The art of decorating dry goods windows and interiors

by L. Frank Baum

A WATER MOTOR.

The water motor is made of tin, in the same form as an ordinary overshot water wheel, is 30 inches in diameter by 3 inches wide, with a ½-inch rod through the center. A 2-inch pulley is fastened to one end of the rod, for the belt. Any tinner will make one of these motors and incase it in tin for $5 or $6.

ANOTHER TYPE OF SMALL WATER MOTORS.

There is usually plenty of water available in stores, and it does not require much pressure to get from two to five horse power from a little motor of so simple design that almost any one can construct one with a few tools and at small cost. The accompanying description is for making a motor from which to obtain air for a sand blast, wind power for window devices, etc. The wheel consists of a cylinder on a shaft, having nearly semi-circular buckets on its periphery. The water is directed by the nozzle nearly tangential to the upper side of the bucket, and after traversing around the wall of the bucket it leaves in a nearly horizontal line in the opposite direction to that from which it entered. As the water leaves the bucket it drops slightly below the level of the wheel and falls into the basin, from which it passes off through a drain pipe. The water power is direct from a hose. The motor will be very useful for operating mechanical window devices. The wheel is sixteen inches diameter, and the buckets are one and one-eighth inches square and two inches apart, and they are made of galvanized iron, soldered together, while the wheel is one off from an old ordinary bicycle.

A SIMPLE WATER MOTOR FOR RUNNING WINDOW DEVICES.

The axle is a piece of old water pipe. An empty box will do for the case for the wheel. A wheel of these proportions, run with about sixty-five pounds pressure per square inch at the nozzle the latter having ⅞-inch jet, should revolve the wheel at a speed sufficient to develop two-horse power. The water pressure is taken in at the nozzle, and the outlet is at the bottom. If possible, take the water from the main pipe coming from the street main and reduced to one and a half inches, just before reaching the motor. With a head of water of forty feet, a power amounting to about 1½ horse power is obtained, using one nozzle. This is sufficient to run an 8 or 10-inch fan, a small dynamo or other light machinery in the store.

THE SAND MOTOR.

For slowly moving mechanical displays the following motor is reliable and satisfactory:

A frame of wood (a) is first made, in which is placed a shaft (c) and a wooden pulley (b). The pulley should be tightly secured to the shaft, the end of the latter resting in a step (d) secured to the bottom of the frame. Upon the top of the shaft place a circular board, which holds your display. A cord is run once around your pulley, and then over a small wheel (e) at either side, from whence both ends drop through a hole in the window floor. One end of the cord is weighted, the other connected with a flat weight resting upon the sand, which is your motive power. Make an upright box, as shown in the illustration, with a partition in the middle. In the center of the partition make a small hole for the sand to filter through. The size of the hole regulates the speed of your motor. The box should have a cover for each end. As the sand falls through the hole in the partition the weight which rests upon the sand falls also, your pulley wheel being revolved at the same time. When the sand has run through, which may be in an hour or six hours, as you will arrange, cover the top of the box, reverse it, and place the weight upon the sand again. It is the same principle as the hour glass, and is easily made and operated.