The main frame consists of one 1-1/2 in. pipe 10 in. long and one made up from two pieces of pipe and a cross to make the whole length 10 in. These pipes were then screwed into pipe flanges that served as a base. The open part of the cross was babbitted to receive the main shaft. The end of the shaft has a pillow block to take a part of the strain from the main bearing. The eccentric is constructed of washers. While this engine does not give much power, it is easily built, inexpensive, and anyone with a little mechanical ability can make one by closely following out the construction as shown in the illustration.
Contributed by W. H. Kutscher, Springfield, Ill.
How to Make a Copper Bowl
Shaping the Bowl and Sawing the Lace
To make a copper bowl, such as is shown in the illustration, secure a piece of No. 21 gauge sheet copper of a size sufficient to make a circular disk 6-1/2 in. in diameter.
Cut the copper to the circular form and size just mentioned, and file the edge so that it will be smooth and free from sharp places. With a pencil compass put on a series of concentric rings about 1/2 in. apart. These are to aid the eye in beating the bowl to form.
The tools are simple and can be made easily. First make a round-nosed mallet of some hard wood, which should have a diameter of about 1-1/4 in, across the head. If nothing better is at hand, saw off a section of a broom handle, round one end and insert a handle into a hole bored in its middle. Next take a block of wood, about 3 by 3 by 6 in., and make in one end a hollow, about 2 in. across and 1/2 in. deep. Fasten the block solidly, as in a vise, and while holding the copper on the hollowed end of the block, beat with the mallet along the concentric rings.