FARM MECHANICS: MACHINERY AND ITS USE TO SAVE HAND LABOR ON THE FARM TEXT

particular, a float file is used. Then the polish is rubbed on with fine emery cloth and oil. The emery cloth is wrapped around the file and the same motion is continued. With some little practice a very creditable piece of work may be turned out. Such work is valuable because of the instruction. A good test of skill at blacksmithing is making an octagon punch that tapers true to the eye when finished. _Set-Screws._--It is customary to fasten a good many gear wheels, cranks and pulleys to machinery shafts by set-screws. There are two kinds of set-screws; one has a cone point, the other a cup end. Both screws are hardened to sink into the shaft. A cup is supposed to cut a ring and the point is supposed to sink into the shaft to make a small hole sufficient to keep the wheel from slipping. However, unless the cone-pointed screw is countersunk into the shaft, it will not hold much of a strain. The point is so small it will slip and cut a groove around the shaft. To prevent this, the set-screw may be countersunk by first marking the shaft with an indentation of the point of the screw. Then the wheel or crank or collar may be removed and a hole drilled into the shaft with a twist-drill the same size, or a sixty-fourth smaller, than the set-screw. Then by forcing the end of the set-screw into the drill hole, the wheel is held solid. [Illustration: Figure 94.--Machine-Bolt and Set-Screw. The bolt to the left is used to clamp cylinder heads in place. The set-screw to the right is the cup variety. The end is countersunk to form a cup with a sharp rim.] The principal objection to set-screws is that they are dangerous. The heads always project and are ready to catch a coat sleeve when the shaft is revolving. In all cases, set-screws should be as large as the hub will allow, and it is better to have them protected so it is impossible to catch anything to wind around the shaft. Cup set-screws are not satisfactory except for very light work. If necessary to use them, the ends may be firmly fixed by cutting a ring with a sharp, diamond-point cold chisel. _Setting the Handsaw._--Nine teeth to the inch is the most satisfactory handsaw for all kinds of lumber. Setting the teeth of this kind of saw is best done with a hand lever set. The plunger pin should be carefully adjusted to bend the teeth just far enough to give the necessary set. For general work a saw needs more set than is needed for kiln-dried stuff. The teeth should cut a kerf just wide enough to clear the blade. Anything more is a waste of time and muscle. It is better to work from both sides of the saw by first setting one side the whole length of the blade. Then reverse the saw in the clamp and set the alternate teeth in the same manner. There should be a good solid stop between the handles of the set to insure equal pressure against each sawtooth. The pin should be carefully placed against each tooth at exactly the same spot every time and the pressure should be the same for each tooth. The best saw-sets for fine tooth saws are automatic so far as it is possible to make them so, but the skill of the operator determines the quality of the work. The reason for setting a saw before jointing is to leave the flattened ends of the teeth square with the blade after the jointing and filing is completed. _Jointing a Handsaw._--After the saw has been set it must be jointed to square the teeth and to even them to equal length, and to keep the saw straight on the cutting edge. Some woodworkers give their saws a slight camber, or belly, to correspond with the sway-back. The camber facilitates cutting to the bottom in mitre-box work without sawing into the bed piece of the box. It also throws the greatest weight of the thrust upon the middle teeth. A saw with even teeth cuts smoother, runs truer and works faster than a saw filed by guess. It is easy to file a saw when all of the teeth are the same length and all have the same set. Anyone can do a good job of filing if the saw is made right to begin with, but no one can put a saw in good working order with a three-cornered file as his only tool. [Illustration: Figure 95.--Saw Jointer. The wooden block is about two inches square by 12" or 14" in length. The block is made true and scribed carefully to have the ripsaw slot square, straight and true. The file is set into a mortise square with the block.] _Filing the Handsaw._--First comes the three-cornered file. It should be just large enough to do the work. There is no economy in buying larger files thinking that each of the three corners will answer the same purpose as a whole file of smaller size. In the first place the small file is better controlled and will do better work. In the second place the three corners are needed to gum the bottoms of the divisions between the teeth. There is much more wear on the corners than on the sides of a saw-file. Also the corners of a small file are more acute, which