The Handyman's Book of Woodworking

WOODWORK FOR BEGINNERS

WITH INSTRUCTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

ON

BASIC WOODWORKING SKILLS,

INCLUDING INFORMATION ON TOOLS,

TIMBER AND SIMPLE JOINTS.

EDITED BY

PAUL N. HASLUCK

Copyright © 2019 Old Hand Books

This edition is published by Old Hand Books, an imprint of Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

www.readandcobooks.co.uk

PAUL

     Paul Nooncree Hasluck was born in April 1854, in South Australia. The third son of Lewis Hasluck, of Perth, the family moved to the UK when Hasluck was still young. He subsequently lived in Herne Bay (Kent), before moving to 120 Victoria Street, London, later in life.

     Hasluck was the secretary of the 'Institution of Sanitary Engineers' – an organisation dedicated to promoting knowledge of, and development in the field of urban sanitation. Hasluck was also the editor of several magazines and volumes over his lifetime, including Work and Building He was an eminently knowledgeable and talented engineer, and wrote many practical books. These included such titles as; Lathe-Work: A Practical Treatise on the Tools employed in the Art of Turning (1881), The Watch-Jobber's Handy Book (1887), Screw-Threads, and Methods of Producing Them (1887), and an eight volume series on The Automobile as well as a staggering eighteen volumes of Mechanics

     In his personal life, Hasluck married in 1883, to 'Florence' and the two enjoyed a happy marriage, though his wife unfortunately died young, in 1916. Hasluck himself died on 7th May, 1931, aged seventy-seven.

WOODWORKING

     Woodworking is the process of making items from wood. Along with stone, mud and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. There are incredibly early examples of woodwork, evidenced in Mousterian stone tools used by Neanderthal man, which demonstrate our affinity with the wooden medium. In fact, the very development of civilisation is linked to the advancement of increasingly greater degrees of skill in working with these materials.

     Examples of Bronze Age wood-carving include tree trunks worked into coffins from northern Germany and Denmark and wooden folding-chairs. The site of Fellbach-Schmieden in Germany has provided fine examples of wooden animal statues from the Iron Age. Woodworking is depicted in many ancient Egyptian drawings, and a considerable amount of ancient Egyptian furniture (such as stools, chairs, tables, beds, chests) has been preserved in tombs. The inner coffins found in the tombs were also made of wood. The metal used by the Egyptians for woodworking tools was originally copper and eventually, after 2000 BC, bronze - as ironworking was unknown until much later. Historically, woodworkers relied upon the woods native to their region, until transportation and trade innovations made more exotic woods available to the craftsman.

     Today, often as a contemporary artistic and 'craft' medium, wood is used both in traditional and modern styles; an excellent material for delicate as well as forceful artworks. Wood is used in forms of sculpture, trade, and decoration including chip carving, wood burning, and marquetry, offering a fascination, beauty, and complexity in the grain that often shows even when the medium is painted. It is in some ways easier to shape than harder substances, but an artist or craftsman must develop specific skills to carve it properly. 'Wood carving' is really an entire genre itself, and involves cutting wood generally with a knife in one hand, or a chisel by two hands - or, with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery.

     The making of sculpture in wood has been extremely widely practiced but survives much less well than the other main materials such as stone and bronze, as it is vulnerable to decay, insect damage, and fire. It therefore forms an important hidden element in the arts and crafts history of many cultures. Outdoor wood sculptures do not last long in most parts of the world, so we have little idea how the totem pole tradition developed. Many of the most important sculptures of China and Japan in particular are in wood, and the great majority of African sculptures and that of Oceania also use this medium. There are various forms of carving which can be utilised; 'chip carving' (a style of carving in which knives or chisels are used to remove small chips of the material), 'relief carving' (where figures are carved in a flat panel of wood), 'Scandinavian flat-plane' (where figures are carved in large flat planes, created primarily using a carving knife - and rarely rounded or sanded afterwards) and 'whittling' (simply carving shapes using just a knife). Each of these techniques will need slightly varying tools, but broadly speaking, a specialised 'carving knife' is essential, alongside a 'gouge' (a tool with a curved cutting edge used in a variety of forms and sizes for carving hollows, rounds and sweeping curves), a 'chisel' and a 'coping saw' (a small saw, used to cut off chunks of wood at once).

     Wood turning is another common form of woodworking, used to create wooden objects on a lathe. Woodturning differs from most other forms of woodworking in that the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and shape it. There are two distinct methods of turning wood: 'spindle turning' and 'bowl' or 'faceplate turning'. Their key difference is in the orientation of the wood grain, relative to the axis of the lathe. This variation in orientation changes the tools and techniques used. In spindle turning, the grain runs lengthways along the lathe bed, as if a log was mounted in the lathe. Grain is thus always perpendicular to the direction of rotation under the tool. In bowl turning, the grain runs at right angles to the axis, as if a plank were mounted across the chuck. When a bowl blank rotates, the angle that the grain makes with the cutting tool continually changes between the easy cuts of lengthways and downwards across the grain to two places per rotation where the tool is cutting across the grain and even upwards across it. This varying grain angle limits some of the tools that may be used and requires additional skill in order to cope with it.

     The origin of woodturning dates to around 1300 BC when the Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood with a rope while the other used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. The Romans improved the Egyptian design with the addition of a turning bow. Early bow lathes were also developed and used in Germany, France and Britain. In the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning, freeing both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. The pedal was usually connected to a pole, often a straight-grained sapling. The system today is called the 'spring pole' lathe. Alternatively, a two-person lathe, called a 'great lathe', allowed a piece to turn continuously (like today's power lathes). A master would cut the wood while an apprentice turned the crank.

     As an interesting aside, the term 'bodger' stems from pole lathe turners who used to make chair legs and spindles. A bodger would typically purchase all the trees on a plot of land, set up camp on the plot, and then fell the trees and turn the wood. The spindles and legs that were produced were sold in bulk, for pence per dozen. The bodger's job was considered unfinished because he only made component parts. The term now describes a person who leaves a job unfinished, or does it badly. This could not be more different from perceptions of modern carpentry; a highly skilled trade in which work involves the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges and concrete framework. The word 'carpenter' is the English rendering of the Old French word carpentier (later, which is derived from the Latin carpentrius; '(maker) of a carriage.' Carpenters traditionally worked with natural wood and did the rougher work such as framing, but today many other materials are also used and sometimes the finer trades of cabinet-making and furniture building are considered carpentry.

     As is evident from this brief historical and practical overview of woodwork, it is an incredibly varied and exciting genre of arts and crafts; an ancient tradition still relevant in the modern day. Woodworkers range from hobbyists, individuals operating from the home environment, to artisan professionals with specialist workshops, and eventually large-scale factory operations. We hope the reader is inspired by this book to create some woodwork of their own.

CONTENTS

IGeometric Tools

II Holding Tools

III Paring and Shaving Tools

IV Hand Saws

VTools of Percussion and Impulsion

VI Boring Tools

VII Abrading and Scraping Tools

VIII Nails, Screws and Glue

IV Timber: Its Growth, Seasoning, Conversion, Selection and Varieties

XJoints

XI Easy Examples of Woodwork

The Handyman’s Book of Woodworking

WOODWORK FOR BEGINNERS

GEOMETRICAL TOOLS.

TOOLS FOR AND

THE simplest of these is the lead pencil, which is of a flat oval section sharpened to a chisel edge; if sharpened to a point, the pencil wears away quickly and is capable of marking a fine, solid line for only a few minutes together. There is a greater body of lead in the chisel edge, which therefore lasts some time before requiring to be re-sharpened. Steel scribing and marking tools are illustrated by Figs. 1 to The chisel end marking awl and the striking knife are used for all purposes of scribing and marking smooth work, where an indented line answers the purpose better than a black line, the scratch providing a good starting point for edge tools. It is advisable to use a pencil for rough surfaces. A home-made striking knife commonly used in workshops is ground down from an old table knife.

Fig. 1.—Chisel-end Marking Awl.

     A straight-edge 15 ft. long, 6 in. wide, and 1 1/4 in. thick is large enough for all practical purposes of the joiner, mason, bricklayer, engineer, millwright, etc. The best material is pine, it being the least affected (permanently) by change of temperature or weather. The pine board must be cut from a straight-grown tree, as a board from a crooked trunk will not keep parallel and straight for any length of time, owing to the grain crossing and recrossing its (thickness) edge. Straight-edges are made from all parts of boards cut from whole logs, but they cannot be relied upon to keep perfectly straight and true for any length of time. A strip that has been made without regard to the position it had in the whole tree will have to be trued up occasionally, and it therefore can never be relied upon unless tested each time it is required to be used, which is a great annoyance.

Fig. 2.—Striking Knife and Marking Awl.

TESTING

     To test the truth of a straight-edge having the above measurements, get a clean board 1 ft. longer and about 7 in. or 8 in. wide. Lay the straight strip at about the centre of the board, and with a sharp pencil draw a line on the board along the trued edge of the strip, keeping the side close to the board, and making the line as fine as possible. Now turn the strip over, placing the edge on the other side of the line, and if the trued edge is perfectly straight the line also will appear so. If the line is wavy, the edge must be planed until only one line is made when marked and tested from each side; mark a fresh line for each test, otherwise there will be confusion and inaccuracy. One edge now being perfectly true, proceed with the other edge. Set a sharp gauge to the required width, and mark the second edge lightly on each side of the rule, working the gauge from the true edge; then the wood is planed off to the gauge marks, and the second edge tested as to its being true with the first one, using the pencil line, as before. A still more delicate test than the gauge line for parallelism is by the use of a pair of callipers. The points of the callipers are drawn along the edges, and if they are perfectly parallel there will be no easy or hard places, the presence of which might possibly not be detected by the pencil line. If the edges will stand both these tests, the strip is perfectly straight and parallel.

Fig. 3.—Home-made Striking Knife.

Fig. 4.—Whitworth method of Testing Straight-edges.

WHITWORTH OF

     Sir J. Whitworth’s famous method of trueing engineers’ straight-edges should interest the woodworker. Three straight-edges are prepared singly, and each is brought to a moderate state of accuracy; two of them, A and B are compared with each other by placing them edge to edge, and any irregularities found are removed, the process being repeated until A and B fit each other perfectly. The third straight-edge, now is compared with both A and and when it fits perfectly both these two, then there is no doubt whatever that the three are straight, approximating to the truth in proportion to the labour that has been spent upon them. Why this is so is obvious when it is remembered that though A may be rounded instead of being straight, and B may be hollow sufficiently to make them fit each other perfectly, yet it is impossible for C to fit both the rounded and the hollow straight-edge.

Fig. 5.—Testing Surface with Straight-edges.

TESTING WITH

     How surfaces are tested for winding with straight-edges is shown by Fig. from which it is obvious that if the work has warped ever so slightly a true straight-edge must disclose the fact, as it could not then lie flat on its edge across the work. If the board is in winding, each straight-edge will magnify the error. If the winding is wavy, the edges will touch at certain points, and in other places light will be seen between them and the work. Taking a sight from one straight-edge to the other is another test.

Fig. 6.—Two-ft. Four-fold Rule.

A 2-ft. four-fold boxwood rule is the best for the all-round purposes of the joiner; and for those who can use the slide rule, the tool shown by Fig. 7 would be handy. A simple 2-ft. two-fold rule is cheaper, but it is the greatest economy to buy the best tools, and for that reason perhaps the rule with double arch joints shown by Fig. though costing more than twice as much as the one illustrated by Fig. will be found the best and cheapest in the end. The average worker will find a simple rule preferable to an elaborate one. Fig. 10 shows a combined rule and spirit level, the rule joint also being set out to serve as a protractor. This tool may prove useful in special circumstances, but its use as a spirit level is not recommended, it being preferable to have rule and level two quite distinct tools.

Fig. 7.—Rule with Brass Slide.

Fig. 8.—Two-ft. Two-fold Rule.

DIVIDING A WITH A

     A reliable method of dividing a board of any given width into any number of parts is illustrated by Fig. 11. Suppose a board 9 in. wide is to be cut into six equal parts; place the 1-ft. rule so that its ends touch the opposite edges of board, as shown in Fig. draw a line right across, and upon this line mark off from the rule every 2 in., as 2, 4, 6, etc. Remove the rule, and draw lines parallel with the edge of the board, intersecting with the marks upon the oblique line, thus obtaining six parts, each really 1 1/2 in. wide. The principle of this is simple: 2 in. is the one-sixth part of 1 ft., and whatever be the slant of the rule across the board (and the narrower the board the greater will be the slant) each 2-in. mark must denote a one-sixth part of the width. Say a board anything less than 24 in. in length or width is to be divided into eight parts; then as 3 in. is one-eighth of 2 ft., use a 2-ft. rule in the same manner as before, and mark off at every 3 in.

Fig. 9.—Rule with Double Arch Joints.

Fig. 10.—Rule with Spirit Level.

SQUARES AND

     The woodworker constantly uses squares for setting out and testing work, as will be described in detail later. The simplest is the try square which has a stock of rosewood or ebony. In the square shown by Fig. the stock is so shaped that it is of service in setting out and testing mitres, a proper mitre square which has an ebony stock being shown by Fig. Another combination try and mitre square is shown by Fig. and this has an iron stock. hollowed out to lower its weight to that of a wooden one. This is a useful and cheap tool, very unlikely to get out of truth. A patent adjustable try square is illustrated by Fig. The set screw clamps the blade in the stock just where it may be most convenient for such awkward work as putting butts, locks, and other fittings on doors and windows. The graduated blade is very useful. The sliding bevel is a handy appliance for setting off angles in duplicate, as by means of the set screw the blade can be made to assume any angle with the stock. Fig. 17 shows a bevel with a simple ebony stock, and Fig. 18 one with an ebony stock framed in brass, this protection keeping the edges true for an almost unlimited period. The joiner’s steel square is a mere right angle of steel, sometimes nickel plated, graduated in inches, 1/4 in., and 1/16 in. Squares with other graduations can be obtained.

Fig. 11.—Dividing Board with Rule.

Fig. 12.—Try Square.

Fig. 13.—Combination Square and Mitre.

TESTING AND

     A carpenter’s try-square that is thought to be untrue may be tested in the following way. Get a piece of board whose edge has been proved to be quite straight, apply the square as shown at A and draw a line; then turn the square as at and if it is true the blade should fit the line; if it is less than a right angle it will be as shown at C D and if more than a right angle the defect will be as indicated at E F If the blade has moved or has been knocked out of truth through a fall, it should be knocked back into its proper position, and, when true, the rivets should be tightened by careful hammering. If the blade is too fast in the stock to be knocked back, the blade must be filed true.

Fig. 14.—Mitre Square.

Fig. 15.—Iron Frame Try Square.

CRENELATED

     A crenelated square has a tongue in which there is a series of crenelations or notches at the graduations. It is especially useful in marking off mortises, etc., though it is available for all other ordinary applications. Three sides of a piece of timber can be set out without moving the work. To use this square, say in marking out a mortise or tenon, take it in the left hand and lay its tongue upon the surface of the work, as in Fig. The lower end of the main arm is lowered for 2 in. or so from the surface to get a better purchase, and then an awl, held in the right hand, is placed in a notch at the correct distance from the edge to mark the left-hand edge of the mortise or left-hand face of tenon as the case may be. Then push the square forward, pressing it down gently upon the work, and one mark will have been made. Replace the square, and with the awl in another notch at the thickness of the tenon or width of the mortise make a second mark. Horizontals are drawn by means of the smooth edge of the tongue (see Fig.

Fig. 16.—Adjustable Try Square.

Fig. 17.—Ordinary Sliding Bevel.

Fig. 18.—Brass Frame Sliding Bevel.

MARKING FOR

     The chalk line, pencil and rule, and scribe are variously used for the marking of the lines by which the saw is guided. The first-named is used for long pieces of timber, the second for ordinary and roughly approximate work, the third for the most accurate sawing. Lining off a plank or board for ripping, when rough on the edges, is commonly done with a straight-edge or chalk line. If square-edged it can be done by the rule and pencil, as explained in Fig. The rule is held in the left hand, measuring off on the board the breadth to be ripped, and the forefinger placed against the edge to act as fence. The pencil is held in the right hand to the end of the rule on the board. Both hands are then moved simultaneously, and the required line is traced backward or forward, as may be desired. Lines for cross-cutting, when square across or at right angles to the edge, are readily obtained by the square, keeping its blade flat on the board or plank and its stock hard to the edge (see Fig. For lines at a right angle to the edge use the mitre square (see Fig. and for other angles, set and apply the bevel-stock in the same way (see Fig. For this and similar purposes the bevel-stock differs from the square only in having the blade movable, and capable of being adjusted at any desired angle with the stock by means of a screw. In the chalk line method of marking (see Fig. a piece of fine cord is whitened with chalk, and being strained taut between two points whose positions are marked to correspond with the terminations of the line of cut, the chalk line is lifted vertically at or near the centre, and, being suddenly released, chalks a perfectly straight and fine line upon the timber, and furnishes a correct guide to the saw. Lines are marked with the timber scribe in such cases as squaring the ends of planed stuff and in marking dovetails and tenons. The saw may then be made to cut close outside the scribed line, allowing just sufficient margin of material to be removed with the plane; or the saw may pass right along the scribed line, as in cutting dovetails and tenons, no after-finish being required. In either case the scribed line is preferable to the pencil-marked one, because the cutting can be done much more accurately in the first case than in the latter. Also, when the end of a piece of timber has to be squared with the plane, there is, besides the greater accuracy, much less risk of spalting or breaking out of the grain occurring with scribed lines than with pencil-marked lines. In the case of planed ends, a careful workman will also contrive to saw extremely close to the scribed lines, in order to diminish as much as possible the labour of planing.

Fig. 19.—Testing Try Squares in Truth.

Fig. 20.—Marking Mortise with Crenelated Square.

Fig. 21.—Lining Board with Rule and Pencil.

Fig. 22.—Squaring Line on Board.

Fig. 23.—Marking Mitre Line on Board.

Fig. 24.—Using Sliding Bevel.

Fig. 25.—Using Chalk Line.

Fig. 26.—Pencil Gauge with Round Stem.

MARKING AND

     The carpenter draws a line at a short distance from, and parallel to, the edge of a board by means of a rule and pencil, the method being made clear by Fig. p. The use of the pencil or marking gauge would be found an advantage over this method. It will be seen from Figs. 26 and 27 that there are two ways of making the pencil gauge. It can be made of any hard wood, preferably beech. The stem may be round or square in section, and the head may be round or octagonal. The head must slide up and down the stem easily, but without sideplay. The gauge may be made to use up odd pieces of lead pencil, and these should be sharpened (with a chisel) to a wedge-shaped point. Figs. 28 and 29 show a pencil gauge made from a broken rule fitted into a block so as to run easily, and secured at any distance (as indicated by the rule’s edge) by means of a thumbscrew. A is a block of birch, 1 1/2 in. by 1 in. by 1 in., mortised so as to receive the rule. B is a 5-in. length of an ordinary rule, with a slot C just large enough to admit the screw which is fixed in the block The thickness of the wood between the washer and the rule should be only 1/8 in., to allow a little pliability. A cutting or scratch gauge may be made similarly by inserting a pin at exactly over the first 1/16 in., that distance always being allowed for. Shop-bought marking and cutting gauges are illustrated by Figs. 30 to A beechwood pencil gauge is shown by Fig. a marking gauge having a steel point by Fig. an improved cutting gauge for scribing deep lines by Fig. and mortise gauges for scribing mortise holes and tenons by Figs. 33 to The mortise gauges are of ebony and brass, the one illustrated by Fig. 35 having a stem of brass. The ordinary marking gauge is shown by Fig. and the use of mortise gauges will come later.

Fig. 27.—Pencil Gauge with Square Stem.

Fig. 28.—Rule Pencil and Cutting Gauge.

Fig. 29.—Section through Rule Gauge.

Fig. 30.—Improved Pencil Gauge.

Fig. 31.—Ordinary Marking Gauge.

Fig. 32.—Cutting Gauge.

Fig. 33.—Square Mortise Gauge.

PANEL

     A panel gauge is used to mark a line parallel to the true edge of a panel, or of any piece of wood too wide for the ordinary gauge to take in. The stock (of which Figs. 38 to 42 give four alternative patterns) is of maple, beech, or similar wood. It is 1 in. thick, and has a 3/8-in. by 3/8-in. rebate at the bottom. A mortise is made for the stem to pass through, and another one at the side for the wedge. The edges of the stock are shown square, but it is an improvement to have them rounded. The wedge should be made of box-wood or ebony if possible, and is a bare 1/4 in. thick. The taper of the mortise in the stock must be made to correspond with it. The stem should be about 2 ft. 6 in. long, and may be made of a piece of straight-grained mahogany. It should fit the mortise, not too tightly, but so that it can be moved with the hands without tapping, and is held in position by the wedge when set. A piece is dovetailed in the end, as shown, to bring the marking point level with the bottom of the rebate. The stem may be made square if preferred, or if the rounded mortise presents a difficulty. The stock should be well finished and nicely polished.

Fig. 34.—Oval Mortise Gauge.

Fig. 35.—Brass Stem Mortise Gauge.

Fig. 36.—Using Marking Gauge.

AND

     The joiner and cabinet worker have a multitude of uses for the above tools, which are of the simplest construction. The ordinary form of wing compasses is shown by Fig. in which the wing (the curved side projection) forms one with the left leg, whilst the right leg has a slot by means of which it slides up and down the wing, the set screw being tightened when the legs are to be fixed at a certain distance apart. For very accurate work, compasses with the sensitive adjustment at side, as shown in Fig. are found to be useful. Compasses can be used very conveniently as simple dividers, but these cost very little. They are used for stepping off a number of equal distances, for transferring measurements, and for scribing. Callipers are used for measuring diameters of round pins, circular recesses, etc.; for the former purpose outside callipers and for the latter purpose inside callipers are used. Callipers are subject to great variation in shape, but those used in woodworking should be the simplest obtainable.

Fig. 37.—Panel Gauge.

Fig. 38.

Fig. 39.

Figs. 38 and 39.—Elevation and Section of Panel Gauge Stock.

     The shooting-board is used for trueing up the edges of square stuff. The ordinary shooting-board is made of two pieces of plank, the lower one wider than the other, to support the plane, and the upper to form a base on which to hold the wood. This sometimes is not altogether satisfactory, because the board is likely to warp, and the grain of the wood, being all in the same direction, renders the board likely to split at, or near, the place where the pieces are joined. The shooting-board shown by Figs. 49 to 53 is a desirable improvement. Fig. 49 shows the elevation, in which A is the board on which the work rests; the ledge or rail on which the plane moves; C being rails fixed to as shown in the other figures; the stop. Fig. 50 is a plan. Reference letters are the same in each figure. Fig. 51 shows the edge of Fig. 52 shows the frame on which A is fixed; the dotted lines indicate the tenons and wedges. Fig. 53 shows end of completed board. Each of the cross-rails also acts as a ledge to the upper board, materially stiffening the whole; while advantage may be taken of the opportunity thus afforded to leave room for the powdery waste, produced in shooting the ends of the wood, to fall out of the way. A further improvement might be made by fixing a narrow piece of plate glass along the path on which the plane is to travel, to reduce friction.

Fig. 40.—Stock of Panel Gauge.

Fig. 41.—Stock of Panel Gauge.

Fig. 42.—Stock of Panel Gauge.

Fig. 43.—Wedge of Panel Gauge.

Fig. 44.

Fig. 44.—Wing Compasses.

Fig. 45

Fig. 45.—Compasses with Sensitive Adjustment.

IMPROVED

     A prominent fault of shooting-boards, as generally constructed, is that the plane used on the board loses its edge very quickly, especially on thin wood and when dealing with material of uniform thickness. The reason for this is that only a small part of the edge of the plane-iron is in use, and the same small portion constantly. All who have used edged tools know that an oblique movement cuts sweeter than a direct and forward movement; the edge employed in the actual cutting having a greater width than the shaving removed. The same thing is observable in a rebate plane. A skew-mouth plane not only keeps better up to its work, but the shaving seems to be more smoothly removed, and the cut surface has a better finish. In order to obtain these advantages, the shooting-board shown by Fig. 54 is offered. The planes used on a shooting-board should be sharpened squarely with a straight cutting edge; this is very important when shooting mitres, especially picture frames. If the iron of the plane is so sharpened, the distance between the surfaces on which rest the plane and the material worked upon need not exceed 3/8 in.; nearly the whole width of the plane-iron is then available for use. Supposing that a shooting-board is required to take advantage of the oblique cut and the employment of a larger part of the edge, the wood operated on may be taken to be not more than 3/4 in. thick (for thicker work is more independent of a shooting-board): then the difference in level at the two ends of the shooting-board may be possibly as much as 1 1/2 in. This board is not drawn to scale, but may be made of any size suitable for the purpose for which the maker intends it, and it might be improved by making the incline adjustable with a pair of thumbscrews, or perhaps, preferably, by hingeing the two parts together at one end and employing a movable wedge and bolts at the other end for the purpose of adjustment.

Fig. 46.—Outside Callipers.

Fig. 47.—Inside Callipers.

Fig. 48.—Shooting Board.

Fig. 49.

Fig. 50.

Figs. 49 and 50.—Elevation and Plan of Improved Shooting Board.

APPLIANCES FOR

     The technical term mitre is applied usually to the angle between any two pieces of wood or moulding where they join or intersect, as in the case of a picture-frame. In this instance the joint would be a true mitre—that is to say, it would be 45°, or half the right angle (90°) formed by the two inner edges of the frame. Although the term mitre is generally understood to apply to a right angle, yet any angle, acute or obtuse, may be called a mitre.

Fig. 51.

FIG. 52.

Figs. 51 and 52.—Frame of Improved Shooting Board.

MITRE

     There are various appliances employed in cutting mitres, the simplest being known as the mitre block. The work is laid upon the rebate C and the saw kerfs A B serve as a guide for the tenon saw. The best form of mitre block is made from a piece of dry beech, about 16 in. long, 6 in. wide, and 3 in. thick. A rebate C is cut to about the size shown, care being taken that the angle is perfectly true. Lines A and B are set out to an angle of 45°, and they then are squared down the rebate and back of block. The lines are cut down with a tenon saw, and upon the accuracy of the sawing depends the value of the finished mitres. Fig. 56 is a section of the mitre block as commonly used by the joiner. This is merely two pieces of wood (deal, as a rule) planed up true and screwed or nailed together. This plan answers very well, as when it becomes worn and out of truth another can be made for a few pence. The block shown by Fig. 57 has a ledge on the bottom as shown; owing to the inward slant the work is more easily held.

Fig. 53.—End Elevation of Improved Shooting Board.

MITRE

     Fig. 58 shows a mitre box which answers the same purpose as the block. This is made with three pieces of deal about 1 in. thick, nailed together at the bottom as shown. Mitre boxes for heavy work require a strengthening piece on top to hold together the sides (see Fig. or even three pieces may be necessary (see Fig. both these illustrations show pieces of moulding in position for mitre-cutting.

Fig. 54.—Shooting Board giving Oblique Planing.

MITRE

     Figs. 61 and 62 show a mitre shooting block for shooting or planing the edges of stuff sawn in the mitre block or box. In Fig. 61 the bottom piece is of dry red deal, 2 ft. 6 in. long, and rebated. The top piece must be made of some hard material, such as mahogany or beech, by preference. It is planed up perfectly true, and cut at the ends to a “true mitre” (45°); it is firmly screwed to the bottom piece. It is an improvement to fix ledger pieces across the bottom, to keep the board from warping. In Fig. 62 the bottom piece is of two separate boards as shown.

Fig. 55.—Mitre Sawing Block.

Fig. 56.—Section of Mitre Block.

Fig. 57.—Inclined Mitre Sawing Block.

COMBINATION

     Notwithstanding the large number of patented mitring machines in the market, skilled joiners, when any particularly good piece of work is in hand, still prefer to use the ordinary home made wooden shoot. The machines, whilst new and in good condition, are undoubtedly the more expeditious in use, but if carelessly handled they are apt to get out of order, and then their work is far from satisfactory; whilst the wood shoot will stand a deal of rough usage, and is also easily repaired. Figs. 63 to 67 illustrate several improvements on the old form of shoot. A mitre-shoot, square-shoot, and joint-shoot are combined in the one board, which will prove very handy where these appliances are wanted only occasionally. The shoot consists of a top board of seasoned yellow deal 3 ft. by 9 in. by 1 1/2 in., slot-screwed to an under-frame of teak, made up of the plane bed 3 ft. by 2 3/4 in. by 1 1/2 in., into which are framed three cross rails 2 1/4 in. by 1 in. flush on the under-side. This frame is shown in plan and in section respectively in Figs. 65 and In the centre of the top board is the mitre-block, a piece of dry oak 2 in. thick cut with two of its sides exactly square with each other, and at an angle of 45° with the third. This block, instead of being fixed in the usual way, is mounted on a pivot in its centre, as shown at B 63 and and is capable of adjustment either as a mitre-shoot, as shown in the full lines, or as a square-shoot, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. it is firmly secured in either position by means of three 1/2-in. by 3-in. square-head screw bolts similar to Fig. The grain of the block should run parallel with the plane bed, then shrinkage will not alter its shape. The board is arranged for jointing by removing the mitre-block and working the boards against the adjustable stop This stop, which is shown in perspective also at Fig. works in an undercut groove, and is secured in any required position by the screw bolt; the projection at the end prevents the boards, slipping whilst being planed.

Fig. 58.—Mitre Box.

Fig. 59.—Mitre Box with Strengthening Piece.

Fig. 60.—Mitre Box with Strengthening Pieces.

Fig. 61.—Mitre Shooting Block with Solid Base.

Fig. 62.—Mitre Shooting Block with made-up Base.

Fig. 63.—Combination Shooting Board.

Fig. 64.—End Elevation of Combination Board

     A “donkey’s-ear” is used for mitreing or bevelling the edges of wide but thin material, with the cut at right angles to that adopted for stouter mouldings. Fig. 70 gives an idea of its form and construction. Fig. 71 shows another handy form of mitre-shoot for wide surfaces that have to be edge-mitred. This also is known as a “donkey’s-ear,” and it consists of a rest A for the material to be mitred, a bed B for the shooting plane, a guide C for the plane, and a frame D for the purpose of elevating the appliance to a convenient height by fixing it in the bench-screw or to the tail of the bench. The rest A is made of a piece of deal 1 ft. 3 in. long, 4 1/2 in. deep, and 3 in. thick, and has a rebate run along two of its edges (see the section), Fig. The bed B should preferably be of teak, as this wood is of a greasy nature and does not cast. It should be about 2 ft. long, 3 in. wide, and 2 in. thick. The guides C are 1 in. thick, and project about 1/2 in. above the bed. The frame D is made up of 3-in. by 1-in. deal, and tenoned through the bed with barefaced tenons, with shoulders towards the rest.

FIG. 65.

FIG. 66.

Figs. 65 and 66.—Frame of Combination Board.

Fig. 67.—Elevation of Combination Board.

Fig. 68.—Screw-bolt.

Fig. 69.—Adjustable Stop.

MITRE

     Of constant use as an aid in cutting mitres is a mitre template, which is made from a piece of hard wood, in the form shown by Fig. it is usually about 4 in. long, 3 in. wide each way, and 1/2 in. thick. It is made by planing up true a square block of hard wood, cutting out a rebate and making a “true mitre” (458) upon each end, as shown. If an ordinary cupboard framing is examined at the junction of the rail with the jambs, it will be seen that each of the moulded edges has been mitred as shown in Fig. To obtain this mitre, the template is used, as Fig. Fig. 76 shows the template applied to the edge being held by the left hand, whilst the right guides the chisel

Fig. 70.—Donkey’s-ear Shooting Block.

Fig. 71.—Donkey’s-ear Block for Shooting Wide Surfaces.

Fig. 72.—Rest of Donkey’s-ear Block.

Fig. 73.—Mitre Template.

Fig. 74.—Moulding with Mitred Joint.

SPIRIT

     The spirit level is used for determining the plane of the horizon, that is the plane forming a right angle to the vertical plane. A frame firmly holds a closed glass tube nearly filled with anhydrous ether, or with a mixture of ether and alcohol. Good spirit levels are provided with a graduated scale engraved on the glass tube or on a brass or steel rule fastened to the frame beside it, so as to mark the position of the bubble, the tube being so shaped that when the level is lying on a flat and horizontal surface the bubble occupies the centre of the tube. Many levels have prevision for altering the length of the bubble. Fig. 77 is a view of an ordinary spirit level, and its construction is made quite clear by the sectional view, Fig. In use the level is applied to the work twice, it being reversed at the second application, and the mean of the two indications then is adopted. Spirit levels are made in many sizes and shapes, but the method of construction always is the same. A serviceable tool is of the narrow shape, about 10 in. long, its greatest breadth being 1 1/16 in., and diminishing to 1/2 in. at the ends. The frame is of any hard, tough wood, such as box, ebony, lignum-vitæ, birch, beech, walnut, or oak. At the back of the tube should be silvering, which shows up the bubble and enables side lights to be dispensed with. The tube is set in plaster-of-paris, and has a brass cover. Shop-bought spirit levels are constructed generally in ebony or rosewood, better qualities having a metal protection for the edges and faces. This protection preserves the truth of the instruments for a long time, and is very desirable. A serviceable American level has a mount entirely of steel, which is hexagonal in section, and has rounded ends. Another handy form is the one mounted wholly in brass; this has a revolving protector over the bulb opening, and there is provision for adjustment should the level after a time wear out of truth. A very convenient form of level is the one with a graduated screw slide, by means of which the fall per foot is shown at a glance.

Fig. 75.—Application of Mitre Template.

Fig. 76.—Using Chisel with Mitre Template.

Fig. 77.—Spirit Level.

Fig. 78.—Section of Spirit Level.

HOLDING TOOLS.

BEFORE any definite work can be done, a bench, or its substitute, must be obtained. For general manual work the ordinary bench in use by the joiner is, all things considered, the most serviceable; it should not be less than 6 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. high, and, say, 2 ft. 6 in. wide. It should be fitted with two wood bench screws and wood vice cheeks, one at each left-hand corner of the bench, to accommodate two workers. If possible, the bench should be so placed that light may fall directly upon both the ends—that is to say, the workers must face the windows. There are many good and suitable benches on the market, but the worker must not get one that is too low, and the height should be influenced by the kind of work it is intended to perform upon it. The smaller benches sold at the tool-shops are not high enough for an adult—from 33 to 34 in. for a man is excellent, 26 to 30 in. for boys. The worker will become accustomed to work at the ordinary bench height, but it is absurd to suppose that one height suits tall and short people equally. The worker should choose a bench of the height at which he has the most command over his tools. He should be able to do his work conveniently without much necessity for stooping; but the height of the bench should not prevent his standing well over his work (see Fig. It will thus be seen that some latitude is allowable, although no doubt something near ordinary bench height, somewhere about 2 ft. 6 in., is about the best. The height of an ordinary bench can be altered easily by cutting the legs shorter or putting something under them. A height of 2 ft. 6 in. may be found just right for mere occasional use, but too low to work at for any length of time. A simple method of raising it slightly from the floor is to put a piece of quartering under each pair of legs. For heavy work the bench may have to be fixed to the quartering, and the quartering to the floor, for which purpose stout screws or screw bolts will answer. Fig. 79 shows the relative heights of worker and bench.

Fig. 79.—Workman and Bench.

Fig. 80.—Bench with Side and Tail Vices.

VARIOUS OF

     Fig. 80 is a general view of a simple bench with side and tail vices. This form is extremely useful for cabinet making and similar work, where it is desirable to hold pieces of material that may have to be planed, moulded, chamfered, mortised, grooved, etc., without using a bench knife or similar method of fixing. The material could be held between stops, one being inserted in one of the holes in the top of the bench and another in the hole made in the cheek of the tail vice. The following dimensions are, of course, only suggestive, and the bench may be made longer or shorter, narrower or wider, to meet requirements: Top, 5 ft. by 1 ft. 9 in., and 2 in. thick. Height, 2 ft. 7 in. Distance between legs, 3 ft. 2 in. lengthwise, and 1 ft. 3 in. sideways. Legs, 3 in. by 3 in. The whole may be constructed of hard wood, such as beech or birch, and in any case it will be best to have hard wood for all the parts forming the top, side cheeks, and cheeks of vices, these being the main parts of the bench; the framing of the legs, rails, etc., might be of red deal. A simple bench is illustrated by Fig. this is suitable for general carpentry and joinery. The framework is of thoroughly seasoned dry spruce fir or red pine, and the top of birch or yellow pine. This is a very serviceable bench for general utility. The folding bench illustrated by Fig. 82 will be found very suitable where a portable bench is required for occasional use only. It will be seen that when the bench is not in use, the screw, screw cheek, and runner can be taken out, the legs folded on to the wall, and the top and side folded and let down as indicated in Fig. A more elaborate bench for cabinet work is shown by Fig. it consists of two principal parts, the underneath framework and support, and the top. The former has two standards joined by two bars. On the feet of the standards rests a board which serves to hold heavy tools and other articles. There is a rack for small tools, and underneath this a band, tacked at short intervals, for other tools. The front rail has holes on its top face 1 in. by 3/4 in. for holding bench stops, whilst in the front face of the rail are round holes for holding other pins 1 1/2 in., square at one end, but made round at the other end to fit tightly into the holes. The pin T and the block V screwed on the end of the movable jaw of the vice, serve to hold wood during the process of edge planing. Holes in the back rail receive pins W which are convenient for cramping up joints. A kitchen table bench is shown by Fig. The end of the table employed is not the one containing the usual drawer. Two blocks of wood A 3 in. square, are attached to the table top by two cramps embedded in the ends of one of the pieces. Through mortise holes C C are inserted slats glued and wedged to block but running loosely in holes in S is a screw, and the two parts of the bench serve the purpose also of vice cheeks; though if desired the two blocks can be screwed together solid.

Fig. 81.—Double Bench with Vices at each end.

Fig. 82.—Folding Bench in use.

BENCH

     The ordinary bench is provided with holes for the reception of stops, against which or between which work is held for planing, etc. These stops are of iron shaped as in Fig. and have springs at their sides by means of which they are held tightly and at any required height in the bench holes. An adjustable stop for screwing to the bench is shown by Fig. For a temporary stop some workers drive a few nails into the bench end, leaving the heads projecting enough to hold the wood. A much better substitute can be made out of an ordinary butt hinge, one end of which should be filed into teeth so as to hold the wood better. This end should be left loose, and the other side screwed down tightly to the bench end as shown by Fig. A long, light screw through the middle hole in the loose side will afford sufficient adjustment for thin or thick stuff. When done with, the hinge can be taken up and put away.

Fig. 83.—Folding Bench not in use.

Fig. 84.—Cabinet-worker’s Bench.

Fig. 85.—Kitchen Table Bench.

COMMON

     A common form of joiner’s bench screw is shown in general view by Fig. Fig. 90 is a view looking from the inside, supposing the top, leg, and bearer of the bench to be removed, and Fig. 91 is a sectional view, D is the side or cheek of the bench to which the wooden nut A is screwed. The box which accurately fits the runner shown inside it, is fixed to the top rail connecting the legs, and to the top and side of the bench. Care is taken to keep the runner at right angles to the vice cheeks. To fasten the vice outer cheek and screw together so that upon turning the latter the former will follow it, a groove E is cut. Then from the under edge of the cheek a mortise is made, and a hardwood key F is driven to fit fairly tight into the mortise, its end entering The screw cheek is usually about 1 ft. 9 in. long, 9 in. wide, and 2 in. to 3 in. thick. The runner is about 3 in. by 3 in. and 2 ft. long. The wooden screws and nuts can be bought ready made.

Fig. 86.—Iron Bench Stop.

Fig. 87.—Adjustable Bench Stop.

Fig. 88.—Hinge used as Bench Stop.

Fig. 89.—Bench Screw Vice.

IMPROVED

     The defects of the old-fashioned form of bench vice shown by Fig. 92 may be noted. Suppose it is required to hold a door rail whilst tenons are cut, a piece of stuff of the exact thickness of the rail has to be inserted between the jaw and the bench at the opposite end to that in which the door rail is put, and, should the piece inserted be a trifle thicker or thinner than the rail, difficulty will be experienced in tightening the screw sufficiently to keep the rail rigid whilst cutting the tenon, and even then it will probably slip about and become loose. If it is required to plough, say, the edge of a mullion, when this is placed in the screw and tightened up the jaw tilts over as shown in Fig. 93 and grips the mullion hard on its two arrises; and in fixing it in the vice in order to plough the second edge, great care must be exercised to avoid splitting off pieces from the rail at each side of the groove, and thus disfiguring the work, and there are other disadvantages. An improvement on the old form is suggested by Figs. 94 and Instead of having the jaw horizontal, the idea is to adjust it in a raking position; it will then grip the work on both sides of the screw, instead of only on one side as formerly, thus avoiding the tilt; and this advantage is assured whether the work be placed in the vice vertically, horizontally, or obliquely. There is another good point in this arrangement—namely, the rail mortised into the jaw at its lower end may fit rather loosely in the socket screwed on to the bench leg. Holes are bored through this rail at certain distances apart, and in any one of these a pin is inserted. This pin answers the purpose of the blocks placed between the jaw and the bench when the vice is horizontal, with the advantage that, no matter in which of the holes the pin is placed, the vice will grip two or three thicknesses of stuff, thus avoiding the necessity of providing a new block every time work of a different thickness is put into the vice. With this newer form of vice the work can be held securely and satisfactorily by about a quarter turn of the screw. Iron vices for joiners can, of course, be obtained, and against these nothing is urged but their price, which is prohibitive to a great many. The arrangement here advocated is therefore confidently recommended as being at once inexpensive to construct and thoroughly efficient in use.

Fig. 90.—Inside View of Screw Vice.

Fig. 91.—Section through Screw Vice.

92.

93.

Figs. 92 and 93.—Ordinary Screw Vice and its Defect.

FIG. 94.

FIG. 95.

Figs. 94 and 95.—Improved Bench Vice.

Fig. 96.—Instantaneous Grip Vice.

INSTANTANEOUS

     An instantaneous grip vice is a very great improvement upon the wooden screw vice. Without any unscrewing it will take in anything, from a sheet of paper to a block 12 in. in thickness. Vices of this pattern apparently, are not so widely known and used as they should be, and many a carpenter keeps to the old screw vice, although by the adoption of the parallel and instantaneous grip vice much time is saved, because this seizes and secures work instantly by the third of a turn of the hand, whereas with the old vice the jaws must be opened, perhaps with many a turn, to a sufficient extent, and then tightened with more turning, a contrast to the rapid and effectual action of the grip vice, whose rack can be thrown out of gear at once by an upward motion of the hand, and the front jaw pulled out, pressed against the wood, and then tightened in an immovable grip by a downward movement of the hand. The pattern shown in Fig. 96 is fixed to the bench from beneath as indicated, and the tops of the jaws are level with the surface of the bench; one-third of a turn of the handle releases the work. Like all the grip vices, its holding force is so great that if a long piece of wood be clutched by one end in the vice its weight will be powerless to alter its position in the vice in the smallest degree. There are but two working parts in the vice, the spiral and the short rack

SCREW FOR

     The worker who may be obliged to dispense with the convenience of a regular bench may be glad to know of such a simple arrangement as that shown by Figs. 97 to 99 for fixing a screw vice to a kitchen table, the vice being detachable for removal as required. The device illustrated does not cause the least degree of damage to the table. A hole is made in the table leg for the screw to pass through, the nut or box of which is fixed to the back of the leg as shown. Two hardwood runners, 2 in. by 3/4 in. by 1 ft. 8 in., should be made and dovetailed into the screw cheek, which is 2 1/4 in. thick, 1 ft. 3 in. long, and has its breadth regulated by the size of the leg. The distance between the runners should be the same as the thickness of the leg. The runners are kept in position by two blocks A and which are screwed to the back of the leg. An adjustable pin made from a piece of 1/2-in. round iron, will be required, and must be sufficiently long to pass through both runners. It will be advisable to screw a block D to the leg, the face of the block being flush with the front edge of the top.

97.

Fig. 98.

Figs. 97 and 98.—Kitchen Table Screw Vice.

Fig. 99.—Side General View of Kitchen Table Vice.

SAWING OR

     Fig. 100 shows the kind of sawing stool in common use by carpenters, Fig. 101 being a side elevation, and Fig. 102 an end elevation. Suggestive sizes are figured on the drawings. The thickness of the material can, of course; be increased or decreased according to requirements. The simplest sawing stool, but the least reliable, is the one with three legs shown by Fig. but this is of little service and almost useless. Better and more usual forms are shown by Figs. 104 and these being about 20 in. high, firmly and stiffly made. In Fig. 104 all the parts are mortised and tenoned together and strutted to give strength, but in Fig. 105 the legs are simply shouldered and bolted into the sides of the top. The cross stretchers are slightly shouldered back and screwed or bolted to the legs. Sometimes the carpenter uses the sawing horse, the ordinary form of which is shown in Fig. but this is more generally used for rough sawing, such as firewood, etc.

Fig. 100.—Common Sawing Stool.

Fig. 101.—Front Elevation of Sawing Stool.

Fig. 102.—End Elevation of Sawing Stool.

Fig. 103.—Three-legged Sawing Stool.

     Cramps are used to hold work on the bench, to hold together work in course of construction, to facilitate the making of articles in which tight and accurate joints are essential, to hold together glued joints until the glue is dry and hard, and for other purposes that suggest themselves. Their uses will be treated in detail as occasion requires, and in the meantime it will suffice to illustrate a few types commonly employed in workshops. A holdfast for temporarily securing work to the bench is shown by Fig. This ranges in length from 12 in. to 16 in. The old-fashioned holdfast cramp is illustrated by Fig. this is entirely of wood, and the cheeks of the cramp range in length from 6 in. to 16 in. Iron cramps are shown by Figs. 109 and Fig. 109 being the ordinary G-cramp, of which different makes vary only in unimportant details; some, for instance, have a lever and screw instead of a thumbscrew, whilst Fig. 110 shows one of Hammer’s G-cramps with instantaneous adjustment, this being an improved appliance of some merit. The screw merely is pushed until it is tight on the work held in the cramp, and a slight turn of the winged head then tightens up the screw sufficiently. The sliding pattern G-cramp is illustrated by Fig. this possessing an advantage similar to, but not as great as, that of Hammer’s cramp. Sash cramps and joiners’ cramps (non-patent) resemble Fig. a lengthening bar being supplied with them at an increase in price of, roughly, 60 to 80 per cent. There are several makes and many differences in detail, but Fig. 112 illustrates the type. There are a number of patent cramps for sashes and general joinery, of which Crampton’s appliance is sufficiently typical. The right-hand jaw can be set at any position on the rack. When the work has been inserted the right-hand jaw is pushed against it tightly, and the lever handle gives instantaneous adjustment. The joiner has a choice between a very great number of cramps. When jointing up thin stuff, if an ordinary cramp is used, there is a great risk of the material buckling up, and the joint being broken. This risk is obviated largely by the use of the cramp shown in plan and side view by Figs. 114 and which are sufficiently explanatory when it is said that the cross pieces slide upon the side pieces. one sliding bar being made immovable by iron pins placed in holes in the side pieces. In cramping very thin stuff, place a weight upon it before finally tightening the hand screw.

Fig. 104.—Braced Sawing Stool.

Fig. 105.—Bolted Sawing Stool.

Fig. 106.—Sawing Horse.

Fig. 107.—Bench Holdfast.

Fig. 108.—Wooden Holdfast Cramp.

Fig. 109.—G-cramp.

Fig. 110.—Hammer’s G-cramp.

Fig. 111.—Sliding G-cramp.

ROPE AND

     Fig. 116 illustrates the method of cramping up boards with rope and blocks. The wood blocks about 4 in. long and 1 1/2 in. square, are placed on the edges of the boards and a rope is passed round them twice and knotted. A small piece of wood is then placed between the two strands of rope and twisted round. This twisting draws the rope tighter on the blocks, there by cramping the boards together. Three of these sets would be sufficient to cramp a number of long boards.

Fig. 112.—Sash Cramp.

Fig. 113.—Crampton’s Patent Cramp.

WEDGE

     A more serviceable cramp is illustrated by Fig. A piece of wood about 2 ft. 9 in. long, 6 in. wide, by 1 in. thick, is planed up. On each end of this are fixed blocks 6 in. long, 1 in. thick, and tapering in width from 4 in. to 2 in. The boards E to be cramped are placed on the appliance, pieces D are laid against the edges of the boards to protect them, and the wedges C are then driven home. These wedges should be about 10 in. long, 1 in. thick, and tapering in width from 4 to 1 1/2 in. The whole of this device should be made of hardwood, except the packing pieces which should be deal, so that if too much pressure is applied to the wedges any injury threatening the edges will be taken by the packing pieces rather than by the boards.

Fig. 114.

Fig. 115.

Figs. 114 and 115.—Cramp for Thin Work.

Fig. 116.—Rope and Block Cramp.

Fig. 117.—Wedge Cramp.

Fig. 118.—Dog, Round Section.

CRAMPING

     Floor boards are commonly cramped or tightened up by means of “dogs,” of which two forms are shown respectively by Figs. 118 and The boards being already close together, the dog is inserted across, that is, at a right angle to the line of joint. one point being in one board and one in the other. The further in the dog is hammered, the closer are the boards cramped together. Floor boards can be tightened up without the aid of a floor dog by the method shown at Fig. The board next the wall should be well secured to the joists, and then three or four boards can be laid down and tightened up by means of wedges, as shown. The following is the method of procedure:—Place a piece of quartering about 2 in. by 3 in. next to the floor board, as at Cut a wedge, and place it as at then nail down a piece of batten to the joists, as at A (both this and the wedge can be cut out of odd pieces of floor board). The wedge B should be driven with a large hammer or axe until the joints of the board are quite close.

Fig. 119.—Dog, Square Section.

Fig. 120.—Wedge Cramp for Floor Boards.

Fig. 121.—Circular Seat with Cut Cramping Pieces.

Fig. 122.—Circular Seat with Flexible Cramp.

Fig. 123.

Fig. 124.

Figs. 123 and 124.—Wood Horn of Flexible Cramp.

CRAMPING

     There will now be explained away many of the difficulties in closing or cramping the joints in circular work, such as chair-seat frames, circular rims for loo tables, and other circular work built up in segments, and the methods described also apply equally well to oval, semicircular, and other curved work. One method of closing with straight bar cramps is to provide projecting cramping pieces A This is done when setting out the stuff, the cramp jaws embracing one cramping piece at each side of the leg, and the seat frame being dressed up afterwards. This method, however, entails a great waste of wood, and in marking out circular work it is of great economy to mark one piece with the other, which cannot be done with the method described above. Where the curved members act as stuffing rails to be covered by the upholstery, another method is to cut a piece out of the rails as shown at the cramp jaws in this case fitting in the notches, which are afterwards filled up by the pieces of wood being glued in again. But this method makes the frames very unsightly. The flexible cramp shown applied externally to a circular seat at Fig. 122 consists simply of a pair of beechwood horns 123 and about 8 in. long by 2 in. thick, to which a narrow band of hoop iron is attached by means of screws or rivets. This hoop passes round the seat frame, and pressure is brought to bear on the horns by a hand cramp or by an ordinary bar cramp. The cost of these cramps is small, and a variety of sizes will be found exceedingly useful. Another flexible cramp is shown at Fig. the horns in this case being replaced by rectangular pieces of hardwood. The cramp is shown as applied to a curved couch end, the pressure being applied by a bar cramp at each side. This kind of cramp is useful for semicircular work, such as bowfront chairs, curved pediments, bell-shaped backs, etc. Fig. 126 illustrates a flexible cramp which is self-contained, the hoop iron band being riveted to steel or ends. which are threaded (see Fig. to receive winged nuts. They pass through a stiff bar of hardwood, which keeps them in position, the cramping being done by tightening up the nuts. This kind of cramp applies to almost any kind of irregularly shaped work.

Fig. 125.—Flexible Cramp.

Fig. 126.—Screw-end Flexible Cramp.

Fig. 127.—Screw of Flexible Cramp.

     Pincers are very familiar tools used for brass extracting and beheading nails, and for other purposes where a form of hand vice is wanted for momentary use. There is but little variety in their shape, and they range in size from 5 in. to 9 in. Usually one handle ends in a small cone (see Fig. or ball (see Fig. and the other in a claw for levering out nails, etc. Fig. 128 shows Lancashire pincers, and Fig. 129 Tower pincers.

Fig. 128.—Lancashire Pincers.

Fig. 129.—Tower Pincers.

PARING AND SHAVING TOOLS.

THE OF A

BEFORE describing edge tools and their uses, it will be well to discuss the action of such typical tools as the chisel and knife; though the latter is not generally found amongst woodworkers’ ordinary tools. It is desirable to examine the manner in which the power applied to a chisel is used, and for simplicity’s sake it is better to conceive the cut as being made upon some homogeneous material, such as lead. Taking first the ordinary method of paring, in which the face of the chisel is in contact with the mass of the material, Fig. 130 shows the force A that impels the chisel; B is the resistance of the material to the crushing action of the edge of the chisel; C is the reaction of the paring to the pressure exerted by the bevel of the chisel; and D is the reaction of the body of the material to the pressure exerted to the face of the chisel. To obtain a proper conception of the actual cutting edge, it must be borne in mind that the edge of even so delicately sharpened a blade as a razor presents a jagged, rough appearance when viewed through a microscope, and theoretical or mathematical conception of an edge is never attained in practice. It is the greater or less approximation to it—or, in other words, the sharpness or bluntness of the chisel—that determines the amount of the force B The passage of a thin parallel blade with a square edge through, say, a bar of soap is obtained entirely by the crushing and displacement of the material, and the thinner the blade the less the resistance, and therefore the smaller the force required. The edge of the chisel must be regarded as such a blade of exceeding thinness; but to allow the passage of the chisel blade, which has considerable thickness, the paring must be bent aside as it advances. In setting out the force the frictional resistance to the advance of the chisel may be included. In its resistance to being bent aside, the paring acts as a very short cantilever; so it is evident that the bending force which produces the reaction C increases rapidly as the paring becomes thicker.

Fig. 130.—Direct Paring with Chisel.

ANGLES OF

     Whatever the amount of the force required to bend the paring, it is clear that the smaller the angle at which the chisel is sharpened the smaller will be the horizontal component f and, consequently, the smaller will be the thrust required to make the cut. This shows the advantage of sharpening at a small angle; for, if the angle be greater than is necessary, the extra force required is wasted in bending the paring to a sharper curve. To avoid complication, the sharpening of the chisel is shown as one bevel, instead of the two produced by the successive actions of grindstone and oilstone (see p. When the oilstone bevel is very small, the reaction C may be regarded as taking place (in cutting wood, at any rate) between the grindstone bevel and the paring; but when the oilstone bevel is very wide, reaction takes place chiefly between the latter bevel and the paring; and since it has a greater angle than the grindstone bevel, more force is required in using the chisel. Hence it is desirable to grind the chisel frequently.

Fig. 131.—Inclined Paring with Chisel.

ROUGHNESS OF

     Sometimes in cutting wood the surface left is found to be extremely rough, even though the chisel be as sharp as it is possible to make it. This is due to the crushing stress having been too great to be confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the cutting edge, so that it has disturbed the material for some little distance round it. This difficulty is overcome, practically, by giving a compound motion to the chisel, drawing it sideways as well as thrusting it forward. In this way the jaggedness—which always exists, however unapparent—of the edge acts like a saw upon the fibres, and thus relieves the crushing stress, with the result that in making the cut less force is expended. The benefit of this action is more pronounced in the case of the knife than in that of the chisel, as the former permits of a freer sideways motion.

USING

     When obstacles render it necessary to use the chisel as in Fig. an increased effort is required to make the cut. The vertical component e now is opposed by the resistance to crushing of the amount of material covered by the oilstone bevel. Since this is small, the material will be considerably compressed; and if the oilstone bevel be thrust along whilst it is held in a horizontal position, the crushing of the material as the bevel moves will add a downward-acting vertical component to the motion, and so the paring will increase in thickness and the surface will not be cut horizontally. To prevent this, the chisel must be so inclined that the oilstone bevel takes the direction and thus the downward motion due to the crushing is exactly balanced by the upward motion due to the direction But this crushing cannot take place without absorbing work; so that a paring of given thickness requires much more force when produced in this way than with the method shown by Fig. An additional reason why more force is required is that only the horizontal component of A is now available for actually cutting, whilst the vertical component of A goes to increase the force acting against and therefore increases the crushing action. Moreover, the component f is greater, owing to the increased angle of the cutting edge. The double-bent tools used by the carver have the oilstone bevel merged into the grindstone bevel, so as to give an extended bearing surface, and therefore produce less crushing, and so require a smaller expenditure of power.

Fig. 132.—Equilibrium of Forces in using Knife.

THE OF A

     So far as the actual cutting is concerned, the action of the knife is very similar to that of the chisel indicated in Fig: 130; but in the manner in which the force A is applied to the tool an important difference exists. In Fig. 132 the force A is again shown; but in this case it is obtained by the muscular resistance to the forces, B and Now, since C + A equals B (for it is a case of parallel forces, and the sum of the forces acting in one direction must equal the sum of those acting in the opposite direction), it is evident that B alone is greater than In the case of the chisel, the muscular effort is that required to produce the force but in the case of the knife, muscular effort equal to B + C has to be produced; and, of these forces, one alone is greater than Under these conditions, it is the advantage obtained by the sawing motion that enables the knife to compete with the chisel. When the thumb is extended along the back of the knife, there is virtually a strutted cantilever and the strain on the muscles is then not so great. In almost every case, however, the use of the knife results in the maximum of effort and the minimum of effect, and as a workshop tool it cannot compete with the chisel, though experience has shown it to have many advantages from an educational standpoint.

Fig. 133.—Thumb used as Strut in Cutting with Knife.

Fig. 134.

Fig. 135.

Fig. 136.

Figs. 134 to 136.—Firmer Chisels.

CHISELS THAT ARE

     A few firmer chisels 134 to will be necessary. These are made in various sizes, ranging from about 1/8 in. to 1 1/2 in. in width. As the whole set is not a necessity, a few of convenient size may be purchased, adding to them as occasion requires. The following sizes of chisels will perhaps be found the most serviceable: 1/4 in., 1/2 in., 3/4 in., and 1 in. The firmer chisel is used by both carpenter and joiner for cutting away superfluous wood by thin chips. It is a strong chisel, with an iron back and a steel face (the best are made of cast steel); and it is used with the aid of a mallet. It is more generally used than any other for all kinds of hand chiselling—such as paring, for purposes of fitting, etc. The stouter kinds, being strong enough to resist the blow of a mallet, are also used for broad and shallow mortises. A long paring chisel is shown by Fig. Figs. 138 and 139 show a tool known as a mortise chisel; it is much stronger than the firmer chisel, and is used only for mortising. The oilstone bevel should almost form one with the grindstone bevel as shown; otherwise the resistance offered by the wood to an obtuse oilstone facet not only adds to the labour, but causes the tool to slide away from its work. A lock mortise chisel of great strength is shown by Fig.

Fig. 137.—Long Paring Chisel.

Fig. 138.—Mortise Chisel.

Fig. 139.—Sash Mortise Chisel.

Fig. 140.—Socket Lock Mortise Chisel.

HOW BE

     Edge tools used in wood working are more sensitive to ill-treatment than those used for working metal, and of the latter those which are operated by hand are relatively more sensitive than those that are actuated by machine, the reason being, of course, that the more delicate the nature of the work, the more readily is the action of the tool felt. Many tools in daily use in factory machines are badly formed, so causing a great waste of power that could not be tolerated if they were hand worked, owing to the excess of energy required. In many cases, tools do not cut, or they cut badly, because the wedge form is impaired. The chisel, and all chisel-like tools, should be ground with one facet only, not with several. This applies alike to the chisel for wood working and that for metal cutting, to the gouge, the axe, adze, knife, razor, plane-iron, spokeshave, and others. The reason why it must be so in order to develop the full efficiency of these tools is apparent from the accompanying illustrations. Thus, comparing Figs. 141 and which are slightly exaggerated for the purpose of illustration, the former shows how a chisellike tool ought to be ground, the concavity of the facet exactly corresponding with the curve of the stone upon which it is ground. Such grinding requires some practice in the case of broad chisels and plane-irons, the tendency in unskilful hands being to produce a succession of facets like Fig. due to the slipping up and down of the tool on the revolving stone. But the advantages of the form shown by Fig. 141 are very great. First, the necessity for regrinding is delayed much longer than in Fig. where the facet is on the whole convex instead of concave. Fig. 141 approaches to the hollow razor form and for some little time the grinding angle and the sharpening angle will coincide; after a while it becomes necessary to tip the facet in sharpening (see Fig. and the sharpening angle is gradually rendered more obtuse until regrinding becomes necessary. But in Fig. 142 the sharpening angle is obtuse from the beginning, and regrinding soon is necessary. Moreover, since the angle is so obtuse, a greater expenditure of energy than in the former case is necessary to remove the shavings, there being less penetrative power. This is apparent from the dotted lines, which show the effective angles of the two by comparison. The endeavour, then, should be to preserve the wedge-like form of a tool edge as long as possible, the grinding of the hollow facet being regarded as of the greatest importance. Chisels are often badly sharpened by tilting up the face for the purpose of turning back the wire edge. The result is that the face is like Fig. This again detracts from the wedge form. Worse than that, it destroys the guidance afforded by a perfectly flat face, this being a very important point. The chisel must be tilted before it will cut, and there is no longer that contact of broad faces which is conducive to the guidance of the tool, and the difficulty of cutting surfaces and ends is much increased. No matter how flat the general area of the chisel face is, if there is a second facet, however narrow at the cutting edge, that determines the action of the tool. The tool angle is measured between that and the sharpened facet on the bevelled face. Of course, with all tools the labour of cutting is increased as the wedge form becomes impaired, by legitimate wear, that is as their angles become more obtuse. When the amount of this is slight only, the tools need sharpening; but when, by repeated sharpening, the tool angle becomes very obtuse, grinding is necessary to remove material in greater quantity. The grinding and sharpening of chisels are operations practically identical with grinding and sharpening plane irons (see pp. 54 and Fig. however, shows the position in which the chisel is held on the oilstone.

Fig. 141.—Correctly Shaped Chisel Edge.

Fig. 142.—Incorrectly Shaped Chisel Edge.

Fig. 143.—Section of Hollow-ground Razor.

Fig. 144.—Obtuse Angle of Old Chisel Edge.

Fig. 145.—Badly Sharpened Chisel Edge.

Fig. 146.—Sharpening Chisel on Oilstone.

     A few gouges also may be found useful. Their action is that of a chisel, but instead of being flat their sections form arcs of circles. Fig. 148 shows the sectional curves to which gouges are made.

Fig. 147.—Cast Steel Firmer Gouge.

Fig. 148.—Gouge Curves.

DRAWING

     The drawing or draw knife has its typical form illustrated by Fig. It is used for roughing stuff to shape preparatory to working with finer tools.

Fig. 149.—Drawing or Draw Knife.

     The spokeshave is made in various forms; the one illustrated is of boxwood, and the simplest made; but this form is not recommended, many better kinds being made entirely of iron, with screws to regulate the cutting-iron. An iron spoke-shave is shown by Fig. The beechwood spokeshave shown by Fig. 152 has a metal plate in front of the blade, and that shown by Fig. 153 is regulatable by means on the thumbscrews. In principle, the spokeshave is merely a knife or chisel edge in a suitable two-handled holder. In use it may jump if the iron is loose; if the back part of iron touches before the cutting edge; if there is insufficient clearance for the shavings in the mouth; if the cutting edge of the iron is worn to an obtuse angle and requires grinding; or if the face of shave is either too flat or too round; or the defects may simply be due to want of skill. With some kinds of ash it is very difficult to get a level surface with a spokeshave, and a compass plane should be used.

Fig. 150.—Wooden Spokeshave.

Fig. 151.—Iron Spokeshave.

