Large Wrestlers.—­A more elaborate and realistic pair is shown in Fig. 184.  The originals of the sketch are 8 inches high.  Half-inch deal was used for the bodies, 3/8-inch for the legs and arms.  The painting-in of hair, features, tights, and shoes adds considerably to the effect.  The heads and limbs are mere profiles, but anyone with a turn for carving might spend a little time in rounding off and adding details which will make the puppets appear more lifelike.

XXXV.  DOUBLE BELLOWS.

The small-sized bellows which have become popular in sitting-rooms are usually more ornamental than efficient, and make one think regretfully of the old-fashioned article of ample capacity which is seldom seen nowadays.

Fig. 185 illustrates a method of coupling up two small bellows in such a manner as to provide an almost continuous blast, besides doubling the amount of air sent through the fire in a given time, at the coat of but little extra exertion.  A piece of wood half an inch thick is screwed across one bellows just behind the valve hole.  The two bellows are then laid valve facing valve, and are attached to one another by a strip of tin passed round the wood just behind the nozzles and by tying the two fixed handles together.

[Illustration:  Fig. 185.—­Double-acting bellows.  Two methods of coupling shown.]

Make a rectangle of stout wire somewhat wider than the handles and long enough to reach from the outer face of one moving handle to that of the other, when one bellows is quite closed and the other full open.  The ends of the wire should be soldered together, and the ends of the link held up to the handles by a couple of staples.

An alternative method is to use a piece of wood with a screw driven into it at right angles near each end through the staples on the handles (Fig. 185, a).  In place of the staples you may use screw-in eyes fitting the screws.

XXXVI.  A HOME-MADE PANTOGRAPH.

The pantograph is a simple apparatus for copying drawings, maps, designs, etc., on a reduced or enlarged scale, or to the same size as the original.

[Illustration:  Fig. 186.—­Details of simple pantograph.]

A sketch of a pantograph is given in Fig. 186.  Four rods are jointed together to form a parallelogram, the sides of which can be lengthened or shortened to suit the scale of reproduction.  One is attached by a fixed pivot at a to the board on which the drawing is done.  At b and e are removable pivots, used for adjusting the rods; at c is a pivot which projects an inch or so below the rods.  The pointer is inserted at d for enlargement, or at f for reduction, the pencil being in the unoccupied hole at d or f.

If a same-sized copy is desired, the fixed pivot is transferred to d, and the pencil and pointer placed at a and f respectively.