Turnbuckles, made either of steel or iron, are used for truss rods.
There are many ways of making turnbuckles. Out of all, three methods
are here given: (1) Solid forged buckle, (2) welding up, (3) pipe
method.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_Solid forged buckle:_ This is made of soft steel. Select a piece of
1-1/2-in. square stock 6 ins. long. Mark off 2 ins. with a centre-punch
on each end. Draw the ends out 1 in. round. Bend the ends down as shown
at _B_. Forge the buckle part to 1-1/4 in. round at the end, as shown
at _C_. Make the other end just like this one and weld the two ends
together so that the total length will be 10 ins. Now drill holes in
each end for a 3/4-in. tap. Tap a right-hand thread in one end and a
left-hand thread in the other end, or you can put a swivel hook in one
end in place of the thread. To do this the hole should be drilled 7/8
in. without a thread. Select a piece of 7/8-in. round soft steel 10
ins. long. Upset the end and work a tapered round head on as shown at
_D_. The head should be 1 in. long and large enough to work loosely in
the slot. Put this into the hole with the head between the wings and
point the end forming it into a hook.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Welded turnbuckle: To be welded at arrow point]
_Second method:_ This is done by welding the two rods to collars. Make
two collars out of wrought iron, the size depending upon the size of
the turnbuckle. Scrape the ends of this flat iron, bend each into a
circle, and weld on the horn of the anvil, thus making two collars. The
arm should be drawn out of a piece of flat iron and made half round by
a swage on the anvil. This leaves the original thickness of the bar
on each end of the piece drawn out. These ends are now flattened and
scraped as shown at _A_ and should be wrenched to lap on the inside
of the collars. Place one collar on one end and the wings opposite
each other. Push a bar of iron into the opening within an inch of the
collar. This bar prevents the tongs from squeezing the two wings
out of shape and loosening up the collar while welding. Grasp the
turnbuckle with a pair of tongs and place the end in the fire. Take a
welding heat and weld this down on the horn of the anvil. At the same
time shape it as shown at _B_. Draw out the piece of iron, place the
other collar in the open end, and weld it as you did the first. This is
finished up in the holes made. Threads can be cut or swivel hooks can
be placed in.
_Third method:_ Take a piece of pipe, length and size desired. Heat one
end and upset it, enlarging and thickening it slightly. Cut a round
iron plug to fit this end tightly. Heat the plug and drive it into
the pipe. Place it on the fire and weld the pipe to the plug. At the
same time forge the end square or hexagonal. Drill a hole in this end,
pin the swivel hook same as explained in the second method. Select
the iron, make the head on the rod, and put it through the pipe into
the hole, head inside, before the plug is welded in the other end. Be
sure that this rod will turn freely. Shape the hook before the plug is
welded in the 2-in. end. This gives one an opportunity to push a rod
into the pipe and hold the head of the hook while shaping it in the
form of a hook or eye as required.
Now weld a plug in the other end the same as you did in the first.
Drill a hole in this end and cut a thread to receive the truss rod
end. This last method is much simpler than the other two. It has this
advantage, that the thread will not rust so quickly, since it is always
enclosed in the pipe. However, there is danger of a very weak spot
right back of the plug, because you know when two pieces of metal are
welded together the temperature should be the same. If not, the cold
one will cut into the hot one and form cold shuts. In this case it is
impossible to get the plug the same temperature as the outside. As a
consequence there is a defect in the forging.
[Illustration: Eccentric strap]
_Eccentric strap:_ The principles applied in the working out of this
problem are used in making many articles of wrought iron. Eccentric
straps are much used in foundries, machine shops, and general shop
work.
_Stock:_ Bar of wrought iron or soft steel 1-1/8 ins. square, 16 ins.
or 20 ins. long.
Round the bar down on one end to 1 in. in diameter. Split the other end
up the length of the bar 8 ins. to within 1 in. of the shoulder made
by the rounding down of the stock. These two arms are now thrown at
right angles to the stem, forged down to 1/2 × 1 in. the entire length.
The arc of the circle made by the arms is determined by the size of
the thing the eccentric strap is meant to fit when it is finished. The
ends are now turned up at right angles and are bent to fit the circle.
A gouge chisel will cut the end off rounding. All ladle handles can be
made in this way.
_Garden hoe:_ The drawing shows the form and dimensions of the hoe, a
garden tool very simple in construction and very useful.
_Stock:_ 6 × 4 × 1/2 in. steel.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Hoe]
_Directions:_ Mark off 2 ins. at one end and cut down 1 in. deep on
both edges. Cut out a wedge-shaped piece as shown in the sketch. Draw
out the piece 1/2 in. in diameter and 6 ins. long. This forms the
handle. Fuller down on each side of the handle where it joins the body
as shown by the full lines. With the fuller spread out the metal on
either side of the handle until it forms a blade 8 × 5 ins. This blade
should be 3/16 in. thick at the top and 1/8 in. at the cutting edge.