Fig. 152.—Plated Spokeshave.

Fig. 153.—Spokeshave with Regulatable Blade.

SHARPENING

     It is somewhat trying to the hands of the operator to sharpen the short blades used in iron spokeshaves and small planes. The difficulty, however, may be readily overcome as follows: Procure a piece of hard wood about 10 in. or 1 ft. long, say 2 in. broad, and 1/2 in. thick. With a tenon saw make a cut across one end about 1 in. deep. The blunt blade being now inserted in this cut will be held sufficiently tight, and may be sharpened like an ordinary plane-iron (see pp. 54 and with comparative ease and without fatigue to the hands. It will be found to be a slight advantage if one or both of the long edges at the end where the saw-cut has been made be chamfered, so as to admit of the short blade being held on the oilstone at the correct angle when pushed well into the cut. By means of such a holder the blades may also be conveniently held on the grindstone while being ground.

     In workshop practice, planes are the tools chiefly used for smoothing the surface of wood after it has been sawn to approximate size. In its simplest form, a plane is a chisel firmly fixed into a block of wood by which it is guided in its cut, and the amount of wood taken off in the form of a shaving is regulated to a nicety. In fact, such a simple tool actually is used sometimes, when a proper plane of the requisite shape and of a suitable size cannot be procured. To make the construction of an ordinary plane quite clear, a section of one is illustrated by Fig. in which A shows the section of stock; the wedge; cutting iron; back iron; the screw for fastening irons together; and F is the mouth through which the shavings pass upwards. A plane is simply a copying tool, and a notch in the plane-iron at once proves that the pattern produced corresponds with the edge of the plane-iron, and all the imperfections of this edge will be copied on to the stuff. In all planing operations the edge of the tool is the pattern, which is copied in reverse on the wood. If a hollow is required to be produced on the wood, a tool is used with a round edge of exactly similar form to the hollow we wish produced. In machine planing the pattern is the edge of the tool, which produces a similar surface upon the wood.

Fig. 154.—Section of Plane.

Fig. 155.—Jack Plane.

DIRECTION OF IN

     For flat planes such as jack, try, and smoothing planes, the grain must be straight and, of course, run lengthways of the tool. The wood is selected from a centre plank of beech as near to the bark as possible; in all planes, the wood nearest the bark, that being the hardest part of the wood, becomes the sole or working surface. The wood is seasoned thoroughly, and never is used until at least three years after cutting. Moulding planes mostly work on the spring, and need not have the grain so straight as flat planes. Hollows, rounds, and rebate planes are exceptional, however, and should have the grain as straight as possible, because the rebate plane is cut right through, and is liable to cast or warp if not quite straight-grained; and most of the hollows and rounds, being thin, are liable to cast also if not of straight, mild, and well-seasoned wood. Wood for plane making should be as free from knots as possible.

Fig. 156.—Sunk Handle Jack Plane with Closed Toat.

JACK AND

     The jack plane 155 and is the first applied to the wood after it has been sawn. This plane is always employed to remove the roughness of the work before finishing up with trying and smoothing planes. It is made up of five parts—namely, the stock (which should be 17 in. in length), the toat or handle, the wedge, the cutting iron or cutter (2 1/8 in. broad), and back iron. Immediately behind the iron is a handle, which, in use, is grasped only by the right hand in planing fir; but in heavy planing, and especially in hard wood, it is necessary to place the left hand across the front of the plane to press it down, to cause the iron to take hold of the wood. When using both hands to the plane, the left is placed with the four fingers lying across the top near the fore end, the thumb passing down the near side. Well-seasoned beech is a suitable wood for the stock. The construction of the trying or trueing plane is almost exactly the same as that of the jack plane, but it is much longer, so as to produce truer surfaces. The following instructions on manipulating the jack plane apply equally well to the trying plane.

Fig. 157.—Trying Plane.

REMOVING AND IN

     To remove the iron, the stock should be grasped by the left hand, with the thumb on the inside of the mouth, as shown by Fig. The back of the plane may be rested against the body, whilst the front of the tool is gently knocked with the hammer (or mallet, by preference), which will loosen the wedge, and enable the iron to be withdrawn. Another method is to knock the front of it with face upwards smartly on the bench while holding wedge and iron in the left hand; one blow is generally enough. The iron, it will now be observed, consists in reality of two parts; the cutting iron is faced with good steel (see Figs. 159 and and the back is of iron. Badger jack planes have irons as in Figs. 161 and The back iron (see Figs. 160 and screw fastens the irons tightly together, and it is for the purpose of regulating the thickness of shavings, as will be explained in a separate paragraph. To take the irons apart, place the wedge upon the bench, as at A and lay the iron screw uppermost upon it. Now loosen the screw with a screwdriver (do not take it out), and slide the back iron up until the head of screw will pass out at the hole made for the purpose. The unscrewing of a plane iron with a long driver is illustrated by Fig. Sometimes a large screwdriver and a small hammer are required for unscrewing the iron and setting the plane; but by a few minutes’ work on the grindstone, the flat pene of a hammer can easily be ground so that it will serve as a screwdriver, thus answering both purposes. When the iron has been sharpened (see pp. 54 and screw on the back iron in the same manner that it was taken off (see Fig. and place it in the groove or mouth of the plane, keeping it in position with the thumb of the left hand, the fingers grasping the face, as at Fig. Now insert the wedge, and lightly tap it with the hammer. Place the end of the plane upon the bench, and draw the top towards the worker; now look down the face in the direction of the arrow, and the iron should be seen projecting about 1/16 in. Should it be more, gently tap the head of the plane, again driving in the wedge tightly. The tool is now ready for use. The two irons should be screwed perfectly tight (see Fig. if they are left as in Fig. 166 the plane will choke and no longer work. If the back iron is too close to the mouth of the plane, chattering may occur; to remedy it, slightly ease the front part of the mouth with a sharp chisel, to allow the shavings to pass through. Chattering may be caused by the back iron not fitting close to the cutting iron, when shavings will get in and cause it to jump (see also p.

Fig. 158.—Knocking out Iron of Jack Plane.

Fig. 159.—Cutting Iron.

Fig. 160.—Cutting and Back Irons.

Fig. 161.—Badger Cutting Iron.

Fig. 162.—Badger Cutting and Back Irons.

Fig. 163.—Unscrewing Plane Irons with Special Tools.

ADJUSTING

     The manner of handling and adjusting the cutting iron is a most important consideration, especially when planing against the grain of a brittle wood, such as pitch pine. In planing wood that is cross-grained and liable to rip or tear up, the cutting iron should be set very finely—that is, its edge should be quite close to the edge of the back iron (see Fig. but for the jack plane it must be placed further back, as at Fig. The finer the shaving to be taken off the wood, the closer should it be set. When dressing a difficult wood against the grain, although the cutting edge may be in splendid condition and sharp as a razor, the perfect condition and adjustment of the back iron is also an absolute necessity in order to leave a fine smooth surface. The finer the shaving the smoother will be the surface obtained; and if the edge of the back iron, as it is lying on the cutting blade, is in the least degree rough or does not press evenly and firmly on the whole width of the blade, the shaving will get in between and stop the work. However, it is easy to set the iron too fine, especially when jackplaning soft, straight-grained stuff like pine, which perhaps wants considerably reducing.

Fig. 164.—Unscrewing Plane Irons with Long Screwdriver.

Fig. 165.—Plane Irons Tightly Screwed.

Fig. 166.—Plane Irons Loosely Screwed.

SMOOTHING

     This plane, as its name implies, is for the purpose of smoothing the work to form a finished surface. After the drawing in, mortising, tenoning, dovetailing, etc., are done, and before the work is put together, all the parts that cannot afterwards be operated upon are finished with this plane. For fine or other soft woods it is 9 in. long, having an iron 2 1/4 in. wide on the cutting face. The stock of this plane has the sole and top parallel, but the sides are curved, making the two ends narrower than the centre. The wooden smoothing plane 168 and has not a toat or handle, but the iron plane has a toat; for general usefulness, however, the plane made of beech cannot be excelled. This plane is specially shaped with a view to the extreme handiness indispensable to a tool that has to contend with varying directions of grain in the wood. Hard woods, particularly the more ornamental kinds, often are troublesome to clean off, and however well the smoothing plane is used, much must still be left to the scraper. The conditions of successful work with the smoothing plane will repay study, since practical experience of those conditions will tend to the more skilful handling of the larger planes. The sole of the plane should be flat; tested in any direction with a straight-edge the result should be agreement, but in the case of the iron-fronted plane the sole is curved lengthways. The cutting iron should rest on the sloping surface prepared for it without any rocking, touching all over the surfaces in contact. When the back iron is screwed on, the same condition should obtain. Hence the flexure caused by tightening the screw should be mainly taken by the back iron, whose object is to stiffen the cutting iron and not to distort it. If, therefore, the cutting iron, with the back iron affixed. is in winding, either the bed of the iron in the plane is bad or the plane must be fitted to suit the winding iron. A little further consideration will show that (1) the warping of a plane involves alteration of the surface on which the iron rests; that (2) it is desirable both that this surface be flat and that the plane iron be flat on its back surface; and for these reasons it will be found (3) that “parallel irons” are far superior in stiffness and accuracy to the ordinary plane iron. The wedge also must fit so well that the iron may rest immovable under ordinary working strains; but it is not fair to expect the wedge to force into agreement crooked irons and warped planes. It should never be necessary to drive the wedge so tightly that its withdrawal becomes difficult. As the function of the back iron is to stiffen the cutter and deflect the shaving, care must be taken to avoid breaking or bending the edge of the back iron. A gap into which a part of the shaving could get must not be allowed to remain, and rounding or under-cutting of the contact edge must not be permitted. The upper surface of the back iron is to be kept clean and smooth, so that the shaving may glide up its polished surface. The sharpened edge of the cutting iron must be a little convex, but only sufficiently in most cases to prevent the corners of the iron digging in. It is therefore necessary to sharpen the irons of all planes with some attention to the thickness of the shaving they will be required to remove, and to sharpen away a little from the corners of the iron accordingly, diminishing the convexity for trying and smoothing planes, but increasing it for jack planes, which are intended to be coarsely set. It might be thought that this convexity would produce hollows in the work, but it must be remembered that the iron is not used upright, but at an angle which will reduce the convexity about one-half. The aperture or mouth of the plane should be as narrow as possible, so as not to encourage tearing up. The passage of the shaving without hindrance is all that is desirable; but the mouth should be so formed that it may be possible to bring the back iron edge very close to the cutting edge, and still allow the shaving to pass freely. However well the smoothing plane is set, sharpened, and used, the scraper and glass-paper are still required for finishing hard woods. The plane iron is knocked out in quite a different way from the jack plane. Hold the tool in the left hand, as in Fig. with the thumb on the inside of its mouth, and with a hammer held in the right hand tap the back until the wedge is loosened sufficiently to admit of the iron being withdrawn. Beginners, as a rule, will hammer away at the top of the plane, as with the jack plane, but this is neither desirable nor necessary.

Fig. 167.—Adjusted Plane Irons.

Fig. 168.—Smoothing Plane.

Fig. 169.—Iron-fronted Smoothing Plane.

Fig. 170.—Knocking out Iron of Smoothing Plane.

Fig. 171.—Defects of Smoothing Plane.

SMOOTHING

     Any of the following defects may prevent a smoothing plane working properly, causing it to tear up the surface of the work. It may be close at A so as not to pass the shavings between the back iron and mouth, or, if very open at the same place, it would jump at the ends of a board being planed; the back iron may not fit close to the cutting iron at which would cause shavings to pass between them, clogging the mouth; the cutting edge may be thick as at when the black portion would have to be removed with the grindstone, the iron being finished on the oilstone, or it may not bed properly behind the cutting iron at which would cause the iron to chatter. In this case, the remedy is to glue a thin piece of card or leather on to make the back level as described on p.

REBATE

     A rebate plane is made of: beech, and is 9 in. long, its width varying considerably, but a useful size is about 1 1/2 in. The cutting iron extends the full width of the plane, thus enabling the angles of rebates to be cleaned up. A back iron is not used with this plane. To withdraw the iron of a rebate plane, it should be taken in the left hand, grasping the wedge and the iron firmly with the palm, as illustrated by Fig. the wedge is then smartly struck with a hammer until removed; in Fig. 173 A is a front and side view of the iron, and B is the wedge. In sharpening the iron upon the oilstone, take great care to keep the edge straight across. In replacing the iron, it should be adjusted so that, upon glancing down the face of the plane, it shows equally across its width; if this is not carefully attended to, a long corner may result.

Fig. 172.—Rebate Plane.

Fig. 173.—Rebate Plane taken Apart.

OTHER OF

     The joiner and cabinet-maker have occasion to use many other kinds of planes, only few of which, however, require to be mentioned here. The bead plane illustrated by Fig. 174 is for the purpose of working the moulding known as a bead (this will be described later). Bead planes are made in sets, ranging from 1/8 in. to 1 in., in a set of eight. The router, or old woman’s tooth is a kind of plane used for working out the bottoms of rectangular cavities; it is used for cutting cross grooves in timber to a certain depth, particularly when the groove does not go the whole width of the stuff, as, for instance, with sinkings for treads and risers in strings. It has a broad sole, and its cutter projects the depth of the required sinking. The chariot plane is a plane used for the small parts of the work which cannot be conveniently got at with the smoothing plane. Also it is used for planing end grain and cross-grain work; the iron being very near the toe of the stock also renders the plane very useful for chamfering and for planing work recessed out of the solid. The best chariot planes are made of gunmetal, with a steel face. They are not used very much now. Chamfer planes are used for taking off sharp edges to form chamfers. There are great differences in their shapes, as may be seen from Figs. 177 to Fig. 177 shows Preston’s plane, Fig. 178 Melhuish’s plane, and Fig. 179 Nurse’s plane. A mitre shooting plane is illustrated by Fig. and a plough or plough plane, a most important tool, whose use will be fully described later, is shown by Fig.

Fig. 174.—Bead Plane.

Fig. 175.—Router or Old Woman’s Tooth Plane.

HOW TO THE

     In use, the jack plane is pressed down on the work and thrust forward with a steady but deliberate stroke (see Fig. when, if in proper condition, it should take off a shaving nearly as wide as the iron and as long as the piece being planed. Keep the face of the plane well oiled just in front of the iron. Always work with the grain if possible A far thicker shaving can be taken off smoothly in this way than if worked as in Fig. which requires more careful work with a more finely set plane. Do not use the plane at an uncomfortable height. When the board to be planed is in position, and the worker takes the jack plane in hand ready to begin, a line drawn through his elbow and wrist should be rather lower than higher at the wrist, though if the forearm is level it will do. Do not attempt to take off thick shavings at the outset, and do not be disappointed if a shaving is not taken off from end to end at the first trial. If the wood has any hollow in it, it will be impossible to do this, and even if it is perfectly straight the beginner will have great difficulty in doing it. Beginners always plane too much off the end near the bench stop, and are too apt to move the arm in the are of a circle. These errors must be avoided by careful practice. Try to plane the centre of the material rather than the margin, for if a good plane is in proper order it is impossible to make the wood much too hollow or concave; whereas, however good the plane, careless use of it can and will make the work convex in every direction. Probably there is no better lesson than to try to face up—that is, level—two pieces of stuff so that they will, when brought together, be in mutual contact. This simple job will require much perseverance on the part of a beginner if it is to be done successfully. Good progress will not be made if the wood practised upon is too small; little pieces are sure to be made convex in length by a beginner. Take a piece not less than 2 ft. long, though experience has shown that the best results in this exercise are obtained by using pieces of spruce 4 ft. long, 4 1/2 in. wide, and 3 in. thick; this is too stiff to bend, and affords a good surface. When some facility has been obtained, the blade of a 12 in. square or a straight-edge should be employed to test the work. To take a surface out of winding, get two straight-edges—say, 12 in. long, 1 1/2 in. wide, and 1 in. thick, and see that they are parallel. Place these across the work, one at each end; then by viewing both, bringing the eye down to glance from one to the other, it will be seen whether the two are in one plane. If they do not appear to lie in one plane, the surface is in winding, and opposite corners must be reduced till satisfactory. (See also p.

Fig. 176.—Chariot Plane.

Fig. 177.—Preston’s Chamfer Plane with Adjustable Fence.

Fig. 178.—Melhuish’s Chamfer Plane with Adjustable Fence.

Fig. 179.—Nurse’s Chamfer Plane.

Fig. 180.—Mitre Shooting Plane.

Fig. 181.—Handled Plough.

HOW TO THE

     Fig. 185 shows the method of holding the smoothing plane, the right hand grasping it firmly at the back, whilst the left hand steadies it in front. In starting, the tool is applied to the fore-end of the board, and gradually worked backwards, thus taking out any marks previously used tools may have made. It should be held firmly, and lifted sharply at the end of stroke, or a mark will be left where the plane finished. The work is continued until the board presents a perfectly smooth surface, without marks of any kind. The left hand should frequently be passed across the face of the board, as any marks made by the plane can be readily detected in this manner. It may also with advantage be held so that the light passes across its surface from the side, thus showing up imperfect planing. Should there be too much iron out, a few blows with the hammer at the back of the plane will draw it back. Take care to tighten up the wedge again. A few drops of linseed oil applied to the face of the plane will facilitate the planing.

Fig. 182.—Holding Jack Plane.

Fig. 183.—Planing with the Grain.

Fig. 184.—Planing against the Grain.

PLANING

     A plane in operating on a rough piece of wood removes successive shavings from the more prominent parts, until a level surface is attained. The flatness attainable with the plane is greatly dependent on the skill of the workman. He must always try to plane hollow rather than round, for if a plane be flat and long in the stock, it is impossible, as has been stated, to give any appreciable concavity to a surface of moderate size. For this reason roughingout planes, or jack planes, are made as long in the stock as possible without making them too heavy and inconvenient. Planes used for trueing are invariably called trying planes, and are used to correct the inequalities left by the jack. Very long ones go by the name of jointers, and are principally used for making long joints.

NEW

     New planes often are a source of trouble owing to the shavings getting fast in the mouth, the plane refusing to take any more until the wedge and iron have been removed, and all cleared out. The cause of this difficulty is that the mouth of the plane is too narrow (see Fig. Sometimes workmen cut a little out with a chisel, but in many instances this results in spoiling the tool, because in a short time the bottom of the plane wears away, and consequently the mouth gets larger, subsequently getting so large as to require a piece to be planted in. The mouth of the plane can be kept open as long as needed by gluing a strip of soft leather, about 3/4 in. wide, in the mouth of the plane under the top end of the iron (see Fig. When the plane bottom is sufficiently worn the leather can be removed and the iron put back into its original position. The leather causes the iron to be more upright, and consequently there is a larger opening in the mouth (two thicknesses can be put under if necessary).

Fig. 185.—Holding Smoothing Plane.

Fig. 186.—Plane with Narrow Mouth.

REMEDYING OF

     Fig. 188 shows the section of a plane that has its mouth worn very open, through the plane having been shot and the iron ground short. One method of remedying this defect is to let a piece of hardwood into the face; but the simplest and best plan is to glue a thin strip of wood or leather behind the iron at the bottom This gives the iron a sharper angle, closes the open mouth as much as desired, and, when a new and thicker iron is bought, the strip can be reduced or removed.

Fig. 187.—Leather Slip under Top of Plane Iron.

Fig. 188.—Plane with Wide Mouth.

OILING

     Plane stocks are oiled in order to improve them for working and to preserve the wood in perfect condition. A wooden smoothing plane is hardly regarded as complete until it has been saturated with linseed oil, a very common plan being to fill the hole with oil, after stopping it on the face, and leave it till absorbed. Planes that are too greasy to handle pleasantly will improve with time. This oiling, however, largely increases the weight of the plane; and a tool that has been soaked too long in the oil so as to be too heavy for convenient use should be placed in a moderately warm oven for a few hours to evaporate some of the oil. The oven must not be hot, or a number of shakes will be produced, and the plane will warp.

Fig. 189.—Leather Slip under Bottom of Plane Iron.

PITCH OF

     To assist the reader to understand correctly the principles of plane-iron sharpening, the following information is given. The seat of the plane-iron is made at different angles, to give the pitch to suit different kinds of work. The four angles most in use are as follows:—Common pitch, in which the seat for the back of the iron is at an angle of 45° from the sole (this inclination is usually employed for all planes for soft wood); York pitch, which has an angle of 50°, and is adapted for use with mahogany and other hard, stringy woods; middle pitch or 55°, and half pitch or 60°, which are employed with moulding planes, the former being for soft wood and the latter for the harder kinds. Fig. 190 affords an idea of three angles, A giving the set of a half-pitched plane, B that of an ordinary plane, while C shows the inclination of an extra-pitched plane. The pitch or angle at which the cutter is set is of importance. There are three angles involved in this case: (1) The angle between the cutter and the surface of the work; this should be as small an angle as possible. It is obvious that if the surfaces of the cutter and the work were perfectly parallel, the cutter would glide over the surface without cutting, except under great pressure. By making the cutter edge rather than its whole surface touch the work, the tendency to cut and to continue the contact is secured. The angle, which may be called the clearance angle, or the back angle, should only be enough to secure this condition of contact. (2) The angle of the cutter itself. The more acute this angle the better, if only the material will stand the strain and face the work without losing its edge. (3) The front or remaining angle may be found by subtracting both (1) and (2) from 180°, if dealing with plane surfaces, and is available for the passing away of the waste material; in the case of the plane, however, this is limited, in order to provide means to prevent the shaving being torn up in advance of the cutting action. This provision is made by the front portion of the plane, and to be efficacious must be in contact with the work and as near the edge of the cutter as possible to allow waste to escape. A few experiments with a knife will show that for soft materials a slight angle is best. This involves a thin knife, and its side almost in contact with the material to be cut; but as harder things are tried the stiffness of the cutter, and the consequent angle, must be increased, not because it is merely desirable, but because it is absolutely necessary to have a stronger cutter. The more upright an iron is set, the less liable is it to tear up the wood in planing; but in the same degree the iron loses its edge more quickly, is more likely to jump and chatter, and is more laborious to work. In toothing planes the irons are set upright, and in “old woman’s tooth planes” or routers nearly upright. In working with an upright iron, the action of the tool is that of scraping the work, while the more the iron is inclined the nearer it approaches the action of splitting the wood. For this reason an ordinary or extra-pitched plane is more liable to splinter up the surface of a piece of work; but this accident may be in great measure prevented by using a properly adjusted back iron. Moulding planes, rounds and hollows, bead planes, and others that work without a back-iron, are usually preferred set to the half-pitch angle; while for working on endgrained stuff, extra-pitched tools, such as shoulder and bull-nosed planes, give the best results. In examining the side of a plane-iron, it is found to be made up of an iron back faced with steel. The steel, welded on to the iron and distinguished by its brighter colour and finer grain, acts as a cutting edge, the iron being required to give sufficient stiffness to prevent chattering. When newly ground and sharpened, a plane-iron has three angles, one due to the pitch, A one made by the grindstone, and one made by the oilstone, The angles A and B do not alter, but C gradually becomes more acute with sharpening on the oilstone, until it lines with the face of the plane, as in Fig. when the iron refuses to cut properly, and requires grinding. The pitch angle A varies in planes by different makers, as described above.

Fig. 190.—Three Pitch Angles for Planes.

Fig. 191.—The Three Angles of a Plane Iron.

Fig. 192.—Plane Iron before and after Grinding.

GRINDING

     As stated above, when a plane-iron has been sharpened on the oilstone a number of times the edge becomes thick as in Fig. when the portion shown black in the drawing should be removed by the grindstone. Of course it might be taken off with the oilstone, but this would involve a waste of time, the more economical plan being to keep the oilstone simply for imparting a keen edge, and using the grindstone to take off the waste material at the back as occasion requires. The iron may be ground as follows: The worker should stand, if possible, with the grindstone revolving towards him. The stone should be well wetted, as a dry grindstone will heat the tool and spoil its temper. The back iron may be kept on the plane cutter and set about 1/8 in. back. This allows of a firmer grip being taken of the iron, and forms a gauge for keeping the cutting edge square, if it should be required. Fig. 193 shows the method of holding the tool on the stone; it should first be held towards the top, and the iron gradually lowered towards the worker until the bevel of the iron fits the stone, which may be felt by the additional force required to keep the tool in position. The grinding should be stopped just before the cutting edge is reached, unless it is required to remove a gap, or the iron is out of square. Some grind the iron until there is a wire edge 1/16 in. long attached to the cutting edge, and as this has to be removed with the oilstone, that much of the iron is wasted, leaving the tool at the finish exactly the same as if the grinding had been stopped just before it reached the edge. The iron should not be ground too thin, or it will chatter. On the other hand, if too thick, it will soon require grinding again. If the angle is made about three times as long as the iron is thick, it will give a good working result. A mechanical appliance for maintaining the plane iron at a certain angle on the grindstone is illustrated by Fig. which is self-explanatory.

Fig. 193.—Grinding Plane Iron.

Fig. 194.—Tool-grinding Rest.

SHARPENING ON THE

     A good oilstone, capable of putting a keen edge on the tool, is a necessity to all woodworkers. Washita, Nova Scotia, and other fast cutting stones are useful for removing waste metal when the iron is thick; but it is seldom that one of these stones can be trusted to leave a keen edge on the tool. Turkey stones are the only stones that have the two good qualities combined of cutting quickly and leaving a good edge. Charnley Forest oilstones are slow cutters, but they are to be relied on for leaving a good keen edge. It is necessary that the oilstone should be kept perfectly level, or it will not be possible to get a true edge. The stone should also be free from grit, or the iron will be gapped in sharpening, and will leave ridges on the planed work. (Fuller particulars of the varieties of oilstones will be given later.) In sharpening the iron after it has been newly ground, the hands should be kept low to make the bevel correspond nearly with that made by the grindstone. As time goes on, when the iron is re-sharpened the hands are kept a little higher upon each occasion (see Fig. until it becomes thick, as in Fig. then it must be again put upon the grindstone. Some workers find it convenient to use two oilstones—one as a quick cutter, to some extent superseding the grindstone, the other for finishing the edge. In using the oilstone, first put a few drops of good oil upon the stone, and grasp the iron as in Fig. the right hand is at the top, and the thumb and fourth finger pass under. Place the whole of the fingers of the left hand upon the iron, with the thumb at the back, as seen. Now put the cutting edge (previously ground to a bevel) upon the stone in an oblique direction, as shown in Fig. bearing in mind the previous remarks on the necessary inclination. The iron should now be rubbed up and down the stone, pressing it down with both hands. If the edge had been examined before placing it upon the stone, it would have been found to show a fine white line. The object of sharpening is to remove this, which must be done by rubbing on an oilstone. Having accomplished this, turn the iron face down upon the stone, and rub it lightly a few times (see Fig. The iron should now have the appearances indicated by Fig. If the face of the iron has not been kept perfectly flat, it would appear as Fig. and would be of no use as a cutting iron. If the iron has been rubbed too long, a wire edge will appear and utterly spoil the cutting properties of the iron unless removed. This may readily be done by rubbing the iron alternately upon each side until the wire edge falls off. When the iron is judged to be sufficiently sharp, it should be cleaned, whetted on the left hand, and its edge tried for keenness. Some try the edge by passing the thumb gently across it, but its sharpness may be judged by looking directly at it. In a sharp tool the edge is not visible to the naked eye, while, if the iron should be blunt, the edge will be plainly perceptible as a bright line.

Fig. 195.—Plane Iron on Oilstone.

Fig. 196.—Sharpening Plane Iron.

Fig. 197.—Finishing Plane Iron on Oilstone.

Fig. 198.—Properly Sharpened Plane Iron.

Fig. 199.—Badly Sharpened Plane Iron.

Fig. 200.—Fully Rounded Plane Iron.

Fig. 201.—Slightly Rounded Plane Iron.

EDGES OF

     The edge of a cutting iron should be ground and sharpened to suit the tool in which it is to be used. If this is not done, the plane marks will be visible when the work is finished especially with polished or varnished surfaces. For a single-iron jack plane the edge should be rounded as in Fig. for an ordinary jack plane the iron should be slightly rounded, as in Fig. while for smoothing, panel, and trying planes the edge should be straight, but with just the corners rounded slightly to prevent their marking the work, as shown in Fig. Trying planes, shooting planes, as well as rebate planes, badger jack planes, and rebating jack planes, should be sharpened with the edge straight. When a smoothing or panel plane is sharpened to the proper shape, and a board skilfully planed with it, no ridges will be perceptible to the touch if the hand is passed across it from side to side.

Fig. 202.—Plane Iron with Rounded Corners.

Fig. 203.—Plane Irons with Thin Cutter Between.

DEFECTIVE IN

     If a plane does not work properly the fault often may be with the back iron. If the back iron does not fit perfectly close across the full width of the plane, the shavings get between it and the cutting iron and clog the mouth of the plane. The remedy is to fit the edge of the back iron to the face of the cutting iron. This may be done either with a file or by bending it over a piece of round iron with a hammer. A defect often found in back irons is that of slipping over the edge of the cutting iron when the screw is tightened to hold the two together, thus destroying the edge. This sometimes may be remedied by roughing the top end of the back iron where it fits on the top of the cutting iron, by placing it on a flat file and then hammering it; or the screw may be tightened with the back iron some distance back from the edge, and afterwards gently hammered to its proper position.

Fig. 204.—Steel Cutter for Improved Plane Iron.

IMPROVEMENTS IN

     Much time is lost in grinding and sharpening plane irons of the thickness to which they are made at the present time. It is only the thin steel face of the iron that requires a keen edge; yet to obtain this a waste of time is incurred, owing to the amount of metal that must be removed at the back of the edge. Now if a thin steel cutter could be introduced to place between the two irons, it would do away with the grindstone altogether for sharpening planes. This idea is not by any means new, and it has been practically carried out, both with hand and machine tools, with marked success. Fig. 203 shows this principle applied to an ordinary plane iron; Fig. 203 shows the back and fore iron, between the two being the thin steel cutter, shown separately by Fig. Cutters of this description could be produced at half the cost of ordinary plane irons, if made in any quantity. Grinding a plane iron is a dirty job, even under the most favourable circumstances, and it is thought that a cutter that does away with it is bound to meet with success.

Fig. 205.—Grinding Gouge.

Fig. 206.—Grinding Gouge.

Fig. 207.—Sharpening Gouge on Oilstone.

Fig. 208.—Sharpening Gouge with Oilstone Slip.

Fig. 209.—Two Pieces of Wood Scribed Together.

GRINDING AND

     A chisel edge is the same shape as the edge of a plane iron, and is produced in the same way, and there is no need to treat chisels separately here. Information, however, on keeping gouges in order may be welcome. They seldom require grinding, but this, when necessary, must be done with great care, as the bevel must follow the curve of the tool to ensure good work. Fig. 205 shows the gouge applied to the stone; it must be constantly turned backwards and forwards, as shown by the arrows. Fig. 206 illustrates the manner of holding the tool whilst grinding. The same rule as regards turning the gouge applies when sharpening it upon the oilstone; this is shown by the arrows at a if it were held like a chisel, as a good result would never be obtained—that is, the sweep of the tool would not be correct, as shown at After rubbing upon the flat stone, it may be necessary for some purposes to sharpen the gouge from the inside. This is done by means of an oilstone slip. The tool is held in the left hand, b, as in Fig. and the slip, held in the right hand, is rubbed up and down the gouge, taking care to keep the slip pressed quite flat against the groove, so as not to turn the edge. The reason for having the gouge edge so sharpened for ordinary use is evident from the following explanation of the use of a gouge sharpened the reverse way; that is, with the bevel inside the groove. Fig. 209 shows two pieces of wood fitted or scribed together. Figs. 210 and 211 are the piece marked removed, the more plainly to illustrate the application of the gouge. At Fig. 212 is seen a scribing gouge showing by a section that it is ground on the inside, thus enabling it to cut straight down, as this is impossible with the ordinary gouge ground upon the outside, as Fig. 213 plainly shows.

Fig. 210.—Scribed Piece of Wood.

Fig. 211.—Scribed Piece of Wood.

Fig. 212.—Gouge ground Inside.

Fig. 213.—Gouge ground Outside.

HAND SAWS.

THE AS A

THE saw cannot be classified with any other tool. The hammer is a tool for consolidating material; the splitting axe, although usually regarded as an edge tool, is generally a hammer with a wedge pane, and is used for dividing material in the line of the fibres. The true edge tool in its most elementary form is the chisel, and by various added contrivances the chisel becomes the shears and the plane; but saws, which are to be discussed in this chapter, differ from all these. They can scarcely be called derivatives from these, unless the knife be regarded as the connecting link; for sometimes it is used as a chisel and at other times as a saw. All these tools, including the knife, cut or work in the direction of the grain or fibre, but the saw is essentially a tool for use across or at right angles to this fibre, although custom and convenience have arranged the saw for use with the fibre. Even then it is only because the fibres are not straight and parallel. When they are so, as in lath wood, then the saw is not employed. It is true that in such work as the felling of timber the axe is used across the grain, and therefore at right angles to the length of the fibre; yet if the action of the forester be observed, it will be seen that the direction of his blow is not that of the line of separation. He goes at his work indirectly when using the axe, directly when using the saw. These and the following remarks on the theory of the saw’s action and application are taken from Rigg’s Cantor Lectures, to which reference has been made already.

PRINCIPLES OF THE

     For the purpose of separating a bundle of fibres, an edge drawn across will cut the surface fibres only; this is insufficient, for a saw is required to separate fibres below a surface. This separation must be a cutting (not a tearing) action. Looking at the work of a single cutting edge, it will be noticed that, although the continuity of the fibre is destroyed, the separated ends are still interlaced amongst the other fibres. To obtain a piece removable as by a small narrow chisel, it will be requisite to make a second cut parallel to the first. This being done, there is the short piece, retained in position by adhesion only, which must be removed, for the room it occupies is that in which the back of the cutting edge must move. To slide, as it were, a narrow chisel along and cut it out is more simple in suggestion than in execution; for instance, the absence of any guide would cause great difficulty. To draw a pointed cutting edge along the same deepening line needs a very steady hand and eye. To increase the number of cutting edges, and form, as it were, a linear sequence of them, may give a partial guidance. Instead of having two parallel cutters these cutters may be externally parallel but internally oblique to the line of cut, as shown in the sectional and exaggerated view of saw teeth in which the portions of wood A B D and E C D have been removed by the gradual penetration of the oblique arms; not only have they been cut, but they have been carried forward and backward and removed, leaving a clear space behind them of the width A But a portion within the oblique arms is left, this consisting of particles of woody fibre adhering to each other only by the glutinous or gummy matter of the timber, and not cohering. If the breadth A E is not too large, the whole of the heap would be rubbed away by the power exerted by the workman, and both power and material are economised by narrowing A The resultant saw kerf is shown in section by Fig. The active portion of a saw has three edges, of which the lower or horizontal one only is operative, for the tool rides upon the fibres and divides them, and the sloping parts remove the hillock. To act thus, the lower edges would be required to be sharpened at A and so as to clear a way for the metal to follow. The resistance to the downward pressure, required to cause the cutting segments to penetrate vertically, is the breadth of the tooth, for it rides upon a number of fibres and divides them by sliding over; the complete action requires not only downward pressure for the cut, but also horizontal pressure for the motion, the latter both in the advance and withdrawal of the tool. These two pressures being at right angles do not aid each other, and will require the use of the workman’s two hands. The compounding of these pressures will give freedom to at least one hand. For the present, assume that the two pressures to be compounded are equal, then the simple operation is to employ one pressure making (say) an angle of 45° with the horizontal line of thrust. If the tool becomes a single-handed one, and relies for its operation upon thrust or tension in one direction only (say thrust), then cutting edges on the back portions of the teeth are useless, and had better be removed.

Fig. 214.—Diagram showing Principle of Saw’s Cutting Action.

Fig. 215.—Saw Kerf.

ACTION OF

     Taking the ordinary cross-cutting single-handed saw, the forward thrust is intended to separate the fibres, by removing a small piece by two parallel cuts. For example, if O O be a fibre, then the action of the saw must be to cut clean out the piece a so making a space wider than the steel of which the saw is made. The cleaner the parallel cuts a d, b c are, the better. Now this clean cut is to be made by the tooth advancing towards the fibre. If the tooth come on in axe fashion, there is a direct thrust of a sharp edge; and though a wedge-like action may be the best for separating fibre adhering to fibre, it is quite out of place in the cross-cutting of a single fibre, in which cohesion has to be destroyed. There must be a cutting action, that is, the drawing of an edge across the mark for separation; besides this drawing action there also is pressure. Now, in soft timber, and with a saw having teeth only moderately sharp, this pressure tends to force the fibres into closer contact, to squeeze them amongst each other, to solidify the timber, and increase the difficulty in cutting. Two actions are here, pressure and thrust The pressure must be very light indeed; if otherwise, the point of the tooth will gather up more fibres than the strength of the workman can separate; indeed, as a rule, in the cross-cutting of broad timber, and when all the saw teeth are in action, pressure is not required, the average weight of the saw-blade sufficing for the picking up of the fibres. Whatever may be the form of the teeth, the small piece a, b, c, d has to be removed so as to leave the ends from which it is taken as smooth and clean-cut as possible; therefore the cutting edge must be on the outside of the tooth. This being so, it follows that the act of severing a fibre will be attended with compression, and thus condensed it will be forced up into the space between the teeth. This space must be so formed as to allow the condensed piece to drop freely away as soon as the tooth passes from the timber, or the saw will become choked, and its proper action cease. In large saws this is provided for in the shape of what in America are called “gums” and in England “throats,” in which the teeth may be said to be set. Saws cannot work easily unless as much care is bestowed upon the throats or gums as is given to the teeth.

Fig. 216.—Wood Fibre Divided by Saw.

Fig. 217.—Hand Saw Handle.

Fig. 218.—Hand Saw Handle.

Fig. 219.—Hand Saw Handle.

Fig. 220.—Hand Saw Handle.

Fig. 221.—Hand Saw Handle.

THICKNESS AND OF

     A saw must in one dimension (that of thickness of blade at least) be very thin, and that part cannot be strengthened by means of ribs. When a strengthening bar is introduced at the back as in tenon saws (see Fig. p. the depth of cut is limited. If a light saw blade be pressed against an object or hooked on one, then tension causes this straight blade to be more and more strengthened. On the other hand, if the saw blade be pressed forward by thrust, the weakness of the blade is apparent from the bending. Now, formed as saw teeth are, either to cut in both directions or in the forward direction only, there is always one direction in which the work to be done is accomplished by a thrust upon this thin metal. Clearly the metal will bend. If, however, the teeth cut in the direction of tension only, the work tends to preserve the straightness of blade, and upon this an important quality and use of the tool depend. That this tension system can be efficient with a very narrow blade is clear from the extensive use of band saws. There is, however, a property in the breadth of the blade which applies equally to the tension and thrust systems—it is the guide principle. The breadth of the blade operates by touching the sides of the gateway opened by the teeth. When it is desired to dispense with a straight guide for sawing purposes, it is done by narrowing the blade as in lock saws, keyhole saws, tension frame saws, etc.

Fig. 222.—Hand Saw Handle.

Fig. 223.—Three Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 224.—Three and a half Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 225.—Four Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 226.—Four and a half Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

POSITION AND OF

     In thrust saws the hand and arm of the workman occupy a definite position, and the line of pressure on the saw is thus very much determined by the inclination of the handle to the line of teeth prolonged backwards. If the handle be placed at such an angle that a large part of the resolved thrust be perpendicular to the line of teeth, then the bite may be greater than the other resolved portion of the power can overcome. At another angle the bite may be very little, and although the saw thus constructed would move easily it would work sweetly, but slowly. The construction is suitable for saws with fine teeth and for clear cuttings. With regard to single-handed saws only, whatever may be the other conditions required, most handles have curved hook projections, shown in Figs. 217 to p. which show a variety of shapes in hand saw handles. These projections are connected with the pressure of the sawyer on the teeth. If, in sawing, the hand bears upon the upper hook, then an increased pressure is given to the forward teeth; if upon the lower hook the pressure on the saw teeth is released, and there is consequent ease in sawing. The angle at which direct thrust ought to act upon the line of teeth in the saws is obviously very different. Each material may be said to have its own proper angle, and in some saws provision is made by two set screws opposite the hooks for varying the intersection of the line of thrust with the line of teeth. In the biggest one-man saw used in handicraft—a tool quite 4 ft. long—the upper hook of the handle is wanting (see Fig. because under any circumstances the weight of the saw is more than sufficient, and therefore it is not requisite that any resolved portion of the workman’s energy should be compounded with this. But the lower hook must be retained, that the weight of the saw may be taken from the work. For these reasons the line of direct thrust is nearly parallel with that of the teeth. There appears to be much inconsistency in the placing as well as in the formation of saw handles, and this is the case particularly with saws for cutting metal.

Fig. 227.—Five Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 228.—Five and a half Rip Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 229.—Twelve Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 230.—Eleven Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 231.—Ten Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 232.—Nine Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 233.—Eight Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 234.—Seven Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 235.—Six Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 236.—Five Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

Fig. 237.—Four Cross-cut Saw Teeth Points to Inch.

PITCH, ETC., OF

     The coarseness and fineness of saws are estimated by the number of teeth points in an inch. Figs. 223 to 237 show (to full scale) a variety of sizes. By the saw-maker’s term “pitch” is meant the inclination of the face of the teeth up which the shaving ascends. Clearly if the saw is to cut when drawn in both directions, the slope of the teeth from the points must be the same on both sides; indeed, this may be considered the primitive form of saw teeth, and derived as the saw is said to have been from the backbone of a fish, it is the form that would be suggested. To use in the most perfect manner a saw with such teeth would require that the action at each end should be the same; hence, these are the forms of teeth generally met in the ordinary two-handled saw used for the cross-cutting of timber and some varieties of soft stone. The forms, however, of teeth to cut in both directions are sometimes more varied. In cross-cutting timber with a one-handled saw, the action is either tension or thrust—one of these only. The only reason why both are not adopted seems to be that very different muscular motions and postures of the body would then be introduced, and experience may have shown that these are more fatiguing than the alternate pressure and relaxation which take place in the ordinary process of hand-sawing. Now, if the cut is in the thrust only, then the form of the back of the tooth must be the very reverse of that of the front, for it ought to slide past the wood, and not separate the fibres. In this case the back of the tooth may be sloped away, as shown later, or it may be shaped otherwise. The faces of the teeth are no longer bound to be formed in reference to an equality at the back. Indeed, with the liberty thus accorded, there has arisen an amount of fancy in the forms of teeth, which fancy has developed into prejudice and fashion. Names dependent either upon uses or forms are given to these, and thus they are distinguished in the tool trade; some of these names are: Peg tooth, M tooth, half-moon tooth, gullet tooth, briar tooth; also upright pitch, flat pitch, slight pitch. The customary shape has the face of the tooth at right angles to the line of the teeth. The backs of the teeth are, therefore, sloped according to the distance between the teeth and the coarseness or fineness of the saw. This is called ordinary, or handsaw pitch. (The substance of this paragraph and of the five that precede it is derived from Rigg’s Cantor Lectures.)

Fig. 238.—Straight Back Hand Saw.

Fig. 239.—Hand Saw with Nibbed Back.

Fig. 240.—Skew Back or Hollow Back Hand Saw.

Fig. 241.—Saw with Rule Edge.

Fig. 242.—Perforated Saw.

Fig. 243.—One-man Two-handled Saw.

VARIETIES OF AND

     The ordinary wood-worker has some six or eight saws, comprising the rip, cross-cut, hand, panel, tenon, dovetail, bow or turning, and keyhole. The hand saw type includes the hand saw proper, the ripping, half-ripping, and panel saws, all of similar outline, but differing in dimensions, and in form and size of teeth. There is no sharp distinction between these tools, as they merge one into the other; yet at the extremes it would be impossible to substitute the ripping and panel saws one for the other. The hand saw, however, which is a kind of compromise between extremes, is used indiscriminately for all purposes. Representative hand saws are illustrated by Figs. 238 to Fig. 238 shows a saw with straight back; Fig. 239 shows a saw with nibbed back; Fig. 240 is a skew back or round back saw which runs without any “set”; it is of extremely high temper. Fig. 241 show’s a hand saw with its back edge graduated as a rule. Fig. 242 is a perforated saw with American shaped teeth, and Fig. 243 is a “one-man” two-handled saw, the extra handle being removable at will. The typical hand saw is from 24 in. to 28 in. long, being measured on the blade, which corresponds with the maximum range of thrust of which the arm is capable. Its blade is as thin as possible consistent with sufficient strength to prevent the saw buckling under thrust. The blade tapers in length, a form which is also best calculated to withstand thrusting stress without unduly increasing the mass of metal. The handle completely encloses the hand, so that muscular effort is not required to keep the hand from slipping away from its proper grasp. The teeth are bent to right and left alternately, while their outline is angular—the cutting angle being so obtuse that it is apparently ill-fitted for dividing fibres. Lastly, the teeth are so sharpened that their outer points first enter the wood, and the fibre is divided by a gradually incisive kind of action. Not one of these points can be neglected with impunity, for they all conduce to the proper operation of the hand saw. Six teeth to the inch are very suitable for a hand saw. This tool is used for the coarser kinds of work, sawing off stuff—especially large stuff—and for use on buildings, trimming joists and cutting rafters, halving plates together, and other rough jobs; it is not much required in a shop. As a good general tool in a shop, or for fixing work in the interior of a house, a panel saw is much to be preferred. This is a saw about 2 in. or 3 in. shorter, and much narrower, thinner, and lighter than the hand saw. If a panel saw is once taken to for general work, the hand saw will not be much used, except for heavy work. For cutting along the grain (technically known as ripping) is used the rip saw, as by means of its large teeth the work may be accomplished more quickly than with the hand saw. The blade is about 28 in. long, and there are three teeth to the inch, these being sharpened square across the blade, and set very much forward. For cutting shoulders, the tenon saw is used, owing to the teeth being finer, thus producing the clean cut which is so desirable for this purpose. Figs. 244 to 246 show three tenon saws, which differ only very slightly from one another. The common tenon saw has more or less both of set and rake, according to the material upon which it is chiefly used. Usually it is set and sharpened in a medium or average style for general bench use. But according to the character of the work mainly done, the size of the saw selected is from the 12-in. or 14-in. tenon to the 6-in. or 8-in. dovetail, the teeth in the latter case being so fine that the thinnest wood and the most delicate joints can be cut without risk of tearing up the grain. As to the proper saws to be used for cutting the parts of joinery, there can be no hard-and-fast rules laid down. A tenon may be so large that it may be formed by cutting with the grain with the rip saw and across the grain with a panel saw, or so small that a dovetail saw is of ample size for both purposes. Again, a dovetail joint may easily be large enough to warrant the use of a tenon saw, and yet not be so large as dovetails are sometimes required. It is of importance to learn to use the saw so as to require as little as possible the aid of chisels to pare the tenons, etc. It is far more economical of time to cut the work properly at first rather than to trust to the use of chisels to reduce tenons too stout, dovetails too big, sockets too small, or mortises too narrow; and attention is directed to instructions given on p. 83 on the proper use of the saw. The bow saw, turning saw, or frame saw is invaluable for cutting out curved work either with or across the grain; for a similar purpose is used the compass or lock saw, of which Figs. 248 to 251 show four kinds. A nest or set of interchangeable saws is a boon to the occasional worker.

Fig. 244.—Tenon Saw.

Fig. 245.—Tenon Saw.

Fig. 246.—Tenon Saw.

Fig. 247.—Bow or Frame Saw.

Fig. 248.—Compass Saw.

Fig. 249.—Compass Saw.

Fig. 250.—Compass Saw.

Fig. 251.—Compass Saw.

Fig. 252.—Set of Interchangeable Saws.

Fig. 253.—Rip Saw Teeth.

VARIETIES OF

     Many workmen think that so long as the tooth of a saw has a sharp edge the shape of the tooth is a matter of small importance, and as a result of this ignorance or indifference they are always in trouble with their saws, and their work becomes much more laborious than if proper attention had been paid to the shape of the teeth. Substances of different texture cannot be cut advantageously with the same tool; in fact, the tool must be adapted to the work if the best all-round results are to be produced. Fig. 253 illustrates a form of tooth suitable for an ordinary hand rip saw. The tooth points number about four to the inch, and the front of the tooth is upright, that is, at an angle of 90°. The face of the tooth should be filed to an angle of 85° to 87°, or 3° to 5° from the square. Some experts contend that the teeth of a rip saw should be filed dead square. The object in filing them a little on the bevel is that the teeth may cut more freely and easily when they have become a bit dull, there being then what is termed a little clearance cut in the teeth. In nearly all timber there is, it is well known, a certain amount of fibre to be cut either directly or obliquely across, and teeth that are filed square will not, whether they are sharp or dull, divide this fibre so easily as teeth that have a slight bevel. Fig. 254 shows a suitable tooth for a hand-saw used for cross-cutting soft wood. The tooth points in this saw may number five or six to the inch. The front of the tooth slopes at an angle of about 105° The face of the tooth in sharpening should be filed to an angle of from 55° to 60°. The softer the timber that is to be cross-cut, the more acute should be the angle of the teeth, as the keener edge separates the fibres more easily. Fig. 255 shows a form of hand-saw tooth suitable for cross-cutting hard wood. The number of tooth points may be from six to eight to the inch, and the front of the tooth should slope at an angle of 110° to 115°, according to the hardness of the timber to be sawn. The face of this tooth should be filed to an angle of 70° to 75°, because the cutting edge must be less acute owing to hard-wood fibres being more compact than those of soft wood. Another form of tooth in a one-way hard-wood cross-cut saw is shown by Fig. If this form of tooth is properly sharpened, it will be found to cut much faster in hard wood than a tooth that cuts both ways. The front of this tooth, as illustrated, slopes at an angle of about 105°. If the wood to be cross-cut is dry and very hard, the teeth should slope at an angle of 110°, or even more. The tooth points of this saw should be about 5/8 in. from point to point, and the face of the tooth should be filed or ground, as the case may be, to an angle of about 70°. The teeth should be parallel with the back edge of the saw, which, in working, should be pulled and pushed perfectly straight. There is not much difference between Fig. 256 and Fig. but the dotted lines in the latter figure show that the angle of the tooth is shaped correctly. By “hook” is meant the lead or rake the fronts of teeth have—that is, the distance the point of tooth overhangs the bottom of front of tooth. It will be noticed that in Fig. 258 the teeth are filed a little hollow in front and at the back. This is a great mistake, and several reasons could be assigned. One reason is that a correct angle cannot be determined (see dotted lines in Fig. In shaping the teeth of a tenon saw it is wrong to make their cutting faces upright as shown in Fig, 253. This causes the saw to bind in the wood at the forward stroke. The front edges of the teeth being vertical, they bite too much. For a tenon saw to act freely, the front edges of the teeth should make angles of about 80°. There are several peculiar forms of American teeth, though they are no great improvement on the ordinary saw teeth. Figs. 259 and 260 represent American cross-cut saw teeth. Fig. 259 is termed the regulating tooth. By filing the centre tooth to an acute angle, it will be suitable for cutting soft wood; for cutting hard wood the teeth should be filed to a more obtuse angle. Fig. 260 is termed the lightened tooth. The sharpening should be much the same as Fig. 259 for different kinds of wood. A tooth that is least difficult to sharpen when filed to its proper cutting angle is found to be the best form of tooth. For general cross-cutting the peg tooth is recommended. This is suitable for a soft wood cross-cut saw with two handles. The faces of this tooth, which cuts both ways, should be filed to an angle of 50°, the space between being 130°. When this form of tooth is used in cutting hard wood it should be filed to a more obtuse angle. If a saw is to cross-cut hard wood only, the gullet or one-way cross-cut tooth is recommended. This tooth will be found easy to sharpen, and, if properly sharpened, will cut as fast as any tooth, and faster than most. The more upright the front of teeth the faster the cut, but the more difficult to work. The more they incline backward the more easily they will work, but the more slowly they cut. teeth are now largely used for crosscutting, chiefly in America, and as they have cutting edges both back and front they will cut in both directions. Usually, they are bevelled and set alternately, and they cut rapidly if kept in good order, The teeth of Disston’s American saws have less set than those in most English saws. Figs. 264 and 265 represent pit saw teeth. The form of tooth shown by Fig. 264 may answer fairly well for soft wood of ordinary thickness, but for thick timber, and especially the harder kinds, such teeth will cause jarring and bad work. Teeth as in Fig. 265 are the more suitable form. Of course, with all saws, the harder the timber to be sawn the more obtuse the angles of the saw teeth. The teeth in a saw cutting hard wood should be about 5/8 in. apart, and for soft wood, 3/4 in. For cross-cutting logs with a two-handled saw, a saw with teeth similar to Fig. instead of ordinary cross-cut teeth, can be recommended, as it is much quicker and cleaner in cutting. These saws were invented and are largely used in America. The cutting is done by the single teeth, the double ones acting as clearers, and being filed about 1/32 in. shorter than the scoring teeth. The teeth are often formed on both edges of the blade, and when one set are worn down, they are knocked off, and the other edge of the blade used. The saw is made slightly curved; the handles are reversible. Fourteen gauge steel is used. This form of saw is rapid and easy to work, and does not bind in the cut; at the same time comparatively little set is required. It will cut well both hard and soft wood.

Fig. 254.—Cross-cut Saw Teeth.

Fig. 255.—Cross-cut Saw Teeth for Hard Wood.

Fig. 256.—American Cross-cut Saw Teeth.

Fig. 257.—American Cross-cut Saw Teeth

Fig. 258.—Saw Teeth filed hollow: Incorrect.

Fig. 259.—American Regulating Saw Teeth.

Fig. 260.—American Lightened Teeth.

Fig. 261.—American Peg Teeth.

Fig. 262.—M-shaped Saw Teeth.

Fig. 263.—Disston Saw Teeth.

Fig. 264.—Teeth of Pit Saw.

Fig. 265.—Teeth of Pit Saw.

Fig. 266.—Teeth of Two-handled Cross-cut Saw.

SAW

     For holding a saw during the process of sharpening a saw vice will be required. This is made in various forms, one of which is shown by Figs. 267 and It can be made of any hard wood, such as oak or mahogany. It consists of two parts, hinged together at the bottom a ; an iron screw working in a plate or nut is placed in the centre b for the purpose of tightening up the jaws d between which the saw is placed. The piece cut out at c is to allow the back of a tenon saw to pass through. The jaws d should be about 12 in. by 2 1/2 in. by 1 1/2 in., and the sides s 15 in. by 6 in. by 1 1/2 in. These sides are fixed to the jaws by means of two small tenons, as shown by dotted lines, being glued to keep them in position. Fig. 269 shows a handy and cheap vice, which can be fixed to any support by means of a screw-bolt and fly-nut passing through it. The movable jaw is acted upon by a similar bolt and fly-nut. Figs. 270 and 271 show an improved saw vice, differing from ordinary vices only in the method of tightening up the jaws; Figs. 272 and 273 show plan and elevation of eccentric clamp with rod and nuts. The rod is of 1/4-in. round iron, screwed at each end (mild steel would be more suitable), the bends being made when the iron is heated red hot. This clamp must be shaped out, and the protuberant part where it will tighten on the stock should be smooth and true. Two 5/16-in. holes, which will be 6 1/2 in. down, are bored through both uprights to accommodate the ends of the rod, and collars may be let in flush at the back to tighten the nuts against. When the nuts are adjusted, a saw is instantly clamped by pressing the handle down as shown in Figs. 270 and To release the saw, pull up the handle of the eccentric clamp or lever. The position of the rod hole is as shown in the illustrations. It will add to the grip of the jaws to make the uprights slightly curved outwards in the middle, and a 2 1/2-in. butt hinge will complete the vice. A strip of vulcanised rubber or leather fastened along the top inside edge of jaws will improve the grip.

Fig. 267.

Fig. 268.

Figs. 267 and 268.—Saw Vice.

Fig. 269.—Saw Vice.

Fig. 270.

Fig. 271.

Figs. 270 and 271.—Improved Saw Vice.

Fig. 272.

Fig. 273.

Figs. 272 and 273.—Clamp of Improved Vice.

Fig. 274.—Saw Bench.

SAW

     Fig. 274 represents a handy bench in which to fix a saw. The treadle-like frame at the bottom, when pressed upon by the feet, acts through the two upper side pieces as fulcra upon the two gripping jaws.

PORTABLE AND

     A portable vice for use when sharpening hand saws is shown by Fig. It consists, practically, of a low stool, with one leg fixed at the extreme end, and continued upwards to a height suitable for the operator. The latter sits straddle-wise on the stool. The seat should be strongly mortised through the long leg, and be glued and wedged; and the back or short leg should be similarly mortised through the seat, unless the drawer shown—which is convenient for holding files—is omitted, when, as is frequently the case, the short leg may be hinged to fold up under the seat. In the latter case an iron stay—two would be better—must be provided to hold the leg rigid whilst the “horse” is in use. The movable jaw is simply a piece of wood hinged at the bottom to the long leg, and cramped up tightly against the other jaw by a fly-nut working on a screw, or by a screw as shown in the illustration. In order to keep the vice jaws from warping, strips of oak, mahogany, or other hardwood should be screwed on the inside surface of each, as shown, and these, again, may be covered with sheet lead. As the wood of which the jaws are made will be almost sure to curve somewhat as it gets dry, care should be taken that the growth marks or annular rings take a course from the outside of each jaw towards the inside; the jaws will then have a tendency to become concave on their faces, and will at each end tightly grip a saw placed between them, and the tightening-up process will tend towards bringing together the central part of the jaw faces. If the wood is placed so that the annular rings have the opposite direction, the jaws will, in course of time, become convex, and difficulty will be experienced in holding a saw firmly.

Fig. 275.—Portable Saw Vice.

Fig. 276.—Triangular Saw File.

Fig. 277.—Double-ended Saw File and Handle.

Fig. 278.—File for American Cross-cut Saws.

SAW

     The triangular file shown by Fig. 276 is the one usually adopted in sharpening English hand saws. Its size varies with that of the saw for which it is required. It is economical to use a double-ended saw file as shown by Fig. when one end has become dull, the file may be reversed, and the other end used. For sharpening American cross-cut saws the file shown by Fig. 278 is used, and for American rip saws that shown by Fig. Saw files are generally cut in three degrees of fineness, a second cut or smooth-cut file being best for sharpening a hand saw. A file for sharpening saws must be of the very best quality. See that the teeth are cut perfectly even, and that the colour of the file is uniform. If it is of whitey-grey colour throughout, it shows that the temper is uniform; but if it is mottled, the temper probably is uneven. For levelling down or topping saw teeth preparatory to sharpening, a flat file will be necessary.

Fig. 279.—File for American Rip Saws.

Fig. 280.—File for Topping Saw Teeth.

ASCERTAINING OF

     To ascertain the angle of a saw tooth, draw a semicircle on cardboard, and mark off degrees to form a protractor (see Fig. Place a 2-ft. rule on the horizontal line, and open the rule to the angle required. Draw a line D on the saw-plate; or, if the saw to be tested is a circular saw, place one part of the rule on the top of the bench table, and move the other part of the rule until it is in a line with the point of the centre tooth. If the front of the tooth corresponds with the bevel of the rule, the rake or lead is correct. If the circular saw is a large one, and the rule is not long enough to reach the tooth from the table, place a parallel block of wood on the table, and put the rule on it, or draw a line on the plate, and place the rule on the plate in a line with this line. This test applies to all hand saws mentioned in this chapter. Fig. 282 shows how to find the angle of a saw-tooth; B is the rule, C is the saw-tooth at an angle of about 658, and D is the line on the saw-plate, or on the top of the saw-table, as the case may be.

Fig. 281.—Protractor.

Fig. 282.—Ascertaining Angle of Saw Teeth.

Fig. 283.

Fig. 284.

Figs. 283 and 284.—Unevenly Worn Teeth.

BEGINNING

     Before attempting to set and sharpen saws for actual work, the beginner should practise on an old saw or on a piece of saw blade which he cannot possibly spoil. If such a vice as shown by Figs. 267 and p. is used, fix the bottom of it A in the bench-vice, and then place the saw between its jaws with the teeth standing about 1/2 in. above. If the saw is placed further out of the block, the action of filing will cause it to vibrate, and very soon the teeth will be stripped off the file. The teeth of an old saw will probably appear as in Figs. 283 and that is to say, the teeth will be uneven and some may be longer than others. With the saw in this condition only some of the teeth can be at work, therefore they all must be brought to one common level. To accomplish this the flat file p. is passed down the saw’s edge, or top of teeth, two or three times in succession, in the manner shown at Figs. 285 and the former being an end view, and the latter a front view. It may now be seen by looking down the edge, as shown in Fig. whether all are level. If the tooth points are not in line, those which are below the rest will not work. Hence, in sharpening, as in setting, perfect uniformity is essential to the best results. This process of filing down the teeth is called topping.

Fig. 285.

Fig. 286.

Figs. 285 and 286.—Topping Saw Teeth.

Fig. 287.—Filing Saw Teeth.

SHARPENING

     The teeth at both point and butt of a hand saw should be very slightly smaller than those in the middle, as it is at the last-named point where the greatest force is exerted in every down stroke. But it is absolutely necessary that the set is the same from point to butt of every saw, whether rip or cross-cut. The middle of the cutting edge of a cross-cut saw should be slightly rounded, being highest at about the middle. The saw being still in the saw vice, insert the file in a handle, and grasp it with the right hand, taking the point of file in the left, as shown in Fig. Place the file against the face of that tooth nearest the handle that inclines away from the worker, holding the file at an angle with the blade of saw as shown in Fig. Then lower the right hand to about the angle shown in Fig. 288 (which shows the left hand removed). The file should be held obliquely across the saw blade, as in Figs. 289 and the point end of the file being inclined towards the saw handle as illustrated by Fig. Gently push the file forwards, lifting it at the end of stroke, returning it, and again pushing it, until the point of the tooth has a keen edge. Repeat this upon each alternate tooth until all upon one side are sharpened. Afterwards turn the saw in its vice and sharpen the teeth upon the other side in the same manner. Be careful not to press the file against the back of the tooth, or unevenness will surely result. It may occasionally happen that when touched with the file, the saw may be found to be too hard. To soften it, remove the handle, and “blaze” by smearing the blade with a mixture of wax, suet, and oil, and heating over a fire till the mixture ignites. But this is not a method for the beginner, who would certainly spoil the saw. Keep all saws slightly rounding on the edge. The rip saw and hand saw can have a quarter of an inch rounding with advantage. To do this the points of the teeth must be frequently filed down, and the heel and the point filed away. There are always several teeth at the heel and at the point that do little work; those in the middle portion do most, and consequently wear away fastest. All saws, except circulars, have a constant tendency to get hollow, and this must be prevented; and the only way to prevent it is to file the teeth down by passing a partly-worn file along the edges, till it touches every tooth. Then, in filing the teeth, take care only just to take out this bright mark—not one touch more, or that tooth gets low and does not work; if some teeth are filed away even a little too much, the saw might just as well be that number of teeth fewer, as they do no work. A saw in thoroughly good order is so sharpened that each tooth does a share, and no one tooth more than the others.

Fig. 288.—Filing Saw Teeth.

Fig. 289.—Filing Saw Teeth.

Fig. 290.—Filing Saw Teeth.

Fig. 291.—Badly Sharpened Tenon Saw Teeth.

SHARPENING

     Sharpening tenon saws is practically the same as sharpening hand saws. It may happen, however, that some of the teeth will be much larger than others, this being due to the file not having been held at the same angle in sharpening each tooth. Fig. 291 shows the saw teeth improperly sharpened, the front of the large teeth inclining much more than the front of the small teeth. If the teeth on one range are found to be filed smaller than those on the other, file the back of the smaller teeth to a more acute angle, keeping the file at the same time well against the front of the other tooth at the bottom; and see, before the filing is finished, that the front of the next tooth has been filed up to its point, as it is the front, not the back, of the tooth that does the cutting. To regulate the teeth of the saw, file every tooth in succession, shooting the file straight across the teeth. After filing all the teeth from one side, turn the saw and file as before from the other side. When the teeth are fairly regular and to the form of Fig. top them by laying a second-cut topping file on their points and pass the file along over the teeth from heel to point of the saw. This will bring the teeth uniform in length. Now file every alternate tooth, first on one side and then on the other side of the saw, as shown in Fig. Hold the file as nearly as possible to the same angle in each case, as it is on this filing that the regularity of the teeth depends. When all the flat places caused by the file when topping the teeth disappear, cease filing, as any further filing may cause low teeth, which tend to make the saw run out of truth, and to destroy sweet cutting.

