Charles G. Wheeler

Anvil.—An anvil is often useful and is sometimes combined with a vise. It should have a flat steel surface and also a tapering, rounded (conical) point. An old flat-iron does quite well.

Auger-Bit.—See Bits.

Fig. 464.

Awl.—The Brad-awl is the simplest boring tool you will use. Unlike gimlets and bits, it does not take out any wood, but merely presses it aside out of the way, which is good for nail and screw holes, because the elasticity of the woody fibres tends to make them spring back and close around the nail or screw, thus helping to keep it in place. The awl should always be a trifle smaller than the nail. Bore with the cutting edge across the grain of the wood, on the same principle as in driving nails (Fig. 464), lest the wedge shape of the tool cause the wood to split (see Nailing). Press the awl straight down in this position until the point is well into the wood, when you can twist it a little, at the same time pushing it further into the wood. There is always risk of splitting thin wood near an edge, unless you use great care. The brad-awl can be sharpened easily. See Sharpening and also Boring.

Do not buy combination awls with "tool-chest handles," filled with an assortment of awls and little chisels, gouges, screw-drivers, saws, etc. Such affairs are sometimes useful, but the loose tools are apt to become lost or broken, and the money can be used to better advantage in other ways.

It is well to have a variety of sizes of awls, fitted into hardwood handles. An awl handle into which awls of various sizes can be fitted, somewhat as a brace holds bits, answers very well, if you have to carry your tools from place to place, but for shop-work it is more convenient to have each awl in a separate handle.

The Marking-awl or Scratch-awl is simply an awl with a round, sharp point used for marking in carpentry, but for very close work a knife or chisel is better. See Marking.

Axe.—This is such a common tool that it needs no description, and is, moreover, seldom required for amateur work.

Back-Saw.—See Saw.

Fig. 465.

Beading.—A tool for scraping beading, reeds, and the like, can be made by filing the reverse of the shape required on the edge of a piece of saw-blade steel, taken from a broken saw or scraper, and inserting this blade in a kerf sawed in the end of a piece of wood (Fig. 465). To change the position of the blade, one or both of the screws can be loosened and then tightened after the blade has been adjusted. This tool is pushed forward with both hands, much like a scraper, the shoulder of the block bearing against the edge of the board as in using the gauge (Fig. 466). Tools for this purpose can be bought.

Fig. 466.

It usually produces the best effect not to carry this beading to the extreme ends of an edge, but to stop a short distance from the ends and with a chisel cut the beads to a square and abrupt end (Fig. 305). See Plane.

Fig. 467.

Bending Wood.—To bend a piece (without steaming or boiling) which is to be fastened so that but one side will show, make a series of saw-cuts of equal depth (Fig. 467) across the piece, and partly through it, on the back side (the side which will not show), first running a gauge line along the edge (see Gauge), that the cuts may be of equal depth. This will practically, so far as bending is concerned, make the piece thinner, and it can readily be bent and fastened in position. The nearer together and the deeper the cuts are the more the piece can be bent—that is, up to the breaking-point. Hot water can be used on the face side. Such curves can sometimes be strengthened by driving wedges, with glue, into the saw-kerfs after the piece is bent to the desired curve (Fig. 468).

Fig. 468.

To make a small piece of wood pliable, so that it will bend to any reasonable extent (which, however, depends much upon the kind of wood), soak it for some time in boiling water, when it can usually be bent into the desired shape. It must be securely held in position until the moisture has entirely left it, or it will spring back to (or towards) its original shape. This drying will take from several hours to several days, according to the size of the piece and the condition of the atmosphere. There is almost always a tendency to spring back a little towards the original shape, so it is well to bend a piece a little more than you wish it to remain, except where it is to be fastened so that it cannot spring back.

Wood which naturally bends easily (particularly thin pieces) can often be made pliable enough by simply soaking in cold water, but hot water is usually more effective. Anything which you cannot manage with the hot water you can take to a mill or a ship-yard and have steamed in a regular steam-chest, which is really nothing, in principle, but a big wooden or iron box, with a steam-pipe running into it, in which the pieces are kept until the steam has made them pliable. Wood is now bent for many purposes by "end pressure," but this is impracticable for the amateur.

Fig. 469.

To bend the ends of pieces like skis, hockies, etc., a big kettle or common wash-boiler full of boiling water can be used. An apparatus for long sticks, as ribs for a canoe, can be made with a piece of iron pipe of suitable size. Plug one end tightly and stick it firmly in the ground, so that the pipe is fixed in a slanting direction. Put water in the pipe, build a fire underneath, put the sticks in the pipe, stuff a rag loosely in the upper end and the apparatus will be in working order (Fig. 469).

Fig. 470.

You must often have some sort of form or mould for bending the piece and for holding it while drying. For some kinds of bending, where there is no occasion to be accurate, you can often bend a piece around some corner or common object, as a barrel, log, etc., and tie it in place until dry, or fasten it with cleats, but for nice work you should make a form or mould. If you wish to bend ribs, for instance, which should be accurate in shape, you can cut a piece of board or plank to fit the concave side of the desired curve. Fasten this piece upon any flat surface, as an old plank, and bore holes for wooden pins around the curve at such a distance from the pattern piece or mould that the piece to be bent can be firmly wedged against it, as shown in Fig. 470; or you can attach blocks instead of pins—any arrangement by which the bent piece can be wedged in place. A strap of hoop iron or other metal or even a thin piece of wood can be placed outside of the stick to be bent, to prevent the wood splitting or splintering on the outside, as it is liable to do if bent much, unless of good quality and straight grain, but there is no need of doing this in many cases.

Fig. 471.

Another way is to have the mould or form in two parts, as the two parts of a board or plank through which the curve has been sawed (Fig. 471). The piece to be bent is put between the two forms, which are then pressed together by clamps, wedges, or a lever. This is a good way for short pieces which cannot easily be bent, or which do not readily cling to the required curve.

Fig. 472.

Another form of bending-mould is shown (an inverted view) in Fig. 472. In this case the pieces to be bent are held in place by easily made clamps.

A simple way to make a form for bending strips is to cut the curve out of a piece of plank, or boards nailed together (Fig. 473). The end of the strip is then caught against the cleat and the piece bent around the curve. If it tends to spring off the curve, you must contrive some way to clamp, wedge, or even tie it in place. As a piece must be left on the form until dry and set, if you have a number to bend, it may be better to make a form wide enough to bend them all at once. Take any boards, or build a curved addition on the end of a box, and contrive a wider form on the same principle (Fig. 474).

Fig. 473.

Fig. 474.

For ribs, and the like, the stock should be got out so that the annual layers will be at right angles to the direction of the nails with which the pieces are to be fastened, or parallel with the curved sides of the pieces.

Bevel.—This is similar to the square, but with a movable blade which can be set at any angle. When permanently fixed at an angle of 45°, it is called a mitre-square. The bevel is useful, not merely to mark any desired angle, but to repeat some angle already formed, to which you apply it, moving the blade until it fits the angle, when the tool can be applied to another piece and the angle repeated. The directions about holding the head of the square close to the edge apply also to the use of the bevel (see Square).

Fig. 475.

To obtain an angle of 45° with the bevel, place it against the inside edge of the large steel square (Fig. 475), setting the blade at such an angle that it will intercept equal distances on both arms of the square.

Fig. 476.

On this same principle, for other angles, observe the figures intercepted by the blade, as shown in Fig. 476. Note that for this angle the figures are 2 and 4, and you can get the angle again at any time by setting the bevel at those figures. You can also set the bevel by laying off the required angle with compasses on a straight-edged board, to which the bevel can be applied. The angle should be so laid out on the board that it will not be necessary to try to set the point of the compasses exactly at the edge, which is of course impossible. See Bevelling.

Fig. 477.

Bevelling.—To bevel the edge of a piece with the chisel, draw-knife, spoke-shave, plane, or even knife, first mark parallel lines to work to with a pencil-gauge (see Gauge) rather than a spur-gauge, so as not to leave a scratch to disfigure the work after the bevel or chamfer is cut (Figs. 477 and 485). Then pare the edge down gradually to these lines, or prepare the way by first scoring the wood with cuts (Fig. 615), being sure to trim off in the direction of the grain; but in bevelling both end and side, as in Fig. 478, first cut the end, because of possible chipping at the corner, and in cutting the end you can work from each corner towards the centre. In paring a bevel across the grain, push the chisel as shown in Fig. 479, as it is the easiest and cleanest way to cut, and prevents splintering.

Fig. 478.

RIGHT.WRONG.
Fig. 479.

A simple bevel (Figs. 477 and 478) is usually best made with the plane, whenever there is room to use it. Plane bevels in end wood from both edges and you can often slant the plane to good advantage like the chisel in Fig. 479. See also Chamfering.

Bit-Brace or Bit-Stock.—This tool requires no description. The ratchet brace is useful for boring in awkward places where it is difficult to use a common bit-stock. There is also a contrivance for extending the bit-brace to bore in places which cannot be reached by the common brace alone, but this you will seldom require. An angular bit-stock, with a "universal angle" adjustment, is useful. By this the bit can be pointed in different directions, while the bit-stock is turned continuously in the ordinary way, thus enabling a hole to be conveniently bored in an out-of-the-way corner. See Boring.

Bits.—The auger-bit (the sizes of which are arranged by sixteenths of an inch) so commonly used with the bit-brace, consists, at the cutting end, of a spur, two scoring-nibs, and two cutting-lips. You will see from Fig. 480 that the spur a, acting like a gimlet point or a screw (which it is), starts the bit by drawing it into the wood so that the scoring-nibs b make a circular cut around the circumference. As this cut deepens, the cutting-lips c slice away the wood to be removed in the form of shavings, which are brought to the surface as the boring proceeds.

This bit can be sharpened with a file, the scoring-nibs being sharpened from the inside, lest they be made to score a circle too small for the rest of the bit, while the cutting-lips are filed from the under side.

Fig. 480.

Fig. 481.

The centre-bit is a useful tool, particularly for very thin stock. The spear-like point a (Fig. 481), acting as a centre, the point b cuts a deep ring, and the edge c, which is bent so as to form a flat chisel, scoops out the pieces of wood, and so a round and smooth hole is made. This bit does not cut very well with the grain. It can be sharpened with a small oil-stone. It is well to bore a trial hole with this bit in a piece of waste wood when exactness is required, because the spur is not exactly in the centre, so that the hole cut is a trifle wider than the diameter of the bit.

The expansion-bit has an adjustable contrivance that enables it to bore holes of various sizes, but such tools are hardly necessary for beginners, though very convenient and often used by carpenters.

The gimlet-bit is a common form, but is easily dulled and bent and is likely to split delicate work. The quill-bit is excellent, except for end grain. Shell-bit, gouge-bit, pod-bit, spoon-bit, duck's-bill-bit, etc., are names applied to simple tools good for boring small holes. They are easily sharpened with a stone, work quickly and leave a smooth hole, but do not cut so well in end grain. They are not as much in use as formerly, the twist-drill taking their place for many purposes.

Reamers, or tapering bits (half-round, square, octagonal, conical), are useful to enlarge holes and occasionally to make them conical. Reamers for metal are also useful.

For other forms of boring implements, see Awls and Twist-drill. See also Boring and Countersink.

Block-Plane.—See Plane.

Fig. 482.

Boards or Planks, Laying Exposed.—In laying boards or planks to be exposed to the weather, place them (unless they are from the middle of the tree) so as to have the outer side exposed—that is, the side farthest from the heart should be put outside or uppermost. If put the other way the action of the atmosphere, water, etc., will tend to separate and loosen the layers and fibres (Fig. 482).

Boring.—In boring with the bit-brace, after the bit has gone a short distance into the wood, stop and, keeping the brace in position, test carefully from in front and from one side to see whether the bit is at right angles to the surface. Repeat this test and alter the position of the brace as many times as may be necessary until you are sure that the bit is going through at the right angle. A common way to do this is to stand squarely in front of the work and judge by the eye whether the bit is at right angles with the work, and then to stand at either side at right angles to the first position and judge of the angle again. The direction of the bit can be tested more accurately by applying the square. Few people can bore accurately without some such test.

Fig. 483.

Some workmen rest the chin on the left hand on top of the handle of the brace, to steady it (Fig. 483), and to increase the pressure, and sometimes the shoulder is applied.

To remove a bit from the wood, give the brace a turn or two backward, which will loosen the spur, and then either pull the bit straight out, if it can be done easily without turning the brace, or, as you pull it out, keep turning the brace as if boring, thus bringing out the chips, which, if you remove the bit by turning the brace backward, will be left in the hole.

In boring through a board or timber, watch to see when the spur of the bit begins to come through on the other side; when it does, turn the piece over and bore in from that side, or clamp a piece of waste wood on the other side and bore right through into it. Either way will prevent splintering or a ragged or "burred" edge, where the bit leaves the wood.

In boring a hole of any depth with the grain, i.e., in the end of a piece of wood, withdraw the bit, after it has entered the wood a short distance, to clear the chips from the hole, reinsert, bore, and withdraw again, and continue in this way until you reach the required depth. This will save injuring the bit, and will make the boring easier.

In boring with small bits, particularly when there is danger of splitting, as with the gimlet-bit, draw out the bit and chips once in a while.

When the position of a hole must be exact on both sides of the wood it is well to mark the position accurately on each side and bore from each side until the holes meet.

Frequently holes must not be bored through a piece, but must stop at a certain depth. Suppose you have to make a dozen holes 2" deep. Take a wooden tube if you have one, or bore a hole through a block of wood of such length that when pressed against the jaws of the brace two inches of the end of the bit will project beyond the tube or block (Fig. 484). Then bore until the end of the tube touches the surface of the wood, when the hole will, of course, be 2" deep. Metal attachments can be bought for this purpose. See Awl, Bits, Twist-drill.

Fig. 484.

To cut a hole larger than any bit you have, bore a series of smaller holes just within the circumference of the desired circle, and trim to the line with the gouge or finish with keyhole or compass-saw.

Bow-Saw.—See Saw.

Brad-awl.—See Awl.

Bruises, To Take Out.—Small bruises in wood can be taken out by wetting the place with warm water, or even with cold water, and rubbing down the grain with sandpaper if necessary. If that is not sufficient, a hot iron, as a flat-iron, held near the bruise, the latter being covered with wet blotting paper or several thicknesses of brown paper, will often remove a quite large dent. The operation can be repeated until it has no further effect.

Brushes.—It is well to have a brush of some sort for cleaning off work, the bench, etc. A sash brush is good.

For most of your painting, shell acing, etc., you will usually get along better with small flat brushes than with large round ones, except for very coarse work. Those with flattened handles are convenient. From one to two inches in diameter will usually be large enough, unless for such work as painting the outside of a house, when something larger will save time. For painting small or narrow surfaces, the brushes used for "drawing" sashes are good, and for drawing lines "pencil" brushes will be required. A good brush for glue can be made by soaking one end of a piece of rattan in hot water and then pounding the softened part, when the fibres will separate, making a stiff brush.

Bull-Nosed Plane—See Plane.

Calipers.—Calipers, which are "inside" or "outside," according to whether they are to find the diameter of a hole or the outside diameter of an object, are very important in some work, as turning, but, though very useful at times, are not nearly as important for the work of the beginner as compasses.

Carving-Chisel.—See Carving Tools.

Carving Tools.—A few carving tools are often very useful for general wood-work. It is convenient to have these carving tools fitted in handles of a different pattern from your other tools. An octagonal shape is good. A carving-chisel is very useful in working on odd-shaped pieces, because the cutting edge is bevelled on both sides. A carver's skew chisel will be, perhaps, more generally useful for your work than one ground squarely across. A parting-tool, sometimes called a "V tool," is occasionally convenient, though hardly a necessity for most plain work. A small veining-tool (like a very small gouge) is often useful.

Centre-Bit.—See Bits.

Chalk-Line.—See Marking.

Chamfering.—A chamfer is the surface formed by cutting away the angle made by two faces of a piece of wood.

Fig. 485.

In cutting the ends of a stop-chamfer (Fig. 485), take care not to cut quite down to the line at first, as you will be very apt to cut a little too deep and leave a tool mark which cannot be removed. In the case of long stop-chamfers, use the plane whenever you can, so far as it can be used without hitting the wood at the ends. The draw-knife can often be used to remove the wood, being followed by the plane. The plane can be used slantingly, so as to cut nearer the ends, and a bull-nosed plane will cut nearer still, but the extreme ends will have to be trimmed to shape with the chisel or other tool. See also Bevelling and Paring.

Chisel.—The firmer-chisel is meant for light hand-work, for paring off wood and trimming to shape, and can be used for light mortising, though the mortise-chisel is intended for that purpose. It is often an advantage to have the long edges of such a chisel bevelled on the same side as the cutting basil, as it can be used more conveniently in some places. Taking off the corner of the basil when grinding, often answers the purpose.

The framing-chisel is stouter than the firmer, has a stronger handle to stand heavy blows of the mallet, and is meant, as the name indicates, for framing, mortising, and other heavy work.[41] See Mortising.

Fig. 486.

Fig. 487.

The straight-bent chisel is shaped as shown in Fig. 487, and is very useful for cleaning out corners, grooves, and other places where the common firmer-chisel cannot be used to advantage.

A skew-chisel is simply ground slanting, instead of squarely across, and is useful for corners and odd work. See Carving Tools.

There are other forms, seldom needed by the amateur, as the corner-chisel, which is used for cutting or paring angles and corners.

Those chisels and gouges which have the handles fitted into sockets at the upper end of the iron, instead of the iron being stuck into the handle, and with ferrules at the upper end where they are struck by the mallet are, of course, the strongest for heavy work, although the lighter handles are just as good for light work.

Do not let your left hand get in front of the edge of the chisel while working, for the tool may slip and give you a bad cut, and in most cases the left hand should be kept on the lower part of the chisel to help control it, which is not easily done with one hand. In some cases, as in paring the edge of a piece directly downward towards the bench, it may be proper to hold the work with the left hand and use the chisel with the right; but as a rule, particularly for beginners, first see that the work is securely fastened or held from slipping by vise, clamp, or other expedient, and then keep the left hand on the chisel, which will steady and guide the tool, and, incidentally, prevent the hand from being cut. See Paring and Sharpening.

Circular-plane.—See Plane.

Clamps.—Long clamps (cabinet-clamps), shown in the accompanying illustrations, are extremely useful in making glued joints and in various clamping operations. Many, of different lengths, are to be found in wood-working shops. Although much work can be accomplished without them, if you can afford a pair or more of medium length, or longer, they will be very useful. Wooden clamps will answer every purpose, although steel ones are better, but more expensive.

Fig. 488.

To clamp two or more flat pieces together, as in making a "glue-joint," or in clamping framework, as a door or picture-frame, lay the work across the horses, which should be so placed that their tops will be as nearly level, or in the same plane, as possible, and apply the clamps as shown in Fig. 488, always putting pieces of waste wood between the edges of the work and the clamps. Place the clamps so that either the flat side of the bar or the corner, as shown, will lie against the surface of the work, thus keeping it from bending towards the bar when the screw is tightened. The number of clamps to be used must depend on the size of the work, but there is not usually much danger of an amateur's work being clamped too securely.[42]

If you have to glue a flexible strip, put a stiff piece outside between it and the clamp to distribute the pressure.

You will often find by sighting across the surface of the work as you tighten the clamps, particularly in the case of door-frames, picture-frames, and the like, that the surface is winding. When this happens, move one or more corners of the work up or down, as the case may be, in the clamps, and thus take out the winding. A little experimenting will show how to do this. In the case of framed work, such as doors or picture-frames, test the angles with the square as soon as the joints are brought to a bearing. If the angles are not right, as will often be the case, move one end of either one or both of the clamps to the right or left, as the case may be, and you can easily change the angle until the square shows it to be right, when the screws can be tightened and the joints should close accurately. In clamping nearly all kinds of "case" work, such as bookcases, cabinets, boxes, and the like, these directions about moving the clamps until the angles are correct and the work free from winding are applicable.

In such cases as that shown in Fig. 488, waste no time in trying to get the surfaces exactly flush with each other at the joint before partially tightening the clamps, lest the glue become set. Any slight alteration can best then be made by tapping with the hammer near the joint, whenever either piece needs to be raised or lowered, putting a block under the hammer if the dent will not be removed by planing (see Gluing). The clamps can then be screwed tighter.

Fig. 489.

In such cases as gluing the joints of a box, put stout blocks or cleats over the joints before tightening the clamps (Fig. 489), to distribute the pressure. This applies to all cases of clamping where the pieces to be glued are not heavy enough to resist the change of shape from the pressure of the clamps, and pieces of waste wood are almost always required in any case to prevent bruising of the work.

Fig. 490.

You can contrive home-made clamps out of any strong pieces of wood of suitable length, by nailing or screwing a block at each end (Fig. 490), when the work can be tightly wedged to a close bearing by driving home the double wedge shown, using, if necessary, one or more blocks, B, when you use the clamp for smaller work than that for which it was made. By keeping such clamps for future use, you will soon have enough to answer very well until you can afford to buy the regular cabinet-clamps.

On the same principle, a simple clamp, derived from the Orient, can be made by boring a series of holes in two stout strips—just as the holes are bored in the sides of a ladder, but nearer together. The work to be glued is laid on one of these strips in the same way as shown in Fig. 490. The other strip is then placed directly above and stout pins put through corresponding holes outside of the work, which can then be wedged against the pins in the way just shown.

Another way, which can be applied to many cases, is to put a stout cord, doubled, around the work, and inserting a stick between the two parts of the string, turn it around until, the doubled cord thus becoming shortened, the parts of the work are drawn together. This can only be done where there is room to swing the stick around, as, for example, to tighten the rounds of a chair by drawing the legs together (Fig. 491).

Fig. 491.

Fig. 492.

You can often apply pressure, when no more convenient means are at hand, by making use of the elasticity of a board or pole. Suppose, for example, you need to press two blocks tightly together, as shown in Fig. 492. Place them on the bench or floor and spring in a board or pole between the top of the upper block and a beam of the floor above, as shown. Of course this board must be a little longer than merely to reach between the two points, as it must be sprung into place bent, when in the effort to straighten itself out again it will cause pressure on the blocks. Pieces should be placed outside the blocks when scarring of the surface is to be avoided. The pressure can be applied in any direction, always supposing that you have something firm to press against.

Pressure can often be obtained by a lever, and many applications of the wedge will suggest themselves in your work. Even if you have a shopful of clamps and hand-screws and vises, these applications of the simple mechanical powers often come into play (see Fig. 390). See also page 71.

Adjustable wood-carver's clamps can be bought for holding pieces in position on the bench, and are useful, but by no means necessary, as common clamps, or various devices, can be used.

The small iron clamps which can be used in place of hand-screws are very useful.

For other suggestions about clamping, see Hand-screws.

Fig. 493.

Fig. 494.

Cleating.—A simple way to join two or more pieces of board or plank to make a wider piece is to cleat them. If short, they can be cleated across the ends. This can also be done to keep a single board from warping (Fig. 493). Such a cleat should not be glued unless the width is very slight, on account of the expansion and contraction across the board being so much greater than that lengthways of the cleat (see pages 50-53). Screws (which are best), nails, or dowels should be used, as they will give some play to the pieces. A groove can also be made in the cleat, into which a tongue on the end of the board is fitted. Grooves can be cut in both cleat and board and a tongue or spline inserted (Fig. 494). These are operations best done by machinery. This end-cleating does very well on small work and where the tendency to warp is not too great. For heavier work, as doors, cleats on the side are better, but they are sometimes in the way, and not always desirable on the ground of looks. This is a strong way. Side cleats should be fastened with screws (see Screws) or clinched nails (see Nailing), but not with glue, for the same reason as in the case of end cleats. If the cleat is wide enough, do not put the screws in a straight line, but "alternate" them (Fig. 368). See Jointing and Doors and Panels.

Clinching-Nails.—See Nailing.

Compasses.—Wing compasses, or those with arc and set-screw, are easy to adjust accurately and will not slip, but, whatever kind you get, be sure that the points stay where you put them and do not spring away or wobble around.

The chief uses of this tool are to strike circles, to lay off angles and arcs, to take off measurements from a rule or some object, to lay off measurements, and to "scribe" in places where a gauge can not be used (see Scribing). In using compasses, particularly those which are not set by a screw, hold them and swing them around by the top at the hinged joint, rather than grasp them near the points, which may cause them to move or slip.

Fig. 495.

Circles or circular arcs can be struck roughly, as you doubtless know, with a string and a nail at the centre, the string being loose around the nail. This method is not very accurate, for obvious reasons, and is only suitable for rough work. A more accurate way is to drive two nails through a strip of wood at a distance apart just equal to the radius of the required circle, one nail being driven into the wood to act as the centre, the other doing the marking (Fig. 495). Instead of the marking nail a hole can be bored for a pencil. You can use a stick of this sort repeatedly by changing the position of the centre nail, or of the marking point. The same can be done with a brad or stout pin and a pencil, using stiff paper, card-board, or zinc instead of a stick. By such expedients you can do a great deal of work without buying compasses.

Compass-Saw.—See Saw.

Fig. 496.

Corner-Blocks.—These are merely small pieces of pine, or other wood which holds glue well, with two adjacent surfaces at right angles. Hot glue is applied to them and they are rubbed into interior angles of cabinet-work, to strengthen and stiffen the work (Fig. 496), and are very useful for this purpose. They are got out in short pieces, lengthways of the grain, and can be freely used in places where they will not show, as inside of the base-board in Fig. 304. The shape can be varied according to the conditions of the joint. Apply hot glue plentifully, place the block where it is to go, and rub it back and forth several times, when it can be left for the glue to dry.

Corner-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Fig. 497.

