The coat hanger is a convenient thing in every household, and also a good example of spokeshave work.

A soft wood, like pine, or white wood, is suitable, and after squaring up two faces and one edge, the design may be drawn on one or both of the faces with a sharp pencil. Cut close to the lines with a turning saw, and finish to lines with spokeshave.

The upper edge is next rounded with the spokeshave (Fig. 161), and finished with sand-paper to the cross section shown in the drawing. Bore a hole for the hook with a gimlet bit, and make the hook from strong brass wire, shaped by bending with a pair of pliers. For finishing, two coats of shellac can be used. The first coat after hardening is sand-papered flat with No. 00 sand-paper; the second may be treated in the same way, or rubbed down with ground pumice stone and linseed oil. (See polishing chapter.)

For the kitchen, the towel roller is still used to some extent, especially in the country and suburbs. It consists of four pieces, a back, two brackets, and the roller. These essential parts are shown in Fig. 162 and the back and brackets may be modified and improved as shown at b and c.

Carving can be used in a simple form on the ends, as shown at c. The back and ends are cut out with the usual tools, but it is wise, in cutting the outline of the ends, to glue them together with a piece of paper between, cutting both at the same time. This insures their being exactly alike, and when finished they may be easily separated by inserting the blade of a knife between them. The paper will split, half coming off on each piece.

After the paper and glue have been planed off, a hole is bored half way through each end from the inside. On one end it is necessary to cut a groove of the same width and depth as the hole, clear up to the top, so that the roller can be inserted after assembling, and a towel be put over it. The ends are fastened with two flat-head screws each, by boring through the back, and countersinking.

Two holes should also be bored through the back for fastening it to the wall.

The roller may be turned on a lathe or made at the bench by the following method:

1. Square up the stock to the diameter of the roller called for in the drawing.

2. Find the exact centre of each end by drawing the diagonals with a pencil.

3. Draw a circle on each end from these centres of full diameter.

4. Bore a hole at each of these centres ³/₈-inch diameter, and about an inch deep.

5. Plane off the four corners down to the circle to produce an octagonal form.

6. Plane off the eight corners, using as a stop a small piece of wood fastened in the vise. Hold the roller against this stop, and allow the stock to rest over the open space in the vise. Continue to plane off the edges as long as they are large enough to see or feel.

7. Sand-paper with coarse, followed by fine, sand-paper.

8. Glue into the holes in the ends pieces of dowel long enough to project out about half an inch.

9. Allow the glue to harden over night, and saw off the dowels next day to the proper length. Cut a slight bevel on the end of each dowel with the knife.

If any carving is to be done on the ends, it must be cut before they are screwed to the back piece.

This method of producing a cylinder without a turning lathe can be used in a number of ways. For example, boys living in the city, where a pull-up bar has to be located in the house, can easily make one in this way, and fasten it between the door jambs at a convenient height.

The blocks for supporting it can be made, as shown in Fig. 163, three inches each way and ¹/₂ inch thick. Oak is the best wood for this purpose. It is strong enough, and can be stained to match the door frame.

Bore and countersink four holes for 1¹/₄-inch flat-head screws.

To prevent the bar turning, after it has been planed round and about ¹/₈ inch shorter than the space between the jambs, lay out a one-inch square on each end. Cut out with a back saw, and chisel until it just fits the square opening in the blocks. This bar can be taken out and stored in a closet, when not in use, and the blocks will never be in the way.

If the bar is so loose in the blocks that it has a tendency to spring out when you jump for it, a flat piece of oak can be screwed across the top, as shown in the illustration.

This is an excellent, if limited, gymnasium for those who get little exercise and whose time and space are limited. Every boy ought to be able to "chin the bar" at least six or seven times without letting go.

Round objects with a taper, such as pointers and musicians' batons, can be made by this method, always getting the taper in the square form first, then planing off corners, etc. It is really work for a turning lathe, but one must work with such tools as he can afford to purchase.

Many useful articles of oval or elliptical cross section can be made at a bench which could not be made on an ordinary lathe. The hatchet handle shown in Fig. 164 is a good example. The wood used should be strong and tough, such as hickory or maple. After squaring up the stock to the over all dimensions, the outline is drawn on both flat faces, and sawed close to the lines with turning saw, finished with drawing knife and spokeshave. The oval or elliptical forms are then drawn on the ends, the corners rounded with spokeshave to these curves, and the whole finished with sand-paper.

The hammer handle (Fig. 165) is made in the same manner.

The woodworkers of Northern Europe make many household utensils in this way. The sugar scoop and the wooden ladle, shown in Figs. 166 and 166 a, are familiar examples. In these two cases, the bowl is work for the gouge, while in rounding, some of the surfaces are done with the file. On general principles, it is not wise to get into the habit of using a file on wood, except in rare cases where the material is very hard, such as maple, beech, and similar woods.

The towel rack shown in Fig. 167 is suitable for the bath or bed room, and can readily be made by any boy.

The back piece is made with plane and chisel. The straight bevels are cut with the smoothing plane, and the curves with the chisel. The two openings or mortises should be laid out and cut before the ends are rounded. The wood is removed by boring several small holes within the lines, and finishing to line with a chisel and mallet. The two supports, or brackets, involve nothing new, and after being finished are glued into mortises.

The towel sticks may be ten inches or more in length, squared up to ⁷/₈ inch × ¹/₂ inch. The taper begins two inches from the bored end, and from this point is planed in a straight line to ³/₈ inch square at the small end. The rounding is done in the same manner as in the towel roller, the tips rounded with a knife, and the whole piece sand-papered smooth.

The three sticks are held between the two supports and a ³/₈-inch dowel passed through the five holes, which should of course be in line.

The ends of this dowel can be split before they are placed, and then in the final position small thin wedges can be driven in with a little glue.