Another method, though not so effectual, is to pour a few drops of benzole upon the file and brush thoroughly with a scratch brush.
Mending Tinware by Candle Heat.
This is such a simple and cheap way of mending tinware that a person with just a bit of ingenuity can do his own work in this line. Take a vial about two-thirds full of muriatic acid and put into it little bits of sheet zinc as long as the acid will dissolve them. Then put in a crumb of sal-ammoniac and fill up with water and it is ready for use. Wet the cork in the vial and with it wet the edges of the place to be mended. Then put a piece of sheet zinc over the hole and hold a lighted candle or spirit lamp under the place, which melts the solder on the tin and causes the zinc to adhere without further trouble. Do not forget to wet the zinc also with the solution.
A Good Way to Sharpen Razors.
Put the razor blade for half an hour in water to which has been added one-twentieth of its weight of muriatic or sulphuric acid, and after a few hours “set” it on a hone. The acid acts as a whetstone by corroding the whole surface uniformly.
Razor-Strop Paste.
Moisten flour of emery with tallow or sweet oil.
Cutting Ovals and Different Shapes on Glass.
Scratch the glass around the shape you desire with the corner of a file or graver; then having bent a piece of wire the same shape heat it red-hot and lay it upon the scratch, and sink the glass into cold water just deep enough for the water to come almost on a level with its upper surface. It rarely fails to break perfectly true.