[1] These criticisms are meant to apply to the class of manuals, compendiums, and so-called "Boys' Books" and "Amateurs' Books," in the popular sense of the word, and not to the many admirable works on sloyd, manual training, and the various special branches of wood-working.

[2] An old gentleman whose help, on account of his accurate workmanship, I once frequently obtained when "rushed," was an extreme example of this systematic way of doing work. I would give him perhaps three hours' work, which he would agree to have done at the end of that time. Looking in after an hour or so I would find the work apparently untouched, which was a little provoking, of course, as the average workman would have had it perhaps one third done. But instead, this old gentleman would be apparently only "puttering around," touching up his saws, fixing his planes, whetting his chisels, looking over the wood, and not getting ahead a bit. Going off in disgust (until I got acquainted with his ways, I mean), I would return at the end of the three hours, to find that the work had been ready some time and done to perfection. While he was at first apparently accomplishing nothing he was really getting everything in perfect shape to do the work and laying out in his mind every detail of the whole process, so that when he began the actual work it almost did itself, and he forged right ahead of the average workman, who would either have been behind time or slighted the work in order to get it done, and in most cases have made some mistake to be corrected in some part of the process. I never knew that man to make a mistake. Why? Not because his ability was extraordinary, but because he concentrated his mind on the work and thought it out clear through before he began. Now I know the average boy too well to expect him to have the patience to do just as this workman did. It would be unreasonable. But it is the true way to do good work, so try to think it all out as far as you can and to get ready before you begin. The work will go ever so much more quickly and easily.

[3] "It has been said that the snow-shoe and canoe as made by the Indians could never be improved. To these might be added the split birch broom, or splinter broom, also the invention of the Indians, but made in every country household in New England in Colonial days. The branch of a large birch tree was cut eight feet long. An inch-wide band of the bark was left about eighteen inches from one end, and the shorter and lower end was cut in fine pliable slivers up to the restraining bark band. A row of slivers was cut from the upper end downward, turned down over the band, and tied firmly down. Then the remainder of the stick was smoothed into a handle. These brooms were pliable, cleanly, and enduring, and as broom-corn was not grown here until the latter part of the past century, they were, in fact, the only brooms of those days. They were made by boys on New England farms for six cents apiece, and bought by the country storekeepers in large numbers for the cities' use."—The Chautauquan.

[4] Quoted, by kind permission, from Turning and Mechanical Manipulation.

[5] Quoted, by kind permission, from the valuable and entertaining work on Japanese Homes and their Surroundings (copyright. 1885), by Edward S. Morse.

[6] If you are so situated, as possibly a few of you may be, that you cannot get the benefit of modern methods, but must do all the rough work that your grandfathers did, you will require a few additional tools, but these you can readily select from the descriptions given farther on.

[7] There are many reliable makers of tools. Among them the following can be named, and their tools can be obtained almost anywhere: Saws—Henry Disston. Chisels and gouges—Moulson Bros.; Buck Bros. Planes—Stanley; Moulson Bros. (plane-irons); Wm. Butcher (do.); Buck Bros. (do.) Files—P. S. Stubs. Rules and squares, levels, gauges, spoke-shaves, etc.—Stanley Rule & Level Co. Braces—Barber. Bits—Jennings. Knives (sloid)—Taylor. Carving tools—Addis; Buck; Taylor.

[8] So called because in the common trees of temperate climes one layer is added each year.

[9] Although the shrinkage lengthways is not usually noticeable as affecting the length of a board, it shows slightly by its effect in causing the pieces to spring, or become bowed lengthwise, as you will see in many boards which have been left free to spring while seasoning.

[10] In addition to the curling, the outer boards will be poorer because they contain a greater proportion of sapwood, which is usually inferior to the heartwood.

[11] By this is not meant the figure or flashes shown by the medullary rays, or "silver grain," seen in quartered oak and some other woods, but the figure of the grain without the medullary rays, as seen in plain oak, etc.

[12] The forests of North America, exclusive of Mexico, are now believed, according to Sargent, to contain four hundred and twenty-two species of plants, besides numerous varieties, which can fairly be considered trees.

