XXVITHE MITRE BOX AND PICTURE FRAMES

Fig. 141. The bread board

The knife and fork box (Fig. 142) brought new problems. The list of material was:

1 pc. 111⁄2× 31⁄4×1⁄22 pcs. 7 × 11⁄2×1⁄22 pcs. 14 × 11⁄2×1⁄21 pc. 12 × 61⁄2×1⁄4

It was made of white wood, and, after being assembled, was stained a rich brown by receiving two coats of bichromate of potash. This is a chemical,which may be bought at a paint or drug store in the form of crystals. These are dissolved in water, until the solution looks like pink lemonade. It can be applied with a brush, but each coat must be allowed to dry completely before the whole is sand-papered smooth with No. 0 sand-paper. A deeper brown can be obtained by adding one or two extra coats of stain.

Fig. 142. Method of using hand screws in the construction of a knife box

The middle partition containing the handle was made first. The drawing was laid out on the wood after it had been squared up, and two holes 1 inch in diameter were bored out ata a. The wood between was taken out with a key-hole saw, and finished to the line with chisel and knife. A turning saw can be used to advantage on this handle, but it isnot absolutely necessary. Spacesb bwere removed in the same way, but a knife was used in the concave part of the curve. If it is handy, a small spokeshave can be employed on the whole upper line of this handle.

Anything in the nature of a handle should be rounded to fit the hand. Edgesc cwere therefore rounded with the knife, and finished with coarse, followed by fine, sand-paper.

The two sides were laid out together as in the nail box, and the groove cut with back saw and1⁄8-inch chisel.

The end pieces were made in a similar manner, and the bottom piece squared to1⁄16-inch of finished size. The assembling consisted of first gluing together the sides and ends. Two hand screws were used to hold them. This was Harry's first attempt at using hand screws, and Ralph showed him the importance of keeping the jaws parallel.

The box remained in the hand screws over night, and the next day it was found to be securely fastened. The most convenient kind of glue for boys is the liquid sold in cans. It is always ready for use, and very handy where only a moderate quantity is needed.

Dry glue in the form of flakes, or granulated,must be soaked over night, and then heated in a pot having a double bottom with water in the lower part.

It should be put on hot with a brush or a small flat stick. The best glue is none too good, yet a good quality has wonderful holding power and should last indefinitely.

After removing the hand screws, the unfinished box was placed in the vise, tested with the edge of the plane, and made perfectly true, top and bottom.

The1⁄4-inch bottom piece was now put on with one-inch brads, the sides and ends made square, the handle partition slipped into the grooves, and fastened with two brads at each end.

Fig. 143. Tool box

This knife box was so satisfactory that our young carpenters resolved to have a large one for tools. Whenever they had a job to do in the house, they were constantly running out to the shop for something, so that a tool box became a necessity.

The construction was similar to the knife box; but this was larger and heavier, and the dado joints at the ends were replaced by a butt joint fastened with flat-head screws. (Fig. 143). The bottom and partition were also put on with screws, on account of the weight to be carried.

Fig. 144. Another tool box

These tool boxes are frequently made in the shape shown inFig. 144, with sloping sides and ends called the hopper joint; but aside from the tool practice it affords, it is doubtful if the shape has advantage enough over the other form to warrant the extra time it takes. Man is an imitative creature, however, and what one carpenter has, the others copy.

The principal features about this useful article should be size and strength, especially in the handle, which should be of about5⁄8or3⁄4inch stock.

It seemed to Harry that the shop was fairly well equipped, but Ralph insisted that they must have a mitre box before making anything else for the house.

The mitre box is, or should be, an instrument of precision, and although simple in construction, must be perfectly accurate, or it is useless. (Fig. 145.)

The illustration shows the common form, but elaborate affairs of iron and wood can be bought ready made. Every boy should make his own, for the practice, if for nothing else. The sides should be made of oak7⁄8inch thick, 18 inches long, and 31⁄2inches high, the bottom of7⁄8-inch pine or other soft wood, the same size.

When squared up, the two sides must be tested by standing them side by side; then reverse one end for end, to see if they are alike. If not, find where the trouble is, and correct it.

It is especially important that the edges of the bottom piece be square and the sides perfectlyparallel. This test can be made with the marking gauge. Sides are fastened on by boring and countersinking for three screws on each. After assembling, the whole thing must be tested as if it were a solid block. Top edges must be true and parallel.

Fig. 145. The 45° mitre box and test pieces

Near one end—about two inches in—lay out across the top with try square a line 90 degrees with the sides. Carry the line down each side, square with the top edges. For 45-degree angles, lay out a square by drawing two pencil lines across the top, as far apart as the finished mitre box is wide. Draw the two diagonals and square lines from their ends down both sides, taking care that their position is not over the screw in the bottom; because as the saw cuts deeper it may reach this screw and ruin its teeth.

Make the three saw cuts directly on the lines laid out with a cross cut or back saw, with the utmost care. If this is not done accurately, all the labour of preparation is wasted. The blank end of the mitre box may have an additional 90-degree cut, or be left for new cuts in the future, as a mitre box of this description wears out and becomes inaccurate.

Other angles may be used, as 60 degrees or 30 degrees, but it is better to have these on another box as they are used less, and for special purposes. (Fig. 146.)

The mitre box is not ready to use until it has been thoroughly tested. Prepare a strip of soft wood—pine or white wood—11⁄2inches wide and1⁄2inch thick. Cut four pieces from it on the mitre box, using the back saw as shown ata, with only one ofthe slits. Place these four triangular pieces together to form a square. All the four mitre joints of this square must fit perfectly. If they do not, mark the slit "N. G.," and test the other slit in the same way. If all right, mark "O. K." It often happens that one may be perfect and the other inaccurate. If they are both O. K., the box is ready for use. If one slit is useless, lay out and cut another on the blank end of the mitre box in the same direction, and test again.