FLAT-JOINTING

     After a saw has been sharpened, it should be carefully laid flat on its side and the teeth rubbed down with a whetstone or smooth file to remove any feather edge that may be left by the file in sharpening. This gives a larger and better cutting edge to the saw. If the points only of the teeth are allowed to do the work, the action is a scratching and not a cutting one.

Fig. 292.—Teeth ready for Topping.

Fig. 293.—Tenon Saw Teeth.

OBTAINING AND

     One of the great difficulties in hand sharpening is to get the bevels of the teeth exactly alike. A number of mechanical arrangements to guide the saw and effect this object have been tried with more or less success. In one of the best of these devices a circular casting is divided and indexed from its centre each way, giving bevels for each side of the saw, or square across. The file is fitted into a guide, and is held by a set-screw. The index shows the pitch at which the file is set, and a rod passes through holes in a graduating ring and guides the file. The frame upon which the ring is held slides in grooves cut on each side of the vice in which the saw in fixed; a table connected with the guide is arranged and indexed so as to give the required bevel and pitch for the kind of saw to be filed, and it is only necessary to set the ring for the bevel, and the indicator for the pitch, and the apparatus is ready for use. As the filing is proceeded with from tooth to tooth, the frame follows, giving to each tooth on one side of the saw the same bevel, pitch, and size as on the other, thus leaving the saw, when filing is finished, with the teeth all uniform in size, pitch, and bevel, so that each tooth will do its share of cutting equally with the others, thus turning out more and better quality of work with less expenditure of energy. An old-fashioned way of getting the right angle of a tooth of a hand saw in filing is shown by Fig. A hand saw blade is narrowest in width at the point, and broadest at the butt; and the slope of the back, compared with the line of teeth, is almost always uniform for all saws; and if a square be placed against this back, a tooth may be filed whose cutting edge is perfectly in line with the edge of the square. All the teeth being thus filed and afterwards set, a saw which will answer general purposes is produced, and one which will suit the worker who has but one hand saw. It will cross-cut soft woods and rip hard woods, thus being a kind of half-rip. Moreover, this square may be used as a gauge, the teeth not necessarily being filed as shown; and if the rake or lead be very much, an adjustable bevel may be used.

TIME BY

     It should be borne in mind that the workman who can saw squarely to a line is at least two hours a week ahead of one who, either because his saws are in bad order or because he has never got out of the bad habit of sawing out of square, cannot do it. It may be partly, or altogether, the fault of the saw. If one row of teeth is longer than the other, the longer side must of necessity advance faster than the shorter, and constantly tend to force the saw away from the line. The user, in his endeavour, by main force, to compel the saw to follow the line—that is, by twisting that part of the saw which is for the time being above the wood—cannot yet force the bottom half of the saw, which has to follow the direction given to it by the set of the teeth, and consequently the saw is said to “run.” This continues, and the amount it runs from a square cut is doubled, so that, if the stuff has to be planed square and the saw runs only 1/8 in. in 2 in., this implies that 1/4 in. has to be planed away before the edges can be got to fit the square. This wastes both time and material.

Fig. 294.—Obtaining Correct Bevel of Saw Teeth.

OF

     The theoretical aspect of this matter has been dealt with already. After the saw is filed, and all the teeth made as uniform as possible in shape, length, and gullet, comes the important operation of setting the teeth so as to afford a ready clearance for the saw-blade. The “set” consists of the setting over, or bending, of each alternate tooth to one side. The set should be as little as circumstances will allow, on account of the amount of labour it entails in working the saw. For dry, hard, thin wood cut lengthways, a very little will suffice; but for soft, wet, thick, or resinous material, a larger amount of set is necessary to free the saw. This is easily understood when it is remembered that the set causes the kerf, or groove made by the teeth, to be slightly greater than the thickness of the plate, so that the broad surfaces of the latter shall move through the wood with the least possible amount of friction. The blades of the best saws are thinned slightly towards the back, but this does not obviate the necessity for setting. Some idea of the set of a hand saw can be obtained from Figs. 289 and p. which, however, somewhat exaggerate the amount of set. No more set should be given to a saw than is absolutely required, as the more the set the greater the power required to work, and the greater the loss of wood. A saw should have only just enough set to clear itself; if it has too much it is not properly guided by the kerf; it wastes too much wood, and does not cut smooth or easy. If the setting is not uniform, power will be wasted. The longest teeth, having the greatest set, are rapidly worn down, and the work turned out, is scored and rough, end at the same time the saw will run from the straight line to the side on which there is most set. If a saw is properly and uniformly set, the teeth should form an angular groove, easily seen when held up to the light and looked at from point to heel.

Fig. 295.—Saw-set with Blunt End.

Fig. 296.—Saw-set with Pointed End.

Fig. 297.—Saw-set with Gauge.

SPRING-SETTING

     Two kinds of setting are used for hand saws—namely, spring-setting and hammer-setting. In the former the teeth are bent from the line by a saw-set; in the latter they are set over by a blow from a hammer. First, spring-setting will be described. For this purpose is used a saw-set which is made of steel, and has a series of graduated notches cut into each edge. Figs. 295 and 296 show the ordinary kind of saw-set, whilst the one illustrated by Fig. 297 has a gauge attached to it. To use a saw-set, the back of saw is held in the left hand (as Fig. or it is gripped in a vice (see Fig. and the handle of the saw-set is taken in the right hand. Then select a notch that easily fits over the tooth, and proceed very carefully to bend alternate teeth towards the body by pressing the handle downwards. Care must be taken to make the pressure equal upon each tooth, or they will be set out of line. The top of the tooth only must be bent, as a Should the whole of the tooth be bent, it is very likely to break out. Having set the teeth upon each side, glance down the edge to see if the set is true and regular. The forefinger may be run down the blade at the same time to mark any irregularity, which may be at once corrected by bending the faulty tooth in the desired direction. Figs. 301 and 302 fully illustrate this, Fig. 301 being an end view. Care should be taken to pull the tooth over only a very little; it is far easier to give it a little more than to take some off, and with the slighter amount of bending there is less likelihood of breaking off the teeth. A rip saw requires but very little set; a hand saw about a fourth of its own thickness on each side. After setting a saw, lay it flat on a board, then take a file without its handle and slide it down the sides of the teeth, taking care that it leans towards the back of the saw. This will regulate the set, and if a tooth or two is bent over a little too much, it will file off the excess. After this, pass the oilstone down the same way as the file.

Fig. 298.—Setting Saw held in Hand.

Fig. 299.—Setting Saw held in Vice.

Fig. 300.—Set of Saw Teeth.

PATENT

     Several excellent contrivances are now made for spring-setting, so arranged that all the teeth can readily be set to one line, and when the contrivance is fixed it is impossible to overset a tooth; and should the saw be found to bind at any particular point, the teeth can, with this contrivance, be set into line, and any excessive friction reduced. Fig. 303 illustrates such a set, adapted for setting hand, circular, mill, or band saws. Its operation will be readily understood: Hold the saw C with the teeth upwards; adjust the die B by means of the screw A in the end of the set, so that the angle on the die B will come near the root of the tooth on a fine saw; on a coarse saw, the angle of the die should strike the tooth about two-thirds down from the point. Set the guard E on the under side of the set forward to about 3/16 in. from the die then let the set hang loose on the saw. The space between the tooth and the die will then show the amount of set that is being given to the saw. To increase the set, move the guard E still closer to the die; to decrease the set, move the guard back. Many other excellent saw-sets may be obtained at a moderate price.

Fig. 301.

Fig. 302.

Figs. 301 and 302.—Testing Set of Saw Teeth.

Fig. 303.—Patent Saw-set in Use.

HAMMER-SETTING

     The teeth of a hand saw may be hammerset by securing in a vice a small setting iron, about 6 in. or 7 in. long, shown in end view by Fig. This iron is bevelled at E and The saw, of which G is a section, is laid flat on the iron, and tooth H struck with the pene of a small hammer (see Fig. the operator striking every alternate tooth from one side, then every alternate tooth from the other side of the saw plate. Fig. 304 shows bevel E to be somewhat greater than bevel the larger teeth are set on bevel and the smaller teeth on bevel Instead of the block shown by Fig. that illustrated in section by Fig. p. can be employed, but the beginner will prefer the former, as it determines the amount of set. Another device is a steel plate about 6 in. long, with one edge turned over, as at a the other edge b is placed in the vice, and the saw c is then laid upon it as shown, being held in position with the left hand. The tooth is then bent over by lightly striking it with the hammer, which bends the tooth to the bevel of plate, as at d Another shape of hammer is illustrated by Fig. p. in which pene J is used for setting the coarser teeth and pene K for the finer teeth. Fig. 310 shows a hammer for setting two-handled cross-cut saws, the teeth of which are set in a similar manner to that just described. Fig. 311 shows an end view of the anvil or setting iron, which is larger than that used for a hand saw, and the bevel is longer. L is a section of the saw, and the tooth M comes over the bevel N ; every alternate tooth is struck with the poll O of the hammer shown in Fig. Great care is necessary in hammering; never strike the blade of the saw, or it will buckle; this buckling sometimes happens with spring-setting, but in most cases the saw will go back again when setting the opposite side. Saws that are set by the blow of a hammer or punch are apt to be more irregular than spring-set saws; the operation should therefore be very carefully done, and the teeth constantly tried with a gauge or straight-edge, to see that all the teeth are exactly in line. Hammer-set teeth stand well up to their work in cross-grained and knotty wood, whilst spring-set teeth are more inclined to dodge the knots. Some saws have part of the teeth spring-set and part hammer-set, but the difficulty of keeping them exactly uniform neutralises any advantages the plan may possess. Saw teeth are very apt to fracture if given unnecessary set; that is, by trying to get the set from the whole length of the tooth. In connection with this, Disston says that a saw that is easily filed and set is easily made dull, but he dares not make saws as hard as he would like to, until a better method of setting is adopted by the average mechanic, who instead of getting the whole of the set out of the tooth, tries to get part of it from the body of the plate; and, of course, as soon as he gets below the root of the tooth, the saw plate is distorted and strained. This causes a full-tempered saw blade to crack, and ultimately the saw will break at this point.

Fig. 304.—Setting Iron.

Fig. 305.—Hammer-setting Saw Teeth.

GRIMSHAW ON

     Hand saws are made of various lengths and thicknesses, and with different degrees of fineness of teeth, to suit the several kinds of work to be done by them. It is important to bear this fact in mind when purchasing, and not to expect that a saw selected indiscriminately can be used for anything and everything. Grimshaw says that a good hand saw should be springy and elastic. It should spring regularly in proportion to its width and gauge; that is, the point should spring more than the heel, and hence the curve should not be a perfect arc of a circle. If the blade is too thick for the size of the teeth, the saw will work stiffly. If the blade is not evenly and smoothly ground, it will work hard and tend to spring. The thinner the gauge and the narrower the blade, the more need for perfectly uniform and smooth grinding. The cutting edge should have a convex curve, to adapt it to the natural rocking motion of the hand and arm. A soft saw is not economical; it costs more in a year for files and filing than a hard one, dulls sooner, works harder, and does not last so long. A saw that will take a few more minutes and a little harder work to sharpen will keep its edge and its set longer than one which can be put in order quickly, and it will work better in knots and hard wood.

Fig. 306.—Setting-block in Vice Jaws.

Fig. 307.

Fig. 308.

Figs. 307 and 308.—Hammer-setting Teeth on Plate.

HODGSON ON

     Hodgson made a number of experiments on saws to test their qualities, and arrived at the following conclusions: (1) A saw with a thick blade is, in nine cases out of ten, of inferior quality, and is more apt to break than a thin-bladed saw; it requires more set, will not stand an edge nearly so long as a thin one, is more difficult to file, and, cutting a wide kerf, is more tiring to use. (2) Saws hung in plain beech handles, with the rivets flush, are lighter, easier to handle, less liable to receive injury, occupy less space in the tool-chest, and can be placed with other saws without dulling the teeth of the latter by abrasion on the rivets. (3) Blades that are dark in colour, and have a clear, bell-like ring when struck with the ball of the finger, appear to be of better stuff than those of a light iron-grey colour; and he noticed, in proof of this, that the thinner the blade the darker was the colour, and that saws of this description were less liable to buckle or twist. (4) American-made saws, as a rule, are better hung than English ones. (5) Polished blades cut more freely and much more easily than blades left in the rough, and are less liable to rust. (6) Saws that when held by the handle and struck on the point with the hand ring clear and without tremor, will be found to be securely handled; saws that when struck on the point of the blade tremble and jar in the handle never give satisfaction.

Fig. 309.—Hammer for Setting Hand Saws.

DISSTON ON

     The following are some of Disston’s notes on purchasing saws: In selecting a hand saw, see that it hangs right; grasp it by the handle and hold it in position for working, and then try if the handle fits the hand properly. These are points of great importance. Many saw handles are made of green wood; they soon shrink and become loose, the screws standing above the wood. An unseasoned handle is liable to warp and make the saw untrue. Next try the blade by springing it; then see that it bends evenly from point to butt in proportion as the width of the saw varies. If the blade be too heavy in comparison with the teeth, the saw will never give satisfaction, because it will require much more power to use it. A narrow true saw is better than a wide true saw—there is less danger of dragging or creating friction. The thinner the saw blade is, the better. Always try a saw before buying it. See that it is well set and sharpened, and has its toothed edge rounding; hold it so that the light strikes it fairly, and any imperfections in grinding or hammering are at once detected.

Fig. 310.—Hammer for Setting Large Saws.

OTHER IN

     Another very important point to be noticed when purchasing a hand saw is to see that after its blade has been fully bent it springs back perfectly straight. A soft saw will not, as a rule, spring back like this, nor will a saw of uneven temper. A serious defect in some saws should here be mentioned. Very often one or more silvery-grey spots may be seen in the saw plate, generally at the tooth edge. Such a spot indicates a hard or, as it is often termed, a rash place. In setting the teeth they will often break at these places, and sometimes a piece of the plate breaks out. Should a piece break out halfway between the heel and point, the saw becomes useless until the teeth are recut; and to recut with a file requires some practice. It will be wise, therefore, when choosing a hand saw to select one free from such blemishes. In selecting a saw, for whatever purpose, do not be tempted by a low first cost, as this is no criterion as to its ultimate cheapness. What is required is a blade made of the very best quality of steel, combining, as far as may be, flexibility and toughness with a sufficient degree of hardness to allow of the steel carrying a good cutting edge. A saw bearing the name of a maker of repute should, and usually does, give satisfaction. The handle should be comfortable to the grasp and made out of thoroughly seasoned wood. Beech handles, with countersunk rivets, are preferred by many. A thin and narrow saw is preferable to a thick and wide one, but care must be taken, however, not to select too thin a blade, and that the saw is stiff in work, as, should it buckle, it may give a great deal of trouble. If the saw has been hammer-set—in contradistinction to springset—without fracture to the teeth, it is a very fair test as to the quality of the steel. The blade should ring clearly when struck with the finger, and when sprung over by hand it should not jar in the handle. Finally, if possible, try the saw on a piece of difficult cutting wood, and see how it behaves: if it cuts fast and clean with a moderate expenditure of power it is what is required. Increment teeth have of late come more into use—that is, the point of the saw is arranged with finer teeth than the heel—and are liked by many workers, as the fine teeth begin the cut smoothly, and the coarse teeth prevent the saw clogging.

Fig. 311.—Large Setting Iron.

DIMENSIONS OF

     The table below gives length in inches, breadth in inches at heel and at point, thickness according to the Birmingham wire gauge, and teeth to the inch, of a typical rip saw, fine rip saw, hand saw, cut-off saw, panel saw, and fine panel saw.

     In the table, T denotes tight to the gauge, and E easy to the gauge. These gauges are the thickness that the saws should be on the tooth edge, as all saws should be thinner on the back edge.

HOW TO A

     The correct method of sawing will now be described, and some common faults in sawing pointed out, with notes on how to avoid them. The beginner has to find out or be shown the best methods, and to practise them; then proficiency and confidence will be gradually gained, and good workmanship will follow. Bad habits, once acquired, are, of course, to be overcome only by perseverance; but the pains taken will enable the workman to economise his energy, to get better results in both quantity and quality, and to reduce considerably the wear and tear of his tools. A common fault with beginners is that they do not take sufficient care at the commencement of the cut or kerf. The first part of a cut is most important, because if that is not made square through the wood it is afterwards a very difficult matter to get the cut square without twisting the saw, and perhaps spoiling it. Begin sawing by placing the left thumb (see Fig. or forefinger to the line, so as to guide the saw at the commencement of the kerf, then take a few gentle and careful strokes, making sure that the saw enters the wood at right angles. Move the left hand to a more secure position, as indicated in the later figures 314 to Then, using nearly the whole length of the saw, take care not to draw it right out of the kerf, or it may be damaged by striking against the work at the return stroke; see that each stroke is regular; and allow a slight pause between each stroke to enable the worker to regain energy for each downward (working) stroke. Short, jerky, and quick strokes must be avoided, for they rapidly produce fatigue, and result in bad work. Do not force the saw: that is, do not press too hard at each downward stroke, as this fault not only leads to fatigue, but also strains the saw. Occasionally test the saw in the cut with a square to see whether it is perpendicular to the surface of the wood (see Fig. The general position to be assumed in sawing is shown in Figs. 314 to As far as practicable, the saw blade, marked line, and saw-cut, the eyes, shoulder, elbow, and hand, should be in one plane, much as shown in Fig. which also shows the head to be over the saw, so that the operator is able to see that the saw-blade is out of winding with, and in the same plane as, the line; this is a very important point. A faulty position for hand sawing is to have the head not over the saw, but some distance to the left of it; consequently the saw leans to the left, and cuts out of the perpendicular. This fault is usually combined with another, namely, getting too far behind the tool, which attitude does not allow the operator to compare the saw with the line, because he is not able to keep his head over it, and he is also prevented from having such full command over the saw as he would have by adopting the attitude illustrated at Fig. where the position is one of much greater freedom, giving at the same time much more power over the saw, with less exertion. By holding the saw in a more vertical position (as illustrated at Fig. there are fewer teeth in contact with the wood at one time, and hence there is less resistance than when the saw is made to slant more nearly to the horizontal. The defect noted is that known as “laying” the saw. With thick stuff it is a good plan to square the lines down each end and line out each side, and then, during the process of sawing, to turn the wood over occasionally, and thus saw from both sides. When, however, it is desired to saw the wood entirely from one side, the blade should be tested now and again with a square, to see whether the saw is at right angles to the surface of the wood (see Fig. After sawing down a foot or two, it will be found desirable to open the cut a little by inserting a screwdriver or wedge, so as to reduce the friction between the sides of the kerf and the saw-blade. Do not open the saw-kerf wide, as this tends to split the wood, and to cause the saw to wobble, thus increasing the difficulty of following the line. It is desirable to lubricate the blade with a little oil.

Fig. 312.—Beginning Saw Cut.

Fig. 313.—Testing Saw with Square.

Fig. 314.—Correct Position when Sawing.

Fig. 315.—Ripping Plank, Front View.

SAWING

     In attempting to cut down a piece of wet plank with a hand saw, great labour and difficulty will be met, and the difficulty will be much increased if the cut is made across the grain—that is, transversely to the direction of the fibres. If the stuff is very thick, the saw blade will stick fast in its kerf. There are two reasons why the saw sticks in soft wet wood. One is that the kerf is not wide enough, and the other that the sawdust cannot get away quickly enough. Hence the remedy is to increase the set and to enlarge the spacing of the saw teeth, which means an increase of the space between the centres of the teeth, with a consequent increase in the sizes of the teeth themselves. In attempting to use the same saw on thin and hard wood, trouble of another kind will be met. The teeth will catch in the wood, the saw will sway too loosely and freely in the kerf, and, if cut across the grain, the timber will become broken or spalted out.

STRAIGHTENING

     A piece of iron with a flat, smooth surface, such as an anvil, or even a flat iron, will be required for straightening a bent or buckled hand saw. If a flat iron is used, it could be held firmly in a vice or a bench screw. Place the saw, with the convex side upwards, on the surface of the iron or anvil, and then hammer, but do not deal heavy blows. After every two or three strokes with the hammer the saw blade should be examined to see the effects. The surface of the hammer should be very slightly spherical, so as to prevent the possibility of leaving hammer marks on the blade. Much care and practice are required for hammering a saw properly. The plate of a hand saw being thin, requires a much lighter blow than steel of stout gauge. If the blows given are too heavy, they will indent and stretch the plate, and in consequence a bad state will be made worse. Fig. 317 represents a saw undulating, or wavy, lengthways of the plate at and bent or seamy across the plate at It will be seen that at L the blows are delivered across the plate, and at C lengthways of plate, using for the purpose a cross-pened hammer. Figs. 318 and 319 represent a saw that has a bend at the edge; in this case the cross-pened hammer should be used on the convex side, as at B and on the concave side, as at B after which it should be struck very lightly with a dog-head hammer, as indicated by round marks on both sides. Instead of the cross-pened hammer, the carpenter’s ordinary hammer will answer if the pene is ground a little convex.

Fig. 316.—Ripping Plank, End View.

Fig. 317.—Hand Saw Buckled Lengthways.

Fig. 318.—Buckled Hand Saw.

Fig. 319.—Buckled Hand Saw.

Fig. 320.—Straightening Buckled Tenon Saw.

STRAIGHTENING

     If a tenon saw or dovetail saw is buckled only slightly, a light tap or two on the end of the back with a hammer, as shown in Fig. should bring the blade true. If this fails, take the back right off, and hammer it so that the edges of the slit fit tightly together. Keep the slit perfectly straight. Next hammer the buckled part of the blade on a flat and smooth iron surface. Then enter the blade into the slit of the back, as shown by Fig. and gradually drive down by striking the teeth with a flat wooden striker; driving it not more than about 1/4 in. into the back.

Fig. 321.—Replacing Tenon Saw in Back.

TOOLS OF PERCUSSION AND IMPULSION.

HAMMERS AND

THE most important tool among those implied by the chapter heading is the hand hammer, and at the same time it is the most simple. The hammer may be regarded as a weight at one end of a rod. Speaking generally, the effect is produced by allowing the weight head to fall through a space, and then come in contact with the material to be influenced by the blow. Perhaps the objects to be accomplished by the blows of hammers are more varied than those to be effected by any other single tool. It is doubtful whether any handicraftsman carries through any branch of his trade without using some kind of hammer. This may be anything, from the heavy two-handed maul to the smallest tapping hammers of the jeweller and watch-maker, file-maker, and diamond-splitter. It may be well to discuss the manner in which the power of a hammer actually is developed. The development of power, according to Rigg’s Cantor Lectures, takes place at the instant of contact of the moving hammer with the struck body. Such contacts as those of hammers belong to the department of mechanical philosophy called “impact.” Impact is pressure of short duration—so short that, compared with the time in which the velocity on the impinging body is being acquired, it is inappreciable; similarly the space passed through by the hammer-head after impact is almost inappreciable when compared with the space passed through before impact. It may assist the worker to realise the source as well as the magnitude of the power of a hammer, if the following simple experiment be tried. Attempt to drive a nail vertically into a horizontal piece of timber by the statical effect of the simple pressure of a load on the head of the nail, the load being placed on the head gently, and measure the depth to which the nail is thus moved. Again, let the same nail, under the same circumstances, be driven to the same depth by the impact of the hammer-head, then it may for the present purpose be said that the load placed on the nail is a representative statical measure of the impact of the hammer. This is a representative and an approximately accurate method for comparing the effects of hammers under all ordinary circumstances, though the method is not faultless.

HISTORY OF THE

     The hammer is the most ancient of tools, and in all parts of the world and amongst all people hammers are in use. Even the name hammer seems to have a prehistoric origin, for it is common to all the northern languages. There is no tool more simple and more useful than the primitive or handicraft hammer. Indeed, so simple has it been esteemed that it does not possess any literature. The only mechanical tools for external use with which man is provided by nature are the hammer, a compound vice, and a scratching or scraping tool. These are in the hand; and none of the various compound tools introduced from time to time has surpassed in comprehensiveness of variety these three in one. However, as a hammer only can it now be discussed. Whilst for impact upon a substance softer than itself the fist can deal an appreciable blow, yet upon one harder than itself the reaction of the substance transfers the blow to the flesh and bone, and as a hammer the fist then is useless. Hence, amongst prehistoric contrivances, perhaps the first to be invented was the stone hammer-head, shaped, it may be supposed, by the action of water, and so rounded as to fit the hand. These stones are called by antiquarians “mauls,” and they were probably held in the hollow of the hand, and used on objects which otherwise could not have been broken. Mauls represent the original hammer. It may be assumed that occasionally the mauls proved too heavy, but more frequently too light; and obviously on very heavy work the holding of the stone in the hollow of the hand, and striking blows with it, caused a reaction which was mainly met by the muscular action of the back of the hand and of the thinnest section of the wrist; this would be not only fatiguing, but injurious, and it may have been that such effects led to the invention of double-ended mauls, which were held by the middle. A blow given by one of these is counteracted not only by the increased mass of material, but by the changed position of the hand and wrist in relation to the direction of the blow. When held in the hollow of the hand, the resistance was met by (say) a depth of tissue of about three-quarters of an inch, but when it was grasped round its middle the resistance was met by a depth of tissue of about three inches. Hence, whilst mechanically (owing to the mass of stone) and muscularly (owing to the position of the hand in reference to the direction of the blow) the maul in this second stage was a decided improvement upon the first, yet it must be admitted that experience would soon suggest that even thus there was wanting sufficient energy to overcome resistances, and that the double-headed maul might be improved. This, at any rate, will be admitted by anyone who has been obliged to use a stone in the hand as a hammer. Even the prehistoric races knew that whilst the hand possessed inimitable contrivances for grasping, and the arm for rapid motions, both jointly failed in giving the maul the power that often would be required. Ingenuity so far busied itself as to lash withes round such mauls as were found suitable—much after the manner in which present day blacksmiths lash withes round the heads of cutting and punching tools and swages. There are traces of even a higher advance, for what seem stone mauls, or hammers, are found with holes through them, suitable for handles, and holes are, in some instances, coned, and as well adapted for hammer handles as the best-made metal tools of these days. One such stone hammer-head was found in the river Thames, and is now in the British Museum. In this, the double-coned hole for the attachment and wedging-up of a handle is formed admirably, and the shape of the hammer is worthy of much commendation. How the ancients fixed a handle in a double-coned hole in a stone maul is more than is known now, but antiquarians surmise that having found the branch of a tree about the size of the smallest part of the eye of the maul, the stone was hung on it, and after a few years the growth of the tree fixed the handle in the maul, and then the branch was separated by a sharp stone implement, thus producing a hammer in which the shaft formed a perfect fit with the head.

Fig. 322.—Exeter or London Hammer.

Fig. 323.—Warrington Hammer.

Fig. 324.—Adze-eye Claw Hammer.

SELECTING

     The woodworker has the choice between two or three shapes of hammer-head. There is the Exeter or London pattern the Warrington and the adze-eye claw pattern The first two are the most usual ones in the workshop, but the last is very convenient for many kinds of handiwork. The substance of the hammerheads is iron, but the faces and penes are of steel. It is desirable to obtain two hammers, one weighing from 1 lb. to 1 1/2 lb., and the other from 1/2 lb. to 3/4 lb. A heavy hammer applied lightly and skilfully leaves fewer marks and does less damage than a light hammer necessarily applied with great force.

FASTENING TO

     The most simple, and the most generally trustworthy, method of fastening a hammerhead on a shaft is by means of a hard wood or metal wedge driven into a slit in the handle after the head has been put on (see the sectional view, Fig. If a hammerhead gets loose after wedging, it can be permanently tightened by driving in a few short, stout nails beside the wedge. The reason is that a nail will force its way into the handle, which may be sufficiently dense to resist the hardest wedge. Soaking in water is another common method of tightening the head. There are many ways of wedging the heads of hammers in place, all more or less satisfactory, but for wooden wedges one of the best methods is to bore with a bradawl two sloping holes as at A and B through the outer end of the handle and the wedge, after the latter has been driven tightly into the handle. Then drive into each a strong wire nail, and file it off close. Even if the wooden handle or the wedge itself shrinks somewhat, it is almost impossible for the latter to work loose and fall out, and so allow the hammer-head or other similar tool to fly off while being used. Another method is to make with a sharp chisel two or more cuts on each side of a red hot iron wedge (see Fig. so as to raise the surface into something like teeth on a very coarse single-cut file; then drive in the wedge as tightly as possible. Another method is as follows:—Having fitted the hammer-head upon the handle to the line A B take the head off again. Bore a hole at C C through the shaft about 3/8 in. above the line A and groove each side of the shaft from the hole to the top. Put a piece of steel wire through the hole, and turn it up in the grooves, letting it project as at D D Put on the hammer-head down to the line A Drive in a wedge W fold the wire to lap over the wedge from each side; this prevents the wedge from coming out. The head may work itself loose a little in time; if so, steep it in water a few minutes, and it will be firm again. It is doubtful if this method holds as well as the nailed wedge.

Fig. 325.—Wedged-on Hammer Head.

Fig. 326.

Fig. 327.

Figs. 326 and 327.—Fastening on Hammer Head with Nailed Wedge.

Fig. 328.—Iron Wedge.

Fig. 329.—Fastening on Hammer Head with Wired Wedge.

     Mallets are used by the woodworker for driving wood chisels, for knocking light framing together, and for other purposes where the use of a steel-faced hammer would leave unsightly marks and probably damage both tools and material. Suitable mallets are illustrated by Figs. 331 and The first of these shows the ordinary mortised beech “square” mallet; a convenient size for this head is from 4 in. to 6 in. long, and about half as thick. The square handle is slightly rounded to suit the hand. Perhaps a more convenient tool is the American pattern shown by Fig. in which all the sharp edges are chamfered off, and the handle is round and easier to grasp. In some kinds of American mallets the handle screws into the head. English mallets are of beech, and American ones of hickory or lignum vitæ. The round mallet that is bound or cored with iron is not recommended for joiners’ use. If the sides of a wooden mallet are slightly convex, there will be less risk of damaging the work when knocking it together. The mallet itself is, in both form and material, a very old tool. Those figured on the tombs of Egypt might have been drawn from present day stonemasons’ mallets, they are so like them. The Egyptian mallets—or hammers, as they would be called now—are indented in a deep circular ring, as though used all round against the very jagged head of a metal chisel.

Fig. 330.—Hammer Head with Wired Wedge.

Fig. 331.—English Mallet.

AXES AND

     These are both percussion and cutting tools, as they combine the offices of the hammer and chisel. The distinction between axes and hatchets is that axes are used with the two hands, and have long handles, and may be swung as sledge hammers. Hatchets are used with one hand; they have short handles, are much lighter and thinner than axes, and are employed more in the trimming than in the felling of timber. Both narrow and broad axes are employed in forestry, the woodman’s choice being affected by the size of the timber and the character of the fibre. A hatchet is handled with the centre of gravity nearer the cutting edge than an axe. A few types of axe heads are here illustrated. Fig. 333 shows the Kent or English pattern, Fig. 334 the Scotch pattern, and Fig. 335 the Suffolk pattern; Fig. 336 shows the Kent or English pattern of felling axe. The handle used with these generally is of the shape shown by Fig. The well-known American wedge-shape axe-head is illustrated by Fig. Of hatchets, Fig. 339 illustrates the Kent or English pattern, and Fig. 340 the Canada or American pattern.

Fig. 332.—American Mallet.

Fig. 333.—Kent Axe Head.

Fig. 334.—Scotch Axe Head.

THE OF AN

     The cutting edge is nearly always convex, as shown in all the types illustrated. The junction of the light and dark shading in many of the illustrations denotes the extent of the bevel. The object of having a curved cutting edge is not only to prevent the jar and damage which might be done by the too sudden stoppage of the rapid motion of the heavy head in separating a group of fibres, but also to facilitate that separation by attacking these fibres in succession. For, assuming the axe falls square on its work in the direction of the fibres, a convex edge will first separate two fibres, and in doing this it will release a portion of the bond which holds adjoining fibres. An edge thus convex, progressing at each side of the convexity which first strikes the wood, facilitates the entrance of successive portions from the middle outwards. If the edge had been straight and fallen parallel to itself upon the end of the wood, none of this preliminary preparation would have taken place; on the contrary, in all probability there would have been in some parts a progressive condensation of fibres, and to that extent an increase in the difficulty of the work. The wedge-form of axe generally, but not always, has equally inclined sides. Assume that one face only is inclined, and that the plane of the other is continuous to the edge; now in striking a blow, it is obvious that the plane in the line of the fibres cannot cause any separation of these fibres, but at the other side of the axe the slope entering the wood will separate the fibres on its own side. For some work, the axe with unequally inclined faces may be preferable, for instance in chopping the projecting corners from a square log in preparing it for the lathe; this tool would do the work with greater ease to the workman, and with a higher finish than would the common hatchet with equally inclined sides. Coach-makers have much of this class of hatchet-paring work to do, and the tool they use is bevelled on one side only; under where the handle enters the eye in a coachmaker’s axe (see Fig. is a projection rising towards the handle; on this the finger of the workman rests in order to steady the blade in its entrance into the timber in the plane of the straight part of the blade, and to counteract the tendency of the wedge side pressing the hatchet out of its true plane. Carpenters and joiners may perhaps profit from a brief study of this tool used in a branch of woodworking different from their own. It is very evident, in using an axe, that different conditions of edge are requisite. There is much less resistance to the entrance of the edge when the blow is given in the direction of the fibre than when the blow is across that fibre. So great, indeed, may this difference become, that, whilst in the one direction the edge of the axe continues sound and efficient, yet a few blows on the same timber at right angles to this direction seriously damages the edge. These remarks apply only to axes and hatchets used in dividing materials, and not to those used in merely preparing surfaces. The mode in which the axe is used will explain why it is unsuited for work across the fibre. The axe is simply a wedge, and therefore arranged to cleave rather than to cut the wood. Now, a calculation of the pressure necessary to thrust forward a wedge, and the impact necessary to cause the same wedge to enter the same depth, would explain why (regarded as a wedge only) the handle proves an important adjunct to the arm of the workman. This may be tested with an ordinary-handled hatchet on a soft straight-grained wood, or with a small axe with a straight and not a curved edge. Let it rest upon a lump of moderately soft clay; add weights until it has sunk to any desired depth, then take the axe by the head, and by pressure force the axe to the same depth. Next hold the axe by the handle, first at, say, 1 ft. from the head, then at 2 ft., then, perhaps, at 3 ft., and give blows which seem of equal intensity, and mark the depth. Thus a practical testimony to the value of a handle will be shown by the respective depths.

Fig. 335.—Suffolk Axe Head.

Fig. 336.—Kent Felling Axe Head.

Fig. 337.—Handle of Felling Axe.

Fig. 338.—American Axe Head.

Fig. 339.—Kent Hatchet.

Fig. 340.—Canadian or American Hatchet.

Fig. 341.—Coachmaker’s Side Axe Head.

HOW TO AN

     The motions of the hands on the handle of an axe are similar to those of a workman on that of a sledge-hammer. The handle of a properly fitted axe is curved, that of a sledge-hammer is straight. For present consideration this curvature may be ignored, although it plays an important part in the using of an axe with success and ease. If the almost unconscious motions of a workman skilled in the use of an axe be observed, it will be noticed that whilst the hand furthest from the axe-head grasps the handle continuously and as it were fixedly at the same or nearly the same part, the other hand, or the one nearest to the head, frequently moves. Assume that the axe has just been brought down with a blow and entered between the fibres of the wood. In this position it may be regarded as wedged in the wood—held, in fact, by the pressure of the fibres against the sides of the axe. From this fixity it is released usually by action on or near the head. For this purpose the workman slides his hand along the handle, and availing himself (if need be) of the oval form of the handle after it has passed through the eye of the metal, he releases the head. The axe has now to be raised to give another stroke; for this purpose his hand remains near to the head, so causing the length of the path of his hand and that of the axe-head to be nearly the same. The effect of this is to require but a minimum of power to be exerted by the muscles in raising the axe; whereas, if the hand had remained near the end of the handle most distant from the head, the raising of the axe-head would have been done at a mechanical disadvantage. Remembering that the power exerted to raise a body is in the adverse ratio of the spaces passed through by the body, and the point of application of the power, it may thus be obvious how great a strain will be on the muscles if the axe-head be raised by the hands at the opposite extremity of the handle. Reverse the problem. Assume the head of an ordinary axe, the handle being in the plane of the axe-blade, to be raised until the handle is vertical. Now the left hand is at the extremity of the handle, the right hand is very near to the axe-head, and the blow is about to be given. The requirement in this case is that there should be concentrated at the axe-head all the force or power possible; hence it is not desirable to ease the descent; far from it, indeed. Consequently, whilst with the hand nearest to the head (as it is when the axe reaches its highest elevation) the workman momentarily forces forward the axe, availing himself of the leverage now formed by regarding the left hand as the fulcrum of motion, he gives an impulse, and this impelling force is continued until he is conscious that the speed of the axe in its descent is greater than muscular efforts can maintain. To permit gravity to have free play the workman then withdraws the hand nearest to the head, and sliding it along the handle, brings it close to the left hand, which is at the extremity of the handle; thus the head comes down upon the work with all the energy which a combination of muscular action and gravity can effect. The process is repeated by the right hand sliding along the handle, and releasing as well as raising the head.

Fig. 342.—English Adze.

Fig. 343.—Scotch Adze.

AXE

     The form of the axe handle deserves notice, differing as it does from that of the sledge-hammer. In the latter it is round or nearly so, in the axe it is oval, the thin end of the oval being on the underside, and more than this the longer axis of the oval increases as the handle approaches the head, till at its entrance into the head it may be double what it is at the other extremity. It often has also a projection at the extremity of the handle. The increasing thickness near the head gives strength where needed as the axe is being driven in. There is, too, this further difference—in a sledge-hammer more or less recoil has to be provided for, and the handle does this; in the axe no recoil should take place. The entrance of the axe edge is, or ought to be, sufficient to retain it, and the whole of the energy resulting from muscular action and gravity should be utilised. The curvature, too, of the handle is in marked contrast with the straight line of the sledge-hammer handle. The object of this curvature is worthy of note. The handle of an American forester’s axe is very long and curved. In sledge-hammer work the face is to be brought down flat, that is, as a rule, in a horizontal plane, whereas the forester’s axe has to be brought down at varying obliquities. If, now, the hewer’s hand had to be counteracting the influence of gravity, he would have much needless labour; hence the care of a skilled forester in the balance of the axe-head and the curvature of the handle.

Fig. 344.—American Adze.

THE

     The variety in the shapes of adze-heads is very great, there being two or three kinds used by each of the following:—Carpenters and joiners, ship carpenters, wheelwrights, and coopers. The carpenter knows three principal varieties, the English pattern Scotch pattern and American pattern The ash handles used with these may have either of the shapes illustrated by Figs. 345 and The adze must be sharpened from the inside, and when its action is considered (see next paragraph), it is clear that the curvature of the face of the adze-iron must be circular, or nearly so. The true curvature of the metal may be approximately deduced from considering the radius of the circle described by the workman’s arms, and the handle of the adze. The edge of the adze is slightly convex for the same reasons as influenced the curvature of the axe edge already alluded to (see p. The curvature in the blade also serves (though partially) as a fulcrum, for, by slightly thrusting the handle from him, the workman may release chips of timber beneath which the adze is lightly embedded.

Fig. 345.—Adze Handle.

Fig. 346.—Adze Handle.

Fig. 347.—Plain Handle London Screwdriver.

HOW TO AN

     The general method of using the adze is as follows:—The workman stands with one foot upon the wood in the line of the fibre, and thus assists in steadying the work. The long handle of the adze is curved so as to permit of an efficient blow being given, and the tool brought to a stop before the handle strikes any part of the workman’s body; it is caused to stop by the exhaustion of its impact energy in the fibres of wood. The adze is raised by both hands until nearly horizontal, and then not allowed simply to fall, but steadily driven downwards until the curved metal, with its broad and sharp edge, enters near to, if not below the sole of the workman’s shoe, separating a large chip of wood from the mass; the handle is rapidly raised, and the blows are repeated quickly, the workman gradually drawing back his foot until the end flakes of wood are separated. The edge of an adze often is so keen as to cut through a horsehair pressed against it. It is not pleasant to contemplate an error of judgment or an unsteady blow, but practice brings great skill in the use of this tool. The Indian workman uses the adze for producing curved surfaces, and holds the tool so near its head that the hand touches the metal, the blows being delivered chiefly from the elbow.

     A description of screwdrivers in this chapter may seem out of place, but as they are tools of impulsion, even as is the hammer, they may fitly be dealt with here. Two or three screwdrivers at least will be required, long and short, and with wide and narrow blade. For general work, a tool of medium length should be obtained, although there are on the one hand enthusiastic advocates of a short tool, and on the other hand of a long tool for any and every purpose. Any advantage gained by a short over a long tool, or the reverse, is one of advantage in special circumstances only, and not one of saved energy; theoretically, the length does not enter into consideration at all, except when, in starting to extract a difficult screw, the driver is tilted from the upright, but this is at the risk of a broken tool edge and defaced screw-head. The worker then must decide for himself what sizes will best suit his purposes. The principal patterns are illustrated here. Figs. 347 and 348 are the London patterns, the former with handle of beech or boxwood, and the latter with an oval ebony handle. Cabinet screwdrivers are shown by Figs. 349 to Fig. 349 having a plain beech handle, Fig. 350 an oval boxwood handle, and Fig. 351 a fluted or “firm-grip” boxwood handle. For special work, it is necessary to have a long spindle-blade screwdriver, as shown by Fig. The power gained by a screwdriver in turning a screw depends entirely on the diameter of its handle, quite irrespective of the length of its blade. Taking two screwdrivers having blades of the same length and breadth, but one A having a handle one-half again as broad as that of the other then A will turn the same size of screw as will B with exactly one-third less power expended; it is purely a question of leverage, and quite independent of the length of the blade. Of course, in correctly proportioned screwdrivers the longer blades generally have the wider handles, but it is not always so, and the increased length of the blade is usually disadvantageous except as already noted. An important point in working with large screws is to see that the point of the blade fills the entire width of the slot in the screw-head. A useful screwdriver is the one illustrated by Fig. The handle is that of a gimlet, and can be separated from the blade, a great convenience for carrying, although the whole tool is only 6 in. long. In the handle are two hardened steel pawls acting on a ratchet, so that in driving a screw the right hand never moves off the handle, the left being thus at liberty to guide the screw. Reversing the handle on the tang of the blade puts the ratchet in position for withdrawing a screw. The handle is 4 in. long, which gives it, theoretically, great mechanical power. Practically, the advantage over the ordinary form is more than it is theoretically, as owing to the shape of the handle the power is better applied. Another very convenient form of screwdriver is shown in use by Fig. and consists of a screwdriver bit used in an ordinary brace. It is chiefly useful where many large or medium-sized screws are required to be driven. The power gained is considerable, owing to the length of lever afforded by the sweep of the brace, and it has the additional advantage that the entire weight of the workman can be applied to keep the driver in the screw-slot without decreasing his power of turning as in the ordinary pattern; it is also very speedy, as the turning is continuous. The ordinary screwdriver may be found in the way when screwing a lock on or off, inside the front of a drawer, as this is generally done with the drawer in position. The short screwdriver illustrated by Fig. 356 is well adapted for work of this description, and the handle being broad and flat is convenient to hold in the hand. Another short screwdriver is shown by Fig. and this is designed especially for unscrewing plane irons, as shown on p. Fig.

Fig. 348.—Oval Handle London Screwdriver.

Fig. 349.—Plain Handle Cabinet Screwdriver.

Fig. 350.—Oval Handle Cabinet Screwdriver.

Fig. 351.—Fluted Handle Cabinet Screwdriver.

Fig. 352.—Spindle Blade Screwdriver.

Fig. 353.—Gimlet-handled Screwdriver.

Fig. 354.—Brace Screwdriver in use.

Fig. 355.—Screwdriver Bit.

Fig. 356.—Short Screwdriver.

AUTOMATIC

     The automatic screwdriver is made in variety, but the principle of all is much the same. The blade of the screwdriver, which is cylindrical throughout its length except for about 1 in. at the point, where it is flattened so as to enter the slot in the screw head, works in a hollow handle partly of brass and partly of wood. In using it the blade must be drawn out to its full length, and inserted in the slot of the screw, which is then driven home by pressure on the top of the handle (see Fig. which by travelling down the spiral grooves in the spindle causes the blade to revolve. It is useful for rapidly driving a number of screws in a small space. If the blade is buried in its handle as far as may be, the tool can be used as any ordinary screwdriver for turning either forwards or backwards. A quick-action screwdriver (see Fig. has a wooden handle of ordinary shape, into which slides a metal rod traversed from end to end by two spiral grooves—one right- and one left-handed—which receive an adjustable pin placed just inside the handle-sheath. A moderately strong coiled spring forces the rod outwards from the handle when not under pressure. The outer end of the rod is provided with adjustable jaws in which to hold slot bits. A turn of the ferrule at the end of the handle tightens the rod and admits of its being used as an ordinary screwdriver, while the twists necessary before the final tightening when driving in a screw or after the preliminary loosening when taking it out, are given very rapidly by Archimedean action following pressure of the handle in the direction of the tool’s length.

Fig. 357.—Plane Iron Screwdriver.

Fig. 358.—Automatic Screwdriver in use.

Fig. 359.—Millers Falls Automatic Screwdriver.

BORING TOOLS.

THERE is a great variety of boring tools, and apart from the important question of size, there is that of suitability. Bradawls are well-known and useful tools for soft wood. The stem is cylindrical, and the chisel edge cuts the fibres, and the wedgelike form of the tool pushes them aside; used in end grain, it scrapes and pushes its way in, and, roughly though effectually, it makes a hole for a nail or a screw. The bradawl can be used for hard wood, but its special use is for soft wood, and its province is limited to comparatively small holes. In hard wood it has to be turned right and left more freely than is necessary in soft wood, the edge acting more like a scraper in the harder material. The great limitation of the bradawl is that there is no provision for the waste material, and so it can be used for small holes only. The ordinary form of bradawl is shown by Fig. and a larger kind, the flooring awl, by Fig. These may have handles of ash, beech, or boxwood. The patent brass-capped bradawl is an improvement on the ordinary form. In the old bradawl the tang of the blade is driven into the handle, and a semblance of strength given to the tool by a brass or iron ferrule; but occasionally, when attempting to withdraw the bradawl from a piece of hard wood, handle and blade may come apart, the handle remaining in the operator’s hand and the blade in the wood. In the brass-capped bradawl the end of the handle is so fitted into the brass cap replacing the ferrule that the blade is secured in the handle so firmly that they cannot come apart in the manner described above. When the handle of the ordinary awl parts from the blade, the latter is removed from the work by means of pincers, with the risk of bruising the work or perhaps breaking the bradawl in the hole. Therefore it is very necessary to guard against the bradawl coming apart, and so the following method should be adopted: First, the steel tang of the bradawl blade is to be softened at the extreme end by making it red-hot in a gas flame. When allowed to cool gradually it will be found to be softer and tougher than before. The softness is not to be confined to just the extreme end, but very great care should be taken not to draw the temper of the cutting part of the tool. Mark the length of the tang on the bradawl handle, and at 1/8 in. from this mark towards the end where the shoulder of the awl comes, bore a hole at right angles, or nearly so, with the tang. The tang of a bradawl is usually, and should be always, oblong in section. Bend the tip of the tang slightly, and insert it in its handle. Now by judiciously driving a brad into the hole previously bored (see Fig. the slight bending of the tang can be increased to form a hook, while the brad makes the bent end embed itself tightly in the handle. Finally, the brad is filed off at both ends, and given one or two riveting blows (see Fig. A bradawl so treated, if done well, will not come out of its handle, and will last until either blade or handle is broken. Care must be taken that the tang is driven only just past the hole bored for the brad, and the brad driven to increase the bending of the tang. For this purpose, when the bending is sufficiently started, it will be best to drive the blade home and then the brad; but if the tang is inserted too far when the brad is driven, instead of increasing the bend the brad will diminish it, and the desired effect will not be produced. The method of boring a hole with a bradawl is shown by Fig. the edge of the awl being across and not in line with the grain of the wood.

Fig. 360.—Bradawl.

Fig. 361.—Flooring Awl.

Fig. 362.—Brass-capped Bradawl.

Fig. 363.—Fixing Bradawl Blade.

Fig. 364.—Bradawl with Fixed Blade.

GIMLETS AND TO

     The ordinary forms of this small but essential tool are the twist gimlet and the shell gimlet but other forms are the twist-nose or Swiss gimlet and the auger gimlet Gimlets are found suitable to bore end grain as well as across the fibres; but in boring near the end of a narrow strip of wood, the pointed screw, drawing the tool rapidly into the compact wood, acts like a wedge, and splits the wood quickly. The way in which to hold a gimlet in use is shown by Fig. p. When a gimlet gets rather the worse for wear and slightly rusty, the shank (providing the handle is quite tight) can be sharpened and the tool made as fit for work as a new one. For sharpening a twist gimlet, fix a piece of oak, about 1 1/4 in. thick, in the vice, and make a hole, 3/4 in. deep, in its top surface with the gimlet to be sharpened. Fill the hole with flour emery and a few drops of oil, and then reinsert the gimlet and screw down well into the wood, until its point just shows on the other side. After working it backwards and forwards for a few minutes, supplying fresh emery and oil at intervals, it will be found, on withdrawing it from the hole, to be quite free from rust and perfectly sharpened. Another piece of wood, this time soft deal, is now taken, a hole bored as before, filled with fine dry flour emery (no oil), and the gimlet worked well into it, until, on being finally withdrawn, it should have a good polish, the edges of the spiral groove being sharp and capable of cutting a clean hole. Besides bringing the shank into good working order, the vigorous screwing backwards and forwards in the hard wood fully tests the strength and tightness of the handle, for after passing satisfactorily through that test it may be safely reckoned to stand any amount of ordinary wear. Though a gimlet is a comparatively unimportant tool, it by no means follows that it should not receive attention.

Fig. 365.—Boring Hole with Bradawl.

Fig. 366.—Twist Gimlet.

Fig. 367.—Shell Gimlet.

Fig. 368.—Twist-nose Gimlet.

Fig. 369.—Auger Gimlet.

THE

     The brace supplies the most useful boring tool; from the variety of bits that can be used with it, it serves many purposes. It is better to buy the bits fitted to the brace, as they are more truly centred than those bought separate are likely to be, and the centreing of the bits is essential to their proper action. To try for centreing the bit, fix the brace in a vice by the head or cap; then rotate the brace, and observe if the bit turns concentric. The brace and bits are used for boring holes for nails, screws, or pins, for cutting circular holes, such as the circles for coins in cabinets, or for bottles in chemical cabinets, or for test-tube stands, and for making circles to serve as ornamentation. Wood may also be cut away in roughing out carving, frequently more quickly and certainly by the aid of a brace and bits than by any other means. Mortises are often better cut by first boring away the bulk of the wood; such a proceeding prevents splitting. The brace can be used to bore vertically or horizontally. The greatest force is obtained in the latter position, holding the cap with the left hand, and pressing with the stomach leaning against the tool. It is quite possible to break a brace by pressing on it too strongly. An iron one may bend, and if bent the bit is made eccentric. To bore vertically, the work should be low, so that the operator may lean over the top of the brace, and, holding the cap in the palm of one hand, press on the back of the hand with the right shoulder and turn with the other hand. Braces suitable for the woodworker’s use are illustrated by Figs. 371 to Fig. 371 shows the simplest type of wooden brace, a thoroughly well-made though somewhat expensive tool, but it must be remembered that its life is very long. The body of the brace is of beech, but the head, where there is constant friction and wear, is of lignum vitæ. Steel braces, much cheaper than wooden ones, are very largely used, and Fig. 372 is a type of them. The handle and head are of hard wood, and the body and jaws are of steel, the handle being strengthened with brass rings at the ends and the head turning on ball-bearings, as shown in Fig. The form of the jaws is made quite clear; they are opened and closed by screwing the milled cnuck off or on respectively. Practically the same tool is shown by Fig. with the addition, however, of a ratchet; by means of this it is not necessary to complete the revolutions of the sweep in awkward places where there is but little room in which to work. Having turned the sweep as far as it will go in the same direction as clock hands move, it can be brought back without the bit being twisted out of the work. The simple steel brace illustrated by Fig. 374 has a tapered square hole for the reception of the bit, the thumbscrew serving to tighten the split end when the bit has been inserted.

Fig. 370.—Using Gimlet.

Fig. 371.—Wooden Brace.

Fig. 372.—Steel Brace.

Fig. 373.—Ratchet Brace.

BORING

     Braces are sold separately, or fitted with twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty-six, or forty-eight bits, the bits being either bright, black, or straw-coloured, the last being the most expensive, but not necessarily better for use than the black, except that in bright bits any flaws are more easily detected. Bits, as a rule, do not require sharpening; if slightly notched they may be repaired with a sharp file. In boring with fine bits use a little grease, pull out the bit occasionally and remove the borings; if the bit gets fixed, take off the brace and pull out with pincers. All boring tools may be so much heated by use as to spoil their temper.

SHELL- AND

     Woodworkers use many shapes of boring bits. The pin-bit is like a gouge sharpened both inside and outside. As sold by the tool-dealers, it is sharpened only outside and obliquely, but it will be found that if sharpened inside just a little and both the corners removed (when it becomes a shell-bit, Fig. so that the contact with the wood takes place in the centre of the gouge-like end of the bit, its cutting is improved, while smoothing and polishing all over will allow the chips to escape more freely; this condition is necessary in the working of every cutting tool. The shell bit is only suitable for boring at right angles to the fibre of the wood, the sharp gouge-like edge cutting freely; in a hole of considerable depth the chips have a tendency to remain; it is, however, an excellent bit for boring right through. For boring top and bottom laths for Venetian blinds, etc., and boring pins to hold tenons in their mortises, it is first-rate. When the sharp edge of the shell-bit is ground to a point, it forms what is called a dowel-bit, which is practically the same shape as a spoon-bit (see below), but has a wider stem. The spoon-bit resembles the shell-bit, but is pointed to somewhat resemble a tea-spoon, yet is more like the outline of a Gothic arch, the metal being hollowed out to form a cutting edge. This bit bores easily, freely, and well, will enter more exactly where the worker wishes, and is strong and cheap. The nose bit is of similar construction. Its cutting edge, from which it derives its name, is a part of the steel bent nearly to a right angle, and sharpened so that it forms a sort of chisel. To avoid catching, the corners are rounded off. For boring across the grain it is not dependable, generally entering half its diameter away from where it was started; but for boring the end-way of the grain the nose bit is efficient and cheap. This bit also must be withdrawn now and then for the removal of chips, or it gets choked. In many ways superior to any of the foregoing is the half-twist or Norwegian bit known also as the twist-nose bit. This tool screws itself into the wood, and the chips tend to rise out of the hole. It would not do to bore holes in narrow strips of wood, but for every other purpose it works well in either hard or soft wood any way of the grain. This bit is exactly the same shape as the twist-nose gimlet This completes the list of what may be termed shell- and twist-type bits. They vary from quite small bits to about 3/4 in. diameter, rarely even being made so large. They can all be obtained in a great variety of sizes, but exact size is not guaranteed, the usual plan being to bore a hole and measure it rather than to measure the bit. A hollow taper bit used for enlarging holes is illustrated by Fig.

Fig. 374.—Thumbscrew Brace.

Fig. 375. Shell Bit.

Fig. 376. Spoon Bit.

Fig. 377. Nose Bit.

Fig. 378. Twist-nose Bit.

Fig. 379. Hollow Taper Bit.

PATENT

     The patent twisted bits having a screw centre (they are known as screw bits) are first-class, the only thing against them being the expense; they bore well in any wood and in any direction, relieving themselves of the chips and cutting true to dimension. Most of the patents have now expired, and there is not much to choose between any of the following: Gedge’s, Fig. Scotch pattern, Fig. Jennings’, Fig. single twist, Fig. and solid nose, Fig. Gedge’s and Jennings’ are particularly good.

Fig. 380.—Gedge’s Twist Screw Bit.

Fig. 381.—Scotch Twist Screw Bit.

Fig. 382.—Jennings’ Twist Screw Bit.

Fig. 383.—Single Twist Screw Bit.

Fig. 384.—Solid Nose Screw Bit.

Fig. 385.—Centre Bit with Pin.

Fig. 386.—Centre Bit with Screw.

CENTRE

     Centre bits are the most commonly used bits, and the ordinary form with pin is shown by Fig. another form with screw being shown by Fig. Centre bits are useful for boring large holes, and are much superior to shell-type bits in the important point of boring exactly where the hole is required; hence in fitting locks small centre bits are useful for keyholes. Centre bits of the kind referred to are the most useful for holes up to about 1/2 in. The centre bit consists of a piece of steel so shaped as to fulfil these three requirements—a centre, a circle-cutter (the “nicker”), and a chisel (the “router”) to remove the core of the hole, and must be so formed as to act in the order named. In buying centre bits, bear in mind that the hole by no means agrees with the size of the bit; for instance, a 1/2-in. bit bores a hole at least 9/16 in. in diameter. The reason of this is that the pin is not quite in the centre, and so the circle cut is of larger diameter than the width of the tool. To gauge a centre bit, measure the distance between the nicker and centre of the pin, but not so as to get an oblique measurement. To be exact, bore a hole in a piece of waste wood similar to the kind being worked on, and measure the diameter of this. Large centre bits have two, sometimes even three, nickers on one side, and these bits are expensive. If it is required to cut out of thin wood circles of greater diameter than 3 in., they may be cut by a tool like the knife of a cutting gauge, fixed to an arm that rotates on a pivot fixed on a block of wood, acting like beam compasses.

Figs. 387 and 388.—Centre Bit.

RECTIFYING

     It is intended to show here the chief faults commonly found in a new centre bit, and the best methods of rectifying them. Figs. 387 to 389 show a well-finished and properly made bit, in front elevation, side elevation, and plan respectively. The most common fault is shown at A the corner of the horizontal cutter or router operates outside the limits of the circle described by the vertical cutter or nicker. This produces a deep scoring round the inside of the hole, and generally gives the boring a ragged and unfinished appearance. It also puts unnecessary strain on the operator. The projection should be filed away until the outline of the lip corresponds with, and just clears, the inside of the hole, as shown in Fig. The second fault to be noticed is that the outside of the nicker often is formed badly, having more clearance at the front side Fig. than at the back, this producing a continual wedging at the side of the bit. A correctly formed nicker should have, if anything, a little clearance at the back, as shown at Fig. which is a section taken on the line I J Other minor faults are shown at Figs. 393 and Often in finishing chisels, plane-irons, gouges, and other edged tools, the workman tops off the edge from the wrong side, possibly to prevent accident; the centre bit, too, suffers similarly. The edge of the horizontal cutter is made to slant upwards in the direction shown by C D instead of downwards, as at B This defect is remedied by using a fine file and an oilstone slip, placing the bit on the corner of the bench, as shown in Fig. The slope at the bottom of the horizontal cutter Fig. is the most important influence affecting the cutting power of the bit. It may be regulated so that, no matter what pressure bears upon the brace, the rate of advance in boring is uniform. In fact, owing to the want of a little attention here, much labour is often lost, in vain efforts on the part of the workman to make the bit cut faster. On the other hand, the angle of slope may be made so steep that the horizontal cutter will out-feed itself, and endeavour to expel from the hole more material than has been separated from the main body of the wood by the vertical cutter. The hole is then ragged on the inside, and many of the fibres project from the sides, while in other places there are signs of fibres having been dragged and torn away. Frequently bits are not correct to the sizes stamped on them; often they are too large, for the reason already given. To remedy this, if the discrepancy is not more than 1/32 in. to 1/16 in., a little filing may be done at the side of the centre pin. If the bit is too large, the filing should be done on the side Q if too small, file on the side If too large by more than, say, 1/16 in., the bit should be softened by heat and the vertical cutter closed up a little, the bit afterwards being re-tempered.

Fig. 389.—Plan of Centre Bit in use.

Fig. 390.—Faulty Router of Centre Bit.

Fig. 391.—Section of Correctly Formed Centre Bit.

Fig. 392.—Centre Bit Nicker.

Fig. 393.—Faulty Centre Bit Bouter.

Fig. 394.—Badly Sharpened Nicker.

Fig. 395.—Centre Bit Cutters.

Fig. 396.—Action of Centre Bit in Good Condition.

Fig. 397.—Sharpening Centre Bit Router.

Fig. 398.—Center Bit Cutter.

Fig. 399.—Sharpening Centre Bit Nicker.

SHARPENING

     Centre bits should be sharpened with a file and oilstone slip, the latter producing the finished edge. The nicker O must be sharpened from the inside only, and in such a manner that the leading part of the edge is highest, as indicated by s in Fig. The router B should be sharpened mostly from the top side; the under side should not have too great an angle, or it will cause the edge to cut too deeply into the wood, and thus take off thick shavings and produce roughness. The correct angle for the under side of the horizontal cutter or router is regulated for the most part by the length of the vertical cutter or nicker opposite to it. Its slant should be part of a spiral, which, when continued round the bit, would pass through the lower part (near the point) of the nicker, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. and also in Fig. Theoretically, this is quite correct, and under such conditions it would be quite impossible for a bit to overfeed itself. But besides the question of necessary clearance, there is a temptation to make the angle steeper, to help in drawing the bit forward. The length of the nicker and a little experiment will in each case soon determine the most desirable angle. The nicker, too, is occasionally topped off on the outside, as shown in Fig. Faults of boring with a bit so formed are excessive strain on the operator, and a badly finished and more or less oval-shaped hole. The nicker should be, if not quite upright, very nearly so, right down to the point, as shown by the line K L in Fig. This line is not quite parallel to the axis of the bit, being a little nearer to the axis at K than at Having sharpened the point of the nicker from the inside with a file and oilstone slip, take away any feather-edge that may have burred over to the outside by rubbing on the oilstone as shown in Fig. which illustrates the safest way of doing this. To keep the back of the bit to the proper height while it is being rubbed, place on the stone a piece of wood whose thickness will depend upon the size of the bit to be sharpened. The proper shape of the nicker, as seen from the side, is given by Fig. In a new bit there is scarcely any curve, but just a straight slightly sloping edge; if it is correctly made and sharpened there should be a keen edge from s round the curve to about T The length of this edge should equal, or slightly exceed, the depth of the thickest shaving the router is capable of removing.

Fig. 400.—Special Centre Bit.

Fig. 401.—Vertical Boring with Brace.

Fig. 402.—Horizontal Boring with Brace.

HOW TO THE

     For boring holes across the grain with the centre bit, hold the board firmly on a piece of waste wood, then bore right through into the latter; or bore from the face of the board until just the point of the bit appears at the other side; then reverse the board, place the point in the hole, and finish boring. In boring, see that the chips rise out of the hole; when they do not, remove the bit and shake out the pieces, or the chips may wedge against the tool, and the bit will run to one side or be broken. Boring holes into the end grain of a piece of timber with a centre bit is an operation that sometimes gives trouble. In some woods little pieces of detached material persistently get wedged between the bit and the side of the hole, as at P Twist bits are best for this class of work, but when a series of exceptionally clean holes is required in the end grain, and when there is not sufficient room to take the brace and a long twist bit, the specially designed centre bit shown by Fig. 400 will give excellent results. It is made of 1/2-in. steel beaten out, turned up, and filed to the proper shape. The method of holding the brace when boring vertically is shown by Fig. and when boring horizontally by Fig. The use of a hand drill, which for some purposes may be preferred to the ordinary brace, is illustrated clearly by Figs. 403 and the former showing horizontal boring, and the latter vertical boring. A method of getting a true horizontal hole is shown by Fig. a shaped support for the bit being held in the bench vice or in some other manner.

