A flat piece of steel spring, 1/2 in. wide and long enough to reach from the rear end of the box to the teeth of the ratchet wheel, is shaped as shown at D. The spring may be made from a stiff piece of corset steel or bicycle trousers guard. The spring is fastened with a nail through the end and box sides and a second nail passes through the sides over the spring, about 2 in. forward from the first nail. This is to give the spring tension on the teeth.
To operate the clapper, it is allowed to hang straight down, while the right hand grasps the handle and whirls the box in a circle around to the left.—Contributed by C. C. Fraser.
Box Partitions
As I needed a box with a number of narrow partitions and it was impossible to cut grooves for the sections without removing the bottom, I spaced off the places for the partitions with pieces of thin wood and fastened these in place with small nails clinched on the outside of the box. This method was much more rapid and satisfactory than sawing the grooves and cutting them out with a wood chisel.—Contributed by James M. Kane.
Grooves for the Partitions Made with the Use of Small, Thin Strips of Wood
Safety Catch for a Flour Bin
A flour bin, counterbalanced to swing closed at all times, is liable to catch the arm of the one taking out flour. To make it safe, I applied the device shown in the sketch. The bin, at rest, is shown in Fig. 1. The safety catch consists of a stick of wood, A, notched at one end, and is pivoted at B on a small bolt. Two stops, C and D, are located on the side of the box to prevent the catch from being thrown out of position when the bin is quickly pulled out. These stops are nails driven into the box side. When the bin is pulled out the catch takes the position shown in Fig. 2. The catch stick should be a little shorter than the distance the bin is pulled out, so that it may be raised to release the bin for its return.—Contributed by O. F. Fouche, Erie, Pa.
Automatically Operated Catch to Hold a Flour Bin Out While Taking Flour from It (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)