Home mechanic's work shop companion

Front matter

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Home mechanic's

Workshop Companion

Introduction

For a number of years past, the author has derived considerable pleasure and has spent a portion of his spare time profitably in a small workshop located in his home. He has been very much interested in trying out many hints and kinks that have appeared in the current issues of the mechanical periodicals, and has kept a note book and made sketches of the many devices constructed that have proven useful about the home and shop.

The most practical and useful of the numerous suggestions tried have been grouped under chapter headings to make for logical presentation and easy reference, and the many devices illustrated and described cannot fail to be helpful and suggestive to men of mechanical bent.

The construction of a shop bench and the items of tools and supplies that will be found useful in making light repairs to the home and its furnishings are considered because it is believed that many men who are about to establish or amplify small workshops can obtain suggestions that may help them from the experience of the author, who is not a mechanic by trade, but just a self-trained handy man who likes to use good tools in "puttering" around the house. Many light repairs have been made at a material saving that would otherwise have called for more expert, and needless to say, more highly paid mechanics than the writer. Any man or boy will find that a knowledge

4 Introduction

of the use of ordinary tools for working wood and metal will come in handy in many ways, and provide entertaining and profitable employment for time that is ordinarily wasted.

ANDREW JACKSON, Jr., New York City.

Chapter I The Home Workshop And Its Equipment

Selection of Shop Space — Construction of Workbench — Simple Bench Furniture — Keeping Tools in Their Places — Tools and Equipment — Lighting the Workbench — Combined Sawhorse and Tool Carrier — Wood-working Tools — Metal-working Tools — Supplies for Home Workshop 9 to 43

Chapter II Special Tools And Shop Expedients

Two- foot Rule for Laying Out Angles — Lamps for Fine Soldering — Soldering-iron Heater — Non-Spilling Acid Cup — Home- Made Blow Torch — Improvised Tools — Wooden Hacksaw Frame — Cabinet Scraper Handle — Inexpensive Marking Gauge — Stunts With Hammers — Soft Faced Hammer — Wedging Hammer Handles Securely — Stowing Away the Nail Set — Repairing Cracked Hammer Handle — Emergency Wrench for Turning Pipe — Kink for Sharpening Skates — Small Jaws for Holding Screws — Home-Made Expanding Bolt — Insulating Plier Handles — Use of Drill Gauge — Removing Stud Bolts — Simple Saw Clamp — Extemporized Sawing Gauge — Repairing Wood Boring Bits — Screw Inserting Tool — Soldering Iron Kinks — Simple Pipe Wrench — Using Wrench for Pipe Cutting — Suggestions for the Home Painter — Simple Paint Brush Wiper — Keeping Brush Handle Clean

— Handle Hook — Extension Handle for Brush 44 to 64

6 Table of Contents

Chapter III

Keeping Ladder from Slipping — Practical Ladder Extension — Easy Rest for Feet — Metal Scaffold Bracket — An Intermediate Ladder Step — Using One Lock for Three Drawers — Double Bolt for Door — Secure Locking Means — Furnace Door Opener — Furnace Door Stop — Automatic Draft Opening Means — Broom Hanger — Skirt or Pants Hanger — Easily Made Door Spring — An Economical Door Stop — Useful Kitchen Appliances — Easily Made Pan Cover — Holder for Milk Bottles — Drinking Glass Holders — Keeping Spoon Out of Kettle — Home Water Works — Garden Hose Repair — Keeping Hose Packing Washers in Place — Repairing Leaky Faucet — Home-Made Hose Reel — Useful Hand Trucks — Package Carrier for Bicycles — Picture Frame Hanging Made Easy — Metal Corners From Tubing — How to Fasten Floor Boards — Making Wood Screws Tight — Raising a Sagging Door — Efficient Cord Cutter — Locating Drain Pan — Preventing Splash of Waste Water — Cleaning Dirt Out of Corners — Combined Broom and Ice Pick — Sleeve Pressing Board — Ironing Board Support — Shoe Polishing Stand — Indoor Clothes Hanger — Improving Linen Closets — Storing Kettles and Pans — Trouser Hanger for Closet — Installing Curtain Pole — Using Electric Flat Iron for Stove — Range Boiler Repairs — Cheap Candle Lamp — Keeping Soot in Stove Pipe — Clipping Trees Without a Ladder — Doubling Capacity of Spring Balance — Simple Magazine Rack — Cabinet for Woodworking tools 65 to 111