Fig. 403.—Horizontal Boring with Hand Drill.

Fig. 404.—Vertical Boring with Hand Drill.

Fig. 405.—Method of Obtaining Accurate Horizontal Boring.

EXPANDING

     The advantages of a bit whose working size can be altered with ease are apparent, and there are a number of such bits on the market. Fig. 406 shows one of the simplest, Anderson’s, this being made in three sizes—5/16-in. to 9/16 in., in. to 9/16 in., and 1 in. to 2 in. Fig. 407 shows Steers’, this being made in three sizes, 5/8 in. to 1 3/4 in., 7/8 in. to 3 in., and 7/8 in. to 4 in., whilst extra cutters for other sizes can be obtained. Clark’s patent bit is made in four sizes, 1/2 in. to 1 1/2 in., and 7/8 in. to 3 in., 4 in., and 5 in. respectively. Anderson’s is a cheap bit, the two others being somewhat expensive, though only in first cost, and being thoroughly reliable they obviate the need of a great number of separate bits.

THE

     The Forstner auger bit is a useful tool for smooth, round, oval, or square boring, scroll and twist work. Its speciality is that it is guided by its periphery instead of its centre, and consequently it will bore any arc of a circle, and can be guided in any direction, regardless of grain or knots, leaving a true, polished, cylindrical hollow. It is a great improvement in wood-boring tools. Hitherto, with the exception of the shell bit, which has a gouge-like cutting edge, and is in some respects very defective, the centre bit has been the type of wood-boring tools, for hand use. Some of the twist auger bits are really improved centre bits, and have a screw point in common. All have also a well-polished groove, along which the chips can pass out and relieve the bit, permitting it to cut without the frequent withdrawal that some bits require. With these twist bits and the centre bits as exceptions, all the rest of the wood-worker’s boring tools make a small hole first and gradually enlarge it, especially the spoon bits and the Norwegian twist-nose bits, so that to bore a comparatively large hole in a narrow strip of wood generally implies splitting it. Even the twist auger bits just mentioned are apt to do so by the wedge action of the taper screw. Then some bits bore well in only one way of the grain. Not one of them, however, is capable of boring a part only of a cylindrical hole, that is, they cannot form a semi-cylindrical groove on a piece of wood; every one of them has a tendency to split the wood, and some of them wander from the point at which they are started. The Forstner bit, on the other hand, can be placed close to the edge, or even with part projecting considerably beyond the boundary of the wood, and, with a little care in starting, it will bore its hole or its groove cleanly and well. Then, too, ordinary bits nearly always bore a hole larger than themselves, but the Forstner bit bores truly in the place in which it is set, and truly to the size of itself. It has no tendency to split the wood, and works entirely by the guidance of the cutter, which forms the periphery or circumference of the bit itself. Another cutter (or several, according to the size of the bit) is provided to remove the core, and the bottom of a hole bored by this peculiar bit is smooth and flat. The bit seems quite independent of the grain of the wood, boring equally well at any angle. But for deep holes the bit must be withdrawn frequently, or the chips will collect round the shaft and make progress or withdrawal somewhat difficult.

Fig. 406.—Anderson’s Expanding Bit.

Fig. 407.—Steers’ Expanding Bit.

Fig. 408.—Clark’s Expanding Bit.

Fig. 409.—Forstner Auger Bit.

     Augers bore well in the direction of the grain of the wood, which centre bits will not do in most woods, unless they have a screw in place of the pin (see Fig. p. Augers are made complete in themselves, and used to bore holes of considerable depth and size in wood. They consist of a steel rod, having a round eye at one end through which a round wooden handle fits at right angles; at the other end is a spiral twist of larger diameter, terminating in a conical screw with a sharp point; the edge of the spiral is a nicker which cuts the grain of the wood around the edge of the hole (see Fig. When using an auger, most power is obtained by standing over the work and boring downwards; a little grease should be used with it. Screw bits replace large augers in cabinet work.

Fig. 410.—Auger.

ABRADING AND SCRAPING TOOLS.

THE OF

THE scraper illustrated by Fig. and shown handled by Fig. is an aid in producing surfaces more flat and regular than can be produced with the plane alone. Its use does not dispense with the plane; on the contrary, any surface on which the scraper is to be used must previously be planed as level and smooth as plane can make it. But the plane, in doing its work—no matter how sharp it may be, or how closely the back-iron is set up to the edge of the cutting iron, or how straight across the edge the cutting iron is sharpened—is liable to leave marks and ridges on the face of the work, which, on hard woods, are not effectively removed by the use of glasspaper alone. The scraper is used after the plane has finished its work, and previous to the final operation of glass-papering. In addition to the removal of the ridges left by the plane, the scraper is used for dressing up all kinds of cross-grained surfaces that occur in curly and figured solid and veneer woods; but as far as possible this use of the scraper should be avoided. Excessive dressing up of a cross-grained patch on a panel, a stile, or a tabletop will most certainly show, and spoil the flatness and general appearance of the article when it is polished. As a rule, such excessive scraping is resorted to in consequence of the plane having been sharpened and set badly, or of some other technical oversight or unskilful manipulation.

Fig. 411.—Steel Scraper.

THE

     The scraper is a thin and very hard steel plate, about 5 in. by 3 in., or 4 1/2 in. by 2 1/2 in., and slightly less than 1/16 in. in thickness. The long edges are sharpened in a peculiar manner. Both of the long edges may be straight, as in Fig. 411 and at A Fig. or one edge may have round corners of differing radii, as at C These corners are often useful in working up hollows and mouldings generally. The “straight” edge A it will be noticed, is not quite straight throughout its whole length. Near the ends the edge is gradually rounded off, to prevent the corners catching in the surface that is being operated on. In this respect, the commercial scraper is incorrectly shaped. The cutting power of a scraper depends upon, first, the quality and temper of the steel of which it is made; and, secondly, upon the proper formation of the burr or feather along its edges. Also, the faces of the steel plate must be perfectly bright and free from rust marks or indentations of any kind. It is by no means an uncommon thing to find any rusty piece of sheet steel—a piece of an old hand-saw or try-square, for example—being used as a scraper. The smallest appreciation of how the scraper cuts would indicate how useless such material is for this particular purpose. On the other hand, scarcely anything better can be found for making a scraper than a piece of broken saw-blade, provided the sides of it are still polished and bright. The fact that the saw was broken may often be taken to indicate a greater hardness than usual in the blade, thus fitting it exactly for the purposes of a scraper. An ordinary saw-blade is not usually hard enough. Provided that there is enough elasticity to “give” in the operator’s hands as it is being pushed along, the scraper should be nearly too hard for an ordinary file to touch. If it can be filed easily, then its edge will soon be gone. At the same time, if the steel is merely hard, without the desired amount of elasticity, the burr edge will strip off as soon as it is applied to the work, leaving a coarse, jagged, and utterly useless edge behind.

Fig. 412.—Handled Steel Scraper.

Fig. 413.—Correctly Shaped Steel Scraper.

Fig. 414.—Diagram showing Action of Scraper.

WHY THE

     The correctly sharpened scraper is a real cutting tool, and not as its name suggests—and as in practice it often is—a mere abrader of the surface. When in good working trim, the scraper should, if desired, take off shaving after shaving perfectly uniform in thickness, and nearly as wide as the cutting edge is long. But such a performance is rarely required of it, and never when the plane has previously done its work well. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the fact that the proper duty of the scraper is not to make a surface, but to correct the irregularities on it. In explanation of the cutting action of the scraper, a diagrammatic figure is shown This illustration correctly illustrates the cutting principle, though it does not represent a true section of the scraper. In use, the scraper is held firmly in both hands and tilted forwards, away from the operator, until the cutting edge grips the surface of the wood, exactly as shown in Fig. It is then kept steadily at this angle, and made to cut a fine shaving at each stroke as it is being pushed away from the operator in the direction from E to F

SHARPENING

     The proper formation of the burr edge is of the greatest importance. Having procured a suitable piece of steel plate, a usual but not recommended method is as follows: The plate is laid down on the bench as shown in Fig. the edge of the scraper projecting slightly beyond the edge of the bench. A narrow bradawl, gouge, or special sharpener then is laid on the scraper horizontally, and, with considerable pressure, is stroked backwards and forwards from end to end of the plate, G to H After about ten or a dozen strokes, the scraper is turned upside down and the other side treated in a similar way. This completes the first part of the sharpening. Next, the gouge is placed vertically against the edge of the scraper, as shown in Fig. and stroked to and fro with about the same degree of pressure and firmness as in the previous operation, and for about the same number of times. Or else, for this second part of the sharpening, the scraper is placed on its corner on the bench, as illustrated in Fig. and held firmly in the left hand, while the right hand deftly strokes a gouge, with a quick action and considerable pressure, once or twice in an upward direction, as from I to J in Fig. The scraper is then tried on the work to determine its sharpness or otherwise; often this trial is very disappointing. If, by good fortune, a satisfactory edge has been made, that fact is just as often due to the circumstances of chance as to the absolute skill of the workman. If the scraper fails to cut satisfactorily, it is laid down on the bench and the two processes are repeated. The following is a better method of sharpening a scraper. Grind the edge straight and square, and slope it up at the ends, as shown by A and B It should then be placed on its edge on a fine-cutting oilstone, as shown in Fig. and rubbed backwards and forwards until all traces of the grinding have disappeared. Then it should be laid flat on its side, still on the oilstone, as in Fig. and rubbed until the sides are bright and polished all along the edges. If any false burr or feather-edge has been created in this last process, the scraper must be set up on its edge again, as in Fig. and rubbed a little more, until two perfectly square and sharp corners appear all along the scraper. Now, if due care has really been taken in making the corners perfect and square, the scraper in this condition would produce shavings tolerably well on any hard wood; but the shaving would be the result of abrasive and not of cutting action. It is purely a matter of choice if, at this stage, a smooth-backed gouge is passed to and fro over the side of the scraper, as in Fig. with the object of imparting a still higher polish to the plate of steel at the places where the burr is to be formed. But the greatest care must be taken not to press too heavily, and also to maintain a perfectly level position with the gouge, while the polishing is being done. As stated, this polishing of the side is not really necessary, and the scraper would cut very well without its supposed assistance. Next, the scraper is placed on its corner on the bench, and a flat and smooth-backed gouge is passed once—or at most twice—along the edge. The scraper during this operation may be held either as already shown in Fig. or as is here recommended and shown in Fig. or it may be fastened in the bench-vice. The aim in this particular action is the production of an exceedingly fine burr, scarcely enough to be called a burr at all, but a perfectly regular bending over of the corner; the gouge must be very lightly pressed, or it will cause the burr to curl up too much, and also it must be kept nearly, though not quite, horizontal. With regard to resharpening the scraper, when this becomes necessary, the scraper must be placed upon the oilstone and rubbed up again to perfectly square corners as previously described in connection with Figs. 420 and

Fig. 415.—Scraper in use.

Fig. 416.—Polishing Sides of Scraper.

Fig. 417.—Scraper Sharpener.

Fig. 418.—Forming Burr Edge on Scraper.

Fig. 419.—Forming Burr Edge on Scraper.

Fig. 420.—Squaring Scraper Edge on Oilstone.

Fig. 421.—Squaring Scraper Edge on Oilstone.

Fig. 422.—Forming Burr Edge on Scraper.

DEFECTIVE OF

     A frequent mistake is to put too great pressure on the gouge, and to stroke too much, the burr thus produced being large, jagged, and too much bent over to enable the scraper to do its work at a comfortable inclination. Another is to give the gouge too much slant, as shown in Fig. this also necessitating excessive tilting over of the scraper when at work, as indicated in Fig. In resharpening, many workmen, instead of rubbing the corners square upon the oilstone, simply lay the scraper on the bench, and, as already stated, stroke it over in both directions afresh. Figs. 425 to 427 illustrate the bad effect of this. If the scraper was sharpened well in the first instance, it will, when ready for resharpening, appear like the section at K When the gouge is stroked heavily along it, the burr edge must either be closed against the side, as shown at Fig. or be drawn out as at Fig. If the former, then the difficulty of forming a new burr edge is very great; if the latter, then the original burr is merely bent outwards again when the gouge is applied to the edge of the scraper, and will invariably be found stripped off and broken, if the edge is examined after the scraper has been applied to the work a second time. Scrapers for special work are illustrated by Figs. 428 and and there are many other shapes.

Fig. 423.—Wrong Method of Forming Burr Edge.

Fig. 424.—Using Badly Sharpened Scraper.

     Glasspaper is the chief abrading material used in woodworking, and consists of strong paper coated with powdered glass. In the manufacture of glasspaper, first the glass is washed and sorted, and then broken very fine by stamps or other machinery. The glass chiefly used for best glasspaper is that from old port wine and stout bottles; this, when pulverised, is of a golden colour. The different grades of glasspaper are numbered from 3 to 0 (and even finer), and there are corresponding sieves to divide the various grades, or to “size,” as it is technically called. These sieves are numbered from 140 to 30, the numbers representing the number of meshes per lineal inch; the finer sieves are covered with Swiss silk, the remainder with woven wire. In this part of the process considerable care must be exercised, as one large particle of glass on a sheet of fine paper would scratch the work upon which it was used, and would produce an uneven surface. The placing of the glass on paper requires considerable skill and experience. The workman has delivered to him plain paper in reams of 120 sheets, each sheet making four sheets of ordinary size. The appliances used are a copper holding 56 lb. of glue, a table, a bench on which the sheets are laid to cover them with glass, a hot plate for firing the sheets, a drying room, a cutting machine, and a press for packing and tying up. A ream or two of paper is placed on the table, and the top sheet is coated with glue by means of a brush resembling a boot-brush, but with longer hair. The sheet is lifted by two corners and laid on the bench, glue side uppermost; the bench has a border standing up some 7 in. or 8 in. high on three sides, with a narrow fillet in front. Powdered glass is simply thrown or scraped over the sheet, which then is raised from one side so that the superfluous glass runs off on to the bench and is used again. The sheet is then placed on the hot plate, a hollow, flat iron bench heated with steam; this causes the glue to boil up and thus securely fix the particles of glass on the paper. All this is done much more quickly than it can be described. After drying, the sheets are cut up and arranged in quires and reams ready for the market. Glasspaper has entirely replaced the old-fashioned sandpaper; this was made in the same way as glasspaper except that sharp, fine sand instead of glass was used.

Fig. 425.—Wrong Method of Forming Burr Edge.

Fig. 426.

Fig. 427.

Figs. 426 and 427.—Badly Sharpened Scrapers.

Fig. 428.—Special Steel Scraper.

Fig. 429.—Special Steel Scraper.

HOW TO

     For properly using glasspaper a rubber is needed. A piece of mahogany or clean pine, 5 3/4 in. by 3 in. by 1 in., shaped as in Fig. answers well if a piece of sheet cork is glued on the face as shown. Fold a piece of glasspaper, 6 in. wide and about 10 in. long, into three, place it glass side downwards, and put the face of the rubber on the middle division. Grasp the rubber so that the ends of the glasspaper are held firmly on its back and sides (see Fig. and work then can be commenced.

     The woodworker occasionally uses rasps, and these generally are half-round, though sometimes flat. The wood rasp is coarser than the cabinet rasp Cabinet and wood rasps range from 4 in. to 14 in. in length, and at 12 in. and less the price is about Id. per inch. The extra 2 in. in a 14-in. rasp adds nearly 50 per cent, to the price. Files also are used, but principally for keeping saws in order, and those necessary are mentioned on p.

Fig. 430.—Glasspaper Rubber.

Fig. 431.—Using Glasspaper Rubber.

THE OF

     When a plane iron, chisel, or other edge tool has been sharpened on the oilstone a number of times, the edge becomes thick. There is too much metal for the oilstone to remove, so the grindstone has to be employed. The grindstone is not a tool for producing a cutting edge, but one for removing a superfluous thickness of metal, yet in nine cases out of ten tools are ground right up to the edge, and often there is 1/16 in. of wire edge to be removed by the oilstone, this being entirely waste. The grindstone should never be allowed to work quite up to the cutting edge of the tool unless it is to remove a gap.

SELECTING

     The grindstone, as a rule, is neglected except just when it is wanted for use; consequently, it is only with difficulty that tools can be ground on it at all. A good grindstone kept in proper order will save its own cost in twelve months. It should be selected of a light grey colour, even throughout. A dark streak through the centre, or a dark patch on one place, indicates that the stone is much harder at those places than elsewhere; consequently, it will wear away faster at the softer parts, and will never be truly round for long together. It will-wear lumpy, and at the dark places the tool that is being ground will glide over easily, and directly afterwards catch hold of the softer stone suddenly, and most likely “dig in.” A stone that shows flaws on the sides, such as little smooth places running into it with fine cracks showing away from the ends, should be rejected, as such a stone will not stand frosty weather; a thick stone, also, is undesirable—one 3 1/2 in. or 4 in. wide on the face being ample—as it will tend to wear hollow, and from that cause always be faulty. A smooth stone with a bluish tint should be avoided, as it will work harder and smoother till it becomes like a glass bottle, and of no use at all for proper work. Choose a stone of from 30 in. to 36 in. in diameter and 3 1/2 in. to 4 in. thick, of an even light grey colour, with a rough, gritty surface. Test it with the thumb-nail, and the stone should wear the nail down with a few rubs backwards and forwards and leave straight furrows on the nail; this shows a good free-cutting stone.

Fig. 432.—Half-round Wood Rasp.

Fig. 433.—Half-round Cabinet Rasp.

MOUNTING AND OF

     A grindstone mounted in a dwarf iron stand is shown by Fig. this is one of the cheapest forms for the worker’s use, but, of course, one mounted on a high iron or wooden stand with treadle, as in Fig. 435 or Fig. is much more convenient. The home-worker who does not care to buy an expensively mounted stone may construct a strong frame on which to mount a grindstone of 4-in. by 3-in. stuff, with the legs well spread out and braced together about 6 in. from the ground. It is sometimes a great advantage when grinding a thick heavy iron or axe to be able to stand higher on one foot. Under the stone should be a box to hold water, in which the stone will be partly immersed. Some prefer a can fixed above to allow the water to drip on the stone. Too much has the disadvantage of splashing on the ground and over the legs and boots of the grinder. Others dislike the box below the stone, as the water always left in the box tends to soften that part of the stone which is immersed in it. This can be avoided by having the box loose and letting the two end pieces run up longer than the sides. Let these pieces be of the same width at the top as the rails in the ends of frame, and with a pair of butt hinges hang one end to the frame. Nail firmly to the other end of the box a leather strap, and punch half a dozen holes in it about 1 in. apart, the end with the holes projecting above the box, and screw a stout 2-in. screw centrally into the other end rail. By this means the box with the water can be raised whilst grinding, and, when finished with, it can be dropped down a couple of holes so as to clear the stone. Thus all the advantages of a box, without its drawbacks, can be secured. It can also be easily dropped right down to the ground for cleaning out, or in the event of any small tool falling into the box, as sometimes happens. Always grind wide tools near the edges, which will help to keep the stone slightly rounding on the face.

Fig. 434.—Grindstone in Dwarf Iron Stand.

TRUEING

     When a stone gets worn out of the circle, say 1/2 in. to 3/4 in., it should be trued up again, and this is best done when the stone is dry. To do this, get two old flat files, or two short pieces of flat bar iron and a piece of stout hoop iron about 18 in. long; firmly cramp the hoop iron between the other pieces, allowing the end to project about 1/4 in., and with this turn the stone away. It is surprising how it will cut, and by turning the iron over occasionally a good cutting edge can be kept upon it. The expenditure of a few minutes occasionally will keep a stone in perfect order and make its use a pleasure instead of a trouble. Another method, probably not so good, is to true a stone with a simple piece of hard steel, such as a worn-out file, this being held so that as the stone turns it scrapes against the parts that project further than the general surface. The file must be held resting close to the scraping end rigidly against a firm part of the framing of the grindstone stand. The tool is thus made to turn down the unevenness. The point to be attended to is to hold the tool quite firmly without any motion to and from the centre of the stone corresponding with its rotation. The stone will yield to the steel more readily if well soaked in water before being treated.

Fig. 435.—Treadle Grindstone on Iron Stand.

SPEED OF

     There appears to be great differences in the speeds at which grindstones are run, but in England the speed of the face may be taken at from 800 ft. to 1,000 ft. per minute. Taking the higher of these values, the speed of a stone 1 ft. in diameter will be revolutions per minute. The speed of a grindstone is calculated by the number of feet per minute which the periphery travels. To find the rate of speed at the periphery, multiply the diameter in inches by 3 1416 and divide by 12, then multiply by the number of revolutions, the product being the number of feet per minute which the stone is travelling. Example: A stone 24 in. in diameter, making 159 revolutions per minute, has a speed of 999 ft. (roughly 1,000 ft.) per minute The makers of Ohio and Huron grindstones state that the former should run at about 2,500 ft. per minute, and the latter somewhat higher.

Fig. 436.—Treadle Grindstone on Wooden Stand.

CHARNLEY AND

     The oilstones in most general use are four in number—the Charnley Forest, Turkey, Washita, and Arkansas. The Charnley Forest oilstone is an old-fashioned English variety, and a good one will last a lifetime. This stone is of a greenish-slate colour, sometimes with small red or brown spots. The lighter the colour of the stone, the more serviceable it will be. The softest and most even-grained stone should be selected, hardness being the most general defect. Stones of this variety may be good for some time, but if neglected, or if linseed oil is used, the stone will absorb the oil and become very hard, rendering a lot of rubbing necessary to sharpen a tool. A Charnley Forest oilstone may take a little more rubbing than other stones to get an edge, but it will be keen and fine, and as the stone wears slowly it seldom requires rubbing down. When two oilstones are used, a Charnley Forest stone is about the best for finishing the edge after it has been rubbed on a coarse cutting stone. The experience of many years suggests that the best stone a woodworker can select is a Charnley Forest stone, the edge produced by it enabling the woodworker to do the best work and more of it before the tool requires resharpening. Turkey stone is generally known as white, grey, and black, but its appearance is generally more or less of a mixture of brown and blue shades. It is of very close grain. Some Turkey oilstones are of a dark slate colour when oiled, with white veining and sometimes white spots. They give a keen, fine edge to tools, but wear very unevenly. In addition to this defect, they are the most brittle oilstones, great care being necessary to prevent a breakage when fitting them into a case, and a fall from the bench will generally result in cracking the stone, even after being boxed. The Turkey oilstone is a notoriously slow cutting stone; to most woodworkers its price is prohibitive.

AMERICAN

     The cheapest oilstone in the market at first cost is the Nova Scotia or Canada stone, which is brownish yellow in colour, and wears away rather quickly. They vary considerably in quality; one may cut like a grindstone and leave about as good an edge, whilst another may be very hard, requiring a lot of rubbing to sharpen a tool. One between the two extremes should be chosen if possible. The Washita (Ouachita) stone is yellowish-grey in colour, and though it wears away quickly it does so much more regularly than Turkey stone. Some kinds are of a whitish-grey or light buff colour when oiled. The same remarks apply to these as to the Canada stones, but they are usually finer in grain and more even in texture, and for this reason are general favourites. These stones sharpen the tools quickly, but do not leave so good an edge as is obtained with the Charnley Forest stones, and they wear away more quickly. The edge produced by a Washita stone is generally of a “wire edge” description, and rapidly becomes dull. These and other soft stones soon get full of grooves and furrows if much used for sharpening narrow tools, small chisels, or other pointed instruments, for which a hard stone should be employed. Arkansas oilstone is a compact white stone something like Washita stone, but finer in grain. It wears well and cuts slowly, being largely used for finishing the fine edges of surgical instruments. Workers generally consider them to be the best oilstones in the market, but, unfortunately, they are very expensive.

SELECTING

     The choice of a suitable oilstone is one of the greatest difficulties that present themselves to the woodworker when selecting his tools. The degree of hardness is important, oilstones having a tendency to become harder after being in use for a time. Many of the American oilstones are manufactured from fine grit, cemented together. Generally they are even in grain, but are often too coarse, and although they sharpen the tool quickly enough, the cutting edge is not sufficiently keen for woodworking, and should be finished on a stone of finer texture. Natural stones are often uneven in grain, but, with care in selection, they can be obtained far better and more lasting than artificial stones. If a natural stone is wetted, the grain will show up clearly, and if it is uneven, or if there are fossils embedded in the stone, unequal wear will be the result, and it will be necessary to rub it down frequently. The colour also forms a guide to a slight extent; if this is variable, the wear will probably be variable. In choosing an oilstone from a number of the same variety, the cutting properties can be judged by rubbing the surface with the thumb nail, but this is only a comparative test, as a rougher surface will always be found on new or freshly rubbed down stone than on one that has been in use for sharpening tools for some time. For this reason, sharpening a tool on a new stone is not a true test of its cutting properties. If a tool-dealer’s catalogue is examined, several varieties of oilstone will be found enumerated in it, the prices of which may be anything from 6d. to 15s. In purchasing an ordinary tool, paying a good price generally procures a good article; but this is not so with oilstones, as bad ones are often to be found among high-priced articles.

Fig. 437.

Fig. 438.

Fig. 439.

Fig. 440.

Figs. 437 to 440.—Oilstone Slips.

SIZES AND OF

     The usual dimensions of an oilstone, excepting the slips (or small stones for sharpening gouges, bead irons, etc.) are: length, about 8 in.; width, 2 in.; and thickness, 1 in. A wide stone should never be selected owing to the difficulty of making it wear evenly, and to the care required to keep the plane irons sharpened on it to the shape necessary to produce the best results. The most convenient width is 1 1/2 in. A stone may be used by making the thickness side the working face; the tool should be moved across the stone from right to left and not always sharpened in the same place. A small oilstone about 4 in. by 1 1/4 in. is useful for sharpening spokeshaves, and pieces of stone or slips of various sizes and shapes are required for gouges, beads, etc. These often have to be rubbed to a particular shape (by one of the methods to be described) to sharpen a tool for some special purpose. A slip as shown by Fig. 437 is used for sharpening router cutters, etc. It will soon wear out of shape, especially the part but the shape may be restored by rubbing the stone on a piece of sharp gritstone, using silver sand and water, though a grindstone, if handy, will be preferable. It will be found better for some purposes to use the side of the grindstone, if it be in good condition, rather than the edge. Here also water and a little fine sand will be found an advantage. For sharpening bead irons and gouges this conveniently shaped slip can be purchased at most tool shops; its suitability is apparent. Sections of commonly used oilstone slips are shown by Figs. 438 to

Fig. 441.

Fig. 442.

Figs. 441 and 442.—Oilstone Slips.

CASING OR

     Oilstones may be purchased fitted in a case. To make the case obtain a piece of even-grained timber, fairly hard and tough, free from shakes, about 1 1/2 in. longer, 1 1/2 in. wider, than the stone selected, and of about the same thickness. The wood should not absorb oil or break away at the ends. The most uneven side of the stone is placed centrally on the wood that forms the bottom of the case, and is marked round with a scriber. A centre-bit is then used to bore out as much as possible of the wood inside the line, the remainder being cut out with a mortise chisel, and boxed down with a router or old woman’s tooth, finally cleaning out to about three-quarters of the depth of the stone. Another piece of wood slightly thinner is then boxed out in a similar manner to form the lid of the case. The bottom of the case should be eased round the edges with the chisel tc enable the stone to drop in without pressure, which will leave sufficient space for the cement used to hold the stone in its place. A mixture of white- and red-lead is generally used for this purpose, but should be obtained in a powdered state and mixed with gold-size. If the ordinary tub lead is used, the stone will absorb the linseed oil and will be hardened. Another cement may be made by melting glue and mixing powdered red-lead with it to form a thick paste. This is put into the case whilst hot and the stone pressed into it, the surplus cement being forced up round the edges and cleaned off before setting. After the stone is firmly fixed with the cement, the lid may be fitted on and the case cleaned off true and square, when the plainness may be relieved by chamfering or moulding the top. A bead should be placed round the bottom edge of the lid to break the joint. By placing a block of wood at each end of the stone, a much longer stroke can be taken in sharpening, and the stone tends to wear much more evenly. It also prevents the chipping of the tool should it happen to slip over the ends of the stone while sharpening. It may be better to hinge the cover of the case, and secure it by means of a small brass hook and eye as illustrated in Fig. or the cover may be similarly hinged and secured at the sides. The stone can then be picked up without the cover dropping off. It also prevents injury to the stone by the cover accidentally coming off either on the bench or in the tool basket or box. Figs. 444 and 445 show methods of finishing an oilstone case, and Fig. 446 is a section of a case with a less elaborate moulding. To give the stone a better bearing on the bench when a tool is being sharpened, the bottom of the case between the ends is cut away as shown in Figs. 443 to In addition to this generally a couple of nails or steel points are driven in at one end and filed off to a point, leaving about 1/8 in. below the bottom of the case (see Fig. This gives the case a firm grip on the bench, but scratches it. A better plan is shown in section by Fig. In this two small cylinders of india-rubber are glued into two centre-bit holes of about 1/4 in. or 3/8 in. diameter bored at one end of the case, one on each side. The pieces of rubber are cut to size with a knife previously dipped in water, but are made about 1/32 in. longer than the hole is deep, so as to project below the surface. They may be cemented in with thick knotting or shellac varnish. The friction of the rubber will effectually prevent the stone from slipping about when a tool is being sharpened, and the rubbers do not injure any surface upon which the case may be placed. An oilstone case should be well French polished, the polish being tinted with a little dragon’s blood or other stain if preferred. It is much easier to keep the case clean if polished than when oiled.

Fig. 443.—Oilstone in Plain Case.

OIL FOR WITH

     Oil is used not only for assisting the stone to produce a keen cutting edge, but as a lubricator to prevent the stone heating the tool, and to prevent the entrance into the stone of the metal particles rubbed off the edge of the tool whilst sharpening. The oil should not gum up or harden if left, or it will cause the stone to glaze. Either neat’s-foot oil or sperm commonly is considered best for oilstone use, all others hardening the surface much more quickly. Good for the purpose is lard oil to which sufficient petroleum has been added to prevent it becoming thick in the can in cold weather. Sweet oil or vaseline thinned with petroleum makes a good sharpening oil, in fact, any oil of animal extraction mixed with mineral oil may be used, but vegetable oils that are obtained from seeds and nuts and are used for making paint should be avoided. Sweet oil with the addition of about one-eighth of paraffin is used largely for quick-cutting stones. Petroleum, paraffin, etc., however, are not advised, the oil hardening the stone and destroying its cutting properties; where it is used for thinning oil no more than is necessary for the purpose should be added; however, if the stone becomes dirty or gummed up, a very small quantity of paraffin or turps may be used for cleansing purposes, but it should be wiped off as soon as possible. The oil may be kept for use in a small oil-can Soap has been recommended for the same purpose. The stone is wetted and rubbed with soap, and more water is applied until a lather forms. This dries, and when the stone is required for use it is merely necessary to wet it slightly.

Fig. 444.—Oilstone Case.

WIPING

     When a tool has been sharpened, the oilstone should be wiped and the cover put on or the lid closed to keep away the dust of the workshop,which is often charged with particles of grit from glasspaper; if grit or other sharp particles lodge on the stone they will leave gaps in the next tool that is sharpened. An essential point is to preserve the original sharpness of the stone. A clean rag or cotton waste is preferable for wiping it after sharpening a tool, as shavings generally leave it dirty.

OILSTONE

     When an oilstone has been in use for some time its surface is apt to become hard, especially if certain oils—paraffin in particular—are used on it. The reason is that the pores of the stone are closed by the viscid or gummy oil, which contains particles of steel rubbed off in sharpening; when the stone is in this condition it is not touched by the tool, which rides upon a substance as hard as itself; therefore the stone fails to cut the tool. A mixture of oil and turpentine is often applied to hard stones to clean them and make them cut; for this purpose, also, they are sometimes boiled in soda water. Hard oilstones may be made to cut and give edges to tools by sprinkling a very little flour emery on them after the oil has been applied, but in this case it is the emery and not the stone that cuts.

Fig. 445—Oilstone Case, Moulded.

LEVELLING AND

     When an oilstone becomes uneven with wear it is necessary to level it. This may be done by glueing or tacking a sheet of glasspaper on a level board and rubbing the stone on the glasspaper. If the stone is of a very hard nature, emery cloth may be used. If the cloth is tacked down it can be taken up frequently and well shaken or beaten on the back to get rid of the oilstone dust, and so doing lengthens the life of the emery cloth. Another method is to use fine sand and water sprinkled on a level iron plate or sheet of glass, emery powder being used instead of the sand for hard stones. The face of the stone is rubbed on the metal or glass, the grit and water being replenished as required. This leaves a smooth and even surface. Some workmen level the stone with an old file, or hold it on the side of a revolving grindstone. The “strickle” method, described below, has just the same effect as emery cloth has, with, however, more trouble. Some workers will use no other method, however. An emery strickle is used by carding engine minders in cotton and woollen mills, from whom they can be obtained. For the benefit of those who cannot get an old strickle, make a substitute as follows: To (say) one gill of hot glue add about a dessert spoonful of ordinary glycerine, stirring well, and keep the mixture hot. Get a pine board 1 in. thick, from 4 in. to 6 in. wide, and any length up to about 2 ft., and having planed one surface true, and bored a 1/2-in. or 5/8-in. hole to hang it up by, lay it face upward upon a large sheet of paper. Coat the board with the hot glue, rubbing it in well and evenly with the brush, and at once cover quickly with a thick layer of coarse emery; pat this down all over with the flat of the hand; raise the board, shake off the superfluous emery, and give the board a smart rap or two on the bench or table top. Then put aside in a warm, dry place for twelve hours, and repeat the glueing, and covering with emery on the top of the first coat. Rap off all the loose emery, and again put aside to dry. Finally, give the surface a thin coat of boiled oil (with or without the addition of a little black paint), taking care that the interstices between the emery grains are well filled. It will be dry in two or three days, and then will be found to be a most effective appliance for keeping oilstones level.

Fig. 446.—Section of Cased Oilstone.

Fig. 447.—Section of Oilstone Case showing Points.

Fig. 448.—Section of Oilstone Case showing Rubbers.

Fig. 449.—Bench Oilcan.

CUTTING AND

     Sometimes it is required to cut an oilstone into pieces, and this may be done by rubbing across it the edge of a sheet of soft iron or mild steel, using sand and water as required. Or instead, a piece of hoop iron (such as that used on casks) may be used with emery, either wet or dry, as the cutting agent; cutting is quicker when the emery is dry. Another method is to insert a piece of an old hand-saw into a wooden block and to rub the stone on this, the teeth being, of course, set uppermost. An uncased oilstone, if brittle, is easily broken by a sharp jar or fall, and the two pieces will be of but little use until mounted. Get a piece of well-seasoned mahogany for a case, and mortise it out so that both portions of the oilstone can be fitted in fairly tight. Then, with one of the cements previously described, bed both portions of the stone in the case, taking care to keep close the broken joint of the stone. Let the stone stand for a time to allow the cement to become set, after which the surface should be rubbed down with silver sand and water on a flat stone. If the stone is used with care the fracture will scarcely be detrimental.

EMERY

     Emery oilstones have been made for the last twenty-five years, but until quite lately they were too poor in quality to come into general use. The Whelden emery oilstone is manufactured from Turkish emery, one face being of fine and the other of medium coarse material. The coarser side is very fast cutting, and on it a 2-in. plane iron about 1/32-in. thick at the edge has been sharpened to a fine cutting edge in three minutes, as against seventeen minutes on a good Washita stone and thirty-six minutes on an Arkansas stone. The coarse side leaves the tool in about the same condition as a good Washita stone, and the fine side in about the same condition as a fine Turkey or soft Arkansas, better than a Washita, but not so fine as a good hard Arkansas. The emery oilstone has the advantage over any natural stone that it is quite uniform in texture, there being no hard or soft spots, cracks or fissures. They are not brittle, and can be dropped a reasonable distance without breaking. The stock size is the No. 10, which is 8 in. long, 2 in. wide, and 1 in. thick, but the makers advise the use of Nos. 12 and 15, the former being 8 in. long, 1 3/8 in. wide, and 1 3/8 in. thick, and the latter 2 in. wide and otherwise the same as No. 12. The lubricant used with these stones is water or paraffin, and therefore iron cases are preferable to wooden ones. All the usual shapes of slips, etc., are made in this emery stone.

OILSTONE

     A very good substitute for an oilstone is to be made very cheaply with zinc and emery. Get a piece of zinc about 8 in. by 2 1/2 in., and tack it at the corners to a flat piece of wood; then use a little flour emery and oil, and rub the tool on it as usual. Fig. 450 shows a cheap and efficient form of carpenter’s hone, which is an excellent substitute for the oilstone. It consists of a strip of sheet zinc stretched over the wooden mount and screwed down at each end lengthways of the grain. To use the sharpener thus made it is necessary to sprinkle a little flour emery on the zinc, and moisten in the usual way with oil. For general purposes it will be found very handy, and will do the same work as the oilstone does in less time, but it will not leave the edge in quite such a finished condition as does a good oilstone, Fig. shows a cover for the stone.

Fig. 450.—Oilstone Substitute.

NAILS, SCREWS, AND GLUE.

A NAIL is a pin or slender piece of metal used for driving through or into wood or other material to hold separate pieces together; or part of the nail is left projecting so that things may be hung on it. It may be of iron, steel, etc., and may be wrought, cast, or cut; or it may be of wire. In former practice, nails were said to be 6-lb., 8-lb., etc., according as 1,000 of the variety weighed 6 lb., 8 lb., etc.; hence such now meaningless terms as sixpenny, eightpenny, and tenpenny nails, in which “penny” is a corruption of “pound.” Nails consist of two parts, the head and the shank; and although they are mostly made of iron and steel, large numbers are also made of copper, zinc, etc. The varieties of nails number about 300, but the carpenter and joiner does not use many of these. Briefly the action of a nail is as follows. It is wedge-shaped so as to break through the fibres of the wood, and there it is held tightly by the elastic fibres, which endeavour to regain their original position, and so press tightly on the nail. The flattened out tops of nails known as the heads assist greatly in holding the nails in position, especially if there is any pulling strain at the opposite ends.

WHY A

     A very simple experiment, to be made by anyone with a hammer and a few nails, will throw much light on the reason why a nail holds woodwork together. Take a piece of straight-grained deal, about 2 in. wide and 1 in. thick, and mark a line along the centre of one of the narrow sides; drive in various nails in a row, about 1 in. apart, and then split the piece down the middle line so as to expose the nails throughout their length. The smooth wire nails called French nails will be found to have penetrated the wood with very little disturbance of the surrounding fibres, and, as a consequence, they go in easily, and will draw out again with great facility. What hold they have is chiefly by friction from the compressed fibres reacting against the sides of the nails. On the other hand, a 3-in. floor brad, which has a flat square point, produces great disturbance in the fibres. Immediately under the point the fibres are crushed and pushed downwards, carrying others partly down with them so that they press against the sides, and at the same time point downwards. It will be observed that every little group of fibres is like a strut pushing against the nail, and preventing its withdrawal. This experiment may be varied indefinitely; and the effect of boring holes before driving the nails can be studied. The difference also between the holes produced by a gimlet, a sharp bradawl, and a blunt bradawl will be instructive.

HOLDING OF

     The holding powers of nails, of course, vary with the shape of the nails and the kind of wood into which they are driven. The following statements have been made as the result of tests carried out at Sibley College, Cornell University:—Cut nails are superior to wire nails in all positions, and if pointed they would be 30 per cent. more efficient in direct tension. The advantage of a wire nail is the sharp point; without a point it would have but one-half its ordinary holding power. The surface of the nail should be slightly rough, but not barbed; barbing decreases the efficiency of cut nails by about 32 per cent. Nails should be wedge-shaped in both directions when there are no special dangers of splitting. The length of nails to be used in tension should be about three times the thickness of the thinnest piece nailed. Nails usually hold about 50 per cent. more when driven perpendicularly to the grain than when parallel to it. When subjected to shock, nails have been found to hold less than one-twelfth the dead load they will stand when weight is applied gradually. Professor Soule has proved that, under all ordinary conditions, cut nails hold better than wire nails. Holding effect increases with the length of a nail, but not in proportions expressible by any simple formula. When a cut nail is properly pointed, its hold is increased by 33 per cent. Nails driven into certain woods, Californian redwood for example, will take a better hold the longer they are left in; the reverse happens with other woods, Douglas pine for instance. Deals, when nailed to a block, show about equal holding powers for equal areas of nail, whether a few thick nails or a greater number of thin nails are employed; the advantage is slightly in favour of the thick nails. Haupt, in his “Military Bridges,” gives a table showing the holding power of wrought iron nails weighing 77 to the lb., and having a length of about 3 in. The nails were driven through a 1-in. board into a block from which it was dragged in a direction perpendicular to length of nails. Taking a pine plank nailed to a pine block, with eight nails to the square foot, the average breaking weight per nail was found to be 380 lb.; in oak the power was 415 lb.; with twelve nails per square foot the holding power was 542.5 lb.; and with six nails in pine 463.5 lb. The highest result was obtained for twelve nails per square foot in pine, the breaking weight being 612 lb. per nail. The average strength decreased with the increase of surface. In Bevan’s experiments the force in pounds required to extract “threepenny” brads from dry Christiania deal, at right angles to grain of wood, was found to be 58 lb.; the force required to draw a wrought-iron “sixpenny” nail was 187 lb., the length forced into the wood being 1 in. The relative adhesion, when the nail is driven transversely and longitudinally, is in deal about 2 to 1. To extract a common “sixpenny” nail from a depth of 1 in., in dry beech, across grain, required 167 lb.; in dry Christiania deal, across grain, 187 lb., and with grain 87 lb.; in elm the required force was 327 lb. across grain, and 257 lb. with grain; and in oak 507 lb. across grain. From Lieutenant Fraser’s experiments, it would appear that the holding power of spike nails in fir is 460 lb. to 730 lb. per inch in length; while the adhesive power of “wood screws” 2 in. long and 22 1 diameter, at exterior of threads, 12 to the inch, driven into 1/2-in. board, was 790 lb. in hard wood, and about half that amount in soft wood.

CUT

     Of the various kinds of nails commonly used in wood-working, the cut clasp machine-made from a sheet of iron, must rank first. These nails, if of a good brand, may be used for almost any purpose; being cut clean by the machine, they are not liable to split the work. The head is not very large, and when the nail has been inserted, should be punched just below the surface of the wood. Cut clasp nails are typical of many old-fashioned nails, which are, however, gradually being displaced by the newer serrated steel brads. A good nail of the same class is made from steel, very tough, and therefore useful for many purposes, the increase in cost being very small. Cut clasp nails may be had of almost any size, from 3/4 in. to 6 in. in length.

Fig. 451. Cut Clasp Nail.

Fig. 452. Rose-head Nail.

Fig. 453. Wrought Clasp Nail.

Fig. 454. Wrought Clasp Nail.

Fig. 455. Oval Steel Nail.

Fig. 456. Cut Steel Large Brad.

ROSE-HEAD

     The nails have a shank parallel in width, but tapered to a chisel point in thickness. They are made of tough wrought iron, being used principally for such work as field gates and fencing, where a strong nail is desirable. The usual sizes are 1 1/4 in., 1 1/2 in., 2 in., 2 1/2 in., and 3 in.

WROUGHT

     These nails are of wrought iron, and their shape is similar to that of the cut clasp, but the wrought nails are sharper pointed 453 and They are used principally in the construction of common ledged doors, as they will readily clinch. They are very strong, and the shape of the head gives it a better hold than that of the cut clasp nail. Owing to the fibrous nature of the metal of which it is made it is much used where its projecting point is to be clinched on the reverse side of the piece of work.

OVAL

     The oval steel nail is shown by Fig. it is nicely made, very tough, and less than any other kind splits the material into which it is driven. Near the head are slight shallow grooves round it, which greatly increase the holding power of the nail, and the flat head does not project so much as in the cut nails. The sharp points and oval shape of these nails make them very handy. The sizes in which these are made are as follow: 3/4 in., 1 in., 1 1/4 in., 1 1/2 in., 2 in., 2 1/2 in., 3 in., 3 1/2 in., 4 in., 5 in., and 6 in.

     Of all nails used by the woodworker, the brad is perhaps the most useful. The cut steel large brad is used where there is but little strain, as in flooring for instance; the head projects on one side only. They do not make such large holes as cut nails, and, owing to the very slight bend at the point, they tend to draw gradually from an upright to a sloping position as they are driven in. The holes for these nails should therefore be bored in a slightly inclined direction to counteract this erratic tendency. The cut steel small brad is of much the same shape (see Fig. the ordinary sizes of this being 1/2 in. and upwards, the cut steel large brad ranging from 2 in. upwards.

Fig. 457. Cut Steel Smaller Brad.

Fig. 458. French Nail.

Fig. 459. Double-pointed Nail.

FRENCH

     French nails are of round wire, pointed, either quite cylindrical or slightly tapered, the head being proportionately large and round and flat. They lie flat on the face of the wood, and do not need to be punched in. These nails are strong and tenacious, but their unsightly heads cause their use to be confined to rough work.

Fig. 460.—Driving in a Nail.

DOUBLE-POINTED

     A secret nail for dowelling and other purposes in wood-working is shown by Fig. this is useful for jointing pieces of wood together edge to edge, for which purpose the ordinary wooden dowelling peg generally, or, more frequently, a French nail or wire nail with the head taken off and a rough point made with a file, is used; wire pins thus formed will, when used at intervals along a joint, hold pieces of wood together very well, and there will be considerable difficulty in forcing two pieces apart when thus connected. The double-pointed nail can be used in cabinet work and joinery, for closely and firmly jointing floor boards and parquetry work, in putting together shelving and pieces of wood of narrow width to form the sides of boxes. For small work the nails are cut in four useful sizes—namely, 3/4 in., 1 in., 1 1/4 in., and 1 3/4 in. The nail has a projection or hammer-head as shown, by which it can be driven home into one of the pieces to be jointed, the chisel edge or point readily penetrating the material; the piece to be attached is placed against the point projecting from the wood into which the lower half of the nail has been driven and blocked down. When used in connecting hard wood, holes for the points should first be made with a bradawl.

DRIVING IN

     It is surprising, considering the importance of the subject, how little is known generally of the art of nail-driving. Very many really creditable pieces of carpentry or joinery are ruined completely by the unskilful driving of the nails used in their construction. This result must follow if the correct method be not adopted. Many things must be considered before the nail is driven home, as will be seen from the following. In starting to insert a nail, it should be held between the thumb and the next two fingers of the left hand, and struck lightly with the hammer (see Fig. In Fig. 461 A represents the side of a box and B one of the ends, to which the side is in the process of being nailed. It must be remembered that the nail is retained in position by cohesion and friction, and therefore it must be considered how to give full effect to these. The nails are being driven in an oblique direction; this is on account of their entering the end grain of the piece c d showing that they cut across the grain or fibres, thus rendering them less liable to draw out. Fig. 462 illustrates the manner in which the unskilled worker would probably drive them. A comparison of the nails at c d with the corresponding ones in Fig. 461 will at once show the former to be the better method. Fig. 463 illustrates the angle of a box turned round to show that the nail should be very carefully retained in an upright position with relation to the end, or as a result it will surely find its way out at one side or the other, as in Fig. When driving nails near the end of the stuff as just described, a bradawl of suitable size should invariably be used, as this lessens not only the danger of the nail passing out at the side, but also that of splitting the material. Fig. 465 illustrates the manner in which the bradawl should be used. It is grasped as seen, and firmly pressed into the wood with a motion of twisting—that is to say, turned first to the right and back again to the left in a succession of short half-turns until deep enough for the purpose. It is often driven with a hammer; but this is more with the object of saving time, and often results in the awl leaving the handle, and is not advocated. If the bradawl be driven into the board as at E it must of necessity split the wood; if the awl is driven as at it will cut its way without injury into the stuff. The nail is at times liable to twist or turn in the grain after starting; this must at once be rectified, or the board will be split. The hammer must be held as near the end of the handle as convenient, especially in driving large nails, as greater power then is gained. The nail must be struck fairly upon the centre of its head, care being taken that the hammer does not glance off, as such an accident would probably both bend the nail and damage the work. All nails are more or less of a wedge form; as a consequence, nails of the clasp shape should be driven as B, C the width or side of nail being parallel to the grain of wood; but those that are chisel-pointed must be driven as at A that is, across the grain. If A be driven in the manner shown at the wedge shape of the nail will split the board. Fig. 466 shows two pieces of wood nailed together, the nails being clinched at the back, as in making a ledged door. Of course, wrought nails must be used, A being a rose-head and B a clasp nail. As these nails are usually punched below the surface on both sides of the work, the clasp should be used where convenient, as a smaller hole is made at the back. For punching the nail head below the surface of the work, the steel set is used; a square set or “punch” is shown by Fig. and a round one by Fig. The method of holding the set is made clear by Fig.

Fig. 461.—Nailing together a Box.

Fig. 462.—Incorrect Nailing.

Fig. 463. Side View of Correct Nailing.

Fig. 464. Careless Nailing.

Fig. 465. Bradawls and Nails in Wood.

Fig. 466. Clinched Nails.

Fig. 467. Square Nail Set or Punch.

Fig. 468. Round Nail Set or Punch.

Fig. 469.—Using Nail Set or Punch.

WITHDRAWING

     Should the nail, in spite of all care, split the stuff or turn out at the side, it should be carefully withdrawn before the head has been driven too low, or withdrawal becomes difficult. To draw the nail, its head is carefully and tightly grasped with the pincers, as in Fig. and the ends of the handle are then pressed down towards the face of the work; few nails can resist the force of this leverage. Should the nail be of the cut variety, care must be exercised, or it may break off. A piece of wood should be laid under the pincers as shown, or they may bruise the work.

SECRET

     Sometimes, after a piece of work is finished, some of the joints will spring, and it will be necessary to secure them from the surface with nails. In a general way, the heads of these are punched in, and the holes stopped with beeswax and shellac coloured to match the wood; or, in the case of painted wood, putty would be used as a filling. The stopping may be carefully put in and cleaned off, but it can always be detected if the work is closely examined. The method of nailing shown in Fig. 471 has the advantage of perfectly concealing the nail head. An outside mitred corner is shown for the purpose of illustrating the method of nailing. A chip is raised by means of a narrow chisel or gouge, a hole bored underneath the chip, and the brad driven and punched in. The chip is then glued down over the head of the brad, and, when dry, is cleaned off. It will be readily seen that, as the chip is of the same colour and grain as the piece from which it was raised, the hole will not be visible. This method of nailing would apply equally well to a planted bead or moulding, or to any other purpose that may be required.

CLEANING AND

     The best way of brightening a quantity of nails that are very rusty is to dip the nails in oil and put them in a bag with emery powder; by rapid friction some of the rust may be removed. Such articles should be kept in a dry place, when they would not rust. A tumbling drum often is used for cleaning rusty nails, etc. The apparatus consists of a barrel, with a door in it, which runs eccentrically on a spindle, the spindle being driven either by hand or steam. Into the drum are placed river sand, moistened with dilute sulphuric acid, and then the articles to be cleaned. When the drum is revolved the articles are continuously shifted, so that every part is polished. Screws that are too small for separate treatment may be cleaned as follows: Take, say, one pound of screws, and place them in a small box, such as a cigar box. Put a small quantity of oil on them and shake for a minute; then put a piece of cotton waste in the box, and repeat for a minute; finally put a handful of sawdust in the box and shake for another minute or so, and remove the sawdust by sifting it from the screws in a fine sieve. This treatment will be found effective. Larger quantities are apt to be ruined by being shaken together, the sharp corners, threads, and points rapidly disappearing.

Fig. 470.—Withdrawing Nail with Pincers.

HISTORY OF

     The screw nail used for uniting woodwork is known as the “wood screw.” This combines several of the most important principles of science and mechanics. As a mechanical power its basis is the inclined plane. Previous to the opening of the nineteenth century, iron, brass, and steel screws were but rarely used. During 1813, Penniman, in America, perfected machinery for drawing wire suitable for screws of all kinds. During 1817, Dow and Treadwell, of Boston, made other improvements; their machine drew the wire from the reel, cut it to the length required for each screw, headed the screw, cut the thread, and polished the screw. Meanwhile English manufacturers were also making improvements in the quality and finish of screws for woodwork, until these screws obtained, on both sides of the Atlantic, the commercial name of “wood screws,” to distinguish them from those used to put together and operate machinery. But the wood screw had one obvious defect. The worker was compelled to use a bradawl, gimlet, brace and bits, or some similar implement to make a fairly large hole to give the screw an entrance, and this operation occupied so much time that many workmen chose well-finished nails in preference to screws. During 1841, however, Thomas J. Sloan invented the now familiar “gimlet point” wood screw, which, under the pressure of a good screwdriver in a workman’s hand, entered any kind of wood as readily and with no more danger of splitting the wood than the entrance of a carefully handled bit or gimlet. From that time screws replaced wrought and annealed nails in all fixing where the hammer could not conveniently be used, or where jarring was to be avoided. It was soon demonstrated that the wood screw possessed ten times the compression and attractive strength of ordinary nails, especially in all pine and other soft and open grain woods. The screw was found to be convenient for use in putting work together which was soon to be taken down, because its removal did not injure anything.

Fig. 471.—Secret Nailing.

Fig. 472. Flat-head Wood Screw.

Fig. 473. Round-head Wood Screw.

Fig. 474. Cup Wood Screw

SHAPES OF

     Screws, which, like nails, consist of two parts—head and shank—are made in almost endless variety, but the three following examples are sufficient for the present purpose. Fig. 472 is the most common, being made from iron, steel, or brass, according to the purpose for which it is to be used. Fig. 473 shows around-headed screw. These are usually japanned, being used principally in fixing bolts, locks, etc. Fig. 474 is a variety known as a cup screw, because it has a cup into which the head of the screw fits; this cup is let into the work flush with the surface, the screw being turned down through it. It will be noticed that the thread extends for only about two-thirds the length of the screw, this being all that is really requisite. Further threading would only weaken the lateral strength of the screw. The sizes in which wood screws are made are almost endless, but usually they range from 1/4 in. to 6 in.

Fig. 475.—Wood Bored ready for Screw.

DRIVING IN

     For starting the screw, a hole should be bored through the top piece sufficiently large to allow the screw to pass freely, as A This may be done with a gimlet, the top of the hole being enlarged with a gouge to receive the head of the screw, so that it may be a trifle below the surface. This is shown at B B The two pieces of wood should now be placed together, and a bradawl inserted in the bottom piece (as to help the screw in its course. Drive home the screw as follows: Take the screwdriver in the right hand, and guide its end into the cut on the head of the screw with the left hand. The handle should now be turned from left to right (or “clockwise”), using both hands in the process, until the screw is driven as tightly down as possible. The method of holding the screwdriver is shown by Fig. this, however, not showing the left hand, though this invariably must be employed. The practice of putting screws in the mouth just before using them is bad; it causes the screws to rust and to be difficult to withdraw. Before inserting screws in woodwork, dip their points in grease. This assists both insertion and withdrawal, and keeps the screws free from rust. A small box to hold grease is a useful adjunct of the bench.

WITHDRAWING

     For one particular job, at any rate, the long screwdriver is more powerful than the short one, and that is the starting of stiff screws. Let D represent the screw, and D E the centre line of screw produced. Take a screwdriver, say of half the length of D and, for the sake of simplification, ignore the width of handle, and let the driver be represented by The leverage of the driver in starting the screw will depend upon the amount it may be safely canted from the vertical line. In Fig. 477 this is represented by F Now, the amount of safe canting will be the same for a long or short driver if the points are similar; so a driver of twice the length of F is taken and represented by It will be seen at a glance that the leverage is now twice that of for whereas in the first instance it is represented by F it is now represented by P So the greater power, whenever present, of a long driver depends on the canting of the tool from the screw centre line. Often an old screw is in so tight that it cannot be loosened by the screwdriver. The best plan then is to get a piece of bar iron, flat at the end, make it red hot, and place it on the head of the rusty screw; remove the iron in two or three minutes, and then the screw can be drawn with the screwdriver as if it had only been recently inserted. The expansion of the screw by the heat breaks the rust contact previously existing between it and the wood. If these methods fail, the wood has to be bored out with a shell bit, the screw coming away with the core.

REMOVING

     Many years ago screws were so badly made that coach-makers preferred to put countersunk clout nails in the hinges of carriage doors, as on extra strain the screws were apt to break off at the end of the threaded part; or if the head impinged a little more on one edge of the countersink than the other, the countersink of the hinge being iron recessed conically and unyieldingly to the canted head, not at right angles to the countersunk face. The attempt to use a screw in hard wood had a like effect, but to a less degree. If the cone of the countersink were fainter in its angle than the cone of the screw head, the chances of a screw breaking would be lessened, as the neck of the cone of the screw head would take the bearing on one side of the hinge, or wood countersink. The screw (see Fig. is bent out of straight at its weak part, and at every half-turn round it is bent back when the opposite side of the screw is turned to which, in effect, is the same as holding the thread part tightly, while the stem part A is crooked first one way then the other, the strain being augmented also by the tightening of the thread part producing a torsion strain on the weak part of the screw. A broken screw in the hinge of a heavy house door or of a carriage door was, and is, a serious matter. One plan, in the case of a carriage door, was to bore a larger hole from the other side of the pillar opposite the point of the screw, and punch the broken part through the hole; then plug up with a wood pin and glue, which needed a few hours to dry hard before it could be bored into for another screw. Another plan was to drive a clout nail in to fill the hole, beside the broken screw. Sometimes the head would be the trouble. If a blunt screwdriver were driven into the narrow slot, half the head would fly off; even impinging on the countersunk hole, more one side than the other, would cause the head to break half-side off. If the screw could not be got out, the remedy then was to leave it, and put in putty to hide the mischief; but if not quite tight it had to be got out somehow. To get out of a hole a tight screw without a head was not an easy task, and would give much trouble at the present day, with all the many handy tools now available for any troublesome jobs. It is understood easily then why countersunk clout nails were used in preference to screws in post-chaise and stage-coach work in many shops, and often in door hinges on oak door posts. A method of withdrawing a headless screw from a hole is to cut with a fine chisel the stem of the screw to the shape of a triangle; then fit on it a triangular steel pipe stem, like a short length of a padlock key, and make this square on the projecting part for an inch, and with an iron cramp force this key tightly on the broken screw; while holding it thus tightly, which prevents it coming off, turn back the thread of the cramp with a wrench that fits the square, withdrawing the screw with it. It is a keen sense of touch, not eyesight, which determines the degree of pressure of the cramp screw, as the broken part is turned back far enough to enable a small hand vice to grip it, and turn it right out. It is believed that this device was first suggested by a workman named Crundle.

Fig. 476.—Using Screwdriver.

THE

     During the last sixty or seventy years screws have been progressively improved, the chief improvements relating to the tougher iron used in the acute chisel edge of the thread, and, as has been mentioned, the screw tapering to a sharp point, with the thread right up to the tip. The American improved screw has a stem smaller in diameter than the thread part, so that the old evil of having to make a big hole in one piece, to prevent it becoming “stem-bound” and not drawing, is averted, though a smaller hole is used It is almost impossible for the head of this screw to break half off, as the slot does not extend to the edge of the head, but is as a mortise in it, as the diagram shows. The cutting thread is exceptionally sharp. These screws are made of a mild steel of intense toughness, swaged and rolled cold. The cutting is done laterally, not longitudinally, the latter making a feeble thread. A big attempt, made about ten years ago, to introduce these screws into Great Britain failed, but under circumstances that threw no reflection upon the capabilities of the screw, which mechanically shows great talent in its invention.

Fig. 477.—Advantage of Long over Short Screwdriver in withdrawing Difficult Screw.

WHAT

     Glue, size, and gelatine are varieties of the same substance; they differ only in the quantity of moisture and of impurities which they contain. Glue contains so many impurities that it is unsuited for use other than as an adhesive for wood, paper, etc. Gelatine-yielding substances are legion, those in commercial use including the skins of all animals, tendons, intestines, bladders, bones, hoofs, and horns. In the preparation of ordinary glue, great use is made of the parings and cuttings of hides from tan-yards; tanned leather is useless for the purpose. Briefly, the process consists in boiling the animal matter and straining the product into coolers, where it thickens into a jelly. This is cut into sheets of suitable thickness and dried in the open air on frames of wire netting. Spring and autumn are the most suitable times for drying the glue, the frost of winter and the dry heat of summer having injurious effects. The size is not dried, but is sold just as it is cut from the coolers.

MANUFACTURE OF

     In making glue from shredded skins (chiefly those of rabbits), the processes at a large factory in America are as follow: 350 lb. of shredded skin and about 400 pailfuls of water are put into a suitable vat and boiled for two hours, the material being well stirred every fifteen or twenty minutes to prevent it settling. The liquid is then run off from the bottom of the vat and strained in a press, which may be about 4 ft. square, 3 ft. high, and made of wooden slats. The interior of the press is lined with bagging, and through this material the liquid is strained or pressed by means of a hydraulic jack. The hot strained liquid drops into a vat below, whence it is conducted by means of hose into barrels. In from eight to ten hours the stuff is cool, and has a skin formed on the top; in warm weather ice is laid on this skin to harden it; this is size. For making glue, the strained liquid is run into coolers, these being wooden troughs lined with zinc, and in twelve hours’ time the material, then in the form of a jelly, is loosened from the trough by running a wire along it, the wire being bent to conform with the rectangular section of the trough. The block of jelly is cut up into cakes, and these are then sliced in an arrangement of fine wires stretched tightly across an iron frame about 1/2 in. apart; this frame is drawn through the jelly. The drying frames, upon which the slices of jelly are then placed, are about 5 ft. 6 in. long and 2 ft. wide, and are made of galvanised wire netting. The frames, when full, are placed in racks through which the air can circulate freely. It takes but a few days for the jelly to dry in a cool west wind; yet a system of artificial drying, by means of which the size becomes glue in but a few hours, is now being practised. In drying, the material shrinks to one-half its former bulk. The hard glue is now washed to remove dust, etc., and to produce a glazed appearance. In some factories the cakes of glue are cut up into small pieces by means of two rotary knives, each making 300 revolutions per minute. First the glue is passed between two 4-in. toothed rollers which hold it in position and draw it forward after each stroke of the knife.

MANUFACTURE OF

     In England the raw material, before being boiled, is limed; this treatment is not necessary in the case of hide cuttings from leather dressers and tanners, scrap from trotter-boilers, dry glue pieces and parchment cuttings, which are already limed. The liming is effected by soaking the material in milk of lime contained in pits. Afterwards it is necessary to remove or kill the lime by washing with water in vats or pits, or even in revolving drums. The lime in old glue pieces is killed sufficiently by the action of the atmospheric carbonic acid, the glue being spread out in trays so as to be more readily affected. In some works the washed materials are subjected to heavy pressure, but in others the boiling is proceeded with at once. The boilers or pans generally have each a capacity of several tons. A false bottom of bars keeps a clear space at the bottom. In the middle of the boiler is a removable vertical framework, and its object, like that of the false bottom, is partly to give free space, so that the boiling liquid can circulate thoroughly, and partly to simplify the straining of the liquid. The pans are heated by a fire beneath, by steam, or by the two together. In placing the materials in the pans, any horn “sloughs” that may be used are built up around the central framework, the rest of the material being then put in. During the boiling, intermittent stirring is necessary, and the fat which rises to the surface has to be skimmed off. The charge for the pans is in the proportion of twelve tons of fleshings to one ton of water. On the completion of the boiling the fire is put out, or the heat is otherwise removed; a time is allowed for partial settling and cooling, and the liquid is then drawn off through a wooden channel from the space beneath the false bottom. In this wooden channel are lumps of alum, and the liquid glue is conducted to cooling troughs, where it is allowed to cool and harden into a jelly or size. The succeeding processes by which the size becomes glue resemble those practised in America and previously noted. The methods outlined above admit of many variations, nearly every manufacturer adopting a system that in some particular differs from that adopted by his fellows.

