Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do

by Unknown

Fig. 8.

On the other edge, however, as soon as you have reached the width you need you must change this policy to that of taking the stitch through the last two meshes of the preceding row as in Fig. 8. When the net is as long as you need it this narrowing as it is called is applied to both edges, and the fourth corner is finished off by taking the stitch through the last two meshes. Then they should be tied fast. Do not widen or narrow at the wrong edges as you work. To prevent this mistake some netters lie a piece of ribbon upon the top or narrowing edge.

Nets for fishing and for such pursuits may be made in this way. First make a square, then go along the edges of the square, narrowing at regular intervals until the net is of the size needed. Gloves may be worn if the fingers become chafed, or the knots may be drawn tight in such a way that the strain is on the needle and not on the finger. When a new needleful is commenced be sure to make the first knot very firm. Among the useful articles that may be made in this way are tennis nets, onion bags, nets for the protection of growing fruit, and hammock nets.

Photographic Enlargements.—There are so many excellent sources, easily available, from which boys may learn how to use their cameras, so many developers, toners, and fixers ready to their hands at the chemist’s, that we have not occupied space here with a general dissertation upon photography. We think, however, a chapter on enlargements will be welcome. The rapid development of bromide printing paper, and the ease by which enlargements may be produced thereon, has created quite a new era in amateur photography. No longer is it necessary to carry about an unwieldy heavy kit, which destroys half the pleasure of the amateur, when “on pictures bent,” for now he may make use of even the smallest form of camera, and enlarge his pictures when he has returned from his meanderings. Enlargements may be produced in several ways. The negative itself may be enlarged, or what is simpler still a direct enlargement may be made on bromide paper. The latter may be easily effected in two ways—(1) by means of daylight, or (2) by artificial light. It is with the former that the writer intends to deal in the present paper. A word first as to the kind of negative best adapted for enlarging purposes. The quarter-plate size will be found most suitable, and these may be successfully enlarged to 12 by 10. The negative must be perfectly sharp, full of crisp detail, and perfect in every way. Any small defect in a negative is fatal to its enlargement, as it is made so much more apparent by magnification.

Most amateurs find a room at the top of the house the most convenient for enlarging purposes, and one with only one window is best, and that preferably with an uninterrupted view of the sky. The light must next be excluded by pasting brown paper over the entire window, or by having a tightly-fitting wooden frame made to answer the same purpose. Provision is then made to fit into the frame a quarter-plate printing frame, in which is placed the negative. By this means no light is permitted to enter the room, save that which filters through the negative. As a general rule, it will be found necessary to fit on the outside of the window frame a reflector of some sort, and a piece of white glazed board fixed at an angle will be found as effective as anything. This will concentrate the light and produce an equal amount of illumination over the entire negative.

The arrangement of the camera calls next for consideration. If the camera possessed by the would-be enlarger is one which focuses from the front, no adaptation of any sort will be required. All that is necessary is to place an oblong table close to the window, so arranging it that the camera when placed thereon will be on the same level as the negative. The ground-glass at the back of the camera being removed, place the camera as near to the negative as possible, which must have its film side facing the room. To prevent any escape of light through the body of the camera there should be as little space as possible between the negative and the camera, a black cloth being thrown over the end of the latter to make quite certain. At the other end of the table is fixed the enlarging board, on which the bromide is affixed by means of drawing pins. The farther this board is from the lens, the greater the enlargement, of course. A few experimental trials will soon show the tyro the proper distance the board should be placed, and this discovered, the place should be marked for future reference.

It will be found a great convenience to have a piece of ruby glass fixed in the end of the lens cap, as this will enable the operator to see the full size of the image on the enlarging board, and thus obviate any difficulty as to the exact spot in which the bromide paper should be. The greatest difficulty experienced by the beginner in enlarging is undoubtedly the gauging of the correct exposure. Light varies so, that it will be found necessary to give the same negative longer or shorter exposures at different times. The best plan is to make a table of approximate exposures by experimenting with a few strips of bromide paper, giving each a different exposure. These strips should then be pasted in a note-book for any future reference, together with the following particulars:—(1) Time of day and year; (2) intensity of the light; (3) density of negative; (4) brand of paper; and (5) size of the enlargement. An observant worker will soon master all these little difficulties, and when once success has been achieved, enlarging pictures from small negatives will be found to be one of the most interesting branches of photographic operations.

Magic Lantern Slides.—Draw first on paper the figures you wish to paint, lay the paper on the table, and cover it over with a piece of glass of the right size and shape. Draw the outlines with a fine camel’s hair pencil or a pen, in black paint mixed with varnish, and when this is dry, add the proper colours. The transparent colours are alone to be used in this kind of painting, and these include aureolin, gamboge, Italian pink, Indian yellow, madder lake, crimson lake, Prussian blue, indigo, burnt sienna, madder brown, vandyke brown, lamp black. Ox gall will cause the colours to flow more easily on glass. Be careful that the glass is not greasy. Both water colours and oil colours are available.

An easy way to make diagrams and other outline drawings for the magic lantern is to take a piece of frosted glass of the right size and draw upon it, using Indian ink. The frost enables you to do this, but would prevent the maximum of light passing through the glass when it was in the lantern. Accordingly, to remove the frost now that it has served its purpose, pour Canada balsam upon it, cover with another piece of glass and bind the two pieces together as other magic lantern slides are bound.