Countersink.—This tool, to be used with the bit-brace, for enlarging the outer part of a hole, thus forming a cavity or depression for receiving the head of a screw (Fig. 497), is quite important, as being much more convenient than to use gouge, chisel, or knife for the purpose. See page 205.

The rose form of countersink is common and good. The Clark double-cut countersink (for wood only) cuts smoothly and is easily sharpened. A countersink for metal is useful.

Cracks, To Stop.—See Holes, To Stop.

Cross-Cut Saw.—See Saw.

Cutting-Pliers.—A pair of these will often be useful in connection with wood-working operations.

Dents, To Take Out.—See Bruises.

Dividers.—See Compasses.

Doors and Panels.—It is important to have some understanding of the theory of framing panels, doors, and the like. The simplest form of door is, of course, a piece of board. This will do for some cases, but it is liable to warp or wind,—if a large door, sometimes to such a degree as to be useless. It is also, if large, liable to swell or shrink so as to be either too loose or too tight, and to break. Cleating can be resorted to (see Cleating), but will not prevent the swelling and shrinking, nor is a cleated door especially ornamental. Besides, there are limits to the width of ordinary boards. Several boards can, however, be joined, edge to edge, and cleated on one side, in which way a large door can be made (Fig. 405), and, if the boards are not fitted too closely together, there may be no trouble caused by the swelling and shrinking. Another way to make a very strong door is to make it of two thicknesses, or layers, one running up and down and the other crossways, or diagonally, the two thicknesses being firmly nailed or screwed together.

Fig. 498.

Fig. 499.

Fig. 500.

All such arrangements are, however, suited for the rougher class of work. When we come to nicer work we must have something more scientific, that will swell and shrink as little as possible and that will look better. So, instead of using a broad flat surface with the boards all running one way, we try to overcome the faults of the flat door by framing the pieces together. Suppose, for a theoretical case, that you make a door like Fig. 498. It will not warp or curl because of the cleats at the top and bottom, but it will swell and shrink in width because there is such a wide surface of board to be affected by the atmosphere, etc., and it may become winding. To lessen these objections the middle part of the board can be removed—all but a strip at each edge (Fig. 499). It will not now swell and shrink much in width because most of the board has been removed. This frame will hold its shape quite well, but it is only a frame, not a door. How can you fill up this open frame to make a door, so as to avoid the trouble about warping, winding, swelling, and shrinking? First, however, as this frame is considerably taller than it is wide, you will readily see that it will be a better arrangement to make it as shown in Fig. 500, with the cross-pieces between the uprights, according to the usual custom in such cases. Suppose, now, that you fill up the open space with a thin board, fastened on one side (Fig. 501), instead of the thick wood which occupied the space at first. The thin board will tend to warp and twist, but, being thin, it will not exert force enough to change the shape of the thick frame. That will prevent the warping and winding from doing much harm. If the screw-holes in this thin piece are reasonably loose, they will allow play enough for the board to expand and contract without putting any strain on the frame. This arrangement does not, however, look very nice on the side to which the board is screwed, though it can be used in some situations. Suppose, finally, that you cut a groove around the inside edge of the frame of the door (Fig. 502) into which this thin board can be fitted loosely, making the groove deep enough to give the board room to shrink and swell in width without dropping out or pushing against the frame. You now have a complete door (Fig. 503), and the warping, winding, swelling, and shrinking will do as little harm as possible. That is all there is to the theory of framing doors, panels, and the like.

Fig. 501.

Fig. 502.

Fig. 503.

Fig. 504.

The panel should fit closely into the groove, but at the same time be loose enough to slide in and out as it expands and contracts, and should not be wide enough to reach to the bottom of the grooves, but room be left for all possible change in width, as shown in Fig. 504, which shows sections on the line AB. All this is important and has many applications to other things than doors. It is not very uncommon for amateurs, ignorant of these simple principles, to make a door-frame properly, but in fitting the panel to make it the full width of the space from the bottom of one groove to the bottom of the opposite, and also to make it such a snug fit in the groove as to be stuck tight, all with the idea of making such a good fit as to prevent any of the gaping cracks so often seen, but really taking the very course to ruin the work. So important is it that the panel should have play, that it is quite common in nice work to rub wax or tallow around the edge of the panel, lest some of the glue from the joints of the frame should cause it to stick when the frame is glued up. If the panel is badly fitted or stuck, it may buckle or split, or the frame be split or forced apart at the joints.

There are many more elaborate ways of arranging the details of door-framing and panelling (too numerous to be described here, as they will not often be required by the beginner); but if you understand the general principles upon which this simple door is put together, you will understand the principles upon which all panelling is based; and, though you may never do much of it, it is quite important to have a clear understanding of the theory, which is really quite simple—for it has many applications which may save you much trouble, labour, and expense.

The best way to fasten the frame of a door together is by mortise and tenon (see Mortising). This method is almost invariably adopted for house doors. Dowelling is often used for smaller doors, but is inferior to the mortise and tenon.

A common way nowadays to make light doors, and such as are not to be subjected to much strain, is to run the grooves in the stiles through to the ends and cut tongues or short tenons on the ends of the rails to fit these grooves, as shown in Figs. 508 and 509. The whole door, panel and all, can thus be quickly got out and fitted accurately with a circular saw at any wood-working mill, without any hand-work being required, except the smoothing of the pieces and the putting together. In this way you can have a door made for a small sum, smoothing and putting it together yourself. Such a door is not fitted, however, to stand great strain. A house door made in that way would last but a short time. Any heavy door, or one to have much strain, or liable to be slammed, should be framed with mortise and tenon. You can have grooving for a door-frame done at the mill very cheaply and do the mortising yourself, or you can have the mortising done by machine at slight expense. Sometimes the grooving and mortising are combined,—an excellent way (Fig. 592).

In using any of these methods mark distinctly one side of each piece for the "face" and lay out all the work from that side only. If the job is to be taken to a mill, see that the work is all gauged from the face side.

Fig. 505.

Fig. 506.

In laying out such work never cut off the stiles (Fig. 505) to length at first. Leave them too long (Fig. 507). The projecting ends will be useful when you knock the frame apart for gluing, after first putting it together to see if everything fits. Besides, the extra length makes the ends stronger for the mortising and less likely to split out. The rails in door-framing and panelling are usually wider than the stiles.

In laying out a door or panelled frame, place the stiles together, with the inside edges uppermost, and square lines across the edges to mark the positions for the rails (Fig. 506). Carry these lines across the faces of the stiles, and mark the rails and stiles with some symbols to indicate the way they are to be fitted together (Fig. 507).

Fig. 507.

The whole should be put together once to see that everything is right before beginning to glue. Before putting together permanently, the panel and the inside edges of the frame (the edges which come next the panel) must first be planed and smoothed, as this cannot well be done afterwards.

Then fit the panel in the grooves of the rails (Fig. 508), glue the tenons of one end of the rails and the grooves or mortises of the corresponding stile (see Gluing), taking care not to put any glue where it may cause the panel to stick, and fit these parts into place (Fig. 509). Drive the rails home. Then glue and fit the other side of the frame in the same way (Fig. 510)—all being done as quickly as possible. Finally clamp the frame securely (see Clamps). The tongued and grooved joint represented in the accompanying illustrations is not as good as a mortise and tenon, as already stated, but is shown as a simple way for making a light door. Leave the work to dry, and when dry remove the clamps. Saw off the ends of the stiles, and dress off the surface of the frame with the plane (see Plane), after which you can smooth with scraper (see Scraper) and sandpaper (see Sandpaper), and the door or panel will be done. When there is objection to the end of a tenon showing on the outside edge of the stile, and a blind mortise is not desired (see Mortising), the end of the tenon can be cut a little short and the mortise-hole on the edge plugged with a piece of wood, with the grain running the same way as that of the stile. Fit the piece with a very trifling bevel on the edges, glue, drive tightly into place, and when dry smooth off (Fig. 511).

Fig. 508.

Fig. 509.

Fig. 510.

Fig. 511.

It is hardly worth while to work out the grooving or grooved and tongued joints by hand in these days when it can be so cheaply done by machinery. If obliged to do it by hand, you should have the proper plane for the purpose, as it will be very difficult and slow work otherwise.

A panel is sometimes made flush with either side of the frame, by having a deep rabbet on that side, as in the case of a desk lid, for instance, but this is a form which can well be avoided by the beginner.

Dovetailing.—This is an operation requiring considerable skill to do well and, with the exception of an occasional single dovetail, is not frequently required in the work of the beginner. It is, however, a valuable, workmanlike accomplishment and a thoroughly scientific method, of which the amateur should have some understanding, even if he should never use it.

Fig. 512.

The common form, such as is used in joining the sides of a box (Fig. 512), can be done as follows: Mark the lines ab (Fig. 513) completely around each piece, at a distance from the end equal to the thickness of the stock. Lay off the lines cd on the end of the piece A. Lay off the oblique lines ec on both sides of the piece. With the back-saw cut by these oblique lines (ec) to the lines ab. Fasten the piece in the vise, end upward, for the sawing. With the chisel, cut out the parts to be removed (marked m), as in cutting a mortise (see Mortising), undercutting very slightly at the end (Fig. 302). When this cutting has been cleanly done, lay the piece A on the end of the piece B in the way it is finally to go, so that the pins just cut will rest exactly in position across the end of the piece B. Mark around the pins, forming the oblique lines fg, from the ends of which square the lines gh on both sides of the piece. Remove the wood as before, taking care not to cut on the wrong sides of the lines which mark the pins, or the dovetailing may come together too loosely. When exactly fitted, apply glue, fit together, and when dry smooth off with plane, scraper, and sandpaper, as may be required.

Fig. 513.

Fig. 514.

Lap or drawer dovetailing (Fig. 514) is similar to the preceding form, but the ends of the pins or dovetails on the piece forming the side of the drawer are shortened, and the recesses in the front piece which are to receive them are not cut through. First the side piece A (Fig. 515) is marked and cut on the principle just shown, the pins being shorter; then the piece B is marked and cut to fit.

Practised workmen in dovetailing usually (unless symmetry of the pins is required) determine the bevels for the pins of the first piece by eye, but the beginner would best not attempt to lay off angles or saw by eye.

Fig. 515.

Mitre dovetailing (blind or secret dovetailing) is used in cases where it is desired to conceal the dovetails, the result looking like an ordinary mitred joint, but this is difficult work for the beginner.

Dovetail Saw.—See Saw (Back-Saw).

Dowelling.—Dowels are merely round sticks of different diameters and usually of hard wood. They can be bought ready made and can be used instead of nails or screws, or instead of mortising, dovetailing, etc. They can be used simply as pins or in many cases can be split and wedged, though the holes must be tapered with a gouge if wedges of much thickness are to be used (Fig. 516).

Fig. 516.

A common use of dowels is to fasten the frames of tables, chairs, bedsteads, and various domestic articles.

The use of dowels for such purposes is not to be recommended, however, although very common in cheap work and in much work which is not cheap in price. The mortise and tenon is usually much to be preferred. Dowelling, to be really good, has to be skilfully done, while it is a very common way to stick the work together in any manner that will look right on the outside. A dowelled joint is not, as a rule, as scientific a form of construction as a well-planned mortise and tenon,—a statement which you can easily prove for yourself by comparing some article of your grandmother's or great-grandmother's time, and which is still strong, with some modern dowelled chair, which is in so many cases all to pieces and thrown on the woodpile after a short term of service. The gaping joints and dropping apart of modern dowelled work can be seen on every hand. There are some cases, however, where the use of dowels is scientific and just what is required. For example, split dowels, wedged dovetail fashion like wedged tenons, are often very useful (see Mortising).

Fig. 517.

Fig. 518.

To find the centres for boring, so that the holes bored in the two pieces shall be in line, you can cut off the heads of some small wire brads so that they will be pointed at both ends. Stick the brads into one piece where the centres of the holes should be. Then press this piece against the other in the position it is to take when the work is done and the brads will of course prick holes in the second piece exactly corresponding to those in the first piece (Fig. 517). Instead of brads, small shot can be used in a similar manner. It is well to take a round-pointed awl, or some such tool, and carefully prick a small hole with it at each of the points marked. This is to start the spur of the bit exactly at the point, as the spur sometimes has a way of working off to one side, so that the hole may not be in exactly the right place. The hardest part, however, is to bore the holes exactly at right angles to the surface, as a slight deviation in either or both may make a bad angle where the two holes meet. You can sometimes lay the pieces flat on the bench and arrange boards or blocks so as to guide the bit straight. The dowels must be thoroughly dry. It is better to have them a trifle too large, rather than too small, for you can easily trim them down to a snug fit. Scratch them lengthways with the toothed-plane, or with the edge of a file. Countersink a little hollow around the opening of each hole (see Countersink), to catch the surplus glue which would otherwise form a rim around the dowel (Fig. 517). Before gluing you should fit the work together once, as it is very awkward to make changes after the gluing is begun. When the parts fit accurately, take the joint apart for gluing. Brush a little glue around the inside of one of the holes, dip one end of a dowel in the glue and drive into place. Wipe off the superfluous glue and repeat the process with each of the dowels in that half of the joint. Leave this to dry a day, or more if you can. Then clean any hardened glue from the dowels and glue them, as before, into the other piece, this time putting glue on the flat surfaces which are to come together. The whole should be firmly clamped and left to dry (see Gluing and Clamps). Dowels are sometimes used in joining the edges of pieces, as in Fig. 518, and in many other joints too numerous to be specified (see Joints and Jointing).

Dowelling looks very easy, but it is usually hard for the beginner to bore the holes straight and to make the pieces fit accurately.

Dowel-Plate.—A steel plate with various holes of such sizes that pins made by driving blocks of wood through them will drive snugly into the holes made by the corresponding bits. This is useful in fitting dowels.

Drawers.—The making of well-fitting and smoothly running drawers is an operation requiring much skill—more skill than can be expected of the beginner, or, in fact, than is attained by the average workman. The beginner should, however, have some understanding of the work, even if he does not attain a high degree of skill in its execution.

Bear in mind that it is much easier to make a drawer which is narrow and long (from front to back) run smoothly than one which is wide across the front, but shallow from front to back.

The more accurately the case which holds the drawers is made, the easier it is to make smoothly running drawers. In good work having more than one drawer, a horizontal frame is fitted beneath each drawer for it to run on. These frames, as well as the whole case, should be free from winding, and it is also important that the stock for the drawers should be true. The front and sides of a drawer should be got out to fit very snugly in their places. The piece for the back is narrower than the front piece, to allow for the bottom (Fig. 521), and is often cut off at the top also. The front, sides, and back can be put together with any suitable form of joint. Dovetailing is by far the best way, but it is difficult for the beginner (see Dovetailing). The joints shown in Fig. 519 can very well be used for ordinary work. These can be quickly made by machinery (see Joints). See also Gluing and Clamps.

Fig. 519.

A groove for the bottom must be cut on the inside of the front and of the sides (Fig. 520). The insides of the pieces must be smoothed before putting the drawer together. When these parts are fitted, slip the bottom (previously fitted) into place. It should be got out with the grain running across the drawer, or parallel with the front (Fig. 521), and should be glued at the front edge only, the rest being free to swell and shrink, which saves the drawer from injury.

Fig. 520.

Fig. 521.

Be sure that the drawer is rectangular (putting in the bottom will assist in this) and free from winding. When put together and dry, carefully smooth the front and the sides. A little trimming with the plane may be required to make the drawer run freely, but care should be taken not to plane away too much. A drawer which is a trifle larger at the back than at the front will run better than if larger in front, as it will be less likely to bind or catch. Small slides, between which the drawer runs, are fastened at each side outside the drawer, at the bottom, and must be adjusted carefully.

Thin blocks or "stops" can be fastened on the cross-frame so that the inside of the drawer front will strike against them when the drawer has been pushed in as far as it should go, or the drawer can be stopped at the back.

A simple way to attach a drawer under a shelf, bench, or table is shown in Fig. 143. The contrivance shown in Figs. 141 and 142 can sometimes be used in place of small drawers.

Bayberry tallow is excellent to rub on the sides of drawers.

Fig. 522.

Draw-Knife or Draw-Shave.—The draw-knife or draw-shave is very useful for slicing off large pieces and for trimming wood into odd shapes. It can be obtained with folding handles, adjustable at different angles, for use in places which can not be reached by the blade of the old-fashioned draw-knife; but the latter is good enough for all ordinary purposes. Choose a medium-sized or large one. It is in principle simply a knife or very wide and short-bladed chisel with a handle at each end, and can be used with the flat side or the bevel against the wood as the character of the work may require. Having but a short bearing surface to guide its course, it is very prone to follow the grain and cut deeper than you wish, so you must take special pains to cut with the grain, stopping and cutting the other way, whenever necessary. Attachments can be bought for guiding the draw-knife in chamfering and such cases.

The draw-knife can often be best used with an oblique stroke—either drawing it sideways across the work at the same time that you pull it towards you (Fig. 522), or holding it obliquely across the work and pulling it straight towards you (Fig. 523).

Fig. 523.

It is one of the most dangerous tools if carelessly left lying around, and should be kept hung up out of reach of all small children. See Paring, Bevelling, and Chamfering.

Draw-Shave.—See Draw-knife.

Drill.—Drills for metal only are often useful to the wood-worker, but the one most important for the amateur is the twist-drill. See Twist-drill.

Drill-Stock.—There are various patterns of drill-stocks, some of them automatic, for holding drills of different sizes for small holes. Hand drills with revolving handle, like an egg-beater, can be used for small drills. See Bit-brace.

Duck's-bill-Bit.—See Bits.

Expansion-Bit.—See Bits.

File.—The file is a piece of hard steel with rows of ridges or teeth cut obliquely on the surface. When cut in one direction only it is called single-cut, but when there are two oblique rows of teeth crossing each other it is called double-cut. These ridges incline towards the end or point of the tool, so that the file, like the saw, plane, and scraper, cuts when pushed forward. Files for wood have wider teeth than those for metal, so do not use a wood file on metal or a metal file for wood. The slab-sided shape (Fig. 524) is perhaps the most useful, if you can have but one file. A round "rat-tailed" file is also useful, and various other shapes if you can have a variety. For metal, the triangular, flat, the half-round, shown in Fig. 525, and the rat-tail are best. Files are very important for smoothing or rounding edges and curving surfaces.

Fig. 524.

Fig. 525.

Before beginning to file, be sure that the wood is firmly secured so that it will not slip and so that you can use the file with both hands. Hold the tool with the right hand, thumb uppermost, and steady the end with the left hand, thumb uppermost (Fig. 526), or with the fingers or palm. To file squarely across, push the tool steadily and evenly straight forward, without rocking up and down, and pressing only on the forward stroke.

Fig. 526.

In filing rounded surfaces, a rocking motion is often helpful and the way and direction in which to file in such cases must depend upon the shape of the work and the grain of the wood, as you will quickly learn. See Rounding-sticks.

Press lightly the first time you use a new file, until the fine edges of the teeth have been worn a little, as a violent filing on the first strokes may damage the cutting edges of the teeth.

When a file becomes clogged with wood-dust or other substances, soak it in hot water a little while and then brush with a stiff brush. A file-card is useful. A piece of dog-fish skin, if you can obtain it, cuts somewhat like a file or coarse sandpaper, and is useful for curved surfaces where you wish to use the tools after smoothing.

Filing.—See File.

Filing (of Saws).—See Sharpening.

Finishing.—To acquire a high degree of proficiency in finishing indoor wood-work requires long training and practice, but the simpler processes can be undertaken to good advantage by the beginner.

There are a number of ways from which to choose. Simply rubbing thoroughly with linseed oil gives a good, soft, permanent finish, which some prefer to anything else, but you should be sure that all superfluous oil is rubbed off. Do not hang a recently oiled book-shelf or cabinet against the wall-paper of the room, for fear of defacing it. An oil finish, unless rubbed a good deal, has the disadvantage of getting soiled and collecting dust and dirt, but it is easily sandpapered and renewed and is certainly in better taste than a coarse, shiny, cheap varnish.

An old-fashioned way is simply to apply a mixture of turpentine and beeswax, rubbing it as long as your strength and patience will allow. Melt some beeswax in a can or saucepan and, when melted and taken from the stove, pour in enough turpentine to make it the consistency of paste. Then apply with a brush or cloth and rub in and clean off the excess with a stiff brush or cloth, scrubbing the work as you would a stove. This makes a beautiful finish, soft and lustrous. It shows spots, however, and, though it is so easily applied, it requires continual renewing and rubbing to be kept in good condition.

To make a hard and durable coating on the surface of the wood some kind of varnish is required. There is nothing better than shellac for the purpose of the amateur. It is not very hard to use, and there is certainly nothing which gives a finish of nicer quality. The surface dries quickly and the coat hardens more rapidly than most kinds of varnish. For some cases, as a boat, it is well to shellac first and finish with good varnish.[43] Shellac is cut (dissolved) in alcohol, and can be bought prepared, but it is better to cut it yourself, to diminish the chance of adulteration with cheaper substances. Orange shellac will do for most of your work. Into an open-mouthed bottle put some of the shellac (which comes in flakes and looks somewhat like glue) and pour over it enough grain alcohol (95 per cent. grade) to somewhat more than cover the shellac. Cork the bottle and leave in a warm place until the shellac is cut. Shaking will hasten the process. Wood alcohol can be used and is cheaper, but work done with it is not so good. It is a deadly poison taken internally and on account of the fumes it is best not to use it for a long time in a close room. If the tawny tint of the orange shellac is objectionable, white (bleached) shellac can be used, but this it is well to buy already prepared. It is a little harder to use than the coloured kind.

Use a flat bristle-brush and not a soft camel's-hair brush, unless for the last coat. One from one inch to two inches wide will be probably suitable for most of your work. For large surfaces, however, a larger brush is better. After using, always clean the brush thoroughly with alcohol.

Always shellac in a warm, dry place, free from dust—never where it is cold and damp; but on the other hand do not leave the work close to a hot stove or it may blister.

The shellac should be quite thin. It should flow very freely from the brush. Of the two extremes, it is better to have it too thin rather than too thick. Three or four thin coats give a much better result than two coats of thick, gummy shellac. Never try to thin it with anything but alcohol. Keep the bottle corked to prevent evaporation of the alcohol and to keep out the dust.

Before beginning to shellac, see that the work is free from dust. Pour a small quantity of the shellac into a small dish of glass or earthenware, not of tin. Before applying to the wood, wipe the surplus shellac from the brush on the edge of the dish, so that it will not drip, and then lay on the coat as evenly and smoothly as possible, working from the top or from one end or side, and with the grain, so far as possible.[44] Do not apply the brush at first exactly at the edge of the surface, lest the shellac collect too thickly at the edge, but apply the brush first a little way on the surface and then work from the edge. Work quickly and lightly. Begin and end the strokes of the brush gradually—lighten them at the end—so as to avoid a "lap" when the strokes begin again. Do not work over the coat after it has begun to set or try to patch up spots. Simply lay it on as well as you can and let it go at that. If it is not right you will know how to do better next time.

Give each coat plenty of time to harden before applying another—twenty-four hours is none too long. Do not put on five or six coats in a day as is sometimes done. The outer coat hinders the drying of the shellac underneath, by keeping the air from it,—just as with paints,—and the way to do durable work is not to put on a fresh coat until the previous one is thoroughly dry and hard. Shellac dries very quickly so that you can touch it, but does not get really hard throughout for some time, so do not be in haste to put on a second coat.[45]

If there are holes, cracks, or defects of any kind to be filled up, this is the time to do it—after the first coat is hard. One way to do this is to hold a hot iron close to a piece of shellac directly over the hole, which will be filled with the melted shellac. The surplus can be carefully pared off after it is hard. Another way is to use wax coloured to match the wood. The wax can easily be coloured by melting and adding a small quantity of whatever dry colour—burnt umber, for instance—may be required. Do not use putty in such cases.

When the first coat is hard, skim over the surface with very fine sandpaper (00), to remove any roughnesses, and apply the second coat. This is sometimes sufficient. If not, sandpaper and shellac again, and a fourth time if necessary. When you have a sufficient "body" of shellac on the wood, you can much improve the quality of the surface by rubbing it down with powdered pumice-stone and oil, which will remove the "shiny" effect and leave a softer and finer surface. To do this, take a bit of felt or haircloth, and wet it with thin oil (kerosene will do, or petroleum, or linseed oil thinned with turpentine or benzine, but the latter is dangerous to have around), take up a little of the pumice, and carefully and evenly rub over the surface, with the grain, renewing the oil and pumice as may be needed, or they can be sprinkled on the work. But be careful to rub evenly and not too long on any one spot, for it will be hard to repair the damage if you should rub through to the wood. Wipe the whole off thoroughly with soft cloth. This process will be sufficient for most amateur work. For some work simply rubbing down with the finest sandpaper wet with oil is enough. In using sandpaper for rubbing down nice work, split it—that is, remove the outer layer of paper, which will leave the sanded layer thin and pliable and less likely to scratch or rub through the finish. A handful of tightly squeezed curled hair can be used.

If varnish is to be used over the shellac as in case of a boat, simply sandpaper the shellac and do not rub with pumice and oil.

With fine-grained wood, such as cherry, the process given above is all that will be required, but with coarse, open-grained wood, like oak, a good many coats will be needed to fill the pores and give a smooth surface. Therefore a "filler" is often used to fill the pores of the grain. This is cheap and can be bought in the form of paste (either light or dark), which you can apply according to the directions on the can. Rub it into the wood thoroughly, let it stand until it begins to set, or stiffen, then rub it off with a bit of burlap or any coarse material, across the grain (lest you wipe it out of the pores). After it has become hard enough, sandpaper, and clean off any that may remain on the surface. Then shellac as described. The filler can have the shade of the wood, or sometimes, as in oak, the figure of the grain can be brought out finely by using a filler somewhat darker than the hue of the wood. Be sure to clean off the filler thoroughly, using a tool to clean out the angles and corners, or the finished surface will have a cloudy or muddy appearance.