Fig. 478. Defect of Old-fashioned Wood Screw.

Fig. 479. American Improved Wood Screw.

Fig. 480.—Glue-pot and Brush.

TESTING AND

     Glue should be of a bright brown or amber colour, free from specks or blotches, which are often caused by the non-removal of lime used in dressing the skins. It should be nearly transparent and with but little taste or smell. Black, opaque, unclean-looking glue is of no use. Very light-coloured glue is often fairly good and of medium price, but the bleaching to which it is subjected sometimes lowers its strength. For some purposes, such as gluing down thin, light-coloured veneers, it is very good, simply because it does not darken the tone of the wood, as the darker glue may do. Glue should be hard and moderately brittle, should not be readily affected by atmospheric damp, and should break sharply, with a glassy, shining appearance. If the glue shivers as easily as a piece of glass it is too brittle to be perfect, but at the same time it should not be tough and leathery. The appearance of the fractured edges also is often a good indication, as is also the feel when it is held or rubbed between a moistened finger and thumb. Good glue will not give off an unpleasant smell after being prepared a few days; some of the commoner kinds are very bad in this respect, the odour from them being unbearable. Good glue will not dissolve in cold water, but will swell and assume the consistency of jelly. For this reason some recommend as a test that the glue should be weighed, soaked, and washed in cold water, then dried and weighed again. If there is a loss of weight it shows that some has been dissolved, and according to the difference the quality may be judged. If the water dissolves it as it soaks in, and penetrates for a slight depth only, there is something wrong. Roughly speaking, a glue which will absorb more water than another is the one that is preferable. Glue is sometimes tested by gluing two pieces of wood end to end. Two pieces of mahogany exhibited at Bethnal Green Museum were tried in this way, and parted under a strain of 504 lb. per square inch. If two pieces of dry red deal be properly glued together side to side, or end to end, the wood will break before the joint if the glue be of fair average quality. The adhesive power of glue is in proportion to its consistency and elasticity after it has been soaked in water for some hours and has absorbed many times its own weight of moisture. For the woodworker’s purpose, Scotch glue is the best. In colour it is a clear, wholesome, ruddy brown, not a muddy-looking compound, nor yet refined to gelatine.

Fig. 481.—Section through Glue-pot.

PREPARING

     Much depends upon the manner in which the glue is prepared. It does not suffice to place it in water, and at once bring to the boil, because this method produces a glue of but little strength. The proper way of preparing glue is first to break the cakes up small by wrapping in canvas and striking with a hammer. If the canvas is not used the glue will fly into small fragments, many of which will be lost. Put the glue into a clean vessel and cover with clean cold water, allowing it to remain until the next day, when it will have absorbed some of the water and present the appearance of lumps of jelly. Pour off the surplus water, and place the glue in the inner vessel of a glue-pot and just cover with water, then keep the water boiling in the outer vessel for two or three hours. To test for thickness, dip the brush in, and if the glue just runs easily without breaking into drops it is fit for use. Some workmen are able to test the thickness by rubbing the liquid glue between the finger and thumb. A drop of suitably prepared glue, if placed on a cold surface, should quickly become a jelly. If too thin it will be some time in hardening sufficiently to be handled, and if it is so thick as to harden almost directly and be unworkable with the brush, more water must be added. The inner pot should never be placed on the fire, or the glue will burn and become worthless, the right temperature for heating being that of boiling water. Do not boil the same glue more than twice—it loses its strength. If only a little is to be used at intervals, allow it after the first boiling to get cold and form a jelly; then pieces of the jelly may be cut off and heated as required. Thus a stock of reliable glue is always at hand.

Fig. 482.—Steam Heater for Glue.

WORKSHOP

     In the workshop different kinds of glue-pots are used according to the quantity required. For workshop use the ordinary glue-pot may be used. This has an outer and an inner vessel, as shown in the section In large workshops, where glue is used in quantity, and steam-pipes are laid on for heating purposes, a tank constructed as shown in Figs. 482 and 483 may be used. It is made of 1/4-in. plate iron or steel, with four holes Fig. in the top, large enough to accommodate buckets or specially made glue-pots; d is a steam-pipe carried nearly to the bottom of the tank, and e is an overflow pipe to carry away the waste water produced by the condensation of the steam. A small hole must be provided at or the overflow pipe will syphon all the water out of the tank. A draw-off tap at g facilitates cleaning out, or supplies hot water. When required for use, the tank is filled with water and the steam turned into it, which will cause the water to boil. If steam-pipes are not laid on, the gluetank may be constructed as shown in Fig. and heated with coal or waste wood.

Fig. 483.—Plan of Steam Glue Heater.

HOUSEHOLD

     For home use the glue may be melted in a cup or tin placed in a saucepan of boiling water. A serviceable glue-pot is made as follows: Get a cocoa or mustard tin, and pierce two holes in it opposite each other, about 1 in. from the top; get about 8 in. of tinned wire and run it through the holes, the wire resting on the edges of the saucepan. Another disused golden syrup tin, about 4 in. by 4 in., is very suitable for the outer pot, as it has a ring round the top, inside, about 3/8 in. wide, on which the flange of the inner pot may rest. In each side of this tin, about 1 in. from the top, pierce a hole, and bend a piece of iron wire into a half circle, place the two ends into the holes in the tin, as shown in Fig. and clinch them over inside. The inner pot may be made from a coffee tin, 3 in. in diameter by 6 in. deep. This, of course, is too deep, so, scribing a line right round the tin 3 in. from the bottom, cut from the top downwards a number of slits 3/4 in. apart to the line. Bend all these pieces of tin, except one on each side, at the line to right angles with the sides of the tin, thus forming a flange about 3 in. wide. Cut down this flange to about 1 in. wide, and the two upstanding pieces to 1 in. high, rounding at the top. In each of these two pieces pierce a hole, and get another piece of iron wire, bent as before, but slightly shorter; put each end through the holes, clinch over, and the pot is complete, the inner pot appearing something like Fig. Another 487 shows a 2-lb. syrup tin a condensed milk tin and pieces of wire and explains itself. If the water should boil over it cannot get into the glue, and, when using, the brush is wiped upon the wires and that does away with the accumulations of glue commonly seen on glue-pots. A different kind of inner pot is made as follows:—A 2 1/8-in. round hole is made in the lid of a 2-lb. syrup tin, and the ring thus made is put over the top of a 1/4-lb. round mustard tin, and soldered to it at the distance of 1/2 in. from the top of the tin. In running the solder round a small space may be missed to allow the steam to escape, or a hole may be made in a convenient place. The handle may be made by cutting off the screws of two screw-eyes, making holes in the sides of the syrup tin, and soldering them in. The lid of the mustard tin may be used to cover up the glue when not in use. Another a piece of suitable wire A and make three loops B at equal distances, according to the size of the vessel used. This is placed at a convenient height on the vessel so that it well clears the bottom of the vessel in which it is placed. A piece of wire E is then placed over the top, the two ends being bent down to come between the wire circle A and the inner vessel preferably between two loops as shown. All is then twisted up till it grips the vessel quite tightly. The vessel C is then placed in the outer vessel, and the loops are turned down equally on all three sides, thus keeping it firmly in the centre, the two ends being bent flat against the inner vessel to be out of the way and to prevent the inner vessel floating. Of course, the two ends could form the third loop if desired. The arrangement is made in a few minutes, and the inner vessel is not perforated at all. In the illustration one loop is not shown, it being at the back of vessel The wire E is for cleaning the brush, which may be put either in the centre or at one side.

Fig. 484.—Heating Arrangement for Glue Tank.

Fig. 485.

Fig. 486.

Figs. 485 and 486.—Household Glue-pot.

Fig. 487.—Household Glue-pot.

GLUE

     A glue brush can be bought for a few pence. If the hairs are too long the brush must be tied to make them shorter as far as their action is concerned. Start by placing the twine as in Fig. and then bind it tightly round the hair until the brush is sufficiently short; finish off by passing the end of the twine through the last two coils (see Fig. and drawing tight, and then turn back the loose ends and secure each of them with a tack (see Fig. to prevent the ends slipping down. The brush should not be put into glue until ready for use, and, when finished with, should be washed in hot water. The following is a method of keeping glue brushes in good condition. Fix a stout wire across the pot in one of the ways already described. By pressing the brush against the wire to free it from superfluous glue, the sides of the pot will always be clean, the glue will heat quicker, and no material will be wasted. It is a good plan to cut away one side of a small-sized screw-eye to transform it into a hook, and put it into the handle just below the ferrule, or about 2 in. from the bristles; the hook holds the brush on the wire clear off the bottom of the pot. A brush left to rest upon the bottom of the pot quickly becomes too crooked to use. Fig. 492 illustrates a brush that has been spoilt in this way. The bristles refuse to stand in the proper position, and it is useless for particular work. The following is a method of improving the brush, though a tool in such condition can never be made to work thoroughly well. First remove the glue by washing, then hold the bristles in very hot water for a few minutes and refill the brush again with glue; get a strip of old rag, and, holding the brush as shown in Fig. wind the material round the entire length of the hair, and secure the end by tying twine round tightly. The bristles will now stand erect, and the brush is put aside and the binding allowed to dry hard on it; in the course of a day or two the brush may be held in hot water and the binding peeled off. Once doing is not enough if the tool is in a very bad state, but after the same process has been repeated several times it is usually in good workable condition. Glue brushes are so cheap, however, that it is doubtful whether the result is worth the trouble. An effective glue brush can be made out of a piece of common cane, and the cane brush is preferred by many competent and practical workers to any other. Take a piece of rattan cane about 8 in. long, cut away the flinty skin for an inch or so at one end, soak this end in boiling water for a minute or two, and then hammer this till the fibres are softened and loosened, the only care required being not to cut them off while hammering (see Fig. Such a brush will last a long time—in fact, as long as there is any cane left from which to hammer out a fresh end.

Fig. 488.—Household Glue-pot.

METHOD OF

     Glue should be used as hot as possible and in a warm room. The pieces of wood to be joined should be warmed before being put together, and should be well fitted so as to get as little glue in the joint as possible; the glue should be well rubbed in with a brush or by rubbing the two pieces of wood together, and the joint should be made close by clamping, tying, or rubbing, so as to squeeze out all superfluous glue (see pp. 183 to When practicable, as it generally is, except in the case of large veneers, the glued pieces should be worked against each other with gradually increasing pressure, to expel any air between them, and to squeeze out as much of the glue as possible. On the extent to which this is managed much of the strength of the joint depends. The thinner the film of glue between the pieces, the more firmly will they adhere; nothing is gained by leaving a thick layer of glue. The quantity of glue in a joint should be so small that, if the two surfaces are true and bear uniformly on each other, its presence should be denoted only by the hair line which marks the joint. The joint should be made as quickly as possible, and after the pieces are fixed they should remain in a warm place for at least twelve hours. If a joint is broken after it has commenced to set, no amount of clamping will make a good job of it; the glue must all be cleaned off and the joint made again. When the wood is porous it will be of advantage to size the surface with some very weak glue. This will fill up the grain and prevent the glue from sinking into the wood when the joint is made, but let this size be quite dry before gluing, or the effect will be to cool and dilute the glue. The methods of gluing on veneers are described fully later. Great care should be taken that dust, grease, or oil does not get on the surfaces to be joined, or the glue will not hold. Some woods are, however, of a greasy nature. Take teak for instance; if the wood is not thoroughly dry the glue will not set on it, but will peel off. Wood of a greasy nature should not be used where glued joints are employed, or for veneering. A later chapter will deal comprehensively with gluing up joints, etc. (see pp. 183 to and p.

Fig. 489.

Fig. 490.

Fig. 491.

Figs. 489 to 491.—Shortening Hair of Glue Brush by Tying.

Fig. 492.—Glue Brush with Bent Hair.

LIQUID

     Liquid glues, such as Le Page’s and “Scoli,” have become popular. The advantages of these liquid glues are that they are always ready for use, requiring no heat, and that they do not spoil by being exposed to the air, though they then become thick, simply from the evaporation of moisture. The remedy, of course, if this happens, is to add a little more water, but in practice, with ordinary care, this is seldom requisite, and is not desirable. In very cold weather a little warmth is necessary, but if kept in a warm room or placed near a fire for a time, liquid glue is soon fit for use. As already stated, it is not applied hot. For work requiring a colourless or almost colourless glue it is unsurpassed, and as it does not set so quickly as the ordinary kind, it is well adapted for marquetry and inlaid work generally. When it does set it possesses great tenacity if properly used, that is, thinly applied and well rubbed in. Although it is not better than best quality animal glue employed under the most favourable conditions, it is certainly superior to ordinary common glue which has not been made, mixed, and used with skill and care. At first sight it may seem expensive, but as a little of it goes a long way, and as it does not waste by keeping, it will be found, when required for occasional use only, to cost in the end but little, if any, more than the usual kind.

Fig. 493.—Improving Glue Brush.

WATERPROOF

     A glue that is absolutely waterproof has yet to be discovered; and for the joints of work which are exposed to weather it is much better to use thick white-lead paint in place of glue. A damp-resisting glue may be made by soaking in water enough glue to make a pint when dissolved ready for use, and, after dissolving it as usual, but in as little water as possible, adding three tablespoonfuls of boiled linseed oil, keeping up the heat and constantly stirring the glue until the oil disappears, then adding and thoroughly incorporating a tablespoonful of whiting. Glue to which bichromate of potash has been added is, after exposure to strong light, rendered insoluble; and glue compounded with skim milk instead of water resists damp better than ordinary glue, but a joint made with it will not stand for long in a wet situation. There are ready-made waterproof glues on the market. One kind is sold in cone-shaped tins which have spring bottoms like those of small oilcans. The hole in the top of the cone, the exit for the glue, is stopped with a pin, whose head is soldered to the tin with soft composition, which can be easily removed with a knife, to allow of the withdrawal of the pin, which must be replaced as soon as sufficient glue has been pressed out of the tin. Thus the glue can be applied without heating and without using a brush. After the glue is set, it will bear prolonged exposure to damp, or actual immersion in water for a long period. It is economical, because it can be used without the slightest waste.

Fig. 494.—Cane Brush for Glue.

TIMBER:

ITS GROWTH, SEASONING, CONVERSION, SELECTION, AND VARIETIES.

     This chapter will deal comprehensively with timber, and is intended to supply just the information that will enable the handyman to select and purchase his material intelligently and profitably. The word timber is derived from a Teutonic root meaning “to build.” Timber, therefore, is wood for constructional and general building purposes.

DIVISIONS OF

     There are two great divisions of plants—flowering and non-flowering. Flowering plants are sub-divided into outward- and inward-growing plants. Outward-growing plants increase in bulk by outward additions—that is, by additions on the inner side of the bark, but outside and above the wood already formed. In inward-growing plants the addition of new matter takes place towards the centre of the stem. A cross-section of an exogenous or outward-growing plant shows the additions as concentric layers or “annual rings,” each ring being popularly supposed to represent a year’s growth. It is from trees of this type that the varieties of timber in general use are obtained. A similar examination of an endogenous or inward-growing plant, however, does not reveal a corresponding indication of growth, the bamboo, sugar cane, and palm being examples. It is evident, then, that for timber trees attention may be confined to the exogenous subdivision of the phanerogamous or flowering plants.

ORGANS OF

     The organs engaged in the maintenance of the tree are the root, the stem or trunk, the branches (which are merely continuations of the stem or trunk), and the leaves; these are termed vegetative organs. The organs concerned in the reproduction of the tree are the flowers and the fruit. The vegetative organs may be classed in two sets—one being the roots, and the other consisting of stem or trunk, branches, and leaves. All these organs, and indeed each part of every plant, are composed of minute bodies termed cells. A cell is simply an enclosed space, but its contents are of importance, the cell being a mere chamber in which the operation of growth is carried on. On microscopical examination a single cell is found to be merely a little bladder or sac, round or oval in shape. The walls are composed of cellulose a porous substance of which cottonwool or pure blotting paper are familiar examples. The contents of living cells consist mainly of a jelly-like substance called protoplasm, which is the really living substance of a plant. A collection of cells united together is called a tissue.

TREE

     Outward-growing trees have three kind of tissue (cellular, woody, and vascular). Cellular tissue is composed of cells packed together and adhering in masses. In microscopical examination they present, in cross-section, a network of polygonal figures. Pores in the wall form the only communication between the cells. This tissue is very brittle, and possesses little or no cohesion. Woody tissue is composed of bundles of slender, transparent fibres or tubes, tapering to each end, and generally understood to be merely long, compressed cells, communication being by invisible pores. This tissue possesses great strength and tenacity. Vascular tissue consists of small tubes or canals which transmit fluids necessary for the nourishment and growth of the plant. They are formed by the junction of cells with their ends opening into each other. When a fibre is coiled spirally on the inside of the walls, these tubes are termed spiral vessels. If the interior of the tubes be marked by separate rings of fibre, or present a dotted or netted appearance, the vessel is termed a duct. If a spiral vessel be stretched, and then suddenly released, the vessel will be sufficiently elastic to return to its former condition. A duct, on the other hand, would rupture. Spiral vessels are situated chiefly in the medullary sheath (to be explained later on) and sometimes in the roots.

Fig. 495.—Cross-section of Oak.

TREE

     The stem or trunk is the source of the greater quantity of useful timber. For the purpose of clearly seeing the various parts without microscopical aid, the cross-section of the oak (see Fig. is selected. There are five parts to be considered—the pith formed of cellular tissue, is in the centre, and in the very early stage the whole process of growth is carried on in the pith until transferred to the annual rings. The pith ultimately shrivels up and dies. The medullary rays M are the thin white lines or radii which pierce the annual rings, and are composed of cellular tissue in the form of thin, hard, vertical plates, termed by carpenters the “silver grain.” The annual rings A are circular layers of formed wood, composed of woody and vascular tissue intermingled. These rings change colour a few years after being deposited, the altered wood being termed the heart wood. A complete annual ring of formed wood consists of one light and one dark layer, these being formed during spring and autumn respectively. The cells of the autumn layer are thicker walled and more compactly deposited than those of the spring layer. In tropical climates a year’s growth cannot be exactly determined. The sapwood S is on the inner side of the bark and outside the heartwood. It is the last-formed layer of wood, and is generally light in colour, and the watery sap is supposed to ascend the tree chiefly through it. The bark B is the outer covering or skin of the tree, and really consists of two parts—the outer part, which is a layer of cellular tissue, and the inner part, which consists of woody and vascular tissue. It is generally understood that the sap, after being purified, descends the tree between the liber or inner bark and-the alburnum or sapwood. A new ring of bark is formed every year, but it is not distinguishable like a new annual ring. The old bark stretches to allow of the addition of the new material; but, when the limit to this stretching is passed, the old bark divides in clefts or fissures, peels off in plates, or tears in ribands.

EARLY OF

     In the shoot arising from the seed there is nothing but pith, a circular mass of cellular tissue, surrounded by a thin bark, as shown by Fig. In a few weeks a woody ring is interposed between the pith and the bark. This ring is composed of bundles, wedge-shaped in cross-section and composed of distinctive layers. The original constituent is the thin cambium layer c, the cells of which enlarge, divide, and sub-divide under the influence of heat and nutriment. It is by this property that a new ring is added to the tree every year. Above this layer is the liber layer and below, lying next the pith or centre of the tree, is the formed wood The first-formed layer of the woody ring is of vascular tissue, which envelops the pith, and is termed the “medullary sheath.” On its outer side wood is deposited, consisting of woody and vascular tissue intermingled. The ring, being in sections, is not complete, thus forming the medullary rays. In Fig. 498 is seen the white cellular mass of the pith P crushed by the deposit of bundles of the woody ring V into thin white strips; these strips are the medullary rays Eventually each new woody ring becomes an “annual ring,” the ring of bark is added to, the medullary rays are extended, and the plant is developed generally. One part, however, the medullary sheath, is an exception to this development, since no similar formation occurs in the further growth of the tree.

Fig. 496.—Cross-section of Shoot.

Fig. 497.—Cross-section of Bundle in Woody Ring.

PLANT

     From the soil the root and its offshoots absorb sap, which ascends the tree until it reaches the leaves. This motion may be said to be caused chiefly by heat, since this increases the flow, while cold diminishes it. Thus the flow is rapid in spring, still more so in summer, while it gradually diminishes in autumn, and almost ceases in winter. Generally speaking, plants live on inorganic food alone. (Trees, of course, are only large plants.) The few exceptions are parasites, as, for example, the fungi that grow upon trees. The inorganic food comes partly from the soil and partly from the air. The soil food is absorbed into the tree through the roots as an exceedingly dilute solution of inorganic salts, not unlike ordinary drinking water, called the sap. The foods obtained from the air are gases, and consist principally of combined carbon and oxygen—carbon dioxide. This gas is taken in by the leaves and other green parts of the plant. As regards soil foods, the following are essential to almost every plant—hydrogen, oxygen, potassium, sodium, chlorine, calcium, sulphur, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron. If one or more of these be missing, the seedling does not thrive—the absence of iron, for instance, would soon be apparent by the white leaves, normally green, and so on; yet the soil food finally forms but a small proportion of the solid portions of the plant. In a piece of wood, for example, the solid material procured from the soil is represented by the fine white ashes left behind when the wood is burnt, and similarly with all other vegetable matter. The great bulk of every plant, and practically all wood substance, is made from materials which are obtained from the air, and which in burning are returned to the air. Only liquid matter can be taken up by the roots, for under greatest magnification they do not exhibit pores. The root ends of most timber trees are provided with a protecting layer or shield of firm cells, technically known as the root cap. Fig. 499 shows the section end of a young root split down lengthwise. The rootcap A to B is advanced very slowly and with many convolutions through the soil by the formation of new cells at the point The soil substances are made soluble by the action of rainwater, and by sulphuric, nitric, and other acids, which are constantly forming in the air and in the soil, and by the acid sap excreted by the roots themselves, this excretion being merely a local affair, and having nothing to do with the supposed “coming down” of the sap in winter. The absorption of the soluble matter is practically continuous throughout the life of any plant, whether annual or perennial, deciduous or evergreen. In the dormant winter period movement in the sap is scarcely, if at all, perceptible, but there are times when the sap travels upwards many feet in a day (Sachs observed particles of water [sap] rising in wood in the summer time for a distance of one metre [say, about 3 ft. 3 in.], or even more than that, in less than an hour); but there is no emission of “large quantities of sap” by the roots, during the autumn or winter, as is often supposed. The young leaves of a tree are not formed from or by the sap brought directly from the soil, and for a long time, at the beginning of each growing season, the food materials stored in the twigs, branches, stem, etc. (at the close of the previous year), are sufficient to meet the demands of all new growth.

Fig. 498.—Section of Woody Ring.

Fig. 499.—Tree Rootlet.

CRUDE IN

     The crude sap in its upward course passes through the sapwood, or alburnum, of the tree (see Figs. 500 and G Assuming that the appearance of the leaves may be taken as a gauge of interference with the sap current, then several interesting experiments are possible in demonstrating what is the upward path of the sap. (1) If a deep girdle of the bark is removed from a tree as at A the leaves are unaffected, and the tree will continue to grow for a number of years. The bark, therefore, is not essential in the upward flow. (2) If a section of the heartwood of such a girdled tree is taken away, the leaves are still unaffected, and the tree continues to grow. (3) If the outside of the exposed sapwood in such a tree is carefully scraped so that no remains of the cambium can possibly be present, it still grows. (4) If a young elder shoot, say two or three years old, is girdled as at A and a long section of the pith removed, the leaves still flourish. Clearly, then, these four elements, the bark, the cambium, the heartwood, and the pith, are not essential to the ascent of the sap. On the other hand, if a girdle of the sapwood, as well as of the bark, be removed, as shown at C, D, E in Fig. then the leaves wither and the tree shortly dies. It is proved then that the crude sap, in its upward course, passes through the sapwood, or alburnum, of the tree. Further, a series of experiments, conducted in 1879, go to prove that the ascending current is not only confined to the sapwood, but that it is the spring portion only of the annual rings of the sapwood that is instrumental in conveying the sap, and that in many trees the current, in all probability, ascends in the form of so many isolated tubular layers of liquid, each layer quite disconnected from adjoining layers, internally and externally.

Fig. 500. Tree with Girdle of Bark Removed.

Fig. 501. Tree with Girdle of Sap wood and Bark Removed.

CHEMICAL IN

     The crude sap taken in at the roots travels upwards undiminished through the stem and branches to the leaves. Entering the leaf-stalk by very minute channels, it is spread out and dispersed through the green layers of cells that lie just underneath the top surface of the leaf. Here, under the action of light and warmth, the bulk of the water is evaporated, and the dissolved nutrient salts remain behind to become the constituents of various compounds useful in the life of the plant. The water set free in the leaf emerges in a gaseous state from the under side, passing out through the millions of trap-doors (these are known as stomata) that are dotted all over its surface. At the same time other changes, no less important, are going on in respect to the gases imbibed from the air. The atoms of carbon dioxide are drawn into the working chambers (palisade cells) of the leaf, where the carbon is retained and united with the substances brought from the soil; while the oxygen is allowed to escape into the air again. All day long, and even far into the night, the leaf cells are receiving and transforming crude materials, the manufactured food comprising the returning current of sap.

CIRCULATION OF

     In the same way that the crude sap was distributed, the elaborated article is collected again, but by another set of channels, this time of a looser, less woody character than those which served on its upward journey. The current, too, is no longer mobile, but is sluggish and heavy. Presently, however, it emerges into the trunk on its return journey, and proceeds up and down as required. This substance builds up all permanent parts of the stem, branches, roots, and all parts not completed out of the reserves of the previous year. But the translocation of new food in an upward direction is comparatively rare, and is confined principally to the extremities of branches and twigs. In the trunk, by virtue of its position, the current is invariably downwards. In the case of a tree having a section of bark removed in springtime by way of experiment, as at A no new wood is put on below the points B but all the upper parts of the trunk, and all the branches, are covered with a layer of new wood as usual. Where new shoots grow out of tree-stumps their substance is at first drawn entirely from reserves of food laid up in the stump, the protoplasm of the merismatic cells still being alive, and capable of dividing. Afterwards their own leaves afford the necessary nourishment. Merismatic cells are those that divide by the formation of internal partitions. Neither pith, sapwood, nor heartwood takes part in conveying the downward current of sap; trees having no heartwood—hollow at the centre—continue to put on new rings of wood from year to year and exhibit generally all the signs of a healthy life. The bark only is the downward conducting layer, and it has inner layers, commonly known as the liber, which are very fully equipped with peculiar vessels or tubes extending for long distances up and down the tree. These are called sieve-tubes, because of the little disc-like gratings that occur at intervals in their length. A good deal of the food (elaborated sap) passes down through these tubes, which have charge of the nitrogenous substances. The rest of the food travels by way of the adjoining parenchymatous tissue. From these it is further conveyed and distributed radially by means of the medullary rays, and utilised by the rays themselves or else stored in the wood. Where masses of parenchyma lie close together, the sap is able to pass tangentially from point to point, as well as up or down. Indeed, the parenchymatous tissue of the bark, of the medullary rays, and of the wood all over the plant, is in such intimate and continuous connection that unlimited facilities are afforded for the transit or storage of food material.

THE

     Perhaps no part of the plant is less understood generally than the cambium, and, yet no other part, except the flower or fruit, is of so much importance. It is situated just inside the bark, exactly where the wood finishes and the bark begins, and it follows the course of every branch and twig, and completely covers the tree like a huge many-pointed glove. This cambium is the great building layer from which is evolved the whole mass of wood and bark. It consists essentially of a single layer of cells that contain living, working protoplasm; but as a matter of fact the protoplasm rarely is confined to a single layer, but extends for a variable distance on each side of what may be termed the centre or plane of vitality. The protoplasm of the cambium is capable of dividing up and making new cells indefinitely out of the food substances brought to it. On each side of the actively dividing layer are to be found various types of cells in all stages of completion; those external to it become modified into the soft fibrous elements of the bark, while those on its inside develop in time into the hard lignified substance known as wood. During the growing period the position of the cambium is changed almost from day to day, and at such times it is constantly withdrawing into the more newly created cells. The range of the protoplasm on each side of the plane of activity varies from about two or three to six cells, the outermost of which—that is, those farthest away from the active layer, whether in the wood or in the bark—are nearing completion. From finished cells (except in parenchymatous tissue) the protoplasm is withdrawn altogether. Probably the food required is fed to the cambium by gentle lateral diffusion.

DIFFERENCE AND

     With respect to the difference in the character of the spring- and summer-wood portions of the annual ring, a general notion exists (and some authorities state) that the pressure of the bark due to the increasing diameter of the tree is responsible for this difference. Pressure of the bark undoubtedly exists, but this appears quite insufficient to explain the simple differences seen in conifer woods, to say nothing of the immense structural differences that appear in all ring-porous woods.

FELLING

     The growth and structure of the tree from the botanist’s standpoint having been discussed in sufficient detail, the more practical matters of felling and seasoning timber may now be dealt with. Timber is the term applied to the body, stem, or trunk of a tree. The best time for felling trees is when maturity is reached, and when they contain the least sap. The forester generally judges whether the tree is mature by the appearance of the foliage, the size of the tree, and other outward indications. If felling is delayed beyond the stage of maturity, the material deteriorates, becoming brittle and unyielding, whilst if the trees are cut very young the greater part is sapwood, and thus not at all durable as timber. The period at which each kind of timber tree attains maturity differs considerably; thus the oak may be perfect at any time between sixty and a hundred years, whilst the spruce and pine are generally cut between seventy and eighty years. It unfortunately happens, however, that the trees are cut as soon as they are a moderate size, without regard to age; this is the fault of most timber that now reaches the English ports. The sapwood, generally speaking, is very easily detected; in the case of deal it is often a blue colour, whilst that of oak is a dirty white. Midwinter is considered usually the most suitable period of the year for felling, and then there is hardly any flow of sap. If the tree is felled when the sap is flowing, the cells in course of formation are not sufficiently developed, or are not strong enough to resist decay. Autumn also is recommended, providing the sap is hardly circulating. Midsummer is also recommended, on the argument that when the leaves are fully expanded the sap has ceased to flow, and the extraneous vegetable matter intended for the leaves has been expelled from the trunk by the common sap, leaving it free from that germinative principle which is readily excited by heat and moisture, and which, if the timber were cut while it remained, would subject it to rapid decay and to the ravages of worms. Perhaps the real reason why midsummer is a suitable time for felling trees is because the sap vessels are then in full activity, and the moisture of the tree is readily evaporated by the foliage, while the sap escapes from the wounds. As little sap as possible is wanted in the timber, and some persons are of opinion that in order to harden the sapwood the bark should be taken off in the spring before felling. The methods employed in felling trees vary according to circumstances. In ordinary cases, however, the trunk is severed close to the root, and then thrown or pulled down by means of ropes and other suitable apparatus. When special methods have to be adopted, they are usually modifications of this method. After the tree has been felled it is stripped of its branches and other appendages. By means of an adze the bark is chipped off until the trunk is converted roughly from a circular form to one square in cross-section, when it becomes a log.

Fig. 502.—Log Cut “On the Quarter.”

SEASONING

     Trees, when first cut down, are, of course unfit for immediate use. The timber is then full of the juices popularly known as sap, and the object of seasoning is to get rid of this sap. When properly carried out, seasoning adds considerably to the strength of timber; in fact, it has been proved by experiment that if two pieces of equal size are cut from a green log, and one is broken at once and the other after being seasoned, the latter will bear twice as much weight before it breaks as the former. The so-called natural method of seasoning consists in stacking the timber in suitable piles and allowing the sap to dry up of its own accord. The timber, after felling, is placed in a dry position, so that the air may circulate freely round it. It should not be placed in the sun or wind, or it will crack and warp very much in drying. If the timber is roughly squared with the adze or axe, it will not split so much as if it were left in the round. If the trees are large, they may with advantage be cut “on the quarter,” as in Fig. after a period of drying in the whole state. A good plan is to set the timber upright, when it will dry much more rapidly. After remaining in the “quartered” state some time, it may be cut up into the desired size. The boards, as now cut, will require careful attention before being in a fit state to use. They should be placed in drying-sheds, with the ends open to the air, avoiding, if possible, positions in which the wind will act directly upon them. The floor should be of some hard material, such as cement, and should be kept perfectly dry. Bearers about 4 ft. apart must be placed horizontally between the uprights, leaving a space between equal to the width of the boards The boards are placed on edge with strips between them, a nail being driven into the top of each strip, as shown in Fig. to prevent its falling downwards. An alternative arrangement is to place the boards one upon the other, with strips between the boards, taking care to place the strips one exactly over the other, as Fig. The loss in conversion—that is when the wood is finally cut up for use—will greatly depend upon the method of stacking the logs and planks. Different varieties of timber require different methods of stacking. Some woods take much longer to season than others, and the loss by shrinkage is subject to a like variation. Stacks of timber should never be based directly on the soil; the seasoning yard should be paved, or at least covered with a thick layer of ashes.

Fig. 503.—Timber Stacked on Edge.

Fig. 504.—Strip with Nail, to go between Boards.

LOSS OF IN

     The trunk of a tree freshly cut down contains 50 per cent. by weight of water. The sapwood contains more than this percentage, the heartwood less. When the trunk is allowed to remain out of doors, more than half of this water will evaporate in the first few months; if the trunk is sawn into planks and stacked in an open yard, the water will be further reduced to 12 to 15 per cent. of the total weight; if it is taken into an ordinary living-room, the amount of water in it will be brought down to 8 to 10 per cent.; if it is put into a drying kiln having a temperature of from 150° to 180° F., only 2 to 4 per cent. of water will be left; but though the temperature is raised to 300° F. (when chemical destruction begins to set in), water will still be given off. Immediately wood is taken out of a kiln of this description it begins to absorb moisture again. In a week it will have regained 5 to 6 per cent. moisture; in a month or so its condition, if kept out of doors, will be normal again (that is, 12 per cent. of the whole weight will be due to moisture).

STACKING FOR

     The stacking of deal to season is usually done in the following way: A layer of planks is put on rough sleepers, the pieces being placed about 3 in. apart for 7-in. battens, and others in proportion. The succeeding layer is arranged so that each plank rests its edges on the edges of two planks of the first layer, and covers the space between them. The third layer is placed exactly like the first, and the fourth like the second, and so on in alternate series until the whole have been stacked. By this arrangement the air is allowed to circulate through the stack. To prevent the penetration of rain, the planks of the topmost layer are put close together and tilted up at one end by means of a plank standing on edge beneath them. Fig. 506 shows the arrangement of a stack of deals. If possible, the planks forming the roof should overlap by a foot or so those below. From eighteen months to two years is generally long enough for deal to be stored for outside work, and after that time the stacks should be carefully watched for signs of decay. Rot may be detected by the ends of the pieces showing a number of small red spots, or having the appearance of being dusted with flour. Sometimes (especially if the stacks have been laid on the bare ground) a fungoid growth will spread in fan-shaped layers of about the thickness of paper over the timber. Directly rot makes its appearance the stack should be pulled to pieces and each plank exposed to the air, and the wood should be used up without delay. Deals of inferior quality often show signs of decay at the edges in less than twelve months. When deal is required in the form of boards, the planks are cut up as economically as possible, and the resulting pieces are stacked in perches to season. Figs. 507 and 508 give two views of a perch for stacking boards. The pieces are put in alternately, one on each side, thus providing for a free circulation of air around each board. Some dealers stack the boards on each side alternately in pairs, thus keeping the inner faces of each pair cleaner for planing up than when both sides are fully exposed. Boards cut from battens will generally clean up to 6 3/4 in. wide when seasoned; those from 9-in. deals to 8 3/4 in., and those from 11-in. to 10 3/8 in. White deal shrinks a little less than yellow in seasoning, but, besides being more liable to the attacks of rot, it shows a greater tendency to split and warp.1sa

Fig. 505.—Timber Stacked on the Flat.

Fig. 506.—Stack of Deals for Seasoning.

Fig. 507.—Perch for Seasoning Short Boards,

SEASONING

     Hardwoods require a much longer period to season than deal. Country timber merchants keep English hardwoods in the round for from one to three years after cutting down, and then saw them into planks of marketable thickness. These are stacked one on the other, with strips between them, the outside rounded pieces being put at the top to guard against the weather. The stacks are made in the open yard, and are left for a period varying from two to seven years, according to the size and class of material. This method, though effective, is rather wasteful, the exposure to sun and wind resulting in the formation of weather or surface shakes, which have to be removed when the timber is converted, and often involve a loss of 1/2 in. or more from the surface of the board. The ends of the planks most exposed to sun and wind are liable to split. To prevent this, some timber dealers nail pieces of wood across the ends of the planks, or at any rate at the ends of those that have begun to split. This, however, is a very bad practice, for the nails on the outside edges of the plank prevent shrinking inwards, and keep the split open, the wood shrinking outwards on each side of it; and as an oak plank will sometimes shrink 3/4 in. in seasoning, the split will open to that extent. A glance at Fig. 509 will help to explain this. A better plan is to give the ends of the planks a thick coating of paint, which will do much to prevent splitting. Young timber is more liable to fly when exposed than old. The best results with hardwoods are obtained when the seasoning is accomplished under shelter in a suitable drying shed, the only really essential conditions of which are—the provision of a weatherproof roof, protection from sun and high winds, a paved flooring, and free exposure to the air for each piece of timber to be seasoned. Fig. 510 shows a section through a timber-seasoning shed. It will be seen that the sides are made up of a wooden framework which is filled in with louvres.

Fig. 508.—End View of Perch Board.

SEASONING

     Pine, mahogany, walnut, and other fancy woods should always be seasoned in a dry place. The first is liable to decay if exposed, and the others to become weather-stained. Sycamore, maple, and other white woods are often spoilt for polished work by being weather-stained with dark marks across each board where the strips have been placed for seasoning. Sycamore being a very delicate wood, it is a good plan to stack panels of this material on their edges, the strips between them being vertical; as when stacked one on the other, with strips between to season, the moisture from the sap is often sufficient—even in a dry shed—to produce dark bars across the boards at the strips. White woods should not be stacked with oak strips, as the gallic acid in that wood will combine with the sap from the pieces being seasoned, and produce weather-stains. Water charged with lime—such as limewash—leaves on mahogany a stain of a deep port-wine colour.

Fig. 509.—Strip nailed to Plank End.

Fig. 510.—Section through Timber-seasoning Shed.

TIME FOR

     The following table has been compiled from practical observation by Mr. Laslett, and gives approximate times in months required for seasoning:—

Planks require from half to two-thirds the above times, according to their thickness. This table has been largely quoted, but from independent observation it is thought that the time given is insufficient, unless the pieces are cut from fairly dry logs. Oak planks 4 in. thick require from three to four years in the drying shed before they are fit for joiner’s work; and. even then, if cut into smaller pieces, exposing a fresh surface to the air, the timber will shrink still further. All kinds of timber improve by being seasoned slowly; for this reason the place of storage should be cool, with just light enough for convenient handling. Galvanised iron roofs are not suitable for timber-storing sheds, as they become very hot in summer; but, on the other hand, when elevated on poles without sides or ends—with the exception of a few rough boards in the most exposed positions—simply to form a shelter, such roofs soon repay their cost.

Fig. 511.—Splitting of Log whilst Drying.

SUSCEPTIBILITY OF

     There is a general impression that timber cannot be used too dry, and that the longer it is kept the better it will be when worked. This is a delusion. Timber should be used as soon as it is thoroughly seasoned, because from that moment it begins to deteriorate. There is, of course, a point at which seasoned timber ceases to shrink any further; and when this point has been reached the wood will expand and contract with every change of temperature, and more especially with the alternations of dampness and dryness of the atmosphere. This susceptibility is utilised in the workshop; in bending panels to fit curves, for instance, one side of the board is damped and the other warmed, with the result that the damp side swells with the moisture while the other side contracts, causing the panel to bend to the required curve. Timber should never be seasoned in a warmer or drier place than that which it is destined to occupy in actual work; otherwise the expansibility of the material (unless, indeed, it has been duly provided for in planning the work) will probably lead to disaster. For instance, if a panelled door is made in hot weather, the panels being fitted in tightly, and then exposed to the weather, the panels will expand with the wet, and buckle, or will break the joints of the door. Supposing the panel to be 1 ft. long and 1/2 in. thick; if the panel expands 1/20 in. the pressure on the framing will be 30 cwt. Another familiar example is a clamped board, which, if made of very dry timber, and put in a damp place, will swell beyond the clamps at each end. Some woods, it is well known, are much more sensitive than others to atmospheric changes. While, for instance, seasoned teak undergoes very little change, American pine expands and contracts considerably.

Fig. 512.—Warped Planks.

SHRINKAGE IN

     When logs are cut into planks for seasoning, the loss by shrinkage need be considered only so far as regards the final thickness, and an allowance of 1/4 in. on thin and 3/8 in. on thick planks will usually be found sufficient; but when logs are cut into scantling that must finish to a given size, the allowance to be made becomes a subject for careful calculation. Planks cut from the same tree always vary in the amount of loss by shrinkage. Some lose more in thickness than others. In others, again, the loss will be principally in width. In shrinking, timber always follows a certain regular course, a glance at which will now be necessary to a clear understanding of the notes that follow. The shrinkage always takes a circular direction around the tree; thus, if a log is left in the round to dry, the fibres of the outer rings will contract together, and clefts will open (see Fig. to admit of this contraction. Or, take a log that has been cut into planks and stacked for seasoning; when dry, the planks will have the appearance shown at Fig. 512 (where, of course, the shrinkage is exaggerated). Fig. 513 shows a piece of American oak that was kept seasoning for seven years. It was originally cut square, but the shrinkage naturally took a direction parallel with the annual rings, and the plank contracted to the shape shown. Fig. 514 shows another plank from the same stack. In this the shrinkage, taking place in the same direction, has caused the timber to warp 3/4 in. From these examples it may be gathered that in cutting scantling no fixed rules can be laid down governing the allowance to be made in order that it may measure a given size after shrinking, since the allowance must differ for each piece. For instance, in Fig. 515 the plank A will shrink in thickness; B will shrink diagonally, and be out of square when seasoned; while C will contract in width, and warp as shown by the inner line. In cutting up logs for seasoning, the heart of the tree should always, when possible, be cut through, because when a piece of wood has the heart left in, the sides are liable to split in seasoning, as shown in Fig. The heart is also—with the exception of the sapwood—the first portion of the tree to decay. When a piece of scantling is required to be of such dimensions that it cannot be obtained without including the heart of the tree in its centre, the log, as some authorities recommend, is split down with the saw, and the two halves are turned over and bolted together again, so that the heart may be fully exposed to the air. It has been already noted that in shrinking some woods lose more than others. Of the timber in general use, probably teak shrinks the least and oak the most. Of the varieties of oak, the American oak shrinks the most, English oak the next, and Stettin oak the least. The following notes will give some idea of the relative losses of these three varieties after being stacked for seven years, the pieces of scantling forming the stack being cut originally to 11 1/4 in. wide by 4 3/4 in. thick. American oak (the worst pieces), 10 5/8 in. by 4 1/2 in.; English oak, 10 3/4 in. by 4 1/2 in.; Stettin oak, 10 7/8 in. full by 4 5/8 in. In the same stack the English oak showed the greatest propensity for splitting, the American for warping and twisting, while the Stettin was the soundest of all. In seasoning, timber loses a little of its length; but this is of no consequence, the loss being practically covered by the allowance of a few inches for the dirty and shaky ends that it is usually necessary to cut off from planks taken from the seasoning stack. There is also a slight shrinkage radially from the centre to the outside, but, as has been shown, the shrinkage takes place principally in the circumference of the annual rings.

Fig. 513.—Section of Distorted Plank.

Fig. 514.—Section of Distorted Plank.

Fig. 515.—Diagram showing Shrinkage of Timber.

Fig. 516.—Log Split during Seasoning.

Fig. 517.—Position of Cut for Figured Board.

SEASONING AND

     In seasoning oak timber, the best material is the most liable to split, the soft spongy kinds being remarkably free from this fault. Planks cut from young trees of either oak or ash are the better for being kept in a cool dark place, one on the other, without strips, for some time before being stacked, as they are very liable to split if exposed. In stacking elm, the strips, if used at all, should be thin and close together, as this wood twists and buckles a great deal in seasoning. The tendency with elm is to dry it too much. When this wood is over-seasoned it loses its strength and turns to a dirty grey colour, and if, when in this condition, it be exposed to wet, it will soon rot.

ARTIFICIAL

     In the artificial seasoning processes the sap is dried up, either by keeping the logs in a heated room, burying them in hot sand, or forcing steam through the pores of the wood. In artificial drying, temperatures of 150° F. to 180° F. are usually employed, the wood being enclosed in specially constructed chambers in which a current of air is kept circulating by means of a blower fan. In this way pine and spruce lumber can be dried fresh from the saw, and is ready for use after allowing about four days per inch of thickness. But oak and other hardwoods should first be air-seasoned for about six months, or there will be “case-hardening” and “checking.” Hardwood planks are kept in the kiln for six to ten days per inch of thickness, and are ready for use immediately on withdrawal. Other processes have been invented from time to time, such as extracting the sap by suction and substituting other matter; but such methods, however efficient they might prove as substitutes for the natural method, are not likely to come into general use while the expense of handling remains greater than the cost of storing and keeping to season naturally. The great objection to artificially seasoned wood is the drying. Dried timber is inferior to naturally seasoned timber, as the drying process seems to take all the nature out of the wood, so that in working it the shavings break away in short pieces, and fine dust rises from the saw and other tools. This defect is known as “sleepiness.” Dried timber, moreover, is always deficient in weight; it follows, therefore, that weighing affords a ready means of testing quality. Artificial seasoning spoils the brightness of the wood, and is by many thought to often impair its durability as well as its elasticity.

WARPING OF

     The evil effects of using unseasoned timber are to be seen almost everywhere in the form of badly fitting doors and windows, floors with joints large enough for articles to fall through, cracked plaster, and many other defects. The cause of timber shrinking is, of course, the gradual drying up of the sap or moisture that fills its cells. The warping is caused by irregular drying. The heartwood, being harder, shrinks less than the sapwood, and as a result boards cut as Fig. 514 will always assume the form shown. A board that is apparently dry curls up if placed close to a wall or flat upon the bench after planing. This may generally, however, be corrected by damping the hollow side and placing the board in the sun or before a fire, the “rounding side” being exposed to the warmth. In the case of mahogany, etc., the “hollow side” should be well damped, to stretch the fibres, and afterwards placed under pressure until dry. If very badly twisted, the board should be sawn down and jointed up with glue, to bring it back to its original state. When a thick board is twisted, or, to use a shop term, is “in winding,” it is necessary to plane it true, or “take it out of winding,” which process of course involves a loss of time and labour.

SECOND

     Many woods require a second seasoning after they have been worked, and articles of joinery should be left some time to season before they are wedged up and finished. A board that appears to be thoroughly seasoned will often warp again when the surface has been dressed with the plane. However thoroughly a piece of timber may be seasoned, it will surely shrink more or less when cut down to a smaller size; and whatever preliminary seasoning timber may have had, it should be reduced to something near the size it is intended to remain and then seasoned further. In constructive woodwork, the fact should always be taken into account that wood, however dry, is subject to this change. Patternmakers find that well-seasoned wood varies at the rate of one-tenth of an inch to the foot in width between the temperature of the pattern shop and that of the foundry. The best, cheapest, and most effective way to overcome this difficulty is by a framed construction using the wood lengthwise of the grain to keep the essential sizes or outline of the pattern, and leaving open joints so as to allow the wood freedom to expand or contract across the grain, and yet not affect the essential sizes.

FIGURE AND

     Figure is a source of great annoyance to the worker who has not sufficient skill, or the proper tools, to clean up a “flowery” piece of wood without tearing up the grain. In some cases the logs are cut to show as much of the figure as possible, and the resulting boards are named and priced by the timber merchant accordingly. Figured oak is an example of this. It will be found that on the end of an oak log there is a series of circles, commencing at the centre and getting larger to the outside. These are called the annual rings, because one is added to the tree every year. The medullary rays, the lines radiating like a star from the centre to the outside, produce the figure, or silver grain as it is sometimes termed. To produce figured boards, the timber is cut slanting across the medullary rays as shown at A p. A number of cabinet-making woods, such as mahogany, walnut, maple, ash, etc., are named and valued according to the figuring upon them, produced sometimes by knots, sometimes by wavy or cross grain, and sometimes, as already stated, by the manner of cutting. In Fig. the grain is shown as straight lines, a result of cutting through the annual rings; but in Fig. 519 there is a figure, pairs of lines in the grain being shown converging to points. This is a common circumstance, these conical terminations determining the length of certain of the annual rings in that particular board. This will be understood when it is remembered that the trunk of a tree tapers from the root upward, and that the annual rings increase in length until the maximum height of the tree is reached. If the annual rings are closely deposited the wood is termed “close-grained,” while widely deposited rings produce an open grain. The medullary rays aid greatly in securing a grain of fine figure, as with the “silver grain” of oak. They are also well marked in beech, such as is used for planes.

Fig. 518.—Straight Grain.

Fig. 519.—Longitudinal Section through Annual Rings.

Fig. 520.—Methods of Converting Timber.

WAINSCOT

     Oak boards and planks that show prominently a good silver-grain figure are spoken of as wainscot stuff. The term is not now, as was formerly the case, restricted to the oak brought from any particular country. Russian wainscot, Austrian wainscot, English wainscot, and American wainscot are the principal kinds now in the market. Russian wainscot oak is brought over in flitches, Austrian stuff principally in plank form. English wainscot also is mostly in plank, and American rift-sawn or quarter-sawn oak, as it is called, in plank and in board. To obtain the figure it is necessary that the faces of the planks and the boards coincide, as near as may be, with the direction of the medullary rays; the more nearly they do this, the higher is the class of wainscot produced (see Fig. p.

Fig. 521.—Methods of Converting Timber.

TERMS TO OF

     Timber may be sawn into planks, boards, deals, battens, and scantlings. These terms are by no means very definitely applied. A plank, however, is generally of the same breadth as a board, but greater in thickness. A board is thinner, but wider than a deal, which, again, may be thicker than a plank. Battens are less both in breadth and thickness than deals, while scantling is simply a name given to miscellaneous smaller pieces of timber. According to one system, the sizes of these are as follow: The log is the name by which the tree is known after felling. Balk is the tree roughly squared. Plank is sawn timber, 11 in. or more in width, and from 2 in. to 6 in. thick. Deal is 9 in. wide, and not more than 4 in. thick. Batten is 7 in. wide, and not more than 3 in. thick. Board is any width, and not more than 2 in. thick. Quartering is the term applied to small sawn stuff, such as 3 in. by 2 in., 4 in. by 2 in., etc. The name does not apply to stuff above 4 1/2 in. wide. Stuff is a general term, applied to any sawn timber. In Quebec the following classification of planks, deals, and battens is observed: Planks, 11 in. by 2 in., or 11 in. by 1 1/2 in.; deals, 9 in. by 3 in., or 9 in. by 2 in.; and battens, 7 in. by 3 in., or 7 in. by 2 in.

Fig. 522.—Method of Converting Timber.

CONVERTING OR

     Logs may be sawn in two ways: first, as indicated by the lines A B and C and secondly as shown by the line E F The lines A B and C D may be tangent or chord respectively of the annual rings, while E F is a diameter of the circular cross-section of the tree. Fig. 521 is another diagram illustrating the same principle. The first method aims at securing a beautiful grain or appearance in length section, and at securing timber of the greatest rectangular section. The second method, sawing radially as it is termed, is intended to obtain the beautiful appearance of the medullary rays when cut obliquely. Converting logs and balks into scantlings, boards, battens, etc., is now done almost entirely by machinery, the same engine frequently working the saw, planing machine, mortising and dovetailing machine, etc.; or a universal joiner is used, which performs many of the operations formerly executed by hand. Fig. 522 shows another method of converting, also not uncommon; and in this the central piece, containing the pith, is comparatively weaker than the outer pieces. Fig. 523 shows four methods of cutting a quartered log into boards. Each method has some recommendation. The radial cuts shown at A give the best boards, but the waste of material is great. At B there is a compromise between the methods shown at A and The latter gives thick planks without waste. At D the quarter is cut into thinner boards without much waste. Fig. 524 shows the ideal system of wainscot cutting, where each board in the log is made to fall exactly on the lines of the medullary rays. This method of cutting is expensive, and necessarily involves much waste of material. In America, where the production of good wainscot stuff is now receiving special attention, the modified system shown in Fig. 525 appears to be most popular. The figure in the outer boards of each group is obviously not so good as it is in the centre ones. When the divergence between the line of the ray and the face of the board is greater than 15° the figure begins to be poor, and could hardly be described as wainscot (see Fig.

Fig. 523.—Different Methods of Converting Timber.

SELECTING

     Timber should be selected bright and fresh in appearance, without variation of colour except that between the sapwood and the heartwood. Live knots, if not too big, are not objectionable except in ornamental work. Dead knots should be glued in before fixing the work, or knocked out altogether and their places filled with suitable plugs of wood. Where possible it is best to avoid them. Shakes must be avoided, and also gumming, if possible. Sapwood, since it is but partly formed wood, is unsuitable for use, especially in a moist situation. A characteristic of strength in timber is closeness and uniformity of the annual rings. The soundness of timber may be tested by placing the ear close to one end of the log, while another person delivers a succession of smart blows with a hammer upon the opposite end, when a continuance of the vibrations will indicate to an experienced ear the degree of soundness. If only a dull thud can be heard, the listener may be certain that the wood is not sound. Certain appearances are characteristic of good wood, of whatever species it may be. Generally the strongest and most durable will be that which has grown the slowest, as indicated by the narrowness of the annular rings. The cellular tissue, as seen in the medullary rays, when these are visible, should be hard and compact. The fibro-vascular part, which contains the woody fibre and the tubes for the circulation of sap, should unite firmly; a freshly cut surface should not be woolly, nor should the wood clog the teeth of the saw with loose fibres. The freshly cut surface should be firm and shiny. In specimens of the same species superior heaviness and darkness of colour are, in general, signs of extra strength and durability. Resinous woods having the least resin in their pores, and non-resinous woods having the least sap in them, are generally the best.

Fig. 524.—Cutting Wainscot Oak.

Fig. 525.—American Rift-sawing.

GENERAL IN

     The strength of timber is affected by numerous circumstances—as nature of soil; position; manner of felling; method of handling after felling; method of seasoning, over-drying having the effect of destroying its toughness; method of converting by the sawyer, who has to exercise considerable care and skill in cutting the logs to the best advantage to remove defects; the attacks of worms and other insects, whose injuries to the wood, though small when taken singly, will collectively prove a serious matter. There is a great variation in the strength of the same kinds of timber. A piece of oak may, be found as soft and kind as deal, or a piece of ash as light and brittle as pine; and practical skill is necessary in distinguishing between the good qualities and the bad. Even the most skilful judges are sometimes deceived, especially with log timber. Often a tree apparently sound will, when cut up, be found to have defects rendering most of its timber of little value.

Fig. 526.—Inferior Wainscot Oak.

SHAKES IN

     Shakes are splits, clefts, or cracks caused by the unequal contraction of the inner and outer portions of the tree, due to the loss of sap in seasoning, or to the drying-up, decay, or unequal shrinkage of the central portion of the tree. Shrinkage in wood takes place along the circumference of the annual rings, as shown by arrows in Fig. the result being suggested by Fig. If unequal, the shrinkage is confined to certain sections of the heartwood, these sections separating from the portions which do not shrink, and shakes are the openings left. In damp weather it is often a difficult matter to find the shakes, but if the board suspected be placed with its centre on the corner of a bench, or on another board, and the edges pressed down with the hands, the shake will open sufficiently to make known its presence. Shakes of every description are a great source of weakness. They are dangerous beyond calculation, because of their possible developments when the timber is loaded. Fig. 529 shows the joint at the head of the king post in a king-post roof truss; in this joint the top of the post is under a shearing stress, and the result of a shake in the position shown at A can be readily imagined.

Fig. 527.—Shrinkage at Annual Rings.

Fig. 528.—Shrunken Wood.

Fig. 529.—Joint at Head of King-post.

RING AND

     Ring shakes are caused by a separation of the annual rings, and may be attributed either to weak nourishment in the sap due to poor soil, or to the excessive bending and straightening of the tree when exposed to high winds. When the shakes occur at the outer portion of the tree, they may be caused by the expansion during hard frost of an unusually large quantity of sap. This sap, like water, expands while freezing, thus rupturing and separating the annual rings. Ring shake occurs generally near the root end, and is rarely so serious as either heart-shakes or star-shakes (described on p. The most serious ring shakes extend the greater length of the tree, and as the two portions readily separate, the log is worthless for sawing into planks. When the shake forms but a small portion of an arc, the larger portion of the tree is not affected by it, and may be cut into planks in the usual way. When a log with ring shake is cut as at A B the result is a cup shake in the plank, this name arising from the shape of the detached portion (see Fig.

Fig. 530.—Ring Shake.

Fig. 531.—Cup Shake.

HEART AND

     Heart shakes the commonest defect in timber, may be described as a split extending through the centre, and more or less across the whole diameter of the tree. If this shake or crack follows a straight course along the trunk, it is not so serious a defect as if it twists around spirally, as heart shakes sometimes do. If upon inspecting the opposite ends of a piece of timber the shake is seen to be twisted to any considerable extent, it is clear that the piece will waste in cutting up. A prevailing wind may cause a tree to twist in its growth, and such a tree would split in a spiral direction. Such trees are rarely cut into planks, but they are used as whole logs. Heart shake is a defect common to exogenous trees, but in some timber it is so insignificant that the inexperienced would fail to notice it. Star shake is another defect, similar to, but more serious than, heart shake; splits radiate from the centre to the circumference, and separate the whole tree into so many pieces that sound planks cannot be cut from it. A freshly felled tree does not show the shakes, but they are made plain as soon as the log has dried somewhat. Heart and star shakes are supposed to be caused by the decay of the heart of the tree after it has reached the period of full growth. They may be also due to unequal shrinkage, caused by sudden changes of temperature, and possibly, as has been suggested, violent winds on the growing tree help to produce them.

Fig. 532.—Heart Shakes.

WANDERING

     Sometimes, in the trunk of a tree that is fairly straight on the outside, the heart does not follow the outer lines of the trunk, but inclines first towards one side, then towards another, throughout the length of the log; this defect is known as wandering heart. In trees rising in unsheltered positions, either on open ground or on the margins of woods, the growing fibres are apt to wind in a spiral direction from the base to the top of the trunk; and in a plank cut from a log taken from a tree having this defect, the fibres of the timber, instead of running from end to end, would cross the plank obliquely, as shown in Fig. this defect is known as “twisted fibres.” Some trees, notably pines and poplars, rear straight trunks independently of situation; but some others, deprived of the shelter of woods or copses, are apt to grow crooked trunks. Such crooks are often found in hedgerow oak and ash trees, and for certain purposes are an advantage rather than a defect. Planks cut from logs of this description should be used for cutting compass pieces. Cross grain is obtained by cutting a straight plank from a crooked or twisted log. If straight beams or scantlings are cut from trees showing any of these three peculiarities, the fibres will be, to a greater or less extent, cut across, producing cross-grained timber. In pieces of this description, the stresses are liable to be diverted from the direction intended by the designer of a piece of work, a compressive or tensile stress being, perhaps, converted into a shearing or splitting stress. Thus, cross-grained wood should not be used in any position where there is likely to be a strain upon it.

Fig. 533.—Star Shakes.

Fig. 534.—Log with “Twisted Fibres.”

     These are caused in felling the tree, or in removing the logs to the point of shipment. They have the appearance of a crack or shake across the grain of the wood, and, of course, weaken it. An upset has the same effect upon the strength of a piece of timber across the grain as a shake would have in the direction of the grain. An upset cannot be readily distinguished in a rough sawn log, but when the wood is planed a line may be seen across the grain, where the fibres have been crushed together, or in some cases torn asunder. In a piece of timber bearing a tensile stress, an upset has much the same effect on its strength as cutting the fibres asunder with a saw.

     Knots are of two kinds—live and dead. Live knots are those which are apparently part of the board in which they occur, and are due to the presence of a living branch when the tree was cut down. In some fancy woods their appearance is welcome, but in deal and pine they are always liable to exude resinous matter, sometimes months after a piece of work has been finished and painted. Dead knots are the inner portions of branches that were dead when the tree was felled. As a rule they are darker in colour than live knots, and are often surrounded by a black ring. If timber containing these is used, the knots should be knocked out with a hammer and glued back in position again. Knots are a source of weakness, especially in positions where the fibres must withstand a tensile stress. Where there is a direct compressive stress, live knots need not materially weaken the work, but to the full extent of their size dead knots will reduce the strength of a piece of timber in any position. For example, take the case of a beam supported and loaded as in Fig. If this beam would safely bear a load of 10 cwt. when sound, a knot 1 in. in diameter, in the position shown at would weaken the beam to such an extent that its carrying capacity would be reduced to 8 1/4 cwt. On the other hand, a live knot at in the compressive half of the beam, would not weaken it appreciably. A vertical knot, 1 in. in diameter, in the position C would reduce the safe load on the beam to 7 1/4 cwt. From these figures it will be seen that the strength of a knotty beam depends to a great extent upon the position it may occupy; and knotty timber, if used at all, should be placed where the fibres are to withstand a tensile stress.

     Beneath the bark of all trees there is found a circle of wood—the sapwood—not so fully matured as that nearer the heart. In some timbers, such as hickory and elm, this sapwood may be easily distinguished by the difference in colour. In others, such as pine and deal, the variation in colour is not so noticeable unless the sapwood is stained with water, when it assumes a greenish hue. In ash trees the difference between the sapwood and the heart cannot usually be distinguished, but in old trees the heart becomes brown, and sometimes nearly black. It is one of the characteristics of the genus Fraxinus (ash family) that the formation of heartwood is long delayed. But if the trees are allowed to grow old enough, heartwood is eventually formed. American ash is one of the earliest to show signs of heartwood. It usually begins to form when the tree is from twenty to thirty years old. It is of a light brown colour, and does not follow the course of the annual rings, but crosses them backwards and forwards as an irregular central blotch. In English ash the heartwood is rarely seen. The trees are mostly cut down, or get bad in the middle, before it begins to show. It usually makes its appearance between the fortieth and fiftieth year. As in oak trees, soil influences the formation of the heartwood a good deal. Speaking generally, the sapwood of ash is tougher than the heartwood, yet not quite so hard. Oak trees contain a large amount of sapwood, it sometimes being as much as 2 1/2 in. or even more. This is lighter in colour than the inner portion of the tree, and will often rot away before the heartwood is thoroughly seasoned. The amount of sapwood present in a log is due partly to the nature of the soil and partly to the season of felling. Trees cut down in late spring, when the sap is rising, or in early autumn, when the sap is falling, show a large percentage of sapwood in the timber. The sapwood of hickory and elm is as strong as the heartwood, but is more liable to the attacks of insect pests. In examining worm-eaten pieces of these timbers, it is often found that most of the worms have penetrated to the heartwood, and have there stopped. The sapwood of oak, pine, walnut, and deal is weak, is liable to become worm-eaten and to rot away, and should always be cut off by the sawyer in converting the timber.

Fig. 535.—Weakening Effect of Knots.

RIND

     These are caused by injury to the bark of a growing tree. If a piece of bark is removed from a growing tree, the sap, in forming the annual rings, freely escapes from the wound at first, but gradually a hard ring is formed round the hole, which in time will close, and as years go on will heal up, and the annual rings and the bark grow over the place, until, except for a swelling, the injured part is not visible from the outside. Logs that have been cut from a forked tree will have what is sometimes known as a rind gall, extending from 18 in. to 2 ft. from the top end in the centre of the log, caused by the two branches of the fork injuring each other’s bark at the point of division. Rind galls have much the same effect upon the strength of wood as knots, that is, they break the continuity of the fibres.

