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When a ring cannot be removed easily from the finger, take a string or thread and draw one end through between the ring and the flesh. Coil the other end of the string around the finger covering the part from the ring to and over the finger joint. Uncoil the string by taking the end placed through the ring and at the same time keep the ring close up to the string. In this way the ring can be easily slipped over the knuckle and off from the finger. Wrapping the Finger —Contributed by J. K. Miller, Matietta, Penn. Excerpt from the book: THE BOY MECHANIC VOLUME I 700 THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO WITH 800 ILLUSTRATIONS 1913, BY H. H. WINDSOR CHICAGO POPULAR MECHANICS CO. PUBLISHERS

In making of this crossbow it is best to use maple for the stock, but if this wood cannot be procured, good straight-grained pine will do. The material must be 1-1/2 in. thick, 6 in. wide and a trifle over 3 ft. long. The bow is made from straight-grained oak, ash, or hickory, 5/8 in. thick, 1 in. wide and 3 ft. long. A piece of oak, 3/8 in. thick, 1-1/2 in. wide and 6 ft. long, will be sufficient to make the trigger, spring and arrows. A piece of tin, some nails and a good cord will complete the materials necessary to make the crossbow. Details of the Bow-Gun and Arrow Sling The piece of maple or pine selected for the stock must be planed and sandpapered on both sides, and then marked and cut as shown in Fig. 1. A groove is cut for the arrows in the top straight edge 3/8 in. wide and 3/8 in. deep. The tin is bent and fastened on the wood at the back end of the groove where the cord slips out of the notch; this is to keep the edges from splitting. A mortise is cut for the bow at...

Gymnastic apparatus costs money and needs to be housed, because it will not stand the weather. Gymnasiums are not always available for the average boy who likes exercise and who would like to learn the tricks on horizontal and parallel bars, horse and rings, which all young athletes are taught in regular gymnastic courses. Any small crowd of boys—even two—having a few simple tools, a will to use them and the small amount of money required to buy the necessary wood, bolts and rope, can make a first class gymnasium. If trees are convenient, and some one can swing an axe, the money outlay will be almost nothing. The following plans are for material purchased from a mill squared and cut to length. To substitute small, straight trees for the squared timbers requires but little changes in the plans. Adjustable Horizontal Bar The most important piece of apparatus in the gymnasium is the horizontal bar. Most gymnasiums have two: one adjustable bar for various exercises and a high bar for ...

1. Humane Rat Trap A boy, while playing in the yard close to a grain house, dug a hole and buried an old-fashioned fruit jug or jar that his mother had thrown away, says the Iowa Homestead. The top part of the jug was left uncovered as shown in the sketch, and a hole was broken in it just above the ground. The boy then placed some shelled corn in the bottom, put a board on top, and weighted it with a heavy stone. Humane Rat Trap The jug had been forgotten for several days when a farmer found it, and, wondering what it was, he raised the board and found nine full-grown rats and four, mice in the bottom. The trap has been in use for some time and is opened every day or two and never fails to have from one to six rats or mice in it. 2. Live Mouse Trap A piece of an old bicycle tire and a glass fruit jar are the only materials required for making this trap. Push one end of the tire into the hole, making sure that there is a space left at the end so that the mice can get i...

The sundial is an instrument for measuring time by using the shadow of the sun. They were quite common in ancient times before clocks and watches were invented. At the present time they are used more as an ornamentation than as a means of measuring time, although they are quite accurate if properly constructed. There are several different designs of sundials, but the most common, and the one we shall describe in this article, is the horizontal dial. It consists of a flat circular table, placed firmly on a solid pedestal and having a triangular plate of metal, Fig. 1, called the gnomon, rising from its center and inclined toward the meridian line of the dial at an angle equal to the latitude of the place where the dial is to be used. The shadow of the edge of the triangular plate moves around the northern part of the dial from morning to afternoon, and thus supplies a rough measurement of the hour of the day. The style or gnomon, as it always equals the latitude of the place, can be lai...

A rising card trick can be accomplished with very little skill by using the simple device illustrated. The only things needed are four ordinary playing cards and a short rubber band. Pass one end of the rubber band through one card and the other end through the other card, as shown in the illustration, drawing the cards close together and fastening the ends by putting a pin through them. The remaining two cards are pasted to the first two so as to conceal the pins and ends of the rubber band. Card Slips from the Pack Put the cards with the rubber band in a pack of cards; take any other card from the pack and show it to the audience in such a way that you do not see and know the card shown. Return the card to the pack, but be sure and place it between the cards tied together with the rubber band. Grasp the pack between your thumb and finger tightly at first, and by gradually loosening your hold the card previously shown to the audience will slowly rise out of the pack. —Contributed by T...

