A Homemade Vulcanizer
Tire tubes may be vulcanized satisfactorily in the home garage, or even on the road, with the simple device shown in the sketch. It is made as follows: Obtain a piece of sheet iron, ¹⁄₄ in. thick, 3 in. wide, and 5 in. long. Drill a ¹⁄₄-in. hole at the middle of each end. Fit a strip of similar stock, 1 in. wide and 5 in. long, to the first piece with bolts, as shown. Procure a tin cover without embossing on the top, such as is used on baking-powder cans. Cut several disks to fit in the cover, from heavy cardboard; soak them thoroughly in a saturated solution of saltpeter, and dry them. Wrap each disk in oiled paper, and keep them in a water-tight container.
This Homemade Vulcanizer Utilizes the Heat from a Slowly Burning Disk of Cardboard
This Homemade Vulcanizer Utilizes the Heat from a Slowly Burning Disk of Cardboard
To use the vulcanizer, clean the area around the hole in the tube with sandpaper, and cut a piece of rubber of the proper size to fit over it. Slip one of the prepared cardboard disks into the tin cover, and clamp the cover and tire with patch into the iron frame, as shown. Touch a lighted match to the cardboard disk, which will burn rapidly, but without flame, supplying sufficient heat to vulcanize the tube.—Thomas W. Benson, Hastings on Hudson, N. Y.