The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 823 pages of information about The Boy Mechanic.

The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 823 pages of information about The Boy Mechanic.

The sectors should lie flat on the glass with all parts smoothed out so that they will not be torn from their places as the plates revolve.  The shellac should be tacky when the pieces of tinfoil are put in place.

The collectors are made, as shown in Fig. 2, from about 1/4-in. copper wire with two brass balls soldered to the ends.  The fork part is 6 in. long and the shank 4 in.  Holes are drilled on the inside of the forks, and pins inserted and soldered.  These pins, or teeth, should be long enough to be very close to the sectors and yet not scratch them when the plates are turning.

The frame of the machine is made from any kind of finished wood with dimensions shown in Fig. 3, the side pieces being 24 in. long and the standards 3 in. wide.  The two pieces, C C, Fig. 3, are made from solid, close grained wood turned in the shape shown, with the face that rests against the plate 4 in. in diameter, and the outer end 1-1/2 in. in diameter, the smaller end being turned with a groove for a round belt.  Before turning the pieces a hole is bored through each piece for the center, and this hole must be of such a size as to take a brass tube that has an internal diameter of 3/4 in.  The turned pieces are glued to the glass plates over the center holes and on the same side on which the sectors are fastened.  Several hours’ time will be required for the glue to set.  A fiber washer is then put between the plates and a brass tube axle placed through the hole.  The plates, turned wood pieces, and brass axle turn on a stationary axle, D.

The drive wheels, Ee, are made from 7/8-in. material 7 in. in diameter, and are fastened on a round axle cut from a broom handle.  This wood axle is centrally bored to admit a metal rod tightly, and extends through the standards with a crank attached to one end.

Two solid glass rods, GG, Fig. 4, 1 in. in diameter and 15 in. long, are fitted in holes bored into the end pieces of the frame.  Two pieces of 1-in. brass tubing and the discharging rods, RR, are soldered into two hollow brass balls 2 or 2-1/2 in. in diameter.  The shanks of the collectors are fitted in these brass balls with the ends extending, to which insulating handles are attached.  Brass balls are soldered to the upper ends of the discharging rods, one having a 2-in. ball and the other one 3/4 in. in diameter.

Caps made from brass are fitted tightly on the ends of the stationary shaft, D, and drilled through their diameter to admit heavy copper rods, KK, which are bent as shown.  Tinsel or fine wire such as contained in flexible electric wire are soldered to the ends of these rods, and the brushes thus made must be adjusted so they will just touch the plates.  The caps are fitted with screws for adjusting the brushes.  These rods and brushes are called the neutralizers.  A little experimenting will enable one to properly locate the position of the neutralizers for best results.  —­Contributed by C. Lloyd Enos, Colorado City, Colo.

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The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.