THE tools which one will need for whittling—the kind of whittling that makes something besides splinters—are very simple and few in number. Any boy’s pocket will furnish a jack-knife, and it is pretty sure to be a sharp one.
With a knife, a pencil, and some pieces of wood, all the other tools may be made. Basswood is the easiest wood to handle because it is soft, and very close grained. If basswood can not be had, pine is the next best wood, and an old egg crate, which any grocer will be glad to get rid of, will furnish you with enough whittling material for a long time.
The scale for measuring (Fig. 3) should be made first, as it is the tool most necessary in laying out the other tools. One of the thin strips from the side of the egg crate may be used for this. The outline of the scale must be drawn on the wood with a hard pencil. A “6 H” is the best. The “H” means “hard,” and the number of H’s shows the degree of hardness. The pencil should be sharpened on both ends—one end rubbed to a fine point on sandpaper, and the other end to a chisel point. The sharp point is to mark, accurately, the points to which lines are to be drawn, and the chisel point is to draw the lines with. After the outline is drawn it may be cut.
Fig. 3.
First take off a splinter or two to determine the direction of the grain, because one long cut against the grain might spoil your work. When this is determined, you should cut down almost to the outline, using a long, free stroke from the shoulder for the cutting in the direction of the grain. For the cross-grained cutting at the ends, the knife is held in the four fingers, with the thumb steadying the near side of the wood, and the cut is made toward the thumb. Only a very short cut may be made at a time, and then a bit of wood is clipped away so that the next cut may be made. This cutting, also, should be done near, but not on, the line. After the model is roughly cut out, it should be worked down very carefully to the lines, the beveled edge cut, and then sandpapered smooth all over. The sandpaper must be put over a small block of wood, and held very flat. Otherwise it will spoil a straight surface. Then the graduations are to be put on. If nothing better is at hand, the spacing may be done with mother’s tape measure. Lay off the spaces with the pointed end of the pencil, and then draw the lines which show the spacing, making those which show the sixteenths, 1/16 long; the eighths, 1/8 long; the quarters, 3/16 long; the halves, 5/16, or the full width of the bevel. This must be done with a pencil, for ink would run into the wood and spread. The inch dimensions should be marked 1, 2, 3, etc., and a light coat of shellac or varnish will add much to the durability of the scale. The back edge of the scale may be used as a straight edge, and to lay the pencil against for drawing lines, but it should be remembered that the scale itself—that is, the graduated side—must never be used for this. If it were, the graduations would soon be spoiled.
The tool which is most necessary next to the scale is the square (Fig. 4), and this should also be made with great accuracy. It is used to test two adjoining edges, to see if they are square with each other. In making anything of wood, one of the largest surfaces is generally made perfectly true, and marked with a little cross (x), designating it as the “face.” One of the adjoining edges—not a cross-grained one—is also made true and square with the first surface, and marked with a second cross, as the “working edge.” Then all the other measuring and squaring is done from these two surfaces.
Fig. 4.
The piece of wood to be tested should be held in the left hand, on a level with the eye, and the square held in the right hand, with one of the inner edges resting against the wood, and the other projecting over it is moved back and forth. Any unevenness in the wood will readily be seen. The outside edges of the square may also be used for testing the evenness of wide flat surfaces. It is made like the pattern, of two strips of wood, with a fitted joint glued together.
Fig. 1.
The knife strop shown in Fig. 1 is a great help in whittling, because it will keep your knife in good condition. A piece of the heavier wood at the end of the egg crate may be used for this. It is made from a strip measuring 11/2 wide by 11 long, and the strip of leather (cut from a discarded razor strop) is glued on. The 1/8 bevel is continued all the way around the handle on both sides to make it fit the hand. The hole in the end is to hang it up by, and may be made with a hammer and nail, or with a bit and brace if you have one.The pencil sharpener (Fig. 2), is also a very necessary help in whittling and it is very simple to make. A strip of thin wood 11/4x7 forms the foundation. This is narrowed down at the handle end to 3/4. The curves may be marked on the outline, free hand, and in cutting you must be very careful to remember the grain of the wood. The curves at the ends should be cut from each side toward the middle of the end, gradually working into a cross-cut. The curves at the sides must be cut from the wider part toward the handle, using the point of the knife, and working with great care so as not to split the wood. A strip of sandpaper 1x3 is glued on and the sharpener is complete.
Fig. 2.
With these tools finished a boy is ready to begin some real whittling, and make other models which will be quite as useful, and very much more attractive.
KNIFE-STROP
