The Useful Hint

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 2, Issue 8, 1 February 1924, Page 48

The Useful Hint

< (From The Motor Life.) Using u Nut no o 010 UOiUg cx nuc tiu ci JL/1C When the thread of a stud or bolt becomes damaged and a die to recut it is not available, it can be recut with the aid of a nut of the right size. Three grooves should first of all be cut across the thread of the nut, which should subsequently be hardened by heating it to a bright red and dipping into water. When the nut is screwed down the stud or bolt it will recut the thread as would a die, the grooves in the nut providing an outlet for the chippings. If another nut is not available the one used for thread-cutting can be softened and used in the ordinary way. A Use for Round Wire Nails A few round wire nails of various length and thickness should be always at hand; these provide useful material for pins or rivets. These nails are made from a tough grade of mild steel, soft enough to be readily cut with wire-cutting pliers or filed up, as, for instance, to make a tapered driving pin or cotter. To make a similar pin from carbon or drill steel would prove a much more difficult operation. The mild steel can also be readily bent cold in the vice, or with pliers, without risk of breaking. Home-Made Washers Sooner or later every owner-driver finds himself in need of a “soft” washer for a carburettor or water joint. The need is usually so urgent and extreme that after one experience of it he lays in a varied stock, only to find that on the next occasion his store does not include the precise size which he requires. Bitter experience has driven the writer to abandon the policy of maintaining a stockthere are too many varieties in use. As a substitute, he keeps at hand a good sheet of “lead” card and Hallite. When a washer is wanted, it is easily marked out by laying the sheet against the flange of the joint, and tapping round its edges with a hammer; if the pipe is aluminium, very light tapping alone is safe with an ordinary hammer, and one with a copper or hide head is preferable. The boltholes arc readily indented into the card with the ballpane end of the hammer. Tinman’s shears or “tinsnips” are the right weapon for cutting out the exterior of the washer. The boltholes are preferably punched; in case of need, a punch can he improvised from any odd bit of tubing of the required size by filing its end to a sharp edge or the homely bradawl and a rat-tail file can be employed. The central hole of the washer, registering with the pipe bore, can be cut out on a wood base by repeated cuts with a narrow chisel, or even a screwdriver, and trimmed off with the tinsnips. The result is just as good as any ready-made washer, and much cheaper, whilst a square foot of Hallite will cover the emergencies of several years.