[13] The peculiarity of the wood is that the water is not simply drawn in to fill up what we call the pores, as in chalk or any ordinary porous inorganic substance, but enters into the very fibre of the body, forcing apart the minute solid particles with an extraordinary force which does not seem to be fully understood.

[14] If you can afford to buy one ready made, you cannot do better than to begin with such as are sold for sloyd or manual-training schools, but do not get a very small one unless you are only going to do very small work. Get one as large as you can afford. A second-hand bench can often be bought for a small sum, but be sure that it is firm and steady.

[15] The reason for making this bench 5' 10" long, instead of cutting a 12' board into two lengths of 6' each, is that it is hard to get boards sound and square at the ends, and so it is best to allow a few inches for waste. Of course your bench can be of any desired length. Six or eight feet is suitable for ordinary work, but there is no objection to making it as much longer as your space and material will admit. The height should bear a proper relation to the height of the workman. No definite height can be given. Try moving a plane back and forth. If your right elbow, when holding the plane, is slightly bent and your back about straight, the height will be not far from right. Do a little simple work at a table, trying different heights, and you can soon tell what will be satisfactory. If the bench is too low, you cannot manage your work well and your back will get tired from bending over, not to speak of becoming round-shouldered. If the bench is too high, it will be hard to manage your work, you cannot plane well, and your arms will be tired from holding them up unnaturally high. A bench for heavy work like carpentry is usually rather lower than one for cabinet-or pattern-making, while a carver's bench is usually higher.

[16] This vise is fitted slanting, so that the slide at the bottom comes on the outside of the leg and at the same time in the centre line of the movable jaw in line with the screw. A common form has the movable jaw upright, the sliding bar being mortised into it and sliding through a mortise cut in the leg, as shown in Figs. 56 and 57. If you wish to make this kind, study Mortising, in Part V., and lay out and cut the mortise in the leg before nailing the cross-board to it (Figs. 41 and 42). This is the most difficult part of the bench to make nicely, and you can spend a good deal of pains upon it. If you have not yet the proper tools to make this mortise you can mark it out and have it cut for a very small sum at a wood-working mill or shop. When nailing the cross-board upon the legs, bear in mind to put this leg in the right place. Fig. 58 shows a simple arrangement with an additional post, or two posts can be put together and one half the notching done in each (Fig. 59).

[17] In case your bench is in the house and you wish to deaden the sound and vibration from your work you can put rubber cushions under the legs.

[18] Fig. 112 shows a nicer pair of horses. Take two pieces of pine, or any wood not likely to warp, 2" × 3" (or 4") × 2½' or 3', mark with rule, square, and gauge (see Gauge), and cut with saw and chisel the shallow gains (Fig. 113) for the legs. Make them the same depth at the top as at the bottom (Fig. 114), and clean them out as accurately to the lines as you can. Get out eight legs, and regulate their length as before. Saw the upper ends on a bevel (Fig. 114) corresponding to the slant they are to have. Nail or screw them in place. You can glue the joints for additional strength. Fit on cross-pieces and finish the work as described above. If you ever need horses for very heavy work you can make the legs of plank or joist with the tops cut like Fig. 115.

[19] You can attach your windmill to a building or set it up on a pole, or you can easily make a small trestle-work tower, built of small sticks, on the top of which you can place the windmill, with a small keg (to represent a hogshead or tank), and thus have a very good imitation of the large mills used for pumping water. Small windmills, if you wish to go further into the subject than comes within the scope of this book, can be used to do any light or "play" work by having them turn a bent shaft (or any eccentric movement), connecting with a piston-rod or revolving drum; or various other attachments can be applied, according to your ingenuity.

[20] All of this work can be done cheaply at any mill, leaving the rounding or bevelling of the edges and the bending of the ends for you to do yourself, and for that matter the rounding or bevelling can be done by machine.

[21] Mrs. Alec Tweedie says of the way skis are worn in Norway:

"The toes are fastened by a leather strap. Another strap goes round the heel in a sort of loop fashion, securing the foot, but at the same time giving the heel full play. A special ski boot is worn over enormously thick horsehair stockings. This boot has no hard sole at all, and, instead of being sewn at the sides, the large piece of thick leather which goes under the foot is brought well over the top and secured to what might ordinarily be called a leather tongue. At the back of the boot is a small strap, which is used to fasten the ski securely to the boot. Once fixed on the ski, the boot is so secure no fall can loosen it, and the only way to extricate the foot is to undo the three straps."