Chapter IV How To Do Things Electrical

Electric Bell and Annunciator Wiring — Push Button Construction — Electric Wires and Wiring — Simple Batteries — Dry Cells — Wiring Dry Cells — Electric Bell Construction — Simple Bell Circuits — Conventional Domestic Installation — Joining Wires — Overflow Alarm — Simple Annunciator — Electric Alarm Clock — Simple Fire Alarms — Simple Terminals — Magnetizing Shears — Using Partly Worn Zincs — Cost of

Table of Contents 7

Operating Electric Cooking and Heating Devices — Electrically Operated Door Locks — Replacing Defective Fuses — Simple Attachment Plugs — Controlling One Lamp From Two Points — Home-Made Night Light — Drop Light Adjusters.

Chapter V Helpful Recipes And Formula

Cleaning Waste Pipes — A Superior Whitewash — Silvering Metals — Writing on Steel — Black Lacquer for Metal or Wood — A Good Polish for Brass — Filling for Cracked Ceilings — Filling Cracks in Floors — Fastening an Umbrella Handle — To Frost Glass — To Brighten Silver Plated Articles — To Remove Rust From Steel — Cleaning Marble — Cleaning Paint — Removing Hard Wax and Candle Grease From Cloth — To Remove Soft Grease Spots From Fabrics — Preparation for Cleaning Gloves — Eradicating Ink Stains — Miscellaneous Cements and Adhesives — Marine Glue — Glue to Resist Damp — Rubber Cement — Cement to Mend Crockery — Cements for Pipe Joints — Cement for Iron — Paste for Sticking Paper Labels to Glass, Wood or Metals — Adhesive Material — Alum and Plaster-of Paris Cement — Indestructible Writing Ink — Removing Ink Stains From Wood — Preserving Leather — Oiled Dust Cloth — Detection of Gas Leaks — How to Read a Gas Meter — Cleaning Stove Pipes — Varnish for Stove Pipes — French Polish Revivers — Paints for Boiler Fronts. 142 to 154

Index 155 to 159

Home Mechanic's Workshop Companion

Chapter I The Home Workshop And Its Equipment

Selection of Shop Space— Construction of Workbench— Simple Bench Furniture— Keeping Tools in Their Places— Tools and Equipment— Lighting the Workbench— Combined Sawhorse and Tool Carrier— Wood-working Tools— Metal-working Tools— Supplies for Home Workshop.

The man who likes to work with tools is found in many different walks of life; some have mechanical trades and some are business and professional men. The workshop equipment naturally varies with the mechanical skill of the owner and the character of work he wishes to do. Some home mechanics, interested in model making and experimental science, have very complete shops, with a lathe and other mechanical equipment. This treatise is not intended for a mechanical expert or a man carrying on experiments of an electrical and scientific nature. It is intended as a handy manual for the average man who desires to rig up a small shop where he can do odd jobs in constructing household appliances, making needed light repairs to the home and its furnishings and spend long evenings to advantage in building simple pieces of cabinet work.

Selection of Shop Space. — The important requirement in the location of the shop is that it be situated in a clean, light, warm and well ventilated place. If a suitable small building is available, such as a section of an automobile garage, as many handy men are also car owners, the problem is easily solved. If only light work is to be done, an attic room may be converted for shop purposes, but if heavier work is to be attempted, such as building substantial furniture or perhaps a small boat, then the shop should be located in a more accessible place. The basement of the modern home is usually well suited for shop purposes, as it is dry and warm in the winter because of the furnace location. The problem of lighting is easily met by the almost universal use of electricity in present day homes and there is always some corner convenient to an areaway where sufficient daylight is available. Large objects are more easily brought into or carried out of the cellar than the attic.

