The Boy Mechanic, Book 2: 1000 Things for Boys to Do

by Unknown

A roller is turned from a piece of soft pine, large enough to provide room on its surface for a number of horizontal lines equal to the number of notes in the composition to be played. These lines should not be too close together. Supposing the music it is desired to play has 15 notes in its composition, then 15 horizontal lines must be spaced evenly on the surface of the roller. The length of the roller should be a free-working fit between the uprights. A 1/4-in. steel rod is run through its center for a shaft, allowing sufficient ends for the bearings, and, in addition, at one end sufficient length for a pulley.

The motor is lined up on the base, so that its pulley wheel will run a belt on the large wheel of the roller. The current is turned on after making belt and wiring connections, a lead pencil is held directly centering the place where each tube hangs, and a line is drawn on the circumference of the roller.

A 1/8-in. hole is drilled through each tube, near one end, and a piece of catgut string run into it to make a hanger. A piece of board, long enough to fit between the uprights when placed on the slope formed by the upper ends of the tubes after their lower ends are set straight on a line at right angles to their length, and wide enough to swing the tubes clear of the frame, is fastened in place, as shown. Small screw eyes are turned into the under side of this board, at even spacings of 1 in., and used to swing the tubes by the catgut strings. Another piece of board, the same width as the former, is placed, perfectly horizontal, between the uprights a short distance above the lower ends of the hanging tubes. Evenly spaced holes are bored in this crosspiece to admit the ends of the tubes. The holes should be of such size that when they are lined with a piece of felt, the tubes will have a little play without touching the sides at any point.

The hammers are each made of a strip of sheet brass, having a length that will extend from the base to a short distance above the lower ends of the tubes. A hole is drilled in each end of the strip, the lower one being of a size to fasten it to the base crosspiece with a round-head wood screw. The hole in the upper end is used to fasten a small block of wood with a screw, for the hammer head. A small strip of felt is glued to the striking side of the block. Another piece of brass, used for a trip, is fastened to the center part of each long piece with rivets, so that its upper end will be near the center of the roller for height, and strike the end of a small peg driven into the roller. The length of these pieces, in fact, of all pieces, will depend on the length of the tubes in the tubaphone and the size roller required for the music.

The setting of the pegs in the roller requires some patience in order to get the tune correct, but one mistake will be of more value than an hour's description. The pegs can be procured from a shoemaker. If the roller is of pine, they can be driven into the wood of the roller with a hammer.

The Appearance of the Doorbell Is That of a Mission Clock on a Mantel

With ordinary connections to the push button and motor, the mechanism will only run while the push button is being pressed. A device that will cause the piece of music to be played through to the finish after the push button is pushed for a short time, consists of a turned piece of wood fastened to the outside surface of the driving wheel on the roller. This piece of wood should be carefully set, so that its outside surface will be true as it revolves. Three brushes, made of copper strips, are fastened to the base. The length of these brushes will depend on the size of the roller and height of the block of wood. They should be evenly spaced and fastened, so that they will be insulated from each other. One strip of brass, or copper, is fastened around the turned piece of wood. This strip must be as wide as two brushes, except for a short distance to make a break in the electrical circuit. The notch in the strip, to make this break, should be on the outside edge where it will disconnect the center brush, and its location on the turned piece of wood should be on a line with the end and the beginning of the pegs for the music. Another short strip is fastened to the turned piece of wood, where it will make a contact with the first brush when the second or middle brush is in the notch, or disconnected, and is connected to the other notched strip with a piece of wire run beneath the wood.

The wiring shown will make it possible to start the motor with the push button which will turn the roll far enough to connect the center brush; then the roller will turn until the music is played, at which point it will stop and remain in rest until the push button again makes the contact.

The entire mechanism can be made to set on the mantel or shelf, incased like a mission clock, and the wires running to it may be concealed.