A small leak at a seam or rivet can often be closed by merely rubbing a cold chisel along the beveled edge of the joint. Do not attempt to calk a seam unless the plates have considerable thickness and the rivets are closely spaced and are close to the calking edge, and then use extreme caution. Run a regular calking tool or blunt chisel along the beveled edge, tapping the tool very lightly with a light hammer to force the edge of the upper plate against and into the lower plate.
[CRACKED LAUNDRY TUBS]
Cracks in slate, soapstone, or cement laundry tubs are made water-tight with a mixture of litharge and glycerin or a specially prepared commercial cement. The litharge and glycerin are mixed and stirred to form a smooth heavy paste free from lumps. The crack should be cleaned out to remove all grease and dirt and the paste should be worked into the crack with a case knife. A paste of portland cement and water, or of the white of an egg and fresh lump lime, has been used successfully for this purpose.
[HOSE MENDERS OR SPLICERS]
Figure 14.—Hose menders: Above, hose mender and hose coupling; below, two pieces of hose joined with a mender. The left-hand piece is fastened with wire twisted with a pair of pliers, and the right-hand piece is clamped.
A break in garden hose can be quickly repaired or two pieces of hose can be joined with a 10- or 15-cent iron or brass hose mender or splicer shown in [figure 14] (upper left). Cut off the defective piece of hose, insert the mender in the good ends of the hose, and wire or clamp the hose as shown in [figure 14] (below). Menders come to slip inside of 1/2-, 3/4-, or 1-inch hose. The regular brass hose coupling shown in [figure 14] (upper right), which costs 25 to 40 cents, can be used for this purpose.