The point to be impressed on the average home mechanic is that much time is saved and work is more easily done when working conditions are good. The shop should have a good workbench, cabinets or chests for tools and supplies and an adequate amount of such small hardware as is necessary to take care of the ordinary odd jobs. Tools should be of good quality, because such tools last a lifetime if given ordinary care, while cheaply made tools are never satisfactory, and should not be purchased, because any money expended for them is practically wasted. One can do accurate work only with good tools. A dull saw or chisel that will not hold its edge — is an abomination, and many men who really have mechanical ability are discouraged in their attempts to do work by the

The Home Workshop handicap of improper tools. While a large variety of tools for both wood and metal-working purposes are to be described, the selection naturally rests on the individual, who should purchase those that are needed and best adapted for the work in hand. The list of supplies is given only in a suggestive sense, as many of the materials mentioned can be purchased as required. More tools will be needed if one intends to

^''Bcrck Board

Shelf Boards

Fig. 1. — Simple and Substantial Workbench for Home Workshop Use.

work both wood and metal than if wood alone is to be the medium for expressing one's mechanical ability. The storage of tools is important. They should be kept clean and dry so they will not rust and be stored away in such a way that cutting edges will not be damaged or the tools distorted. Saws should be hung in cabinets, planes kept in boxes or laid on their side in a special place where other tools will not

£JL

Construction of Workbench 13

come in contact with them. Drills and bits should be kept in drilled wood or metal blocks. Files should never be thrown in promiscuously with other tools. Chisels ought to be kept as sets in racks or boxes and their cutting edges protected. The main thing is to have a place for everything and to keep everything in its place.

Construction of Workbench. — The most important item of workshop equipment and the real basis of the shop is the workbench. These vary in construction from roughly boarded packing boxes and old tables to very complete and elaborate factory made benches almost as complex as a kitchen cabinet. The bench shown at Fig. 1 is a substantial yet simple workbench that can be made by any handy man with tools at much less cost than the expense of purchasing one of as good quality ready-made. It is a handy size that has been used by the writer in his own small shop with excellent results. The drawer provides ample accommodation for small tools and supplies, the shelf beneath can be used for keeping more bulky objects off the floor. While two vises are shown the one at the end of the bench for handling short work can be replaced with a metal machinist's vise and then the bench becomes suitable for both wood and metal working.

The working drawings at Fig. 2 give all the important dimensions and details at Figs. 3 and 4 will further clarify the explanation. The over-all dimensions are 6' 6" long, 3' 3^" high and 30" wide. Either birch or maple may be employed as both of these woods make a very good bench. Oak or ash legs and rails and ash planking will also be a very satisfactory combination. The necessary stock may be purchased from any lumber mill ready planed and cut to length, in which case considerable labor will be saved.

The following is a bill of material if dressed lumber is purchased :

Name of Part Number Required Size

Bench Legs 4 3" x3" x 36"

End Rails 2 3" x3" x 24"

Side Rails 2 3"x3"x 62^"

Back Board 1 ^"x9"x80"

Top Board (Front) 1 2" x 12" x 77"

Top Board (Center) 1 y % " x6" x77"

Top Board (Back) 1 %" x 12" x 77"

Crosspieces 2 I>4"x3"x30"

Clamps for Vise 2 l l / 2 " x 6 l / 2 " x 12"

Vise Clamp Guides 4 2" x 2" x 18"

Screw Blocks 2 3" x 3" x 6"

End Piece 2 I^"x8"x30"

Shelf Boards 2 7/ 8 "x8"x 30"

Shelf Boards 2 %" x 6" x 30"

Drawer Front 1 %"x9"x24"

Drawer Back 1 %" x 9" x 24"

Drawer Sides 2 %" x 8" x 22"

Drawer Bottom 2 %" x 6" x 24"

Drawer Bottom 2 %" x 5" x 24"

Cleats for Drawer Side 2 1" x 1" x 22"

Slides for Drawer 2 %" x 2^4" x 24"

Slides for Drawer 2 1" x 1" x 24"

Besides the wood pieces enumerated above, various items of hardware will be needed. These include one drawer handle, two dozen %" x 5" lag screws, 2 doz. Y%" iron washers, 3 doz. wood screws about \ l / 2 " long, 1 pint linseed oil and 2 malleable iron vise screws complete with handle, collar bearing and nut as shown at Fig. 5, this screw being about 1" or l 1 /^" in diameter and 24" long. Wooden vise screws can be obtained, but these are not as satisfactory as the iron ones and not much cheaper. If the worker desires he can obtain a very satisfactory carpenter's bench vise as shown at Fig. 5, this being purchased complete and ready for installation to the bench side or end.

