Contributed by Chas. Haeusser, Albany, N. Y.
A Simple Battery Rheostat
Battery Rheostat
A spring from an old shade roller is mounted on a board 4 in. wide, 9 in. long and 3/8 in. thick. A binding-post is fastened to this board at each end, to which is attached the ends of the spring, as shown in Fig. 1. The temper of a small portion of each end of the spring will need to be drawn. This can be accomplished by heating over an alcohol lamp or in a fire and allowing it to cool slowly. The ends are then shaped to fit the binding-posts. A wire is connected to one of the binding-posts and a small square piece of copper is attached to the other end of the wire, as shown in Fig. 2. When this device is placed in a circuit the current can be regulated by sliding the small square copper piece along the spring.
Contributed by H. D. Harkins, St. Louis, Mo.