means a good deal in the shape of the finished teeth. After the saw is carefully set and jointed, clamp it in the saw vise and file one side of the saw from heel to point. Then reverse the saw in the saw clamp and file the other side, being careful to keep the bevel of each tooth the same. It is better to stop filing just before the tooth comes to a point. A triangular or diamond shaped point will cut faster and leave a smoother saw kerf and last longer than a needle point. As the tooth of a crosscut saw is filed away from both edges, it is necessary to make allowances when filing the first side, otherwise some of the teeth will come to a sharp point before the gumming is deep enough. _Using a Handsaw._--Anyone can saw a board square both up and down and crossways by following a few simple rules. Have the board supported on the level by two well made saw-benches 24" high. Stand up straight as possible and look down on both sides of the saw blade. Use long even strokes and let the saw play lightly and evenly through the saw cut. Do not cut the mark out; cut to it on the waste end, or further end, if there are more pieces to be cut from the board. The saw kerf is about 3/32" wide for a nine-tooth saw set for unkilned lumber or dimension stuff. If both saw kerfs are taken from one piece and none from the next then one length will be 3/16" shorter than the other. For practice it is a good plan to make two marks 3/32" apart and cut between them. Use a sharp-pointed scratchawl to make the marks. A penknife blade is next best, but it must be held flat against the blade of the square, otherwise it will crowd in or run off at a tangent. _Setting a Circular Saw._--A good saw-set for a circular saw may be made out of an old worn-out flat file. Heat the file in the forge fire to draw the temper and anneal it by covering it with ashes. Smooth it on the grindstone. Put it in the vise and file a notch in one edge. The notch should be just wide enough to fit loosely over the point of a sawtooth. The notch should be just deep enough to reach down one-quarter of the length of the tooth. Make a saw-set gauge out of a piece of flat iron or steel one inch wide and about four inches long. File a notch into and parallel to one edge at one corner, about one-sixteenth of an inch deep from the edge and about half an inch long measuring from the end. With the home-made saw-set bend the saw teeth outward until the points just miss the iron gauge in the corner notch. The edges of the gauge should be straight and parallel and the notch should be parallel with the edge. In use the edge of the gauge is laid against the side of the saw so the projecting tooth reaches into the notch. One-sixteenth of an inch may be too much set for a small saw but it won't be too much for a 24-inch wood saw working in green cord wood. _Jointing a Circular Saw._--Run the saw at full speed. Lay a 14-inch file flat on the top of the saw table at right angles to the saw. Move the file slowly and carefully towards the saw until it ticks against the teeth. Hold the file firmly by both ends until each sawtooth ticks lightly against the file. A saw in good working order needs very little jointing, but it should have attention every time the saw is set and it should be done after setting and before filing. _Filing a Circular Saw._--The teeth of a crosscut circular saw point a little ahead. Sometimes they point so nearly straight out from the center that you have to look twice to determine which way the saw should run. There are plenty of rules for the pitch of sawteeth, but they are subject to many qualifications. What interests a farmer is a saw that will cut green poles and crooked limbs into stove lengths with the least possible delay. A saw 20 inches in diameter will cut a stick eight inches through without turning it to finish the cut. The front or cutting edges of the teeth of a 24-inch crosscut circular saw for wood sawing should line to a point a little back from the center. This may not sound definite enough for best results, so the more particular farmers may use a straight edge. Select a straight stick about half an inch square. Rest it on top of or against the back of the saw mandrel and shape the forward edges of the teeth on a line with the upper side or rear side of the straight edge. The teeth will stand at the proper pitch when the saw is new, if it was designed for sawing green wood. If it works right before being filed, then the width of the straight edge may be made to conform to the original pitch and kept for future use. The gumming is done with the edge of the file while filing the front edges of the teeth. It is finished with the flat side of the file while filing the rear edges of the teeth. The depth, or length, of the teeth should be kept the same as the manufacturer designed them. A wood saw works best when the front edges of the teeth have but little bevel. The back edges should have more slant. The teeth should have three-cornered or diamond-shaped points. Needle points break off when they come against knots or cross-grained hardwood. Short teeth do no cutting. Single cut flat files are used for circular saws. The file should fit the saw. It should be about 1/8" wider than the length of the front side of the teeth. The back edges require that the file shall have some play to show part of the tooth while the file is in motion. Large files are clumsy. The file should be carefully selected. [Illustration: Figure 96.