This trick is performed with a wide-mouthed jar which is about 10 in. high. If an earthern jar of this kind is not at hand, use a glass fruit jar and cover it with black cloth or paper, so the contents cannot be seen. Flower Grows Instantly Two pieces of wire are bent as shown in Fig. 1 and put together as in Fig. 2. These wires are put in the jar, about one-third the way down from the top, with the circle centrally located. The wires can be held in place by carefully bending the ends, or using small wedges of wood. Cut a wire shorter in length than the height of the jar and tie a rose or several flowers on one end. Put a cork in the bottom of the jar and stick the opposite end of the wire from where the flowers are tied through the circle of the two wires and into the cork. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 show the position of the wires and flowers. To make the flowers grow in an instant, pour water into the jar at one side of the wide mouth. The cork will float and carry the wire with the ...

Secure a tin can, or a pasteboard box, about 2 in. in diameter and 2 in. or more in height. Punch two holes A, Fig. 1, in the cover and the bottom, 1/4 in. from the center and opposite each other. Then cut a curved line from one hole to the other, as shown at B. A piece of lead, which can be procured from a plumber, is cut in the shape shown in Fig. 2, the size being 1 by 1-1/8 by 1-1/4 in. An ordinary rubber band is secured around the neck of the piece of lead, as shown in Fig. 3, allowing the two ends to be free. Rolling Can Toy The pieces of tin between the holes A, Fig. 1, on both top and bottom, are turned up as in Fig. 4, and the ends of the bands looped over them. The flaps are then turned down on the band and the can parts put together as in Fig. 5. The can may be decorated with brilliant colored stripes, made of paper strips pasted on the tin. When the can is rolled away from you, it winds up the rubber band, thus storing the propelling power which makes it return. —Contribute...

Place a penny or a dime on a tablecloth, towel or napkin and cover it over with a glass in such a way that the glass will rest upon two 25 or 50 cent pieces as shown in the sketch. The coin is made to come forth without touching it or sliding a stick under the edge of the glass. It is only necessary to claw the cloth near the glass with the nail of the forefinger. Removing the Coin The cloth will produce a movement that will slide the coin to the edge and from under the glass. Excerpt from the book: THE BOY MECHANIC VOLUME I 700 THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO WITH 800 ILLUSTRATIONS 1913, BY H. H. WINDSOR CHICAGO POPULAR MECHANICS CO. PUBLISHERS

"Thirty days hath September, April, June and November," etc., and many other rhymes and devices are used to aid the memory to decide how many days are in each month of the year. Herewith is illustrated a very simple method to determine the number of days in any month. Place the first finger of your right hand on the first knuckle of your left hand, calling that knuckle January; then drop your finger into the depression between the first and second knuckles, calling this February; then the second knuckle will be March, and so on, until you reach July on the knuckle of the little finger, then begin over again with August on the first knuckle and continue until December is reached. Each month as it falls upon a knuckle will have 31 days and those down between the knuckles 30 days with the exception of February which has only 28 days. —Contributed by Chas. C. Bradley, West Toledo, Ohio. The Knuckles Designate the 31 Day Months Excerpt from the book: THE BOY MECHANIC VOLUME I 700 ...

While this is purely a sleight-of-hand trick, it will take very little practice to cause the coin to disappear instantly. Take a quarter of a dollar between the thumb and finger, as shown, and by a rapid twist of the fingers whirl the coin and at the same time close the hand, and the coin will disappear up your coat sleeve. On opening the hand the coin will not be seen. Take three quarters and hold one in the palm of the left hand, place the other two, one between the thumb and finger of each hand, then give the coin in the right hand a whirl, as described, closing both hands quickly. The coin in the right hand will disappear up your sleeve, and the left hand on being unclosed will contain two quarters, while the one in the right shall have disappeared. Disappearing Coin Excerpt from the book: THE BOY MECHANIC VOLUME I 700 THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO WITH 800 ILLUSTRATIONS 1913, BY H. H. WINDSOR CHICAGO POPULAR MECHANICS CO. PUBLISHERS

A flat bottom boat is easy to make and is one of the safest boats, as it is not readily overturned. It has the advantage of being rowed from either end, and has plenty of good seating capacity. This punt, as shown in Fig. 1, is built 15 ft. long, about 20 in. deep and 4 ft. wide. The ends are cut sloping for about 20 in. back and under. The sides are each made up from boards held together with battens on the inside of the boat near the ends and in the middle. One wide board should be used for the bottom piece. Two pins are driven in the top board of each side to serve as oarlocks. The bottom is covered with matched boards not over 5 in. wide. These pieces are placed together as closely as possible, using white lead between the joints and nailing them to the edges of the side boards and to a keel strip that runs the length of the punt, as shown in Fig. 2. Before nailing the boards place lamp wicking between them and the edges of the side boards. Only galvanized nails should be used. In ...

How to Make a Box Kite - A simple method of constructing a box kite is given in detail as follows: The sticks should be made of straight-grained wood, which may be either spruce, basswood, or white pine. Detail of Box Kite   The longitudinal corner spines, A A, should be 3/8 in. square by 42 in. long, and the four diagonal struts, B, should be 1/4 in. by 1/2 in., and about 26 in. long. Two cloth bands should be made to the exact dimensions given in the sketch and fastened to the four longitudinal sticks with 1 oz. tacks. It is well to mark the positions of the sticks on the cloth bands, either with a soft lead-pencil or crayon, in order to have the four sides of each band exactly equal. The ends of the bands should be lapped over at least 1/2 in. and sewed double to give extra strength, and the edges should be carefully hemmed, making the width, when finished, exactly 12 in. Probably the best cloth for this purpose is nainsook, although lonsdale cambric or lightweight percali...