Bend the handle into shape. File or grind the edges of the blade to
make it smooth. This should be tempered by heating it red hot. Plunge
into oil. Take it out when cold and hold it over the fire until the
oil flashes off. Then allow it to cool in the air. Grind it and polish
if a bright finish is required. If not it is now ready for the wood
handle.
_Wood chisel:_ Chisels for cutting wood can be made from a piece of
gas pipe and a piece of steel, or from old cold chisels too short for
use. If no piece of old tool steel is at hand take a new piece, 5/8 × 4
ins., hexagonal.
If a piece of gas pipe is used, 1/2 in., heat one end and place it on
the point of the horn of the anvil. With the peen hammer thin the point
down around the end. This thinning stretches the metal and gives you a
funnel-shaped opening, and a scarf to use for welding. The short chisel
end should be pushed into this for about 1 in. and the scarf should be
tapped down gently on this chisel. Sometimes it is necessary to upset
the end of the chisel in order to make it fit the scarf. If required to
do this, put it into the fire and heat it red hot, and upset it on the
end where the weld is to be. Now put it into the pipe, put borax on the
scarf, and heat it hot enough to weld. Take it out and weld it up in a
bottom swage and reduce the weld to 1/2 in. in diameter. Cut the shank
off about 3-1/2 ins. from the weld and heat this end again. Stretch
it on this end so as to enlarge it to fit the wood handle which will
be placed in later. Heat the steel end. Flatten it down to the shape
of a wood chisel, the width to be according to the size needed. Out
of this piece of steel a chisel 1/2 in., 3/4 in., or 1 in. can be
made. It should be tapered down 3/4 in. on the cutting edge. File the
cutting edge on the chisel. It gives a much better finish. The chisel
is hardened and tempered almost the length of the whole blade, a blue
colour, by heating it red hot, plunging it into water, polishing, and
drawing the temper on a hot piece of iron. The handle is made by using
what is known as a hollow auger. This shapes the wood to fit the pipe.
A piece of the same pipe can be sawed off with a hack saw about 3/8 in.
wide. This makes an iron ring, which should be driven in the end of the
wood handle to prevent it from splitting. These chisels make the best
kind of tools for rough, heavy work.
_Door hasp:_ Door hasps are found most commonly on barn doors and
gates, and in conjunction with a staple and lock form a complete
fastening. The drawings make clear the different steps in the work.
_Stock:_ 1/4 × 1 × 6 ins.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_Directions:_ The eye is made first. Heat the piece red hot. Fuller
down the stick 5/8 in. from one end, and 2 ins. from the fullered mark
put in another. The distance between the fullered marks should be
2 ins. Draw out the space between the fullered marks to 5/8 in. in
width, 2-1/2 ins. long. Cut the corners off the piece left on the end,
as shown by the drawing. Round this up with the hammer on the anvil.
Punch a hole in the middle of the eye, but keep the thickness the same
during all the work. To make the body of the piece, where the slot is,
2 ins. from the shoulder fuller the end down to 5/16 in. from the end.
Draw out this end to 1-5/16 in. in length. This forms the loop, and
at the same time it tapers to a sharp end. (See drawing.) The piece
is now ready for punching. Mark places for the punch holes, then cut
between the holes with a hot chisel. In this way the centre piece is
cut out, forming the slot. If this is carefully done little work will
be required to finish it. The slot is filed out if any rough places
are left. The end is bent up. Sometimes a ring is put in it, as a door
pull, and sometimes the latch itself is used for the pull.
[Illustration: Dividers]
_Pair of dividers:_ Perhaps the simplest way to make a pair of dividers
is to get a pair of buggy top joint butts, 1/2 in. size. Weld to each
of the legs a piece of steel to form the two legs for the dividers.
Begin about 1 in. back of the weld and draw the legs out tapering,
octagonal in shape and rounding toward extreme sharp points. Place a
washer on each side of the joint, and rivet the ends together with a
steel rivet. If carefully done the dividers will require no wings. If
wings are required they can be made by punching a slot 1/2 × 1/8 in. in
each of the legs, 2 ins. from the joint. In each of these slots drill
holes, in one a 1/8-in. hole and in the other a hole for a 3/16-in.
tap. Drill both sets of holes through the legs. Tap out the one and
make a thumb screw to fit. This is done by drawing out a 3/8-in. stem
on the end of a 3/8-in. rod and cutting off 3/8 in. of this to form the
head of the thumb screw. Heat this end and flatten down. Finish up with
a few strokes of the file. Cut a 3/16-in. thread on the end. Screw it
into the dividers. Draw out a wing 3/8 in. wide, 1/8 in. thick, to fit
the slot. Bend it into a semicircle and place it into the slot. Open
the dividers. See that it swings round on this circle. Drill a small
hole in the end of the wing to fit the 1/8-in. hole drilled into the
leg and rivet it into the slot. This makes a pair of dividers that can
be used for all classes of work.
[Illustration: Thumb nut]