The general directions given for shell acing apply also to the use of varnish, but varnishing is in some respects harder for the amateur to do well. Consult the dealer about the kind of varnish and the brush best suited to the particular piece of work you have in hand. The final coat of varnish can be rubbed down with pumice or tripoli and water. Rotten-stone used with oil (petroleum is good) is excellent for giving a soft polish.

French polishing is often attempted by the amateur, but it should be learned by taking a lesson from a practical polisher, and not from a book. The general idea of the process is as follows: A wad or pad of wool is made and on this is poured thin shellac, adding whatever alcohol may be necessary. This wet pad is then covered with a piece of clean linen, a drop of oil put on the outside to prevent the shellac from sticking, and the pad is then quickly passed over the surface with a circular motion, or with longer strokes in the form of the figure 8, or in some cases simply back and forth. After doing this for a while a very thin coat will have been deposited. This is allowed to dry for a short time, when the process is repeated, again and again, until a sufficient body of the polished finish has been formed. The details of the process vary with different finishers. It is quite easy to polish a small flat surface or such an object as the arm of a chair, but it is much harder for an amateur to successfully polish a large flat surface, like a table-top, except after much practice. A first coating of shellac applied with the brush and skimmed over with sandpaper will save labour in the polishing process.

Before refinishing old work it should, if the surface is in bad condition, be scraped down to the wood, using the scraper and finishing with sandpaper. A chisel (used like the scraper) is sometimes convenient to remove a thick body of old varnish. If the surface does not need scraping, it should be cleaned, either by washing with soapsuds or it can be scrubbed clean with the finest sandpaper, split, using oil or water as the case may be, but seeing that the work is wiped off perfectly dry before applying a new coat. Pumice can be used, as already described, and a stiff brush, like a nail-or tooth-brush, is excellent for cleaning out corners and carved work.

For simply brightening and cleaning furniture, a mixture of equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine with a minute quantity of japan is excellent. It should be well rubbed and carefully cleaned off. This will make scratches and bruises less conspicuous, and will make the article look fresher for a time, but it is only a cleaner and not a substitute for refinishing.

Firmer-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Fore-Plane.—See Plane.

Framing-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Gauge.—There are many kinds of gauges in the market, but they all depend on the same principle, having a block, head, stock, or fence, to slide along against the edge of the wood, and a bar, beam, or stem, which slides through the block, can be set to project from it at any required distance, and which has near its end a spur or marking point (Fig. 533). The stem has the divisions of a rule marked upon it, so that the spur can be readily set at the required distance. In some gauges the spur or marking point is sharpened to an edge parallel with the head, rather than to a point, as it is more certain to make a clear, sharp line, and is best when slightly convex on the side toward the head (Fig. 527). This gives the spur a tendency to run the line away from and not toward the edge where the head is, thus helping to keep the head close up to the edge. Sometimes a round point is used, and occasionally a knife point or blade for cutting thin stock into strips; and sometimes a wheel with sharpened edge. A form of gauge adapted for gauging from curved as well as straight edges is also made. Do not trust the accuracy of the scale marked on a common gauge, for if the spur is at all out of place, as is sometimes the case, you cannot rely upon the scale. Test by measuring from the head to the spur with the rule.

Fig. 527.

The mortise-gauge has two spurs, one of which is movable and can be set at any required distance from the other, so that two lines can be marked at once, as for a mortise. This is a time-saving tool, and very convenient, but not a necessity for amateur work.

There are gauges with long beams or stems and with long heads for gauging across wide spaces, but when you need anything of the sort you can easily make it and use with it either pencil, awl, or knife, as may best suit the case in hand.

If you wish to draw a line two inches from the edge of a board, for example, you can mark off two or more points at the required distance and with a rule and pencil draw the line through these points. If you were to make the points so near together as to touch, you would have the line without needing the ruler. This is what the gauge does. It makes a continuous measurement and a continuous mark, which is of course the line required.

The only gauge you need for rough work is a rule (or even a stick) and a pencil. To draw a line, for example, two inches from the edge of a board, take the rule in one hand, and lay the end flat on the surface of the board so that it laps over two inches from the edge (Fig. 528). Place the forefinger underneath, against the edge, so that the end of the rule will remain two inches from the edge, and simply slide rule and finger along the edge, holding a pencil at the end of the rule with the other hand to make the mark. The finger must be kept evenly pressed against the edge. This is only suited for rough work, or for getting out stock approximately to shape, and of course cannot be depended upon for accurate measurement.

Fig. 528.

Fig. 529.

Fig. 530.

Something more accurate, with which you cannot get splinters in your finger, can easily be made, when needed, in this way. To run a line two inches from an edge, for example, and parallel to it, simply take any short stick and cut a piece out of it at one end so that the distance from the shoulder to the end will be just two inches, as shown in Fig. 529. Apply this to the edge of the piece and slide it along on the same principle as the rule and finger, being careful to keep the shoulder pressed up to the edge and the pencil or knife held firmly against the end. Instead of cutting out a piece you can nail one piece on another (Fig. 530). The latter is better for straight work because the head or fence is longer and so can be more securely pressed against the edge. An objection to this gauge is the need of making a new one for every measurement, but where there is occasion to keep repeating a measurement it is particularly convenient and quickly made.

Fig. 531.

Fig. 532.

Fig. 533.

For another home-made gauge (Fig. 531) cut a recess in one side of a block just wide enough to hold the rule and just deep enough so that the flat side of the rule will project a trifle above the surface of the block. On this side of the block fasten a small strip, with a screw, so that when the two pieces are seized in the hand the rule will be held fast at the point to which it is adjusted. This is more accurate than to use the hand alone. You can readily contrive such arrangements, which will be quite accurate if carefully used, but it is not worth while to spend much time over such makeshifts (except in case of necessity), for a fairly good gauge can be bought for a small sum.

The gauge is usually an awkward tool for the beginner to use. He finds it hard to keep the stock firmly against the edge while sliding it along, and lets the spur dig or plough deeply into the wood—the spur tends to follow the grain of the wood and when the grain runs toward the edge the result is often as shown in Fig. 532, the stock being pushed from the edge. The stock is then pushed back and the wobbly process continued. To avoid these errors, the gauge, held well in front of you in one hand, should be tipped or inclined from you so that the spur will be drawn along the surface (Fig. 533) and will make but a slight scratch. Then, keeping the stock or head firmly pressed against the edge, push the gauge steadily from you, watching carefully to see (1st) that the spur does not begin to dig into the wood instead of lightly scratching it, and (2d) that the head does not slip away from the edge. This will prevent the point catching or jumping and will insure a good mark, which can easily be deepened by going over the line a second time if necessary.

It is easier to mark a line when the spur is near the head of the gauge than when it is run out to some distance. The guiding power of the fence or head is greater over a point near to it than over a point at a distance, from which you can readily see that, conversely, the longer the head or fence, the easier the gauging becomes—that is, for straight lines, which is much the most common use of the gauge. In gauging from a curved edge, a long fence, unless curved, would be impracticable.

Where it will injure the work to have the gauge marks show (as when the work is to be finished with shellac or varnish), be careful not to carry them farther than necessary, as very slight scratches show plainly after finishing. Otherwise, in cases where the marks will not show or do no harm, as in rough framing, it is as well to run them past the required points, as it is quicker to do so and the juncture of lines which cross is more distinct.

Gauge from the same side of the wood in laying out mortises or any lines intended to be in the middle of a piece of wood, or at a fixed distance from one edge, else if the edges are not exactly parallel (as is often the case) the markings will differ. See also Scribing.

Gimlet.—The gimlet is useful, cheap, and good for boring where the hole does not come near the edge, but near the edge or in thin wood great care must be taken to prevent splitting. If necessary to use it in such a case, keep turning it backwards for every turn ahead and do not try to force it through the wood. It is better, however, to use some other tool if you can (see Bits and Twist-drill), for the tapering form of the gimlet gives it a wedge-like, prying action upon the woody fibres.

Gimlet-Bit.—See Bits.

Glazing.—An old chisel can be used to clean off old putty before setting glass. On new work, see that the rabbet or shoulder where the putty is to go is primed with lead paint before putting on the putty (see Painting). You can buy glazier's points, to hold the glass in position under the putty, for a trifle, or very small brads can be used. No special directions are necessary for using the putty.

To set common glass in furniture, as in bookcase doors, it is better to fasten it in place with small strips, not pressed too tightly against it. Strips of plain moulding are good. To set plate glass in furniture, the same means can be used for small pieces, but large plates, as for a mirror, should be held in place by little strips of soft pine, one or two inches long, bevelled on one side. The other side being glued, these strips can be lightly pressed into the crack around the glass. These short pieces, glued to the frame on one side and with the bevelled side wedging the glass into place, hold the latter securely, but, owing to the softness of the wood, not too rigidly.

Glue.—See Gluing.

Gluing.—Glue is made from refuse animal matter, and also from parts of fishes, the latter being known as fish glue. It comes in sheets or cakes or flakes, to be dissolved and used hot, or already prepared in liquid form.

The majority of practical mechanics prefer the former (i.e., "hot" glue) for nice work, although the use of liquid glue has increased much of late years. Hot glue is probably preferable if all the conditions are just as they should be, but if not so, liquid or "cold" glue may be better.

Buy the best grade. It is the cheapest for good work, and you will not use enough to make the price much of an obstacle. The only sure test by which to buy glue is to get a little and see how it holds. A good way to prove the quality of your glue is to soak it over night, or as long as may be necessary, in whatever quantity of water you think it will absorb. The more it will swell without dissolving, the better the quality. Poor glue will dissolve.

You cannot positively tell good glue by the colour, for there are many kinds (and for more than one purpose) and many makers, but whatever the colour, the glue should be clear looking and not cloudy or muddy. Do not use glue that has a mouldy or otherwise disagreeable or offensive smell or a bad taste.

To prepare hot glue, break the glue into small pieces, and soak it in all the cold water it will absorb for perhaps twelve hours, when it will have become swollen and softened and will look and feel somewhat like jelly. Then put it in the inner glue-pot (see Glue-pot) and cause the water in the outer vessel to boil for several hours. It is quicker to dissolve the glue at once without soaking, but the result does not seem to be quite as good as by the former method. The glue to be right for use must be thin enough to drip from the brush in a thread or stream, without collecting in drops like water, and you can tell something about its being in condition to use by testing it between your fingers. Do not weaken its strength, however, by diluting with more water than is necessary.

It is important to keep the glue and the glue-pot clean, and if the odour from your glue becomes offensive at any time clean out the glue-pot and make fresh.

Glue loses strength by repeated meltings, so do not dissolve too much at a time, and after heating it over two or three times throw away any that is left in the glue-pot, cleaning the latter thoroughly. On work which you are very particular about mix fresh glue each time.[46]

You can make a good glue-brush of a stick of rattan. Soften the end in hot water and pound it with the hammer until the fibres separate. For corners, cracks, holes, and the like use sticks, which you can whittle to any required shape.

Although apparently too simple an operation to need much explanation, and often ignored in books on wood-work, as if anyone could of course glue two pieces together, the operation, to be really successful, calls for more knowledge of the principles involved than beginners or amateurs usually possess. Do not daub a thick layer of lukewarm glue on the pieces, and then slap them together as you would make a sandwich, after the usual domestic fashion. Done in this way the pieces often stick for a while, but there is nothing certain about it.

We have seen that wood is full of little holes (pores, as they are commonly called), or spaces between the fibres (see Fig. 6). The glue becomes worked into these little pores and that is what gives it such a firm hold on the wood, somewhat as plastering is forced (purposely) into the cracks between the laths.

So you must have the glue thin, that it may fill these little cavities and get a "grip" on the wood; you must have it hot, that it may the more easily penetrate these open spaces before it becomes chilled; you must have the wood warm, that the glue may not be chilled and begin to set before it has a chance to penetrate the interstices of the wood; and you must press the pieces together so hard as to expel the body of glue from between them, forcing it into the pores and squeezing outside what will not go in, to be wiped or scraped off afterward. For what you want is not to have the two pieces held together by a layer of glue between them, lightly sticking to each surface and separating the two in proportion to the thickness of the layer; but to have the two surfaces as close together as possible, held so by the tenacity of the glue reaching from the cavities of one surface to those of the other. The closer the surfaces are forced together the better, as the glue will be less exposed to the atmosphere.

You will see from all this that gluing should be done in a warm room of an even temperature.

While with hot glue it will not do to change the relative positions of the pieces after putting together, you can have considerable time to get them in position if the liquid or cold glue is used. Where several places in the same piece of work have to be glued together at the same time, it is frequently very hard to get around with the hot glue before that first applied has begun to set, unless you have help. In such cases, cold glue is a great convenience. If your shop is not warm or if you cannot have your glue hot, you had better use the liquid glue. It takes much longer to set than the other. In cold weather it should be slightly warmed. It can be thinned with vinegar or acetic acid, or what you wish to use at once may be thinned with water. Do not pour water into the can of glue, as it will not keep so well.

You will also readily see that it is much easier to make good glued joints in soft wood than in hard, for the former is more readily squeezed to a fit by the clamping, while with the latter it is quite essential that the pieces should fit with extreme accuracy before clamping (see note under Clamps).

Before beginning to glue have everything laid out, fit the pieces together, clamp them up just as if you had put on the glue, and see that everything comes together right—i.e., rehearse the gluing process before using the glue itself. This is a very important point, particularly when there are several pieces to be glued, for you will have no time to waste after you have begun to use the glue.

Do not spread the glue on too thick. Take the dirt off both pieces, then, while putting the glue on one, have the other warming slightly at the fire. The moment the glue on the brush leaves the glue-pot it begins to cool. If it fairly begins to set before you get the two pieces together, your joint will not be good. You will have to take it apart, scrape off all the old glue, and begin over again. So you will see there is no time to be lost when once you begin and it will be too late then to correct any mistakes in the fitting of the wood-work. Good workmen always put the work together and take it apart again before gluing.

Do not wipe off the glue which squeezes out from a glued joint (unless for some special reason) nor wash it off with water. Let it harden, and clean it off after the joint has set. It helps protect the joint.

Do not be in haste to unclamp your work. When to release it depends on the kind of wood, the kind of work, and the circumstances under which the gluing is done, and no exact time can be set. If for some temporary and unimportant purpose and in soft pine, for instance, you can unclamp in a few hours or even less, but for important work, which is to hold permanently, twelve hours is scarcely time enough even for soft wood and hot glue, and twenty-four hours is none too long, for though the glue dries quickly to the touch, it takes considerable time to get thoroughly hard. It is safer to allow more time for hard wood. The thickness of the stock makes a difference also. Large junks and blocks and boards glued flatways require more time than ¼" stock, thin strips, or little splinters. You can tell something by the condition of the glue that is squeezed from the joint. Liquid glue sets much more slowly, and twenty-four hours is soon enough to release the work under average conditions. The warmth and dryness of the air make a good deal of difference. Under unfavourable conditions more than forty-eight hours may be required.

If for any reason you cannot clamp a joint, after applying the glue rub one piece back and forth upon the other a few times.

Rub wax, soap, or tallow on any part which must not be stuck by surplus glue which may exude from a joint, as in the case of a panel which may become stuck by the glue used in fastening the frame (see Doors and Panels).

To glue two pieces where the surface is to be planed or trimmed at the joint, do not glue them together after they are planed or trimmed, but glue them first, and plane or trim them afterwards, taking care to have the grain of the pieces run in the same direction (see Jointing).

To glue pieces end to end, or as in a mitre,—that is, "end wood,"—first size with thin glue to stop the pores, else the glue will be quickly soaked up. Then, after allowing this coat to stand, glue in the ordinary way. But glued joints in end wood are seldom good and are to be avoided.

A great deal of glued work comes apart, and a great many mistakes in putting work together are caused by not understanding, or not bearing in mind, the way wood expands and contracts and warps and winds from heat and cold, dryness and moisture. This is an important matter if you wish to do good gluing. Do not think that all that is necessary is to have your wood dry and that then you can glue the pieces together in any relative positions. Veneers or thin pieces are sometimes successfully glued with the grain of the pieces running at right angles, as seen in chair seats, but as a rule avoid gluing wide pieces together with the grain running at right angles. See Laying out the Work, in Chapter IV.; also Jointing.

Glue-Pot.—This can be bought of copper, iron, or tin. A medium-sized one is more useful than a very small one. Have a cover to keep out dust and loose particles.

If obliged to make shift without a proper glue-pot, always use two dishes like a regular glue-pot, with water in the outer one, on the principle of the double boiler used for cooking, else the glue will be sure to burn and be spoiled. Two cans, such as are used for tomatoes or other vegetables, can be used on a pinch, one being larger than the other and fastened in place with wire or in some way to keep the smaller can from moving around too much; but a regular glue-pot is much better. See Gluing.

Fig. 534.

Gouge.—This tool is similar to the chisel, except for the curvature across the blade. The common gouge has the bevel on the convex or outer side and is known as an "outside" gouge. This is the more useful for ordinary work. The "inside" gouge has the bevel on the inner or concave side. Although very useful for many purposes, it is less important for general work and is harder to sharpen. Gouges are of various degrees of curvature, Fig. 534 showing a "flat" and a "quick" curve. Those of moderate depth and curvature will be more useful for your work than very deep or very flat ones.

Fig. 535.

In using the common or "outside" gouge, light, short strokes should usually be made, for only the bevel of the tool bears on the wood, which makes this gouge quite hard to control.

You can often apply the principle of the sliding or sideways cut in using the gouge, as with the chisel, to good advantage. You can roll the gouge around with your hand from side to side so as to make it cut slantingly. This is particularly useful to give a clean cut when gouging across the grain (Fig. 535). In some cases, in working out a moulding, for instance, you can hold the tool at an angle with the work and get a better result than to push it straight forward lengthways (Fig. 536).

Fig. 536.

Be careful not to scoop out little hollows below the required depth of the cut, and keep the direction of the grain in mind the same as with the chisel. The little inequalities left by the gouge can be reduced easily by the file, curved scraper, or glass and sandpaper. See Sharpening.

Gouge-Bit.—See Bits.

Grindstone.—When you get to the point of having a grindstone, get one which is somewhat soft and fine, for if too coarse it will produce a rougher edge than is desirable for your tools.

Do not allow your grindstone to become softened in spots by being left partially immersed in a trough of water, as it will wear away irregularly. With the best of care a stone will, however, become untrue after continued use, not merely in its circular outline, but the face will become hollowed and uneven. It must then be trued, either by some one of the contrivances now made for the purpose, or by simply turning the stone into the correct shape by holding the end of a piece of soft iron, as a piece of pipe, against the surface, without water, moving the iron as occasion requires, until the stone becomes true.

Grooving.—Grooves of different dimensions are often required for various purposes in wood-working. By far the best way, as a practical matter, is to take the work to a mill and have the grooving done by machine, which is not expensive. It can be done by hand with the planes devised for the purpose (as the plough), but though these are valuable tools, they are largely superseded, or becoming so, by machine-work, and it is usually fully as well for the amateur to take such work to the mill as to buy the tools.

In some cases the sides of the groove can be sawed by the hand-saws and the material removed by the chisel, but this is not easy if the groove is long. Pieces are sometimes clamped beside the line to guide the saw and sometimes even attached to the saw itself, or to a piece of saw-blade. The lines for the groove can be scored with the knife or chisel and the wood between removed by the chisel, much as in cutting a mortise.

In nice work, as fitting a shelf in a bookcase, it makes a better joint not to fit the entire end of the shelf into a groove, but to cut a tongue or wide tenon on the end of the shelf, with a shoulder at each side and the front edge, to fit into a corresponding groove, as shown in Fig. 284.

Half-Round File.—See File.

Fig. 537.

Fig. 538.

Fig. 539.

Fig. 540.

Fig. 541.

Fig. 542.

Fig. 543.

Halving.—This joint shown in Fig. 537 is a common, simple, and good way of joining two sticks when they cross at right angles or obliquely. Place the sticks in position and mark the width of each upon the surface of the other, using a knife or chisel for scribing. With small sticks the wood can be removed with the knife, first cutting a notch at each side and then paring off the wood between (Fig. 538). With large pieces the lines should be marked by the square, the depth (one-half the thickness of either piece) by the gauge. The lines at the outside of the space can then be sawed down to the gauge line, taking care to keep just on the inside edge of the line. The wood between can be pared out with the chisel down to the gauge lines. When the halving is at the ends of the pieces or at the end of one piece (Fig. 539), the process is the same, except that the wood can be entirely removed by the saw. Other forms involving bevelling and dovetailing are shown in Figs. 540, 541, and 542. This principle of the lap joint is often carried a little further and we have the open mortise and tenon (Fig. 543), which can successfully be applied to a mitred joint and can also be dovetailed, and boxes are now made by machine with the corners entirely made up of a continuous series of these joints (Fig. 544). See Joints.

Fig. 544.

Hammer.—The hammer is made in many forms, but the common kind used by carpenters will usually answer your purpose, and is too familiar to require description. For general use select one of medium size and weight. Remember that the face of the hammer-head, although harder than the nails it is meant to drive, is not intended to pound every piece of hardened steel you may run across, nor to break up boulders when you are after minerals. For the use of the hammer see Nailing.

Hand-Screws.—Hand-screws are of great use in clamping work that has been glued and for holding pieces in any required position. Wooden hand-screws are probably the most generally useful, but a couple (or more) of the simple iron clamps will be of great service at times, as they can be used more advantageously than the wooden ones in some kinds of work. Get medium-sized hand-screws rather than small ones if you can, as they will be generally more serviceable.

Fig. 545.

Fig. 546.

Fig. 547.

To open or close a hand-screw, hold it at arm's-length in front of you with a handle in each hand, and with a twirling motion revolve it toward or from you, as may be required, to increase or decrease the opening between the jaws. The screws should be greased or rubbed over with black-lead, soap, or bayberry tallow.

To hold two pieces together with uniform pressure is of course necessary for gluing and various other operations, but a little practice will show you how to adjust the hand-screws so that the jaws will bear on the wood evenly. The main point to remember is to keep the jaws parallel. The final tightening is given entirely by the outer screw, so, in adjusting the screws, leave the jaws open a little at the tip as in Fig. 545, that when the final pressure is put upon the outer screw the jaws will bear on the wood with an even pressure (Fig. 546). If the jaws were adjusted to bear evenly before tightening the outer screw, the final result would be as shown in Fig. 547.

Fig. 548.

In clamping together finished work or pieces which could be injured by the pressure, always put pieces of waste wood between the work and the hand-screws. In case of delicate work, like carving or mouldings, a piece of soft pine placed between the surface and the hand-screws or clamps will enable considerable pressure to be applied without injury to the work.

A simple home-made clamp, suitable for such work as temporarily holding in place parts of the frame of a boat, for instance, is shown in Fig. 548. See Clamps and also Figs. 66 and 647.

Hatchet.—The hatchet is too familiar to need description. A common, medium-sized hatchet, that can easily be swung with one hand, is all that the beginner will ordinarily require, although there is quite a variety of hatchets and axes for various purposes.

The main thing in the use of the hatchet, besides keeping your fingers out of the way, is to look sharply after the direction of the grain of the wood, as it is not easy to stop a blow in the wrong place, for the hatchet is not so easily controlled as some other tools. Experience is the best teacher in the use of a hatchet. For removing superfluous wood with the hatchet, see Paring.

Hinges.—There are many varieties of hinges for various purposes. The common kind, like that shown in Fig. 135, had best, for neatness' sake, on moderately heavy work, be narrower than the thickness of the stock, so as not to extend across the edge. The hinge should be sunk in the wood of one or both of the parts to be hinged—in the case of many boxes, for instance, one half of the hinge when shut is usually sunk in each part, but in some kinds of work the whole thickness may be sunk in one part. The hinge can be held in position on the edge (in the case of the box) so that the centre of the pin on which it turns is in line with the back of the box, or sometimes a little outside. Marks can be made with the knife or chisel at the ends of the hinge, and the recess in which it is to fit marked with the square and gauge. This wood should be removed with the chisel, first making cross cuts to break up the grain, as in Fig. 614. Fit the other hinge or hinges in the same way. Next lay the lid exactly in position on top of the hinges and mark by them and cut the recesses in the top in the same way. Hold the hinges in place with two or three screws each and see whether the cover opens and shuts as it should. Make any needed alterations, and finally screw the hinges firmly in place. Another way is to place the lid exactly in position (shut) and mark directly from the hinges, on both box and cover at the same time, the points from which to lay out the recesses. It will be well to look at a properly fitted hinge for a similar purpose before beginning your work, since one rule cannot be laid down for all cases.

For strap-hinges, T-hinges, and the like, see page 247.

Holes and Cracks, To Fill.—The simplest way to stop holes, cracks, checks, and the like, in painted work, is with putty, always applying it after the first coat of paint and never before (see Painting), but this method should not be used for other than painted work, and the nicer the work, the less desirable the use of putty becomes.

For nice work, as furniture, which has not been finished, small holes or cracks are often stopped by putting a daub of hot glue on the smooth end of a piece of wood of the same kind as the article, and with a sharp chisel, held nearly at right angles with the surface, scraping off fine wood-dust, which, mixing with the glue, forms a paste with which the crack can be more than filled. When hard, the surplus can be pared and scraped off.

Plaster of Paris (calcined plaster), mixed with very thin hot glue, is excellent for stopping cracks and holes of considerable size. It can be mixed with water only, but this is not as good.

Fig. 549.

Fitting in a plug of wood is a good way when the hole is of such shape that you can do so, making the grain of the plug run the same way as that of the piece to be plugged. Taper the plug slightly, so that when driven in it will fit tightly and not be flush with the surface, but project above it (Fig. 549). Dip in hot glue, and drive well in. When dry smooth off. If the hole is irregular, trim to some shape to which you can fit a plug. In nice work take pains to have the plug a good match for the rest of the wood.

