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FARM MECHANICS
MACHINERY AND ITS USE TO SAVE
HAND LABOR ON THE FARM
Including
Tools, Shop Work, Driving and Driven
Machines, Farm Waterworks, Care
and Repair of Farm Implements
By
HERBERT A. SHEARER
AGRICULTURIST
Author of "Farm Buildings with Plans and Descriptions"
_ILLUSTRATED WITH THREE
HUNDRED ORIGINAL DRAWINGS_
CHICAGO
FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO.
Publishers
Copyright 1918
By Frederick J. Drake & Co.
Chicago
PREFACE
More mechanical knowledge is required on the farm than in any other line
of business. If a farmer is not mechanically inclined, he is under the
necessity of employing someone who is.
Some farms are supplied with a great many handy contrivances to save
labor. Farmers differ a great deal in this respect. Some are natural
mechanics, some learn how to buy and how to operate the best farm
machinery, while others are still living in the past.
Some farmers who make the least pretensions have the best machinery and
implements. They may not be good mechanics, but they have an eye to the
value of labor saving tools.
The object of this book is to emphasize the importance of mechanics in
modern farming; to fit scores of quick-acting machines into the daily
routine of farm work and thereby lift heavy loads from the shoulders of
men and women; to increase the output at less cost of hand labor and to
improve the soil while producing more abundantly than ever before; to
suggest the use of suitable machines to manufacture high-priced
nutritious human foods from cheap farm by-products.
Illustrations are used to explain principles rather than to recommend
any particular type or pattern of machine.
The old is contrasted with the new and the merits of both are expressed.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
THE FARM SHOP WITH TOOLS FOR WORKING WOOD AND IRON 9
CHAPTER II
FARM SHOP WORK 50
CHAPTER III
GENERATING MECHANICAL POWER TO DRIVE MODERN FARM MACHINERY 74
CHAPTER IV
DRIVEN MACHINES 100
CHAPTER V
WORKING THE SOIL 137
CHAPTER VI
HANDLING THE HAY CROP 163
CHAPTER VII
FARM CONVEYANCES 179
CHAPTER VIII
MISCELLANEOUS FARM CONVENIENCES 197
INDEX 241
FARM MECHANICS
CHAPTER I
THE FARM SHOP WITH TOOLS FOR WORKING WOOD AND IRON
FARM SHOP AND IMPLEMENT HOUSE
The workshop and shed to hold farm implements should look as neat and
attractive as the larger buildings. Farm implements are expensive. Farm
machinery is even more so. When such machinery is all properly housed
and kept in repair the depreciation is estimated at ten per cent a year.
When the machines are left to rust and weather in the rain and wind the
loss is simply ruinous.
More machinery is required on farms than formerly and it costs more.
Still it is not a question whether a farmer can afford a machine. If he
has sufficient work for it he knows he cannot afford to get along
without it and he must have a shed to protect it from the weather when
not in use.
In the first place the implement shed should be large enough to
accommodate all of the farm implements and machinery without crowding
and it should be well built and tight enough to keep out the wind and
small animals, including chickens and sparrows.
The perspective and plan shown herewith is twenty-four feet in width and
sixty feet in length.
[Illustration: Figure 1.--Perspective View of the Farm Shop, Garage and
Implement Shed. The doors to the right are nearly 12 feet high to let in
a grain separator over night, or during the winter, or a load of hay in
case of a sudden storm.]
[Illustration: Figure 2.--Floor Plan of Shop, Garage and Storage. The
building is 60 feet wide and 24 feet from front to back. The doors of
the garage and tool shed are made to open full width, but 8 feet is wide
enough for the shop door. All doors open out against posts and are
fastened to prevent blowing shut. The work shop is well lighted and the
stationary tools are carefully placed for convenience in doing repair
work of all kinds. The pipe vise is at the doorway between the shop and
garage so the handles of the pipe tools may swing through the doorway
and the pipe may lie full length along the narrow pipe bench.]
The doorways provide headroom sufficient for the highest machines, and
the width when the double doors are opened and the center post removed
is nearly twenty feet, which is sufficient for a binder in field
condition or a two-horse spring-tooth rake.
One end of the building looking toward the house is intended for a
machine shop to be partitioned off by enclosing the first bent. This
gives a room twenty feet wide by twenty-four feet deep for a blacksmith
shop and general repair work. The next twenty feet is the garage. The
machine shop part of the building will be arranged according to the
mechanical inclination of the farmer.
[Illustration: Figure 3.--Perspective View of Farm Implement Shed and
Workshop.]
A real farm repair shop is a rather elaborate mechanical proposition.
There is a good brick chimney with a hood to carry off the smoke and
gases from the blacksmith fire and the chimney should have a separate
flue for a heating stove. Farm repair work is done mostly during the
winter months when a fire in the shop is necessary for comfort and
efficiency. A person cannot work to advantage with cold fingers. Paint
requires moderate heat to work to advantage. Painting farm implements
is a very important part of repair work.