[22] Various contrivances for steering with a wheel or cross-bar are sometimes used. These work well if properly attached, and for reasonably safe coasting can be recommended, but where a "spill" is likely to occur, it may be well to consider the chance of being injured by these obstructions in front of the steersman.

Fig. 249 shows the king-post squared at the lower end (and tapering) to be fitted to a tapering mortise in the cross-cleat of the forward sled and held down by the screw and nut at the extreme end. A wheel is attached to the upper end. Any blacksmith can make an arrangement like this, or the bottom of the king-post can be split (Fig. 250) and screwed to the front sled, and the top can be made with a bar instead of a wheel (Fig. 251).

[23] You can get this height by taking two sticks whose combined length is somewhat greater than the height of the room. By letting the ends lap over one another in the middle, the sticks can be slipped along on each other until they just reach from floor to ceiling. Hold them tightly together (or fasten them with a clamp) when in this position and you will have the exact length required.

[24] This method of putting in a back answers very well for the beginner, and is often used in cheap work, but, unless quite small, the really workmanlike way is to make a panelled frame, which is screwed in place as one piece. The degree to which the panelling is carried depends upon the size and shape of the back. When you become able to make your work more neatly and accurately than can be expected of the beginner, you will do well to construct the backs in this way, but it involves much more labour and is hardly worth while for such simple work as you will do at first.

[25] A more workmanlike way is to work all such mouldings on the edge of the top, making it as much thicker as may be required, thus avoiding putting on the moulding across the grain of the piece to which it is fastened, which is not a scientific form of construction; and for that matter it is a more thoroughly workmanlike way to work all mouldings on the solid wood.

The top can be made of two thicknesses, the moulding being worked on the edge of the under piece before the two are glued together. Various forms of moulding can be worked on the edge by a moulding machine at almost any wood-working mill.

[26] See footnote on page 198.

[27] Still another way sometimes used for model yachts is to build the hull much in the same way that a real vessel is built—making a framework or skeleton and covering it with little planks, but this method (though a good one in some respects) requires more skill than can be expected of the average amateur, and this mode of construction should not be attempted until you become a skilful workman and accomplished in the building of regular model yachts.

If your boat is quite small it will probably be easier and better in most cases to cut the hull from a solid block; but if much more than two feet in length it is usually better to build it in layers.

Either of these methods can be used in any case, but for a small boat the building in layers is more difficult, while for a large one it is hard to find a block that will be sufficiently free from defects.

[28] In making the plans for a boat, three views are usually drawn, known as the sheer plan, the body plan, and the half-breadth plan. These correspond to the "front or side elevation," "end elevation," and "plan" in ordinary drawings, and give side, end, and top views of the boat,—or of one-half of it, which is all that is needed, as the sides are of course alike. Several equidistant horizontal lines are drawn across the plans. One of these represents the line of the water when the boat has its proper load. It is called the load water-line. The other lines being parallel to it represent other imaginary levels, at equal distances apart—like the lines which would be made by the water if the boat sunk deeper or floated higher. Other lines are also added to show vertical and horizontal, longitudinal and cross-sections, at regular intervals, and also other longitudinal sections, but these details you will find fully described in works on yacht-(and model yacht-) building.

[29] The fin can be cut from sheet metal (brass or sheet-iron) and inserted in a thin saw-kerf cut exactly in the centre of the bottom, being set in thick white lead, or it can be riveted to thin plates screwed to the bottom of the boat, or lips can be bent over alternately on either side of the upper edge of the fin and screwed to the bottom.

The amount of lead required for the bulb at the bottom of the fin can be determined by loading the hull with weights until it is sunk to the water line. The weights will, of course, represent the weight of lead required. This can be cast in a mould and riveted to the bottom of the fin.

[30] To find the number of square feet in the cleats, first find the number of "running" feet, that is, the total length of the cleats if they were stretched out in a long line, like one of the rails of a railroad track. Then, as the cleats are 3" wide (or one fourth of a foot), it will take four running feet to make one square foot. Therefore divide the number of running feet by four and the quotient will be the number of square feet.