--How to Sharpen a Hoe. Grinding a hoe is difficult, but filing it sharp and straight at the cutting edge is easy. If the hoe chatters when held in the vise, spring a wooden block under the blade. Use false vise jaws to prevent dinging the shank.] _How to Sharpen a Hoe._--It is quicker and more satisfactory to file a hoe sharp than to grind it on the grindstone. The shank of the hoe must be held firmly in the vise and there should be a solid block of wood under the blade of the hoe, a little back from the edge; to keep the file from chattering. A single cut flat file is the best to use. It should be long enough to be easily held in one position to make a smooth, even bevel at the same angle to the face of the blade all the way across. To make sure not to file a feather edge it is better to joint the hoe to begin with, then to stop filing just before reaching the edge. If the edge be left 1/64" thick it will wear longer and work more easily after having been used an hour or two than it will if the edge be filed thin. This is especially noticeable when the ground contains small stones. Hoes are sharpened from the under side only. The inside of a hoe blade should be straight clear to the edge. Hoes should always have sharp corners. When working around valuable plants you want to know exactly where the corner of the hoe is when the blade is buried out of sight in the ground. _Shoeing Farm Horses._--Farmers have no time or inclination to make a business of shoeing horses, but there are occasions when it is necessary to pull a shoe or set a shoe and to do it quickly. Shoeing tools are not numerous or expensive. They consist first of a tool box, with a stiff iron handle made in the shape of a bale. The box contains a shoeing hammer, hoof rasp, hoof knife, or paring-knife, as it is usually called, and two sizes of horseshoe-nails. Sometimes a foot pedestal is used to set the horse's front foot on when the horse wants to bear down too hard, but this pedestal is not necessary in the farm shop. There are flat-footed horses that cannot work even in summer without shoes. Common sense and shoeing tools are the only requirements necessary to tack on a plate without calks. Shoes to fit any foot may be purchased at so much a pound. A paring-knife is used to level the bottom of the hoof so that it will have an even bearing on the shoe all the way round. It is not desirable to pare the frog or the braces in the bottom of a horse's foot. If the foot is well cupped, a little of the horny rim may be taken off near the edges. Generally it is necessary to shorten the toe. This is done partly with the hoof chisel and rasp after the shoe is nailed fast. Sometimes one-fourth of an inch is sufficient; at other times a horse's hoof is very much improved by taking off one-half inch or more of the toe growth either from the bottom or the front or both. Like all other mechanical work the shoeing of a horse's foot should be studied and planned before starting. A long toe is a bad leverage to overcome when pulling a heavy load. At the same time, nature intended that a horse should have considerable toe length as a protection to the more tender parts of the foot. And the pastern bone should play at the proper angle. [Illustration: Figure 97.--Tool Box for Field Use. The long open side is for tools. On the other side of the center partition bolts, keys, screws, nails, bits of wire, leather, tin, etc., are kept in the different divisions.] _Handy Tool Box._--A tool box with a high lengthwise partition in the middle and a handle in the middle of the top of the partition is the handiest tool box ever used on a farm. At haying and harvest time it should be fitted with the common tools required about haying and harvest machinery. One side is partitioned into square boxes to hold split wire keys, washers, bolts, rivets, and a collection of wire nails, bits of copper wire, a leather punch, etc. On the other side of the box is an assortment of wrenches, cold chisels, punches, pliers and hammers. This tool box belongs in the wagon that accompanies the outfit to the field. [Illustration: Figure 98.