A good shop arrangement is to have an iron workbench across the shop
window in the front or entrance end of the building. In the far corner
against the back wall is a good place for a woodworking bench. It is too
mussy to have the blacksmith work and the carpenter work mixed up.
[Illustration: Figure 4.--Floor Plan of Farm Implement Shed, showing the
workshop in one end of the building, handy to the implement storage
room.]
Sometimes it is necessary to bring in a pair of horses for shoeing, or
to pull the shoes off. For this reason, a tie rail bolted to the
studding on the side of the shop near the entrance is an extra
convenience.
In a hot climate a sliding door is preferable because the wind will not
slam it shut. In cold climates, hinge doors are better with a good sill
and threshold to shut against to keep out the cold. Sometimes the large
door contains a small door big enough to step through, but not large
enough to admit much cold, when it is being opened and shut. Likewise a
ceiling is needed in a cold country, while in warmer sections, a roof is
sufficient. Farm shops, like other farm buildings, should conform to
the climate, as well as convenience in doing the work. A solid concrete
floor is a great comfort. And it is easily kept clean.
The perspective and floor plan show the arrangement of the doors,
windows and chimney and the placing of the work benches, forge, anvil,
toolbench and drill press.
Figures 3 and 4 show the perspective and floor plan of a farm shop and
implement house 40 x 16 feet in size, which is large enough for some
farms.
SHOP TOOLS
Good tools are more important on a farm than in a city workshop for the
reason that a greater variety of work is required.
_Measuring Mechanical Work._--In using tools on the farm the first rule
should be accuracy. It is just as easy to work to one-sixteenth of an
inch as to carelessly lay off a piece of work so that the pieces won't
go together right.
[Illustration: Figure 5.--Caliper Rule. A handy slide caliper shop rule
is made with a slide marked in fractions of inches as shown in the
drawing. The diameter of a rivet, bolt or other round object may be
taken instantly. It is not so accurate as calipers for close
measurements, but it is a practical tool for farm use.]
The handiest measuring tool ever invented is the old-fashioned two-foot
rule that folds up to six inches in length to be carried in the pocket.
Such rules to be serviceable should be brass bound. The interior marking
should be notched to sixteenths. The outside marking may be laid out in
eighths. The finer marking on the inside is protected by keeping the
rule folded together when not in use. The coarser marking outside does
not suffer so much from wear. Figure 5 shows a 12-inch rule with a slide
caliper jaw.
[Illustration: Figure 6.--Small Pocket Oilstone. Shop oilstone in a box.
100-foot measuring tapeline marked in inches, feet and rods.]
In using a two-foot rule to lay off work the forward end should contain
the small figures so that the workman is counting back on the rule but
forward on the work, and he has the end of the rule to scribe from. In
laying off a 16-foot pole the stick is first marked with a knife point,
or sharp scratchawl, and try square to square one end. The work is then
laid off from left to right, starting from the left hand edge of the
square mark or first mark. The two-foot rule is laid flat on top of the
piece of wood. At the front end of the rule the wood is marked with a
sharp scratchawl or the point of a knife blade by pressing the point
against the end of the rule at the time of marking. In moving the rule
forward the left end is placed exactly over the left edge of the mark,
so the new measurement begins at the exact point where the other left
off, and so on the whole length of the stick. The final mark is then
made exactly sixteen feet from the first mark.
In sawing the ends the saw kerf is cut from the waste ends of the stick.
The saw cuts to the mark but does not cut it out.
In using a rule carelessly a workman may gain one-sixteenth of an inch
every time he moves the rule, which would mean half of an inch in laying
off a 16-foot pole, which would ruin it for carpenter work. If the pole
is afterwards used for staking fence posts, he would gain one-half inch
at each post, or a foot for every twenty-four posts, a distance to
bother considerably in estimating acres. It is just as easy to measure
exactly as it is to measure a little more or a little less, and it marks
the difference between right and wrong.
WOODWORKING BENCH
In a farm workshop it is better to separate the woodworking department
as far as possible from the blacksmith shop. Working wood accumulates a
great deal of litter, shavings, blocks, and kindling wood, which are in
the way in the blacksmith shop, and a spark from the anvil might set the
shavings afire.
A woodworking bench, Figure 7, carpenter's bench, it is usually called,
needs a short leg vise with wide jaws. The top of the vise should be
flush with the top of the bench, so the boards may be worked when lying
flat on the top of the bench. For the same reason the bench dog should
lower down flush when not needed to hold the end of the board.
It is customary to make carpenter's benches separate from the shop, and
large enough to stand alone, so they may be moved out doors or into
other buildings.
[Illustration: Figure 7.--Carpenter's Bench. A woodworking bench is 16'
long, 3' 6" wide and 32" high. The height, to be particular, should be
the length of the leg of the man who uses it. Lincoln, when joking with
Stanton, gave it as his opinion that "a man's legs should be just long
enough to reach the ground." But that rule is not sufficiently definite
to satisfy carpenters, so they adopted the inside leg measurement. They
claim that the average carpenter is 5' 10" tall and he wears a 32" leg.]