[31] Boards twelve feet long will be the best to buy for this house, because you can get two lengths from each board without waste. You could not be sure, however, of getting two lengths of exactly six feet from each twelve-foot board, because the ends are frequently checked or damaged in some way; so it will be safest to make the length 5' 10", as given above.

[32] If you have only small stones or blocks upon which to rest it, the building can be put together directly upon the ground, the sills being rested temporarily upon any material at hand, and then the supports adjusted underneath.

[33] You can mark a point on one string 3' from one stake and a point on the other string 4' from the same stake, and then increase or decrease the angle made by the two strings until another string exactly 5' long will just reach from the marked point on one string to that on the other. This process is based on the principle of mathematics that if the two sides of a right-angled triangle are respectively 3 units and 4 units in length, the length of the hypothenuse will be 5 units. Another way, if you are fond of mathematics, is to find the length of the diagonals of the plan of the house by extracting the square root of the sum of the squares of the two sides. (The square described on the hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares described on the other two sides.) You can measure the diagonal directly from a plan if you understand mechanical drawing well enough to make an accurate plan on a scale of perhaps ½" or 1" to a foot. Then take one tape, or string, measuring the width of the building, with one end held on the stake C (Fig. 387), and another tape measuring the length of the diagonal, with the end held on the stake D. Drive the stake A at the point where the two tapes meet when brought together. Reversing the positions of the tapes will give in the same way the fourth corner B. The distance A B should equal C D.

[34] The part of the post which is embedded in the ground is sometimes charred or painted to preserve it from decay. This can be easily done, but the process is advisable only with thoroughly seasoned wood. It is highly injurious to green timber, as by closing the pores and obstructing evaporation from the surface it prevents the seasoning of the wood and causes fermentation and decay within (see Appendix).

[35] These posts, and even the sills, can be built up if necessary of 2" × 4" studding, two pieces being placed side by side and nailed together, but this is not so desirable as regards strength, its only advantage consisting in the readiness with which the joints can be made by simply cutting one of the two pieces shorter than the other.

[36] Obtained through the courtesy of Mr. Charles H. Bradley, Superintendent of the admirable Farm School on Thompson's Island, in Boston Harbour, where this little village was built.

[37] If that is too expensive, some of those given in the preceding pages will probably answer your purpose.

[38] "Soils which are naturally porous, from which rain rapidly disappears, are known to be the healthiest for the sites of houses. In this the action of the soil oxidizes all organic impurities, the resulting product is washed away by the rain, and the soil remains sweet and wholesome."—Latham.

[39] To find the number of steps for a given situation, find the height, as just shown, from floor to floor, 102" for example. Assume, for trial, a satisfactory height for each step, as 7". Divide 102 by 7, which gives 14⁴/₇ for the number of steps. To make the number even, call it 14, and you have only to divide 102 by 14 to get the exact height of each step.

[40] Unless too heavily loaded, a canvas-covered canoe will float in case of a capsize, but some form of air-chambers is desirable and a safe precaution in any small boat. It is hardly safe to rely upon your ability to build water-tight compartments in the ends of canvas (or wooden) boats, as is sometimes recommended—that is, as a part of the regular construction of the boat. It is not easy for an amateur to do this. It is better to have the air-tight compartments made separately and independent of the boat itself. Copper boxes or air-tanks fitted to the space at the ends are the best and the only really reliable expedient, but they are expensive. Light wooden boxes covered with canvas and thoroughly painted can be used, as well as galvanised boxes or even varnish cans sealed and painted. Any such contrivance can be made tight at first, but is always liable to become leaky (except by the use of copper tanks), particularly as it is usually concealed from examination.

[41] Mortise-chisels with great thickness of blade (Fig. 486) are not likely to break, and the width of the sides bearing against the sides of the mortise tends to make the cutting more accurate.