--Melting Ladle. Babbitting shaft boxing requires a melting ladle. It should be about five inches across the bowl and about three inches deep. That is a good size to heat in a forge fire.] _Babbitting Boxings._--Babbitting boxings is one of the repair jobs on the farm. Some men are careless about oiling; sometimes sand cuts them out. Every year some boxings need rebabbitting. The melting ladle should be large enough to pour the largest box. Usually a 5-inch bowl is about right. A large ladle will pour a small box but a small ladle won't pour a large one. In cold weather the shaft and box should be warmed to insure an even flow of metal. Pasteboard is fitted against the shaft when pouring the cap or top half of the box. Pasteboard is fitted around the shaft at the ends of the box to keep the melted metal from running out. Never use clay or putty, it is too mussy and the babbitt is made rough and uneven at the edges. Some skill is required to fit either wood or metal close enough to prevent leaks and to do a neat job. If the boxing is small, both top and bottom may be poured at once by making holes through the dividing pasteboard. The holes must be large enough to let the melted metal through and small enough to break apart easily when cold. CHAPTER III GENERATING MECHANICAL POWER TO DRIVE MODERN FARM MACHINERY At one time ninety-seven per cent of the population of the United States got their living directly from tilling the soil, and the power used was oxen and manual labor. At the present time probably not more than thirty-five per cent of our people are actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. And the power problem has been transferred to horses, steam, gasoline, kerosene and water power, with electricity as a power conveyor. Fifty years ago a farmer was lucky if he owned a single moldboard cast-iron plow that he could follow all day on foot and turn over one, or at most, two acres. The new traction engines are so powerful that it is possible to plow sixty feet in width, and other machines have been invented to follow the tractor throughout the planting and growing seasons to the end of the harvest. The tractor is supplemented by numerous smaller powers. All of which combine to make it possible for one-third of the people to grow enough to feed the whole American family and to export a surplus to Europe. At the same time, the standard of living is very much higher than it was when practically everyone worked in the fields to grow and to harvest the food necessary to live. Farm machinery is expensive, but it is more expensive to do without. Farmers who make the most money are the ones who use the greatest power and the best machinery. Farmers who have a hard time of it are the ones who use the old wheezy hand pump, the eight-foot harrow and the walking plow. The few horses they keep are small and the work worries them. The owner sympathizes with his team and that worries him. Worry is the commonest form of insanity. [Illustration: Figure 99.--Flail, the oldest threshing machine, still used for threshing pedigreed seeds to prevent mixing. The staff is seven or eight feet long and the swiple is about three feet long by two and one-half inches thick in the middle, tapering to one and one-half inches at the ends. The staff and swiple are fastened together by rawhide thongs.] [Illustration: Figure 100.--Bucket Yoke. It fits around the neck and over the shoulders. Such human yokes have been used for ages to carry two buckets of water, milk or other liquids. The buckets or pails should nearly balance each other. They are steadied by hand to prevent slopping.] At a famous plowing match held at Wheatland, Illinois, two interesting facts were brought out. Boys are not competing for furrow prizes and the walking plow has gone out of fashion. The plowing at the Wheatland plowing match was done by men with riding plows. Only one boy under eighteen years was ready to measure his ability against competition. The attendance of farmers and visitors numbered about three thousand, which shows that general interest in the old-fashioned plowing match is as keen as ever. A jumbo tractor on the grounds proved its ability to draw a big crowd and eighteen plows at the same time. It did its work well and without vulgar ostentation. Lack of sufficient land to keep it busy was the tractor's only disappointment, but it reached out a strong right arm and harrowed the furrows down fine, just to show that it "wasn't mad at nobody." [Illustration: Figure 101.--Well Sweep. The length of the sweep is sufficient to lower the bucket into the water and to raise it to the coping at the top of the brickwork. The rock on the short end of the sweep is just heavy enough to balance the bucket full of water.] Modern farm methods are continually demanding more power. Larger implements are being used and heavier horses are required to pull them. A great deal of farm work is done by engine power. Farm power is profitable when it is employed to its full capacity in manufacturing high-priced products. It may be profitable also in preventing waste by working up cheap materials into valuable by-products. The modern, well-managed farm is a factory and it should be managed along progressive factory methods. In a good dairy stable hay, straw, grains and other feeds are manufactured into high-priced cream and butter.