[Illustration: Figure 8.--Carpenter's Trestle, or Saw-Bench. The top
piece is 4 x 6 and the legs are 2 x 4. There is sufficient spread of leg
to prevent it from toppling over, but the legs are not greatly in the
way. It is heavy enough to stand still while you slide a board along. It
is 2 feet high.]
[Illustration: Figure 9.--Shave Horse. For shaping pieces of hardwood
for repair work. A good shave horse is about 8' long and the seat end is
the height of a chair. The head is carved on a hardwood stick with three
projections to grip different sized pieces to be worked.]
[Illustration: Figure 10.--Compasses, Wooden Clamp and Cutting Pliers.]
Carpenter benches may be well made, or they may be constructed in a
hurry. So long as the top is true it makes but little difference how the
legs are attached, so long as they are strong and enough of them. A
carpenter bench that is used for all kinds of work must be solid enough
to permit hammering, driving nails, etc. Usually the top of the bench is
straight, true and level and it should be kept free from litter and
extra tools.
Good carpenters prefer a tool rack separate from the bench. It may stand
on the floor or be attached to the wall. Carpenter tools on a farm are
not numerous, but they should have a regular place, and laborers on the
farms should be encouraged to keep the tools where they belong.
[Illustration: Figure 11.--Monkey-Wrenches are the handiest of all farm
wrenches, but they were never intended to hammer with. Two sizes are
needed--an eight-inch for small nuts and a much larger wrench, to open
two inches or more, to use when taking the disks off the shafts of a
disk harrow. A large pipe-wrench to hold the round shaft makes a good
companion tool for this work.]
WOODWORKING TOOLS
Every farmer has an axe or two, some sort of a handsaw and a nail
hammer. It is astonishing what jobs of repair work a handy farmer will
do with such a dearth of tools. But it is not necessary to worry along
without a good repair kit. Tools are cheap enough.
Such woodworking tools as coarse and fine toothed hand saws, a good
square, a splendid assortment of hammers and the different kinds of
wrenches, screw clamps, boring tools--in fact a complete assortment of
handy woodworking tools is an absolute necessity on a well-managed
farm.
The farm kit should contain two sizes of nail hammers, see Figure 15,
one suitable to drive small nails, say up to eight penny, and the other
for large nails and spikes; a long thin-bladed handsaw, having nine
teeth to the inch, for sawing boards and planks; a shorter handsaw,
having ten teeth to the inch, for small work and for pruning trees. A
pruning saw should cut a fine, smooth kerf, so the wound will not
collect and hold moisture.
[Illustration: Figure 12.--Hand Saw. This pattern, both for cross cut
and rip saw, has been adopted by all makers of fine saws. Nine teeth to
the inch is fine enough for most jobs on the farm.]
[Illustration: Figure 13.--Keyhole Saw with point slim enough to start
the cut from a half-inch auger hole.]
[Illustration: Figure 14.--Bramble Hook for trimming berry bushes and
cleaning out fence corners. It has a knife-edge with hooked sawteeth.]
Farmers' handsaws are required to do a great many different kinds of
work. For this reason, it is difficult to keep them in good working
condition, but if both saws are jointed, set and filed by a good
mechanic once or twice a year, they may be kept in usable condition the
rest of the time by a handy farm workman, unless extra building or
special work is required.
[Illustration: Figure 15.--Nail Hammers. Two styles. The upper hammer is
made with a ball peen and a round face. It is tempered to drive small
nails without slipping and shaped to avoid dinging the wood. This hammer
should weigh 18 or 19 ounces, including the handle. The lower hammer is
heavier, has a flat face and is intended for heavy work such as driving
spikes and fence staples.]
A long-bladed ripsaw is also very useful, and what is commonly termed a
keyhole saw finds more use on the farm than in a carpenter's shop in
town. It is necessary frequently to cut holes through partitions,
floors, etc., and at such times a keyhole saw works in just right.
Handaxes are necessary for roughing certain pieces of wood for repair
jobs. Two sizes of handaxes for different kinds of work are very useful,
also a wide blade draw shave, Figure 16, and shave horse, Figure 9. A
steel square having one 24-inch blade and one 18-inch is the best size.
Such squares usually are heavy enough to remain square after falling off
the bench forty or fifty times. A good deal depends upon the quality of
the steel.
[Illustration: Figure 16.--Drawing-Knife with wide blade for finishing
straight surfaces.]
[Illustration: Figure 17.--Try-Square With Six-Inch Blade. Wood, brass
and steel are the proper materials for a try-square. A double marking
gauge for scribing mortises is also shown.]
Steel squares differ in the measuring marks, but the kind to buy has one
side spaced to sixteenths and the other side to tenths or twelfths. The
sixteenth interest farmers generally, so that special attention should
be given this side of the square. The lumber rule on some squares is
useful, but the brace rules and mitre calculations are not likely to
interest farmers.
Screw-drivers should be mostly strong and heavy for farm work. Three
sizes of handled screw-drivers of different lengths and sizes, also two
or three brace bit screw-drivers are needed. One or two bits may be
broken or twisted so the assortment is sometimes exhausted before the
screw is started.
