Many persons, young and old, have falls every winter on the ice or snow which can be avoided if their shoes are fitted with ice creepers. A very efficient device of this kind, which any boy can make at home in a short time, is shown in the sketch. These ice creepers need not be removed from the shoes or boots until the winter is past, for they may be worn indoors without injuring the finest floor.
The two plates A may be made from either iron or steel—preferably the latter. An all-steel scraper, or a piece of a saw blade, makes good creepers. Draw the temper by heating the steel to a cherry red and then letting it cool slowly. It may then be sawn with a hacksaw, cut with a cold chisel, or filed into plates of the proper shape, as shown. The teeth are filed to points. The two L-shaped slots are made by drilling 3/16-in. holes through the plates, and then sawing, filing or chiseling out the metal between the holes. The projections at the ends are then bent out at right angles with heavy pliers or the claws of a hammer, and finally the plates bent to fit the curve of the heel.
Creeper Attached to Heel
The creepers are attached by means of round-head wood screws turned into the leather. In this operation place the teeth of the plates just below the bottom of the heel and turn the screws into the ends of the upright slots until the heads just bind. The plate as set when indoors or else not needed is shown at B. To place the plate so it will grip the ice, slide it to the right, which will bring the screws into the horizontal slots, as shown at C.—Contributed by Chelsea C. Fraser, Saginaw, Mich.
Opening Screw-Top Fruit Jars
Screw-top fruit jars may be easily opened in the following manner: Secure a strap with a buckle and place it around the top as if it were to be buckled, but instead draw the loose end back and hold it with the thumb as shown. Turn cover and strap while held in this position and it will easily turn from the jar.—Contributed by Chas. A. Bickert, Clinton, Iowa.
Lamp-Chimney Cleaner
Lamp chimneys of various makes are very difficult to clean quickly and thoroughly. The simple device shown in the sketch makes the cleaning process a simple matter. The cleaner is made of a round rubber ball with slits cut in it as shown and then fastened to the end of a stick. When a cloth is placed over the ball it presses evenly against the curved surfaces of the glass. There is no danger of breaking a chimney with this cleaner.