The making of household furniture is a fascinating employment, and as there are varying styles and fashions in nearly all things which pertain to our homes, it will always be an interesting study. The savage knows nothing of furniture, for the ground is his chair, bed, and table. As we go up in the scale of civilization, we find the characteristics of a people reflected in the details of their home life.

In Japan, the house and its equipment are characterized by directness, simplicity, and subtle beauty.

In America, we find a bewildering display of ever-changing devices, styles, forms, and schemes of decoration, in keeping with our rapidly changing and, we believe, rapidly improving taste in the intimate things of life.

This condition is reflected in our furniture as much as in our clothes and in the pictures we buy. The black walnut furniture, with its hard horsehair upholstering, has been followed by antique oak, fumed oak, golden oak, forest green oak, mahogany, bird's-eye maple, French walnut, etc., and in a very few years we shall probably be using some of the beautiful but almost unknown woods of the Philippines, because fashions in woods are very materially affected by the lumber supply.

Gilt chairs—not made to sit on—have been followed by the more sensible mission style, bringing a much needed simplicity, directness, and strength, together with an unfortunate addition of weight for the housewife to move around when cleaning. There seems to be no great gain without some loss. Modern office furniture, with its simple and strong chairs, tables, and desks, can hardly be improved upon, and it is almost a pity that some of these excellencies cannot be introduced into the home, which is often overloaded, overdecorated, and encumbered with unnecessary articles.

Miss Louise Brigham gives us a fragrant breath of fresh air along this line in her interesting book on furniture made from boxes. What is needed is clear thinking. Never design nor make a piece of furniture without asking, "What is this to be used for? What will be required of it?" etc.

This is the gist of what Ralph said to Harry one day when they were about to launch out into the making of footstools, tabourettes and other small pieces of furniture. Harry would have liked very much to start with a dining-room table, but Ralph suggested diplomatically that it might be a good scheme to try several smaller pieces first.

They decided on a footstool, and this is the catechism Ralph put Harry through as they worked out their drawing:

"What is a footstool for?"

"To rest your feet on."

"Is that all?"

"What else could it be used for?"

"Never answer a question by asking another! I should say that a footstool might have to stand hard usage. For instance, suppose you wanted to reach a shelf high up in a closet. If the stool was handy, you would probably stand on it. Others would do the same, and it is easily possible that somebody weighing over two hundred pounds might some day stand on it. So I should say, that the first requisite of a footstool was strength, and the second that it should not be easily upset.

"When designing furniture, just ask yourself such questions, and you will find that your designs will be affected by them. Now I believe that most footstools are too high and too easily upset."

The first design tried is shown in Fig. 173. The material used was ¹/₂-inch chestnut. After squaring up the top, the two grooves were cut to receive the upper ends of the legs. For grooves of this character, after cutting the lines as deep as possible with the knife, followed by the chisel, the router may be used. The cutter can be adjusted by means of the set screw, and a more uniform depth secured than with the chisel.

There was considerable work on the legs because of the mortise for the shelf, and the two openings above. These were cut out close to the line with the turning saw after a hole had been bored in each space, as in scroll saw work.

The outline of the legs was obtained with the same tool, and finished with the gouge, spokeshave, and sand-paper. Where hard wood, such as oak, is used, the wood file may be applied to curved edges.

To overcome the tendency to spread, the legs were made rigid by cutting the tenons shown on the drawing of the shelf. In each tenon was cut the square hole for the wedges. This shelf, when securely wedged, bound the whole structure rigidly. When the question of securing the legs to the top came up, the boys were inclined to use round-head blue screws from the top, but after considering that they would be in end grain, it looked as if this would be the weakest part of the stool. The solution was an heroic one. Four angle irons were made out of strap iron taken from a packing case, and cut with a cold chisel into pieces 2¹/₂ inches long. Each had two holes drilled in it to receive the screws, and was then bent into shape in an iron vise. A monkey wrench can be used as a vise for work as light as this. The screws used were ³/₈ inch long, one fastened in the top, the other in the leg, for each of the four angle irons.

Chestnut has a very open grain, and takes a stain very well. Our boys bought a small can of paste filler, coloured it with burnt umber, thinned it with turpentine to the consistency of cream, and put it on with a brush. The surfaces were rubbed down with cotton waste, and then it was left over night, to be ready for polishing in the morning.

After this stool was finished, the boys looked it over critically, and decided that it could be improved on, that it was too high and not heavy enough.

Footstool number two is shown in Fig. 174. In this design, the shelf is dispensed with, and two stretchers or side pieces substituted; stock ⁷/₈ and ³/₄ inch thick took the place of ¹/₂ inch. The two ends were glued together with paper between, cut out as one piece, afterward separated, and the paper and glue planed off. The curved outline was drawn on paper, traced on the wood, sawed out with turning saw, and finished to line as in previous work.

The joint for fastening the side piece to the legs is shown in the drawing. It makes a strong and rigid combination, calling for a good fit. In putting on the top piece, angle irons can be used, but the boys tried a new method. After gluing the joint, they bored holes and countersunk them through the sides, forcing flat-head screws 2¹/₄ inches long up into the top.

Being below the level of the eye, these were invisible, and they saved the time and labour of making angle irons. Two screws on each side are enough to make a solid piece of work. The material was quartered oak with antique finish. To produce this effect, lampblack dissolved in turpentine was added to the filler, and after drying was polished to a dead flat finish. (See polishing chapter.)

Design number three is shown in Fig. 175. The legs run the long way of the stool; joints the same as number two; top fastened by screws through cross piece. The height, being much less than in the first designs, gives it a very massive and substantial appearance. All eight edges of the top have been slightly rounded with plane and sand-paper. This stool is non-upsetable in the direction of its length. Stand on the extreme end of the top and lean backward; the stool will not tilt up in the slightest degree. Harry tried this several times, but it remained on the floor with all four feet. This does not apply to the width, so the boys designed number four (Fig. 176), which would not upset from the side, where the feet are usually placed. It is even lower than number three, and as the other dimensions are practically the same, it appears even more massive.

The construction is similar to number three, but the legs are again at the ends, and the whole being made of oak, or ash, it is practically indestructible.

A very beautiful golden-brown finish may be given these stools by first coating them with bichromate of potash.

This chemical comes in crystals, which readily dissolve in water. Put it on with a one-inch varnish brush and, when dry, sand-paper down flat with No. 0 sand-paper. Two or three coats of shellac, each allowed to harden and dry thoroughly before being rubbed down with sand-paper, will give a satisfactory polish. Finish by a rub down with raw linseed oil, and wipe dry.