[Illustration: Figure 18.--Heavy Hand Axe for Use on the Shop Chopping
Block. A beet topping knife is shown also.]
[Illustration: Figure 19.--Heavy Screwdriver. The strongest and cheapest
screw-driver is made from a single bar of steel. The wooden handle is
made in two parts and riveted as shown.]
Pinch bars and claw bars are very useful in a farm tool kit. Farm
mechanical work consists principally in repairing implements, machinery,
fences and buildings. Always a worn or broken part must be removed
before the repair can be made. A pinch bar twenty-four inches long,
Figure 21, with a cold chisel end, and another bar eighteen inches long
with a crooked claw end, Figure 22, for pulling nails and spikes comes
in very handy. These two bars should be made of the best octagon steel,
seven-eighths of an inch in diameter.
[Illustration: Figure 20.--(1) Ratchet Screwdriver. It does rapid work
and will last a generation if carefully used. (2) Auger-Bit of the Side
Cutter Type. A full set is needed. They are not for boring into old
wood. Running once against a nail ruins one of these bits.]
[Illustration: Figure 21.--Handspike. A wooden handspike or pry is about
seven feet long by 3 inches thick at the prying end. In the North it is
usually made from a hickory or an ironwood or a dogwood sapling. The
bark is removed and the handle is worked round and smooth on the shave
horse. It is better to cut the poles in the winter when the sap is in
the roots. After the handspikes are finished they should be covered deep
with straw so they will season slowly to prevent checking.]
[Illustration: Figure 22.--Wrecking Bar for pulling nails and to pry
broken parts from other wreckage.]
[Illustration: Figure 23.--Carpenter's Level. For practical farm work
the level should be 24" or 30" long. Wood is the most satisfactory
material. The best levels are made up of different layers of wood glued
together to prevent warping or twisting. For this reason a good level
should be carefully laid away in a dry place immediately after using.]
[Illustration: Figure 24.--(1) Snips for cutting sheet metal. (2)
Carpenter's Level, iron stock.]
[Illustration: Figure 25.--Wood-Boring Twist Drill Bit. Twist drills for
wood have longer points than drills for boring iron.]
[Illustration: Figure 26.--Pod-Bit. The fastest boring gimlet bits are
of this pattern. They are made in sizes from to 1/8" to 3/8" and are
intended for boring softwood.]
[Illustration: Figure 27.--Auger-Bits. For smooth boring the lip bits
are best. The side cutters project beyond the cutting lips to cut the
circle ahead of the chips. For boring green wood the single-worm clears
better than the double-worm bit.]
[Illustration: Figure 28.--Extension Boring Bits. The cutting lips may
be set to bore holes from 1/2" to 3" in diameter. They are used mostly
in softwood.]
[Illustration: Figure 29.--Ship Auger. This shape auger is made with or
without a screw point. It will bore straighter in cross-grained wood
without a point.]
[Illustration: Figure 30.--Long Ship Auger.]
[Illustration: Figure 31.--Bridge Auger. The long handle permits the
workman to stand erect while boring. The home made handle is welded onto
the shank of a ship auger.]
A wooden carpenter's level, Figure 23, two feet long, with a plumb glass
near one end, is the most satisfactory farm level, an instrument that is
needed a great many times during the year.
Good brace bits are scarce on farms. They are not expensive, but farmers
are careless about bits and braces. Two sizes of braces are needed, a
small brace for small pod bits and twist drills, and a large ratchet
brace with a 6-inch crank radius for turning larger bits.
[Illustration: Figure 32.--Carpenter's Jointer.]
[Illustration: Figure 33.--Fore-Plane. This style plane is preferred to
a regular jointer for most farm work.]
Twist drill bits will bore both wood and iron, and they are not
expensive up to three-eighths inch or one-half inch. But for larger
sizes from one-half inch to one inch the finest lip wood boring bits
will give the best satisfaction. Extension bits are used for boring
holes larger than one inch. Two extension bits are better than one bit
with two lip cutters. They will bore holes in soft wood in sizes from
one inch to three inches.
Other cutting tools such as jack plane jointer and smoothing plane, also
an assortment of chisels, belong to the farm equipment.
[Illustration: Figure 34.--Tool Box of Socket Chisels and Gouges. The
chisels are sized from 1/2" to 2" in width. The two chisels to the right
show different patterns.]
All cutting tools should be of the best design and the best steel. If
they are properly used and taken care of, the different jobs of repair
work can be handled quickly and to great advantage.
FARM GRINDSTONE
A grindstone may be gritty without being coarse so it will bite the
steel easily and cut it away quickly. A good stone is a very
satisfactory farm implement, but a greasy stone is a perpetual nuisance.
There are grindstones with frames too light. The competition to
manufacture and sell a grindstone for farm use at the cheapest possible
price has resulted in turning out thousands of grindstone frames that
possess very little stability.
