PROJECTS FOR THE Young Mechanic OVER 250 CLASSIC INSTRUCTIONS & PLANS POPULAR MECHANICS CO. DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. MINEOLA, NEW YORK Copyright Copyright © 2013 by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Bibliographical Note Projects for the Young Mechanic: Over 250 Classic Instructions & Plans, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2013, is a republication of a selection of material from the following works published by Popular Mechanics Co., Chicago: The Boy Mechanic, Book 2 (1915), The Boy Mechanic, Book 3 (1919), and The Boy Mechanic, Book 4 (1924). International Standard Book Number eISBN-13: 978-0-486-31606-2 Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation 49117X01 2013 www.doverpublications.com CONTENTS Four-Passenger Coasting Bobsled An Ice Boat and Catamaran Mind-Reading Effect with Cards An Air Pencil to Make Embossed Letters An Endless Dish or Floor Mop Combination Tie Rack and Collar Holder Skates Made of Wood An Ice Glider Prony Brake for Testing Small Motors A Mystic Fortune Teller Holding Prints in a Liquid-Filled Tray Cellar-Door Holder An Emergency Pencil Compass Renewing Carbon Paper How to Clinch a Finishing Nail To Prevent Washbasin Bottom from Wearing Out Snowshoes: How to Make and Use Them (Part I) Soldering and Riveting A Whistle Card-and-Coin Trick How to Make a Costumer Window Catch Used for Locking an Extension Table Relieving Pressure on Heated Canned Foods for Opening Clothespin Bag Snowshoes: How to Make and Use Them (Part II) Combination Settee Rocker and Cradle A Snowball Thrower Springs on the Chains of a Porch Swing Homemade Water Meter A Snowball Maker An Inexpensive Bobsled Motor Made of Candles Kettle-Handle Support How to Make a Monorail Sled Binding Magazines A Shellac Cement A Blackboard for Children How to Make a Ski Staff A Game Played on the Ice An Electric Display for a Show Window Strainer for a Milk Pail Baking Bread in Hot Sand How to Make Small Cams Display Holder for Coins Holder for Skates while Sharpening A Homemade Direct-View Finder for Cameras A Non-Rolling Spool How to Make a Cartridge Belt Removing Iodine Stains Bed-Cover Fasteners Collar Fasteners Operating a Bathroom Light Automatically A Finger-Ring Trick Preventing Marks from Basting Threads on Wool House Made of Poles An Electric Water Heater Camps A Drinking Tube Washing Photographic Prints Camp Furnishings A Fruit Stemmer A Homemade Fountain Pen Destroying Caterpillars on Grapevines A Camp Provision Box Wall Pockets in a Tent Camp Stoves Attractor for Game Fish Simple Photographic-Print Washer How to Make an Electric Fishing Signal A Chair Swing Another Broom Holder Squaring Wood Stock A Wind Vane How to Make a Flutter Ring A Kitchen Utensil Hanger Homemade Hinges for Boxes To Remove Odors from Ice Boxes Preventing Window Sash from Freezing to the Sill A Hanger for the Camp Locking Several Drawers with One Lock A Lightning-Calculation Trick An Adjustable Nutcracker Substitute for a Rubber Stamp A Furniture Polish A Hanging Vase Filing Soft Metals Locking Screws in Door Hinges To Remove Grease from Clothing Paper Glider That Loops the Loop A Water Filter A Combination Electrically Operated Door Lock Lock for a Fancy Hairpin An Aeroplane Kite Distilling Apparatus for Water Telephone Stand for a Sloping Desk The Tricks of Camping Out: Part I — The Camping Outfit The Tricks of Camping Out: Part II — Cooking in the Woods A Camp Water Bag A Mold for Making Hollow Candy Figures Ornamenting an Old Tree Stump Marker for a Hat A Quickly Made Door Latch An Electric Lure for Fish A Table Box for Campers Novel Homemade Picture Frames Rectangular Opening to Use over Camera View Finder Clipping File Made of Envelopes Handle for a Drinking Glass Combination Camp-Kitchen Cabinet and Table Locking Device for Latch Hook on Gate or Door A Vanishing-Cuff Parlor Trick Inexpensive Table Lamp Made of Electrical-Fixture Parts Wire Holders Keep Cabinet Doors Open “Switchboard” Protects Milker from Cow's Tail Reflected-Light Illumination with Homemade Arrangment Bedroom Shade and Curtains Arranged for Thorough Ventilation Coffee Grinder Repaired with Rubber Faucet Plug Coal Hod Made from Iron Pipe Frayed Shoe Laces Repaired with Pitch or Wax An Enameled Armchair Made of Wooden Strips A Curling-Iron Heater A Stepmother for Incubator Chicks A Cardboard Writing and Drawing Pad Homemade Shoulder-Pack Tent Kitchen for Hikers Bird House Made of Kegs A Drinking-Glass Holder Needle Threader for a Sewing Machine Winding Coiled Springs Revolving-Wheel Ruling Pen A Portable Folding Boat Nontangling Pasture Stake Inkstand Made of a Sheet of Paper How to Wind Wire on Electrical Apparatus Hourglass Sewing Basket A Perpetual-Motion Puzzle How to Transfer Drawings Pivoted Searchlight Made of an Old Milk Strainer Gravity-Feed Coal Hopper on Truck Taking Photographs in Falling Snow A Double-Contact Vibrator Battery Buzzer Converted into a Telegraph Sounder Lawn Seats Built on Tree Stumps A Hinged Box Cover Made without Hinges Automatic Flash Light Snaps Chicken-Coop Marauder A Fishing-Tackle Outfit in a Shotgun Shell A Split-Bamboo Lettering Pen How to Make a Houseboat Wood Box with a Refuse-Catching Drawer Disappearing-Coin Trick Watering Window-Box Flowers How to Make Combined Kites: Part I—A Dragon Kite A Movable Sunshade and Seat for Garden Workers To Keep Grass and Weeds Out of Tennis Courts Buttonhole Bouquet Holder to Keep Cut Flowers Fresh Cooler for a Developing Tray Doorbell Push Button on Screen Door Working Wood by the Application of Heat A Parlor Table Homemade Fuses for Battery Circuits Reproducing Flowers and Leaves in Colors Dishwasher and Drier How to Make Pop-Corn Cakes Threading a Darning Needle