Construction of Workbench 15

Of the lumber specified, the material for the center and back top boards, the back board, the shelves and for making the drawer need not be anything more than pine as no great wear comes upon these parts. The bench top front board should be of maple or birch, also the vise clamp and bench end pieces. The legs may be of maple, birch, oak or ash, the end rails and side rails of any of these woods. The wood should be clear grained, free from knots or checks or surface blemishes.

The first step is the construction of the lower frame. As the rails are held into the posts by mortise and tenon joints, reinforced by an iron lag screw as shown at Fig. 4, the first step is to cut the tenons on the ends of each rail, side or end, and the corresponding mortises in the bench legs. The tenons are 2" square by 1" deep, so the mortised-out places on the legs must be of corresponding size. The mortises for the side rails are cut \2y 2 " from the end that is to rest on the floor, those for the side rails are cut I5y 2 " from the end. When the mortise and tenon joints are made, the rails are assembled to the legs. A }i"- hole is drilled through each leg into the center of the mortise and a *4" no ^ e mto the tenon at each end of the rail about an inch in depth. The legs and rails are then fastened securely together by the 5" x Y%" lag screws, the threads of the screw being covered liberally with yellow soap to insure its screwing into the rail end easily. An iron washer is placed under each lag screw head to prevent its sinking into the wood. The crosspieces are fastened to the top of the legs by lag screws, the heads being countersunk or wood screws may be used of about ^4" shank and 4" long. An alternative to counter-sinking the screw heads if lagscrews are used is to drill holes in the bottom of the top boards to fit over them. The front

Construction of Workbench 17

top board is then fastened to the crosspieces by substantial screws, such as short lags, put in from the bottom and the screw should not be over 2y 2 " long. The center and back top board may be put in and held with screws from the top.

The next step is to cut the mortise and tenon joints in the clamp board and clamp guide pieces and assemble as shown at Fig. 3. A hole is bored through for the bench screw as indicated. The tenons are set in glue and held securely by a countersunk head wood screw about 3" long. The vise or bench screw block pieces are fastened to the bottom of the bench and a hole bored through, using that in the clamp board as a guide for the nut of the vise screw. The end board is provided with square holes to take the clamp guides or slides and a round one providing clearance for the vise screw. It is then fastened to the legs by substantial countersunk head wood screws.

The back board is then fastened in place with wood screws. The installation of the shelf boards is a very simple matter, these being placed on top of the side rails and secured thereto with wood screws. The pieces comprising the drawer are assembled with nails or screws, the latter being preferred. The back and front pieces are fastened to the sides, all four pieces lining up at the top. This will leave the front and back of the drawer projecting down 1" from the sides. When the drawer bottom boards are nailed on across the sides, this space is taken up, and the drawer becomes a box 24" square by 9" deep outside and 8" deep inside. The 1" square cleats are fastened along the top of the drawer sides with screws and the drawer slides are attached to the bench top under side as shown at Fig. 4.

An alternative method of drawer support is shown at Fig. 4, B. In this, the 1" angle iron slides are bolted

Simple Bench Furniture or riveted to the drawer side and these work on metal guides composed of Y\" x 2" iron bars of rectangular section screwed through wood spacer cleats y 2 " x 1" to the bench. After the bench is assembled, all the lag screws in the frame are tightened up. Then the bench is gone over with sandpaper and smoothed, after which the smooth surfaces are given a couple of coats

Malleable Iron Bench Screw

Q Bunsen

Burner

Carpenters Vise

Fig. 5. — Useful Items of Bench Equipment Showing Malleable Iron Bench Screw and Carpenter's Metal Vise.

of linseed oil which not only preserves the wood but also gives it a good finish.