[Illustration: Figure 35.--Grindstone. The speed of a grindstone varies
with the diameter of the stone. It should turn just fast enough to keep
a flow of water on the upper face surface. If the stone turns too slow
the water will run down; if too fast, it will fly off.]
Grindstones should be kept under cover; the best stone will be injured
by leaving it in the hot sun. The sun draws the moisture out of the
upper side and leaves the lower side damp and soft so that in use the
stone soon becomes flat sided. The wet side freezes in winter, which is
a disintegrating process.
The best stones, with good care, will become uneven in time. The remedy
is to true them with a quarter-inch soft iron round rod used like a
lathe tool over an iron rest placed close to the stone on a level with
the center of the stone. The rod is held against the stone in such a way
as to cut away the high bumps and make the stone truly round. The stone
cuts away best when it is dry. A small rod is better than a large rod.
It digs into the stone better and takes out a deeper bite. Large power
stones in machine shops are trued up in this way frequently. Farm stones
often are neglected until they wabble so badly that it is difficult to
grind any tool to an edge. If the grindstone is turned by a belt from an
engine the work of truing may be done in a few minutes. If the stone is
turned by hand the work of making it round takes longer and requires
some muscle, but it pays.
The face of a grindstone should be rounded slightly, and it should be
kept so by grinding the tools first on one side of edge of the stone,
then on the other, with the cutting edge of the tool crosswise to the
face of the stone.
For safety and to prevent a sloppy waste of water the stone should turn
away from the operator.
The best way to keep a stone moist is by a trickle of water from an
overhead supply. Troughs of water suspended under the stone are
unsatisfactory, because the water soon gets thick and unfit for use.
Such troughs are forgotten when the job is done, so that one side of the
stone hangs in the water. An overhead supply of water leaks away and no
damage is done.
Grindstone frames are best made of wood 3" x 4" thoroughly mortised
together and well braced with wooden braces and tied across with plenty
of iron rods. A good grindstone frame could be made of angle iron, but
manufacturers generally fail in the attempt.
There are good ball-bearing grindstone hangers on the market, both for
hand crank stones and for belt use.
The belt is less in the way if it is brought up from below. This is not
difficult to do. A grindstone turns slower than any other farm machine
so a speed reducing jack may be bolted to the floor at the back of the
grindstone a little to one side to escape the drip. This arrangement
requires a short belt but it may have the full face width of the pulley
as the tight and loose pulleys are on the jack shaft.
_Emery Grinders._--There are small emery wheels made for grinding disks
that work quickly and cut an even bevel all around. They are made in
pairs and are attached to the ends of a mandrel supported by a metal
stand which is bolted to a bench. The same rig is used for sickle
grinding and other farm jobs.
[Illustration: Figure 36.--Emery Grinder. The illustrations show two
kinds of grinding that double emery wheels are especially adapted to. To
grind a mowing-machine knife it is necessary to reverse. By placing the
rest opposite the center between the two wheels the bevel will be the
same on both sides, or edges, of the section.]
BLACKSMITH SHOP
The furniture in a blacksmith shop consists of forge, anvil, half
barrel, vise bench, drill press and tool rack. A farm shop also has a
heating stove, shave horse, a woodworking bench, a good power driven
grindstone and a double emery grinder.
_Forge._--The old-fashioned forge laid up with brick in connection with
an old-fashioned chimney is just as popular as ever. The same old tuyer
iron receives the air blast from the same old style leather bellows, and
there is nothing more satisfactory. But there are modern portable
forges, Figure 37, made of iron, that are less artistic, cheaper, take
up less room and answer the purpose just about as well. The portable
iron forge has a small blower attached to the frame which feeds oxygen
into the fire. There are a good many different sizes of portable forges.
Most of them work well up to their advertised capacity.
[Illustration: Figure 37.--Portable Forges. The smaller forge is for
light work such as heating rivets for iron bridge construction. The
larger forge to the right is meant for blacksmith work.]
Generally, farm forges are not required to develop a great amount of
heat. Farmers do but little welding, most of the forge work on the farm
being confined to repair work such as heating brace irons, so they may
be easily bent into the proper shape, or to soften metal so that holes
may be punched through it easily.
Sharpening harrow teeth, drawing out plow points and horseshoeing are
about the heaviest forge jobs required in a farm blacksmith shop, so
that a medium size forge will answer the purpose.
[Illustration: Figure 38.--Anvil. The only satisfactory anvil is forged
out of ingot steel with a power trip-hammer. It should weigh 140
pounds.]
_Anvil._--An anvil should weigh at least 120 pounds; 140 is better. It
should be set six feet from the center of the fire to the center of the
anvil. It should be placed on a timber the size of the base of the anvil
set three feet in the ground. The top of the anvil should be about
thirty inches high. Holmstrom's rule is: "Close the fist, stand erect
with the arm hanging down. The knuckles should just clear the face of
the anvil."
_Bench and Vise._--The vise bench should be made solid and it should
face a good light. The bench window should look to the east or north if
possible. It should be about four feet high and eight feet long, with
the window sill about six inches above the bench.
