficiently far apart to allow the lamp to rest on the rim above the carbide chamber; and the front, A, should be at least an inch higher than the top of the lamp glass.

[Illustration: FIG. 189.—Signalling lamp with quick-moving shutter.]

The hole cut in B must be so situated as to bring the front of the lamp close to the front of the holder, so that the greatest possible amount of light may be utilized. The hole in A should be rather larger than the lamp front, and, of course, be accurately centred. Mark these two holes off carefully, and cut out with a pad saw or fret saw.

A socket must be attached to the centre of the underside of the base to take the camera screw; or, if such a socket is not easily obtainable, a hole should be drilled