A scoop that is serviceable for handling various kinds of lighter bulk material may be made by cutting the end from a cardboard box of suitable size and trimming it into shape. A handle may be provided by making a loop of cloth, or flexible cardboard, and fastening it with a paper fastener.
Mechanical Toy Pigeon Made of Wood
Draw on the Wire and the Head and Tail Bob Up and Down
When the head of the mechanical pigeon is lowered the tail rises, and the reverse. It is constructed as follows: Make paper patterns for the parts, which consist of two body pieces, a head, a tail, and the foot piece. The shape of the parts is shown in the sketch, the front body piece being removed to show the connections of the rubber and wire controlling the movements. The view above shows the fastening of the parts with nails. The main sizes of the parts, which are made of ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄-in. soft wood, are: head, 1³⁄₄ by 3¹⁄₂ in.; body, 2 by 5¹⁄₄ in.; tail, 1¹⁄₄ by 3¹⁄₄ in.; foot piece, 1³⁄₈ by 1¹⁄₂ in. Mark the shapes on the wood, cut them out, and mount them, with a rubber band connecting the head and tail, as shown. Nail the foot piece between the body pieces, and pivot the head and tail on nails. Connect the head with a wire, having a loop on one end. Make the holder, and cut a slot into it for the draw wire, operated with the finger.—C. C. Wagner, Los Angeles, Calif.
Sportsman’s Cabinet for Guns, Equipment, and Books
The books, magazines, guns, fishing tackle, camera, etc., of the out-of-door man are often kept or laid aside in various places. To provide a good place for such equipment, I made the case shown. What apparently is a neat bookcase when closed, the top shelf used as a magazine rack, accommodates numerous other articles. After the “bookcase” has been examined superficially I open the door, swing the shelves out, and display back of them my guns, hunting togs and outfit. Two small drawers, covered by the upper rail of the door when closed, hold various small articles; and a blind drawer under the door holds shoes and the larger articles. I constructed this combination cabinet as follows: The lumber used was ⁷⁄₈-in. chestnut. The dimensions of the cabinet are 60 by 30 by 14 in. For the back of the bookshelf and cabinet I used matched ceiling. The door casings are 4 in. wide; the sidepieces of the door are 3 in. wide, the top, 4 in., and bottom piece, 6 in. wide. This cabinet cost me less than $3 and does the service of a gun cabinet valued at $30.—F. E. Brimmer, Dalton, N. Y.
A Photographic-Negative Filing System
In order to preserve photographic negatives and to make them easily available, the following homemade system was devised: The negatives are kept in envelopes having a print from the negative therein mounted on the face. A trial, or an inferior, print is used, and shows what negative it contains. Extra prints and enlargements are kept in the same envelope for each negative. On the face, or back, of the envelope is written data, such as name or title of subject, place and date taken, stop and shutter speed used, most suitable printing paper, developer, etc. This data may be kept in the negative envelope on a sheet of paper. This leaves the photograph album free from data that is of no interest to persons viewing the pictures. The envelopes are kept in their original boxes, classified as “Animals,” “Birds,” “Live Stock,” “Landscapes,” “My 1914 Vacation Trip,” and so forth.