[Illustration: Figure 39.--(1) Shoeing Tool Box. The four small
compartments are for horseshoe nails of different sizes. There may be a
leather loop for the paring knife. The low box end is for the shoeing
hammer, rasp, nippers and hoof knife. (2) Blacksmith Tool Rack. Tongs,
handled punches and cutters are hung on the iron rails. Hammers are
thrown on top. The lower platform is the shop catch-all.]
[Illustration: Figure 40.--Shoeing Knife. Good temper is the main
qualification. All shoeing knives are practically the same shape,
although they may vary in size.]
Two and one-half feet is the usual height for a workbench above the
floor. The best workbench tops are made by bolting together 2 x 4s with
the edges up. Hardwood makes the best bench, but good pine will last for
years. The top surface should be planed true and smooth after the nuts
are drawn tight.
[Illustration: Figure 41.--Horseshoeing Rasp and Wood Rasp. These are
necessary tools in the farm shop.]
[Illustration: Figure 42.--Iron Work Bench. Solid is the first
specification for an iron shop bench. It should be three feet wide, not
less than eight feet long and about 32 inches high. The top is made of 2
x 4s placed on edge and bolted together. The supports are 2 x 6 bolted
to the shop studding and braced back to the studding at the sill. The
front part of the bench is supported by iron legs made of gas-pipe with
threaded flanges at top and bottom. Heavy right angle wrought iron lugs
are used to fasten the top of the bench to the studding. The foot of the
vise leg is let into the floor of the shop or into a solid wooden block
sunk in the ground.]
[Illustration: Figure 43.--Assortment of Files and Rasps needed in a
farm shop. (1) Slim three-cornered handsaw-file. (2) Common
three-cornered file suitable for filing a buck-saw. (3) Double-cut, or
bastard, 10-inch flat file. (4) Single-cut, or mill file, either 10 or
12 inches. (5) Half-round 10-inch wood rasp. (6) Horseshoer's rasp.]
[Illustration: Figure 44.--File Handle. Basswood makes the most
satisfactory file handles. They are fitted by carefully turning them
onto the file shank to take the right taper. There should be a handle
for each file. The handle should be the right size and fitted straight
with the file so the file will take the same angle to the work when
turned over.]
[Illustration: Figure 45.--Nail Set. On all wooden surfaces to be
painted nails should be carefully driven with a round peen nail hammer
and the heads sunk about one-eighth of an inch deep with a nail set. The
holes may then be filled with putty and covered smoothly with paint.]
[Illustration: Figure 46.--Cold-Chisel. There are more flat cold-chisels
than all other shapes. They are easily made in the farm shop and it is
good practice. They are usually made from octagon steel. Different sizes
are needed according to the work in hand. A piece of 5/8" steel 6" long
makes a handy cold-chisel for repair work.]
[Illustration: Figure 47.--Cape Cold-Chisel. It may be tapered both ways
or one way to a cutting edge, or one edge may be rounded.]
[Illustration: Figure 48.--(1) Tinner's Punch. Made of octagon steel in
sizes to fit the rivets. The cutting end is flat and has sharp edges
made by roll filing. It should be about 7" long and from 3/8" to 1/2" in
diameter, according to the size of rivet and thickness of sheet metal to
be punched. (2) Prick Punch. Usually made rather short and stocky. It
may be 1/2" or 5/8" diameter and 4-1/2" to 5" long. (3) Hot-iron Punch.
Made in many sizes and lengths. The taper should be the same as the
drawing.]
[Illustration: Figure 49.--(1) Blacksmith Vise. The old-fashioned leg
vise is the most satisfactory for the blacksmith shop. It should have 5"
jaws. (2) Power Post Drill. Belt power is practical for the post drill
in a farm shop. The hand crank may be easily attached when needed.]
The bench vise should be heavy. A vise is used for bending iron hot from
the forge. Unless the jaws are large, the hot iron is likely to heat the
vise sufficiently to draw the temper. Heavy jaws are solid enough to
support the iron when it is being hammered. Often heavy hammers are used
for this purpose. A heavy vise holds the work solid, because it may be
screwed so much tighter than a light vise. A heavy vise will hold light
work, but a light vise will not hold heavy work. Heavy vises cost more,
but they are cheaper in the end and more satisfactory at all times. A
leg vise with five-inch jaws weighs about sixty pounds; five and
one-half-inch jaws, eighty pounds. A machinist's vise is made to bolt
on top of the bench. It will answer for blacksmith work on the farm, but
is not as good as the old-fashioned leg vise. A machinist's vise is very
useful in the garage, but it would hardly be necessary to have two heavy
vises. The pipe vise belongs on a separate bench, which may be a plank
bracketed against the side of the room.
_Drill-Press._--The most satisfactory drill-press for use on a farm is
the upright drill that bolts to a post. There is usually a self feed
which may be regulated according to the work. The heavy flywheel keeps
the motion steady, and because there is no bench in the way, wagon tires
may be suspended from the drill block, so they will hang free and true
for drilling. Often long pieces of straight iron are drilled with holes
spaced certain distances apart. It is easier to pass them along when
they lie flat side down on the drill block. To use a drill properly and
safely, the chuck must run true. It is easy to break a drill when it
wabbles.