Slight cracks at the end of a piece can often be plugged and at the same time secured against further splitting by sawing directly down the crack, so as to remove it and substitute a straight saw-kerf. In this kerf a slip of wood can be fitted and glued.

Wax, and also melted shellac, can be used to stop holes and cracks in finished work. For this, see under Finishing.

Jack-Plane.—See Plane.

Jointer.—See Plane.

Fig. 550.

Jointing.—This term is applied to the act of straightening and making true the edges of two boards or planks which are to be joined to make a tight joint, with glue or otherwise. It is, also, popularly applied to straightening the edge of one piece only, as to "joint" the edge of a board. This you will often have to do, and for jointing two edges which are to be glued particular care will be required. Assuming that the edges have been got out nearly straight, the only plane you will require is the fore-plane,—or better, the jointer, or even the "long" jointer if the piece is long and you are fortunate enough to have these tools,—and it should be set fine, although if the edge is very crooked and you have to work off much superfluous stock, the iron can be set to make a coarse shaving at first.

In shooting or jointing edges it is customary to hold the finger under the sole of the plane as a guide (Fig. 550). This helps in regard to the common fault of tipping the plane sideways so as to plane off more on one side than on the other (Fig. 551). This trouble may be aggravated by a wrong position of the left hand on the fore part of the plane in case you use a wooden plane (see Fig. 624 for correct position). Keep testing across the edge with the square (Fig. 640). The shooting-board can be used to advantage for short pieces (see Shooting-board), and attachable guides can also be obtained.

Fig. 551.

The jointing should be done with long, deliberate, steady strokes. Any hasty, hit-or-miss slashing away with the plane will be sure to result in a bad joint, and you can easily get the edge into such shape by three or four careless strokes that it will take you a good while to get it straight. Try also to avoid planing the edge rounding, from end to end (see Plane, Figs. 635-637). Sight along the edge. Also test with straight-edge, looking toward the light. If any shines through, the edge is not yet accurate and the process must be resumed.

Fig. 552.

If you are jointing two edges, as for a "glue-joint," first examine the pieces to see which edges will best go together, according to the purpose for which they are intended. Look at the end grain so as to arrange it in different ways if you are building up a piece of selected parts (Fig. 559). If merely joining two or more boards to make a wider one, notice the way the grain runs lengthways, and the way it crops up to the surface, for you will have, for everything but the roughest work, to plane the surface over after the joint is glued, and if the grain runs in two or three different ways it will be harder to make the surface smooth. There are cases, however, in handsomely figured wood, as quartered oak or mahogany, where you will arrange the grain in the way that will look the best, but in such cases you expect to go through extra labour for the sake of having the article as handsome as possible. With soft, straight-grained white pine or whitewood, these matters are of less importance. When you have the pieces laid together in the best way, mark on the surface right across the joints (Fig. 552) so that you will know how to put the pieces together, for you will forget how they were arranged after you have moved them around a few times.

Fig. 553.

Joint each edge separately. For nice work it is well to joint the edges of the successive pieces alternately from opposite sides,—that is, if in planing the edge of the first piece the marked (or face) side of the board is towards you, plane the edge of the next piece with the face side of the board against the bench, or away from you. This helps to counteract the result of any tendency to tip the plane to one side or any inaccuracy in setting the plane-iron. See Shooting-board.

Then, putting one piece in the vice with the jointed edge upwards, lay the other edge upon it in the proper position and see if the two edges touch throughout. If not, one or both must be planed with thin, careful strokes until they do fit, for the joint will not be good unless the edges coincide. Remember, however, that it takes more than merely touching to make a good joint. The surfaces of the boards must be in line (in the same plane). Of course this really depends upon the edges being square. Test by holding a straight-edge, the square, the edge of the plane, or anything straight, against the surface of the boards (Fig. 553).[47]

Do not be misled by the directions you may see in "amateur" books and magazine articles which tell you, for cases like this,—when you wish to glue up the lid of a desk, for instance,—to plane and sandpaper your boards carefully on the sides and then fit the edges together, after which you "have only to glue the edges and the job is done." That is not the right way to make a glued joint, as you will find out for yourself after you have planed a few dozen boards the second time. The skilled workman seldom attempts to do this except in repairing or some case where the surface of the pieces must be preserved. The practical work-man's way (which is the way for you), is to glue first and plane afterwards. The best way, practically, is to glue up the rough boards before they have been planed at all, and then have the whole planed down as one piece by machine to the required thickness. Of course you should get the surfaces as nearly in line as you can, to avoid needless planing afterwards, but give your special attention to making the joint hold (see note under Clamps).

Sometimes the edges of boards to be glued are purposely planed, hollowing lengthways, so that the two pieces touch at the ends, but do not quite come together in the middle, the idea being that a clamp at the middle will force the joint together for its whole length and will give a stronger result than to attempt to make both edges exactly straight. If there is to be any open place in the joint before gluing, it is better to have it at the middle than at the ends, but there is a difference of opinion as to whether there is any advantage in springing boards to fit in this way.

Before gluing hardwood edges, it is well to tooth them over with the toothed-plane, if you have one. (See Plane.)

See Plane, Gluing, Joints, Cleating, Dowelling, etc.

Joints and Splices.—There are many kinds of splices and joints used in the different branches of wood-work, a few of which are here given.

Fig. 554.

The common square butt-joint (Fig. 554) is the simplest way to join two pieces at right angles, as in making a box or frame, and is used for all common work. Glue is of but little use with this joint. Rely wholly on nails or screws.

Fig. 555.

To make a better joint, cut a rabbet at the end of one piece and you have a joint (Fig. 555) which shows less end wood, and can be helped a good deal by gluing, on account of the shoulder.

Fig. 556.

Another way is shown in Fig. 556. Some strength and stiffness is gained by the tongue and groove, but a groove near the end introduces an element of weakness.

Fig. 557.

A much stronger way and a tighter joint (Fig. 557) is often used for cisterns, water-tanks, and horse troughs, but the projecting ends are objectionable for most purposes. See Halving, Mitring, Dovetailing, and also Box-making, page 219.

In nailing any such joints as those just shown, remember to always bore holes for the nails wherever there is danger of splitting. See Awl, Bits, Boring, Nailing.

There are many ways, besides those just mentioned, for joining sticks and timbers at right angles, which is something you will often have to do, whether for a kite or some small framework or for the timbers of a building.

Fig. 558.

To join two or more boards or planks to make a wider surface, several methods can be used. Cleating, though strong and suitable for all such work as drawing-boards, rough doors, and the like, is often undesirable, both on account of the looks and because the cleats may be in the way (see Cleating). The simplest way, without cleats, is to glue the jointed edges (see Jointing and Gluing). Dowels can be used with this joint (see Dowelling), or grooves can be cut and a strip or spline or tongue inserted (Fig. 558). This last way can be done at the mill quicker and better than by hand. The edges can also be halved, or a rabbet cut in each edge from opposite sides. The boards can also be "matched" (see page 46), in which case it is not usual to glue them. All of these joints can best be made by machine.

Fig. 559.

To avoid the warping and change of shape to which wide pieces are subject, particularly when they are not middle boards (see Chapter III), they are often built up of selected narrower pieces (Fig. 559). This is done for many things,—the frames of machines, the tops of sewing-tables, drawing-boards, chopping-blocks, etc. Masts, bows, fishing-rods, and the like are sometimes built up of selected pieces, the idea being that a better result can be obtained by combining selected smaller pieces, that flaws and defects (which are apt to occur in larger pieces) can be avoided, and that sometimes the grain can be arranged to better advantage. This is doubtless true, but there is always the objection that glued joints may give way. If you can get a piece which is practically perfect, it is probably in most cases better than a glued-up combination, for it is not easy to improve on Nature when you can get her best specimens; but unless you can get first-class stock of the dimensions required, it is better to "build up" with smaller pieces of selected stock.

Where the ends of two pieces come together and you wish to make a close joint, you will, of course, saw the pieces off as squarely as possible, using the square or perhaps the mitre-box. If you mark and saw them with exactness, and if everything about their arrangement is straight and square and true, the ends will come together exactly and make a close joint, but as a practical matter this frequently will not happen, however careful you may be. For nice work, the workmanlike way in such cases is to plane or pare the ends until they fit, but for rougher work the expedient of sawing the ends to fit can be resorted to. To do this, put the ends together as they are to go (Fig. 560), keep them from moving, and saw straight down through the joint. As the saw will leave a kerf of uniform thickness, the pieces can now be pushed together and the ends will fit, unless the joint was very much open, in which case you have only to saw again, and if necessary repeat the operation until the ends fit. This is a very useful expedient in case of need, but should not be relied on as a regular way to make joints, lest it engender a careless and inaccurate method of work. This applies also to joints which meet at any angle.

Fig. 560.

Fig. 561.

In some cases, where only one side of each piece shows, as in laying floor-boards, it is usual to undercut the ends slightly—that is, to make the joint a little open at the bottom, which gives a tight and neat joint on the side which shows (Fig. 561, which is exaggerated).

Another way to make an end joint is by bevelled scarfing or splaying (Fig. 562). You will see the ends of the clapboards on old houses joined in this way, and it doubtless makes a better joint in many cases than the common square or butt-joint, but it is more work. Strips of moulding are often cut in this way.

Fig. 562.

Fig. 563.

Fig. 564.

There are many ways of splicing two or more pieces so as to get greater length, many of them, such as are used in bridge-building and roof-framing, being quite complicated. You will rarely, however, in such work as you will do at first, have occasion to do more than nail strips (fish-plates) on the sides of the pieces or make a halved splice or scarfed joint (Fig. 563). The latter is often made longer than that shown and fastened in various ways. A joint for a brace is shown in Fig. 564.

See Cleats, Doors, Dovetailing, Dowelling, Gluing, Halving, Mitring, Mortising, Nailing, etc.

Keyhole Saw.—See Saw.

Knife.—An excellent knife for shop work is a sloyd knife. A good shoe-knife will do very well. This is better for shop work than a jack-knife. It will not close on your fingers for one thing. For general purposes, however, a pocket-knife is the best thing, as you cannot carry a sloyd knife around with you. In buying it get a good plain knife with not more than two or three blades and of the best steel you can afford. Do not waste money in trying to get your whole kit of tools into the compass of one jack-knife handle. In selecting a knife, open the blades and sight along the back to see that each blade is accurately in line with the handle, as they are sometimes fastened at a slight angle, which weakens the knife.

An immense variety of work can be done with a common pocket- or jack-knife, which is the best emergency tool for either the beginner or the skilled workman. One great thing about whittling is that you cannot rely on squares, rules, or compasses to get your work right, but must be independent, think quickly, look sharply, and rely on your own faculties. A knife is so easy to sharpen that there is not much excuse for using a dull one. See Sharpening.

In cutting, always keep your left hand behind the blade, and as a general rule cut from you, for the tool may slip and cut you instead of the wood. There are cases where you have to cut towards you, but there is never any need of getting your left hand in front of the cutting-edge.

Level.—A spirit-level is important for some work, but not often necessary for the beginner, as a substitute can easily be made. A horizontal or level line being at right angles with a vertical line, a home-made level can be made by using the principle of the plumb-line, as shown on page 96. When the plumb-line hangs freely on the line ab, which is at right angles to cd, the latter line (cd) must of course be level. The frame should be several feet long for levelling large work, as it can be adjusted more accurately than if small.

Linseed Oil.—See Finishing and Painting.

Locks.—Use locks of good quality or none at all. Never put very cheap locks on good work. There are many varieties of locks, some to be screwed on the outside of the wood, others to be sunk in recesses cut in the side of the wood, others still to be let into mortises—chest-locks, door-locks, cupboard-locks, drawer-locks, etc.

To fit a chest- or box-lock (not a mortise-lock), place the lock in the right position, mark around the part required to be sunk in the wood, which can be cut away with gouge and chisel, the keyhole having been bored quite through the wood and trimmed to a neat outline which will conform to the shape of the key. When the lock has been screwed in its recess, put the "hasp," or part which is to be on the lid, into its place in the lock, just where it will be when the chest is locked. Then close the lid, and by slightly pressing you can make a mark on it to show where to put the hasp. Sometimes you can mark the place with a pencil, or by putting transfer-paper between the hasp and the wood, or by rubbing blackened grease on the plate of the hasp. The plate of the hasp should be sunk in the lid to be flush with the surface, and may then be screwed on, bearing in mind the thickness of the lid when selecting the screws. A mortise-lock is fitted in a similar way, but let into a mortise (see Mortising).

To fit a common drawer-lock, determine the place for the keyhole and place the lock in position on the inside as before. With a pencil mark the outline of the box-part of the lock, which bears against the wood. Cut away the wood within this line, making a recess slightly deeper than the thickness of the box-part of the lock. The hole must be bored for the key, as before. Put the lock into place and mark the outline of the outer plate, not merely on the inside of the drawer front but also on the top edge. Cut away the wood with the chisel to let the plate sink flush with the wood. When the keyhole is shaped, try the lock and if it works, screw it on. Close the drawer and turn the key hard to raise the bolts (the tops of which have been previously rubbed with blackened grease, such as can be scraped from an oil-stone, or using transfer paper), which, pressing against the wood, will mark the places for the mortises into which they are to slide. Cut these mortises and the drawer can be locked.

The variety of locks and their arrangement in regard to fitting is so great that it will be best for you to examine a well-fitted lock for the same purpose that the lock you have to fit is intended, for one rule cannot be given for all cases.

Mallet.—The mallet, which is merely a hammer with a wooden head, is made in various forms and sizes, from the big beetle of the wood-chopper to the ladies' carving mallet. It is used to strike the wooden tool-handles.

For heavy work a mallet with the handle put through the head from the outside, like the handle of a pickaxe, is good because the head cannot come off. A rounded head with the handle on the end (like a potato-masher) saves having to notice how you hold it, as it is equally effective in any position. A mallet of this type can be turned all in one piece. Hickory or lignum-vitÆ or any dense, hard wood is good for a mallet.

You do not gain force by using the mallet instead of the hammer, but the softer and more yielding blow of the mallet saves the tool-handle.

Marking.—For all rough work the ordinary carpenter's pencil, sharpened flatways, like a screw-driver, is the most convenient and durable instrument. For nicer work, where you need more accurate lines, the common round pencil (medium hard or rather soft) is all you need, but for nice, close work (such as marking accurate joints), a knife, the corner of a chisel, a marking-awl, or a scriber of some sort is necessary. There is no need to buy any tool for this, although they are to be had—nothing is better than a common pocket-knife or a chisel. Keep your pencils sharp by rubbing them on a piece of fine sandpaper, or an old file.

Fig. 565.

In scribing with the chisel, the edge is drawn along with one corner slightly raised and the flat side next the straight-edge, holding the tool either like a pencil or for deeper scoring as in Fig. 565.

In all marking and scribing, whether with pencil, awl, knife, chisel, or other tool, be sure that the marking edge is kept close up to the rule, straight-edge, or square, as it will often tend to follow the grain of the wood and run off the line, and will sometimes force the straight-edge or square out of position if the latter is not held firmly.

Do not try to stop lines which meet at a given point, but let them cross one another when they will not show in the finished work, as it is quicker to do so and the crossing of two lines marks a point more accurately than a dot. For work to be finished, however, scoring the surface with lines should be avoided wherever they will show, as they will become conspicuous after the work is finished.

In marking lines with a straight-edge or ruler you must be careful that it does not slip. If it is long you can put weights on it. To mark a line accurately through given points, the ruler should not quite touch the points, but be pushed almost up to them and equally distant from each (Fig. 566). This will give you a clear view of both points so that you can be sure that the pencil or whatever you mark with will go as nearly as possible through the centre of each. Bearing the pencil against the edge of the ruler, you can slant it a trifle till the pencil-point will just coincide with the given point on the wood, and, keeping the same inclination, move the pencil along the ruler, and it should also go through the second given point. This applies to a regular ruler with a comparatively thin edge, and to fine work only. In marking by a thick edge, or where extreme nicety is not required, you will of course put the straight-edge right up to the points and run the pencil-point along in the angle (Fig. 567).

Besides marking lines, the straight-edge (in some form), is used to determine whether a surface is true. See Straight-edge.

For rough, off-hand marking, particularly on undressed stock, chalk is often best. Sticks, shaped like school-crayons, of graphite or some black composition, are good for rough marking.

The chalk-line is used for distances too great to be covered conveniently by a straight-edge and in places where the latter could not so well be used. The chalk-line is a chalked cord drawn taut between the two points to be connected. It is better to use a small cord than a large one, and blue chalk is often preferred to white. Fasten one end of the cord with a loop around an awl or nail at one end of the desired line, and from this point chalk the cord, holding it between the thumb and the chalk so that the cord will bear on the flat side of the chalk in such a way as to wear it away evenly without cutting it in two. Then draw the chalked cord tight to the other end of the desired line and, holding the end down with one hand, lift the cord from as near the middle as practicable with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand and let it snap back on to the surface. The cord should be raised squarely from the work and not pulled slantingly to one side or the line will not be straight.

Marking-Awl.—See Awl.

Marking-Gauge.—See Gauge.

Matching-Plane.—See Plane.

Measurements and Measuring.—For various suggestions, see Rule, and also pages 47, 48, 50, 167 (footnote), 244, and 261.

Mirror-Plates.—A good way to fasten such articles as mirrors, cabinets, etc., to the wall is by mirror-plates, which you can buy or make yourself of brass. These should be sunk in the wood so as to be flush with the back side of the shelves. After being fitted, they should be taken off during the process of finishing the work.

Mitre.—See Mitring.

Mitre-Board.—See Mitring and also page 92.

Mitre-Box.—If you can afford it, an iron mitre-box which will cut at various angles will be very useful. You can make one yourself of wood. You can get a carpenter to make you one for a small sum, but the iron ones are better. See page 90.

Mitre Shooting-Board.—See page 94.

Mitring.—A common joint is the mitre (Fig. 568). Its only advantage is that it shows nothing but a line at the angle and the "end wood" is entirely concealed. It is a weak joint at best, even when made by a skilled workman, and is particularly hard for an amateur to make well. The slightest variation in one of the corners of a frame or box throws the whole structure out of shape and in attempting to correct the error the other joints are apt to be opened, and if the whole is finally got together in a fashion it is often after bother enough to have accomplished much good work in some other way.

The mitre is particularly unscientific for wide pieces used flatways (Fig. 569), as the inevitable expansion and contraction of the pieces is very apt to cause an open joint. If the wood is not quite dry, so that it shrinks, the joint may open permanently toward the inside corner, for when the wood shrinks in width the pieces will become narrower and so separate at the joint, leaving a crack, tapering from the inner to the outer corner. Even if the wood is thoroughly seasoned it will expand and contract more or less. When it expands, the joint will tend to open at the outer corner (Fig. 570). When it contracts it will tend to open, as just shown (Fig. 571), at the inner corner.

Of course there are some cases, as in making a picture frame of prepared "mouldings," when mitring is the only way in which the frame can be put together, and there are some other cases in which it is the most proper and suitable joint, but as a general rule, for amateur work, particularly in framing where strength is a consideration, avoid the mitre. Other and better forms for anything like a box are shown in Figs. 554, 555, 556, 557.

The mitre is sometimes strengthened for box work and the like by fitting a spline or tongue with the grain running across and not lengthways of the joint (Fig. 572.) This, properly glued under pressure, makes a good joint and one much superior to the plain mitre. But, though easy to do with machinery, it is a slow and careful job to make such a joint by hand, and if a case arises where you wish it done you had best take the work to a factory, where a circular saw is all that is needed.

The principle of halving shown in Figs. 539 and 543, can also be applied to a mitred joint.

Saw-kerfs are often made (Figs. 573 and 574) into which small strips are tightly fitted and glued. This is a good way and easily done, once having got the mitre properly put together. A combination of the mitre with the joint shown in Fig. 555 is shown in Fig. 575. See also Dovetailing and Joints.

To lay off a mitre, or the lines by which to cut the intersection of any two pieces at any angle, a simple way is that shown in Fig. 576. The pieces are laid one above the other at the desired angle. Then the points of intersection are marked on each edge. Lines connecting these points will give the desired angles for sawing. The square can be used to help in determining the points accurately and to project them to the upper side of the top piece.

Mortise and Tenon.—See Mortising.

Mortise-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Mortise-Gauge.—See Gauge.

Mortising (Mortise and Tenon).—If you can get out two pieces and fit them together accurately with a mortise-and-tenon joint, and do the work well, you will be competent to handle a great many of the difficulties of ordinary wood-work.

You will often have occasion to use this joint. The mortise is the hole in one of the two pieces to be joined. The tenon is the pin or projection in the other piece, shaped to fit the mortise.

To lay out a mortise and tenon (Fig. 577), select and mark the working faces for each piece. First take the piece in which the mortise is to be cut (Fig. 578). Square two lines, ab and cd, across the face and the same distance apart as the width of the piece on which the tenon is to be cut. Carry these lines across the side X (ae and cf) and also across the side opposite to X (that is, the side where the tenon will come through).

Next take the tenon-piece (Fig. 579) and measure from the end a distance a little greater than the width of the face of the mortise-piece, and at this point square a line, gh, across the face of the tenon-piece. Continue this line, gi, around the piece, with the square.

Now take the gauge and, setting it at the distance from the face settled upon for the mortise, scribe the line jk on the side X and also on the side opposite X. Also from the face of the tenon-piece, without changing the gauge, mark the line lm on the side X, on the opposite side, and on the end. Set the gauge to measure from the face to the other side of the mortise,—that is, add the width of the mortise to the figure at which the gauge was set,—and scribe another set of lines, op and rs, in the same manner as before, remembering to gauge all the time from the same face.

In the coarser kinds of work, where marks on the surface do no harm, the gauge marks can be run across the other lines, as being easier and more distinct, but in fine work, especially that which is to be finished, care should be taken not to make scratches that will be seen when the work is finished. The parts to be cut away are indicated by cross marks (Fig. 580) and it will be seen at once that the tenon and mortise are laid out correctly.

To cut, take first the mortise-piece and fasten it securely by vise or clamp in a convenient position. The simplest way to remove the wood is to bore a series of holes with a bit of a diameter as nearly the width of the mortise as you have (Fig. 580), but a trifle smaller. This removes a large part of the wood with but slight danger of splitting. The rest can easily be trimmed away to the lines with the chisel, taking care not to jam the chisel down lengthways of the mortise when the latter is blocked with chips or firm wood, or the wood may split off at the side of the mortise.

To cut out the wood with the chisel only (or to trim the ends of the mortise after using the bit), bear in mind the way the chisel acts when you drive it into the wood. If both sides of the chisel were bevelled (as is the case with carving chisels), it would tend to go straight down into the wood, and if held vertically would make a vertical cut (Fig. 581), but the chisels you use for mortising are flat on one side and bevelled on the other. Being one-sided in this way, the edge of the tool is forced by the inclined bevel to slide off, so to speak, more or less, in the direction of the side which is flat. You can prove this easily by holding a chisel across the grain of a board and driving it in. If you hold the tool lightly, you will see that as you drive it in it will incline to cut under, always on the side which is flat (Fig. 581).

This shows how to go to work to cut a mortise so as to keep the sides square and true. If you put the chisel at the end, flat side outward, the cut will tend to run under and make the hole too large below the surface. If you turn the tool the other way, it tends to slip in towards the middle of the mortise. So, to cut out the wood, take a chisel just a trifle less in width than the mortise, and, beginning near the middle of the mortise, hold the chisel as in Fig. 582 and make successive cuts, working toward the end, first in one direction and then in the other, giving the chisel handle a slight pull toward the centre of the mortise each time you move it, to loosen the chips (Fig. 583). You can thus work safely toward the ends, which will be left slanting (Fig. 584).

After cutting about half through the piece in this way, turn it over and repeat the process from the other side, the result being a hole like that shown in Fig. 585. Now turn the chisel around with the flat side toward either end of the hole, and you can pare down the ends to the line without danger of undercutting (Fig. 585).

Care must be taken not to jam the chisel down lengthways of the grain until the hole is practically cleared of wood, or the side of the mortise may be split off. Use the chisel lengthways of the grain only at the end of the process, to pare the sides of the mortise evenly, with light strokes, down to the line.

In all the use of the chisel, take pains to hold it vertically as regards the sides of the mortise—that is, do not tip it over sideways, or the mortise will be slanting or too wide at the bottom.

The common firmer-or paring-chisel can be used for all light mortising, but for heavy work the regular mortising-chisel should be used (see Chisel).

To cut the tenon, simply saw carefully on the line gh and its opposite (Fig. 579) and then on the lines lm and rs. Be careful not to cut beyond the line, so as to make the tenon too small. It is easy to trim it a little with the chisel if it is too large. Cut a little bevel around the end of the tenon, so that it will drive through smoothly without catching and tearing the sides or ends of the mortise. When it goes through properly and the tenon and shoulder fit snugly, the projecting end of the tenon can be sawed off after the whole job is done.

The tenon should be just large enough to drive through with a slight pressure and fit snugly without any wobbling around. It should not be so tight as to require much force to drive it home, or there will be danger of splitting out the sides of the mortise.