A toy engine can be easily made from old implements which can be found in nearly every house. Toy Steam Engine Assembled The cylinder A, Fig. 1, is an old bicycle pump, cut in half. The steam chest D, is part of the piston tube of the same pump, the other parts being used for the bearing B, and the crank bearing C. The flywheel Q can be any small-sized iron wheel; either an old sewing-machine wheel, pulley wheel, or anything available. We used a wheel from an old high chair for our engine. If the bore in the wheel is too large for the shaft, it may be bushed with a piece of hard wood. The shaft is made of heavy steel wire, the size of the hole in the bearing B. Valve Motion and Construction of Piston The base is made of wood, and has two wood blocks, H and K, 3/8 in. thick, to support bearing B, and valve crank S, which is made of tin. The hose E connects to the boiler, which will be described later. The clips FF are soldered to the cylinder and nailed to the base, and the ...

The earth is one big rock factory. According to the scientists, the earth has been making rocks for billions of years. The earth makes three different kinds of rocks. One kind is made from hot, syrupy liquids, deep inside the earth. Sometimes, some of this liquid rock pushes its way between two layers of solid rock—making a sort of rock sandwich. Then the liquid cools off and becomes solid, too. Sometimes, when volcanoes erupt, some of the liquid rock is pushed up out of the earth. When it reaches the earth’s surface, it cools and becomes solid. Rock that was once a hot liquid is called igneous rock. Igneous means “of fire.” Granite, the hard, light-colored sparkly rock used on the outside of many buildings, is an igneous rock. And so is the black glassy rock called obsidian that some prehistoric people made into knives and arrowheads. Granite – an igneous rock  Another kind of rock is made out of “rock powder.” Wind and rain wear off tiny, powdery bits of rock from mounta...

HOW GLACIERS FORM? Some of the snow on a high mountaintop melts and runs off. But much of it stays all year round. The snow that stays becomes hard and grainy, like salt. As new snow falls each year, the grainy snow underneath is squeezed together and becomes hard as ice. The weight of all the snow pressing down squeezes out a stream of ice, like toothpaste is squeezed from a tube. This gigantic stream of ice, creeping down the mountainside, is called a glacier. Black Rapids Glacier in September 1986. (photograph by Rod March). http://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/black_rapids/  TYPES OF GLACIERS There are two main kinds of glaciers. One kind is like a river of ice. It stretches from near the top of a mountain down into a valley below. The other kind of glacier is like an enormous cake of ice and snow. This kind covers whole mountain ranges and even whole lands. All the land at the South Pole is covered by such a glacier. Most glaciers move slowly. They travel from ...

Explosion after explosion of hot rock and ash spurted from the ocean. A thick cloud of steam rose high into the air. Slowly, for many days, a long mound of dark lava rose up out of the water. An island had been born! An island, of course, is a piece of land with water all around it. But the land doesn't float on the water. What you see is the top of land that sticks up from the bottom of the sea. Most islands far out in the ocean are actually the tops of underwater volcanoes! Volcanic islands are made when underwater volcanoes erupt, pouring out red-hot, melted rock. The rock quickly cools and hardens in the water, building up into a big, cone-shaped mountain. The island is the top of the cone. All islands aren't volcanoes. Most islands in lakes and rivers are high pieces of land that stick out of the water. Some islands are formed when the sea separates them from the mainland. Great Britain was not always an island. At one time, a low plain joined it to Europe. Tho...

If the highest part of the land is a mountaintop, Where is the lowest place on earth? That’s right—in a valley. The lowest point on dry land is the shore of the Dead Sea, shared by Israel, Palestine and Jordan, 414 m (1,360 feet) below sea level. The Valley of the Dead Sea was not made by a river, as many valleys are. It is a fault—a large strip of the earth’s crust that has sunk down. " Dead Sea by David Shankbone " by David Shankbone - David Shankbone . Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons .

Volcanoes are a special kind of mountains that actually build themselves! Volcanoes are made of red-hot rocks that pour up out of the earth followed by earthquakes, explosions, and towering clouds of smoke and ash. Far down in the earth, where it is fiercely hot, there are “pockets” of melted rock. The pressure of gas pushes this melted rock, called magma, up out of the ground. When magma comes out of the ground it is called lava. It may be as thick as syrup or as thin as watery soup, but it cools into a black, gritty rock. It is this rock that builds the volcano. As the lava pours out of the earth, it piles up into the shape of a cone or dome, with a tunnel running down its middle. The more lava that comes out, the higher and wider the volcano gets. After a volcano has built itself, it may sit quietly for hundreds or even thousands of years. Then, suddenly, the volcano becomes active. The ground begins to shake. Rumbling noises come from deep inside the earth. From the top...