Amateur photographers will find a red lens attachment for a hand flash light a useful arrangement for the dark room, when going in or out, and during the process of developing, especially in temporary quarters. To fit the device in place, measure the distance around the outside of the lens holder, and lay out this dimension on a strip of tin, or other metal, 1 in. wide, as shown. Then add ¹⁄₈ in. at each end, and an extra strip, which should be cut into ¹⁄₄-in. sections, along the whole length. A spring tab, midway along the top edge of the metal, is also made. Curl the piece to a cylindrical form and clinch the joint as detailed, and bend the notched tabs into place. Slip a piece of ruby glass into the cylinder and hold it against the notched tabs with a spring ring. Then solder a small hinge to the edge of the cylinder and to the lens holder on the flash light, so that the spring tab will snap into place. When a white light is wanted, the red-glass fitting is released, as shown.
An Octagonal Mission Center Table
By HENRY SIMON
The home craftsman who is fairly skilled with woodworking hand tools will be well repaid for a little extra care in making this mission center table, of unusual design. Most of the woodwork involved in its construction is quite simple, the element calling for careful work being the laying out and shaping of the octagonal top and the shelf. Because of the wide surfaces exposed it will also pay the maker to plane, scrape, and sand down these surfaces carefully. By selecting the best pieces of wood and setting their better sides out, the effect is also enhanced. The table can be finished in a variety of ways to suit the furniture of the room where it is used. Various kinds of hard wood are suitable, quarter-sawed oak being preferable.
The Home Craftsman will Find the Making of This Octagonal Mission Center Table a Novel Piece of Construction. It Offers No Special Difficulties if Care is Taken in the Shaping of the Top and Shelf
Begin the construction by gluing up the pieces for the top and the shelf. While they are drying, make the pieces for the legs, the lower braces, and the strips for the edging of the top. The upper portion of the legs is of double thickness, ⁷⁄₈-in. stock being used throughout. Fit the lower supporting framework together as shown in the bottom view of the shelf, two of the braces extending across the bottom and the others butting against them.
When the top and shelf are dry, brace the top with cleats screwed on underneath, as shown in the bottom view of the top. Lay out the shelf accurately, and shape it to a perfect octagon, 25 in. across from opposite parallel sides. Make a strip, 1⁵⁄₈ in. wide, and use it in marking the layout for the top, from the shelf as a pattern, the edges of the top being parallel with those of the shelf and 1⁵⁄₈ in. from them.
Assemble the parts as shown, using glue and screws where practicable, and properly set nails for places where the fastening will be exposed. All the stock should be cleaned up thoroughly both before and after assembling. Four pieces for the casters are fastened to the legs with screws. The edging for the top may be mitered, with a rounded corner, as shown in the detail, or butted square against the edge of the top, as indicated in the photograph and the plan of the top, the latter method being far easier.
¶The nuisance of tracking dust and ashes from the basement can be overcome, to a considerable extent, by providing carpet mats on two or three lower treads of the stairs leading from the basement to the rooms above.