There is no absolute rule as to how wide to make the mortise and tenon in proportion to the width of the pieces. It depends on the kind of work, the kinds of wood, the kind of strain to be put on the joint, and various circumstances too complex to be gone into here. If the tenon is very thin it will be weaker than the sides of the mortise (Fig. 586). If very thick, the sides of the mortise will be too thin and will be weaker than the tenon (Fig. 587). One third of the width is as thin as a tenon is often made. It will then sometimes be weaker than the sides of the mortise, as you can see from Fig. 588. But it all depends on what the joint is for. If it is to stand violent wrenching, the tenon in this case might break before the mortise-cheeks, and had best be made a little thicker, with the sides of the mortise a little thinner; but, on the other hand, if the joint is merely to hold the tenon-piece in position, as in case of a post resting on a sill, one third is plenty wide enough for the tenon, as it will be best not to weaken the sill by cutting any larger mortise than is necessary. Sometimes the tenon-piece is simply let in to the other piece for its full width. This is called housing (Fig. 589). Two thirds of the width of the piece is thicker than you will be likely to have occasion to make a tenon, as this leaves the cheeks of the mortise very thin. It is wholly a matter of judgment (between, say, one third and two thirds of the width), according to the conditions of each job.

The length to which a mortise can safely be cut is also a matter of judgment according to circumstances. If the tenon is thin, the mortise can be longer than if the tenon is thick, as the cheeks will be thicker and stronger, but, as a rule, avoid trying to make very long mortises, unless the tenon is very thin and the wood very strong, as there will not be strength enough left in the cheeks of the mortise (Fig. 590). Six times as long as it is wide is about as long as it is well to make a mortise under ordinary circumstances, though, as just said, it all depends on the conditions of the particular piece of work.

When a wide piece is to be mortised into another piece, two or more tenons are sometimes cut, thus avoiding too long a mortise, but this will not do for very wide pieces, unless some of the tenons are fitted loosely, for the expansion and contraction of the wide piece may cause it to buckle or split if all the mortises fit snugly (Fig. 591).

In such cases as a door-frame or when the end of a board is to be fitted into the side of a post, a tongue and groove is often used in addition to the tenon, and this (known as "relishing") is a good way to do (Fig. 592).

The mortise and tenon given above is a very simple form. Sometimes the tenon is short and does not go through (Fig. 593). This is a common form, and is used a great deal in the best work. It is sometimes called blind mortising, the tenon being known as a "stub" tenon.

Mortise and tenon joints are sometimes merely fitted together, but can also be glued (see Gluing), pinned, wedged, or dovetailed and fastened with a key.

To pin a mortise and tenon, simply mark a point with square and gauge upon each side of the piece containing the mortise (Fig. 593), fit the tenon in place, and bore in from each side (or in rough work bore right through from one side until the spur appears on the opposite surface) (see Boring). Then drive through a snugly fitting pin and trim off the projecting ends. The pin should be slightly pointed before driving, on the same principle that the end of the tenon is bevelled. It is not necessary to round the pin. An eight-sided one is just as good.

Do not use too large pins. In ship-building, bridge-building, and old-fashioned house-framing pins and treenails from 1" to 1¾" or more in diameter, are used. Dowels of various sizes will usually answer for such framing as you may have to do (though a rift-pin is stronger). For such work as pinning a joint in a chair, you will not need anything larger than a ¼" hardwood pin.

You must use judgment as to how near the edge to place the pin. If you put it too far from the edge, its hold on the tenon will be weak and the end of the tenon may break out (shear). If you put it too near the edge, the sides of the mortise may tear or split out.

Sometimes, particularly in timber work, to insure a snug fit at the joint, "draw-boring" is resorted to (Fig. 594). The hole for the pin is not bored through the tenon as just shown, but is bored a trifle nearer the shoulder of the tenon than the other holes (in the mortise-piece). The result is that when the pin is driven through it draws the tenon-piece down to a snug fit at the shoulder. But this has to be done with judgment. If the hole in the tenon is too much out of line, driving the pin through tends to split (strictly speaking to shear) the end of the tenon, and too much strain is put on the pin.

In the mortising just shown, there are only two shoulders where the tenon begins—that is, the tenon is made by only four cuts. This is good for all common or rough work. In nice work a shoulder is also cut at each edge of the tenon (Fig. 595). This makes a neater-looking joint, as these shoulders cover the ends of the mortise completely. When the joint comes at the end of the mortise-piece, the tenon can extend to the edge on the outside and the mortise be cut clear out to the end, forming an open mortise-and-tenon joint (Fig. 543), or a wide shoulder can be left on the outside of the tenon—the tenon itself being made narrower (Fig. 596). This course is adopted in doors and frames of various kinds (see Fig. 334).

A good way to fasten tenons is to wedge them. This can be done whether the tenon goes through the mortise-piece or only part way, as in a blind joint. The wedges can be driven between the tenon and the ends of the mortise (Fig. 597), or, as is often better, driven into cuts made in the tenon itself, thus spreading the tenon toward the end, dovetail fashion, making it extremely difficult, or impossible, to pull it out of the mortise. Before wedging, the mortise should be cut under or enlarged toward the side on which the tenon comes through (Fig. 598). The wedges can then be dipped in glue and driven as in Fig. 599. To spread the tenons themselves, one or two or even three saw-cuts should be made in the tenon, lengthways and farther than the wedges will extend (Fig. 600). The tenon and mortise having been properly glued, the tenon is fitted in place, and the wedges, previously prepared of some strong wood and tapering quite gradually, are dipped in the glue and driven down into the saw-cuts, thus spreading the end of the tenon into a dovetail until it fills the mortise (Fig. 601). It is often best to drive the outer wedges nearer the edge of the tenon than is shown in Fig. 600, lest the tenon-piece be split.

The process is much the same when the tenon does not go through the mortise-piece (Fig. 602). The mortise is undercut as before, and saw-cuts are made in the end of the tenon. The wedges are carefully planned and cut so that, when the tenon is finally in place, they will be of the right size to spread it so as to fit the mortise. The wedges must not be too long, so as to interfere with the tenon being driven home or to break off. When you are sure the whole will go into place and fit snugly, glue everything, start the wedges in the cracks, and drive the tenon quickly to place. This will of course drive in the wedges, which will spread the tenon at the end and fix it firmly. In fact, if well done, you cannot get it out again.

There are other forms of mortise and tenon, but they will be seldom required by the amateur. See Joints.

Nailing.—To drive nails, hold the hammer near the end of the handle. Do not, as is often done by boys and amateurs, grasp it close to the head. The nearer the end of the handle you take hold, the harder blow you can strike, just as the longer the handle, the harder the blow. Use light strokes—mere taps—in starting the nail. After you are sure it is going straight you can then use more force to drive it home. Do not try to sink the nail-head quite flush with the wood. Leave that for the nail-set. You may think that any slight depression you may make if the hammer strikes the wood will be too slight to be seen, but that is not so, as the slightest dent or depression will probably show in finished work.

The head of the hammer should be swung back and forth through an arc of a circle of which the wrist is the centre. Do this carefully and steadily and you will send the nail in quicker and straighter than when you flourish the hammer wildly around in the air and bring it down with a ferocious bang somewhere in the vicinity of the nail, as boys of all ages have been known to do.

Now, remembering that the hammer-head will (and should) swing around in an arc of which your wrist is the centre, you must see that your wrist is in such a position that the hammer-head can strike the nail squarely—that is, the hammer-handle, when the head rests squarely on the nail-head, must be in a line parallel with the flat surface of the top of the nail (Fig. 603). If the wrist is much above or below this line, the nail will be struck slantingly, and either be driven crooked or bent (Fig. 604).

First place the hammer in the correct driving position, and then swing it back and forth as nearly in the same curve as you can. Practise this motion a little on a soft piece of board to see how squarely you can dent the board and how nearly you can hit the same dent with successive strokes.

Frequently a nail does not drive straight, but becomes bent and goes in the wrong direction. If you withdraw it do not, as a rule, try to drive another in the same hole, but start it in another place. Sometimes a nail will be bent because the face of the hammer-head has glue or grease on it. In such a case rub it on a piece of fine sandpaper or in the ashes or the ground.

Holes should always be bored when there is any chance of splitting, or when slender nails are driven into hard wood (lest they bend), but remember that the hole, particularly in the inner piece, should not be quite as large as the nail. With nails having large heads it does not matter in hard wood if the holes in the outer piece are about as large as the nails, provided the latter drive tightly into the inner piece.

The hole made by a brad-awl is better, when it does not split the wood, than one made by a bit or drill, because it does not remove the wood but merely presses it aside, so that when the nail is driven the fibres tend to spring back to their original position and close in around the nail, helping to hold it in place.

In driving the old-fashioned nails, which have two sides parallel, while the other two incline toward the point or taper, they should be used on the same principle on which you use the brad-awl. If placed the other way, the wedge shape of the nail will tend to separate the fibres and split the wood (Fig. 605). With nails having two sides smooth and two rough, as you pick them up you can tell by the fingers which way to hold them, the rough sides going across the grain and the smooth sides with it.

Nails will drive into hard wood easier if you touch the points to grease, tallow, lard, or soap.

"Toe" Nailing.—If you wish nails to hold as much as possible, toe them—that is, slant them (Fig. 606). You can see at a glance that the board will be held much tighter than if the nails were driven straight up and down. Of course you cannot always drive nails this way, and there are many cases in which you would gain nothing, but it takes only a moment longer to toe nails, and it is often very useful where you wish to be sure that the work will hold together. There are many cases where you cannot nail any other way, as when you fasten a stud to the top of a sill (Fig. 607), and you can see at once that it is advantageous. Of course this is not a good method for work which you may wish to take apart again.

Slanting the nails helps to draw one piece tightly up to another, as is often desirable for a tight box or a floor (Fig. 608). You can increase this effect, after you have driven the nail part way in, by drawing the hammer towards you as you strike, or in the direction towards which the nail points, thus bending the upper part of it toward the other piece, which tends to make a tight joint.

Clinching Nails.—The way to clinch nails is simply to drive them through against a heavy hammer, or any solid metal object, held on the other side. As the point comes through it is gradually turned over or hooked around into the wood and when the head is driven home the point will be firmly embedded in the wood. Another way is to simply strike the projecting ends with light, slanting blows. This will gradually bend or curl the point over to one side, and as it bends over you can pound more directly downward until the hooked end of the nail is buried in the wood. Clinching is very useful for many purposes, as in nailing cleats on a shed door. It is usually best to bend the nails over in the direction of the grain, rather than across it.

Whether to clinch or toe the nails must depend on the work. Clinching is better for anything that is to be slammed or subjected to violent treatment, while in many cases toeing is better, and frequently you cannot reach the points of the nails to clinch them.

Blind nailing is resorted to in order to have a clear, smooth surface, as in floors laid with matched-boards. Each board is nailed just above the tongue, with the nails slanting through the solid part of the board (Fig. 609). This holds the board down and tends to force it closer to the adjoining board. The grooved edge of the next board entirely conceals the nailing and leaves an unbroken surface.

Another form of concealed nailing, known as "sliver" nailing, is sometimes practised in inside work (sometimes in putting up "inside finish"). A little shaving is raised with the gouge (an inside gouge is best) or a narrow chisel, where the nail is to go, and curled away sufficiently to drive and set the nail (Fig. 610). Hot glue is then dabbed into the groove, the shaving (which is only raised at one end and not detached from the wood) is pressed back into place, and the spot rubbed with sandpaper drawn around a flat block until the shaving is firmly glued where it belongs. This takes but a moment or two, and when the work is finally smoothed and finished the place cannot be detected, if the operation has been properly done. This is convenient to know in case you have to drive a nail where there is objection to its being seen.

See Withdrawing Nails.

Nails.—There are many kinds of nails, many more than is worth while to specify here, as you will probably use those of wire for most of your work. When another kind would be preferable (as is the case for some purposes) it will be specified. The nails in common use before the introduction of those of wire were known as "cut," being stamped from a sheet of metal, and "wrought," the latter kind being much older and originally forged by hand into shape, one by one (hence the name), but now commonly made by machine. The expressions three-penny, eight-penny, ten-penny, etc., indicate the length, and come from an old custom of so designating the lengths, but you need only to call for them by the length, as 2 inch or 2¾ inch, in order to get what you want, and you can easily select whatever degree of stoutness you need. Copper or galvanised nails and tacks will be needed for your boat-building, copper being preferable, particularly for salt water.

Nail-Set, or Punch.—The nail-set, for sinking nail-heads below the surface, is quite important, and it is well to have a large one and a fine one. The end of the set or punch must not be allowed to become rounding or it will be all the time slipping off the nail-head and punching holes in the surrounding wood. A slight conical depression in the end of the set is good. Do not use a file for a nail-set, for the end is too hard and will dent the face of the hammer-head.

When setting nails, hold the nail-set firmly against the little finger, placing the latter on the wood close to the head of the nail, as shown in Fig. 611. This will keep the set from slipping off the nail-head and damaging the work.

Nippers.—A pair of these will often be of use in wood-working operations.

Odd-Jobs.—A very simple combined tool known as "Odd-jobs" can be used as a marking-gauge, mortise-gauge, scratch-awl, try-square, T-square, depth-gauge, mitre-square, spirit-level and plumb, inside-square, and beam-compass. It is well suited to much amateur work, and is cheap.

Oil.—Sperm oil is good to use with your oil-stones. Kerosene is good. Lard oil can be used. All thick and gummy oils should be avoided. Never use linseed oil or any similar vegetable oil, as it is not a good lubricator, and gums the stone. Glycerine thinned with turpentine or alcohol is sometimes used, and even turpentine alone. For oil for finishing and painting, see Finishing and Painting.

Oil-stone.—It is very essential to have a good oil-stone. They can be found of many degrees of fineness. Those of very fine and hard grain, which give a keen edge but cut very slowly, will not be found so well adapted to your use as those of moderate coarseness and softness, which cut faster. The stone known as Red Washita is good to use for wood-working tools, as it cuts rapidly. It should be free from hard spots. The Arkansas stone produces a very fine edge, but is of so fine texture that it is not so well adapted for your tools as a coarser stone, unless you happen to find a quick-cutting one. The Turkey stone will produce a keen edge, but is not so good for your use.

Some stones (and excellent ones) cut best with water. When first trying a new stone use water, and if the surface does not become at all glazed or polished it will not be necessary for you to use oil.

The stone should always be kept covered when not in use, to protect it from the dust and dirt. Set it in a block with a cover or make a box for it. Always wipe it clean after using, to remove the paste of ground stone, steel, and oil left on the surface.

When an oil-stone becomes unevenly worn, it can be trued by rubbing it around on a sheet of sandpaper fastened on a flat surface, like the side of a board. Water can be used in this operation.

In addition to the ordinary flat oil-stone, slips of stone of various shapes are useful, a common and useful form being that shown in Fig. 612, wedge-shaped on one edge and convex on the other. If you have V-tools, carving gouges, or other tools sharpened on the inside, you must have slips of stone of various shapes with which to sharpen them. See Oil and Sharpening.

Painting.—You can paint your work very satisfactorily—perhaps not quite as well or quickly as a skilled painter by trade, but well enough for all practical purposes if you observe carefully a few simple principles. If you disregard them and think, like many amateurs, that anyone can paint right off the first time without any knowledge or thought, your painting will be botch-work.

Keep your work well painted. It is cheaper in the end to paint frequently and keep the work protected from the decay and damage due to exposure—not to speak of the better appearance.

Do not use cheap paint, unless, of course, for some cheap or temporary purpose, and it is most important that the first or "priming" coat should be of good quality. If you are obliged to use inferior paint at all, use the best for the first coat and the poorer quality outside rather than the reverse, but it is economy of money and time to use good paint throughout.

Prepared liquid paints are the simplest, handiest, and cleanest for amateur work, and (if you do not try to economise on the quality) the best for you to use for many purposes, but for outside work (work exposed to the weather) you can probably do no better than to use the best quality of white lead and oil,[48] coloured if desired, which costs less, is more durable, and which you can easily mix yourself, or buy already mixed of a painter. If you need but a little, you can get a pot of paint with suitable brush at a paint shop, returning what you do not use and paying by weight. But if you have much painting to do, it is better and cheaper to have your own brushes and paint. The prepared paints of any colour you can also buy in the form of paste, to be thinned when used, which is usually cheaper than the prepared paint in liquid form.

The white lead you can buy by the pound, ground and already thinned with oil, or, what is perhaps more reliable, ground in the form of paste ready to be thinned with oil or, if for inside work, with turpentine. White lead, which is also the basis or an ingredient of the prepared paints, is a poisonous and unhealthful substance. There is, however, but slight danger (practically none) from such painting as you will do. But it is well to wear old clothes when you paint, and carefully wash the hands and face as soon as the work is done, and in case of continued indoor painting to see that the room is well ventilated. The mere odour from a can of paint is enough to make some people feel ill, as you may know, while it can be used for a long time by others apparently without harm.

In regard to coloured paints, the simplest way is to buy your colours ready mixed in oil, to be thinned for use, or in liquid form of any desired colour, prepared to use upon opening the can. You can, however, colour or tint your paint yourself with various dry colours, which you can buy in the form of powder at the paint shops for a few cents. It takes but very little of most colours. Do not stir these dry colours directly into your paint, but first mix them with oil or turpentine.

It requires considerable knowledge of colours and their combinations to know how to mix different colours or shades to produce some particular shade, or to match some tint, but when the exact shade makes no difference you will have no great difficulty in producing the colour you wish. Test the shade of your paint on a piece of wood. The way it looks in the paint-pot is often very deceptive. In making a shade darker, especially when tinting white paint, be careful to add but a very little of the darker pigment at first and be sure that it is thoroughly mixed, or you will be likely to find after you have begun to paint that you have a much darker shade than you intended. It is surprising how small a quantity is sometimes needed to tint a whole canful of white paint—the merest dab of chrome yellow will tint a quart of white paint to a good cream shade. Remember that it is much easier to add a little more colour if the result is not dark enough than to lighten the shade if too dark.

Linseed oil (either raw or boiled) is required with which to mix the lead and thin it to the proper consistency. Raw oil is best for outside work that is exposed to the weather, as it is more penetrating and more adhesive, although slower in drying than boiled oil. Boiled oil does very well for inside work where it is not exposed to the weather. There is some difference of opinion, however, in regard to the use of the two kinds.

Turpentine is also used for thinning paint. It makes the paint flow easily and is freely used for that reason, but it probably detracts from the durability of all paint if used lavishly and should never be used for outside work. It is commonly used for inside work and causes the paint to work more freely and smoothly from the brush and to dry more quickly. It gives the paint that dull, soft, or "dead" appearance often desired in inside work, instead of the shiny surface which is produced when mixed with linseed oil alone.

It is usual to add to the paint something else, known as a "dryer," to cause it to dry more quickly. Japan is one of the best of these preparations, but be careful to use very little of any form of dryer, as it is undoubtedly injurious to the durability of the paint and liable to cause cracking and checking. Avoid all kinds of "chain-lightning" dryers. Do not add a dryer to the colour until just before you use the paint and only to the amount you are to use at one time.

Another ingredient, which is not injurious to use, is zinc, but zinc paints are considered inferior. Red lead is commonly used to paint iron and is considered very durable for that purpose. Black japan varnish is often used. Iron must always be dry and it will be better to have it warm also.

Be sure that your work is thoroughly dry before beginning to paint, else the wood will be liable to decay, or the paint to peel, or both. Do not paint wood before it is thoroughly seasoned. Look the work over carefully and see that it is ready in all respects, before applying the paint. See that the surface is free from dust.

Look over the work for any knots or streaks of resinous or pitchy matter and wash them with a coat or two of shellac, to "kill" the turpentine and prevent its oozing through and spoiling the paint.

Try to mix enough, and only enough, paint for the coat you are about to put on, but do not mix a great quantity in advance with the idea of keeping it on hand.

The first coat should be thin rather than thick—with plenty of oil to saturate the wood. The oil will be quickly drawn into the wood, and you can readily see that the first coat should be thin to properly soak into the surface. If thick, the paint will not be sufficiently absorbed, but the oil will soak in quickly, leaving too much residue of the pigment on the outside. Work this first coat well into the wood. Take up but little paint, and draw the brush carefully over the edge of the pail,[49] or over a wire stretched across the top, to remove any superfluity of paint, and begin the painting at the highest part of the work, or the part farthest from you, to prevent spattering or dripping paint over the freshly covered surface. Begin, also, at one end or side of the surface, working toward the other end or side, drawing the brush back and forth both ways to distribute the paint as evenly and smoothly as possible, and try not to leave any part of a surface untouched until another time, or it will be likely to show a "lap" where you end and begin—that is, if you cannot cover the work entirely at one time, leave off where there is some natural line or break in the work. Finish the side or the end and do not leave off right in the middle of a flat surface. This does not matter quite so much in the priming, but will show plainly in the later coats.

After this coat has had time to dry thoroughly, carefully putty the holes and cracks. Remember never to use the putty until after at least one coat of paint has been applied and dried. The reason for this is that the fresh wood will quickly absorb the oil from the putty, leaving it dry and crumbly, while if a coat of paint has been put on first and dried, the wood will be already charged, so to speak; the pores will be more or less choked up and the bulk of the oil will remain in the putty.

Paint with the grain of the wood, or the long way of the work, using a large brush for large surfaces and finishing all corners, mouldings, and edges with a small brush. In doors or panel-work first paint the panels, then the rails, then the styles (see Fig. 505). You will thus follow the construction of the work and the grain of the wood, and where you daub the paint beyond the part you are painting (as you will have to do), the daub will be wiped out neatly when you paint the next part.

Paint joints in outside work, tenons and mortises, shoulders, etc., before putting together, with good white lead. It is not always customary to paint the hidden parts of joints before putting together, particularly in cheap work, but it is well to do so in all work which you wish to have endure, in all framework exposed to water and the weather, and in boat-building. Exposed work quickly decays at the joints and seams because the water and dampness collect in such places and do not run off or evaporate as readily as from a smooth surface, so the more you can protect these hidden parts with paint, the better, and the labour is but slight.

When you have paint left in the paint-pot which you wish to keep for use another time, pour just enough raw linseed oil over the top to cover it completely. This thin layer of oil will exclude the air and keep the paint from hardening. When you wish to use it again, pour off the oil or stir it into the paint, according to whether the latter requires more oil or not. When you get through painting, if you are going to do more in a short time, it will do to leave the brush in the paint, but do not leave it standing or resting on the bottom of the can, as that tends to bend the ends of the bristles and get the brush out of shape. Rig a wire hook on the handle and hang the brush so that the bristles will be covered by the paint, but without touching the bottom. If you are not going to use the brush again for some time, it should be cleaned and put away. Turpentine is often used, but kerosene answers every purpose. Be careful to wash out all the paint, however, as a very little left between the bristles will stick them together so as sometimes to ruin the brush. Another way to keep brushes which are in use is to hang them from the handles in a can partially filled with oil, the whole being kept covered. Water can be used instead of oil. Arrange it so that the hairs will be just covered.

The first coat especially should be given plenty of time to dry, for it is the foundation and basis of the whole operation and the firmness and durability of the painting depends much upon it.

Each succeeding coat should have plenty of time to dry before applying another, bearing in mind that applying a second coat, before the first is fully hard, excludes the air from the under layer of paint and causes it to dry much more slowly than if left exposed as it should be. In such cases, the outside surface may often seem to be dry and hard while the paint underneath remains comparatively soft. When the first layer finally does dry, the tendency is to crack the surface of the outside, which has dried first. You can find an extreme illustration of this point in some old paint and varnish shop where some convenient place on the wall has been taken against which to slap and work brushes. You can find daubs of old paint and varnish, sometimes an inch thick, made up in this way of hundreds of layers slapped on before the previous ones were dry, the inside remaining soft in some cases after twenty years.

Paint dries, as a rule, more quickly in a warm temperature than where it is cold, and more quickly where it is dry than where it is damp. So, if you are obliged to paint where it is cold or damp, you will be justified in using more dryer than where it is warm and dry.

Sandpaper nice inside work after the first coat and between each two successive coats. Pumice can be used for old inside work to be repainted. Steel wool can also be used.

Keep a rag with you, when painting, to wipe off the spattering which you will be sure to make. It is not easy to get daubs of paint off after they are hard.

Turpentine will take the paint from your hands, but common kerosene will clean them satisfactorily when the paint is fresh, and is probably better for the hands.

Panels.—See Doors and Panels.

Panel-Saw.—See Saw.

Fig. 613.

Paring.—In paring or trimming a piece of wood to a line, if there is much surplus wood to be removed, you can sometimes chop pretty boldly with the hatchet until you get near the line, provided you watch the direction of the grain carefully to see that the split cannot run up to the line; sometimes you can chop safely in one direction but not in the opposite (Fig. 613), but as a rule keep well away from the line for the first cut. Even wood that appears to be quite straight-grained will often split differently from the way you expect.

To trim a piece of wood, like the edge of a board, down to a line, with a hatchet, for instance, you can first score the piece with a series of short cuts, stopping short of the line, to break up the grain of the wood, and then trim these loosened chips off down to the line with the plane, chisel, draw-knife, or whatever tool may be suitable. The main point is to cut in such a direction that the grain will not cause the cuts to extend farther than the line or to run into the main piece of wood (Fig. 614). The same principle can be applied often in trimming and removing superfluous wood with a chisel, a draw-knife, or a knife. The cuts can often be made with the saw to better advantage (Fig. 614). It takes a little more time to make these cross-cuts with hatchet, knife, chisel, or saw than to whack away furiously lengthways, as if you were chopping kindling, but after you have spoiled a few pieces by splitting beyond the line you will conclude that the former is the more workmanlike and reliable way.

This same principle is applicable to making chamfers or bevels with a chisel or knife (Fig. 615). You will find frequent occasion to apply this principle of breaking the grain into small pieces before making the final cuts in many kinds of work. It is in constant use in "roughing out" carving.

To trim to a curve as shown in Fig. 616, begin at the edge just outside of the end of the curve and work with the grain from a to b. It is often a help in such cases to first remove part of the wood with the saw, as on the lines bc and then ef. Finally trim the curve smoothly close to the line. Frequently this can be done to better advantage with the work held in the vise instead of lying horizontally on the bench.

