These Homemade Holders for Glasses Are Useful and Quickly Constructed
Several styles of holders for a drinking glass are suggested in the illustration. They may be made of durable materials easily obtained in the home workshop. The first is made by twisting a galvanized-iron or brass wire, as shown, with an eye and a loop for fastening it to the wall. A cork is fixed to the upper end, on which to rest the glass. The lower sketch shows a holder of the cup type made by riveting a metal cup to a diamond-shaped plate, the latter being fastened to the wall. The holder at the right is made from a piece of sheet metal cut to the shape indicated below. It is bent to the shape shown, and the lower end of the narrow strip is curved upward to provide a rest for the edge of the glass. The upper portion of the holder should be large enough so that the glass may be raised sufficiently to fit into the rest. The holes are provided for a fastening.—Frank L. Matter, Portland, Ore.
Emery Needle Cushion on Sewing Machine
A convenient emery pad and needle cushion may be made by inclosing the powder in a long sack, about 1 in. in diameter, and sewing it in place around the arm of the machine. It will thus be close at hand and needles and pins may be stuck in the cushion, free from rust, and will not be in the way.
A Compensated Aerial Cableway
by Edward R. Smith
The possibilities for practical use as well as novelty for play and experimental purposes make the compensated aerial cableway, shown in the illustrations, not only interesting but also worthy of study. The arrangement assembled in its simplest form with two towers, in the [page plate], shows how the weight of the car is compensated, so that a fairly level course on the track cable is provided. The various positions of the load and cables, showing the application of the compensating principle, are indicated in [Figs. 1 to 5], and a multiple system is shown in [Fig. 6]. The details of the constructional parts are also shown. The car may be driven by wind power, as shown in [Fig. 7], or by a motor, as in [Fig. 8], in addition to the simple application of hand power suggested in the page plate. Devices for automatically reversing the course of the cars both for the sail rigging and with the use of electrical power, are shown in Figs. 7 and 8. By their use it is unnecessary to have an operator at each end of the cableway. The constructional features were worked out first by experiments on models in a shop, and then applied to a large rigging spanning over 100 ft. between the A-frames. The sketch in the page plate was made from photographs of this construction. Application of the compensating principle to carrying and transportation problems affords opportunity for interesting engineering, in spanning streams, cañons, or gulleys.
In most types of cableways a considerable sag is allowed in the cable supporting the car in addition to that caused by its own weight. Even in systems of practically constant cable tension, in which the wire is stretched by enormous weights, the loaded car causes a sag in the track cable, and ascends and descends an incline when approaching and leaving a tower. The aim in the compensated cableway is to overcome this sag as much as possible, and to offer a minimum of resistance to the car in its course.
The simple form of compensated cableway shown in the [page plate] is made by setting up two A-frames, with wire braces supporting them, and mounting the track and traction cables upon them. A light, flexible compensating cable extends from one tower to the other and is fitted to grooved pulley wheels at the tops of the towers, as shown in the detail at the right. The ends of the cable are fixed to wire hooks, from which the track cable is suspended. The latter is anchored at the ends of the wire braces supporting the A-frames. In order to understand the operation of the system it is desirable that the course of a load be traced in its various stages, as indicated in the diagrams, Figs. 1 to 5. For diagrammatic purposes the load is shown passing from the west slope to the east. As the load passes under the first A-frame, as in Fig. 2, the track cable is drawn down at that point; the corresponding end of the compensating cable is also drawn down, raising the opposite end of the track cable, and taking out most of the sag in the center portion of the track cable. As the load passes to the center position, as shown in Fig. 3, the track cable resumes a more nearly horizontal position. When the second A-frame is reached the load draws the corresponding end of the compensating cable down with the track cable, Fig. 4, and the latter assumes its normal position as the load reaches the end of the course. It is evident from the diagrams that the course of the load is more nearly level than it would be if the sagging of the track cable were not counteracted.