I did not write this little book with the intention of apologizing to the prospective reader, so soon as I had done so, but with the honest, I hope not egotistical, feeling that I had something to say that was not generally known. We live to learn and to impart what we know to others, and I have taken this method of giving my experience in a pastime that is elevating, artistic in every sense of the word, and a wholesome relief from the cares of business.

In regard to the work itself, I can show samples of every thing of any importance described or given in it. I have not made all of the patterns given in the back part, for that is mere routine, but in gross, and in most details, the book is the result of experience, and will be found reliable as far as it goes. That it does not cover every possible change and use to which the lathe can be put, I am well aware.

Something must be left for the workman to find out himself. Neither have I given any recipes for varnishes, for those cannot be made by inexperienced persons. Moreover, they can be had so cheaply and universally, that it is mere folly for any amateur to make them.

Saluting all persons who love the art of which this little volume is descriptive,

I am their sincere friend,

New York, April 15, 1869.