Paring off superfluous wood down to a given line or trimming off an irregular edge with the chisel is very easily done provided the grain of the wood is straight, or runs in the same direction, even if slanting, as in Fig. 617, because you can then cut with the grain. It is often better, however, to cut across the grain, or diagonally, with the chisel, as the wood is less likely to be split by the tool.

When the grain runs in several directions, and keeps cropping up to the surface and dipping down again as shown in Fig. 701, it becomes more difficult to pare the surface smoothly with the chisel. In such a case remember the sliding or drawing stroke and traverse the surface with a diagonal crossways motion (Fig. 619) that will trim off the fibres with a slanting stroke without causing them to be torn up. Slant the cut so that if the wood should tend to split, it will be in the direction of the part cut away and not towards the piece to be kept—i.e., so that the chips will split and not the body of the wood. Reverse the chisel and cut in the opposite direction when a change in the direction of the grain requires it. Some pieces are, however, so extremely irregular that you cannot do this, but must slice away the best that you can and leave the rest to other tools. In cutting off a corner or rounding or bevelling an edge you can use the slanting cut (Fig. 620).

In using the chisel for paring, let the left hand, which is nearer the cutting-edge than the right, act as a brake or countercheck or drag to check the progress of the tool. It is largely by the varying balance of these two forces—the pushing forward of the tool with the right hand and the checking and controlling with the left—that correct and effective control of the tool is gained. The left hand should in many cases rest upon or grasp the wood as well as the blade. See Chisel.

Paring-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Parting-Tool.—See Carving Tools.

Pencil.—See Marking.

Pincers.—There are various kinds of pincers, pliers, and nippers. A pair of common pliers and also cutting nippers will be very useful.

Plane.—A plane is in principle (roughly speaking), as you will readily see, nothing but a chisel stuck through a block of wood or iron. Small or narrow surfaces may be smoothed to a certain degree by the chisel, the knife, or even the hatchet, but for large surfaces something is needed which can be more exactly controlled than the knife, ax, or chisel, held in the hands. So, to hold the chisel firmly in one position and to apply force to it more advantageously, it is firmly fixed in a block of convenient size and shape and becomes a plane.

A very short block will prevent the chisel cutting deeper at one point than another, but the tool will follow the irregularities of the surface and, though it may make the surface smooth, it will not make it level, or flat; so the block is made longer, that it may not go down into all the little hollows, but plane off only the higher parts.

The two essential parts of a plane are the iron and the stock. The bottom surface of the stock is called the sole or face (ab in Fig. 621), the wedge-shaped hole where the iron goes is called the throat (c), and the slot at the bottom through which the edge of the iron projects is called the mouth (d).

Bear in mind that the shape of the cut made by the plane will be a reversed copy of the shape of the cutting-edge. If the edge is rounding, the cut will be hollowing. If the edge is hollowing, the cut will be rounding. If the edge is straight, the cut will be straight. If the edge is nicked, ridges will be left on the wood.

If buying new, you will do best, as a rule, to get iron planes, though very good ones can be had with wooden stocks, but with the convenient appliances of the iron planes. Some workmen still prefer the old wooden planes, but it is better to buy iron ones.

The jack-plane is used for coarse work and to rough off the surface with large shavings, ready for the other planes. Fourteen or fifteen inches is a good length. The edge of the iron is not ground squarely across, like the chisel, but is rounded slightly so as to cut deeper in the middle (Fig. 622). Heavy shavings can be cut and the rough outside of a piece of wood taken off quicker and easier than with a more squarely ground iron, but it does not leave the surface smooth, as the strokes of the jack-plane form a series of hollows and ridges (Fig. 623, exaggerated). After taking off the rough surface with the iron projecting considerably, you can of course set the iron finer, and by going over the work several times you can take off the worst of the ridges, but without a great deal of labour you can never get a really smooth surface with a plane that cuts hollows. A common use of the jack-plane is for "traversing," or planing across the grain, which is often the quickest and easiest way to reduce a surface to the desired shape, and for cleaning off where pieces have been glued together. If you should use a jack-plane to do the work of a fore-plane, have it ground more squarely across like the fore-plane.

If you use an old-fashioned wooden plane, take the handle in your right hand, laying your left over the top and side, just a little in front of the iron, with the thumb towards you and the fingers on the farther side, as shown in Fig. 624. This position allows you to bear weight on the fore part of the plane when necessary and to control the tool to the best advantage. This applies to the old-fashioned wooden planes. If your plane is iron, there is a handle or knob for the left hand which you simply grasp in a natural way.

Push the jack-plane forward steadily an arm's-length. Then stop and start afresh for another arm's-length stroke. When drawing the plane back tip it on the farther edge. The cap or break-iron can be set quite far back from the edge for rough work, about one eighth inch, but much nearer for finer work.

In these days when almost everything is planed by machinery with greater or less smoothness, you will probably not have much use for a jack-plane unless you find you have a good deal of rough planing to do yourself.

The fore-plane or trying-plane is longer and larger than the jack-plane. Eighteen to twenty-two inches is a good length. It is used to straighten and level the surface after the worst roughness has been taken off. The surface having been roughed off by the jack-plane, the fore-plane is not required to take off such heavy shavings and the iron is therefore ground squarely across like a chisel, but very slightly rounded at the corners (Fig. 625). It is held in the same way as the jack-plane, but the stroke should be long and steady, for the fore-plane, which is long, will straighten the surface, and smooth it also. The iron can project more for soft and loose-grained woods than for hard, and the cap or break-iron should be nearer the edge for hard woods.

The jointer (22" to 30" in length) or long jointer (from 24" to 30"), is still longer than the fore-plane and correspondingly more accurate for making a surface level and true, or for shooting the edges of boards. Twenty-four inches is a good length. It is very useful for making joints to be glued, and is used in the same way as the fore-plane, the stroke being continued steadily the whole length of the piece if possible.

The smoothing-plane is used, as its name indicates, for the final smoothing of the surface, so far as it can be done with a plane. It is from five to ten inches long.

It is an invaluable plane to the amateur, and the beginner can get along very well for a great deal of work with no other, for stock can be bought ready planed and can easily be trued and jointed, when necessary, at any wood-working mill or shop at slight expense.

A plane with a short stock, as the smoothing-plane, will make your work smooth, but it is hard to make it straight and level or true with such a tool, because, being short, it will follow the larger irregularities of the surface and will only plane off the smaller inequalities. It will go up and down over the hills and valleys of the wood, so to speak, while a longer plane cannot do this, but will cut off the tops of the hills until the surface is made level, as shown in Fig. 626. The smoothing-plane is therefore merely to smooth the surface after it has been straightened by a longer plane, or in cases where smoothness only is essential and it is not required that the surface should be true. Small pieces can, of course, be straightened and trued by the smoothing-plane alone.

A wooden smoothing-plane can be held as shown in Fig. 627. An iron plane can be used by laying the hand naturally over the knob for the purpose.

The block-plane is small and is meant chiefly for planing across the ends of pieces (for planing "end-grain"), but it is also frequently useful in other directions. The iron is usually set at a more acute angle with the face of the stock than in the other planes and with the bevel upwards, and the width of the mouth is often adjustable, which is a convenience. A block-plane is made which can, by means of a detachable side, be used as a rabbet-plane. The block-plane makes a quite good substitute for a smoothing-plane for amateur work and is a very useful little tool.

The toothed-plane is about the size of the smoothing-plane, but the iron is corrugated or scored with grooves lengthwise, so that one side of the cutting-edge of the iron, instead of being smooth, is notched into little teeth somewhat like a fine saw or the edge of a file, and the iron is inserted in the body of the plane almost vertically. This plane makes scratches all along its course instead of taking off shavings. It is used in veneering and in gluing other surfaces. It can frequently be used to good advantage to break up the grain where two edges or surfaces are to be glued together, so that the glue may hold the two rough surfaces together more strongly, upon somewhat the same principle that the plastering on a lathed wall holds its place tightly through the hold it gets on the cracks between the laths, intentionally left for the purpose. The toothed-plane is used for this purpose in veneering. The idea upon which this tool is based originated with the Orientals, who have for ages scratched or toothed the joints of their wood-work.

It can also be used to subdue a refractory piece of crooked grain which you wish to get smooth, but which may crop to the surface in such a way that you cannot plane it without chipping the grain. By scratching the surface thoroughly in all directions with the toothed-plane set very fine, the obstinate fibres can be broken so that the surface can be smoothed with the scraper, not using the smoothing-plane. As a matter of fact, however, if you cannot smooth a piece of wood, the trouble is usually with the edge of the plane-iron or its adjustment, or with your manner of planing, for a very keen edge is supposed to be able to cut the most obstinate grain, unless, of course, the wood is extraordinarily hard.

The bull-nosed-plane has the iron close to the fore end of the stock, to work into corners and awkward places which cannot be reached by the smoothing-or block-planes. The iron is reversed. A very small plane (perhaps four inches long) of this kind is useful.

The circular-plane is used for planing curved surfaces, the sole being now made of a thin, flexible metal plate and adjustable so that either concave or convex surfaces can be smoothed. It is very useful at times, but is not essential for an amateur.

The rabbet-plane, which is used to cut rabbets, as the name indicates, is a useful tool, but in most cases you can dispense with it by having rabbets cut at a mill.

A router, for cleaning out and smoothing the bottoms of grooves and depressions, is very useful at times.

There is a variety of other planes for special purposes, as the plough, matching-planes, hollow and round planes, beading-planes, etc., as well as various combination and "universal" planes. Many of these are excellent, but, as a rule, are not important for the amateur in these days, as the work they do can be so easily and cheaply done at a mill. You will seldom feel the need of buying any of them, unless you live where you cannot reach a factory.

You will find it important to bear in mind the purpose of the cap or dull iron screwed upon one side of the cutting-iron, in what are called "double-ironed" planes. A plane with a single iron, like a chisel, will cut satisfactorily and easily for straight-grained, soft wood, and for hard wood when planing with the grain, but many pieces of stock are difficult to plane, because the grain does not run in the same way, but turns and twists, cropping up to the surface and dipping down again in all sorts of curious and perplexing ways. In planing them the wood is likely to be continually chipping or tearing and breaking off below the surface, instead of planing smoothly like a piece of straight-grained pine, leaving dents and rough hollows over the surface. The natural tendency of the plane-iron is to split the wood in front of the iron in such cases (Fig. 628). To remedy this the plane has a double iron. An iron or cap with a dull edge is screwed on to the face of the cutting-iron (Fig. 629) so as to help bend and break off the shavings before the split gets fairly started (Fig. 630), when the iron can cut it smoothly off. The thickness of the shavings is greatly exaggerated in the cuts for the sake of illustration.

The cutting edge is said to have "lead" in proportion to the distance it is in advance of the cap-iron. The cap can be set some little distance from the edge for the jack-plane, as far as an eighth of an inch, but with the fore-plane and smoothing-plane it must be set quite close to the edge, the distance varying according to the character of the wood. The more crooked or cross-grained the wood, the nearer the dull iron is brought down towards the edge of the sharp one. The nearer the edge, the smoother the result, but the harder to work the plane.

Something more than the break-iron is required, however, to insure breaking the shavings. There must be an angle, against which they can be broken, close in front of the cutting edge and above the shaving. This angle is the forward edge of the mouth or slot in the sole through which the iron projects (Fig. 631). Thus the width of the mouth makes a difference in the smoothness of the surface, for a narrow mouth is necessary to ensure the shaving being readily broken by the cap. With a wide mouth, the shaving will not be broken by the cap in time, because there is no corner against which to break it.

With straight-grained wood this does not make so much difference, but with crooked and broken grain narrowness of mouth is quite essential to a smooth surface, provided that the opening is wide enough to allow the shaving to pass through freely. Rough and knotty wood requires the mouth very narrow and the iron set very fine (i.e., projecting but very little from the sole) and the cap quite near the edge.

The modern iron planes have simple appliances for setting or adjusting the projection of the iron from the sole and thus regulating the thickness of the shaving. If, however, you are obliged to use the old-fashioned wooden planes, you raise the iron in the same way that you loosen it for removal, by lightly tapping on the top of the fore end of the stock, keeping hold of the plane with the left hand so as to prevent the iron falling through if loosened too much. When the iron is raised enough, fix it in place by tapping on top of the "chip" (Fig. 621, e) or wedge which holds it in place. To lower the cutting edge, loosen as before and, checking the edge with the finger, let it project the required distance, which you can tell about by looking along the sole (Fig. 632), and fix in place by tapping the "chip" as before. This is the process used in removing the iron for sharpening and replacing it, the chip being removed as well as the iron. Any carpenter will show you the operation. Always hold the plane in the left hand in all these adjusting operations. Do not strike or tap any part of it while it rests on the bench or on anything solid.

To smooth a rough piece of wood, use first the jack-plane, to remove the rough surface and superfluous wood, and then the fore-plane, to straighten and smooth the surface. If there is no need to have the surface true, but only smooth, you can omit using the fore-plane and follow the jack-plane at once by the smoothing-plane. With ordinary machine-planed stock you do not usually need the jack-plane, though it is sometimes useful in reducing a piece of wood to a given shape.

Before beginning to plane, see that all dirt or grit which might dull the tool is brushed from the surface.

Turn the plane over and sight along the sole (Fig. 632), not merely to see that the iron projects to the required degree, but also to see that it projects equally, lest one side or corner of the iron should cut more deeply than the other, and thus make a groove or scratch on the wood (Fig. 633). The latest iron planes have appliances to adjust any inequality of this sort, but if your plane is not so arranged a little tapping on one side of the upper end of the iron will correct the trouble. Try the plane on a waste piece before beginning on nice work.

Plane with the grain, as a rule, and the fibres will be cut off cleanly where they crop up to the surface and your work will be left smooth. If you plane against the grain, some of the fibres will tend to splinter or chip off just below the surface before they are cut off (Fig. 634).

Stand behind the work with the plane before you. Plane with the arms (and from the shoulder), not with the whole body. Try to shove the plane straight ahead, also to plane as equally and evenly as possible over the surface; for while it is comparatively easy to get a surface smooth it is quite another thing to keep it true or to make it true if warped or winding.

The natural tendency, and a common fault, is to begin and end the stroke as shown in Fig. 635. Rolling the body back and forth, instead of pushing steadily with the arms from the shoulder, aggravates this trouble. The result of this way (which is unconscious at first) is that the surface after planing is apt to be as shown in Fig. 636. To prevent this, press down with the left hand on the forward part of the plane during the first part of the stroke, and with the right hand on the rear part of the plane during the last part of the stroke (Fig. 637).

In planing wood which is dirty or rough, it is best to lift the plane from the work when drawing it back for a fresh stroke, or to draw it back so that only the point touches the board, or to draw it back on edge, but in planing small surfaces of clean wood it is not usually worth while to take this precaution.

In planing pieces with crooked grain, turn the piece when practicable, so as to plane as much of it with the grain as you can. But many pieces are so crooked in grain that you cannot do this. So at times it is well to turn your plane sideways to get a slicing cut and cross the grain at an angle (Fig. 638); but as a rule the plane should be pushed straight forward.

A few drops of oil rubbed over the face of the plane will make it run more smoothly, particularly on hard wood.

Test the accuracy of your planing of broad surfaces with a straight-edge, the blade of a square, or the edge of the plane itself (if straight). By applying such a straight-edge across the surface or lengthways or diagonally you can tell whether your work is straight and true (Fig. 639). Also "sight" with your eye. If the surface is large or long, winding-sticks can be used (see Winding-sticks). In planing edges test lengthways with the eye and straight-edge of some sort, and crossways by applying the try-square (Fig. 640). (See Jointing.)

It is, of course, harder to plane a broad surface, as the side of a board, than a narrow one, as the edge. When planing a flat surface, as a board, be careful not to plane off more at the edges than elsewhere (Fig. 641), as you will be quite likely to do if you allow the plane to tip sideways over the edge instead of keeping the sole parallel with the flat surface.

When planing across end-grain with the block-plane or smoothing-plane, either secure a waste piece of wood at the side where the planing ends, to prevent the edge chipping off, as shown in Fig. 642, or plane from both edges toward the middle (Fig. 643).

The use of the straight-edge will give the necessary clue to the process of making warped surfaces true. (See Truing Surfaces.)

Whenever you make nice articles from wood planed by an ordinary cylinder planer, the wood will seem quite smooth just as it is, but do not neglect to smooth it carefully so as to take out all the "planer-marks" or those little corrugations across the grain left by the machine will often show clear across the room as soon as the work is finished. See pages 44, 45, and 46, and also Sharpening.

Planing.—See Plane, Jointing, Truing Surfaces.

Plank, Laying.—See Boards, Laying.

Plough.—See Plane.

Plumb.—You can make a plumb-line by merely hanging any weight at the end of a cord, when the cord will of course be vertical as soon as it stops swinging (Fig. 644). For convenience in using hang the cord on a board as shown in Fig. 130. When the cord hangs exactly on the line or at the apex of the notch the edge of the board will be vertical.

A long board will give a more accurate test than a short one in most cases, just as a long plane will make a straighter edge than a short plane, for the long board will bridge over the irregularities of the surface to be plumbed. For example, to take an exaggerated case, the post plumbed as at a (Fig. 645) is vertical, taken as a whole; while the same post plumbed as at b leans over, because the short board happens to be placed where the surface of the post is not straight.

When the plumb-line is used to determine a point exactly over or under another point, as in surveying, the bob is shaped with a point like a top (Fig. 646). For making the plumb, see page 96. (See also Level.)

Pod-Bit.—See Bits.

Punch (for Nails).—See Nail-set.

Putty.—Common putty is (or should be) a mixture of linseed oil and whiting of about the consistency of dough. A mixture of white lead worked in with the whiting is, however, superior for some purposes, and is better when but one coat of paint is to be put on after the puttying. To colour putty, stir the colouring matter in a little oil and then work and knead it into the putty until the whole is coloured. Keep putty under water. Do not leave it wrapped in the paper in which you may take it from the painter's, for the oil will be absorbed by the paper and the putty will quickly become dry and hard. Use a square-bladed putty-knife for flat surfaces, and do not use your fingers. See also Holes, To Stop.

Putty-Knife.—An old case-knife can be used (better if reshaped squarely across or to an obtuse angle), or, in fact, any knife, but a regular putty-knife is best.

Quill-Bit.—See Bits.

Rabbet.—A rabbet is a recess or rectangular groove cut lengthways in the edge of a piece of board, plank, or other timber (Fig. 284). It is usually better for the amateur to get such work done at a mill, when practicable, rather than to do it by hand. The rabbet-plane is, however, a very useful tool to have. In some cases, as at the end of a piece, the saw can be used, the lines for the rabbet having been carefully marked with a knife or chisel. The chisel can also be used to make a rabbet, much as in cutting a mortise, taking pains when driving the chisel down next the line not to cut under or jam the wood beyond the line. In the final trimming to the line, the chisel should be held with the flat side toward the line. In removing the wood with the chisel, it is often best to pare across the grain rather than with it (see Paring).

A strip of wood can be clamped across the piece exactly on the line as a guide for the saw and the sawing be done with the heel or rear corner of the saw, keeping the latter close up to the gauge stick, and pieces are sometimes even clamped to the saw itself to guide it, but such arrangements, though useful expedients under some circumstances, are hardly the most workmanlike methods.

Rabbet-Plane.—See Plane.

Rasp.—The rasp—only used for wood—is a sort of coarse file, but instead of ridge-like teeth it is studded with projecting points, which tear off the wood more quickly, but also more roughly, than the file. It is extremely useful to remove surplus wood and to get curved objects roughly into shape. One good-sized half-round (or "slab-sided") rasp will be a great help. See File.

Rasping.—See Filing.

Reamers.—See Bits.

Repairing Furniture.—To repair thoroughly—to make things as strong as when new and to leave no sign of the mending—often requires more skill and ingenuity and more general knowledge of wood-working than to make new articles. Skill in repairing comes not merely from general knowledge of wood-working, but from experience and ingenuity in applying your knowledge to new problems. You will rarely have two jobs of repairing just alike, even if of the same kind, and the variety is almost endless. It is, therefore, impossible to give rules to cover all the different cases. In fact, to attempt to give complete directions for repairing would be to describe the majority of operations used in wood-working, and the reader is referred to other parts of the book for whatever information it may contain. Suggestions on one or two points may, however, be of use.

Suppose the arm of a chair comes off, after having been stuck on with glue perhaps a dozen times. How is it usually mended each time it comes off? The family glue-pot, containing the dregs of all the glue used since it was bought, is put on the stove, a little water poured in, and as soon as the glue gets warmed into a thick paste a lot of it is daubed on to the joints, on top of the thick coating they already have, and the arm pushed as nearly into place as it will go. It is then usually left for a few hours and sometimes even tied on with a string while the glue dries. Of course it sticks for a while and then the usual result follows.

Now how should you go to work to do this properly? First clean off all the old glue. This is important. You want to put the fresh glue on the wood, not on top of the old glue; but do not scrape away the wood in getting off the glue so that the parts will no longer fit. Next, see whether the pieces will fit together as they should. If they will, then contrive some way to clamp them in place while the glue is drying. Sometimes hand-screws will do this, sometimes clamps, sometimes a rope twisted, and often it will take all your ingenuity to contrive any arrangement, but clamped they must be if you wish to be sure of a good job.

The pieces often make an angle with one another, or are curved, so that the clamps or hand-screws will not hold, but slip as fast as you tighten them. In such a case the method shown in Fig. 647 can often be used. Screw a hand-screw firmly on each side of the joint, rubbing chalk on the insides of the jaws to help prevent slipping, and putting on the hand-screws so that the jaws will be parallel. Then, by using two other hand-screws, those first put on can be drawn towards one another and the joint firmly closed. Then proceed to glue the parts as with new work. For the way to do this see Gluing.

In patching old work with new wood, pains should be taken to have the wood match as well as possible, and, as a rule, pare or trim the new pieces after they are glued in place rather than before. Staining to match the older parts is often required (see Staining). See also Holes, To Stop.

The repaired joint may never be quite as strong as a new one, therefore it is well to reinforce it with a block glued and screwed on the under or inner side, in cases where this can be done without injuring the appearance, as inside of the frame under a chair, sofa, or table.

It is not uncommon, particularly in work which has come apart several times, for the tenons to be too small. If you can glue on thin pieces to make the tenon larger, trimming them afterwards to fit, it will be the best way; but if the conditions do not admit of this, a little muslin, laid in glue, can sometimes be wrapped around the tenon as the latter is fitted to place. The same can sometimes be done with round pins or dowels. The expedient of splitting and wedging tenons and dowels can often be applied in repairing (see Mortising and Dowels).

Sometimes you may find it necessary to use screws in places where the heads will show. In such cases first make, when possible, a neat round or square hole with bit or chisel of sufficient diameter to admit the head of the screw and deep enough to allow a shallow plug to be inserted after the screw has been set (see Holes, To Stop). The hardest part in finished work is to make the patch match the rest of the work.

See also Gluing, Clamps, and whatever other operations may be required.

Ripping-Saw.—See Saw.

Rivets.—In heading rivets hold another hammer or piece of metal, or have someone else do so, against the head of the rivet while upsetting the other end.

Rounding Sticks.—It is often required to round sticks for poles, masts, spars, arrows, and a great many other purposes. First plane the piece until it is as nearly square, in section, as you can make it. Then use the form shown on page 95, which will hold the squared stick firmly while you plane off the corners, making it eight-sided. Be careful not to plane the corners off too much, for the eight sides of the stick should be as nearly alike as possible. Next, if the stick is large enough, plane off each of the eight corners so that it will be sixteen-sided. This is about as far as you can go in this way, unless the stick is very large. Set the plane quite fine for taking off these corners or you may plane off too much before you know it. The rest of the rounding you must do with light, fine strokes, testing by eye and by passing your hand over the work (for you can judge a great deal by the sense of touch). The rasp and file can often be used to good advantage. The spoke-shave is good for the final smoothing, followed by the scraper or glass (both of which can be curved) and sandpaper. The latter can be used crosswise as well as lengthwise. Cut it in strips and pull it back and forth around the stick, much as bootblacks put the final polish on shoes with a strip of cloth (Fig. 648).

To hold large sticks for this final shaping and smoothing you can put them in the vise, but if there are several, and large, it is better to contrive some way to hold them after the fashion of the centres of a lathe. For one centre, drive a nail or screw through a block or stick of wood and screw the block in the vise (Fig. 649). Make the other centre in the same way and fasten it at such a distance from the first centre that the stick will just fit in between the two. Just how to fasten this second centre will depend on the length of the stick to be rounded and the arrangements of your shop, but you can easily contrive some way to hold it. The stick held between these centres will be clear of everything and can be turned around without trouble. The middle can be supported, if necessary, by a piece of board or a strip lightly nailed to the bench-top.

Masts and spars should be "natural sticks," if possible, and the final shaping and smoothing will be all they will require, for which some such apparatus as that just described will save time and trouble.

To round small sticks, as spars for model boats, arrows, etc., the same process should be followed so far as the small size of the sticks will allow, as you can of course shave more accurately with the plane, on account of the long guiding sole, for the same degree of effort, than with any "free-hand" tool like the knife. But when the stick is quite small it is hard to hold it firmly, and it is also too much covered by the plane. In such cases turn Japanese. Fasten the plane bottom-up in the vise (or even hold it in your lap if you have no vise) and pull the stick along the sole of the plane instead of pushing the plane over the stick. But look out for your fingers when you do this, for a plane-iron in this position has a great appetite for finger-tips.

In filing a short, round stick, one end can often be rested on the bench and the stick turned around towards you as you file.

A good way to finish the shaping of such small sticks is to hold your knife with the edge downward close against the side of your leg just above the knee. Then pull the stick up steadily between your leg and the knife. The leg acts as a sort of gauge to steady both the stick and the knife and with care you can cut a very even shaving in this way.