Most drills are made on the twist pattern, and it is something of a
trick to grind a twist drill, but anyone can do it if he tackles the job
with a determination to do it right. In grinding a twist drill, use a
new drill for pattern. Grind the angles the same as the new drill, and
be careful to have the point in the center. A little practice will make
perfect.
Mechanics will say that no one except an expert should attempt to grind
a twist drill, but farmers who are mechanically inclined are the best
experts within reach. It is up to a farmer to grind his own drills or
use them dull.
In drilling wrought iron either water or oil is required to cool the
drill, but cast iron and brass are drilled dry. Light work such as
hoop-iron may be drilled dry, but the cutting edge of the drill will
last longer even in light work if the drill is fed with oil or water.
[Illustration: Figure 50.--(1) Electric Drill-Press. A small electric
motor is attached to the drill spindle. (2) Tram Points. Two steel
points are fitted with thumbscrew clamps to fasten them to a long wooden
bar. They are used to scribe circles too large for the compasses. (3)
Ratchet-Brace. Two braces, or bitstocks, are needed. A large brace with
a 6" radius for large bits and a small brace with a 3" or 3-1/2" radius
for small bits.]
In using drill-presses, some extra attachments come in very handy, such
as a screw clamp to hold short pieces of metal. Before starting the
drill, a center punch is used to mark the center of the hole to be
bored and to start the drill in the right spot.
[Illustration: Figure 51.--Twist-Drills. Round shank for the post drill
and square taper shank for brace work. Brace drills are small, 1/4" or
less.]
[Illustration: Figure 52.--Taper Reamer. Used to enlarge, or true, or
taper a hole that has been drilled or punched.]
[Illustration: Figure 53.--Another style of Reamer.]
[Illustration: Figure 54.--Countersink. This is the old style,
blacksmith-made, flat countersink. It will do quick work but not so
smooth as the fluted kind.]
In doing particular work, the drill may be re-centered when it starts
wrong. This is done with a small round-nosed cold chisel. If the work
is not very particular, the drill may be turned a little to one side by
slanting the piece to be drilled. This plan is only a makeshift,
however, the proper way being to block the work level, so that the drill
will meet it perpendicularly. However, by starting carefully, the hole
may be bored exactly as required.
_Iron Working Tools._--Forge tools for a farm shop need not be numerous.
Several pairs of tongs, one blacksmith hammer, one sledge, one hardy,
one wooden-handled cold chisel, one pair pincers, one paring knife, one
shoeing rasp, and one shoeing hammer will do to begin with.
[Illustration: Figure 55.--Machinist's Hammers. A medium weight should
be selected for farm repair work. It should be hung so the end of the
handle clears half an inch when the face rests flat on the bench.]
Monkey-wrenches come first in the wrench department. The farmer needs
three sizes, one may be quite small, say six inches in length, one ten
inches, and the other large enough to span a two-inch nut. And there
should be an ironclad rule, never use a monkey-wrench for a hammer. For
work around plows, cultivators, harvesters, and other farm machines, a
case of S wrenches will be greatly appreciated. Manufacturers include
wrenches with almost all farm machines, but such wrenches are too cheap
to be of much use.
[Illustration: Figure 56.--(1) Hardy. The anvil hardy is used more than
any other anvil tool except the blacksmith's hammer and tongs. (2) A
Cold-Shut Link that may be welded, riveted or simply pounded shut.]
[Illustration: Figure 57.--Calipers: (1) A pair of tight-joint inside
calipers. (2) Its mate for taking outside dimensions. (3) A pair of
spring-jointed, screw-adjustment inside calipers for machinists' use.]
[Illustration: Figure 58.--Blacksmith Tongs. Straight tongs made to hold
3/8" iron is the handiest size. Two or three pairs for larger sizes of
iron and one pair smaller come in handy.]
[Illustration: Figure 59.--(1) Wire Splicer. The oval openings in the
tool are of different sizes. They are made to hold two wires, close
together, with ends projecting in opposite directions. Each end is wound
around the other wire. The ends are then notched with a three-cornered
file and broken off short and filed smooth. The splicing tool should be
thin, about 1/8" or 3/16", to bring the two twists close together. This
is especially necessary in making hoops for wooden pails. (2) Blacksmith
Shoeing Pincers, used to pull horseshoes. They should close together to
catch a nail by the head.]
For heavier work pipe-wrenches are absolutely necessary. The reason for
having so many wrenches is to save time when in the field. It often
happens that men and horses stand idle waiting for what should be a
quick repair job.
[Illustration: Figure 60.--(1) Cotter Pin Tool. Handy for inserting or
removing all sorts of cotter keys. (2) Nest of S Wrenches of different
sizes. Farmers have never appreciated the value of light, handy wrenches
to fit all sorts of nuts and bolt heads closely.]