Simple Bench Furniture. — There is a certain amount of bench equipment, such as stops, etc., that can be purchased very cheaply. A simple stop that can be placed at the end of a bench to hold the end of a board in place when planing it on the flat side is shown at Fig. 6, A. This is easily made of two pieces of hard wood, two iron washers and two lag screws. The vertical piece may be adjusted up and down to compensate for the thickness of the piece, the horizontal piece serves as a clamping member. In moving the vertical piece, it is necessary to slack the lag screws out slightly to release the clamping pressure. This can also be used as a vise for holding small work.

The clamp or vise shown at B, Fig. 6, is easily made by any blacksmith and it may be used either vertically by passing it through a hole in the bench top or as a vise for holding work at the bench end by providing a suitable hole for the screw rod to pass through. The construction is so clearly shown that further description is unnecessary.

The simple fixture shown at Fig. 6, C, is of value when light wood pieces such as molding is to be sawed, and by cutting saw slots at various angles in the stop board at the end as a guide, it serves as a simple and effective miter box. It is also handy in holding short pieces of wood, such as blocks, when these are to be planed. It is made of a piece of y%" board about 8" wide x 14" long, and two pieces as stops, one y&" x 2" x 8", the other the same width and length but only y 2 " thick. To use this fixture, it is merely placed on the bench and pushed against one of the stops, the work being rested against the other as shown. The object of having one stop shorter than the other is so that wood less than %" thick can be planed by placing it against the thin stop piece instead of the thick one. The end pieces may be held by brads or screws.

A wood jaw vise can be converted to one that will hold metal pieces by a simple expedient as outlined at Fig. 6, D. Two old files are needed, either 12" or 14" long, of flat, rectangular section. The files are heated to a red heat and allowed to cool slowly in ashes or in the air. Holes are drilled as indicated and countersunk in pieces cut from the files of sufficient length to fit the vise jaws. The vise jaws are cut back about half the thickness of the file, thus providing a ledge for the piece of file to rest against. The pieces are

Simple Bench Furniture then fastened to the jaws with countersunk head screws. The file teeth provide a good grip on metal pieces held in the vise, and, as they are soft, they are not as brittle as they are in their hardened condition and they are not apt to crumble away.

Keeping Tools in Their Places. — A very satisfactory method of keeping tools out of the way when not in use and yet have them accessible when needed is shown at Fig. 7, A. This is a rotating tool rack that may be easily constructed by the home mechanic and installed without trouble. While it is shown attached to the bench at the bottom in sketch, it may be supported by wall brackets at both ends and kept clear of the bench if desired. Round wooden or sheet steel discs are provided with a series of holes to receive various small tools. The rod may be of wood, such as an old broom handle, of iron bar or pipe ; a good way is to use pieces of pipe as spacers between the discs, assembling the pipes and discs around a central steel rod member which has nuts top and bottom to hold pieces together.

The common methods of making tool racks are shown at Fig. 7 , B. In this the wall or backboard of the bench is utilized as a support for wooden blocks used as spacers, while a lath serves as a closure member for the spaces left between the blocks to hold the tools. The method of using a leather belt or strap for the same purpose is also clearly outlined. Loops of various sizes are made by the irregular spacing of the retention screws.

Spring holders as outlined at C may be made by the handy man, these being held to the wall by a wood screw. In addition to the main clamping spring jaws which will hold any ordinary handle, the small loops will hold various small tools without trouble, such as gimlets, brad-awls, scissors, etc. A spring holder of

Keeping Tools in Their Places 23

this form is very useful for holding brooms, mops, rakes, and other long-handled household or garden tools if made heavier than would be required for less weighty tools.

A more pretentious rack for holding tools and small pieces in process is shown at Fig. 7, D, and this may be ectck cf 3ench^

Fig. 7.— Suggestions for Having Tools Accessible Yet Keeping Them Out of the Way on Workbench.

made of any desired size so it can be placed on the bench, or in the larger sizes, on the floor. The shelves are made of steel plates and are supported by four bolts passing through them and having pipe spacers between them. A small rack suited for the bench can be assembled of plates or boards about 12" x 24", using y A " rods as bolts and }i" pipe spacers. A larger size for floor use could be made of J^" rods, £4" P*pe spacers and steel plates 24" x 30" or built-up wood shelves of any desired size.

