Part 9 (1/2)

”Querl” is the German name for a kitchen utensil which may be used as an egg-beater, potato-masher or a lemon-squeezer. For beating up an egg in a gla.s.s, mixing flour and water, or stirring cocoa or chocolate, it is better than anything on the market.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Querl Made of Wood]

This utensil is made of hardwood, preferably maple or ash. A circular piece about 2 in. in diameter is cut from 1/2-in. stock and shaped like a star as shown in Fig. 1, and a 3/8-in. hole bored in the center for a handle. The handle should be at least 12 in. in length and fastened in the star as shown in Fig. 2.

In use, the star is placed in the dish containing the material to be beaten or mixed and the handle is rapidly rolled between the palms of the hands.

--Contributed by W. Karl Hilbrich, Erie, Pennsylvania.

** An Emergency Soldering Tool [28]

Occasionally one finds a piece of soldering to do which is impossible to reach with even the smallest of the ordinary soldering irons or coppers. If a length of copper wire as large as the job will permit and sufficiently long to admit being bent at one end to form a rough handle, and filed or dressed to a point on the other, is heated and tinned exactly as a regular copper should be, the work will cause no trouble on account of inaccessibility.

--Contributed by E. G. Smith, Eureka Springs, Ark.

** Smoothing Paper after Erasing [29]

When an ink line is erased the roughened surface of the paper should be smoothed or polished so as to prevent the succeeding lines of ink from spreading. A convenient desk accessory for this purpose can be made of a short

[Ill.u.s.tration: Collar b.u.t.ton Ends In Wood Stick]

piece of hardwood and two bone collar b.u.t.tons.

File off the head of one b.u.t.ton at A and the base from another at B. Bore a small hole D and E in each end of the wood handle C and fasten the b.u.t.ton parts in the holes with glue or sealing wax. The handle can be left the shape shown or tapered as desired. The small end is used for smoothing small erasures and the other end for larger surfaces.

** A Cherry Seeder [29]

An ordinary hairpin is driven part way into a small round piece of wood, about 3/8 in. in diameter and 2 or 2-1/2 in. long, for a handle, as shown in the sketch. The hairpin should be a very

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hairpin In Stick]

small size. To operate, simply insert the wire loop into the cherry where the stem has been pulled off and lift out the seed.

--Contributed by L. L. Schweiger, Kansas City, Mo.

** A Dovetail Joint [29]

The ill.u.s.tration shows an unusual dovetail joint, which, when put together properly is a puzzle. The tenon or tongue of the joint is sloping on three surfaces and the mortise is cut sloping to match.

The bottom surface of the mortise is the same width at

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shape of Tenon and Mortise]

both ends, the top being tapering toward the base of the tongue.

--Contributed by Wm. D. Mitch.e.l.l, Yonkers, New York.