ECCENTRIC

     The pith at the end of a log may not be in the centre; when found very far off it, the fact has been attributed to the circumstance of one side of the tree having a more favourable exposure than the other.

EFFECT OF

     Wet timber is weaker than dry, and soaking in water affects its strength in the same manner as if it were used before being seasoned. For this reason a greater margin of safety should be allowed in designing a structure where any of the beams are liable to be loaded while wet.

DURABILITY OF

     Wood-substance, the material of which the cell walls in wood are built, is one of the most stable of organic compounds. Providing the wood—as oak, alder, birch, cedar, poplar, etc.—is free from specially injurious external influences, each species alike appears to last indefinitely, whereas most organic bodies, immediately life has ceased, begin to putrefy. The process of putrefaction goes on with greater or with less rapidity in exact ratio as the nitrogenous elements, which largely comprise the bodies, are present or absent. The durability of wood is due to the very small proportion of nitrogen—amounting to considerably less than one per cent. of the total bulk—in its composition. Wood is, therefore, not much subject to decay arising from internal weakness, or from chemical changes like those that occur during putrefaction; while senility (or decay from age) of any part of the wood-substance is practically unknown. The period of its life appears to be controlled solely by external influences.

DESTRUCTIVE

     Failure, when failure occurs, is nearly always due to one of three causes, namely:—(1) External chemical influences; (2) mechanical, or physically disruptive, influences; and (3) the influence of a few of the larger and more voracious of the vegetable parasites. By chemical influence is meant the influence of the actions of corrosive liquids, vapours, or gases. This often occurs through the formation of sulphuric, nitric, and other acids, by the action of rainwater on various kinds of soil; and it also occurs by simple maceration. The wood is affected then just as pulpwood is affected in the digesters, preparatory to its use for paper manufacture: that is to say, the chemicals render soluble certain of the wood elements, the general organisation consequently being broken down. Certain kinds of combustion, or oxidation, also come under this heading, particularly that kind of eremacausis (or slow chemical combustion) to which the name wet rot has been applied (see next column). Mechanical influences imply abrasions and injuries caused by contact with other hard substances, or through the ravages of wood-boring insects, or from splits, shakes, sun-cracks, and other violences against its natural constitution, whether these are due to changes in locality, to changes in temperature, to moisture, or to any similar cause. The fungial parasites and their very destructive work are described on p. Examples of ancient timber and woodwork that have not been subject to the separate or combined effects of these three influences are rare. The greatest sphere for the employment of wood lies within the radius of a few feet above or below the surface of the earth; but unfortunately, that is a situation in which the destructive influences are found here in their fullest activity—innumerable natural! chemical processes, attacks of insects, and injurious vegetable growths. Existing examples of very old timber, therefore, usually have been preserved in some way outside the scope of the influences named.

     Immunity from attack, under natural conditions, is possible usually in one of three possible ways. (1) The wood may be completely submerged in harmless liquids, usually water; (2) it may be buried in a dry soil not subject to extreme changes of temperature; and (3) it may be in ordinary atmospheres, but protected from the baneful influences mentioned above. Wood is remarkably durable when exposed in the air, providing only it is kept dry, and kept safe from mechanical and chemical injuries. The fungi will not attack it in a dry condition. The amount of nitrogen in its composition is not sufficient to promote their growth, and moisture in both air and wood is essential to their life and well-being. Well-preserved, aged woodwork most often is found in very large buildings, where it mostly forms parts of roofs, high up from the ground, or otherwise removed from harmful influences. Usually, much of the ground surface in its vicinity is paved in some way, so that the injurious chemical exhalations of the soil are wholly obviated, or are reduced to a minimum; and usually it is found in an atmosphere not congenial to or in a situation inaccessible to depredatory insect life. In some cases, no doubt, the natural secretions of the wood are in no small measure an efficient protection.

WET AND

     Both wet rot and dry rot weaken timber by destroying the toughness of its fibres. Wet rot attacks either the growing tree or timber that is subject to alternate periods of wetness and dryness. Trees that are felled and left in the woods to become covered with dead leaves and undergrowth are subject to this disease, by which some timbers are rapidly destroyed. The sapwood of oak trees is very liable to be attacked, and logs left in the forests some time after felling will often be found with the sap converted into touchwood, but leaving the heartwood sound. In designing new work, the evil effects of dry rot have not generally to be taken into consideration, except so far as regards preventive measures against its development. It is due to a fungus-like growth, which speedily manifests itself in timber confined in a close, moist atmosphere; and, in order to prevent its appearance, timber should never be placed in a position where a free circulation of air cannot be maintained. A confined, moist atmosphere, such as that found in the space under a floor that is not ventilated, is conducive to its development. Its presence may be detected by the material presenting a speckled appearance, being comparatively light in weight, and emitting a characteristic fusty smell. A floor joist attacked will sometimes have the appearance of being covered with a sheet of white paper. Care should be taken to avoid timber with any signs of dry rot, as the disease will spread at the first opportunity and do irreparable damage. Beams and joists built into walls are liable to be attacked by dry rot, and for this reason the ends of these should be put in so as to leave an air space on each side. Foxiness is a yellow or red tinge found in timber, and is due to the rotting of the fibres. Doatiness is a somewhat similar form of rot, but shows in speckled patches. It is found largely in ash, especially in American ash, also in birch poles and in beech, and is often produced, as are other forms of rot, by being packed in the close hold of a ship, or by being stacked for seasoning without sufficient care. The effect of rot upon timber is first to render it brittle, and in time to reduce the fibres to powder.

WORMS IN

     Timber containing worm holes should be regarded with suspicion, as worms seldom attack timber that is not defective in some way or other. Beech, when used for furniture, is liable to the attacks of these pests. There are three branches of the beetle family that commit ravages in wood. The Ptinus and Anobium genera are chiefly responsible for the holes that appear in old furniture, roofs, and all interior woodwork. The Lymoxylon confines its operations mainly to oak timber that is kept in wood yards near the sea. This latter is a borer of comparatively recent introduction, and on account of its liking for the vicinity of the sea is generally known as the “dockyard borer.” In their operations the three kinds behave exactly alike. First, the eggs of the mother beetle are deposited on or just under the surface of the wood, where they lie until the larvæ are hatched. The larva, when it is strong enough, begins to bore a passage deeper into the wood, filling up the tunnel as it goes with fine white wood powder. At a certain stage of its progress the usual transformation cocoon is made, and at the end of the resting period the changed insect emerges in the form of a small winged beetle. The remedies are: (1) Fumigation in a closed chamber with pungent and noxious fumes. (2) Steeping the articles affected in solutions of poisonous chemicals, such as bichloride of mercury, copper sulphate, chloride of calcium, iodide of potassium, etc. (3) The application by hand of various oils and spirits, as petroleum, benzine, chloroform, and alcohol. (4) The most recent recommendation is the use of a 15 per cent. solution of hydrogen peroxide well brushed over the wood. (5) A coating of asphaltum or coal tar is said to repel the teredo or ship worm, which attacks piles and other submerged wood.

DECAY OF

     The decay of cabinet woods used in the construction of furniture has a characteristic peculiarly its own, and is entirely distinct from that which is met with in timbers used in building construction. This decay takes various forms. If the timber decays to such an extent that it becomes practically useless for its purpose, and is full of moisture, it is said to be “rotten”; if, on the other hand, the wood is dry and crumbling to the touch, the effect is called “dry rot.” In cabinet woods decay is met with in another form. Portions of an article may be pierced with small holes of varying depths, large enough to admit pin-points; generally they are most abundant at the bottom of the article, near the floor. On knocking against the wood, a very fine powder falls from these holes, and small white grubs, which on examination through a powerful glass closely resemble beetles, are occasionally found. They are known as weevils, and seem to thrive by burrowing into the heart of the wood; and, strange to note, the harder the wood the more destructive the insect becomes; oak, elm, birch, and walnut appear to be its special favourites. Thoroughly well-seasoned timber is rarely attacked. Wood that is cut and worked up green is most susceptible, for though such wood may be easily worked and appear dry on the outside, inwardly there is a notable percentage of moisture. Cabinet woods, when made up, are usually sealed up with French polish, or varnish, or size and colour, and the moisture is prevented from working outwards; and as the articles most attacked are those standing on the floor and in living-rooms, the air is warmer as it gets higher. The warmth dries the top of the article more than the bottom, and the confined moisture, in endeavouring to find a vent, travels downwards, and is checked by the currents of cold air that pass along the floor as doors are opened, thus setting up a condition that encourages animal life. Hardwoods faced with plaster-of-Paris are peculiarly susceptible to this decay. For instance, the bases of harps, made of beech or oak, faced with plaster enrichments, will, if laid aside for years, be found much worm-eaten, the mischief in some cases extending halfway up the pole and belly or soundboard; and it is generally found that old violins thus infested have been stored away for years in a case shut up away from light and air. Such articles should be moved occasionally, and exposed to light and air to prevent rot; but if they are already badly infested, cut away the most infested portions and replace them with sound wood. Of course, no solution will add life and vitality to wood that is already decayed; the utmost that can be done is, by destroying the grubs, to prevent further mischief. It should be noted that if an infested article is left undisturbed, the weevils will migrate to other articles in the same room. The simplest way to kill the grubs is to saturate the articles well with benzoline, wood naphtha, turpentine, or liquid ammonia; or a solution (1 oz. to 1 pt. of water) of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) can be injected into the holes, and will prove a more thorough remedy. Hydrogen peroxide has of late been very highly recommended, as noted in the previous paragraph. In any case, merely washing the surface with solutions is ineffective. It must be applied liberally, but this treatment is pretty certain to destroy the polished surface.

BUYING

     When timber is to be used in large quantities, it is as a rule bought some considerable time (in many instances two years) before it is required for use, in order to complete seasoning, etc. There is the risk of loss by rot if the timber is not carefully stacked, or if it is stored in damp or unsuitable positions, and too much care cannot be taken in stacking timber when it has to be kept for any considerable time. The published tables that show the brands, stamped or otherwise, marked on the timber to denote its quality, place of origin, etc., will be of considerable use to the inexperienced buyer; it is probable, however, that a practised hand relies more upon his own judgment than upon these marks and brands, though even to him the brands are not without their value. Other useful aids to the timber buyer are the specifications or lists issued by timber merchants. These lists give particulars of the several parcels of wood offered for sale, such as the port of shipment, the kind of timber, the brand or distinguishing mark, the number and length of the pieces, where stored in the docks, and sometimes the price. The following is an illustrative example:—

TIMBER

     Timber is reckoned and sold by several standards, but that in most general use is the Petersburg standard, in which 120 pieces of deal 11 in. by 1 1/2 in. and 12 ft. long, and having a cubical content of 165 ft., is called one hundred deals. Timber is also sold by the load (which in squared timber is equal to 50 ft. cube), by the 120 pieces, and often by the running or lineal foot. In planks, 600 ft. superficial of 1-in. stuff, or 400 ft. of 1 1/2-in., and so on, would be equal to a load. This difference in the mode of selling is somewhat perplexing to an inexperienced person, but some useful tables are published called “equation of deals,” which show the relative cost of the Petersburg standard, the load, and the 120 12-ft. lengths of various sizes; thus, taking £10 per Petersburg standard as the rate, 120 12-ft. lengths of 9 in. by 3 in. would be £16 7s. 4d., and 120 12-ft. lengths of 6 1/2 in. by 2 1/2 in. would be £9 17s., and a load would be £3 0s. 8d. It sometimes happens that planks, deals, and battens of the more uncommon scantlings are proportionately cheaper than the sizes for which there is a greater demand. The standards described above are used almost wholly for what are generally called soft woods—such as fir, etc.—from Baltic ports. Hardwoods are usually sold by the foot superficial, and are mostly quoted as in the inch thickness; the average width affects the prices to some extent. Mahogany is generally to be had from 1/4 in. in thickness up to several inches, and in widths varying on an average from 10 in. to, say, 23 in. or thereabouts. According to one timber price list consulted at random, prices are quoted for birch from 1/4 in. to 1 in. thick, average widths 10 in. to 15 in.; teak 1/2 in. to 1 1/2 in. thick, averaging 10 in. wide; American walnut from 1/4 in. to 4 in. thick; and oak 1/4 in. to 2 in. thick.

COST OF

     As regards sawing, in the case of battens, deals, and planks, the charges are usually at per dozen cuts, and price varies according to the length and also to the depth—that is, whether to battens, deals, or planks. To saw a plank 3 in. wide into three boards, each 1 in. thick, would need two deep cuts, or into four boards would require three cuts, and so on. It need hardly be pointed out that owing to the waste the boards would not hold the full thickness; thus, supposing one deep cut to 3-in. stuff, the two resulting planks, if of equal thickness, would only be 1 1/2 in. thick nominally. Flatting cuts for converting deals, etc., into quartering and small scantlings are generally charged at per 100 ft. run, according to the thickness. Arris or feather-edged cutting costs extra. The sawing of hardwood is much more costly than in the case of fir (soft wood), and is usually charged at per 100 ft. superficial. For details as to the sawing charges, one of the London sawing mills price lists could be consulted with advantage.

SHORT OF

     It often happens that the timber dealers have a lot of 9 in. by 3 in. deals that are known as “short ends.” These vary in length from 5 ft. to 8 ft., and have been cut from the best deals abroad, where they are too long for shipping. They may be purchased for about 2d. per foot, and the extra charge for sawing into boards will be 1/4d. per foot. It is advisable to stock a few dozen deals cut to various sizes, such as 1/2-in., 3/4-in., and 1-in. board, as they improve by keeping if properly stacked.

HARD AND

     Timber is classed as hard or soft, and the main point of difference between the trees that produce these classes is that the soft-wooded tree has “needle” leaves—slim, narrow, and almost uniform in breadth—whilst the hardwood trees have broad leaves of various shapes. Again, some soft-wood trees carry cones, such trees being termed conifers. Resin, too, is more characteristic of soft than of hard wood. To the class of soft woods belong the pines, spruces, and firs, and the most, common examples of these are yellow pine, white fir, pitch pine, and spruce or red fir. In the commoner hard woods are oak, beech, mahogany, ash, walnut, plane, elm, birch, and ebony. There are many varieties of timber, and information can be obtained regarding four hundred different specimens, while in Great Britain alone the number runs up to thirty-six. It is intended here to deal only with varieties to be met in the course of daily carpentry, joinery, and ordinary cabinet work.

WEYMOUTH OR

     Yellow pine is the product of five-leaved pine trees, which are few in number but widely scattered. They may be termed the aristocracy of the pine tribe. They are clean-looking, graceful, and slender-limbed trees. They sometimes grow to a very large size, approaching the dimensions of the gigantic redwood trees; but they never lose the superior refined look that is characteristic of their growth as seedlings and as young trees. The branching habit is more regular than in the three-leaved and four-leaved pines, and seldom breaks down or becomes otherwise interrupted. The leaves also are much more slender and grass-like than those of the two- or three-leaved pines. The wood is soft and light, and remarkable for its evenness of texture. The most familiar example is Weymouth pine, the yellow pine of cabinet makers, also called soft pine, pine, and American pine in this country, while in America it is known exclusively as white pine. The character of the wood afforded by the various five-leaved pines is nearly identical. The principal varieties are the Weymouth pine a, native of America; the Bhotan pine an Indian tree; and the sugar pine A hard-and-fast line cannot be drawn between this wood and spruce fir or white deal, described in the next paragraph but one.

Fig. 536.—Annual Ring Figure in Pitch-pine.

BALTIC OR

     This timber, produced by the Scotch fir, more properly called the Scots pine is more largely used than any other kind. It is commonly known as Northern pine. It is imported into Great Britain from the shores of the Baltic, and from Norway and Sweden, in planks about 16 ft. long by 9 in. broad by 3 in. thick, known as deals; 7 in. broad by 2 1/2in. thick, known as battens; and 11 in. broad by 3 in. thick, known as planks. These are cut into boards, and stacked in perches to season, and the buyer is usually allowed to make a selection. Avoid knots, shakes, and sap. The last may be distinguished by its colour, which is generally of a greenish or brownish hue on one or both edges of the boards. Also examine the ends of the boards for rot. Yellow deal is of a honey-yellow colour, and timber from the same kind of tree, but slightly different in colour, is known in some parts of the country as red deal. It is useful for both inside and outside work.

SPRUCE OR

     This wood is known as white deal, white fir, spruce fir, and spruce deal, and it is imported in planks named according to size, as in the case of yellow deal. It is produced by the which grows in the same districts as the Pinus sylvestris. The same rules should be observed in the selection as for yellow deal, but spruce is more subject to dead knots. The knots are hard and glassy, and are usually at right angles with the surface. The boards are white in colour, and plane with a silky lustre. In planing, the wedge holding the plane-iron should be driven in tightly, as there is danger, when the cutter strikes a knot, of its being forced completely out of the plane. White deal is not so durable, and is more liable to warp than the yellow kind. The annual rings are distinct, and the autumn layer, containing less red matter than red or yellow deal, is not so deep in colour, being inclined to a brownish tint. A peculiar characteristic is that the sapwood can hardly be distinguished from the heartwood. White deal warps if unrestrained, and thus is unsuitable for independent joinery work such as doors, but shrinks very little, and is used frequently for panels. It retains its clean light colour.

     Pitch-pine is a heavy resinous wood that comes from the Southern States of America, but chiefly from Georgia, Savannah, and Pensacola. It is beautifully figured, and was in general use a few years ago for the seats and fittings of public buildings. It is liable to split, shrinks very much, exudes resin, and if varnished soon loses its polish, as the resin of the wood seems to kill the varnish. In appearance it is light reddish-brown, very straight-grained, and highly resinous. It is strong, and difficult to work compared with other pines. The resin in it is troublesome in tooling. The wood is liable to shake and to shrink, but can be obtained in great lengths; it is used for heavy beams, stair material, doors, etc. It often has a beautifully figured grain, and offers a good example of strong annual ring figure (see Fig. p. The resinous quality renders it very durable, especially when exposed to water; if cut from trees that have been recently tapped, the durability and strength are greatly reduced. As these trees grow to a great height, and throw out their branches from the top, the wood is very free from knots. Pitch-pine may be had in logs from 10 in. to 18 in. square, and from 20 ft. to over 40 ft. long. Being subject to shakes, it will be advantageous to obtain it in planks, which may be had from 3 in. to 5 in. thick, and from 10 in. to 15 in. wide. Pitch-pine commonly is supposed to be the produce of Pinus resinosa. The produce of the Pinus rigida is in some parts of the United States locally called pitch-pine, but it is not the same wood, it is thought, as is known in England by that name. Notwithstanding great variations of quality, the wood known in England as pitch-pine (but not so called in America) may be taken as the produce of the Pinus American names for which are Southern pine, Georgia pine, yellow pine, hard pine, long-leaved pine. It grows over a vast tract of country, and its differences of quality may be attributed, as in the case of the Scotch fir, to the great variations in soil, climate, elevation, etc. But it is rarely found extending beyond 150 miles from the coast. Because it can be got in great lengths and is cheap, there is a considerable temptation to use it for long tie-beams of roofs; but the greatest care should be taken to ventilate it thoroughly in all parts, especially the ends, and if this be neglected it will soon decay. In a dry atmosphere it becomes after a time very brittle, and when it breaks from being subjected to cross strain (which a tie-beam is not, and a floor girder is), it breaks off short. Also, it may be noted that, if subjected to moist heat, as in a greenhouse, it has a very short life.

     The timber of the larch is considered excellent, and it is not subject to knots, as are the other members of the pine family. The wood is used for house building in the region of its native habitat, the Alps, and is much prized on account of its non-liability to rot, even in damp places. English-grown larch is largely used in rural districts by wheelwrights and carpenters, and it is the kind of wood most commonly used for fencing, for which purposes it is said to exceed oak in durability. Larch shrinks considerably in drying. The larches are in some respects more allied to the cedars than to the pines, firs, or spruces. The leaves are very short and tiny, and grow in small tufts together, indefinite in number. This is also the habit of the cedars, but the larch is a deciduous tree (it annually sheds the whole of its leaves), while the cedars are evergreens. The cones of the larch are small compared with the cones of the trees already mentioned, and usually persist on the branches for some time after the annual shedding of the leaves. The three most important larches are the Siberian larch the European larch and the American larch or tamarack

DISTINGUISHING FROM

     The absolute distinction of the woods produced by the various pine trees is only possible by microscopic examination, and in many cases it is even then a matter of extreme difficulty. To furnish an example of what is implied, when viewed microscopically the Weymouth pine shows only one large pit in the parenchyma cells of the medullary ray that adjoins the vertical tracheides of the wood, while spruce exhibits three to five very small pits in the same cells. This is but one example of the structural differences that are only revealed by high magnification. The density, weight, colour, and arrangement of the annual rings are aids, but these do not by any means constitute a reliable basis of distinction. The firs do not furnish much valuable wood; as a rule the quality is poor, and the material looked upon with disfavour by all trades alike. The wood of the silver fir is perhaps best known, and furnishes a fair standard by which the value of other kinds may be estimated.

AMERICAN OR

     Basswood is one of the many names applied to the wood of the Liriodendron which is a native of the eastern side of North America; it is a large tree with very luxuriant foliage, fond of low-lying districts and moist soil. In the London market the wood is better known as American poplar, yellow poplar, canary wood (on account of its colour, which in best qualities is a yellowy green, though some specimens are greenish-white), or American whitewood, and it would be described as such in the lists. In America it is known as whitewood, poplar, canoewood, and saddletree-wood. Basswood or “bass” is, however, the name by which it is best known in the English workshops. The white wooden articles for enamelling sold at fancy shops are made of this wood. The wood is soft, easily worked, straight in the grain, and of a remarkably uniform texture. For this latter quality probably it is not excelled by any known soft wood, and it also has the valuable property of taking glue well. It is readily obtainable in all ordinary lengths, and in widths of from 2 ft. to 3 ft. It is, however, rather liable to shrink, and sometimes to warp, but does not twist. In America the wood called basswood comes from a totally different tree—the Tilia or American lime. This wood is harder and whiter than that of the Liriodendron tulipifera; it is of even texture, and not much liable to shrinkage. Both wood and tree are much like the ordinary lime of

CALIFORNIAN OR

     This wood is produced by a Californian tree which grows to an enormous size. It is coarse-grained, soft, easily split and worked, and is used for backing furniture, for the sides and bottoms of drawers, and for temporary unpainted articles. It is not difficult to plane or saw, but is inclined to be very brittle. Because of this defect the wood is difficult to make smooth on the end grain. It is not suitable for polishing or painting, as the grain is liable to rise after the work is finished, giving a wavy appearance. Its light-red colour when first planed turns to a reddish brown with age.

     This is the product of species of the coniferous genus and of allied genera, growing in many parts of the world, but chiefly in America, though the most famed cedar tree is that of Lebanon, Cedrus Libani. The commercial varieties are coarse-grained, easily worked woods, much like Honduras mahogany in appearance, for which cedar is sometimes sold, but the latter may be easily distinguished by its smell. Cigar boxes are made of a kind of cedar. The wood of the cedar of Lebanon is very highly valued where procurable, but as a rule the trees are too rare to be much cut for timber. In India, however, the deodar cedar is plentiful, and its wood is used for general purposes.

MAHOGANY AND

     Spanish, Honduras, and bay mahogany are all three produced by the true mahogany tree, Swietenia mahagani. The distinguishing names were originally given in reference to the localities from which the wood was principally shipped. Thus, Spanish mahogany came from Cuba and some other West Indian islands and ports belonging to Spain; Honduras mahogany came from the province of Honduras in Central America—chiefly from the neighbourhood of the mouth of the Rio Hondo; while baywood or bay mahogany was obtained from various places around the coast of the bay of Honduras. The mahogany procured from these three districts varied considerably in colour, in hardness, and in figure—the Spanish wood being much the best and the baywood the poorest. Now, of course, mahogany wood is obtained from many other districts and ports in Central America, as, for example, Tabasco, Minatitlan, Tecolutla, Panama, Costa Rica, and St. Domingo, but to the average woodworker in England only three grades still exist, namely, Spanish, Honduras, and baywood, chiefly because each of these three names has come to represent an arbitrary standard of quality, colour, and figure, regardless of the origin. Beyond saying that the baywood is the soft, light, straight-grained, and pinkish (nearly white) material, and that the Spanish is the dark, ruddy-brown, often cross-grained, and curly wood, no definite rule can be given; observation will soon disclose the ordinary limits of each term. Some regard the chalky deposit in the pores of darkcoloured mahogany as conclusive evidence that the wood is of Spanish origin, but the occurrence of this substance is by no means an infallible test. Mahogany is one of the best cabinet-making woods imported, and although its use, perhaps, is rather unfashionable at the present time, it is superior to the cabinet woods that have replaced it. It has the advantage of being durable, takes a fine polish, and improves in colour with age. It has got into disrepute through being used for cheap veneered furniture, as veneers may be cut from it so thin that a large surface may be covered with them at a small cost. Baywood is soft and easily worked, and is largely used for carriage and other panels. It may be obtained in widths up to 2 ft. 6 in., but the price per foot is much higher for wide than for narrow boards. The variety known as Spanish mahogany is harder than the others, and is often beautifully figured; considerable skill is required in cleaning it up, so that it is hardly a suitable wood for a novice to handle. Mahogany unites with glue better than any other wood.

     This comes from India and Burmah, and is the wood of the Tectona grandis. It is of a greenish-brown colour when freshly worked, but turns to a rich brown in a short time. It varies considerably in texture, some pieces being soft and others very hard. The pores are filled with a gritty substance, which quickly blunts the edges of tools. It is popularly considered to be of a greasy nature (a subject returned to later), so that glue will not adhere to it for any length of time. For this reason, it should not be used where glue is depended on for holding the work together. It shrinks little in seasoning, but is rather liable to split. Its great feature is its immense durability, irrespective of the most diverse external conditions. Kept under cover, it lasts from century to century without a sign of peculiar or of inherent decay. The exterior layers of the wood merely darken with age a little. Delicate carvings in teak hundreds of years old still exist, absolutely perfect in detail, the tool marks showing clear and glossy as if the work were quite new. Kept out of doors the wood whitens, and, after many years, the arrises or fine edges become slightly blurred, and lose their sharpness; but here, again, there is no induced decay,—never anything of the nature of a fungus growth present, nor any deterioration arising from oxidation of the fibre pure and simple. Also, teak is unique in its immunity from the ravages of the white ant and the shipworm. Neither the structure nor the composition of teak is very exceptional. It is a ring-porous wood, having large vessels, round or slightly elliptical in outline, and a loose spongy parenchymatous structure in the immediate neighbourhood of the vessels. The medullary rays are small but numerous; while the fibres have large internal cavities, and, but for practical evidence to the contrary, they might well be taken to represent a wood of a decidedly soft nature. Some woodworkers object to teak, and assert that its oiliness clogs the saw, splinters of it poison the fingers, the odour of the wood is disagreeable, and so on. But these and similar ills, imaginary or real, are not evident when once the work is fixed in position. There is scarcely another wood to be found possessing its peculiar qualities in regard to working across the grain, or chiselling the end grain, or sawing in either direction. As a set-off against the initial expense of this wood, its greater durability must be reckoned. The question may then be roughly limited to one of cost of labour; and in respect to this, also, teak will oftentimes be found the cheaper material. The wood is supposed to be of an exceptionally oily nature, but though to the hand it does indeed appear to feel oily, the impression is incorrect, there actually being less oil in teak than in almost any other wood; an abundance of soft and free resin accounts largely for the oily touch. A mineral substance often fills up the cracks and shakes in the wood, and occurs also in the hair-like vessels throughout the wood substance of the tree. It, is a crystalline deposit, with acicular crystals that are readily soluble in dilute acids. Chemically speaking, the deposit is a hydrocalcic orthophosphate, with about 11 4 per cent. of ammonio-magnesian phosphate.

Fig. 537—Section of Satin Walnut, highly magnified.

BLACK

     Walnut is more largely used for cabinetmaking than any other wood. Black walnut, a North American variety is that in most general use. The sapwood of this is whitish in colour, and must be all cut off, this often involving considerable loss. The timber is hard, but is not difficult to work. It cleans up to a smooth surface, and takes polish well. It is used for furniture generally. Satin walnut is much softer than black, and is lighter in colour. It planes with a silky appearance. It is a capital wood for carving, as it works with an even grain, and is not liable to split. English and Italian are varieties of walnut that are used for good work. Both are figured with a dark veining, the last-named variety being often beautifully marked. The wood which is, in England, called satin walnut is known in the Southern States of America as “red gum,” and in the Northern States as “sweet gum.” It is never referred to as “satin walnut,” except in the towns; but is sometimes called “bilsted,” which is a Dutch name that has been given it. The tree which produces it is not in any way connected with the walnuts, or any allied genus; nor is it connected with satin wood, or with the trees that are usually called “gums”—the Eucalypti of Australia. It is the Liquid-ambar of the genus Nyssa, under favourable conditions gum-yielding, and it is in this connection that it first was heard of. Under the microscope the wood is seen to be of the “diffuse-porous” kind; that is to say, the large vessels are not grouped at one side of the annual ring, as in oak or chestnut, but are distributed uniformly all over the end-section. There are numerous fine medullary rays. Fibrecells and parenchyma-cells are large and thin-walled, a fact which helps to explain why a hard wood is reported to be wanting in durability. The section in Fig. p. left partly blank and partly filled in with detail, includes the width of one annual ring and part of the next. It is somewhat highly magnified, the surface represented being in actual size about 1/4 in. long and 1/8 in. wide. Satin walnut is tough, of medium hardness, heavy, and fairly uniform and close in texture; the plane leaves a fine glossy surface that polishes extremely well. There is a wide margin of white sapwood. The colour of the heartwood is ruddy-brown, streaked, in various ways, with grey, light yellow, dark brown, and iron splashes. The features of the marking do not usually run parallel to the sides of the board, nor do they follow the course of the annual rings. The general appearance is as if an acid of some kind had been irregularly splashed down the length of the board. In some boards the figure is very realistic, suggesting landscapes and seascapes, or the effect of a storm. The wood, however, has a bad reputation for warping and twisting, and this is its chief and almost only drawback; but up to now only a poor class of material has been imported. Its use in England, while steadily on the increase, has hitherto been mostly confined to the cabinet, carbuilding, and shop-fitting trades, in each of which it is used to advantage. In cabinet-making it is used effectively with ash. It appears to stand very well after being worked up.

     The ash is a native of Europe and Asia. It grows very quickly, the young tree being the most valuable. The wood is fairly durable in a dry situation, but soon decays if exposed to the damp. It is the toughest of all British timber, and is useful where sudden shocks are to be expected. The wood often is beautifully marked, works fairly well, and will take a high polish. Pieces of milkwhite colour are the best, those of a reddish tinge, or dirty white, being deficient in toughness. In old trees the central portion becomes brown, often in veins and streaks, and pieces of this colour require careful selection, as they are liable to decay. The annual rings are very distinct. It has no larger septa. English ash is used by the wheelwright, and for toolhandles generally. American ash is that generally used by the cabinet-maker. It is straighter in grain and not so tough as English, and cleans up with a silky appearance. It often comes to this country “sleepy” (see p. through being overdried. Hungarian ash has a beautiful wavy grain, and generally is cut into veneers.

     The beech is common in Europe. There are two kinds, black and white. Beech is very durable if constantly wet, but mere dampness soon causes it to decay, and it is very subject to worms, as any old furniture will testify. Its colour is a light reddish-brown, being darker in the black variety. It is hard and tough, the grain is straight, and the larger septa are very fine, but, if cut obliquely, give an appearance similar to oak, though smaller. The annual rings are also very distinct. Planes and the handles of some woodworking tools are made of ash. Care should be taken that the outside of the tree is used as a wearing surface, the medullary rays (which are very prominent in beech) pointing towards the bottom. If the other sides are used as wearing surfaces the plane will wear more quickly and unevenly. Formerly beech was largely used by furniture-makers, but its liability to the attack of worms has thrown it into disrepute for this purpose. When it is so used it is veneered generally with a better wood.

     This is a hard, close-grained wood, the principal portion of which comes from America, where it is produced by many species of the genus Betula. Some pieces are nicely figured with a wavy grain. It is a fairly easy wood to work, and is used for cabinet-making.

     This is the wood of the Acer a very common tree in England, thriving well near the sea-coast; it grows to a large size, and is durable if kept dry. The annual rings are not very distinct, and the larger septa are small and close. It is easy to work, being of a uniform texture, and is creamy-white in colour. It is used principally for domestic articles and in wood-carving.

Fig. 538.—Medullary Ray Figure in Oak.

     The rough-leaved elm is the most durable of the many elm trees common in England. The tree is of slow growth, and is very durable in situations where wet is constant; the wood is used largely in boat-building. The colour is generally of a dark reddish-brown, the sapwood being a dirty white. It is very porous and cross-grained, having an unpleasant odour. It warps and shrinks very much in drying, but does not often split. Larger septa are absent, and the wood is difficult to work.

     Several species of oak are very valuable as timber. The British oak is found in all temperate parts of Europe, and grows to a very large size. The colour is a light fawn when newly cut, but it soon turns to a handsome brown. The grain is fairly straight, and usually the medullary rays are very beautifully marked. It is most valuable for all purposes where strength or hard wear is expected, no other timber standing so well. It is difficult to work. The larger transverse septa are very distinct. British oak is the most beautiful and lasting of native woods. It twists and shrinks a good deal in seasoning; and however dry a piece may be, if cut so as to expose a fresh surface it will shrink again. There are several varieties grown, but the best may be known by the acorns growing with long stems and singly. English oak is not a good timber for a beginner to take in hand. The sessile-fruited oak also is a native of Europe, being found abundantly in the north of England. The wood is a darker colour than the and the larger septa are fewer in number. It is very smooth and glossy, and resembles chestnut. It is also harder and heavier than the and splits and warps very much in drying. The red oak is found in Canada. It is so named from the leaves turning red before falling. It grows to a height of 90 ft. to 100 ft.; the wood is light, spongy, and not very durable. The wood of the English oak is very tough and cross-grained, and being very difficult to work, it does not take kindly to glue. The foreign oak works more easily. Oak also is obtainable in Asia and on the continent of America. Stettin oak is lighter in colour, straighter in grain, and not so well figured as the other varieties. Picture mouldings are often made of this timber. American oak is imported in logs, some of which often reach a length of 60 ft. The white variety is good tough timber, but the reddish coloured is poor. Austrian oak trees are generally remarkable for their tallness, straight growth, large dimensions, and comparative freedom from defects. The grain of the wood is very straight and regular. The pores of the spring layers run in very regular longitudinal streaks, almost at fixed intervals. The medullary rays are strongly marked, but are not so numerous as in some other varieties of oak, and on account of the straight growth of the tree they are more uniform in shape, running almost parallel to each other, but consequently are not so beautiful in appearance as the rays in woods of more irregular growth. The wood is often light in colour, but is generally inclined to a more reddish tint than other kinds of oak. It is one of the easiest of the oaks to work. It is not quite so heavy as English oak, and for outdoor work it is said to be less durable. Wainscot (see p. is got by cutting up logs of oak (principally Russian) in a way that will expose the medullary plates, pith rays, or silver grain on the faces of all the boards. In other words, the faces of the boards are made to fall on the radial planes of the tree. Wainscot, properly sawn, involves a good deal of waste in conversion, and in practice it is usual to have only two boards in each quarter on the radii, the other boards being cut parallel to these. Then, by sawing boards off alternate faces of the quarter, nearly all the wood may be used up (see p. Pollard oak is produced by lopping off the heads and branches, and otherwise tampering with oak trees for a number of years, as they grow. This treatment induces the denuded trunk to send out a great number of young shoots each year, and also brings about the formation of burrs, and other abnormal excrescences of the kind. The result of all is, that remarkable contortions of the fibres are produced, giving to this wood its singular beauty. Its chief use is in the form of veneer, but it is also used solid in the manufacture of knife and dagger handles, small cabinets, gloveboxes, etc.

FIGURE IN

     In oak there are two distinct sets of rays—the large thick rays that produce the well-known figure, and thousands of smaller ones that are mostly too minute to be detected by the naked eye. Large rays only are shown in Fig. p. while in the microscopic enlargement shown by Fig. 539 a single large ray appears as a dark band on the left, the smaller rays also being shown dispersed over the field. (The view is taken looking from the outside in towards the centre of the tree. All details of the fibres and parenchyma are omitted for the sake of clearness.) Referring to the large ray, part only of its depth is shown. Its total height was between 300 and 400 cells. Its width averaged eighteen cells. Its length may have been 6 in. to 8 in., or perhaps a little more than that. Rays of this size are quite common in oak, and, as before stated, it is these alone that constitute the silver-grain figure in that wood. The brilliancy of figure and the colour contrast that are often observed in oak and other silver-grain woods are in the majority of cases due to differences in the character of the contents of the medullary ray cells, and of those cells that constitute the surrounding wood. Upon the contents of these cells light and exposure to the atmosphere produce marked effects. The rays often become darker at the edges, and present a “shot” appearance at their centres, making a well-defined figure upon the background of the general mass of wood. In other cases the medullary rays are naturally darker than the surrounding wood, having perhaps absorbed more colouring matter; but where no difference of colour exists the differentiated structure is alone sufficient to affect strongly the reflection of light; and whether the reflection is enhanced or retarded, the result is a marked contrast between the appearance of the rays and that of the wood in which they are embedded. English oak, beech, and sycamore are good examples of silver grain woods; comparing these three, the figure is largest and best in oak; but there are many woods scattered over the world that form a far superior figure to that seen in oak even. America possesses a few of these. Western plane wood, with its thousands of medium-sized rays, is doubtless familiar to all, and the figure in American oaks and alders rivals anything that can be found in European timbers.

     Hemlock often is used in the cheaper kinds of carpentry. It is indigenous to nearly all places which are favourable to the production of spruce and light pines. In dry situations, when the wood has been properly seasoned and carefully protected from the action of the sun, it may be considered as a fourth-rate wood. Its peculiar structure, tending to twist or split the grain, makes it entirely unreliable for large timbers where there is tensile or compressive stress anticipated. It decays quickly in damp situations, and if exposed in an unseasoned state the heartwood cleaves from the surrounding wood by the action of either sun or wind. It is usually cut into small studding joists or common boards. Hemlock possesses one quality in common with oak and other hard woods, that is, the tenacity with which it adheres to a nail. An ordinary cut nail, if driven into the wood half its length, will part before it can be drawn out. This quality is one of its first recommendations for common or rough boarding, as it firmly holds the nails of shingling, slating, etc. Most of the wood dwelling-houses in America are covered in with well-seasoned hemlock shingles, which keep perfectly dry. The colour of this wood is a light brown. It shrinks in seasoning a little less than spruce, and loses one-fourth its weight.

Fig. 539.—Oak Rays, highly magnified.

     Chestnut is produced by the sweet or Spanish chestnut, Castanea growing in Western Asia, Southern Europe, and in the United States. It is of great value, and in many respects nearly identical with oak, which it resembles in colour, toughness, and solidity. It is a native of temperate regions, and is usually found growing side by side with the oak. For most purposes for which oak is used chestnut is of equal value. Some experience is required to distinguish between the two woods; but chestnut may always be known by the absence of distinct medullary rays at the ends of the planks; consequently it has no silver grain. The timber is also lighter in weight than oak, and the gallic acid, which will blacken oak sawdust when in contact with iron, is not found in chestnut. It is exceedingly durable, even in damp places, and in a variable atmosphere it may be found preferable to oak. For posts set in the ground it may be considered good for forty years. As in oak, the grain of the wood is compact, and that of young trees is very tough and flexible, but old wood is brittle, appearing sound without while within it is decayed and rotten. It has the particularly valuable quality that, when once seasoned, it is but slightly susceptible to shrinkage or swelling. Casks are made from it, as it does not give a disagreeable taste to liquids. The wood is very liable to split with nailing. It is used for inside fittings, many churches having the seats, etc., of this timber. Horse chestnut, the product of Æsculus is practically worthless.

NEW

     Timber that is new to Great Britain is imported from time to time, some of the latest and handsomest varieties coming from Tasmania and New Zealand; but these hardly come within the scope of this work.

USES OF

     Floor boards composed of Petersburg, Archangel, and Onega yellow deal (known in the north of England as red deal) are best for lower floors, as they wear well and are not so liable to be affected by any slight dampness. Christiania and Dram prepared boards of white deal form good upper floors. They are much in favour, owing to their keeping a clean, light colour, and not turning dark after being scrubbed, as yellow deal does. For the members of roof trusses and purlins the best timber is Riga, Memel, or Dantzic northern pine. Of these, the first mentioned is generally considered the best, on account of its cheapness, together with lightness, strength, and durability, as compared with oak, pitch-pine, etc. Good yellow deal is used for ordinary staircases, but for hard wear pitch-pine or teak would be more suitable for treads. For inside doors use Christiania white deal or the best Baltic yellow deal for the framing, and American yellow pine for the panels. In some parts of the United Kingdom American yellow pine is largely used for all parts of inside doors. External doors should be of yellow deal, as both pine and white deal are not so durable when exposed to the weather. Sills should be prepared of English oak, as they are subject to more wet than other parts. Linings, pulley stiles, sashes, etc., should be of the best yellow deal, owing to its durability for external work when painted; white deal and American pine are not sufficiently durable for such purposes. The best Christiania white deal is very suitable for ordinary joiners’ work. The following woods are very suitable for carpenters’ work:—Riga, Memel, and Dantzic northern pine balk timber for roofs, large framing, and structural work generally. The best deals are also suitable for external joinery, being stronger and more durable than the next mentioned. Owing to their deficiency in strength and durability if exposed, white deal and American yellow and red pine are unsuitable for carpenters’ work; but as these properties are not so essential for internal joinery, and as the better kinds are very free from knots and also straight in grain—partly owing to which they warp, shrink, and twist very little if properly seasoned—and are at the same time more easily worked than other coniferous woods, they have much to recommend them, and thus are frequently used for joiners’ work. Pitch-pine is largely used for good carpenters’ work, especially for heavy structures where great strength and durability are required. It is also much used both by the carpenter and the joiner for ornamental effects, on account of its beautifully distinct grain, which can be seen at a distance when wrought and varnished. It is probably on account of this characteristic that it has been so extensively used for such exposed parts as beams, and for the timbers of church and other roofs; also for fittings of churches and other public buildings.

JOINTS.

SHOOTING OF

     Before even plain glued butt joints can be attempted, there are one or two processes, not yet described, with which the beginner must familiarise himself. The first of these is shooting edges—that is, planing the edges of boards until they are square and true. Ordinary planing has already been discussed (see pp. 48 to Insert a pin, made in the form of a hook, into one of the holes in the side of the bench, as at a The edge of the board B is then placed upon the hook, and the other end securely fastened in the bench vice, Fig. 540 shows this in front view, and Fig. 541 in end view. The edge is now planed first with the jack plane, and afterwards with the trying plane, until straight as viewed from the end, the edge being frequently tested with a square (as in Fig. The trying plane is held in the manner shown in Fig. the fingers of the left hand acting as a guide to keep it in position. The shavings should pass freely, as at and be taken off the whole length of board to finish. Fig. 541 shows the application of the jack plane to the edge of the board. In that illustration F indicates the bench top; vice; bench screw; head of screw; handle; stop; side of bench; leg; bearer; board; and the plane. For accurate work the shooting board is used; varieties of this appliance are illustrated and described on pp. 12 to The work is placed on the bed of the shooting board, and a plane in good condition is shot along its edge, which is thus reduced to perfect truth.

Fig. 540.—Shooting Edge of Board.

Fig. 541.—End View of Shooting Plane and Board.

GAUGING TO

     A board to be reduced in thickness has first to be gauged along its edges. Set the marking gauge with its tooth at a distance from the head equal to the thinnest part of the board, and, grasping it firmly, work it along the edges of the board in a succession of short, sharp strokes, keeping the head firmly pressed to the face side of the board. Having gauged the board, roughly chamfer the edges nearly down to the line, as A B E being the face side. Now plane away the stuff until level, as at This, though completing it so far as the trueness of its surface is concerned, may yet leave it in a very rough state. The grain may have been strong and ripped up, or the irons of the planes may not have been in perfect condition, thus leaving marks or ridges. These have to be cleaned off with the smoothing plane (see p.

GLUED

     The glued joint is adopted where it is desired to make a number of narrow boards serve as one wide one. For instance, table-tops, panels of doors, and many other things, are made preferably by gluing up rather than by using one wide board. The plain glued butt joint, shown by Fig. is serviceable enough for thin wood, say for anything under 1/2 in. thick, and, in certain situations, suffices for material of any substance. When the wood is thick enough something better than a butt joint can be used. With thin stuff, however, this is the only joint available, as there is no room for tongues or dowels. The plain glued butt joint will be considered first; then the stronger and more serviceable dowelled joint, and that formed by ploughing and cross tongueing, will be dealt with. A properly glued butt joint ought to be stronger than the natural wood; that is to say, a board should split at any part rather than the joint, except perhaps in the case of some tough woods. With ordinary pine or bay wood, if the fracture is along the joint, this proves that the workmanship or the glue is at fault. Under a severe strain a board often will give way, leaving the joint unbroken, it being actually stronger than the wood itself.

Fig. 542.—Testing Squareness of Shot Edge.

Fig. 543.—Board Chamfered and Planed to Thickness.

PREPARING FOR

     For first efforts at making a plain butt joint get two pieces of board, say about 2 ft. long, and not less than 1 in. thick. Plane up the board true and out of winding, always remembering to pencil the face mark upon the finished surface. Shoot the edges perfectly straight, true, and square, or at right angles to the face side; they should then be placed one upon the other (the bottom board to be in the bench vice), and a small straight-edge Fig. applied to the face to test the joint for “upright.” It will often occur that the boards “tip,” as shown. This will, of course, have to be rectified by shooting one or both edges. The boards being upright, the joint should be so placed that the light is thrown upon the back, when it is seen at once if the boards touch all along the joint. If they do not touch at one or two places, make a pencil mark upon the face where the bumps occur, and carefully take off a shaving at these points. The top board Fig. may then be taken in both hands, as shown, and gently rubbed along the other, and the feel will indicate if their edges are in good contact. Occasionally the edges touch at opposite corners, and then a little must be taken off each, the edge being in winding. The plane-iron for shooting joints should be very sharp and finely set, as this will add greatly to the ease with which a good joint can be made. In the case of very long joints, say from 6 ft. to 8 ft., some workmen allow the boards to touch at the ends, but not towards the centre; if the space is but small no great harm will result. They consider this space advisable for long pieces. To convey an idea of the hollowness of the edge towards the centre, assume two boards 5 ft. or 6 ft. long, with edges perfectly true. Now with the plane remove a shaving or two, just the suspicion of one at its commencement, a few inches from the end of the board, till there is, when the boards are placed together, a perceptible space between them tapering from the centre to nothing near the ends. Even at the widest the space must be narrow enough to be closed by pressure of the cramps, within which the boards will be placed while the glue is setting.

Fig. 544.—Plain Glued Butt Joint.

Fig. 545.—Testing Butt Joint.

Fig. 546.—Rubbing Edges of Board Together.

Fig. 547.—Gluing Butt Joint, Side View.

BUTT

     The glue should be about as thick as cream—if thicker, hot water must be added from the outer pot. The glue being ready, place it upon the bench, with a block of wood under it (as Fig. Next fasten the board D in the screw, as taking the other board E in the left hand, tipping it as shown. Fill the brush with really hot glue, and apply it to the edges, as shown at This will, perhaps, be better understood from Fig. which is a front view. Put on plenty of glue; but do not “paint” the joint, and do the work quickly. Take the board in both hands, as in Fig. dropping the left hand until the fingers are over the joint (this is to ensure the boards being fair upon the face when finished), and rub the top board along to squeeze out all the glue possible, as upon this, to some extent, depends the success of the job. If it can be arranged, it is always better for two persons to rub the joint, one being at each end; after rubbing a few times the joint will seem to draw or stick; it may then be finished “fair” with the ends. Take care, in removing the hands, that the board is not moved, or the glue will have to be washed off, and the whole process repeated. One important point is to have the edges of the board warm, so that the glue does not chill as soon as applied, but remains liquid and sticky. They must not, however, be too hot, but there is not so much danger from this as from being too cold. If one board is held by the bench screw, it may happen that the glue has hardened on it, or at least is not in its most adhesive state when the other is put to it. There might be a slight film on its surface, and, of course, this prevents it adhering to the other piece as well as it might. Let this be sufficiently warm to melt the glue again, and the adherence should be perfect. The rubbing of the joint is of the utmost importance. Do not be content with simply pressing the glued edges together, but having brought them cleanly together, slide them slightly against each other, lengthwise, using as much pressure as convenient. This expels any air, as well as a good deal of the superfluous glue, the presence of which, were it suffered to remain, would be fatal to a good joint. It then only remains to cramp the two pieces together, and let them rest till the glue has thoroughly set, when the boards may be worked on as if there were no joint.

Fig. 548.—Gluing Butt Joint, Front View.

Fig. 549.—Cramp for Glued Joint.

Fig. 550.—Cramp for Glued Joint.

Fig. 551.—Wedge Cramp for Glued Joint.

CRAMPING

     Cramps for carpenters’ and joiners’ use are illustrated on pp. 28 to In the case of plain glued joints, however, it is always better not to use cramps; but if the boards are thin, it is sometimes advisable to use one of the following devices, which may be constructed in a few minutes from any spare strips of wood. The device shown by Fig. 549 is made of two strips about 2 in. wide, with a 1/2-in. pin driven through at top and bottom. Fig. 550 shows one strip of like width and 1 in. thick, with a small block screwed on at top and bottom. Fig. 551 is made in the same manner as Fig. more room being given at the top to allow a pair of folding wedges to be driven in. The face view of all these three cramps, lettered in their order, is given by Fig. which illustrates the application of the strips to the joint. A and B are simply placed close to the board, and gently driven along until sufficiently tight. C has two folding wedges D driven as shown, this being perhaps the better method. After “gluing-up,” the board must be carefully removed from the bench, and a strip of wood placed at an angle against the wall, or any available place, as shown at Fig. The board should be carefully placed with the bottom D close to the strip; otherwise the joint at C is spoilt. It will thus be seen that there are many little points to attend to in making a glued joint; but if care is taken in every detail, success is certain, and a good joint that will resist any reasonable strain will be obtained.

Fig. 552.—Three Cramps for Glued Joints.

Fig. 553.—Supporting Fresh Glued Joint.

BAD AND

     Just to show distinctly what a good joint is, compare two joints of different quality. In one the line of the joint is seen quite easily for most of its length. It is a dark line, thicker in some places than in others, from end to end of the join. In some places it is interrupted for an inch or two, where all the glue seems to have been pressed out, and these places are the only ones at which the joint is thorough. Instead of being perfectly flat there is an angle at the joint; this may be very slight, but it is quite perceptible if a straight-edge be laid across. On the perfectly jointed piece no line is discernible anywhere, but the grain of the wood is stopped short off along a certain imaginary line; the figure seems abruptly broken, not only on one side of this line, but on both. That is all there is to indicate the joint, and it is almost sure to stand the straight-edge test.

     Dowels are round wooden pins used in a common method of jointing up. They are hardly ever used in wood under 3/4 in. thick. Usually they have a diameter of 3/8 in., but beyond this being a generally convenient size there is no special reason for it. Whatever their diameter, it must be the same as that of the bit with which the dowel holes are bored. The dowels must fit tightly in if they are to be of any use. Where they are used in large quantities, the dowels are bought ready made, or, rather, the lengths from which the dowels can be cut when wanted are got. Almost any straight-grained, strong wood will do for dowels, but beech, birch, and oak are employed generally. Waste pieces of any strong wood may be used instead. The pieces are cut in sticks roughly rounded, and then hammered through the dowel plate. This removes any irregularities, and the screw beneath it forms a rough kind of groove or furrow in the stick as it passes through. The length of the sticks is not of much consequence, but, on account of their liability to break, 9 in. or 12 in. is long enough. If the dowels are not as dry as possible, they will shrink, and not retain their proper hold on the wood in which they are inserted.

MAKING

     For making dowels, prepare a dowel plate, as illustrated by Fig. It consists of a piece of hardwood, such as oak or beech, 3 in. square and 10 in. long, in the top of which a 3/8-in. steel plate, 2 in. wide, is let flush and screwed down. The plate is properly tempered and faced up with a file and emery; it is punched, when hot, with four holes of 7/16 in., 3/8 in., 5/16 in., and 1/4 in. diameter respectively, 1 1/2 in. apart; corresponding holes, a little larger, to clear the holes in the plate, are bored through the wood. Next provide a pin or dowel-board, consisting of a deal board 1 1/2 in. thick, 6 in. wide, and 12 in. long, on which are planted four wooden fillets as shown in Fig. The first pair are 3/4 in. wide, 1/4 in. thick, and planted 5/16 in. apart. The second pair are 3/4 in. wide, 3/8 in. thick, and planted 7/16 in. apart. One fillet of each pair has a V-groove worked in it, in which a stop is glued and sprigged at the farthest end, the square grooves also having stops glued and sprigged in between. The work can be started by ripping down squares of oak about 10 in. long to the size of the dowels required. Place each in its proper square groove on the pin board, and plane them down nearly flush with the tops of the fillets. Next place each in its proper V-groove, take off the arrises all round, and, with a mallet, drive the dowels through their proper holes in the dowel piece, which is placed over a hole in the bench. The blow must be dealt gently at first, and the dowel held perfectly upright. When driven through, place the dowels in the V-grooves again on the pin-board, and run a V along the dowel itself with a V-tool. It is not necessary that the groove should be very straight or very even, as it is only intended to form a vent for the superfluous glue when the dowel is driven home, although if it is omitted the work may be split. The section of the dowel when completed is shown at Fig.

Fig. 554.—Dowel Plate.

Fig. 555.—Dowel Board.

Fig. 556.—Section of Dowel.

BORING

     It is quite evident that as the pin or dowel is inserted in two boards, half of it being in each one, the holes bored for its reception must be exactly placed. To do this is not difficult. The edges of the boards having been trued, place the boards on edge side by side, and hold them together in the bench screw or by any other suitable means. With the square mark off across the edges of both at intervals of from 8 in. to 12 in., more or less, according to circumstances. If the boards are then placed edge to edge, their lines must correspond. With a gauge set to about half the thickness of the wood, mark off a point on each of the lines. Each point, of course, gives the centre of a dowel hole. An ordinary centre bit may be used, but a twist bit is better, because it leaves a cleaner hole. A suitable gauge is made with a piece of deal 2 in. or 3 in. long, notched out at one end and having a steel point, driven in at a given distance, and sharpened up as a marking gauge. In marking off with the gauge, be careful to work from the same surface of the two boards, either from the face of both or from the back of both. Before preparing the edges, look at the surfaces of the boards. Both may be equally good, but often it is found that one side of a plank is better than the other, and the better one should form the visible side. The dowel holes should be bored to a uniform depth of, say, 1 in., and in practice it is generally advisable to bore them in pairs and not to make all those in one plank before beginning the other. To do this, of course, it is assumed that they are left in the bench screw and bored immediately after marking. In order to get all the holes the same depth, a simple contrivance can be used. To make this, get a piece of wood with a hole bored through its centre in the direction of the grain. The length of the wood is such that when the brace bit is passed through the hole the top of the wood is against the brace stock, and the portion of the bit projecting at the bottom is as long as the required dowel hole is deep. Other devices are obtainable at most tool shops. The holes may be bored fairly equal without the aid of special devices by noting the number of turns of the brace given to the first one, and making the other holes the same. The boring has a tendency, more or less marked according to the wood and the kind of bit used, to raise the wood round the holes, and it is sometimes advisable to run the plane over the edges afterwards.

Fig. 557.—Dowelling Gauge.

COUNTERSINKING

     The mouths of the holes must be widened with the reamer or rose bit to form a slight countersink, facilitating the insertion of the dowels, and forming a little space into which the surplus glue can run. This countersinking must be only very slight, in fact, barely more than necessary to remove sharp edges and any burr there may be from the bit used in boring the holes. The object of the dowel is to hold the boards together, and it is important, therefore, that as much as possible of the dowel should be in contact with the wood in which it is inserted. If the countersinking then is to the depth of 1/4 in. or so, it is evident that this space is waste so far as regards the adherence of the dowel. Repeating the distance in the other plank, at once there is a space of 1/2 in. which is practically wasted.

ROUNDING OF

     To facilitate the dowel entering the hole, it is usual either to round off the entering end or to hammer its edges just sufficiently to make it slightly blunt. Tools for rounding the ends may be purchased. Fig. 558 shows a typical one known as a shaver. Both methods are practised, but hammering is to be preferred. Bad results do not follow if the rounding is not too great; only the edge must be removed, and it is neither advisable nor necessary to taper the pin, nor to give the end a hemispherical shape. Hammering the ends does not remove any of the wood, but compresses the fibres, so that to all intents and purposes the end of the dowel is tapered off; but it swells again under the action of the glue when it has been driven home, thus making a perfectly tight fit.

FIXING

     It is assumed that the two boards are ready for fixing together. Take a piece of the dowel wood, whatever its length may be, and round one end in the way preferred. Then glue the inside of the hole, or dip the end of the dowel in glue. Dipping is a very general method, but must be regarded as slovenly; for applying the glue to the walls of the hole, use a small brush, or beat out the end of a piece of cane, or even use a stick a little less than the thickness of the dowel; this carries enough of the glue and disposes it easily in the hole. Do not fill the hole with glue, nor yet put in only a drop and leave the dowel to force it round. As quickly as convenient, so that the glue may not set before it is done, hammer the dowel home. The reason for the in this now is apparent, for if there were no such channel the glue could not escape, and would be forced down to the bottom, and air would be imprisoned. This latter alone would give rise to a considerable risk of the board being split. Glue which may exude should not be allowed to set, or it would interfere with the close contact of the two boards. A small quantity will not matter if the joint is to be completed at once, and any there may be in the widened mouth of the hole may stop there. When the dowel is driven home, saw off the excess, leaving the projection from the wood as nearly as possible the exact length of the corresponding hole in the other piece. In practice, to be on the safe side, it is usual to cut a trifle short, for if the dowel is too long the edges of the two boards cannot come into close contact. All the holes are dowelled in the same manner in one of the boards, and the projecting ends rounded off by means of a file or special dowel rounder. Naturally hammering cannot be done so conveniently on the second end. Glue the edges of both pieces of wood, one of which, at least, should be warmed before doing so, and, of course, glue the holes which are not yet filled. All being ready, the boards are brought together and clamped up, when they should be left until the glue has set. Figs. 559 and 560 show sections of a dowel inserted in its hole; they are respectively incorrect and correct for the reasons made clear on p. This is a strong form of joint, stronger than the plain butt, yet not so strong as the ploughed and tongued, described on p.

Fig. 558.—Dowel Shaver.

Fig. 559.—Dowelled Joint with Excessive Countersink and Rounding.

Fig. 560.—Dowelled Joint correctly made.

     The term “rebate” is applied to all rectangular recesses where cut upon the edge of the material, such as the recess in door-jambs into which the door shuts; also the space occupied by the glass and putty in window-sashes, picture-frames, and in numerous other examples. Rebates will occur in some of the joints to be dealt with in this chapter, as illustrated by many of the figures on p. To work a rebate perfectly requires close attention to details and a certain amount of skill in the use of tools; this last comes by patience and perseverance. Fig. 561 shows a rebate cut upon the edge of a board. Suppose a rebate to be of square section and 1/2 in. deep both ways. To work it, set the marking gauge to 1/2 in., and run it along both face and edge of board, and place the board, face side up, upon the bench, as B taking care to keep the end quite close to the bench stop and drive a bench knife (a piece broken from an old table knife) into both board and bench, as shown at A The board now is firmly fixed to the bench. Hold the chisel firmly in the left hand, with the bevel at the back, as shown, and, inclining the handle slightly towards the worker, proceed carefully to cut a succession of notches from the front to back of the board, taking care not to cut beyond the lines on face or edge. If the chisel is held too loosely, it may slip through the hand, a nasty pinch resulting through the contact of the mallet with the hand on top of the handle. Having cut the notches, the chisel should be held bevel downwards in the right hand, as in Fig. and, starting at the back, the chips may be carefully cleaned out, leaving the rebate B as shown in the section C If the grain of the wood is in the direction shown at a the notches should be cut in two directions as illustrated, or the result may be a notch too far below the line to be taken out, as shown by a If a knot should happen to be in the way, the same course must be followed with additional care; or the knot, the wood having been cleaned out upon both sides of it, may be cut off with a tenon saw. The rebate now is roughly worked, and to finish it up the rebate plane (for description of this see pp. 47 and must be applied to both sides of the recess (see Fig. using each side successively as the bed for the plane. The plane is held in much the same manner as the smoothing plane. Care must be taken to finish the two sides of the rebate at right angles to each other, and to work exactly to the gauge lines, otherwise the rebate is sure to be uneven or worked in holes. It may happen that the iron has not worked exactly up to the angle of the rebate, leaving, as a result, a small ridge. This may be removed by means of a chisel, which should be run along both faces of the rebate, when the piece will be cut clean out. The joiner would use in rebating a tool known as a plough (see Fig. p. and the use of this is described on p.

Fig. 561.—Portion of Rebated Board.

Fig. 562.—Use of Mallet and Chisel in Rebating.

Fig. 563.—Removing Chips in Rebating.

Fig. 564.

Fig. 565.

Figs. 564 and 565.—Method of Chipping Awkwardly Grained Stuff.

Fig. 566.—Using Rebate Plane.

     It is often necessary to pare—that is, cut off clean—the end of a piece of stuff. To manage this, place any odd piece of board upon the bench, and upon it lay the work to be pared. Hold the chisel in the right hand, as at b with the bevel outwards. Steady it with the left hand, as shown, and apply pressure to the handle in the direction of the arrow; also, if necessary, the right shoulder may be brought to assist in forcing the chisel downwards.

Fig. 567.—Paring with Chisel.

WORKING OR

     The working of beads and mouldings will be treated in detail later, but the working of a simple cove or hollow on the edge of a board may here be described. Run a line upon face and edge, as in rebating, and with a jack plane remove the stuff between the lines; this is termed chamfering. The gouge is then applied to the chamfer, being held in the same manner as the chisel at Fig. the tips of the fingers of the left hand are also applied to the top of the gouge to steady it; the wrist is allowed to rest upon the bench, as this will act as a guard against the tool slipping and spoiling the work. The chips should be taken out in short strokes of the tool, the whole length of the cove being carefully finished with a sharp gouge.

Fig. 568.—Rebated Joint.

Fig. 569.—Rebated and Filleted Joint.

Fig. 570.—Grooved and Tongued Joint.

AND

     Figs. 568 to 576 show nine joints that have much in common. The simple rebated joint is made by rebating the edges of two boards to half their depth, the edges being then brought together and the projections made to lap over each other. In the rebated and filleted joint the rebates are more shallow, and instead of the projections lapping, the joint is made with fillets of fir or harder wood. This prevents the joint opening from ultimate shrinkage, and the joint is thus suited to flooring, etc. The grooved and tongued, or ploughed and tongued joint also does not open on shrinkage, and is suitable for stopping light rays and the passage of air, dust, etc. The edge of one board has a rectangular groove ploughed in it, whilst the other board is rebated from both faces to form a fillet or tongue that fits in the groove. The rebated, grooved (ploughed), and tongued joint differs but little from the last, a groove and tongue being combined with a rebate. This is a good joint for flooring, and is known also as the grooved and rebated joint. The ploughed and cross-tongued joint is known also as the grooved and tongued, ploughed and feathered, or grooved and feathered joint. The edges of the boards are grooved to correspond, and the tongue is of obliquely cut wood, or less commonly of iron. This is one of the most important joints used, and will be treated in detail. The dovetailed slip feather joint resembles the last, but the tongue or feather is dovetailed into each board, thus forming a very strong joint. The matched and beaded joint and the matched and joint are practically the same as the grooved and tongued joint the working of the face of the boards near the joint being the only point of difference. Fig. 574 shows a quirked bead disguising the joint, which appears as a second quirk; this is a common method in matched-boarding. Fig. 575 shows a chamfer on each edge, the joint complete showing a V-groove which disguises the line of jointing. The splay-rebated grooved and tongued joint is a somewhat uncommon joint, made by sinking a special groove in one edge and then chamfering as shown; a tongue and projection to correspond are worked on the other board.

