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Show I BOYS' HANDICRAFT By A. NEELY HALL Author of "Handicraft for Handy Boy t" and "The Boy Craftsman" . 1 I EaggSDSM J7 KING-BOLT SHAFT. Details of -the- Moe-made-PusH-Mp'siLr: HOW TO BUILD A PUSH MOBI LE. The pushmoblle is a unique form of home-made wagon, patterned a3 nearly after an automobile as It Is possible to make It with the materials that a boy can find about the house. It Is steered by the "driver," who rides, and pushed by the "mechanician," "mecha-nician," who runs behind. After several pushmobiles have been built by the boys of your neighborhood, neigh-borhood, great fun may be had through the organization of a push-mobile push-mobile club and the promotion of pushmoblle races. There are almost as many schemes for building these "machines" as there are forms of automobiles, and by using us-ing a little Ingenuity every boy of a club can have a car of his own design. de-sign. The pushmoblle shown In Fig. 1 Is one of the simplest forma to make. After I have described its construction, con-struction, you can make such additions addi-tions and alterations to the design as you wish. If you haven't any wheels at hand, there are a number of sources from which you can get them. Oftentimes a pair can be picked up at a secondhand second-hand store, or at a Junk shop; and often you will come across a boy with whom you can make a trade for some. Get the iron rods, nuts and washers that belong to the wheels, If possible, so that you will not have to get new ones. In case an axle is missing, or one that you have is too long or too short, you can get a blacksmith, machinist ma-chinist or plumber to thread a 1)iece of rod of the right length for you. Fig. 2 shows the completed framework frame-work of the pushmoblle and Fig. 3 the construction of the wagon-bed. The rails A and the connecting crosspleces B and C are made out of pieces of 2 by 4. The length of the former will be determined by whatever length you wish to have the car, while that of the latter will be fixed by the length of the wheel axles. The boards D are nailed to the side of rails A to support the hood framework, and the crossplece E Is fastened to the underside under-side of the rails for a footrest. If the front and rear pair of wheels are- of equal diameter, the wooden axles F and G may both be pieces-, of 2 by 4 (Fig. 2); but if the rear pair are larger than the front pair, axle F should be omitted and axle G made of the right depth to make the top of the wagon-bed level. The Iron axles may be fastened to the wooden axles either with staples or bent-over nails. Procure a carriage bolt long enough to extend through axle G and cross-piece cross-piece C, for a king-bolt, and with this pivot the front pair of wheels in place. The framework of the hood Is made of barrel-hoops, the ends of which are fastened to boards D. Be careful to fasten them so their tops will all be on a line. Figs. 2 and 5 show the details for the steering gear. A sewing-machine wheel or a wagon wheel may be used for the steering wheel, and a piece of a broom-handle will do for the shaft. A hole should be bored In the Inner edge of wooden axle G for a pocket for the end of the shaft to set in (Fig. O. and the board H (Fig. 2) must be fitted In the end of the hood framework, frame-work, and be notched in its top edge, to support the upper end of the shaft. The method of connecting the front wheels with the shaft is simple, as you will see-by examining Fig. 6. The crosspiece I is a trifle shorter than the distance between the bars A, so It will turn with the shaft, and a hole large enough for the shaft to run through is bored through Its center. A Bcrew In the edge of the strip Is used for a set-screw to fasten it to the shaft, and to make the fastening doubly secure, the block J is fastened to strip I and another set-screw driven through its edge. Screw a 6crew-eye into one end of crossplece I, and another an-other Into the under side of each of the two bars A (Fig. 5), and after attaching at-taching two pieces of rope to the screw-eye in the end of crosspiece I, run one through each of the screw-eyes screw-eyes In bars A and tie to a screw-eye near the end of the wooden axle G (Figs. 2 and 4). The lengths of these steering lines must be so adjusted that when the Bteeritig-wheel cross-piece cross-piece Is turned in the position shown In Fig. 5 the left fore wheel will turn In, and when turned the opposite way the right fore wheel will turn in. The hood may be covered with tin, stove-pipe, canvas, or heavy cardboard. Additional crosspleces may be fastened fasten-ed between the hoops of the framework frame-work to fasten your covering material to, If it Is not large enough to reach from side to Bide. If canvas or cardboard card-board Is used, a coat of paint should be applied to stiffen it. The front of the hood may be covered with a piece of screen wire, or a piece of tin which you have perforated, to represent the radiator front. A good pair of headlights may be made from a' couple of empty lard pails. Remove the. balls, but leave the covers on, and fasten them to the sides of the hood by means of wooden brackets. If you can get two broken alarm clocks, remove the works, and mount the cases upon small tin cans for bases; then fasten them to the Bides of your car, and you will have two fairly good looking side lamps. If you want to be able to light the Bide lamps, a hole may be cut through the bottom of the clock-case and a candl set down Into the tin can base. With a little Ingenuity, glass fronts can be set In the lard pall covers and candles placed Inside of the cans. (Copyright, 1912, by A. Neely Hall.) |