Harper's indoor book for boys

by Joseph H. Adams

Begin by making simple things; then as you succeed in producing good work you will be able to take up the more difficult patterns. A bird-cage bracket is an easy object to start with. Enlarge the design shown in Fig. 3 so that it will be sixteen inches high, with the hook-arm projecting seven inches from the main upright rod.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

The pattern is to be drawn out the full size on smooth brown paper; then the wire should be bent and shaped over the lines to conform to the design. Use very heavy wire for the upright and projecting arm, and a smaller size for all the scroll-work. The finest copper wire should be used to bind the scrolls together, and so make tight unions where two edges of wire come together and where the wires cross.

This bracket should be firmly secured to the window-casing with two staples. The staples should not be driven quite home, thus allowing the bracket to be swung from one side to the other of the casing, as though on hinges. This is especially desirable if the bracket is to be used for a hanging-basket or pot of flowers, as it can then be moved against the window or turned back to the wall, to permit of the window being opened or cleaned.

The iron wire should be given two coats of good black paint, or, if desired, it may be gilded or silvered. An excellent black preparation for iron may be made by thinning ivory-black ground in oil with equal parts of Japan dryer and turpentine. Or you may try adding a little lamp-black to brass lacquer or shellac.

The paint should be applied to the iron with a soft hair brush, and the first coat must be good and dry before the second one is applied.

If brass wire is used instead of iron the joints should be soldered, to lend additional strength. The soldering is an easy process and requires only a little care. To do it nicely, obtain from a plumber a little soldering solution in a bottle, and, with a piece of stick, place a drop of solution on each union that has been bound with the fine brass wire. Hold the union over a spirit-lamp flame, and when the wire has become thoroughly heated touch the joint with a piece of wire solder; the latter will instantly melt and adhere to the joint. If soldering solution is not used the joint cannot be soldered, and if the wire is not hot enough the solder will not melt. If the wire should be too hot the solder will melt and fall off from the joint like a drop of water. A little experience will soon enable one to become an expert solderer, and the process should be employed wherever possible, as it strengthens the joints and unions, and holds them rigidly in place. Galvanized or tinned iron wire can be soldered in the same manner.

The brass wire should be painted black the same as iron, but before any paint is applied the superfluous solution should be washed off with water, as paint will not hold if applied over the soldering solution.