Fig. 571.—Rebated, Grooved and Tongued Joint.

Fig. 572.—Ploughed and Cross-tongued Joint.

Fig. 573.—Dovetailed Slip Feather Joint.

Fig. 574.—Matched and Beaded Joint.

Fig. 575.—Matched and Joint.

Fig. 576.—Splay-rebated, Grooved and Tongued Joint.

Fig. 577.—Ploughing Board, Front View.

PLOUGHED AND

     The ploughed and cross-tongued joint may now be considered. It is probably stronger than either the plain or the dowelled joint, but as the latter is sufficient for ordinary purposes, and is more easily made, tongueing is not used much in cabinet work (only jointing up in order to get required width is here referred to). Still, there are occasions when it is more suitable than either of the others, as, for example, with pitch-pine boards. In making it, a groove is cut or ploughed along the edge of one or both of the planks to be joined, and the space so made is filled with a thin strip of wood. If both planks have been ploughed this strip is separately made, and half its width inserted in each When, however, only one has been prepared this way, the other is planed or rebated down from each side to leave a projecting ridge, which fits in the ploughed groove; this is the joint shown by Fig. The former is the stronger of the two, and is the one almost invariably used, and is generally preferred because only one plane other than the ordinary smoothing planes is required; while in the second form a pair, one for cutting the grooves and the other for the tongue, will be necessary. The best form is considered here; after this the other is simple.

PLOUGHING

     Grooves have to be ploughed in work for a variety of purposes; in doors, for instance, the framing has to be ploughed on its inner edges to receive the panels; and in jointing boards to obtain extra width, grooves have to be ploughed on their edges to receive the tongues or feathers. The plough (see Fig. p. is one of the most useful tools in the joiner’s kit. It can be set to any required distance from the edge of the stuff, and also to any depth up to 7/8 in. To obtain practice, fix some work in the bench vice, as A put the 5/16 in. iron D in the plough, and drive in the wedge set the plough with the iron in the centre of the edge of the stuff, and set the guide (by means of the thumbscrew to 1/2 in., this being the depth of groove; thus a groove fully 5/16 in. wide and 1/2 in. deep is to be cut. Hold the plough in both hands, as shown in the elevation Fig. and plan Fig. and, standing within easy reach of the end of the stuff, proceed carefully to work the plane backwards and forwards until it will not go deeper. The distance from A to B will show the shape of the groove at this stage, C being the section of one end, and D of the other. Now take a step backwards, and repeat the process, taking out another section, as shown by dotted lines; proceed in like manner until the whole is done, finishing up by running the plough from end to end, to be sure that the groove is of uniform depth. For jointing, the edges are shot perfectly true as for a plain joint, this being necessary in joints of all kinds. The plough plane must be set so that the iron cuts the groove about the middle of the edge of the plank. Those who possess a plough will have no difficulty in understanding how to regulate the fence, which, by being pressed or kept in contact with the surface of the wood, causes the iron to cut in the same straight line. It will thus be seen that in working a plough, two pressures, as they may be described, are required, one of them downwards and the other sideways during the whole of the forward thrust. If the iron is not set to cut exactly in the middle of the wood, bear in mind that the groove must be run equally on both pieces; the distance from the face being taken with due regard to the grooves corresponding when the edges are brought together. A little thought will show the necessity for this caution.

Fig. 578.—Ploughing Board, Plan.

Fig. 579.—Diagrams of Ploughed Groove.

     The work with the plough having been completed, the boards are ready for tongueing. There are two ways of doing this; one of them giving but little strength in the joint, and the other correct both theoretically and practically, and forming a really strong joint. As has been stated, the tongue is a strip or feather of wood glued in both the ploughed grooves. If this strip is cut so that the grain is coincident with that of the boards to be connected by it, it is evident that the strength cannot be so great as if the grain were at right angles with that of the board (see Fig. in which A indicates boards, and B tongue or feather). In other words, the grain of the tongue must be end on to the bottom of the grooves. This is the key to the proper way of making the tongued and grooved joint. It is much easier to plane up a length of tongue with the grain than across it, and a moment’s reflection will show that there is no occasion whatever for the tongue to be all in one piece, even if this were always possible, so that all that is necessary to do is to cut pieces of the required width and thickness from the end of any boards. The wood from which the tongue is cut is first prepared by planing to the right size. When prepared, the tongueings are to be fixed in with glue and the boards cramped together; but after what has been said in this chapter about this part of the operation, no further directions are needed. The three forms of jointing, namely, plain, dowelled, and tongued, which have been dealt with, are those principally in use in all kinds of joinery.

Fig. 580.—Ploughed and Cross-tongued Joint Apart.

SCREWED

     Figs. 581 to 583 illustrate a screwed butt joint that is both useful and novel, especially where the joint will be exposed to dampness likely to cause the glue to give way, as in w.c. seats and risers; also for fixing brackets to standards of over-mantels to carry the shelves, for gluing up shelves when time is short, as they can be cleaned off at once; and for church bench heads, where it is necessary to joint to get the required width, and in many other ways it can be used to advantage. Fig. 581 shows a view of edges of boards, with screws fitted and mortises cut; Fig. boards in position for jointing; Fig. joint complete. The screw heads enter the holes bored for them, and then the boards are merely slid together tightly to form a strong joint which can be taken apart easily.

Fig. 581.—Edges of Boards to be Screw Jointed.

Fig. 582.—Screwed Butt Joint, Incomplete.

SIMPLE

     The simplest way to join wood at right angles is that adopted in making packing-cases (see Fig. each piece is cut carefully, the ends planed true if necessary, and then merely nailed together. This method is only applicable to the roughest work, and needs no further attention, the present object being to show how the angle joints in articles of furniture and in woodwork construction generally are formed. Taking the simple packing-case joint as an example, it is obvious that if only the inside is to be seen, no objection on the score of unsightliness could be made, the only drawback to the nailed joint being its lack of strength. Seen, however, from the outside, the heads of the nails and the end grain of one of the boards are left exposed. Suppose, therefore, that for the corner of a simple cupboard a dovetailed joint is not deemed necessary, though a neater union than the packing-case presents is required. Fig. 585 shows what is meant, the top of the cupboard being cut in the form of a rebate, and the side nailed to it, the joint being covered afterwards by an applied moulding. Such a joint will be superior to the packing-case joint both in strength and appearance, because the use of glue as well as nails becomes possible, and because of the increased surface given by the rebate, the strength of glued joints being very largely dependent upon the area of the surfaces in mutual contact.

Fig. 583.—Screwed Butt Joint, Complete.

Fig. 584. Simplest Form of Nailed Joint.

Fig. 585. Nailed Lapped Joint.

Fig. 586.—Halved Joint.

HALVED

     The joints described in the following pages should be practised in the order in which they appear, by first constructing a working drawing, and then making the joint from it. The actual work should not be begun until a good working drawing has been made. Fig. 586 shows a simple halved joint, and Fig. 587 the parts of one with the halving at the other ends. This is of common use, and usually is adopted for connecting wall-plates of a roof at the angles. To make it, plane up true two pieces of wood, each, say, 9 in. by 2 in. by 1 1/2 in. finished size, measured upon the side first planed, which is termed the face side; draw a fancy mark, such as a tailed scroll (see a, in plan, Fig. with the tail drawn to the edge; upon the corresponding edge make a dash only (see in elevation, Fig. In practice, these marks are omitted, all measurements, gauge marks, and squaring being made from the side upon which they occur. To begin the joint, square off one end of each piece, and from this, square over a line at a distance equal to the width of the stuff (2 in.). This line denotes the shoulders, one piece having it upon the face, and the other upon the back. Set a marking gauge to half the thickness of material (3/4 in.), and run along the sides and ends as far as the shoulder lines. Fix each piece alternately in the bench vice, and saw down in the outside of the piece that is to remain. If the saw-kerf is upon the wrong side—that is, the inside—of the line, the two pieces, upon being placed together, will not stand level or flush upon the surface, the saw-kerf having removed some of the substance. Having cut in these lines, form the shoulders by cutting across the grain with the tenon saw in each case to meet the end of the saw-kerf. This joint is usually nailed together, but when the joint is to be kept as a sample or model, it is not desirable to use a nail. A screw might be inserted from the back, where it will be out of sight, and may easily be withdrawn to allow of the joint being examined. This applies to many other joints.

Fig. 587.—Halved Joint Apart.

Fig. 588.—Plan of Halved Joint.

Fig. 589.—Elevation of Halved Joint.

HALF-LAP

     A halved joint that is commonly used under the name is shown by Fig. The difference between this and the previous joint is in the projecting ends; these are a decided advantage, and render it serviceable and strong where circumstances allow of its use. It may be set out by placing one piece upon the other, taking care to keep the pieces at right angles, and marking each side with a striking-knife. The gauge is then set to half the thickness, and run along the edges between the square lines. The shoulders may be cut in with the tenon saw as far as gauge lines, and the stuff between should be cut out by means of chisel and mallet, and afterwards carefully pared down to the gauge marks upon both edges of the stuff.

Fig. 590.—Half-lap Joint.

Fig. 591.—Notched Joint.

NOTCHED

     One form of notched joint closely resembles the half-lap joint, but differs from it in the depth to which the notching is cut. In the half-lap one-half was cut out from each piece, the whole finishing flush upon top and bottom; in this joint, however, only one-quarter or one-eighth the depth of the material is cut away (see Fig. or one piece may not even be notched at all (see Fig. Fig. 593 shows another form of notched joint, and this is the kind often adopted at the top of a post carrying a piece of timber, such as a plate, etc.

Fig. 592.—Notched Joint.

Fig. 593. Notched Joint at Top of Post.

Fig. 594. Bird’s-mouth Joint.

     The bird’s-mouth joint is shown in end view by Fig. an isometric sketch of it being shown by Fig. Usually it is adopted at the foot or bottom of a rafter, where abutting against the wall-plate P This may be set out by means of the sliding bevel, a and b forming a right angle. The piece is cut out of the end with a tenon saw.

COGGED

     Fig. 596 illustrates a joint occasionally employed to connect the tie-beam and wall-plate. The joint is again shown by Fig. It is set out by first marking the width of the top piece B upon the bottom piece The mortise gauge is set to one-third the width, and it is run between the lines upon the face side, denoted by the scroll or mark. Set a gauge to one-fourth the depth, and run along both of the sides, as at a The top piece has merely a groove cut upon it to correspond with the cog. The recesses c c may be cut out by means of mallet and chisel, care being taken to ensure all the angles being square. The groove in the top piece may be first run in with the tenon saw, removing the piece with a chisel of suitable width.

Fig. 595.—Bird’s-mouth Joint.

Fig. 596.—Cogged Joint.

MITRED

     To form mitred joints the work is cut on mitre blocks or in mitre boxes (see pp. 15 and Say a piece of moulding is to be mitred. Place the moulding A in the rebate B of the mitre block, and press the thumb of the left hand (the fingers being upon the block) firmly upon it. Holding the tenon saw C in the right hand, place the blade in the kerf, and carefully cut the moulding, being sure to stop sawing when the piece is cut through, or the block will be damaged. Having cut one end, mark the desired length upon the moulding, and repeat the process in the other cut Figs. 59 and 60 show how moulding is cut in a mitre box. For accurate work the mitres must be shot. Place one of the pieces of moulding upon the mitre shooting block p. as A with the end slightly projecting beyond, as seen. Press the left hand firmly upon it, as in cutting the mitre. Turn the trying-plane upon its side in the rebate, and carefully work it across the mitre until true. To shoot the other end, the board must be turned round, the position of the hands being reversed, the right hand holding the moulding whilst the left hand works the plane. This position is shown in the photo-reproduction. illustrating a different kind of shooting board, in which two strips replace the triangle.

Fig. 597.—Cogged Joint.

Fig. 598.—Cutting Moulding in Mitre Block.

Fig. 599.—Shooting Mitre.

Fig. 600.—Shooting Mitre.

SETTING

     In Fig. 601 are shown two lines forming an angle of 90°; to obtain the angle of 45° between them, the mitre line, the angle A is bisected as follows. With R as centre, and any convenient radius, describe the arc P with P and Q as centres, and any radius more than half the distance from P to describe the intersecting arcs join R and this line will be the desired mitre. By drawing the two inner lines parallel with the others, and joining R the same results would be obtained. Fig. 602 is an angle that often occurs in a bay window; and Fig. 603 shows the angle for the moulding in a piece of irregular framing. The method is the same as in Fig. the application being perfectly general, and therefore requiring no explanation. Fig. 604 clearly shows the position of two mouldings if the mitre had been incorrectly drawn, as A They may form a right angle on the outside, and also fit close together at the mitre, but the various members, as indicated by the parallel lines in the diagrams, will not intersect, although A and B are of the same width. It will be good exercise to cut such a mitre. It is often desirable to place a small moulding on the panel of a piece of framing, as a door for instance, to relieve the square appearance. One corner of such an arrangement is shown at Fig. in these small mouldings it is not the practice to shoot the mitres; any slight irregularity is corrected with the smoothing plane, the moulding being held in the bench vice, as in Fig. Many patented machines are on the market for cutting mitres, some with and some without the aid of saw and plane, but all claiming almost automatic working and the impossibility of inaccurate work. There is no need, however, to describe them in detail here.

Fig. 601.—Setting out True Mitre.

Fig. 602.

Fig. 603.

Figs. 602 and 603.—Other Mitres.

Fig. 604.

Fig. 605.

Figs. 604 and 605.—Mitred Mouldings.

Fig. 606.—Shooting Mitre in Bench Vice.

HOUSING OR

     The housing joint (if joint it may be called) is available when one of the pieces of wood overhangs or projects beyond the face of the other. Fig. 607 illustrates the simplest form; the piece termed a sill or rail—as the case may be—is let bodily into the post or upright b to a depth of about 1/2 in.; it may be cut with the saw and cleared out by means of mallet and chisel, being nailed in position from the top and sides. Housing is formed by the ordinary joining of the back rail of a plinth or cornice; this is a mere housing joint with a block above and below. Fig. 608 shows the dovetail housing; this is not always available, because if the overhang of the top is but little the outer portion of the socket may break off, and if the width from back to front is considerable it is difficult to make a good fit; but for fixing the stiles to the top of a sideboard slab, hinged to fall down, it is a very useful mode of attachment.

Fig. 607. Ordinary Housing.

Fig. 608. Dovetail Housing.

MORTISE AND

     The mortise and tenon joint is probably the most important joint used in wood-working; it enters largely into the construction of all classes of joinery, such, for instance, as door-frames, doors, sashes, etc., and household furniture of all kinds. Great care is necessary upon the part of the learner to ensure that it is nicely fitted, and if careful attention is devoted to the details in working, few joints give greater satisfaction in the result, it being neat, strong, and durable. The simplest form of mortise and tenon is shown in the general view in which A is the mortise, in piece and B the tenon on piece Figs. 610 and 611 show plan and elevation of two pieces of wood framed together at right angles by means of a mortise and tenon; A indicates the upright, or stile, which in this case has the tenon cut upon its lower extremity, and which passes through the rail The stile is shown in section on the plan, a b showing its width, and the dotted lines d indicating the position of the tenon, and c e the shoulders. As a general rule, the tenons are cut upon all rails, and the mortises in the stiles. Before attempting to make this joint, Figs. 610 and 611 and detail views of the separate tenon should be drawn out to the full size of the material selected (say 9 in. long, 2 in. wide, and 1 1/2 in. thick), to serve as working drawings. The importance of always working from drawings cannot be insisted upon too strongly.

Fig. 609.—Mortise and Tenon Joint Apart.

Fig. 610.

Fig. 611.

Figs. 610 and 611.—Plan and Elevation of Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 612.—Using Mortise Gauge.

Fig. 613.—Squaring End Lines of Mortise.

SETTING OUT AND

     Plane up true two pieces of wood to the sizes given, allowing at least 1/8 in. extra in width and thickness for thicknessing; lay the rail as B upon the bench, having the face uppermost. At the desired distance from the end draw the line b and make b a equal to the width (2 in.) of the piece on which the tenon is to be. Divide the line b c into three equal parts, making each just 1/2 in.; set the marking gauge to the first mark, and run it from 1 to 2; set another gauge to the second division, and run this from 3 to 4. The space between the dotted lines will presently be cut out; square the lines a and b down the side of the stuff, and also across the other face; now, taking care to work from the same side as indicated by a scroll (shown in Figs. 610 and run the gauges along the other face as just described, thus setting out the mortise. As a general rule, the tenon is made one-third the thickness of material; in this case, the stuff being 1 1/2 in. thick, the mortise has been set out as 1/2 in. The width of the mortise, however, is varied occasionally to suit the width of the chisel employed, as these two always should agree. The mortise gauge 33 to pp. 11 and is usually employed to gauge the mortise and tenon, it marking both lines at the same time. Its use is made quite clear by Fig. the lines denoting the ends of the mortise being drawn with square and scriber as in Fig. To set out the tenon, place the second piece on edge upon the bench, and from the end, as c to d mark off the depth of the mortise (in this case 2 in.). Square this line carefully down both sides with a striking-knife to indicate the shoulders; run the marking gauges along both sides, e g and f and also across the end, thus setting out the joint; or do the work more quickly by using a mortise gauge.

Fig. 614.

Fig. 615.

Fig. 614.—Part Section of Tenon, showing Kerfs. Fig. 615.—Sawing Tenon.

CUTTING

     The process of tenon cutting is illustrated by Fig. Fasten the work a securely in the bench vice, and proceed to cut down on the outside of each gauge line with the hand-saw until the saw is level across from line to line on the edges, as c d shows. If the piece is large, the saw should be run in alternately from each edge until down to the lines, as this ensures the tenon being cut an equal thickness throughout. The saw-kerf should always be on the outside of the tenon, or else the tenon will be too small for the mortise. Fig. 614 shows in section the two kerfs cut in at e g, f The shoulders should now be cut square. Here again, the cut must be to the outside or right side of the line, so as to leave the knife-cut line to form the actual joint; otherwise the saw-kerf reduces the length of the rail by the thickness of the kerf. Cut the shoulders of the tenon with a tenon saw.

Fig. 616.

Fig. 616.—Double Tenon.

Fig. 617.

Fig. 617.—Nick for Starting Mortise.

     In cases where it is not necessary that the tenon should go through, particular care should be taken as to the direction of the mortise; neglect of this would, in case of narrow bars like sash bars, cause them to appear bent—in fact, would bend them. In making a door or similar article of joinery, the size of the mortise depends upon the size of the plough-groove (if any), the position depending on the size of any moulding that may be worked upon the stiles; yet the cutting of the mortises is not to be left until these operations are accomplished. The mortises are best cut before either the groove is ploughed or the moulding worked, though of course the necessary allowances must be made. If on the inner edge of the stile a section of each rail in its right position is drawn, there will not be much likelihood of making any mistake in the planning of the mortises. Every groove, rebate, moulding, etc., should be drawn, and it would be well if a section of stiles, muntins, or bars were similarly drawn upon the rails; this would at once give the shoulders, and suggest where either mitring or scribing is necessary. The plough groove is shown in Fig. which illustrates a double tenon on the bottom rail of a 2-in. door, the mortises shown allowing for wedging. One other consideration ought to be mentioned, that is, that if the edges of the wood are not square (and some workmen leave the outer edges to be planed to finished sizes after the work is glued up), the mortise may be made apparently true, perpendicular to the bench or mortise stool, and yet, because the work is not properly prepared, it may not be parallel to the face of the work as it should be. In making a small mortise the stile should be fastened tightly in the bench vice before starting work. To begin the mortise in the piece shown by Fig. cut out with the 1/2-in. chisel a small piece in the centre, as Fig. starting from this, proceed to cut a succession of chips, one about every 1/4 in., taking care to drive the chisel deeper at each successive blow, as seen at Fig. and as shown diagrammatically by Fig. in which A and B are the ends of the mortise, and the numerals indicate the order of the cuts. Having now worked from the centre to the end of mortise b the chips may be cleared out in the manner shown at Fig. Turn the chisel round so that its face d shall be the opposite way about, and again starting from cut the remaining portion of the mortise up to the line Now turn the stile over, and cut the mortise from the back edge in precisely the same manner until cut quite through. A shows the chisel in position, looking at its face, and B the mortise cut through. From lack of method beginners invariably make mortises somewhat larger than is required, and the core is an embarrassment to them. If the cuts are made in the above order on both sides of the nick which was first made, there will not be much core left when all the cuts have been made, and what there is will be in the middle, where it is most easily removed. If the mortise is right through, it is better to use a core-driver than to pick out the core with a chisel or other tool; if it does not go right through, use a sharp chisel somewhat smaller than the mortise chisel.

Fig. 618.—Cutting Mortise.

Fig. 619.—Diagram of Chisel Cuts in Mortising.

Fig. 620.—Clearing out Mortise.

WEDGED AND

     Mortises intended for tenons that pass through the stile usually have the outer portion enlarged for wedging, not of course in width, but in the length; this enlargement for the wedges ought to be a very gentle taper, because taper wedges hold better than abrupt ones. An engineer’s key in a cog wheel may serve as an excellent example, or the wedge of a plane is about a correct angle for wedge of tenon; these wedges, when glued and driven, convert the tenon into a dovetail, and also give an opportunity for adjustment in putting together the work. A typical joint is shown by Fig. whilst Fig. 622 shows a pair of single wedged tenons, commonly called double tenons. The proper dovetail tenon is shown by Fig.

Fig. 621.—Wedged Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 622.—Pair of Single Wedged Tenons.

ATTITUDE OF IN

     In mortising, as in every mechanical operation, attitude is of importance. It is common knowledge that a circular disc does not appear to be circular unless every portion of the outline is equally drawn from the eye; a circle drawn on a piece of paper and viewed obliquely appears to be an ellipse. It is equally well known that any three points may be regarded as being in one plane, or in other words a plane surface (of suitable dimensions) may be made to touch any three points where-ever they may be placed. Apply these two facts to the operation of making a mortise. Let the centre line of the tool and the centre line of the mortise be drawn or imagined; both of these are in one vertical plane, and their intersection forms a right angle. When the tool is in a correct position to cut, the eye of the workman should be in the same plane as the two imaginary lines which have been supposed. To further make this clear, stretch a chalk line between two points; at any point on the line stretch another to a point above, or preferably let a plumb-line cut the horizontal chalk line. When the operator is standing so that these two lines range in one line, he is in the true attitude to assume with respect to cutting a mortise. This important point must be realised, and may be clearly demonstrated by trying the following simple experiment. Take a piece of wood, draw on it a straight line, on this line stick a straight wire—a mattress needle or a long knitting pin will do; light a lamp or a candle, and the needle will cast a shadow which by a little adjustment can be made to lie along the line; the flame of the candle is now in the plane of both the lines; if the wire is slanted out of the same vertical plane as the line, it will still be possible to make the shadow range, but in that case the light is not on or over the central line, as it ought to be. The beginner cannot rely on making a true mortise unless he can assume this position, in which he can see the direction of his chisel.

Fig. 623.—Dovetail Tenon.

Fig. 624.—Oblique Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 625.—Setting out Oblique Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 626.—Oblique Mortise and Tenon Joint.

BORING INSTEAD OF

     The method given on p. 201 is the one adopted by carpenter, joiner, and cabinetmaker; but many other woodworkers, as coach-builders, etc., do not make mortises in this manner. After marking out the mortises in the usual way, as much as possible of the timber is bored out from the centre of the mortise with brace and bit, and the rest is pared away with sharp chisels. This method is excellent for ash, oak, beech, or other hard woods, saving a large amount of work with the mallet, but the beginner must exercise great care or he will pare away too much in finishing.

Fig. 627.—Setting out Oblique Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 628.—Oblique Haunched Tenon.

OBLIQUE AND

     There are a few varieties of the oblique mortise and tenon joint. In each case they are first set out ready for sawing and mortising, and then prepared for fixing together. The mortise shown by Fig. 624 is rather difficult to make, as it goes obliquely through the wood; it is set out as in Fig. The joint shown by Fig. 626 would not be wedged, but fixed by gluing or pinning; it is set out as in Fig. Fig. 628 shows a haunched joint which can be wedged; this is set out as in Fig. In each case the parts are first prepared for sawing and mortising, and then prepared for fixing together. A form of the oblique mortise and tenon joint which is often used in preference to the bridle-joint to connect the foot of principal rafter and tie-beam is shown by Figs. 630 and In Fig. 631 the part at a is cut into one-eighth the depth of beam, a small mortise one-third the thickness being cut beyond the shoulder-line a as d b show; in Fig. B is the beam, and C the principal rafter. No difficulty will be experienced in working this joint without further explanation.

Fig. 629.—Setting out Oblique Haunched Tenon.

Fig. 630.—Oblique Mortise and Tenon Joint for Rafter and Tie-beam.

     Draw-boring is one of the easiest methods of tightening up permanently a mortise and tenon joint, the mode of procedure being as follows. Bore a hole of suitable size through the side of the mortise, as A now drive in the tenon and inserting a bradawl in the hole mark the tenon as shown by the dotted hole. Remove the tenon and bore a hole in it a trifle nearer the shoulder as at Fig. and sectional view Care should be taken in this matter, because should the hole be farther away, instead of nearer, the joint will be drawn apart instead of together. Fig. 633 illustrates the joint with the shoulders slightly off, a being the hole in tenon, and b b in the mortise. Make a pin from a straight-grained piece of stuff, its head being slightly larger than the hole, and tapering nicely off to a point. Drive it in the hole in the direction of arrow (see Fig. which will draw the joint up to its place. It will be seen from Fig. 634 that the pin P must bear upon the hole bored in the rail at a and upon the opposite side of the hole in the tenon at as a result the pin, being tapered, must, upon being driven forward, draw the pieces of stuff tightly up to the shoulders. For permanent fastening, the pin is cut off flush. The draw-bore pin shown by Fig. 635 is of steel in a boxwood handle; this draws the joint together, and then a wooden pin is substituted. The hole in the tenon should be bored only a slight distance nearer the shoulder, or the pin, after passing half-way through, will split, and force its way through at the back shoulder, effectually preventing the joint drawing up. Examples of this and all other joints described should be faithfully worked out in any available material, such as red deal; or if preferred, they may be worked to scale, 1 1/2 say in. to a foot; in this case a harder wood should be selected, such as bay wood, which may be bought cheaply.

Fig. 631.—Oblique Mortise.

Fig. 632.—Tenon with Draw-bore.

Fig. 633.

Fig. 634.

Figs. 633 and 634.—Method of Draw-boring.

Fig. 635.—Draw-bore Pin.

Fig. 636.—Haunched Tenon Joint.

HAUNCHED

     The haunched tenon joint is illustrated by Fig. This is the joint cut on the door rail which finishes flush with the end of the stile. The mortise is set out to the size at and the part B is cut in to a depth of 1/2 in. only. The tenon is shown at the part D being known as the haunch; the haunch is cut 1/2 in. long, to correspond with the depth in the stile. This joint should be well glued, and secured with two wedges E which are also glued and driven tightly home.

Fig. 637.—Tusk Tenon Joint.

TUSK

     Fig. 637 shows the tusk tenon joint, one of the most useful and well-designed joints it is possible to conceive for the purpose to which it is adapted. On entering a building at a certain stage in the course of its construction, it may be seen that a clear space has been left between the joist and chimney-breast or fireplace; several of the joists have been cut short, and another, called a trimmer, has been carried across at right angles to them. Into this trimmer the joists are fastened by means of a tusk tenon, which is cut in about half the thickness of joist. The tenon a is not so thick in proportion as in other tenon joints, the rule of one-third the thickness not applying here. A line taken along the centre of a piece of timber is termed its neutral axis, for the reason that if it is bent by a weight the axial fibres of the wood are not strained in any way; therefore place the bottom edge of the tenon, as b in the centre of the trimmer The thickness of the tenon should be one-sixth the depth of the joist, the necessary strength being obtained by sinking a piece c below the tenon, and also a bevelled piece d above it. The sinking may be one-fifth the thickness of the joist, and its depth two-thirds that of the joist as measured from the top. A wedge W is inserted, as shown, to draw all tightly up to bearings. Fig. 638 is a side elevation and section of joint, and Fig. 639 is a plan. A convenient size for the stuff would be about 9 in. by 3 in. by 2 in. Having planed up the wood, set the mortise gauge to the distances given above, and set out the mortise and tenon; next mark upon the face of the trimmer the parts c and the mortise and tenon may now be cut, the housings and shoulders being cut afterwards.

Fig. 638.—Elevation of Tusk Tenon.

Fig. 639.—Plan of Tusk Tenon.

Fig. 640.—Bridle Joint.

BRIDLE

     The bridle joint is shown by Fig. it is applicable to the foot of a roof-truss. In practice A would be the tie-beam, and B the foot of the principal rafter. To make the joint, first carefully plane up two pieces of stuff to the following sizes: 9 in. by 3 in. by 2 in., and 6 in. by 2 1/4 in. by 2 in., respectively, or others bearing the same proportions. Upon the first piece mark off a distance of about 2 1/2 in. from the end Square over a line upon the edge at this point and down both sides, as from i to Set the marking gauge to 1 in., and run it along both sides, the head being worked upon the top edge, as b to which should also be 1 in., as shown. Set a gauge to one-half the depth of stuff, which must be 1 1/2 in., as from d to and from the top edge (as before) run it along both sides, giving the dotted line A Suppose the rafter Fig. to be inclined at an angle of 30°. With the horizontal tie-beam A the angle o will be one of 90°, o c being struck square from the edge of rafter at it therefore follows that the outside or complementary angle will be one of 60°. Apply the 60° set-square to the centre line Fig. moving it along until its edge cuts the point c on the line b Draw the line c o; turn the set-square over, and draw o cutting the top edge at as seen. Carefully repeat this upon the other side, which may easily be done by squaring over the points i h and also the point The rafter may be set out by marking off points to correspond with those upon the tie-beam. The foregoing method of setting out the work direct upon the stuff has been adopted in order to show as forcibly as possible the disadvantage of not making a working drawing. In working from a drawing, all the angles can be taken with the sliding bevel, and marked direct upon the stuff, thus saving time and all chance of mistake. The next step is to cut away the shaded portions shown in Figs. 641 and This may be done with the tenon saw, carefully paring across the edge of the piece shown in Fig. 641 with a 1 1/2 in. firmer chisel. Now scribe with the mortise gauge, set to one-third the thickness, as shown by Fig. the distance between dotted lines giving the thickness of bridle or tenon. The gauge is now to be run along from f to Fig. and f o c The joint is now set out. Turning the rafter upon its edge, it will be seen that a saw may readily be run into the lines between f o thus cutting from o to the dotted line c f The piece between saw-kerfs can be removed by means of mallet and chisel. A bridle or tenon now has to be worked upon the tie-beam, Fig. and the lines f o, o c will form the shoulders. This may be managed as previously described for ordinary mortise and tenon joints. Fig. 644 shows the process of cutting down upon each side of the bridle, Fig. 645 being a section upon A B, C indicating the bridle, and d d the parts to be removed. Fig. 646 illustrates the method of removing the chips or core; this is done roughly with the chisel used bevel downwards, finishing with a sharp chisel in the manner shown. Great care should be exercised in keeping the bridle of uniform thickness—a matter of some little difficulty to the novice, the whole having to be done with a chisel, no saw being used unless the stuff is large, in which case part may be cut out with the chisel, finishing with the saw. It may be mentioned that the distance b i is half as far again upon Fig. 642 as b i the rafter standing above the beam at this point. Often, in practice, an iron strap is passed round the rafter and under the beam in the direction of a right angle to the back of the rafter.

Fig. 641.—Setting out Bridle Joint.

Fig. 642.—Setting out Bridle Joint.

Fig. 643.—Setting out Bridle Joint.

Fig. 644.

Fig. 645.

Figs. 644 and 645.—Cutting Bridle Joint.

Fig. 646.—Clearing out Bridle Joint.

Fig. 647.—Foxtail Tenon Joint Apart.

Fig. 648.—Tenon with Fox-wedging.

Fig. 649.—Foxtail Tenon Joint.

FOXTAIL OR

     This is a very strong form of mortise and tenon joint, largely used in cabinet work. Fig. 647 shows a part of a rail and the top portion of a stile. The wedges are shown inserted in the tenon ready to be driven home. Fig. 648 shows an enlarged view of the tenon; the dotted lines represent how much the tenon will be spread out when inside the mortise. The sum of the thickest parts of the three wedges should be 3/8 in., as that is the distance which the tenon spreads. The centre wedge should be 3/16 in. in its thickest part and 1 in. in length, and each of the others a bare 1/8 in. thick and 3/4 in. long. The mortise, the shape of which is shown in dotted lines on the stile in Fig. must be a shade deeper than the tenon is long; that this is so must be ascertained before the wedges are inserted, or the shoulders may not come up when glued and driven home. Fig. 649 shows the same joint when finished; a portion of the wood on the face is removed to show the interior.

Fig. 650.—Setting Out Plain Clamping.

Fig. 651. Plain Clamp.

PLAIN

     By clamping is meant the putting of a narrow piece of wood on the ends of a wider piece, the grain of one piece being at a right angle to that of the other; the narrow piece, or clamp, prevents the board from twisting or warping. There are three methods of clamping. One consists in merely nailing the clamps on, and is hardly worthy of the name. The second method—plain clamping—is shown by Figs. 650 and Fig. 650 shows one end of the board to be clamped. After being planed up, the scribed line shoulder mark—must be squared all round and at both ends, if they are both to be clamped. Then, 1/2 in. nearer the end, another line is pencilled. Set out the tenons having about 1 1/2 in. at each edge of board for haunching, as From D mark off about 2 in. for tenon at each edge, and then mark out the rest of the space into tenons according to width of board. The maximum distance between tenons should be 5 in., and should not be less than 3 in. It will be easy to get them somewhere between these two distances. Set the mortise gauge to the right size according to the thickness of board, and then make the lines E on the edges and ends of board as shown. Cut out the waste pieces between mortises, as at just as far as the pencil line, and cut the tenons and shoulders at also cut out the haunchings at and then take the clamp and, laying it under the tenons C close up to shoulder and mark these on to the clamp, as at G Square these marks over on both edges; then make wedging marks on the outside, as shown at and, also with the mortise gauge, the marks for thickness of mortises, as with the tenon in Fig. The reason for leaving the 1/2 in. to the right of A is to form a haunching right across for the reception of which a groove is made in face edge of clamp the same width as mortises, and, of course, 1/2 in. deep.

Fig. 652.—Setting Out Mitre Clamping.

Fig. 653. Mitre Clamp.

MITRE

     Plain clamping is the strongest method, but it will not do for good work, as the end grain of the clamp shows on the edge of the board. It is usual in better classes of work to adopt mitre clamping, shown in Figs. 652 and This is set out like the former, except that a mitre is formed at the ends of the clamp, as shown in Fig. The clamp is made first, and the mitres are then marked from it upon the board. When the mitres are cut and the tenons made, the clamp is placed in position on the tenons as before, and the marks made for the mortises. The haunchings are made just as in the first case, but they are allowed to go away to nothing, as shown at K

Fig. 654.—Setting out Dowel Clamping.

Fig. 655.—Jointed Boards with Heart Sides Alternating.

DOWEL

     The above mitre clamping is a very good criterion of a man’s ability to use tools, and the difficulties of making a good job of it have led many to adopt the system of dowelling the clamp on. This is shown in Fig. and is much easier to do, though it is questionable whether it is as strong. Fig. 654 shows plain dowel clamping, but mitre clamping is done in the same way. If plain clamping with dowels is being done, all that is necessary is to plane the end of board straight and true and fit the clamp to it in the same way as when making a glue joint. Then lay them face to face, as in Fig. and square across the marks L at intervals of about 2 in. Then run a gauge-mark along at about the middle of the thickness, as at The dowel holes are bored with a bit where the marks cross one another. In mitre clamping with dowels a little more skill is necessary, the mitred clamp being fitted into the end of the board and then laid on, and the marks for dowels squared across the two as before. In this method no end grain shows. In the mitre clamping, as shown in Figs. 652 and there are still the ends of tenons showing where they come through the clamp; but the dowelling does away with even these.

Fig. 656.—Jointed Boards with Heart Side all one way.

Fig. 657.—Clamp and Haunched Tenons.

MAKING

     Blackboard construction affords good exercise in clamping. To produce a good blackboard it is necessary that only thoroughly seasoned timber be employed. The best yellow pine is the wood most frequently used, and boards should be selected from those planks which contain the heart of the tree; the further from the heart the planks are cut the more are they liable to warp and shrink. (This matter is dealt with in the previous chapter.) If it is inconvenient to obtain all heart boards, those as near as possible to the heart should be used. The heart sides of the boards should alternate as illustrated by Fig. When the boards are jointed as shown in Fig. the inevitable warping at the centre will cause the joint to break. This is often the cause of blackboards cracking. The surface of a board jointed as shown in Fig. 655 may not be flat, but at the same time cracks are much less likely to appear on it. There will also be no abrupt parts as is the case when the method of jointing illustrated by Fig. 656 is employed. The warping as illustrated is much exaggerated. The first thing to be done when making a clamped blackboard is to cut off the stuff and tongue together the edges of the boards as described on p. The plough groove should be 1/2 in. deep and 1/8 in. wide. The clamps can now be planed up, set out, mortised and ploughed for haunchings (see Fig. Of course, at this stage there should be a “horn” at each end of the clamps, as indicated by dotted lines at C When the joints are set, which probably will not be for at least twelve hours, the board should be trued up on one side and gauged to a thickness. The shoulder lines should be scribed, the tenons and haunchings set out, and the pieces of waste wood between the tenons sawn out. Cutting to the lines parallel to the shoulders (see Fig. with a bow saw is preferable to mortising with a chisel. The tenons and haunchings should now be gauged as shown in Fig. and the tenons cut down as far as the haunchings. The latter can be easily made by cutting the shoulders to their proper depth and then forming the haunchings and roots of the tenons with a rebate plane as illustrated at Fig. Of course, if preferred, some of this superfluous wood can be first pared off with a chisel. This method will be found easier than sawing right down to the shoulder line and thus forming the haunchings with the saw, unless a circular saw is possessed, in which case they could be sawn down to the right depth at once. The clamps can now be tried on, and, when fitted satisfactorily, they may be glued, cramped on, and the tenons wedged into the mortises as indicated at Figs. 660 and When the glue has become thoroughly set, the surfaces can be trued off smooth. Now cut off the horns, mark to the exact sizes, shoot the edges, and take off the corners as shown by Fig. Plane off the sharp arrises, and then finish the surfaces with fine glasspaper.

Fig. 658.—Setting out Haunched Tenons.

Fig. 659.—Planing Rebate.

Fig. 660.—Wedged Clamp.

Fig. 661.—Clamped Blackboard.

Fig. 662.—Iron Tongue and Groove.

MAKING

     The same methods of jointing up the boards, planing the surface, and getting it to a thickness are employed when making an iron-tongued blackboard. The board should be set out to size, the edges shot, and each end ploughed for the iron tongues as indicated in Fig. The tongues are usually about 7/8 in. by 3/16 in. in section. A plough iron should be chosen which will make a groove slightly less wide than the thickness of the tongue, so as to allow the latter to just go in tight without splitting the wood. When the tongues are inserted, the finishing, which is very similar to that described for the clamped blackboard, may be proceeded with.

Fig. 663.—Dovetail Joint.

DOVETAIL

     The dovetail joint is a very important one, entering as it does into the construction of so many articles made by the cabinet-maker and joiner. Where the dovetails are properly made, with only a slight bevel, the result is a strong joint; but a case will sometimes occur, especially on polished work, where the ordinary dovetail, as it exposes so much of the end grain of the wood, would be rather unsightly, and then it is desirable to conceal the end grain of the timber either by veneering over the dovetails or by secret dovetailing. There may be an objection to its use in outside carpentry owing to the shrinkage of the material, but this does not apply in joinery and cabinet work, as, for all interior purposes, the stuff is always used in as dry a condition as it is possible to obtain it. The dovetail joint is usually looked upon by the novice as a most difficult joint to make, and certainly it must not be expected that a perfect joint can result from first efforts, but with careful attention to the following instructions the job can soon be mastered.

Fig. 664.—Dovetail Joint Apart.

Fig. 665.—Gauging Shoulder Line in Dovetailing.

SETTING

     The most common form of dovetail is employed usually at the angles of a box, as in Fig. Dovetails or pins are made upon the ends, with corresponding sockets or mortises upon the front A and back Fig. 664 is the same angle with the two pieces separated to show the working. To set out the dovetail sockets or mortises, first plane up the stuff true, and square the ends (suppose it to be 9 in. long, 6 in. wide, and 5/8 in. thick); next set a gauge to 5/8 in., and run it lightly across the front and back at each end, as shown by Fig. 665 and by the dotted line C D Now space off the width of board into as many divisions as required, there being no rule as to number; but the nearer the dovetails and spaces between them correspond in size the stronger the joint will be—upon the principle of halving. The one point to guard against is making the dovetails too wide at the broad part, as this only tends to make them weak, on account of the tendency to split off at this point. The first attempt should be made upon rather large dovetails, say 1/2 in. at the wide end and 1/4 in. at the narrow end. Therefore set them out to this size; it will be observed that at the ends C D there is only half a dovetail, this being the common practice. Divide the space equally between C D into three parts, thus making two dovetails. Set the bevel B to the desired angle, and mark off the sockets with a pencil, as shown. Fix the piece in the bench vice, and cut down inside each line as far as the gauge line C Take one of the end pieces, and fix it in the vice with the end uppermost, as B Place the piece A (with the end “fair”) upon blocking it up level with one of the planes turned upon its side, as take the dovetail saw (a small tenon saw) in the right hand, placing the left hand upon the work to steady it, and mark each dovetail by carefully placing the point of the saw in the cut already made and drawing it gently outwards. Now square these lines down the face of as shown at Fig. Fig. 669 illustrates the foregoing operation in a manner that cannot fail to make it perfectly clear, the letters corresponding in all. In boxes the pins are generally cut on the ends and the sockets on the sides. Drawers have the pins on front and back, the rule being to have the bevelled parts so that they are in opposition to the greatest stress that comes upon the piece of work to which the joint is applied. The maximum strength would be gained by having the pins and sockets equal; but this is scarcely ever done. Small pins are used for the sake of appearance, but fairly large ones are preferable. In Fig. p. the outside pins are about the same size as the others, but it is better to have them larger. The fit of the joint should not be too tight, or there is danger of part being split off, as shown at Fig. As remarked before, in all dovetailed joints the angle should be slight, and not acute (as shown in Fig. When a novice makes his first attempt at dovetailing, he will probably, if not instructed otherwise, make the pins at too acute an angle; and, on first thought, one might suppose that acute-angled dovetails would make a strong joint, but on further consideration and practical trial it will be found that in putting an acute-angled dovetail together there is great danger of the wood on each side of the mortise splitting off, as shown at B B In good dovetailed work the angle is never made more acute than that shown in Fig. For the sake of neatness in open dovetailing the pins are made small and spaced rather wide apart as a general rule, the result being a joint that is not so strong as would be the case if the pins were larger and spaced more closely together; but in secret dovetailing (to be described later), as the pins are concealed, they may be made fairly large, and with a space between each pin of about twice its width, or closer if desired.

Fig. 666.—Setting out Dovetails with Bevel.

Fig. 667.—Marking Dovetails with Tenon Saw.

Fig. 668.—Lines Squared over in Dovetailing.

Fig. 669.—Marking Dovetails with Tenon Saw.

Fig. 670.—Weak Dovetails with Acute Angles.

Fig. 671.—Dovetail Sockets Set out.

Fig. 672.—Setting out Dovetails with Template.

Fig. 673.—Dovetail Pins with Extra Length.

SETTING WITH

     There are other ways of marking or setting out dovetails than that described above. In another good method a template is used. First set out the shoulder lines on each piece, and if the ends are shot true this may be done with a gauge. Mark off the centre of each socket, and then half the breadth of the sockets on each side as at A Make a template, as shown at Fig. the edge A B being square to A A D and C E should be about 80° to the edge A Then mark out the sockets with the template and a sharp pencil (or awl) as indicated in Fig. Saw carefully in the waste parts; then place the socket piece on the pin piece, and mark the shape of the latter by using the end of a saw placed in the sockets as already described.

Fig. 674.—Undercutting in Dovetailing.

Fig. 675.—Undercut Dovetails.

CUTTING

     The joint having been set out, the spaces between the dovetails on the ends B should now be cut out; if the work in hand is large, they may first be roughly sawn out with a bow saw, afterwards laying them flat upon the bench, and finishing up to the gauge line with a sharp chisel, taking care to cut half-way through from each side. The sockets should next be carefully cut out with a bevelled edge chisel, the top and bottom pieces being cut out with the dovetail saw. Correctly speaking, the dovetails should be a trifle longer than the thickness of stuff, as A B C D the tops being slightly chamfered off with a chisel, to lessen the danger of their driving a piece off the front when driven home. In cleaning out the mortises and the spaces between the pins, the worker must first chop half-way through, then turn the board over, and finish from the other side, care being taken to hold the chisel upright, and not slanting as in Fig. which causes undercutting, as shown in Fig. which is sometimes done to ensure the joint fitting on the outside; then, although the joint may appear to be sound from the outside, there will be a space in the centre where the glue cannot hold the joint together. There is also danger of the wood on the inside of the mortise being split off when the work is put together. Another dodge that is sometimes employed by slipshod workmen is to make the pins about 1/16 in. longer than required, and to rivet them over with the hammer, thus filling up the spaces where, through careless workmanship, the pins do not fit the mortises—a practice sometimes known as “bishoping” the dovetails. Of course, where the joints are put together properly, this will not be required, and “bishoped” dovetails can easily be detected by the bruised appearance of the ends of the pins after the joint is cleaned off.

Fig. 676.—Marking off Dovetail Pins.

Fig. 677.—Squaring Dovetail Pins.

Fig. 678.—Obtaining Angle in Setting out Dovetails.

ALTERNATIVE OF AND

     Below is described the method of setting out dovetail joints, the pins being made first, and the sockets marked from them. This method is, perhaps, not quite so generally employed as that which is described on p. 212 of making the sockets first and marking the pins from them. Plane the wood up true to breadth and thickness, and get each piece to its proper length by shooting all the ends quite square. This allows the dovetailing to be more easily and accurately set out than when the ends are left rough until after the joints are put together. Set a marking gauge equal to the thickness of the wood, and gauge a line all round from each end of each piece (see Fig. p. The operations for each of the four joints will be the same. Mark off the centre of each of the half pins, as A B and set off the centre of each of the other pins C In cases where there are a number of pins this can be accurately done by means of a pair of compasses. Half the thickness of the outside of the pins should now be marked off on each side as indicated at 1 2 3 4 5 and 6 The try-square can now be applied and the straight sides of the pins marked with a scribing awl as shown in Fig. Set a bevel to an angle of about 1 in 6. To construct this angle, set off a square line on a piece of board and mark off 1 in., say, on the edge and 6 in. up the square line, and join by a line as shown by A B The bevel can now be set to this angle as shown, and applied to the end of the stuff, and the ends of the pins marked out as shown in Fig. The next process will be to saw carefully just by the side of the line in the waste portion Fig. so as to leave the pins their exact size when the waste pieces are removed. It is a good plan to cut these waste pieces out with a bow saw a little from the line, and then to pare to the shoulder line with a sharp chisel. The ends of the pins should then be accurately placed on the socket piece with their inside edges just to the shoulder line of the latter, and the shape of the pins carefully marked with a marking awl (see Fig. The square edges of the sockets should next be marked out, using the square and marking awl as shown at Fig. The sockets can then be sawn, cutting in the waste as shown at F and the waste pieces removed. The joint will then be finished.

Fig. 679.—Using Bevel in Setting out Dovetails.

Fig. 680.—Saw Kerf in Waste Portion.

GLUING

     When fitting a dovetail joint together, take the precaution to mark each piece, as then there is no danger of gluing the wrong pieces together. Glue the dovetails, and drive them into the front and back, forcing out as much glue as possible, and lightly tap with a hammer the ends of projecting dovetails; this is not for the purpose of riveting over the ends, a practice already condemned, but for bringing the joint closer without using the nails so often employed. If the dovetails are more than 1/8 in. beyond the sides, they should be cut off before hammering, or the chances are that the dovetail will be broken off, or the side will split. The bottom should next be nailed on, taking care to square the box before it is dry. Before attempting a box, two or more pieces of wood should be dovetailed together for practice, which will by no means be time thrown away.

Fig. 681.—Using Dovetail Pins as Template.

Fig. 682.—Using Square in Setting out Dovetails.

SECRET

     In secret dovetailing, the pins and sockets are hidden on one or both faces, and the means to obtain this end are many and ingenious. The simplest of the secret dovetail joints is that shown by Fig. The lap dovetail is so named because one piece runs over, or laps, the other. This class of dovetail is usually employed in drawer-making; the front of the drawer is about 1 in. thick, and the sides are 5/8 in. (See Fig. where A indicates the side and B the front.) To set out the joint proceed as in making the common dovetail (see p. with the exception of the front, in which the gauge is run down the ends of the drawer-front from the back, thus leaving the extra thickness, as seen, on the outside. The dovetails cannot, of course, be cut with a saw, beyond running it in across the angle, the spaces being carefully cut out by means of a mallet and chisel. It will be seen from this that the dovetails do not show upon the front of the drawer when the latter is closed.

Fig. 683.—Saw Kerf in Waste Portion.

Fig. 684.—Secret Lap Dovetail.

SECRET OR

     In the joint shown by Fig. 684 only one side is concealed; but cases sometimes occur where it becomes desirable to hide the dovetails entirely. This may be accomplished by forming a lap on both the pieces of wood to be joined, as shown at A and B in Fig. To make this joint, the ends are first planed true and square, and the pins gauged, marked, and cleaned out, as at A The lap which may come to within about 1/16 in. of the outside, is then cut on B The piece A is then placed on and the position of the recesses marked with a sharp scriber. When these are cleaned out, the joint may be fitted together, care being taken that the pins are not too tight, nor sufficiently long to split off the lap. When this joint is glued up and dry, the outer angle may be rounded off, as shown at Fig. and a good strong corner will be the result, with very little end-grain timber showing.

Fig. 685.—Side View of Lap Dovetail.

Fig. 686.—Double-lap or Rebated Dovetail.

SECRET

     A lapped dovetail joint in part mitred is shown by Fig. in this the end grain is almost concealed. The pin B is mitred, A being cut to correspond. This joint would be suitable for a workbox, the joint of the lid coming through so that it has the appearance of a mitred joint when the box is open. This is a good joint, and is more easily made than the mitred dovetail joint described later, which it equals in appearance if, after gluing up, the edge is rounded. In making this joint, first cut the pins, then the lap, and mark the sockets with the scriber or marking awl.

SECRET

     This is really the true secret dovetail, but is seldom employed except upon good work, on account of the time taken in making it. If this joint is not carefully constructed, it will always be an eyesore; but the student is advised to make several, for the practice thus gained will be very valuable. This joint is the most difficult to put together. The top pin is mitred right across, for the sake of appearance. In making this joint, both parts must have a lap or rebate cut on them, similar to the socket part of Fig. Then the construction will be nearly the same, with the addition of mitring. To make this dovetail joint, first cut a small rebate (size according to thickness of stuff) upon each piece. Now proceed to cut the dovetails as upon the end of A Having done this, place it upright upon the piece and mark out the sockets, carefully cutting them out with a chisel of suitable size. Set the bevel to an angle of 45° (a true mitre), and mark each piece upon the top edge, as A and carefully cut right down each piece, thus forming a mitre beyond the dovetails, as plainly shown. The top dovetail is usually cut to a mitre for the sake of the superior appearance, but the one at bottom may be left square, it being out of sight. Fig. 690 is a side view of the joint put together; at the other side the joint would show a mere mitre line. This class of work is usually done in hard wood, such as mahogany, the dovetails being made to fit somewhat tightly, to ensure the joint remaining firm when glued. In gluing up, some means of keeping the joints up, such as two small cramps, is advisable. When a box that has been secret-dovetailed together has to be cut into two pieces to form a body and lid, as in the case of a writing desk, the dovetails at the point where cut asunder may be mitred as shown at B B this gives a neat joint where exposed to view, as the mitre line shows on both the sides; the appearance at one side is indicated in Fig.

Fig. 687.—Side View of Double-lap Dovetail.

Fig. 688.—Lap-mitred Dovetail.

Fig. 689.—Mitred Dovetail.

Fig. 690.—Side View of Mitred Dovetail.

Fig. 691.—Mitred Dovetail.

Fig. 692.—Side View of Mitred Dovetail.

BOX

     The method of joining corners shown by Fig. 693 will not present any difficulty when dovetailing has been mastered. It is easy to set out and cut, is strong and neat, and can be used for wood of any thickness from 1/8 in. upwards; of course, it is not so strong as dovetailing. Each half should be cut accurately to obtain a close fit, and then a touch of glue will complete the joint. If the parts fit loosely, no amount of glue or nails will make a firm joint; therefore a gauge must be used so that the pins and spaces can be accurately and quickly spaced. The correct proportions of the pins (as wide as they are thick) are shown in Fig. but joints are sometimes made with the pins twice as wide as the material is thick, as is shown by Fig. The latter joint takes less time to cut, and is the one described here.

Fig. 693.—Box Pin Joint.

Fig. 694.—Box Pin Joint.

ZINC FOR

     For this gauge, square up the edges of a piece of stout sheet zinc 9 in. long by 1 3/8 in. wide, and with dividers or compasses mark 1/2-in. spaces along one of the edges. Draw the line A B 1/2 in. from the top edge, and by means of a square and a scriber draw lines from the 1/2-in. marks down to this line, marking them alternately 1 and 0, as shown. Cut the openings in which the saw is to be placed when marking off the joinings. Begin by making notches with a triangular file, as shown at C The zinc is then clamped in the vice in front of a piece of hard wood, and the cuts made down to the line A B with an iron- or brass-backed saw having fine teeth, both wood and zinc being cut at the same time. All the metal cut out by the saw must be taken from the pieces marked 0, as shown at D it is also shown in Fig. When the sixteen cuts have been made, a line is drawn 1/4 in. from the top across three of the pieces marked 0, one near each end and one in the middle. The gauge is clamped in the vice to this line, and the part from the top to the line turned over square with a hammer and punch, as indicated at A A 1/32 in. punch is now driven through each of the turned-over pieces while they are resting on a piece of soft wood, these holes preventing the gauge slipping endways when it is being used. The gauge, shown by Fig. commences with a piece marked 1, and finishes with a piece marked 0. At C a small shoulder is made by cutting sixteen notches and removing the end piece marked 1. The lower corners of the gauge are also marked 1 and 2, as shown in Fig.

Fig. 695.—Gauge for Marking Box Pin Joint.

Fig. 696.—Gauge for Marking Box Pin Joint.

SETTING WITH

     To use the gauge made as above, the sides of the box or drawer are planed to size, and after the ends are squared off a line is drawn as shown by the dotted lines A and B distant from the ends by 1/16 in. more than the thickness of the wood to allow for cleaning off. The distance from the line A or B to a similar line at the other end of the same piece of wood will be the inside measure of the box or drawer. The sides are now placed in the position they are to occupy when completed, and marked 1 and 2 as shown by Fig. They are then separated and fixed end up, one at a time, in a bench vice, in any suitable manner. The gauge is now laid on the wood with the end marked 1 level with the side of the wood marked 1, and held firmly. With a suitable saw, mark off the joinings by making a small cut on the front edge of the wood. If the saw makes a narrower cut than that in the gauge, care must be taken that the blade is held close to each side of the pieces marked 1. For a long piece of wood the gauge can be moved further along, care being taken to place the saw in the last mark on the wood, and in a similar notch to that from which the last mark was made. For example, if the last cut made by the saw is from the left side of a piece marked 1, the saw must remain in the cut, and the gauge must be replaced so that the saw is again to the left of a piece marked 1. The other piece of wood is then similarly marked, the gauge being laid with the end marked 2 level with the side of the wood marked 2. Fine pencil lines should be drawn with a square from the saw cuts to the line at A and also across the top at The saw cuts can be continued down to the line A with the saw used for marking off, keeping it perfectly square. When all the kerfs have been cut, place the gauge as when marking off, or hold it in front, and mark the pins as shown at Fig. opposite similar markings on the gauge. The wood is next turned in the vice so that the line at A is vertical, and the pins are carefully cut out along the line with a fret saw, as shown in Fig. For small work such as the sides of small drawers 2 in. or 3 in. deep, a light brass-back saw and a jeweller’s saw frame will be found convenient in cutting down to form the pins.

Fig. 697.—Setting out Box Pin Joint.

Fig. 698.—Box Pin Joint Set out.

Fig. 699.—Part of Box Pin Joint.

Fig. 700.—Dovetail Halved Joint.

DOVETAIL

     The dovetail halved joint is objected to by some because when the piece carrying the tenon shrinks it will depend for its support on the screw, nail, or bolt, as the case may be. Then the dovetail form will not be of assistance in strengthening it, but will be a source of weakness at the shoulder, and the more the joint is bevelled the weaker it will be. The simplest dovetail halved joint is on the ends of stuff as in Fig. To make this, proceed as with the ordinary halved joint (see p. but instead of cutting both shoulders square, the top one has a piece left on the inner edge which may be about 1/2 in., tapering to nothing, and a corresponding piece is cut away from the plate thus forming a kind of half-dovetail. Fig. 701 is another description of dovetail halving; this joint is only possible where it occurs at a distance from the end of material; Fig. 702 shows a plan and elevation of this joint when complete. First cut out half the thickness of the top piece a in the same manner as for a common halved joint; then from the edges g h mark off 1/2 in., as shown. From these lines draw others to the points s the distance between s t is equal to the full width of stuff. Cut out these wedge-shape pieces, leaving the dovetail as shown. The dovetail should now be placed upon the other plate in the manner shown in plan which is lettered to correspond with Fig. Having (with a square applied to the edge) seen that the pieces are at right angles, a striking knife may be run along the edges of dovetail, thus marking its shape upon the piece Run the half-thickness gauge upon both edges of and cut in the dovetail lines with a tenon saw, keeping it upon the inside of lines, so that the joint may fit fairly tight. The piece between may be removed by means of a mallet and chisel, working from both edges, and keeping the surface between the gauge lines as level as possible. The joint may now be knocked together. It must not be unduly tight; if this should occur, the joint must be fitted with a chisel. This must always be guarded against, as it shows bad workmanship. The dovetail should, if the job has been carefully done, fit at once off the saw. These two joints are little used in practice on account of the shrinkage of timber causing the dovetail to draw away at the shoulders; and this is a serious defect which, of course, renders the joint useless as a tie.

Fig. 701.—Dovetail Halved Joint.

Fig. 702.—Plan and Elevation of Dovetail Halved Joint.

Fig. 703.—Dovetail Halving with Two Bevels.

DOVETAIL WITH

     The dovetail halving with two bevels is of but little practical value, but interesting as a puzzle joint. Fig. 703 is an isometric view of the dovetail joint showing the two bevels, and Figs. 704 and 705 are views of the joint apart. If the thickness of the wood is 1 in., mark down on the shoulder line half the thickness, and on the extreme end gauge it down about 3/16 in. and connect these two points with a line. Shoulder it on the under side with the saw, and then cut the under side of the dovetail away to the line drawn. Draw the dovetail on the top, which gives the bevel. The lower edges of the dovetail are equal to the width of the stuff, and the bevel must be the same all through. The work should then have the appearance of Fig. Fig. 705 shows the dovetailed rebate taken out of the cross-piece. The same gauge marks and the same bevels must be used for this, and after it is cut out and faired the pin should slide in, getting a little tight as the shoulder comes up. When it has been finished properly, it should be glued up.

Fig. 704.—Part of Dovetail Bevelled Halving.

Fig. 705.—Counterpart of Dovetail Bevelled Halving.

HALF-MITRE

     The half-mitre joint is shown by Fig. To form it, carefully plane up two pieces of wood, each 9 in. by 2 in. by 1 1/2 in., or others of like proportions. Draw a square figure of any size, and join the angles, either of the diameters giving a mitre or an angle of 45°. Set the bevel to one of these lines, and screw it fast; or the original mitre line might be set off with a combined mitre and square. It will be noticed that it assumes somewhat the form of a mortise and tenon joint—the difference being in the mitre upon the face. First of all, square off stuff to the desired length, and mark off a distance from each end equal to the width of material—in this case it would be 2 in. (see a b, b Fig. Take one of the pieces, and run the mortise gauge, previously set to one-third the thickness—that is, 1/2 in.—along the sides and end as far as the lines upon the edge, which indicate the width of the wood. Fix the piece in the bench-vice, and cut down on the inside of the gauge lines, as the piece between will afterwards be removed with mallet and chisel, thus forming a kind of open-end mortise, as at a Upon the side A apply the bevel, as from b to Fig. The corner piece, b c f must be cut off with a fine tenon saw, finishing nicely to the shoulder or mitre line with a plane. The first part of the joint is now complete, and is represented by the left-hand part of Fig. The second part of the joint is somewhat different, having upon the end a tenon instead of a mortise (see Fig. In setting out this piece, the gauge may be applied in the same manner as before; but it will be noticed that only one line is required upon the back edge, as the tenon is not cut right through, but only as far in as the line of mitre. The piece at the back of the tenon should be first cut out by running in the hand saw on the outside of line, afterwards cutting the shoulder e with the tenon saw. The piece should now be again fixed in the vice, in such a position that the mitre line is brought about horizontal. The saw may then he run in as from a to d afterwards removing the piece to form the mitre with saw and rebate plane as before. The joint should now be tried, and, if the job has been carefully done, it will not require fitting; it may be drawn tightly together by draw-boring (described on p. Fig. 710 shows the position of the draw-boring hole upon the tenon. If the foregoing joint has been applied to a square frame, two of the pieces should be worked with a mortise upon each end, and the other two must therefore have a tenon. The frame also might be rebated and chamfered, thus giving additional practice.

Fig. 706.—Half-mitre Joint apart.

Fig. 707.—Side Elevation of Half-mitre Joint.

Fig. 708—Open-end Mortise.

Fig. 709.—Setting out Half-mitre Joint.

