The Boy Mechanic

The Gutenburg project has put this early 1900s book out in .pdf.

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17 meg download. Interesting.

1001 ways for someone to kill themselves.

Worth a read.

Rich

Reply to
Richard
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I have a reprint of a Popular Mechanics book on sports and pastimes from the early 1900s (when radio tubes were still called valves, even in America.) Full of instructions on how to build dangerous machinery.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Lindsay publications has a lot more, good stuff, reasonable prices

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Infinite possibilities for committing suicide by various methods.

And this stuff was meant for kids?

(But his metalworking books are some of the best I've ever seen.}

Rich

Reply to
Richard

Evolution in action - filtered the clumsy out of the gene pool.

Reply to
Steve Caple

I had a copy of this book given to me as a child (I still have it) and I built the electric arc furnace as a project for a science fair in high school. Unfortunately, the book was written before AC became a standard and my arc, expcting DC, ballasted by an electric iron, only tripped breakers and did not melt the aluminum powder in the crucible, as expected.

But as you say, a lot of ways to commit suicide, all in one volume.

Reply to
video guy - www.locoworks.com

Just so you know this thread is on topic, article 165 from the book tells how to make an electric locomotive. I've posted it below.

How to Make a Miniature Electric Locomotive [165]

A miniature electric railway is a thing that attracts the attention of almost any person. The cost of a toy electric locomotive is beyond the reach of many boys who could just as well make such a toy without much expense and be proud to say they "built it themselves." The electric locomotive described herewith uses for its power a small battery motor costing about $1. The first thing to do is to make the wheels and axles. If one has nolathe, the wheels can be turned at some machine shop. Four wheels are made from a round bar of metal, as shown in Fig. 1. Each wheel is 1/4 in. thick and 1 in. in diameter, with a

1/16-in. flange and a 1/4-in. hole drilled in the center. Each pair of wheels is fitted on a 1/4-in. axle, about 2-5/8 in. long. One of the axles should be fitted with a grooved belt wheel, as shown. Make the frame from three pieces of heavy brass, as shown in Fig. 2.

The first piece, or main part of the frame, is made from brass, 3/4 in. wide and 16 in. long, bent into an oblong shape and the ends soldered or bolted together. If the ends are to be soldered, before doing so drill four 1/4-in. holes 1 in. from the ends and insert the ends of the axles. The other two pieces are 1/2-in. wide and of the dimensions shown in the sketch. These pieces are riveted in the middle of the oblong frame, each in its proper place. The motor is now bolted, bottom side up, to the top of the piece fastened to the frame lengthwise. A trolley, Fig. 3, is made from a piece of clock spring, bent as shown, and a small piece of tin soldered to the top end for a brush connection. A groove is made in the tin to keep the trolley wire in place.

The trolley wire is fastened to supports made of wood and of the dimensions given in Fig. 4. The trolley should be well insulated from the frame. The parts, put together complete, are shown in Fig. 5. Run a belt from the pulley on the motor to the grooved wheel on the axle, as shown in Fig. 6, and the locomotive is ready for running.

In making the connections the travel of the locomotive may be made more complicated by placing a rheostat and controlling switches in the line, so that the engine can be started and stopped at will from a distance and the speed regulated. Automatic switches can be attached at the ends of the line to break the circuit when the locomotive passes a certain point.

One connection from the batteries is made to the trolley wire and the other to a rail. The connection for the motor runs from one binding post to the trolley and this connection must be well insulated to avoid a short-circuit. The other binding-post is connected to the frame.

The cost of making the wheels and purchasing the track will not be over $1.50. The track can be made from strips of tin put in a saw cut made in pieces of wood used for ties. This will save buying a track. --Contributed by Maurice E. Fuller, San Antonio, Texas.

Reply to
Ken Rice

Lots of things in there that are interesting, I'm waiting to see if they publish the other volumes, I think there are three more.

But, out of curiosity, I went through Lindasy's site again, finding several other locomotive projects, usually in 1/2" scale and either live steam or electric. But, in the Lindsay catalog I got in the mail, they're teasing me with a "coming Soon!", Henry Greely's 1954 "Model Steam Locomotives." I don't know how big that book is, but would guess somewhere in the $20 range, unless it's much bigger than most. Lindsay high end is about $40, and usually well worth the money.

Interesting though, some of the old formulas for metal plating and photo processing call for some pretty nasty compounds. Stuff that thankfully isn't available at your local drugstore anymore.

Rich

Reply to
Richard

Just for the record ... "The Boy Mechanic" is not just ONE book, it is a whole set. I have several volumes (IIRC, five) of them. Each is perhaps

1.5" thick, hardbound. I inherited these from my father. When I was much younger I read most of them, and tried some of the projects. Among other neat things were projects to build a variety of machine tools. I was quite fascinated by the several different "rose engines" presented. These were used for drawing or engraving all sorts of filigree patterns on whatever. I never actually built one, but some were very elaborate.

I haven't had the books out of storage for many years, and have no idea if I have the complete set, or just part of it. I haven't even thought of these for a long time, until this thread popped up. Perhaps I'll get ambitious, and dig them out.

Dan Mitchell ============

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

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