The small racks shown at Fig. 8 is made of muffin pans or cup cake tins in combination with a roasting pan, using bolts and pipe spacers to hold the assembly together. The depressions in the pans make ideal depositories for nails, tacks, small screws, nuts, and make it possible to keep the various sizes separated and easily accessible. The pans are spaced 4" or 5" apart, nuts at the top and bottom of the rods serving

Muffin Pans or f f Cup Cake Tins

Pipe '{Spacer

"Roast ing Pan

Fig. 8. — How Ordinary Tinware May Be Used as Containers for Screws, Nails and Other Materials.

to clamp the entire assembly together. The rods need not be more than 3/16" cold rolled ; the pipe spacers are the so called J^j" gas pipe size, which have a bore of about 3/16". The materials to construct such a rack need not cost more than 30 or 40 cents.

A very simple revolving rack is shown at Fig. 9, this also being composed of muffin tins of the round form that have six or seven cups. The method of assembling this is clearly outlined and it is a very useful receptacle for small supplies. The single bolt or bearing is about a %" rod, the pipe spacers need not be a tight fit. In fact, wood tubes could be used. The use of pipe makes it possible to use a floor or

Tools and Equipment z& wall plate as a convenient base. The materials for a rack of this kind is also very inexpensive. The advantage of the rectangular rack shown at Fig. 8 is that it can be moved about on the bench. That at Fig. 9 can be placed at any point where it will be out of the way. Its lack of mobility is made up by the security ob-

Nut-^ s-Pipe Spacer

,-F/oor Plate

^-Washer

Fig. 9.— Revolving Racks for Small Hardware May Be Made Easily of Muffin Tins.

tained by not being able to tip it over and spill out the numerous and widely diversified contents.

Tools and Equipment. — In considering the various items of tools and equipment that can be purchased, the list is made more complete than the average home mechanic would be apt to need, yet it will not be sufficiently large for the hobbyist and mechanical experimenter. If much metal work is to be done, a small anvil as shown at Fig. 5 will be a useful adjunct to the bench equipment. The solid flame gas burner is very useful for heating the glue pot, soldering iron and other work of that nature. The Bunsen burner is also useful where an intensely hot but concentrated flame is desired.

A group of useful appliances for the wood-worker is given at Fig. 10. The wooden clamps are the form usually employed by carpenters and cabinetmakers for holding pieces in gluing, etc. The C clamps in forged steel are used in metal work while the malleable iron clamps may be used either for wood or metal. The

Wooden Clamp

Glue Pot

Miter Box

Malleable Iron Clamps

Fig. 10. — Useful Workbench Accessories That Can Be Used to Advantage by Home Mechanics.

water-jacketed glue pot is very good for the man who likes to mix his own glue, though the prepared glues that may be purchased in cans of various sizes usually answer the purpose of the amateur or home craftsman. The miter box may be made by the workman himself. It is really a saw guide and is used in cutting small wood pieces such as molding for picture frames, etc. The shellac bottle is nothing more than a pint or quart milk bottle, provided with a wooden stopper to which a chisel point brush is fastened to spread the shellac as shown.

Lighting the Workbench 27

Lighting the Workbench. — Where electricity is available the electric light is an ideal method of illuminating the workbench. The method of supporting the light, which is adequately shaded, shown at Fig. 11, is a very good one, as the lamp can be moved from one end. to the other of the workbench and the lamp cord is kept clear of the bench. The cord is attached to wooden spools or small porcelain insulators with friction tape, these sliding freely on a piece of copper or steel wire stretched between two shelf brackets as indicated. These may be built up of wood pieces \y 2 " or 2" square, or may be purchased from any hardware store at small cost in either cast iron or pressed steel. They are used to support a shelf which is somewhat less in depth than that ordinarily used to allow the ends of the brackets to project about 2" from the shelf. The wire is stretched taut across the space between the brackets after the wire carrying insulators have been threaded on. There are two simple ways of anchoring one end of the wire so it can be kept tightly stretched. One of these is a screw eye and light turn buckle as shown at A ; the other is an eyebolt which can be adjusted by the nut to tighten the wire as shown at B, Fig. 11.