For bench work a riveting hammer and a ball peen machinist's hammer are
needed. A nest of S wrenches, two rivet sets, cold chisels, round
punches and several files also are required.
The same twist drills up to three-eighths-inch will do for iron as well
as wood. However, if much drilling is done, then round shank twist
drills to fit the drill chuck will work better. Farmers seldom drill
holes in iron larger than one-half inch. For particular work, to get the
exact size, reamers are used to finish the holes after drilling. Screw
holes in iron are countersunk in the drill-press.
[Illustration: Figure 61.--Hack Saw. One handle and a dozen blades. The
frame should be stiff enough either to push or pull the saw without
binding. The teeth may point either way to suit the work in hand.]
[Illustration: Figure 62.--Powerful Bolt Cutter. It is intended for
factory use.]
For small work, twist drills with square shanks for brace use should
range in sizes from one thirty-second of an inch up to one-quarter inch,
then every one-sixteenth inch up to one-half inch.
For boring screw holes in wood the quickest work is done with pod bits.
Not many sizes are needed, but they are cheap, so that a half dozen,
ranging from one-sixteenth to one-quarter inch or thereabouts, will be
found very useful. Pod bits belong to the wood department, but on
account of being used principally for screw sinking, they are just as
useful in the iron working department as in the carpenter shop.
Sheet metal snips for cutting sheet metal properly belong with the iron
working tools. Snips are from ten to fourteen inches in length. A medium
size is best for miscellaneous work. If kept in good working order
twelve-inch snips will cut 18-gauge galvanized or black iron. But a man
would not care to do a great deal of such heavy cutting.
[Illustration: Figure 63.--Cutting Nippers. For cutting the points from
horseshoe nails after they are driven through the hoof to hold the shoe
in place. These nippers are hard tempered and should not be used for any
other purpose.]
[Illustration: Figure 64.--Two Shapes of Steel Crowbars.]
_Pipe-Fitting Tools._--Recent farm improvements require a few tools that
rightfully belong to plumbers. Every farm has some kind of water supply
for domestic use and for live-stock. A great many farm machines require
pipe tools for repair work. Every year more plumbing reaches the farm.
Plumbing work is no more difficult than other mechanical work, if the
tools are at hand to meet the different requirements. One job of
plumbing that used to stand out as an impossibility was the soldering
together of lead pipes, technically termed "wiping a joint." This
operation has been discontinued. Every possible connection required in
farm plumbing is now provided for in standardized fittings. Every
pipe-fitting or connection that conducts supply water or waste water
nowadays screws together. Sizes are all made to certain standards and
the couplings are almost perfect, so that work formerly shrouded in
mystery or hidden under trade secrets is now open to every schoolboy who
has learned to read.
[Illustration: Figure 65.--(1) Pipe Vise. Hinged to open for long pipes.
(2) Machinist's Vise. Made with a turntable to take any horizontal
angle. The pipe jaws are removable.]
The necessary outfit to handle all the piping and plumbing on the farm
is not very expensive, probably $25.00 will include every tool and all
other appliances necessary to put in all the piping needed to carry
water to the watering troughs and to supply hot and cold water to the
kitchen and the bathroom, together with the waste pipes, ventilators and
the sewer to the septic tank. The same outfit of tools will answer for
repair work for a lifetime.
Farm water pipes usually are small. There may be a two-inch suction pipe
to the force pump, and the discharge may be one and a half inch. But
these pipes are not likely to make trouble.
[Illustration: Figure 66.--Pipe Cutter. The most satisfactory pipe
cutter has three knife-edge roller cutters which follow each other
around the pipe. Some of these cutters have two flat face rollers and
one cutter roller to prevent raising a burr on the end of the pipe. The
flat face rollers iron out the burr and leave the freshly cut pipe the
same size clear to the end.]
[Illustration: Figure 67.--Pipe-Wrench. This type of wrench is valuable
for working with the heavier farm implements. It is intended more for
holding than for turning. It is rather rough on nuts. Damaged nuts show
signs of careless work.]
There should be a good pipe vise that will hold any size pipe up to
three inches. At least two pipe wrenches are needed and they should be
adjustable from one-quarter-inch up to two-inch pipe.
We must remember that water pipe sizes mean inside measurements.
One-inch pipe is about one and one-quarter inches outside diameter.
Three-quarter-inch pipe is about one inch outside. Two-inch pipe will
carry four times as much water as one-inch pipe, under the rule
"doubling the diameter increases the capacity four times."
[Illustration: Figure 68.--A smaller sized wrench with wooden handle.]
The three-wheel pipe cutter works quickly and is satisfactory for most
jobs. Sometimes two of the knife wheels are removed and rollers
substituted to prevent raising a burr on the end of the pipe.
Threading dies are made in standard sizes. A good farm set consists of
stock and dies to thread all the different sizes of pipe from
one-quarter inch to one inch, inclusive. Not many pipes larger than inch
are threaded on the farm. They are cut to the proper lengths in the farm
shop and the threads are cut in town.