One very important thing to bear in mind in all these rounding operations is that you will rarely find wood with absolutely straight grain, except in "rift" stock or natural sticks (and in these there are often seemingly unaccountable twists and crooked streaks); so you need to keep constant watch of the direction of the grain, for even a slight turn of the stick will often bring the grain wrong with relation to your tool, and one false cut running in too deep, or even across the stick, will spoil the work.

Router.—See Plane.

Rule.—A rule with which to lay out your work and measure your stock is one of the first tools of which you can make use. A two-foot rule, folding once, is the most convenient for shop-work, but the more common kind, folding to six inches in length, is more convenient to carry around away from the shop. One brass-bound (with brass edges) is more durable, but hardly as convenient to use as the common cheap kind, which will answer every purpose until it breaks.

To mark distances with the rule for accurate work, lay the rule on edge so that the divisions marked on it will touch the wood and not be an eighth of an inch above it, as they are when the rule lies flat (Fig. 650). You can thus mark the points more accurately.

Sandpaper.—The fineness of sandpaper is indicated by numbers—00 (the finest), 0, ½, 1, 1½, 2, 2½ and 3 (the coarsest). You will use the fine and medium numbers more than the very coarse ones, and will seldom require coarser than 1½. Test sandpaper, when buying, by rubbing the sand a little with your hand to see if it is securely stuck on, and tear the paper a little to see if it is strong.

Never use sandpaper until all the cutting with the tools is done. Sandpaper with the grain, except for work which is to be painted.

The proper use of sandpaper, as a rule, for such work as you will do, is merely to give a little extra smoothness, to take out little scratches, to round edges, and the like, but not to cut away the wood and scrub it into the shape you wish. To use it much, except to skim over your work, is apt to get you into a slovenly style of working, and the result will lack the sharp accuracy of good work. Do not rely on the sandpaper to remove the defects in your work. Do the work right and you will need but little sandpaper, except in a few operations which will be specified when there is occasion.

For flat surfaces it is well to fold the sandpaper over a flat block of cork or wood (Fig. 651), the edges of which have been slightly rounded. If the surface is curved, the block should be curved correspondingly. A piece of thick rubber or leather which can be bent to fit the surface is excellent. Care should be taken not to round the corners and edges of the work when sandpapering.

In sandpapering any very delicate piece of work, when the edge might get rounded or the surface scratched by the stiffness of even the finest sandpaper, as in rubbing down finished work, split the paper, which you can easily do by removing the outer layer of paper from the back, when the remaining part to which the sand adheres will be much softer and more flexible.

Saw.—Saws are used for cutting across the grain and with the grain and there are various kinds for special purposes.

The cross-cutting saw is used, as the name indicates, for cutting across the grain of wood and for ordinary work. The blade is usually thicker at the teeth than at the back, to stiffen it and to enable it to pass through the wood more freely. From 18" to 24" is a good length for a cross-cutting saw (or more commonly called panel-saw) for your work, with about eight to ten teeth to the inch.

Examine the teeth (Fig. 652) and you will see that they are pointed and sharp, somewhat like the point of your knife, and that they cut across the fibres much the same as your knife does when you hold it upright and draw it across a board.

You will notice, also, that the teeth are alternately bent outwards,—one tooth being bent out to one side, the next to the other side,—this spreading of the teeth (which is called the "set") making the saw wider at the points of the teeth than elsewhere. You will also notice that the sharp cutting edge of each tooth is on the outside. This set, and the way the teeth are sharpened, makes the cut wider than the thickness of the blade, thus giving the saw "clearance" and enabling it to slip back and forth easily and without "binding" (Fig. 653). As a practical matter of fact, however, it is nothing uncommon for a saw to bind in the cut, either from not sawing straight or from the wood closing on the saw (see Fig. 695). The teeth not only cut or break off the fibres in parallel lines at the points of the teeth, but also tear off and remove the bits of wood (i.e., the sawdust) between these parallel cuts.

The degree to which the teeth are set and the number of teeth to the inch depend upon the use to which the saw is to be put and the kind of wood to be used. Of course the finer the teeth the smoother the cut. Cross-cut saws are usually sharpened differently for soft and for hard wood, but little set being required for the latter, while the former needs a wider set to give the blade clearance, because the fibres of the looser-textured soft wood are bent aside by the tearing action of the saw teeth and are not so cleanly cut off as in the hard wood.

We have examined the teeth of the cross-cut saw and have seen that they cut across the grain of the wood very much as the point and edge of a knife, and that the fibres, being cut or broken or torn off in fine pieces, are removed from the kerf by the teeth. Now to saw in the direction of the grain, instead of across it, we use a saw based on a different principle. As we used little knives to cut across the grain, so we use little chisels to cut with the grain. Look at the teeth of the ripping-saw and you will see that they are little chisels sharp only at the end (Fig. 654), though not as acute as chisels for obvious reasons. These sharp ends, which are square (Fig. 655, showing set) or may be oblique, cut or tear off the fibres, and the front edges of the teeth push the pieces out of the cut. The teeth of the cross-cut saw are filed so that the front cutting-edge is drawn across the wood in the most effective way, much as you would draw the knife-point across, while the teeth of the ripping-saw are pointed forward at a more acute angle so that the cutting-edge is pushed through the wood, somewhat as you push a chisel.

Fig. 654.

The ripping-saw cuts only on the down stroke. It is not suitable for use directly across the grain, as it tears the fibres when pushed across them much more than the cross-cut saw. The ripping-saw usually has larger teeth than the cross-cut saw. From 5½ to 8 points to the inch will do for your work. The ripping-saw usually cuts best when held slanting rather than at right angles with the board (Fig. 656), as you can easily understand when you think how a chisel works best in paring at the end of a board.

If the cut closes up after the saw so as to "bind" it, drive a wedge (or even a screw-driver or chisel) into the crack so as to open it enough for the saw to work freely. Binding of the saw from this cause is very common in making long cuts. When you come to a hard knot in splitting you can sometimes gain by taking the cross-cut saw to cut through it.

You will probably get most of your splitting done at a mill and will not have to depend on hand ripping-saws so much as your grandfathers did.

The back-saw should have, for your use, from 10 to 16 teeth to the inch and be perhaps 12 inches long. The blade is very thin to insure a finer and more accurate cut than can be made with the common saw, and therefore requires care in using. It has a back (whence the name) made of a thin piece of brass or iron put on so as to give the blade the necessary firmness.

This is an exceedingly useful tool, with which and a common panel saw you can do a great deal of work without any other. The back-saw must be used with care, for the blade is so thin that a little wrenching will spring it out of shape in spite of the strengthening back.

In the compass-saw the blade is very narrow, being about one inch at the broadest part and diminishing gradually to about a quarter of an inch at the other end. It is about fifteen inches long and is employed in cutting curved forms. As the blade is narrow and tapers towards the back and the teeth have a wide set it will cut a small circle. Notice that the teeth of the compass-saw are a sort of a compromise between those of the ripping and cross-cut saws, which enables them to cut freely either way of the grain, as is of course necessary in sawing curves.

The turning- or bow-saw is much better for any work with which the bow will not interfere, and is a very useful tool at times. Get one with handles which turn so that the blade can be turned to saw at an angle with the frame. You will need a few extra blades of different widths. The main thing to be borne in mind is to make the cut square with the surface. It is easier to follow the line than to secure a cut at right angles to the surface.

The keyhole-saw, which is even smaller than the compass-saw, is used for cutting quicker curves, as for a keyhole. It has a handle like that of a chisel, with a slot cut through from end to end. There is a screw on one side, so that the blade may be fixed at any length, according to the size of the hole to be cut. A good kind, which can be used for both compass-and keyhole-saws, has a handle into which various blades can be fitted.

Compass-and keyhole-saws are difficult for beginners to use without bending, twisting, or breaking their thin and narrow blades. Most of your curved sawing can be done better with a turning-saw or at a mill by a band- or jig-saw. If done at the mill, have a piece of waste wood put on the under side to prevent the burr, or ragged edge, left by the sawing.

A common way to test saws, when buying, is to take the handle in one hand and bend the point of the saw around in a curve sideways and then let the blade spring back, which it should do without being permanently bent or sprung.

Do not saw from one side of the line. Have your eyes above the line so that you can look on both sides of the saw (Fig. 657). This will help you to keep the saw-blade at right angles with the surface of the wood.

Hold the saw firmly with the forefinger pressed against the side of the handle to help guide and steady it (Fig. 657).

Having placed the saw just at the outside edge of the line and on the farther side of the piece, seize the wood with the left hand and hold the thumb against the blade (above the teeth) to help start the cut in the right place (Fig. 658). Aside from the danger of the saw jumping and damaging the wood unless guided by the thumb, it is liable to cut your left hand.

You can make a little notch with the knife or chisel on the outside of the line, to help start the saw, in the case of nice work, if you wish. Cut straight in just on the line and then make a sloping cut to meet this from outside the line (Fig. 659). First draw the saw gently backwards, guiding it by the thumb, with as little pressure on the wood as possible until you see that the cut is started right, then push it gently forward, and after a few easy strokes in this way to get the cut started right, keep on with long, steady strokes, but not long enough so that the end of the saw enters the kerf, lest it catch and the saw buckle. The saw should cut most on the downward motion, not on the up stroke.

With a sharp saw, there is nothing gained by bearing down heavily on the teeth, which may spring the saw and make crooked work. Rather let the saw run of itself with an easy, light stroke, guiding it carefully, and not letting it press on the wood on the up stroke. The more hastily and furiously you saw the poorer the result will probably be.

When you begin to run off the line, as you will be pretty sure to do, twist the saw a little with the wrist as you go on, which will bring it back to the line, because of the kerf being wider than the thickness of the saw-blade.

Beginners are apt to bend the saw over to one side. You can tell whether it is cutting at right angles with the face of the board by testing with the try-square as shown in Fig. 660. Such a test as this is, however, too inconvenient for ordinary practical work and you should learn as quickly as you can to hold the saw-blade correctly.

At the end of the cut, as at the beginning, saw gently with quick, light strokes, and hold the piece which is being cut off with the left hand, lest it break off and splinter one of the two pieces.

If the saw "binds" or does not work easily, you can for your rougher work put a little tallow, butter, lard, or lubricating oil on the blade, but beware of doing this for your nice work, or it will deface it when done. If the binding is caused by the springing together of the wood (Fig. 695) the crack should be wedged open.

Do not get into the habit of sawing a little way outside of the line and then trimming off the superfluous wood with your knife or a chisel. That is not a good way to learn to saw by a line. Try your best to make the cut where it should be (even if you do make mistakes for a good while) and thus get into the habit of doing it right without having to rely on any other tool than the saw.

Many pieces of wood can better be screwed in the vise for sawing instead of being laid on the horses, and this position is often preferable. In this case you grasp the wood with the left hand and use the saw as already described. (See Sharpening).

Saw-Filing.—See Sharpening.

Sawing.—See Saw.

Saw-Set.—Various contrivances can be bought for setting saw teeth. When you get to the point of needing one you can easily find a variety from which to select.

Scraper.—The scraper is made of saw-blade steel (frequently from an old saw) and may be of any shape or size to suit the work required of it. A common form for scraping flat surfaces is rectangular like a postal-card, and a good size is from 2" × 4" to 3" × 5".

A piece of glass makes a good scraper for almost every purpose except where a flat, true surface is required. It is good to smooth the handle of a paddle, for instance, but not good for scraping the top of a nice table. For many rounded surfaces glass is fully as good as a steel scraper, but for general use the latter is much better. The following directions may be of use when you wish to break glass to use for a scraper: "Take the back of a knife, or the smooth, straight edge of any piece of iron fixed with tolerable firmness for a moment, then, taking the piece of glass in both hands, rest its edge midway between them on the edge of the iron; let the upper edge of the glass lean from you, and push it gently along the iron, so as slightly to indent the edge of the glass; then, reversing its position so as to make it lean towards you, draw it smartly along the iron, and you will find it separated by a clean fracture directly across, forming a line more or less curved, and leaving one edge of the glass much sharper than the other. By a little practice, and by pressing a little more with one hand than the other, almost any curvature that the work to be done may require may be achieved" (Lord and Baines, Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life).

The edge of the scraper is turned over so as to form a sort of hooked edge or angle (Fig. 661), which when pushed over the surface scrapes off thin shavings. To smooth a flat surface the scraper can be held with both hands, between the fingers and thumb (Fig. 662), and pushed along in the direction towards which it is inclined. Sometimes one end of the scraper is held between the thumb and fingers of the left hand and the palm of the right hand applied below to push the tool along. As a rule scrape with the grain, and it is often advantageous to hold the scraper obliquely to the grain when pushing it forward. In case of some crooked and twisted grain you will find it best to scrape in any and in all directions.

You can make scrapers yourself by filing and grinding pieces of old saw-blades. It is very convenient to have a number of them with edges of various degrees of curvature (both convex and concave), but these you can make as you need them. A scraper is sometimes set in a stock and guided by handles like those of a spoke-shave, and sometimes set in a stock like a plane and used in the same manner. A scraper of the latter sort is often useful to assist in keeping the surface true when scraping, as its flat sole prevents its following all the undulations of the surface as readily as the hand-scraper, with which one is apt to make depressions by scraping too much in some particular spot. But so far as smoothing the surface goes there is nothing better than the common hand-scraper or so easily taken care of. For sharpening the scraper, see Sharpening.

In many large places you can get your wood for nice work scraped to a satin-like finish by a machine made for the purpose, but this is hardly worth while for ordinary work. You can also have it smoothed very nicely by sandpapering machines, but this is not advisable if there is to be any cutting of the wood afterwards, as the grit left in the pores of the wood will quickly take the keen edge from your tools.

The best test for smoothness alone is to run the fingers over the surface with a light touch. Great acuteness of touch can be acquired in this way. Any experienced wood-worker can at once detect inequalities with his fingers that he could not possibly see. Irregularities in curves can be detected in the same way.

Bead cutters or scrapers and reed scrapers and fluters can be bought of various patterns. You will hardly need to buy anything of the sort for some time, as you can make one when required. See Beading.

Scratch-Awl.—See Awl.

Screw-Driver.—The screw-driver is too familiar to need description, but in buying one see that the end is shaped like either of those shown in Fig. 663 and not as shown in Fig. 664. Cheap screw-drivers are often made in the latter way. If ground with a short bevel (Fig. 664) it will bear only on the top of the slot in the screw and will be all the time slipping out, on the principle of the inclined plane, while if the sides are parallel or concaved slightly the end will remain at the bottom of the nick of the screw. This is also a help in extracting screws, as it saves the need of pressing against the screw so hard to keep the screw-driver from slipping out of the slot. It is well to have screw-drivers of different sizes, as it is difficult and often impossible to use a screw-driver with an edge much too large or too small.

Remember that a long screw-driver is always preferable to a short one, except where lack of space makes a short one necessary. The reason for this is in the fact that in using the screw-driver you do not, as a practical matter, keep it exactly in the line of the screw, but keep wobbling it round more or less, which gives a leverage in the form of a crank-like action as you turn the handle. The longer the screw-driver the larger the circle or wobbling curve you describe with your hand and the greater the leverage (Fig. 665).

A screw-driver to be turned by the bit-brace is very useful for driving screws rapidly and with force, on account of the greater leverage gained by using the brace instead of the common handle. This is particularly useful where they need to be driven in very hard or when tight screws have to be loosened. It also saves much time when many screws are to be used. It is not advisable to buy automatic screw-drivers. They work satisfactorily for light work, but are not suitable for such wrenching and straining as your screw-drivers are liable to be subjected to. You want screw-drivers to which you can apply all your strength. See Screws.

Screws.—There are many kinds of screws. You will use the common wood-screws for most of your work. These are either flat-headed or round-headed, and of steel (either bright or blue or bronzed or nickled) or of brass. When others are required they will be mentioned. It is doubtful economy to buy second-hand or waste screws, but a pound or two of "mixed" screws, which you can get at any hardware store, will be very useful when you want some odd screw for some special purpose. Many of the screws in the "mixed" lots, which are sold very cheap, are defective, but you can often find among them just the peculiar screw you need, and so save time and money.

Nails are often used where it would be better to use screws, which will, as a rule, hold the pieces more securely. When work becomes loose, screws can be tightened, while nails usually have to be redriven.

To make a screw drive easily, rub the point on a piece of common soap. Oil is objectionable for nice work on account of the spot made by it. If screws are to be used in places where they may rust, it is a good plan to warm them slightly and then dip them in melted tallow or lard. They can also be inserted and removed more easily for this treatment. Try to keep the screw-driver from slipping from the slot of the screw (see Screw-driver).

In boring holes for screws, considerable discretion must be used. The hole in the outer piece (the one nearer the head of the screw) should be large enough to allow the screw to slip through freely—that is, you should not screw it into both pieces, but only the inner one, the screw acting somewhat in the nature of a clamp to bind the outer piece to the inner by pinching it tight between the screw-head and the inner piece (Fig. 666). How much of a hole to bore in the piece into which the point of the screw enters depends on circumstances. The stouter the screw the less hole required. The softer and larger the piece and the farther from the edge the less hole required. If the piece is small or liable to split, the hole must be carefully made—the more carefully in proportion to the slenderness of the screw, as a slim screw is liable to twist off in hard wood unless a sufficient hole is provided. Brass screws are very apt to do this, and much care must be used, particularly with slender ones in hard wood. If the hole is a bit too large, they will not hold. If a trifle too small, they will twist off, which is very annoying, especially in such cases as hinge-screws, for instance, where the place for the screws cannot well be changed. The hole should be somewhat smaller than the diameter of the screw. In good-sized pieces of soft wood there is frequently no need of any hole.

In rough work, especially in soft wood, the screws may be pounded part way with the hammer, driving them home with the screw-driver. Some theoretical workman will be quite sure to tell you never to do such a thing as that, so be sure to understand what is meant. Theoretically there may be some loss of holding power by that process, but practically the screws will hold just as well for the cases in which you are advised to do that way. Judgment must be used about all such things and theories are only of value when used by the light of common-sense. For example, if you are screwing the top on a mahogany table or framing a nice boat never think of using a hammer to start your screws, but if you are putting cleats on an old shed door or screwing up a packing-case do not spend an hour and a lot of strength driving screws all the way with a screw-driver when you can do the work in half an hour by driving the screws three quarters of the way in with the hammer. Good practical workmen are just as certain to use the hammer in such cases as they are careful not to use it for nice work or where the full holding power of the screw is needed.

Flat-headed screws almost always should be countersunk (see Countersink), for neatness if for no other reason, and in hard wood you should cut the depression for the head of the screw with the regular countersink made for the purpose. This should be done for nice work in soft wood where a good surface is required, but for common work in soft wood there is no need, as a rule, for the head of the screw will sink itself easily until flush with the surface.

If a screw hole requires to be moved a little, but not far enough so that a new hole can be bored without the bit slipping into the old hole, plug the old hole with a wooden pin dipped in glue, and when dry bore the new hole where required.

See Screw-driver.

Scribing.—Compasses are often used for scribing a line parallel to another line or surface, whether regular or irregular, in places where the gauge cannot be used. Suppose, for instance, you wish to cut the edge of a board to fit the undulating surface shown in Fig. 667. Run the compasses along with one point on the surface and the other making a mark on the board, and the line on the board will be parallel with the surface.

Another example is that of making a table, bench, chair, horse, or any four-legged object stand evenly. If it stands on three legs, which is a common fault and likely to occur in your first attempts, do not hastily saw one leg shorter by guess, and, making it too short, saw another and so on until it stands firmly, when the top will probably be all out of level. If there is any true surface on which you can stand the article (right side up), you can level the top by wedging under the legs until the corners of the top are equally distant from the surface on which the object stands. Then setting the compasses at a distance equal to that at which the end of the shortest leg is raised (Fig. 668), scribe around the other legs, which can then be cut off.[50]

See also Winding-Sticks and Marking.

Setting Saws.—See Sharpening.

Sharpening.—Before attempting to sharpen your tools yourself it would be well to read the advice given on page 22 under Care of Tools.

The general process of sharpening edged tools is first to grind them to as keen an edge as possible on the grindstone, or the emery-wheel, then to smooth down the coarse edge left by the grindstone by rubbing on a fine stone with oil or water, and finally stropping on leather. The grindstone must be kept wet while grinding or the heat caused by the friction of the tool on the dry stone will ruin the temper of the steel. Besides, the water carries off the waste particles of stone and steel. Stand on the side towards which the top of the stone turns. The tool can be ground with the stone turning from you, and, in fact, this usually seems the natural way to a novice, but it is usually more difficult to grind uniformly in that way and too thin an edge (a "wire-edge," ragged but not sharp) is apt to be produced, the removal of which is difficult without further damaging the edge and delaying the final sharpening.

To grind the point of a knife, it can be moved back and forth lengthways with a curving motion, while resting flat on the grindstone, and to grind the straight part of the blade, it can be allowed to bear very slightly harder near the edge of the stone than elsewhere, as it is passed back and forth.

To grind a chisel, grasp the handle with the right hand, hold the blade in the left hand with the fingers uppermost and near the cutting-edge. The arms and wrists should be kept as rigid as possible, the former at the sides of the body, so that the tool may be held firmly against the motion of the stone. Lay the chisel with slight pressure quite flatly on the stone and then raise the handle until the bevel touches the stone. As you grind keep moving the tool slowly back and forth across the stone, which helps keep the edge of the tool straight and prevents the stone being worn away too much in one place. Use plenty of water.

The common way of holding the tool on the stone is the one just described, but it can also be held at right angles to this position, so that, in the case of a chisel, for instance, the grinding action of the stone instead of being from the edge toward the handle is from side to side of the blade. The tool is ground quicker and easier by this means, and it is a good way to reduce the edge to shape, finishing the grinding by the regular method.

You will see that the curvature of the stone will tend to give the bevel a slight curve, in whatever position the tool is held, which is advantageous in the common way of grinding. When held so that the stone grinds from side to side of the blade the tool must be continually turned a little in the hand so that each part of the edge will bear in turn on the stone, as, the tool edge being flat, and the surface of the stone rounding, the tool would otherwise be ground hollowing. It is harder to hold the tool in this way, however, without its slipping or making nicks or grooves in the stone, and you had best learn to grind in the ordinary manner.

Try to grind squarely across the chisel—that is, to have the cutting-edge at right angles to the lengthways edge of the tool. Apply the square at intervals to test the accuracy of the grinding.

The angle for grinding the bevel of such tools as the chisel is about twenty-five degrees, but when used for very hard wood the angle should be slightly greater, or the edge may be broken.

Do all the grinding on the bevel. Do not apply the flat side of the tool to the grindstone. Any slight burr or turning over of the edge on the flat side should be taken off by the oil-stone.

If the edge is badly nicked or broken, you can first straighten or grind it down roughly on the side of the stone or by holding it nearly at right angles to the stone—but with the latter turning the other way—before grinding in the regular way.

To tell when the tool is ground sufficiently, hold the edge in front of you toward the light. If the edge can be seen as a bright shining line it is a sign that the tool is dull. It will not be sharp until this bright line has been removed, and the edge has become invisible, for a really keen edge cannot be seen by the naked eye. Bear this in mind, as it is the final test and the simplest way to tell when to stop grinding.

In grinding on a grindstone and in rubbing on an oil-stone, the great difficulty is to keep the same angle between the tool and the stone, as the natural tendency in moving the tool is to rock it back and forth and thus alter the angle between the blade and the stone. An arrangement can be bought which preserves the desired angle without effort on the part of the grinder. A little ingenuity will enable you to rig up a guide or gauge with a piece of board which will enable you to replace the tool on the grindstone at the same angle.

The plane-iron is sharpened in the same way as the chisel, only, being wider than most of the chisels you are likely to use, it requires more care to sharpen. The plane-irons can be ground to a somewhat more acute angle than the chisels, although the jack-plane, which is used for rough work, may require more strength at the edge.

In rubbing the edge upon the oil-stone, do not attempt to smooth down the whole bevel made by the grindstone, but first lay the tool lightly on the stone as shown in Fig. 670a, then raise the handle until the upper part of the bevel is very slightly raised,—barely enough to clear the stone (Fig. 670b),—and then proceed with the whetting, thus making a second or little bevel at the edge (Fig. 671).

The tool must be moved back and forth very steadily or instead of a second bevel the whole edge will be rounded (Fig. 672) and will not have the requisite keenness. The angle of this second bevel is usually about ten degrees greater than the long bevel, or thirty-five degrees, although the angles of sharpening should be varied slightly according to the hardness of the wood and the kind of work to be done; but where you have only few tools and must use them for all kinds of work you cannot always, as a practical matter, pay much regard to such variations, as of course you cannot keep regrinding your tools every time you begin on a new piece of wood. Just how acute to make the edge you must learn by experience, according to the conditions of your work. An edge suitable for delicate work in white-pine would be immediately ruined if used upon lignum-vitÆ.

Any little wire edge which is produced on the flat side by the process of rubbing on the oil-stone can be removed by drawing the flat side of the iron over the stone once, but be sure that you do not raise the handle at all, as the slightest bevel on the flat side of the edge will spoil it. After the tool has been sharpened a good many times on the oil-stone this smaller bevel (the oil-stone bevel, so to speak) will become so wide that it is a waste of time and strength to rub it down. The chisel must then be reground and a new bevel made on the oil-stone.

It is a good plan to have a separate stone or "slip" for the outside bevel of gouges, because it is so hard to avoid rubbing hollows in the stone, which injures it for the other tools. Care must be taken also with very narrow or pointed tools lest the stone be grooved or nicked. Gouges can be rubbed at right angles with the stone, rolling the tool with the left hand, or by the use of a slip they can be rubbed as described below. For rubbing gouges on the inside, i.e., on the concave surface, rounded pieces of stone, called "slips," are used. These can be bought of various sizes and shapes to fit the various curves. Do not think, however, that you must try to find a slip that will fit each gouge as exactly as if it had been shaped by the gouge itself. The curve of the slip may be a little "quicker" or sharper than that of the tool, but must not be flatter or of course it cannot be made to bear on all parts of the curve.