ANGLE

     The angle bracket is termed also a braced bracket or a gallows bracket, and it is made in various ways, but the form shown by Fig. 711 is certainly the best of all. It is commonly used to support a shelf, and often is made in the form of three or more brackets where the number of shelves requires it. In this case the upright A is extended in length, and the bearers C are tenoned into it, instead of being dovetailed as seen at The brace B often is notched at top and bottom, and fixed with nails. Fig. 712 shows the shape of the brace as prepared for fixing. Before attempting to make the joint, prepare a working drawing. Draw the elevation and correctly mark all dimensions as shown, drawing the brace B at an angle of 45°; next draw the plan Plane up true three pieces of stuff, each being an inch or so longer than the finished sizes, and upon the end of the bearer set out a dovetail to the sizes given at d in the plan. The tenon saw should now be run down on the outside of the lines as far as the shoulders, afterwards carefully cutting away the stuff on the outside of the dovetail, leaving it as seen at Fig. The upright A should now be squared off and fixed in the bench-vice, with its back edge facing the worker; place the dovetail d upon the squared end of the upright, now in position in the bench-vice, carefully keeping the pieces in a straight line, as from c to a Now mark the dovetail upon the end of the upright with a point or with the end of the saw. The lines thus made upon the end should be carried down both edges of the upright to a distance equal to the bearer’s depth—namely 1 3/4 in. Run the tenon saw down on the inside of these lines, afterwards removing the centre-piece by means of a mallet and chisel. Carefully fit the dovetail into the socket, and see that it is not too tight; place the bracket as now prepared upon its side on the bench, and test the angle with a square. Mark the distances 4 3/4 in., which denote the outside of brace (see Figs. 713 and and also the spaces s s to the sizes given in the illustrations. Square over the lines 1 2 and 3 4 upon the edge of the stuff, and run a gauge, which has been set to one-half the thickness, between them: these lines are shown at b The spaces s s should now be removed with mallet and chisel. Place the brace, of which Fig. 715 is a drawing, upon the bench, and lay the other portion of the bracket upon it, so that the front edge of the brace coincides with the points b Mark the shoulder-line and bare-faced tenon with the striking-knife, and cut off the corners of the brace, starting at c d this removes the piece Run the gauge, before used, from c to and cut along this line as far as the shoulder g Now cut the shoulder, and afterwards cut out the pieces g f e and c thus leaving the brace as shown. The whole may now be knocked together and glued or screwed as may be desired. It may be mentioned that often the brace is cut first, marking the other portions of the bracket from it: this method should be adopted if found the more convenient.

Fig. 710.—Draw-bore Hole of Half-mitre Joint.

Fig. 711. Angle Bracket.

Fig. 712. Brace of Angle Bracket.

Fig. 713.—Elevation of Angle Bracket.

Fig. 714.—Plan of Angle Bracket.

Fig. 715.—Elevation of Brace.

Fig. 716.—Dowelled Angle Joint.

Fig. 717.—Elevation of Dowelled Angle Joint.

Fig. 718.—Mitred Joint, Tongued.

DOWEL

     The making of flush dowel joints is described fully on pp. 185 to and the information given there should be read before attempting the following. Secret dowelling is an alternative method to secret dovetailing of joining timber at right angles; although the effect, both in appearance and durability, is equal to that resulting from the latter method, secret dowelling requires less skill and takes less time. The 1/4-in. diameter dowels may be employed to join up the corners of a fascia or box, say about 4 in. wide and 1 in. thick, as shown in Fig. Having worked the rebates and mitres (the dotted lines denote that they can be lipped if preferred), take the gauge shown in Fig. p. the position of its marking point having been previously determined, and run a gauge line along the shoulder of the rebate. This should be exactly in the centre of the shoulder of the end grain piece Fig. and at the same distance on the inside face of the other piece marked With a pair of compasses divide off the correct position of the dowel holes (let the outside ones be half the distance between the inside ones from the end), and with a brace and bit bore the holes perfectly upright. The depths of the holes bored in the piece A are not so important as those in pieces it being necessary to regulate those in the latter; otherwise they will project through the stuff. The holes all being bored, take a stout splinter of wood, and, after dipping it in some good hot glue, work it into the dowel holes of the piece the dowels being carefully driven home and cut off to the necessary length. The holes in the piece B are glued in a similar manner. Glue the rebates and mitres quickly with a brush, and gently drive the work together. Test the work to see if it is square, and wipe off any superfluous glue with a shaving dipped in hot water. If these instructions are properly carried out, a very strong and satisfactory joint will be produced. It will be noticed that in the side elevation the piece that corresponds with B in Fig. 716 shows a small cavity at the top of the dowel; this is left to absorb the superfluous glue at that end when the work is driven together.

Fig. 719.—Mitred Joint, Dovetail Keyed.

Fig. 720.—Mitred Joint, Veneer Keyed.

Fig. 721.—Mitred Joint, Screwed.

Fig. 722.—Simple Tenon in Table Framing.

KEYING

     In some situations, a stronger means than glue is required for fixing mitred joints, and this is the case particularly when the work is to be exposed to a damp atmosphere. A cross-tongue, as shown in Fig. greatly strengthens a glued joint, but the dovetail key, indicated in Fig. makes a still stronger joint, which will suffice for most purposes. Small glued mitre joints, such as those in frames, etc., can be strengthened with keys of veneer. A saw kerf is made in the corner A and a piece of veneer B is then glued in, this being cut off flush when the glue is hard. Fig. 721 shows a way in which a countersunk screw is used, and this does not need description. After the screw is inserted, the hole remaining may be stopped up.

DETACHABLE IN

     It is frequently necessary to construct plain tables, dressers, etc., of a size that renders them very awkward to move, and there is possibly some advantage to be gained by substituting for the usual mortising and tenoning shown in Fig. 722 the dovetailing shown in Fig. In both of the figures L is the table leg, E the end rail, and S the side rail. The end rail is tenoned and dowelled as usual, but the side rail is dovetailed instead; and if the dovetail is cut a bare length, and the shoulders are cut slightly inwards, quite as good and secure jointing will be obtained without using dowels as can be obtained with a mortise. When the table top is screwed down, the whole will be secured together. Now, when wishing to move (perhaps through a narrow doorway or down a staircase), the screws are withdrawn and the top is removed; next, the side rails are tapped out of the legs, leaving the end rail and two legs in one piece, thus obtaining, instead of one cumbersome piece of furniture, five light and portable pieces. The whole can be put together again in a few minutes, and, if care is used, no damage will have been done to the dovetails.

Fig. 723.—Dovetail Tenon in Table Framing.

EASY EXAMPLES OF WOODWORK

THE OF THIS

THE reader, having made himself familiar with the shapes of tools and their uses, with the materials and various timbers used, and with the kinds of joints commonly employed for woodwork, may now be reasonably supposed to have sufficient skill to make many simple articles; and this chapter will give designs of, and brief instructions for putting together, examples to which the information given in previous pages can be applied. Only those articles which do not require the use of special tools will here be dealt with, and the tools required will be only two or three saws, a hammer, two screwdrivers, brace and bits, two or three planes, spokeshave, a few chisels, etc.; whilst the materials will for the most part be the more common woods, and nails, screws, and glue.

Fig. 724.—Position of “Middle Board” in Log.

PARALLEL

     Information on selecting wood for making straight-edges is given on p. The best board for making a 15-ft. straight-edge is the middle one of a straight tree (see Fig. Cut the rule from either edge, as A B or C Fig. 725 shows how the grain will appear in this board, the end view showing the medullary rays running across the annular rings and parallel to the width. These rings are parallel in depth, and the medullary rays cross them at right angles; therefore the rule will shrink not in length, but in width or thickness only. The first thing to be done in truing up a piece of wood is to take one side out of winding. This is done by placing two winding sticks one across each end, and looking over the top edge of one until the eye catches sight of the top edge of the other; now move one stick about 2 ft. at a time nearer the other, looking over the top edges as before. Repeat this throughout the length, and if the two edges are parallel that proves that the surfaces on which they are placed are perfectly true. Winding may arise from the board having twisted since being sawn. Full information on testing surfaces with winding sticks or small straight-edges is given on p. Having got a true surface, work from the face side in squaring the two edges. First shoot one edge, then place the stock of a square (whose blade must be longer than the width of the rule) on this edge with the blade against the face side. If the edge is perfectly square with the face side all the length, it must be tested to see that it is perfectly straight. Then proceed as explained on p.

Fig. 725.—Straight-edge.

Fig. 726.

Fig. 727.

Figs. 726 and 727.—Chopping Board.

CHOPPING

     A common chopping board may be made of beech, which can be got from the ends of an old orange-box. Knock out the ends carefully, and draw the nails; square both pieces, say, to 10 in. square, or more if the wood will allow. Plane one face of each piece flat and true, and with hot glue rub the two faces together, crossing the grain as shown in sectional view and place under pressure till the glue is properly set. This can be done in many ways—in a copying-press, by the use of cramps, or under weights. Do not begin gluing till everything is in readiness to bring pressure quickly to bear. If a press is used, have it in such a position that as little time as possible may be lost. The cramps should be tried, and adjusted so as to bring pressure to bear in the least possible time; and if there is no other means than weighting, have a flat surface ready to place the work on, and weights ready. Above all, have the glue hot; good, lasting work can never be done properly with lukewarm glue. The work being properly set, release from pressure, plane both sides, square the edges, and bore a 5/8-in. hole for hanging up; this is more convenient than a small hole and string. If made as described, the chopping board will stand any amount of rough usage, and will last for years.

Fig. 728.—Child’s Swing.

Fig. 729.—Thimble or Eye on Swing Rope.

CHILD’S

     The child’s swing shown by Fig. 728 is exceedingly easy to make, and is inexpensive. The materials required will be: One piece of hardwood, 15 in. square, for the seat, A (elm, oak, or birch will serve equally well if they are sound); five pieces of wood, 15 in. long by 2 1/2 in. wide by 3/4 in. thick (pine will be best for these, as it is easiest to work up); four pieces of 3/4-in. brass tubing, two of them 2 1/2 in. long, the other two 5 in.; six or seven yards of strong sashcord, two ceiling hooks and two thimbles or eyes which may be bought from any tent- or rick-cover maker. Plane up the seat and the five pieces of deal, the latter being as long as the seat is square; round off and spokeshave all the corners. Bore four 1/4-in. or 5/16 in. holes in the seat, one at each corner, about 1 1/2 in. from the edge, and bore a hole through four pieces of the deal strips from edge to edge, 1 1/2 in. from each end; this will be understood by reference to Fig. The remaining piece of deal is for the front piece of swing; bore it through the flat side, the same distance from the ends as the others, the holes being 3/8 in. or more to allow of its being moved up the ropes, (for the child to be placed in), and then brought down again, when it forms a barrier which prevents the child from falling out. The length of the sashcord will depend on the distance the swing is hung from the ceiling. Thread the sashcord through the strips and bottom piece as shown in Fig. and tie a good knot underneath. Place the cord round the thimbles and tie round with a very strong string s. Fix the ceiling hooks into one of the upper floor joists, so that they do not hang merely by the plaster or lathing. The positions of the joists can be found without unnecessary damage by driving a knitting needle into the ceiling. The swing may be put out of the way, if near to a wall, by placing a ring underneath the bottom of the swing and hooking it on to a nail fixed in the wall. The pieces of deal may be painted, stained, or enamelled.

Fig. 730.—Another form of Swing.

Fig. 731.

Fig. 732.

Figs. 731 and 732.—Wall Bracket.

ANOTHER OF

     Another shape of simple swing, very easily constructed, is shown by Fig. The seat is a piece of beech 1 in. thick and 15 in. by 15 in., with a hole 3/8 in. right through each corner. Four ropes are passed through these holes as before. The eight wooden spindles, 1 in. in diameter and 3 in. long, are bored from end to end with 3/8-in. holes to allow the lower ropes to slide through. These spindles can be bought very cheaply or turned very simply, full information on simple turning for woodworkers being given later. Ordinary cotton reels or spools are good substitutes for spindles. Eight cross-bars, 2 in. by 3/4 in. by 15 in., bored near the ends with 3/8-in. holes, are strung on, four between the two sets of spindles and four above them. The cross-bars and spindles preferably are of beech, oak, or other hard wood, or they will be apt to split and lead to accident. Both in this and the former swing the seat-guard can be deepened by adding cross-bars, and there is plenty of scope for modifications of the designs.

WALL

     The wall bracket shown by Figs. 731 and 732 may be made of 1/2-in. wood. Fig. 731 is a front view, and Fig. 732 shows the shape of the support, the shelf and back being in section. If the back is sawn with a fret-saw from a piece of wood 18 in. long and 7 1/2 in. wide, there will be enough material left on which to repeat the part, and so get the back of another bracket. Similarly, by sawing the support from a piece 5 in. by 6 in., another support can be obtained economically. The support may be fixed to the back and to the shelf with fine nails or screws.

ANOTHER

     Fig. 733 is the front elevation of a small wall bracket. It may be of 3/8-in, or 1/2-in. wood, and a hole might be made in the back to take a small oval mirror. The ends of the shelf are rounded. Fig. 734 shows the shape of the support and the end of the shelf. Two screw eyes by which to hang the bracket are inserted in the top corners.

Fig. 733.—Wall Bracket.

SIMPLE

     A simple foot-stool is shown in elevation by Figs. 735 and 737 and in plan by Fig. Prepare the legs shown in Fig. and across these screw the braces B of 1 3/4-in. by 1/2-in. stuff. Take a piece of wood. 1 ft. by 7 in. by 1/2 in., plane true and round the edges, and screw it to the legs and side braces to make the top. It is desirable that the stool be painted and grained to match the other furniture of the kitchen.

CORNER

     Fig. 738 shows the shape of the back of a set of corner shelves, while Fig. 739 is a horizontal section of the same on line X X Other designs are shown by Figs. 740 and The whole thing is 3 ft. 2 in. high by 1 ft. 9 in. wide. The material used should be 3/4-in. pine. The dimensions and the number of the shelves, of course, can be varied. The side or back shown in Fig. 738 is the wider of the two, the fellow board having to fit against it at right angles, as shown in Fig. The two are screwed together, and the angle at B is trimmed off so as to allow the work to go well into the corner. In each case there are three shelves, of which the largest is shown in Fig. the others differing from it in size only. The sides of this, which fit against the backboards, measure 14 in., and those of the smallest measure 4 1/2 in. only. The backboards have to be well finished—preferably ebonised and polished—but the shelves may be left comparatively rough, as they should be covered with cotton velvet, which makes a safer surface for the china, etc., than polished wood, and shows up the articles better. It is well to cover both sides of the shelves, but the under sides may be ebonised if preferred. The velvet can be simply stretched over, and tacked to the edges of the boards, the very small permanent tacks being as a rule hidden by thin strips of ebonised wood, fixed on with brass pins; or by strips of leather, attached with brass studs. The shelves are held in their places by screws driven through the backboards. Nails must not be used. In Figs. 740 and 741 both the back-boards and shelves are covered with velvet, and the outline is thus kept more simple. So long as the lines of a board are straight there is no difficulty about covering it by merely tacking down the edges; it is with curves that difficulties arise, especially when the curves are sharp. In Fig. 740 most of the curves are easy, yet, even with these, a neater finish may be gained by fastening down with glue rather than with tacks, and the edges will of course have to be snipped at convenient distances. With respect to fixing up, it will be sufficient if two holes for nails or screws be bored through each back-board. This will be found to give an ample provision for any weight of china. The more correct method is to plug the wall and to fix the back-boards to the plugs with round-headed brass screws; but a readier method will be simply to drive brass-headed nails into the joints of the brickwork, and this, for all ordinary purposes, will be found sufficient.

Fig. 734.—Wall Bracket Support.

Fig. 735.

Fig. 736.

Figs. 735 and 736.—Elevation and Plan of Stool.

Fig. 737.—End Elevation of Stool.

Fig. 738.

Fig. 739

Figs. 738 and 739.—Elevation and Plan of Corner Shelves.

Fig. 740.

Fig. 741.

Figs. 740 and 741.—Alternative Elevation of Corner Shelves.

KITCHEN

     A rough-and-ready coal-box for kitchen use is shown by Fig. Get a suitable sound box or packing case, or put a box together fairly roughly. Then cut it as shown by dotted lines in Fig. Cut a piece to fit the bevel part at bottom, and nail into position, and a piece of the lid to nail on top; Fig. which is a side view, gives the position. The body of the coal-box is now complete. For the handle, nail or screw strips on each side as shown. Cut a piece of an old broomstick 1/2 in. longer than the width of the box. To prevent this splitting, with a large centre-bit bore circular recesses on the inner faces of the side strips before nailing them into position, these recesses being 1/4 in. deep and just large enough to take the ends of the round handle. Now drive some good long screws through the side strips into the handle; or a piece of metal tube or stout bamboo may be used, but in this case the ends must be plugged so as to well hold the screws. Paint it any dark colour.

Fig. 742.—Kitchen Coal-box.

Fig. 743.—Coal-box before Cutting.

BICYCLE

     A bicycle stand is shown in general view by Fig. a plan being represented by Fig. front elevation by Fig. and left end elevation by Fig. If the stand is made of soft wood, stained and varnished, or of hard wood, polished, it has a neat appearance. A board 6 ft. long, 9 in. wide, and about 7/8 in. thick, planed both sides, will be suitable, and on it the several pieces should be marked out according to the dimensions given in Figs. 746 to For the curved parts use a bow saw and smooth the edges with a spokeshave. The appearance will be improved if the edges are rounded as indicated. The fixing is extremely simple; there are no tenons and mortises; the ends are merely squared and the pieces fixed together with 1 1/3-in, screws, not nails.

Fig. 744.—Side View of Coal-box.

STRONG OR

     A small stool that can be put to a variety of uses is illustrated by Fig. It has many advantages over the common three-legged one. It is simple to make, will bear a very heavy load, and is not liable to turn over. It is useful as a foot-stool, or as a stand to support a great weight. The sizes given in Figs. 750 and 751 need not be followed exactly—the height may be adapted to the use to which the stool is to be put. Four stools made on this principle make excellent trestles or stands for erecting heavy work of any description. Fig. 750 is the top of the stool, and Fig. 751 the side, the end resembling the side but being two thicknesses of the stuff shorter. To make the stool five pieces of board will be required—one piece for the top, two for the sides, and two for the ends. Whatever the size, the sides should be just double the thickness of the board longer than the ends, as already noted, to give a square base. All that is necessary after cutting to size and planing up is simply to nail together. The nails must be driven at a slight angle, alternating right and left.

Fig. 745.—Bicycle Stand.

Fig. 746.

Fig. 747.

Fig. 748.

Figs. 746 to 748.—Plan and Elevations of Bicycle Stand.

FOLDING FOR

     Figs. 752 and 753 are end and side views respectively of a folding stand for a cradle. To make the stand, get four pieces of sound pine, ash, or oak, as preferred, 2 ft. 7 in. long, and plane them to 1 1/2 in. by 3/4 in. These form the ends whose shape is shown in Fig. Four pieces, 1 ft. 11 in. long and planed to 1 in. by 5/8 in., are required for the connecting bars, the ends of which are seen in Fig. The two pieces forming each end are pivoted together by a brass bolt 2 1/2 in. long, with wing nut; the bars are fixed by light screws 1 1/4 in. long. To make the bars on which the cradle rests, heat one end of a piece of 1/4-in. bar iron and form a ring on a stout screw eye. Bend the other end at right angles to fit into a corresponding eye, as seen in Fig. When these bars are attached, the stand is complete.

Fig. 749.—Strong Stool or Stand.

Fig. 750.—Top of Stool.

NEWSPAPER

     Fig. 754 shows a newspaper rack as it hangs against a wall by two brass plates screwed to the top back rail. The back frame consists of two end pillars connected by two flat straps jointed into the back of the pillars and fixed with screws. The front frame is similar, with a number of flat strips screwed vertically to the two rails at equal distances. The flat strips may be pointed at one end and flat at the other, as shown, or rounded or pointed at both ends, or the ends may be cut to an ornamental shape. The two rails are connected together at the bottom, a piece of wood being fastened between them by screws having the front rail at an angle as shown in the sectional view Another rack may be made on the same lines as this, having two pieces with the vertical strips, and fixing these, one on each side of the centre, on a square base made of four pieces of wood the required length and width, and dovetailed together at the corners. This will stand on a table or sideboard. Red deal, kauri, mahogany, oak, or any kind of wood may be used in making these racks.

Fig. 751.—Side of Stool.

Fig. 752.—End View of Cradle Stand.

PIPE

     For the pipe rack shown in front elevation by Fig. plan and part section by Fig. and side elevation by Fig. satin walnut is suitable, as it is fairly tough, easy and clean to work, and of a good colour. All the parts except the shelf C are planed to a thickness of 5/16 in. The shelf C requires a piece 13 1/2 in. by 2 in. by 1 9/16 in. (finished sizes). The size of the back part is 14 1/4 in. by 9 3/8 in. The other sizes may be easily obtained by means of a scale. A piece 2 ft. by 9 1/2 in. by 3/8 in. is sufficient for all the parts but When the wood is planed to thickness, the outlines are marked out, and pencil lines made on the back to show the positions of other parts. Each part is cut out by means of a bow saw, and the curved edges are worked to shape with spokeshave and chisels. The straight edges are best finished by using a plane and shooting board. Stopped housing joints (see p. are used to join the smaller pieces together, as shown by the dotted lines in the illustration, and screws put in through the back fasten these to the back piece. Possible shrinkage of the back may be provided for in the following manner: Leave the vertical pieces D D unglued, and, instead of bedding their ends to the bottom of the housing, leave about 1/16 in. of space at each between the two abutting pieces. Fasten D D to the back with three screws each—one at the centre and one at each end; the end screws are put through holes in the back, which are elongated vertically into slots about 1/4 in. long. The curved recesses in C are made to receive the bowls of pipes, and are made by straight cuts with a gouge inclined about 15° to the horizontal; the bottom of the recess is shown by a slanting dotted line in the side elevation. One half of the plan is shown below the plane of section A to present a full view of these recesses. The dentils, as the small projections at the bottom are called, are not made of separate pieces, but are cut out of the lowest member of the moulding which forms the shelf. A fine dovetail saw and a 1/4 in. chisel will be necessary to do this. The width of each dentil and space is 5/16 in. The pieces E, and G have centre-bit holes through them to receive the stems of the pipes, and the centres of these must be in the same vertical planes as the centre lines of the recesses. The method of suspending the rack is not shown, as that is a matter which must depend upon circumstances; it may be screwed to woodwork, or two brass eye-plates may be screwed on so that it may hang on the wall, or two holes may be bored for the same purpose; if so, they should be towards the ends and immediately under the pieces E and The illustrations are drawn to scale.

Fig. 753.—Front View of Cradle Stand.

Fig. 754.

Fig. 755.

Figs. 754 and 755.—Newspaper Rack.

Fig. 756.

Fig. 757.

Fig. 758.

Figs. 756 to 758.—Elevations, Plan, and Section of Pipe Rack.

Fig. 759.—Simple Frame.

Fig. 760.—Haunched and Wedged Mortise and Tenon Joint.

Fig. 761.—Haunched Mortise and Tenon Apart.

Fig. 762.—Simple Paste Board.

Fig. 763. Pasteboard Clamping.

SIMPLE

     A simple frame which is intended for a wire blind, but which may have a great many other uses, is shown by Fig. It is an exercise in making one of the joints treated in the previous chapter. Fig. 760 is an elevation of the joint A to a larger scale. The tenon, mortise, haunch, and wedges are indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 761 shows the construction of the joint, the mitring of the head, which is stuck on the solid, and the rebate formed for the movable bead (the last-named is not shown). The beads should be about 1/2 in.

Fig. 764.—Paste Board with Raised Sides.

Fig. 765.—Clothes Horse.

SIMPLE

     Fig. 762 is a view of a clamped paste board made from clean yellow pine. The following quantities of timber are required: 6 ft. by 5 in. by 3/8 in., 2 ft. 8 in. by 2 in. by 5/8 in., and 1 ft. 4 in. by 2 in. by 2 in. The paste board is made of three widths of timber, with reversed grain to equalise shrinkage. The boards are grooved, tongued, and glue-jointed together (see p. The ends are tongued and tenoned to take a clamping piece (see p. 2 in. wide (see Fig. and the tenons are cut 1/4 in., so as not to project through the clamp. Glue the ends on, and, when they are dry, plane and glasspaper the boards so as to clean off the joints.

Fig. 766.—Knife-box with Square Sides.

PASTE WITH

     For the paste board shown by Fig. 764 use white wood, 1/2 in. or 5/8 in. thick. Cut the bottom A 24 1/4 in. square, and if wood of this breadth cannot be had, two pieces should be neatly joined. The back and sides B should be 7/8 in. thick by 2 in. broad, the former being 24 in. long, while the latter measures 22 1/2 in. Square the ends of the back and sides which have to be dovetailed, and shape the other ends of the sides as illustrated. Cut the dovetails in the sides and back and glue them together. Then plane the bottom smooth and round the corners at the front. When the frame is quite dry, plane the edges flush, and glue the bottom edges, fastening the frame to the bottom with 1-in. screws. Plane the projecting edges of the bottom flush with the frame, and round over or run a sash or ogee moulding on the top edge.

CLOTHES

     A small horse for airing clothes is shown by Fig. This should be of clean yellow pine, 7/8 in. by 5/8 in., planed to size, and with the edges slightly chamfered. The material required is: Four pieces 2 ft. 8 in. by 7/8 in. by 5/8 in., and six pieces 1 ft. 9 in. by 7/8 in. by 5/8 in. When the framing is wedged, sandpaper it, and leave in the white. The cross rails are tenoned into the uprights, and the tenons wedged from the face edges. The tops of the uprights are rounded, and the two parts hinged together with strong webbing, tightly tacked. Two pieces of webbing are required for each hinge W The lower set of dimensions shown in Fig. 765 are for a larger horse made of 1 3/8-in. by 7/8-in. uprights, with 1 1/4-in. by 5/8-in. cross rails.

Fig. 767.—Knife-box with Splayed Sides.

Fig. 768.—Plan of Knife-box.

KNIFE-BOX WITH

     The simplest form of knife-box is shown by Fig. It is made from 1/2-in. wood. The stuff having been sawn and planed, it is only necessary to shoot the edges, then glue and nail the parts together, though the corners could be dovetailed if desired. Put the four sides together, and fit the middle division; but, before fixing, put in the finger-hole. The bottom should be nosed all round. The outside measurements are: Length 13 in., width 10 in., depth 4 in., extreme height of middle piece 5 in. The bottom is 11 in. by 14 in.

Fig. 769.—Square for Trying Angles.

KNIFE-BOXES WITH

     A better but more difficult knife-box is shown in part elevation and part cross section by Fig. a plan being given by Fig. It may be made of mahogany or walnut, 1/2 in. thick, which should be planed to 3/8 in. The pieces forming the bottom and cross partitions should be planed to 1/4 in. and 5/16 in. thick respectively. For the sides, two pieces 1 ft. 3 3/4 in. by 3 in.; and for the ends, two pieces 8 3/8 in. by 3 in, will be required. Plane these and cut them off, giving a 3/8-in. bevel in the depth of the sides and ends. These pieces will not be exactly true at the ends, but they may be planed to the correct bevel by getting out a piece of wood to the same bevel as the sides, fixing it to the stock of the square, and then running a saw kerf in the top edge to fit on the blade of the square as at A in Fig. In using this square, the bevelled piece of wood is placed against the face of the sides and the ends, the stock of the square being kept parallel with the top and the bottom edges. The corners of the box may be dovetailed or lap-jointed; for the lap on one piece, see Fig. The joint should be glued and secured with a few 3/4-in. panel pins, the heads being punched in and stopped with beeswax and resin. Groove the ends for the long partition, and one side for the cross partition (see Fig. The inside of the box should be lined with green baize, and to prevent the edges becoming loose, run a bevelled rebate about 3/16 in. below the inside top edges of the sides and ends as at A and on both sides of the divisions, as indicated in the right-hand half of Fig. The top edge of the baize is sunk into these rebates, thus preventing its being torn when articles are placed in the box. The sides and ends of the box are glued and pinned together, and a piece of stuff, 1 ft. 3 3/8 in. by 6 in., prepared for the centre division and handle, and marked to the shape shown in Fig. The top can be cut with a pad or bow saw. The top edge should be rounded with a spokeshave, rasp, and glasspaper. The groove for the cross partition can next be made and the piece driven in, glued, and secured at both ends with panel pins; the cross partition is secured in the position shown in Fig. When the glue is thoroughly dry, the under side may be levelled with a plane and the piece for the bottom prepared. This should be 5/8 in longer and wider than the under side of the box, and rounded as shown in Fig. it may be secured with a few 5/8-in. No. 3 screws and a little glue. If the box is to be French-polished, the sides and the rounded edge of the bottom should be filled in with a rubber or two of polish before the bottom is fixed. In lining the box with green baize, use good hot glue, or a stiff flour paste with a little powdered resin added. The top edge should be well rubbed into the rebate, as shown at A in Fig. Another pattern of box is shown by Fig. this resembles Fig. p. except for the splayed sides, and it will not present any difficulty when the box shown by Fig. 767 has been made. The ends would be better dove tailed than butt-jointed.

Fig. 770.—Half-lap for Knife-box Corners.

Fig. 771.—Edge of Baize Sunk in Bevelled Rebate.

Fig. 772.—Alternative Design for Knife-box.

Fig. 773.—Box for Blacklead Brushes.

Fig. 774.—Joint of Sides and Bottom of Box.

Fig. 775.—Soap Box.

Fig. 776.—Soap-box Bottom.

BOX FOR

     A box in which to keep blacklead brushes is illustrated by Fig. It is made of pine or deal, and following is the quantity of material required: Two sides, 1 ft. 1 1/2 in. by 4 1/4 in. by 3/8 in.; two ends, 8 1/2 in. by 4 1/4 in. by 3/8 in.; one partition, 1 ft. 1 in. by 7 in. by 3/8 in.; and the bottom, 1 ft. 1 in. by 8 in. by 1/2 in. The sides and ends are nailed together, and the bottom is rebated and glued, as shown in Fig. in which B is the bottom and s the side. The partition 7 in. deep in the centre of the box is grooved in each end about 1/8 in. deep and nailed to the bottom, and is cut to form a handle as shown in Fig. The outside of the box should be painted black, and then varnished, so that it can readily be cleaned; or black enamel can be used.

Fig. 777.

Fig. 778.

Figs. 777 and 778.—Elevations of Salt-box.

Fig. 779.—Plan of Salt-box.

SOAP

     Fig. 775 shows a small soap box that can be made of any hard wood, of the following dimensions: Back, 4 3/4 in. by 5 1/2 in. by 5/16in.; sides, 1 ft. 6 in. by 2 in. by 5/16 in.; front, 5 1/2 in. by 2 in. by 5/16 in.; partition, 5 in. by 2 in. by 1/4 in.; and bottom, 5 1/2 in. by 5 1/2 in. by 5/16 in. The back has a circular top, and a hole hanging, as shown. The sides are nailed together and shouldered and nailed to the back. The 1/4-in. thick partition divides off a part for a nail-brush. The bottom is nailed in and provided with drainage holes as shown in Fig. Alternative methods of finishing the bottom are to nail it on the sides, with a 1/4-in. rounded nosing projecting, or to replace the wood with a piece of perforated zine.

Fig. 780.—Salt-box Bottom Grooved into Side.

SALT

     A box for holding 12 lb. or 14 lb. of table salt is shown in front elevation by Fig. in end elevation by Fig. and in plan by Fig. It may be made of mahogany or birch, which must be very dry, otherwise the salt will become discoloured. The following material is required: Back, 1 ft. 1 in. by 11 1/4 in. by 1/2 in.; front, 1 ft. 1 in. by 6 1/4 in. by 1/2 in.; lid, 1 ft. by 8 1/2 in. by 1/2 in.; bottom, 1 ft. 1 in. by 7 1/2 in. by 1/2 in.; two ends, 7 1/2 in. by 7 1/2 in. by 1/2 in.; and a fillet, 1 ft. by 3/4 in. by 1/2 in. Plane the pieces to thickness, square the ends, and mark out the dovetailing for the vertical corners. The bottom is grooved in 1/4 in. or 3/16 in. deep and glued; see Fig. in which B is the bottom, E the end, and F the front. The back piece is 11 in. high to allow for a shaped top, shown in Fig. the edges being finished with a deep chamfer. The lid is hinged to a fillet, 3/4 in. by 1/2 in., screwed to the back (see Fig. in which L is the lid, F the fillet, and B the back), and projects over the front 1/2 in. (see Fig. in which F is the front, E the end, and L the lid). The ends, as shown in Fig. project 3/8 in. above the lid, and have rounded edges at the top. The interior of the box should be lined with stout white drawing paper, and the outside should be sized and varnished or polished.

Fig. 781.—Hingeing of Salt-box Lid.

Fig. 782.—Projection of Salt-box Lid.

NEWSPAPER

     The newspaper box shown by Fig. 783 is easy to make and costs very little. The wood does not need planing up, as it is afterwards covered over with paper. The dimensions are given in Fig. The back is made from 1/4-in. stuff, and has a piece nailed across the top at the back to the depth of about 8 in., with the grain of the wood running crossways to the back to strengthen it. The back will have to be made from two pieces to give the required width, and must be well glued at the joint. When the box has been put together and nailed up, rub down all sharp edges with glasspaper. The box may then be decorated with coloured paper according to taste. Bore two holes in the back of the box, as in Fig. thread a picture cord through them, and all that is then necessary for hanging the rack up is simply a nail or hook made fast in the wall.

Fig. 783.—Newspaper Box.

BRUSH AND

     The brush and comb box shown in Figs. 784 and 785 may be made of 3/8-in. wood. A piece 14 in. long and 8 in. wide will make the back and front. The point A will be 7 in. from one end, and by cutting out with a fretsaw the back and front are shaped at one operation. No further instructions will be needed.

Figs. 784 and 785.—Brush and Comb Box.

WINDOW FOR

     Fig. 786 is a view of a window box for flowers. The wood should be about 3/4 in. or 1 in. thick, according to the size of the box; the angles should be dovetailed and nailed together as shown in the end view The bottom is simply nailed to the sides and ends. The appearance of the box is considerably improved, by mitring and fixing a moulding round the front as shown; and tiles can be fitted to the front with bolection moulding, which is rebated as in the section Two or three wedge-shape strips should be nailed on the bottom as shown at A they require cutting to the splay of the sill; this allows of the box standing level. It is a good plan to coat thickly with lead paint all the joints and parts of the box that will be in contact before fixing them together, so as to resist the rotting effect of the moist earth which the box will afterwards contain.

Fig. 786.—Flower Window Box.

Fig. 787.—End of Window Box.

Fig. 788.—Section of Tile and Moulding.

WASHING

     Wooden vessels for holding water for washing and other purposes are much better than metal ones, as they are less liable to be chemically affected by sodas and other chemicals, are more durable, and are more easily kept clean. Fig. 789 shows a wooden washing tray, which is not difficult to construct when marked out in a proper manner, and forms a useful exercise in woodwork. It is preferably made of white pine, 1 in. or 2 in. thick, according to the size of the utensil required; but good sound red or yellow deal, free from loose knots and sap, is an excellent substitute. All nails used for fastening the joints should be of copper, and where screws are required they should be of brass, thus avoiding rust, which occurs with iron and steel. Iron and steel nails, however, may be used, provided the heads are puttied over. The sides and ends are grooved and tongued together at the angles, and as these joints are not at right angles to the faces, it is here that the difficulty of construction is experienced. This is overcome by properly setting out, one method of which is shown in Fig. and another is described in connection with the next example. Draw an upright line; from A mark off at B the vertical depth of the vessel required; at right angles to A B draw B and draw A C at the desired slope for the sides and ends, which should be both the same. This angle will, of course, be the bevel of the bottom, and it is indicated in Fig. 790 by the angle bevel. To find the pitch of the angles, draw C D at right angles to B and make C D equal to B through D draw a line A which is the pitch required. Make a thin wood mould as shown in Fig. 790 by the grained portion marked Having cut the material a little longer than the full length required, with the faces planed and edges straight and squared, mark it out as follows: Lay both sides together and both ends with their edges fair with each other and face to face; square the two lines marked A and B over the edges at equal distances from the ends, and 2 in. shorter than the finished internal length of the vessel at the bottom for the sides, and 1 1/2 in. shorter for the ends; this is taken up again by the 1-in. end of the mould in application. Except in the case of the ends, 1/2 in. is allowed for tongues. Square these lines over both faces and mark the bevel for the bottom on the ends of each part, as shown in Fig. 791 at and draw on one face the line C D parallel to the edge as shown. The application of the mould X is distinctly illustrated, and does not need further explanation. When both sides are marked with the mould, join the marks over the edge as at E and cut and plane ends to these lines for the ends of the vessel, shouldering the tongues 1/4 in. back to the same bevel as groove the sides beyond the marks to bevel and shoot off the bottom edge to bevel Another method of obtaining the pitch of the sides is shown by Fig. a centre line is squared across the sides and ends, and half the required width is set off from it at both top and bottom; then connect these marks as shown in Fig. Fit the joints, make them tight, nail well, plane off the edges all round so that the bottom fits well, and put them all together without paper, paint, or white-lead. If brown paper is used in the joints the tray will certainly leak and, worse still, go rotten. Fix an oaken lift, of which Fig. 793 is a section, at each end as in Fig. and finish by fixing a piece of 1/2-in. stuff across one of the angles, as seen to the left in Fig. so as to form a receptacle for soap or other articles. A little leakage may take place at first, but after the tray has held water for a short time the wood will swell and the joints will effectually close up. An improvement on the above is to trench the ends into the sides for the full thickness, as shown in Figs. 794 and and to have the grip at the extreme top of the ends running quite across as shown in Fig. so that two hands can take hold if necessary.

Fig. 789.—Washing Tray.

Fig. 790.—Setting out Angle of Sides of Washing Tray.

Fig. 791.—Applying Mould to Sides of Washing Tray.

Fig. 792.—Setting out Angle of Sides of Washing Tray.

Fig. 793.—Section of Washing Tray Lift.

Fig. 794.

Fig. 795.

Figs. 794 and 795.—View and Section of End of Washing Tray.

Fig. 796.

Fig. 797.

Figs. 796 and 797.—Washing Tray and Stand.

Fig. 798.—Section of End of Washing Tray.

A

     Fig. 796 is the side elevation and Fig. 797 the end elevation of a wooden washing tray and stand of substantial construction. The depth and pitch of the sides are arranged so that they may be got out of 11-in. boards 1 in. thick, an easily procurable size. The board should, for economy of material, be cut “in and out”—that is, the long edge of one piece following the short edge of another. The length may be varied to suit requirements, but in any case the sides should overhang the ends 1 1/2 in. as shown, to allow the latter to be housed-in solid; they should be fitted very tight, the housing being stopped 1/2 in. down from the top. The lower edges of the sides and ends are tongued into a 1/2-in. groove in the bottom 3/8 in. deep (the tongue being square to the bottom, so that the latter may be ploughed from the edge and put on after the frame is made up (see Fig. The screws must be kept outside the groove to prevent leakage. Having worked the tongues and fitted the housings, they may be at once put together plain, or coated with a mixture of equal parts of white- and red-lead, worked up in linseed oil to the consistency of rather thick paint. Nail them together with 2 1/2-in. copper or zinc clouts, dovetail fashion. Then rack the tray square and stand it on the bottom, mark around the inside of the tongue, and cut the groove in the bottom slightly smaller than the marks; the grooves will be stopped as shown at G The sides are secured in the grooves with brass screws. Round the edges of the tray with a spokeshave, and screw on two pieces, 1 in. by 4 in., at the ends, for hand grips or lifts.

Fig. 799.—Grooved Bottom of Washing Tray.

Figs. 800 to 802.—Obtaining Bevel for Washing Tray Sides and Ends.

OBTAINING FOR

     The sides of the tray are inclined, and as they are drawn on a plane not parallel to the plane of inclination, the bevel lines shown will not be the true bevels required for marking the shoulders and grooves; these must be discovered by turning one of the ends either into the vertical or into the horizontal plane. It is usual to do this on the ground plane or plan. The method is shown in Figs. 800 to which are drawn to a slightly larger scale, to render the operation clearer. One end of the tray is projected in Fig. 800 from the two sections 801 and the dotted projectors indicating the various parts. As all the sides are equally inclined, any one may be taken for development. With C as a centre, and C A as a radius (this is the sight line of the end) describe the are A Produce the inside line of the bottom to meet it, and project the intersection into the plan; and between the projections of the top edges of the sides draw the line G representing the top edge of the end. Join and G to and the points of intersection of the lower edge of the end with the bottom, and G D C ¹ will then be the true shape of the end between the inner surfaces of the sides and bottom; the common bevel is shown at This bevel, when applied from the top edges, will mark the housing in the sides, and also the end cuts, which are the extra amounts required for the sinkings to be allowed beyond the sight lines. Made as described, the edges cut will be square from the surface; but should the tray be dovetailed at the corners, and its top edge mitred as shown at A the bevel for marking the cut on the square edge will be found as shown in Fig. The theory of the operation is that the edge B being projected narrow owing to its inclined position, is assumed to have its lower arris lifted up until it is level with the top arris, when the real shape of the end can be seen. Let C A represent the top edge; then with C as centre and C A as radius, describe the arc A draw a perpendicular line from B into the plan and produce the outer line of the side in plan to meet this perpendicular, and join the intersection to the point to produce the bevel as shown.

Fig. 803.—Setting out Bevel.

Fig. 804.—Fixing Leg of Washing Tray Stand.

Fig. 805.—Rail Joint of Washing Tray Stand.

Fig. 806.—Stand for Washing Tray.

Fig. 807.—Bed-side Table.

STAND FOR

     The stand for this tray (see Figs. 796 and is of white deal 1 3/4 in. thick, the top 9 in. wide and 2 ft. 4 in. long; the legs are 2 in. wide at the top end, tapering to 1 3/4 in. at the bottom, and are notched into the top 3/4 in. as shown in the isometric sketch The bevel for the leg can be found by making on a board or floor a full-size drawing of half the end shown in Fig.. 797, and drawing a perpendicular line, 1 1/4 in. from the face of the leg. A bevel set to this can be applied from the face of the leg. Cut the notch in the top, square through, with its end slightly bevelled as shown, to spread the legs lengthways. Two pieces, 4 in. by 1 in., are screwed inside the legs after they are fixed, and a centre rail of like substance is half-notched over them as shown in Fig.

A

     A stronger stool for supporting the tray is illustrated by Fig. It should be of sound dry red deal, and requires one top, 3 ft. by 11 in. by 1 1/4 in.; four pieces for the legs, 2 ft. by 1 1/2 in. by 1 1/4 in.; two pieces for the top braces, 9 in. by 4 in. by 5/8 in.; two pieces for the bottom end braces, 1 ft. by 1 1/2 in. by 3/4 in.; and two pieces for the side braces, 3 ft. by 1 1/2 in. by 3/4 in. First prepare the top, which has rounded edges and corners. Then set out and cut the mortises for the leg tenons. The legs are 1 1/2 in. by 1 1/4 in., with the upper ends tenoned square, and wedged into the stool top. They can also be rounded and wedged into holes bored in the stool top. When the legs are fixed, screw the brace B immediately under the top, and chamfer the edges. The lower bracing ties the legs together; it is screwed on, and the front edges are chamfered.

Fig. 808.—Section of Bed-side Table.

BED-SIDE

     For the bed-side table shown by Fig. 807 the first requirement will be two pieces of 3/4-in. board, 2 ft. 1 in. long, to form the ends, which will include the legs. These pieces should be 1 ft. wide at the bottom, tapering to 10 in. at the top. Fig. 808 shows the inner side of one, and the pieces adjacent. In the lower part is sawn the opening which makes the legs. The end pieces stand 1 ft. 2 in. apart at the bottom and 1 ft. at the top outside, and at the top are joined by the two cross pieces G which are of 1-in. board, 2 1/2 in. wide and 1 ft. long, placed 4 in. apart, and screwed down to the end pieces. The ornamental front and back strips F also serve to connect the sides, openings for them, 3 in. long and 1/2 in. deep, being cut on the edges of the end pieces. These strips, shown clearly in Fig. are of 1/2-in. stuff, 4 in. wide and 1 ft. 0 1/2 in. long; they are screwed to the end pieces and to the cross pieces G The ledger C is a strip 3/4 in. by 1 1/2 in. wide by 8 1/2 in. long; it is screwed to the end piece, its top being 1 ft. 4 in. from the ground line. To its ends and to those of its fellow are screwed at the back and front the two strips which are of like thickness and width, but 11 3/4 in. long. The middle shelf B is of 1/2-in board, 11 1/2 in square. At the front and back it projects beyond the level of the end pieces by 1/2 in., and its edges are there rounded off. It is fixed down to the ledgers and strips beneath it, and screws are also driven into it through the end pieces. At the back of this shelf, and fastened to it and to the end pieces, is the ornamental strip shown separately by Fig. It is of 1/2-in. stuff, 3 in. by 11 1/2 in., and prevents articles placed upon the shelf falling off behind. To complete the legs at the front and back are needed four pieces L of 1/2-in. board, 1 ft. 4 in. long, 6 1/4 in. wide at the bottom, tapering on the outer side only to 5 3/4 in. at the top. The front pair are shown in Fig. 807 placed together and covering the space between the middle shelf and the ground line. They are screwed to the end pieces and to the cross strips D it would be well also to unite them by a dowel just above the central opening. The table top J is of 3/4-in. board, 1 ft. wide, the middle part being 1 ft. 3 in. long, and the flaps—hinged to it on the under side—6 in. long each. It is fixed by screws driven through the cross pieces Screwed to the under faces of these pieces is the 1/2-in. board 7 in. wide, and reaching from end piece to end piece, which with them forms a sheath for the slide the last being shown separately by Fig. It is of 1-in. wood, 4 in. wide and 1 ft. 1 1/2 in. long, and must be made to run easily, but not loosely, in its sheath. It projects 3/4 in. beyond the end pieces, and the edges of the projections are rounded off. For bed-side purposes both flaps are not likely to be wanted up at the same time, but whichever slide support is required may be drawn out by a ring; an ordinary picture-frame ring will serve the purpose. A groove M 1/2 in. deep, is cut along the middle of its under side, and will run over a metal stud fixed in the centre of the board K the slide cannot then be drawn out too far. The slide must, of course, be put in its sheath before the table top is fixed.

Fig. 809.—Back of Table Shelf.

Fig. 810.—Slide of Bed-side Table.

Fig. 811.

Fig. 812.

Figs. 811 and 812.—Setting out Stepladder.

Fig. 813.—Obtaining Length of Stepladder Sides and Pitch.

     Builders’ stepladders have to be strong, whereas shop and household ladders may be of lighter construction. Paperhangers, too, do not care for them too heavy. The following list of sizes of steps and timbers required will be found useful to work to:—

The stiles and bottom rail of back support should be 2 1/4 in. or 2 1/2 in. wide, and top rail 4 1/2 in. or 5 in. wide.

Fig. 814.—Stepladder Step.

SETTING

     Suppose the steps to be made are to have seven steps and a top, making eight rises in all, which, with 8-in. rises, would give a height of 5 ft. 4 in. when the steps are open. The first thing to do is to set out the steps full size on a board, as shown in Figs. 811 and to get the length of sides, steps, etc.; but a good and quicker plan is to take any odd piece of board, about 6 ft. long, run a line down it, 4 in. from the edge, which will correspond with the width of the sides required; then set one end on the floor, and hold it at about the right angle, first measuring the stretch-out on the floor, as shown in Fig. Hold a spirit level across the board, and draw a line under the level when the level is true. Set a bevel to this line, which will be the pitch of the steps. The top of the steps should be a trifle over the centre of the stretch-out, as shown in Fig. Now draw a floor line on the board with a bevel, and measure 8 in. up at right angles to the line. This will be the top of the first step. Repeat the same for each step; the length of the sides can then be ascertained.

Fig. 815.—Shelf in Recess.

Fig. 816.—Shelf Ledge.

MAKING

     Cut the material for the stepladder out of 1-in. by 9-in. white deal, that being lighter and generally sounder than red. The pieces required will be two sides 4 in. wide, seven steps 5 in. wide, two stiles for back support 2 1/4 in. wide, top rail for back support 5 in. wide, bottom rail for back support 2 1/2 in. wide, back board to which the support is hung 5 in. wide. The top should be wide enough to receive the sides (which should be housed into it 1/4 in.) and to project over the front edge of the sides 3/4 in. and over the back enough to receive the back board, and project the same over that as over the front edge of the sides. The top should also hang over the sides 1 1/2 in. at the end, and be rounded all round. Having planed up the stuff, set out one side with the bevel the same as on the board, square over on one edge, and set out the other side by that. Stick a 3/8-in. bead on the front edge of the sides, and cut grooves for the steps 3/8-in. deep in the sides. The bottom and fourth step, in addition to housing, should be tenoned through the sides with a tenon the full thickness of the step and 1 1/4 in. wide, and wedged both ways as shown in Fig. Put in these two steps temporarily, and then cut in the other steps. Glue and nail the steps together, taking care to have them true. Set out the back by laying it in position on the back of the steps, and frame it together. The steps should be cleaned off level with the edges of sides at the back, but not on the front. As the top front edge of the steps will project in front of the edge of the sides, a piece should be chiselled off at the end of the step after the steps are put together (see Fig. The back can be hung either with butt hinges, flap joints, or a small pair of the last-named being the strongest. Put the cord in between the second and third steps, and cut off the back so that the steps are perfectly level when the cord is tight.

Fig. 817.—Levelling Shelf.

Fig. 818.—Obtaining Angle for Cutting Shelf.

FIXING IN A

     In most rooms there are recesses, from 9 in. to 15 in. deep, often utilised for bookshelves, which are made to rest on ledges nailed to the wall. The plan of such a shelf is shown by Fig. In preparing for such a fixture, first ascertain, by tapping with a hammer, whether the shelves will be fixed to a solid wall or to a partition. Proceed to fix the ledge using the spirit-level as a guide (see Fig. Nails cannot always be driven exactly into the joints of brickwork, so, if not content to risk the attempt, drill or chisel a hole in the wall, driving in a wood plug, to which the ledge can then be nailed. (Plugging walls is fully treated in separate paragraphs, later.) Always bore holes in the ledges for the nails, and have these nails of good quality, not too slender. If no spirit-level is at hand, use a square, taking the wall as vertical. Having fixed one ledge, take the angle between the back and the end with a bevel or 2-ft. folding rule and cut one end of the shelf to the angle. Mark lightly a horizontal line along the wall to the other end of the recess, and measure the length on the line drawn. Transfer this measurement to the shelf. Take the angle of the wall as before, and mark and cut the shelf to the length. Do not make the shelf fit too tightly, and for the sake of the wallpaper it is better to have it 1/8 in. shorter than the extreme width of the recess. Try the shelf in its place, and test it for level or otherwise, before nailing the second ledge. The second ledge must be nailed as before; and if, as sometimes happens, the ledge shifts in the process of fixing, do not wrench it off, but either raise the low end with a thin slip of wood, or, if possible, correct the slant by careful paring. If several shelves are to be fixed, each one may be treated in the same way, as the surface of the wall is not always absolutely true. If the shelves are required to be wider than the depth of the recess, the corners should be rounded as shown in Fig. When one shelf is fitted satisfactorily, measurements can be taken from it, and all the ledges similarly fixed. It will save time if the fitted shelf is tried in each of the other places; if it fits, it will serve as a template for the rest; if not, it will give a very good idea of what is required. If, instead of brickwork, one side is a lath-and-plaster partition, find out by tapping with a hammer where the timbers are. The ledges ought then to be made long enough to nail to two of these quarterings. If such length is objected to, the ledge must be well nailed to the timber, and one or two screws inserted into the laths. If the load on the shelf is not to be heavy, this will suffice.

Fig. 819.

Fig. 820.

Figs. 819 and 820.—Elevations of Bracket Shelf.

Fig. 821.—Bracket for Suspended Shelf.

Fig. 822.—Brass Plate.

Fig. 823. Square and Tapered Plug.

Fig. 824. Wedge-shaped Plug.

FIXING WITH

     Sometimes a shelf is required, not in a recess, and not extending from wall to wall. In such a case it is best to suspend it rather than uphold it 819 and the shelf being housed into more or less ornamental ends, which are of the same thickness as the shelf. Another method is shown by the end view First find out the kind of wall or partition. If it is lath and plaster, note the places where the timbers occur, and make two or more neat brackets in wood, afterwards fixing them under the shelf. If preferred, metal brackets, to be bought cheaply, may be used. Fix two or more “glass plates” on the back of the shelf, at the places found suitable. These plates are of sheet metal, having usually three holes, two of which are countersunk for screwing to the back of the article (see Fig. The plates should be let in, and will leave a projection available for fixing the brackets to the wall. The method of using the brackets is made clear in the illustrations. Sometimes, as has been shown, the brackets supporting a shelf are fixed at the ends, in which case they may be made to serve as ends to the shelf, suspending as well as supporting it, and forming a useful and ornamental finish to the work (see Figs. 819 and In order to fix anything in the middle of a wall, or in the space between the door and a corner, some workers measure the space, halve it, mark the wall at the distance, then measure the shelf, halve the result, mark it on the shelf, and bring the two marks together; but it will save time if the shelf or bracket is placed on the floor or on a table as nearly as the eye can judge in its proper place. If the remaining distance between the shelf and the door and the corner is then measured, the discrepancy will be found to be small. Perhaps it may be 2 in., when, of course, the shelf must be moved 1 in. to be in its correct central position.

Fig. 825.—Wedge-shaped Plug with Parallel Ends.

WALL

     Plugs are pieces of wood or metal, or of wood encased in metal, which are inserted in the joints of brickwork or stonework, or are driven into holes bored to receive them to afford a hold for nails, etc., which otherwise could not be used. The shapes for inserting into bored holes and into joints between bricks, etc., differ. For the first purpose the usual form is that shown by Fig. this is square, and slightly tapered. To make it, the wood is cut off to 2 in. in length, and cleft into squares of barely 5/8 in.; they can be finished easily and quickly by taking off a thin chip from each side with a chisel. The common wedge-shaped plug for driving into joints is shown by Fig. another and the preferable form being shown by Fig. The so-called twisted plug 826 and was no doubt designed to overcome the tendency of a wedge-shaped plug to jump back whilst it is being driven forward. The twisted plug is made from an oblong piece of dry straight-grained pine, from each bottom corner of which a slice of wood is removed, so that the thin or entering edge of the plug has parallel edges and ends. In Fig. which is a view from underneath, the wood contained in the two triangles is the portion removed. The cutting off of these opposite corners is supposed to give a twist to the cut face of the plug, so that it holds better when driven into the joints of brickwork or stonework. It may be difficult to discover the twist, which is the merit of this plug, except by comparing with an ordinary plug. Actually, the twisted plug is nothing more than the ordinary wedge-shaped kind cut slightly across the grain. To make the last named, cut down an oblong piece of wood on each side till it tapers somewhat like a wedge, keeping the thin edge of the plug of equal thickness along its width, and its edges parallel. On comparing the two plugs it will be seen that as regards slope or angle or thickness there is no difference between the two wedge-shaped pieces of wood, and that one is not any better than the other. As already stated, the twisted plug was designed to counteract the tendency of the ordinary plug to spring back from the joint into which it is being driven; but the facts that all the angles of bricks are right angles, that the joint between two bricks is a joint with parallel sides, and that a wedge driven into a joint, the sides of which are parallel, is only in contact with the edges of the joint, were overlooked. The only way, then, of making a serviceable plug is to abandon the wedge shape and make the sides of the plug parallel 828 and 829), and to fit each plug to the opening which it is intended to fill.

Fig. 826.

Fig. 827.

Figs. 826 and 827.—Twisted Plug.

Fig. 828.

Fig. 829.

Figs. 828 and 829.—Plug with Parallel Sides.

Fig. 830.—Correct Form of Round Plug.

Fig. 831.—Incorrect Form of Round Plug.

Fig. 832.—Drill.

Fig. 833.—Lead Plug.

ROUND

     The round wooden plug is used for the same purpose as the square one represented by Fig. that is it is driven into a hole drilled in brick or stone. Often the round plug is made so thick as to be almost useless for the purpose it is intended to serve. The sides of the hole made to receive it are jagged and uneven, and unless the substance of the plug is forced into these indentations, it will, when the wood dries and shrinks, work loose and perhaps fall out. The screw that is driven into the plugs is intended to act as a wedge, so that the fibres of the wood may be forced into and become locked in the rough sides of the hole; but if the plug is too thick the force exerted by the screw is effectually resisted, and the plug does not lock, and, moreover, the larger the plug the more in proportion will be the shrinkage in drying. The plug, therefore, should bear an exact relation to the size of the screw. A 1/2-in. or 5/8-in. plug is quite large enough for a twelves or fourteens screw. It has already been pointed out that wedge-shaped flat plugs cannot exert any holding power, neither can a tapering round plug. Fig. 830 is a section showing the best form of round plug; Fig. 831 is a bad form, but one that is often ignorantly used.

Fig. 834.—Iron-cased Wood Plug.

Fig. 835.—Kitchen Table.

DRILLING FOR

     For driving wedge-shaped plugs into joints only clearing out is necessary, but for the other kinds the holes must be made carefully. A suitable drill for the job is made of steel to the shape shown in Fig. the stem being 1/2 in. in diameter, and the point 5/8 in. wide by 3/16 in. thick. This drill is used by striking it smartly with the hammer, turning it slightly between the strokes; by its use holes can be made in the bricks in less time than it would take to find a joint. Each hole should be drilled to a depth of about 2 in., so that the plugs have a solid hole in the bricks of 1 1/2 in.

Fig. 836.—Table Leg and Rail.

FIXING IN

     All plugs and woodwork should be kept at least 9 in. from fireplaces or flues, and if a plug is required within the prescribed area, it must be made of lead If a gas bracket has to be fixed on the chimney breast or opposite a flue, the wood block must be encased tightly in a 1/2-in. cast-iron box or 4 1/2-in. cube (outside dimensions), the grain of the wood being vertical (see Fig. If these boxes are to be fixed after the walls are up, they must be fastened with iron wedges, then made tight all round with good mortar.

MAKING

     The kitchen table shown in general view by Fig. 835 is 4 ft. 6 in. long by 3 ft. wide, taking the measurements of the top. The top is made by ploughing and cross-tongueing together (see pp. 191 and four or more boards, and whilst the joints are setting in suitable cramps, the framing is prepared of sound yellow pine. The legs are 2 ft. 4 in. long, diminished from 3 3/4 in. square at the top to 2 3/4 in. square at the bottom, finished. A distance of 6 in. from the top is left square. Fig. 836 shows a part elevation of one of the legs mortised for the rail The mortises B B are set in 1/2 in. from the front edge, and are 1 3/8 in. long, 5/8 in. wide, and about 2 in. deep. The haunchings are about 5/8 in. deep. The faces where the rails come are also served like this. The face where the drawer comes, really the front of the table, is illustrated in Fig. where D is a dovetail received by a mortise 1 3/4 in. long, 1 7/8 in. wide at its widest portion, 1 in. at the neck, and sunk 3/4 in. into the top of the leg, which brings it flush; E goes in a double mortise, 1 1/4 in. long and 1/2 in. wide, and 1 3/4 in. deep, F showing nest space for drawer. The side rails are 5 in. deep and 1 1/4 in. thick, with barefaced tenons, as shown in the elevation of the rail, C When these are inserted in the mortises, the shoulders are inside. The top and bottom rails for the drawer are 3 in. by 3/4 in., and 3 in. by 1 1/4 in. respectively, and must be dovetailed and double tenoned on both ends, as illustrated in Figs. 837 and The dimensions of all these tenons and dovetails must correspond with those already given for the mortises. In planing up the side rails, only the face and two edges need be tried; the inside faces will do if roughly jack planed over. Prepare the runners and guides as shown in Fig. the runner B is 3 in. wide and 1 1/4 in. thick, and tenoned and cut to the shape indicated on plan; the guide F is simply a 1-in. square fillet nailed on to the top of the runner as seen in section. Fig. 838 shows clearly the position of these guides, one of which is fixed at each end of the table. The runner is mortised and tenoned into the leg and back rail at one end, and also into the leg and bottom rail of the drawer at the other. In the latter case it is flush at top and bottom. In Fig. A indicates table legs; end rail; side rail; rail over drawer; drawer runner; drawer guide; wooden pins; blocks; and draw or stop on bottom rail. With brace and bit bore 3/8-in. holes G, G, G through the centre of all the side-rail mortises in the legs, to the depth shown. Carefully drive all the side rails into their respective places, and, when the shoulders are up, mark with a lead pencil down the holes their position on each of the tenons. Knock the framing to pieces again, and bore 3/8-in. holes through the tenons where indicated in pencil, but a little out of line with those in the mortises, and towards the shoulders of the tenons. This draw-boring (see also p. has the effect of pulling up the shoulders when the pins pass through the tenons.

Fig. 837.—Leg and Drawer Framing.

Fig. 838.—Part Plan of Table with Top Removed.

Fig. 839.—Drawer Runner and Guide.

PUTTING

     After cleaning off, sufficient guidance in putting the framing together may be obtained by consulting Figs. 836 to Care must be taken that the framing is put together square. When this is done, in the angles glue 2-in. blocks of the shape shown by dotted lines at H H H The stuff for these blocks must be exceptionally dry and properly squared up, and then ripped down diagonally. Two bits of mahogany about 2 in. square and 1/4 in. thick must also be glued and sprigged on to each end of the bottom rail of the drawer, to form stops for the latter (see Fig. in dotted lines through rail The making of the drawer is quite possible to the worker who has mastered the process of dovetailing fully described in pp. 211 to later, more instructions on drawer making will be given in connection with specimens of cabinetwork. For the present, it is necessary only to give the size of drawer, and explain the section represented by Fig. The total width of the table drawer when finished will be 3 ft. 8 in.; front, 3 in. deep by 7/8 in. thick; back, 2 1/4 in. deep by 5/8 in. thick; sides, 3 in. deep by 1/2 in. thick; and bottom, 1/2 in. thick. The depth from front to back will be about 2 ft. 6 in. In Fig. E is the stiffening rail, F the drawer bottom, and G the glued blocks. As this drawer is of an unusual width, the stiffening rail E must be introduced in the centre. It is 2 1/4 in. wide and 1 in. thick full, dovetailed flush under the front of the drawer, and nailed under the back. The drawer bottom will be bevelled, as at F into plough grooves on both edges, and also all round the drawer. Blocks, as shown at G will also be glued all round the angles. Now remove the wood cramps off the top and plane it up, first the under side, but only as far from the edges as is necessary to give it a solid bed on the framing. The upper face of the top must be traversed—that is, planed across the grain. When the jack plane, held on its side obliquely across the top, shows no daylight under it, that is a fairly satisfactory indication that the top is pretty level. When the traversing is done, try the top up, and cut and shoot the edges to the sizes required—4 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. This will allow 1 1/4 in. to overhang the framing all round. Now lay the top on the bench, bottom side uppermost, and reversing the framing (which, of course, has been shot all round at the top), place it in position, and proceed to block and screw the two together. The screws must pass diagonally through the side rails into the top, and the stuff is to be scooped out to form countersinks for their heads. The blocks must be glued and rubbed into the angles until they are firm. Turn the table on to its legs, smooth, and then sandpaper the top across the grain, and the table is finished. The corners can be rounded and a thumb mould stuck on the edge if preferred. In Fig. 841 is shown a section of another method of putting on the top; the oak button c works on a screw pivot that enters the top and the rebated portion of the button turns into a plough groove in the rails The same method is shown in the section where, however, the button is of a different shape, and the screw could with advantage be 3/8 in. longer.

Fig. 840.—Section of Stiffening Rail.

Fig. 841.—Table Top, Rail, and Rounded Button.

Fig. 842.—Table Top, Rail, and Square Button.

Fig. 843.—Square Button for Securing Table Top.

s

Fig. 844.—Levelling Table Legs.

LEVELLING

     Below is described the best method of levelling such pieces of furniture as tables and chairs so that they stand firmly on the floor without rocking. It is almost impossible to guarantee that a table shall stand perfectly firm, and in making it is preferable to allow a small piece on the end of each leg to provide against any accident prior to gluing up. Fig. 844 shows a plain table packed up to be perfectly level, and ready to be scribed and cut. In the first place the table must stand upon a fairly straight and level surface, and in the case of a large piece of furniture, pieces of board laid on the floor at proper distances, and levelled from one to the other, will be found sufficient. Pack up each leg until a spirit level placed on the table top proves the top to be level. This having been done, a pair of sharp compasses is set to a distance equal to the distance of the bottom of the shortest leg from the floor surface, or from the floor surface to a point found by measuring off the desired height from the top of the table; with the compass scribe each of the legs plainly, as shown in Fig. Now lay the table in a suitable position to saw off squarely the superfluous material from the bottom of each leg in turn, which will complete the task.