[42] You may be told that perfect joints do not require much clamping, but a perfect joint is impossible, and as a practical matter, only the skilled workman or the most accurate machinery can make even a good joint of much length, so great is the difficulty of avoiding little inaccuracies. Besides this, there is always the liability to more or less springing or change of shape on the part of the pieces. The joint which was good when you stopped planing may not be as good by the time the glue has set, particularly if the gluing does not immediately follow the jointing. In addition to this, the pressure from clamping at only one or two points, or at points too far apart, may force the joint to open elsewhere. Do not infer from this that even the beginner should be content with a poor joint, with the idea that it can be squeezed and jammed to a sufficiently good fit by applying muscle to the clamps. Of course this jamming or mashing of the fibres to fit occurs, to a microscopic degree, in even the best joint, and it can sometimes be done to a perceptible extent with soft wood, but to do this intentionally is very unworkmanlike, and the greatest care should be taken to make as good a joint as possible before gluing and applying the clamps. Do not, however, flatter yourself that you can make so accurate a joint that you can afford to neglect proper clamping, unless, in such cases as that shown in Fig. 488, you adopt the old-fashioned way of rubbing the two edges together and then leaving the rest to the glue, but this is not so good a process for the beginner, except with small pieces, such as corner-blocks (see Corner-blocks). See Jointing.

[43] Shellac is, strictly speaking, a kind of varnish, but it is so different from many kinds of varnish in common use that it is quite commonly spoken of as shellac, in contradistinction from what is popularly known as varnish, and the term is so used here.

[44] In shell acing doors or panel work, first shellac the panels, then the rails, and finally the styles (see Fig. 505), because daubs or runs can be wiped off and covered better when you thus follow the construction of the work.

[45] As an extreme illustration, it may be interesting to note the way the best lacquer work (which is so durable) is made by the Japanese, an article being given, as Professor Morse tells us, one coat a year, the finest work having twenty-one coats and the artist rowing out to sea for miles each time to make sure that all dust is avoided.

[46] Two pieces properly glued are often stronger than one solid piece—that is, the glued joint is stronger than the wood itself, as you will probably discover some day when you have occasion to break apart a piece of good gluing; but after a long time the glue is apt to deteriorate in adhesive or cohesive force, particularly if the joint has not been protected by paint or varnish, so do the best work you can if you wish it to last. Nevertheless, in important work it is usually safest to take a whole piece when you can, rather than glue up two or more pieces, except in cases, perhaps, where the matter of warping, etc., is concerned, when it may be better to build up the desired shape of pieces selected for the purpose.

[47] It may be useful to know, although not suitable work for the beginner, that there is no better way to joint edges (to make glued joints, as in Fig. 552) than with a first-class circular saw, run by one who knows how to use it. The minute roughnesses left by the saw assist the glue to hold, and as inconspicuous and strong joints as possible can be quickly produced in this way by a good workman with a first-class saw, but do not expect a satisfactory result except under these conditions.

[48] This seems to be the common opinion among experienced men. There are, however, many painters of experience who prefer the prepared liquid paint for outside work, and it certainly saves trouble.

[49] It is not a good plan to wipe brushes on the sharp edge of a tin can, as it injures the bristles.

[50] Another method of doing this is to find a true surface to stand the legs on and measure the distance the free leg rises from the surface—1" for example. Do nothing to that leg, of course, or to the one diagonally opposite, but saw ½" from each of the two other legs. Suppose, for example, the legs a, b, and c touch (Fig. 669), and d rises ¾" from the floor. Make a and c each ³/₈" shorter. Of course you cannot hit it exactly by this method, but a few strokes of a tool will finish the work.

[51] In elm, ash, and hickory the sapwood is sometimes considered better than the heart.

[52] The term deal, though often loosely applied to the wood of the pine and fir, properly refers to planks of these woods cut more than 7" wide and 6' long—usually 3" thick and 9" wide. The term is common in Great Britain but not in the United States.

[53] This definition of elevations and plan as being representations of what you would see if you stood opposite the sides or above the top of the object, is merely a rough explanation of the general meaning of the terms. As a matter of scientific accuracy the elevation is, strictly speaking, not the way the side would appear if you looked at it from one position, but the way it would appear if you could look at it from directly opposite every point of it—as if you could have an infinite number of eyes, one being opposite every point of the object. The elevation shows the front or side or end as it really is, not as it looks, either in the form of an exact copy if the object is small, or of a small copy made in the same proportion if the object is too large to be represented full size.

[54] Gr., equal measure.