These methods greatly expedite the labor of inlaying, for mere labor much of it is; that is, when repetition of the pattern is frequent, as it is in small designs.

The great trouble and vice of amateur mechanics is haste; they are too anxious to see the result of a design to give it proper attention in detail, and, as a consequence, it lacks that nicety and uniform elegance that characterize the shop-made goods. For where men work by the day, they are not too energetic as a rule.

DESIGNS IN MOSAIC.

By this I mean the employment of small bits of different colored woods to produce a certain effect. I have seen many that were made to represent foliage of trees, the wood being stained green, of course, but these works of art seem to me labor thrown away, and, except as mere curiosities, are in no wise attractive; for no workman can do more than imitate nature in this line, and it is a poor imitation.

A legitimate branch of this line of work is that wherein small bits, say of the size of Fig. 72, can be conveniently used. When laid in nicely, and the colors arranged to harmonize, they certainly look well, resembling the straw flower work, or inlaid straw work of Japan. The wood may be dyed any color desired, but it is much nicer to use those colored by nature, which do not fade. I give here a list of naturally colored woods, useful for this kind of work.

These woods all inlay well except the Spanish Cedar and Walnut, which are apt to chip and sliver off on the edges, when cut thin. Cam wood is a pretty red wood, very close in grain, but not to be had in veneers, as it is used chiefly for making dyes. Most of this kind of work looks better when ranged in angles about a center, though I recently saw a work-box in Boston, which had an accurate representation of a worsted pattern worked on a canvas, but as the workman had unfortunately selected a very ugly pattern, and the woods had faded, his labor was wholly thrown away.

After having arranged or laid one course in mosaic work, it is comparatively easy to follow the whole around, but it is absolutely essential that the pieces to be let in should be fac similes of each other, for unless this is the case, the pattern will come out wrong when the ends are joined, or where it meets. Great care must be observed in this, and as it would be almost impossible to cut slips of veneer so small, and be accurate, I prefer to take a slip of wood, and saw off of the end, having, of course, previously planed and callipered the stick perfectly true. Here let me say, that the saw I use for this purpose, is the watchmakers’ dividing saw, the same as jewellers use. Some of the saws are scarcely larger than a horse hair, while others are three-tenths of an inch deep and very narrow. With this instrument I can work very delicately as regards thinness and smoothness of surface. It is also admirable for scroll sawing, of which more hereafter.

Of course, all these are small jobs, and small, fine work; when it comes to more elaborate patterns, such as are generally found on tables, work-boxes, musical boxes, and similar things, it requires more time, but as the pattern is large, it requires no particular patience beyond that which a very fine piece of work does. But where the pieces are small, as in mosaic, it takes a great deal of patience to pick up one after another, and no small degree of artistic talent to bring them all in in the right place.