In rubbing with the slip, hold the tool upright in the hand and rub the slip up and down, moving the slip and not the tool. If you rest the tool against the bench, it will steady it and also avoid any probability of your finger slipping on to the edge. The more common "outside" gouges are not rubbed on the inside, except the merest touch of the slip to remove any wire edge or burr. The draw-knife is also rubbed with a flat slip, in the same manner, resting it on the bench.

In rubbing the knife on the oil-stone give it a circular motion rather than simply back and forth, particularly for the point. The straight part can be allowed to bear a little more heavily near the edge of the stone as it is passed back and forth.

It is much the best way to sharpen tools frequently, as soon as they begin to get dull, when they will require but little rubbing on the stone, rather than to let them get into such condition that it is a long and hard job to whet them; and of course the more careful you are to keep them sharp, the better work you will do.

To test the sharpness of your tools, cut across the grain of a piece of soft pine wood. If the cut is clean and smooth, the tools are sharp, but if the cut is rough or the wood torn, further sharpening is needed. The reason for using soft wood, which at first thought might not seem to require as keen an edge as hard wood, is because the fibrous structure of the soft wood, being more yielding, offers less resistance to the tool and so is torn or crushed apart except by a very keen edge, while the firmer structure of the hard wood can be cut smoothly by a tool which would tear the soft wood. The difference is somewhat like that between cutting a fresh loaf of bread or cake and a stale one.

The edge left by the oil-stone can be improved by stropping on a piece of leather on which a little paste of lard and emery or some similar composition has been spread. This is better than to strop knives and other tools on your boots. Any piece of leather such as barbers use, or even a piece from an old boot, will answer. For flat edges see that the strop rests on a flat surface, so as not to tend to round the edge, as it may do if held carelessly in the hand. See Oil-stone and Strop.

Saw Filing is particularly hard for boys and amateurs to do satisfactorily and you are advised not to undertake it until you have become quite familiar with the use of tools, for it does not need to be done very often, costs but little, and there are very few places where you cannot get it done.

It is not difficult to understand the theory of setting and filing saw teeth, but to fix a saw in really good shape is hard for an amateur,—and for that matter you will find but a small proportion of good workmen who are experts in saw filing. Even in very small villages there is almost always some mechanic who has the knack of putting saws in order better than anyone else and who therefore makes quite a business of such work and people bring their saws to him from all the country round, even though they may be able to fix them tolerably well themselves, so great is the advantage in the quality of the work and the saving of time in having a saw in perfect condition. You had best do the same, and have your saws fixed whenever they get dull. The expense is but slight, and there is nothing that will conduce more to good work, and to your own success and satisfaction, than to have your tools in first-rate working order.

When you get to the point of filing and setting your saws you are advised to take a lesson from a good saw-filer. There are few persons so situated that they cannot do this, or at least watch someone go through the process, and thus learn much more readily than by reading about the process in a book. In fact, it is one of those things that it is so hard to learn from a book that merely a few remarks on the subject are given here.

The saw is firmly fastened in a saw-clamp, expressly for the purpose, so that it will not shake or rattle. The teeth are "jointed," or reduced to the same level, by lightly passing the flat side of a file over their points, lengthways of the saw. The saw can also be jointed along the sides after filing, but this is frequently omitted.

For a cross-cutting saw the file (a triangular saw-file) is held at an angle with the blade depending upon the particular form of tooth adopted, as you will see by examination. The handle being grasped in the right hand, the point of the file should be held between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand (Fig. 526). The file must be pushed across with an even, straight stroke, without any rocking or up and down motion, pressure being applied only on the forward or pushing stroke, the tool being drawn back very lightly or lifted entirely on the back stroke. The filing is begun at one end of the saw, filing only the teeth which bend away from you (i.e., every alternate tooth), carefully keeping the file at the proper angle, pressing only on the tooth you are filing, but keeping the tool lightly touching the adjacent tooth, and making allowance for the fact that when you file the alternate set the passing file will take off a little from the teeth first filed. The saw is then turned around and the process repeated with the other teeth. If you look lengthways along the edge of a panel-saw that has been properly filed and set, an angular trough or groove will be seen along the whole length, so that you can slide a needle along in it from one end of the saw to the other.

The ripping-saw is usually filed squarely across the saw (at right-angles to the blade), as you will see at once on examination of the teeth (Figs. 654 and 655), but sometimes at a more acute angle.

The teeth are set by bending every other tooth outward, first setting those on one side and then those on the other. You should do this with some one of the various adjustable tooth-setting contrivances sold for the purpose, as it requires a skilled workman to set teeth in any other way, and any attempt on your part to do so without some instrument adjusted to the purpose will probably result in damaging the saw.

For soft and loose-fibred wood more set is needed than for hard wood, because the fibres, which are quite cleanly cut or broken in the hard wood, in the more yielding soft wood are bent aside by the teeth to close in upon the blade with considerable binding force; and less set is required by fine work than for coarse. The angles and points of saw teeth can be more acute for soft than for hard wood.

To sharpen the scraper you must have a sharpener or burnisher. The edge of a chisel or any piece of very hard steel can be used after a fashion, but it is better to have a regular tool for the purpose, which can be made easily from an old three-cornered file, such as is used for filing saws, by grinding off the teeth and slightly rounding the angles on the grindstone until the whole tool is smooth. Two opposite edges of the scraper are ground or filed and the edge then turned over by the burnisher. Some workmen grind the edges with an obtuse bevel and use only one angle of each edge. Others grind the edges square and use both angles of each edge. The bevel gives a slightly keener scraping edge than to grind the steel square, but it requires more frequent sharpening and the squared edge turned over on both sides is likely to be more satisfactory.

First grind or file the two opposite edges squarely across and slightly round each corner to prevent scratching the wood. If there is a burr at the edge it can be removed by rubbing the scraper lightly on the oil-stone, but this is advisable only for final scraping of very fine work. Having thus got the edge at right angles and smooth, lay the scraper flat on its side near the edge of the bench and rub the burnisher back and forth a few times in the position shown in Fig. 673, which is almost flat on the scraper. This rubbing bends a little of the steel over the edge. Do this on each opposite edge of the two sides, giving four edges thus curled over. Next, holding the scraper as shown in Fig. 674, draw the burnisher with a firm, even stroke, once or twice, lengthways of the edge, as shown. The scraper can be laid flat on the bench, if preferred, slightly projecting over the edge. Notice that the tool should be drawn with a slightly end to end motion, as shown, which helps turn the edge. This turns a fine scraping edge, which will take off shavings. All four edges are treated in the same way. After one edge gets dull, use another. When all four are dull, resharpen with the burnisher as before, without grinding or filing the edge. This can be done a few times, but soon the edges will get worn off and rounded, and the scraper then needs refiling.

Shellac.—See Finishing.

Shell-Bit.—See Bits.

Shelves.—Examples of shelves fitted permanently into place are given in Chapter X. (on Furniture). Removable shelves can most easily be fitted to rest on cleats screwed to the sides of the space, but this arrangement does not always look very well and the position of the shelves cannot be changed so readily as by using screw-eyes driven into the sides under the shelves (Fig. 675), recesses of the right shape being cut on the under side of the shelves so that the screw-eyes will be sunk and not be conspicuous. The position of the shelves can quickly be changed by screwing the supports higher or lower as may be required. Pins and other contrivances to fit in a series of holes can be bought for this purpose. A common way to adjust shelves is shown in Fig. 676. The construction is obvious. The vertical strips can be laid on edge side by side, clamped together, and the notches laid out and cut as if there were but one piece. Where a circular saw is available the notches are cut on the side of a narrow piece of board which is then sawed into the desired strips or "ratchets."

Shooting-Board.—The shooting-board is very useful for jointing edges, particularly for short, thin stock. The carpenter or cabinet-maker will make you one for a moderate price, or you can make one yourself as soon as you become a good enough workman (see page 93).

To use it, the board to be jointed is laid flat on the raised part of the shooting-board, where it is firmly held with the left hand, with the end of the board pressing against the stop of the shooting-board, and the edge to be jointed lapping over the edge of the raised part. The planing is done with the plane lying on its side on the lower part of the shooting-board (Fig. 677). The cutting-edge of the plane thus being at right angles with the surface of the board, the edge will be planed squarely across. The shooting-board should be fastened on the bench in some way, to prevent it from slipping around.

Attachments to keep the sole of the plane at right angles to the surface of the piece can be had at any hardware store, and serve the same purpose as a shooting-board for thick stock, but not equally well for thin pieces.

You can reverse the sides of two pieces to be jointed for gluing, as described on page 406, giving a joint like that shown in Fig. 678 (which is exaggerated). The iron of the plane is sometimes purposely set to project unevenly beyond the sole.

If you have many joints to make, you can have the edges jointed at slight expense at any wood-working mill on a planer made for the purpose. See Jointing.

Smoothing-Plane.—See Plane.

Smoothing Surfaces.—See Plane, Scraper, Sandpaper.

Splices.—See Joints and Splices.

Spline.—A flexible strip, used as a ruler, for drawing curves. See Marking.

Splitting-Saw.—See Saw.

Splitting Wood.—We have seen how a log in drying cracks along the radial lines (page 31), thus showing the natural lines of cleavage or separation in the direction of the medullary rays, that is, radiating from the centre. From this we see that the wood will, of course, split most easily and smoothly on the radial lines. Like all wood-choppers you can often make practical use of this fact in splitting wood with a knife or chisel, or in splitting fuel with an axe. The next easiest way to split wood is as nearly as may be on the line of the annual rings, or tangential to the line of the medullary rays, in the same direction as when the layers separate in forming "cup shakes" (see Appendix). This way is sometimes easier than to rive a stout log through the centre.

Spokeshave.—The spoke-shave is very useful for smoothing small curved and irregular surfaces. Metal spoke-shaves of various patterns can be bought with various adjustments for different curves, etc. Also a "universal" spoke-shave can be had, with movable handles and detachable bottoms which can be adapted for curved or straight work, and a width gauge by means of which it can be used for rabbeting.

The spoke-shave is a very useful tool and works upon the same general principle as the plane, but lacking the long flat sole of the plane is used only for irregular surfaces, which its short and sometimes curved face enables it to smooth with great ease. It also acts on the same principle as a draw-knife with the addition of a guiding stock. It bears somewhat the same relation to the draw-knife that the plane does to the chisel.

Grasp the tool firmly, bearing downward with both hands and pressing forward with the thumbs, pushing the tool from you so as to cut like a plane (Fig. 679). Of course it can also be drawn towards you when the circumstances of the work render it advisable. See Paring and Sharpening.

Spoon-Bit.—See Bits.

Square.—This tool is one of the most useful in the list, for the importance of having your work "square" can hardly be over-estimated.

The try-square should have a metal strip on the inside edge of the wooden arm, head, or beam, or the handle can be wholly of metal. Get a medium-sized try-square (9- or 10-inch blade is good) rather than a very small one, as it is much more useful; and a graduated scale, like a rule, on the blade is sometimes serviceable.

Fig. 680.

The primary use of this tool is to test or "try" the accuracy of right-angled work—hence the name. The one special point to bear in mind in using it for this purpose is to be sure that the head or beam is pressed firmly against the edge or side to which it is applied, determining the accuracy of the angle by the position of the blade (Fig. 680).

You will also use the try-square continually for marking straight lines across boards or timbers at right angles to one side or one edge (Fig. 681). In using it for this purpose be sure not merely to press the head of the square firmly against the edge of the board, but to keep it securely in the same position. When the blade is placed correctly on the given point do the marking as by any straight-edge. Another way is to place the point of the pencil or knife directly on the given point and slide the square along until it bears on the pencil or knife. Then, keeping the head of the square firmly against the edge, the line can be drawn along the blade.

The try-square sometimes is made with the end of the head or beam next the blade cut on a bevel. By placing this bevel against the edge a try-square of this construction can also be used as a mitre-square (Fig. 682).

If you buy a second-hand square, or if a square has been wrenched, you can test its accuracy by marking a line with it across a surface from a straight edge, then turning the square over and repeating the operation; the two lines should coincide. But the edge from which you rule must be perfectly straight, or the test will be of no value. If, however, you buy new squares made by the best makers they will be as accurate as any test you can apply to them.

Beginners, particularly young beginners, are very apt to be so engrossed in making the line along the blade that they forget to keep the head in position, or let it slip, when the blade will of course cease to be at right angles with the edge or side (Fig. 683).

The framing-square, "steel-square," or large two-foot carpenter's square, is a very useful and important tool; not merely for framing and large, heavy work but also for small work, and it is of great value in many mechanical operations. Even an iron square is very useful, but a nickel-plated steel-square is the best, as the figures are more distinct and it is less likely to rust. The long arm makes a good straight-edge. See also page 181.

Staining.—When you stain wood, do it for the sake of the colour, preserving the beauty of the grain, and not to try to imitate a more expensive wood. It is better, as a rule, to use good wood of a handsome colour and leave it as it is to mellow with age than to stain or colour it, but there are times when you will wish to stain wood.

The main point to bear in mind for successful staining is to colour the wood itself, not to put on a superficial coat of coloured varnish. For instance, the fumes of ammonia (or the liquid itself) will give oak in a very short time the same dark colour which the ammonia in the air will produce after years of exposure. This is a natural process—merely anticipating the change caused by time.

There are a number of ways of staining dependent upon such chemical processes carried on in the wood itself. These ways are the best, as you can readily see. Having got the right colour, the wood can be oiled, shellacked, varnished, or waxed in the usual way. By this method the natural grain of the wood is not obscured. In fact, the figure of the grain is sometimes made more conspicuous.

Another way is to wash the wood with some thin stain of the desired colour, after which you can finish in the usual way. This is a good method, for the wood itself is coloured to some distance below the surface, and after it is finished it will take considerable bruising to expose its original colour. This method also sometimes enhances the beauty of the grain.

The poorest way to stain, but a very common one with amateurs and in cheap work, is, instead of staining the wood itself, to cover the surface with coloured varnish or shellac. This is often the cheapest and quickest way of getting a desired colour, but it is decidedly the poorest way. Of course, no coating of colour put on outside can be as durable as colour imbedded in the substance of the wood itself, and scarring or injury to the coating exposes the original colour beneath. Besides this, the grain and character of the wood are necessarily obscured by a coloured coating. Wood finished in this way almost always has a cheap, artificial look, and you can usually detect the fraud at a glance. There are many cheap "varnish stains" or coloured varnishes, but you will do well to avoid them, unless for the cheapest and poorest work.

There are two things you will wish to do in staining. One is simply to darken or enrich the natural colour of the wood, so as to give it at once the rich, deep, mellow tone produced by age. This is always the best way to do when it will give the colour you want. But if you want to change the colour entirely—to make pine wood red or green, or cherry black, you must use some chemical process that will develop a new colour in the wood, or must apply a regular stain.

Raw linseed oil alone, well rubbed in and allowed to stand before applying shellac or varnish, will deepen and bring out the natural colouring in time as well as anything else, but it takes a good while. Repeated applications, each thoroughly rubbed in and the excess rubbed off, and after standing some days or weeks, given a light rubbing down with fine sandpaper, then another oiling, and so on, will in time give a surface of beautiful colour, as well as a soft and attractive lustre. But to carry out this process may take months, so that you will not be very likely to practise it; but you see the result sometimes on old wooden tool-handles and plane-stocks which have been so treated. If you do not care about deepening the colour greatly, one or two applications, allowed to stand a week or two before finishing, will often be sufficient and will make a great difference in the looks of your work, and take off that raw, fresh look peculiar to recently cut wood.

If your work is such that you can defer the shell acing for a year or so, as in the case of some pretty piece of furniture to remain in the house, there is no way you can develop the richness of the wood better than to oil it and let it stand to mellow, with occasional applications of oil and rubbing down. Then finally rub down with fine sandpaper and shellac in the usual way.

To hasten the process we must apply something stronger than oil. If the work is of oak, shut it up in a box or tight closet, with a dish of strong ammonia on the floor. Do not stay in the box or closet yourself, as it is dangerous. A simpler way is to wash the work with the ammonia, more than once if necessary. Have the room well ventilated when you do this, and do not inhale more of the fumes than necessary. Wetting the wood is sometimes a disadvantage, however, in glued-up work, and it "raises the grain," which must be rubbed down with fine sandpaper before finishing.

To deepen the colour of mahogany or cherry, simply wash it with lime-water (a simple solution of common lime in water) as many times as may be necessary, which is cheap and effective. After this process, thoroughly clean out all cracks and corners before sandpapering, for particles of the lime which may be deposited will spoil the appearance of the work when finished. This process preserves the natural appearance of the wood. The only drawback is the necessity of getting the work so wet. Some days should be allowed for the water to evaporate before shellacking. To get a darker shade, apply in the same way a solution of bichromate of potash in water.

Whitewood takes stains finely—much better than pine. Oak will stain almost any colour, but the individuality of the wood—the character of its grain and structure—is so strongly marked that it is poor taste to attempt to stain it to imitate other woods. If you stain it, stain it just as you would paint it, simply for the colour.

A good way for indoor work, such as a piece of furniture or anything of the sort you may wish to colour, is to mix dry pigments with japan and then thin the mixture with turpentine, or turpentine alone can be used. After the work is coloured in this way put on a couple of coats of varnish. For outside work you can use oil. This is a cheap way and wears well. It applies only to the cheaper woods which you do not care to leave of the natural colour. For black inside work you can use ivory-black, ground in japan and thinned with turpentine. Ivory-black or bone-black are superior to lampblack, but the latter will do very well for most purposes. Dragon's blood in alcohol is used to give a colour similar to mahogany. Alkanet root in raw linseed oil will give a warm and mellow hue to mahogany or cherry.

There is an almost endless number of recipes for staining, but such others as you need you can learn from some finisher or painter, for the limits of this book do not allow fuller treatment of so extensive a subject.

Steel-Square.—See Square.

Steel-Wool.—Long, fine steel shavings done up in bundles can be used instead of sandpaper for some purposes. There are various degrees of fineness. This is good for cleaning off paint and for smoothing curved surfaces, but should not be used until all work with the edge-tools is done, because of the particles of the metal. It can be used for "rubbing down" in finishing.

Straight-Bent Chisel.—See Chisel.

Straight-Edge.—There are no definite dimensions for a straight-edge. Any piece of wood that is straight and convenient to use can be so called; the size and the length depending on the work for which it is to be used, from a common ruler to a long board. The edge of a large carpenter's square is handy for short work. Clear white pine or straight-grained mahogany is good for straight-edges, but a straight-edge is not the easiest thing for a beginner to make, and you will do well to find something straight to use for a while until you acquire the skill to make one—or get the carpenter to make you one, which he will do for a very small sum or for nothing.

To test a straight-edge, mark a line by it, then turn the straight-edge over and see if it still coincides with the line, or mark another line and see if it coincides with the first one. Try your straight-edges by this test once in a while, as they are liable to become crooked. In turning the edge over, however, do not reverse the ends, as in case of an undulating curvature the curves may agree and give you the impression that the edge is straight when it is not. In the first case shown in Fig. 684 (exaggerated) this would not happen, but in the second case (also exaggerated) it might. See Marking.

Strop.—A piece of hard, smooth leather on which to strop your tools you can easily procure. It can be fastened on a piece of wood (see page 85). Spread on it a paste of sweet oil and emery, lard oil and crocus powder, or some similar preparation. A pine board on which "air-dust" has accumulated can even be used. See remarks under Sharpening.

Tacks.—Tacks are sold as one-ounce, two-ounce, and so on according to size.

Do not use tacks for fastening wood to wood, but only for fastening leather or cloth or the like to wood. The pointed wedge-shape of the tack tends to split thin wood, and is not at all suitable to fasten two pieces of wood together, particularly in thin wood or near the edge. Possibly you may have seen some disastrous results from the attempt to tack pieces of wood together.

Tape-Measure.—This article (preferably of steel) is often useful, though not nearly as important for an amateur to buy as many other things.

Tenon.—See Mortising.

Tenon-Saw.—See Saw (Back-Saw).

Tool-Racks.—See page 83.

Toothed-Plane.—See Plane.

Truing Surfaces.—To true a curved or warped surface, as of a board, lay it on the bench with the rounded side down and wedge it firmly underneath to make it as nearly level as possible. Then scribe a line with the compasses across each end of the board at the height of the lowest point of the surface (Fig. 685). Cut a depression or kind of rabbet at each end down to this line (Fig. 686). Next, by the use of winding-sticks placed on each of these rabbets you can easily see whether they are in line (see Winding-sticks). Alter the rabbets if necessary to get them in line. Draw lines on each edge connecting the bottoms of the rabbets, and plane away the superfluous wood down to these lines. When this is done the top of the board will be true or in the same plane. Test it by placing the straight-edges in different positions on the surface and sighting as before, correcting any errors. One side of the board being made true in this way, the other can be made parallel by gauging a line all around the edge, measuring by the thinnest point of the board, and planing off the superfluous wood in the same manner as the first side.

You can sometimes facilitate the process of planing off the superfluous wood by making cuts with the saw and removing part of it with the chisel, or by planing across the grain (the jack-plane is good for this purpose), or paring across the grain with the chisel, or any such method, always being careful not to cut quite as deep as the intended surface, so that all the marks and cuts can be removed by the final planing. See Plane, and also page 179.

Try-Square.—See Square.

Turning-Saw.—See Saw.

Turpentine.—See Finishing and Painting.

Twist-Drill.—The twist-drill is much better than the gimlet-bit. It makes a good hole, bores easily, is not easily dulled, can be used upon metal, and one kind in common use can be easily kept in order by simply sharpening the ends. There are various patterns. A little care is necessary, however, particularly in hard wood, as they are liable to be snapped by bending. See Bits.

Varnish.—See Finishing.

Veining-Tool.—See Carving-Tools.

Vise.—See page 65. For vise for metal-work, see page 70.

Warping, To Remove.—Of course the simplest way to straighten a warped board is to put a weight on it, but the difficulty here is that it usually will stay straight only while the weight is on it, unless you leave it longer than the patience of the average amateur lasts. To do this (or to warp a straight board either) with some chance of success, (1) heat one side, or (2) wet one side, or (3) wet one side and heat the other, or (4) wet both sides and expose one to the fire (Fig. 687). But do not be too sure that the result will be lasting. Sometimes it will and sometimes not. Another way is to thoroughly soak the board, press it into shape between clamps or under a weight, and leave it until dry; a week or more is none too long, and boiling water is better than cold. Simply laying a board down on a flat surface will often cause it to warp, because the two sides of the board will be unequally exposed to the action of the atmosphere. Planing off one side only, or planing one side more than the other, often produces the same effect. See pages 50-53 and Appendix.

Wedges.—Wedges are in constant use for lifting or separating heavy bodies, as doubtless you know, and the principle of the wedge comes in in using the axe, hatchet, chisel, knife, and the other edge-tools (see page 25). Besides this use of the wedge you will often find it valuable to tighten or clamp objects of various kinds, or to hold them firmly in place.

If you wish to split objects or tear them apart, use a single wedge, for the increasing thickness of the wedge applied at one point tears or splits the wood apart. But if you merely wish to squeeze, or press, or hold firmly, or move, without damaging the shape of the wood, use double wedges,—that is, two wedges having the same inclination or taper and pointing opposite ways. You will see that the sides of the double wedge (that is, the outsides of the wedges) will be parallel no matter how hard you drive the separate wedges, so that the pressure will be exerted without injuring or jamming the surfaces against which the wedge bears (see Fig. 333). Short, flaring wedges do the work more quickly, but require harder blows to drive, and are more liable to slip. Long, tapering wedges work more slowly, more easily, and are not liable to slip. You will also use wedging to secure tenons and dowels (see Mortising, etc.).

Whittling.—See Knife.

Winding-Sticks.—Two straight-edges, each of equal width throughout, can be laid on edge, one across each end of the surface to be tested. Stand back a little and look across the top edge of one to the top edge of the other, and if these edges agree you may know at once that there is no winding where you have placed the straight-edges (Fig. 688). By putting them in different positions you can finally determine whether the whole surface is true or not.

It is more accurate to use winding-sticks considerably longer than the width of the piece to be tested, as then any warping or winding will be exaggerated and more easily seen (Fig. 689). If the upper edges of the sticks are thin, or "feather-edged," it is easier to tell exactly when they are in line, but this does not ordinarily matter, except in work requiring extreme accuracy.

To find, for example, when the legs of a table, chair, or the like are cut so that the article will stand evenly, turn it over with the legs sticking up, put straight-edges on the ends of the legs, sight across these (Fig. 690), and trim one or two legs until the edges are in line. See Scribing for other methods.

Warping or winding of short pieces can be detected by simply laying one straight-edge diagonally from corner to corner (Fig. 691). This will show at once which parts require to be planed to make the surface true.

Withdrawing Nails.—When withdrawing nails place a block under the hammer-head as shown (Fig. 692), using more blocks, if necessary, as the nail is withdrawn.

To draw the nails from boxes, pry up a board, together with the nails, a short distance—perhaps ¼"—and then with a sharp, quick blow of the hammer pound the board back into place, not striking the nails but the board between them. This will usually leave the nail-heads projecting a little above the surface, so that you can draw them as shown in Fig. 692, and thus save splitting or defacing the boards and bending the nails, as usually results from smashing or wrenching boxes apart. The quick blow drives the board back before the motion has time to communicate itself to the nails, on somewhat the same principle that a bullet makes a round hole in a window pane without smashing the glass.

Wood-Filler.—See Finishing.

Wrench.—A strong wrench is often very serviceable in wood-working operations.