Fig. 146. 30-60-90 mitre box

In testing a 30-degree cut three pieces of the strip should be sawed out, and when placed together they should form a perfect equilateral triangle, while from a 60-degree cut, six pieces are needed to form a hexagon.

These angles are valuable in inlaid work, and for getting out geometrical designs.

The 45-degree cut is indispensable in making the mitred corners of picture frames and in cabinet work.

In making picture frames of simple cross section, it is first necessary to cut the rabbet (Fig. 147) with a rabbet plane. If this moulding is made by hand, the size of the picture should be measured, the length of all four sides added, and a liberal allowance made for waste.

Fig. 147. Making picture frames

In the figure, the trianglesa aare waste, the rabbet being indicated by the dotted line. After the four pieces have been sawed out on the mitre box, they should be placed together on a flat surface, such as the bench top or floor, to see if the mitres fit perfectly. If they do not, one of them can be block planed to make a perfect fit, and the other three laid close together, as shown in the illustration.

The assembling is the hardest part of the operation, and many devices have been tried and some patented to hold the parts together while the glue is drying.

Perhaps the surest way is to drill a hole in one piece of each joint large enough for the passage of a wire bung-head nail.

The undrilled piece is placed vertically in the vise. The drilled piece, after receiving a thin coat of glue, is brought into position horizontally, and the nail driven home.

Theoretically, the nail should catch at the first blow, but the horizontal piece will sometimes slip, even with the best of care. It is wiser to place this piece about1⁄16inch above its final position, to allow for this slip.

A method sometimes used is to glue near the ends of each piece a triangular block of wood, as shown atd. These must be left over night to harden.

The next day the whole four pieces can be glued and held together by four hand screws, as shown, until the glue is thoroughly hard. This method, of course, can only be used with plain moulding or that which is square on the outside.

Our boys tried another way that is commonly practised. They nailed oblong blocks to an old drawing board, as shown ate e, and then placed the picture frame in the centre, after gluing the joints, and driving wedges in between the blocks and theframe. Paper placed under each joint prevented the frame from being stuck to the drawing board by the glue forced out by the pressure.

This paper plan was learned by experience, as the first frame the boys tried had to be pried up from the board, and in so doing they broke it at two of the joints, so that it had to be made again.

It is well to remember in gluing mitre joints that end grain absorbs more glue than a flat surface. A priming coat should be applied first, and allowed to remain a few moments to fill up the pores. The second coat should hold fast and make a strong joint, but an excess of glue should always be avoided, as it must be removed after hardening, and glue soon takes the edge from the best of tools.

Very fancy frames should be avoided. A bevel on the outside or inside, or both, is about all the young woodworker should attempt in the way of ornamentation. Depend on the natural beauty of the wood, as a fancy frame draws the attention from the picture, which after all is the main thing. We should admire the man, not his clothes, the picture not its frame, although the latter should be neat and well made.

The finishing and polishing of frames is taken up inChapter XLIX.

To make a wooden box sounds like a simple proposition; but in making the drawing, the questions of size, proportion, joints, hinges, etc., immediately come up.

The size of course depends on the purpose of the box. If it is for ladies' gloves, it should be long and narrow; if for collars or handkerchiefs, square or nearly so. The height is nearly always made too great. In fact, the whole question of proportion is one which can hardly be taught; it must be felt, and different people have different ideas as to what constitutes good proportion.

Some hints, however, may be given: A box perfectly square does not look well. Again, dimensions that are multiples do not look well. A box 4 × 8 × 12 inches would not be nearly so pleasing as one 3 × 51⁄2× 12 inches.

The proportions are also affected by the constructive details. Is the box to be flat on the sides and ends or is the top to project? etc.

Our boys argued and sketched and finally drew the design shown atFig. 148. This was to hold ties. The top was to project and have a bevel, or chamfer, also the bottom. No hinges were to be used, but the cover was to have cleats fastened on the under side to keep it in place, and to prevent warping.

Fig. 148. Dado joint used in box design

The next question was the manner of fastening the sides and ends. On unimportant work, a butt joint with glue and brads can be used, but for a toilet article, the holes made by the brads, even if they are filled with putty, are not satisfactory.

So it was decided to use the dado joint as shown ata. This meant more fine work, but, as Ralph suggested, it was to last a lifetime, and should be made right.

Sides and ends were squared up, and the grooves on the side pieces laid out as in the nail box. The rabbets on the end pieces were cut out with the back saw and chisel. After the joints had been carefullyfitted, the four pieces were glued together and placed in hand screws over night.

While the glue was hardening, the two pieces for the top and bottom were squared up and bevelled with the smoothing plane on the long sides, the block plane on the ends.

The cleats for the top were next made, drilled and countersunk for the screws as atb.

A careful full-sized drawing of half of the top was made, and a chip carving design drawn for it. The cleats were not put on until the carving was finished and short screws had to be used so they would not come through and spoil the surface.

The next day the body of the box was removed from the hand screws and squared with a smoothing plane. The top and bottom were put on with 1-inch brads. These were "set" with a nail punch to prevent any possible scratching and the whole box was rubbed down with wax dissolved in turpentine.

For fine cabinet work, the dovetail joint makes the most satisfactory method of fastening, but Harry was not yet skilled enough to do the fine work it demanded.

The second box was for handkerchiefs, dimensions 8 × 7 × 3 inches outside, and no overhang at eithertop or bottom. The construction brought in several new features. Sides and ends were dadoed together as in the first box.

The top and bottom, after being squared, were rabbeted on all four sides until they fitted snugly into the opening top and bottom. They were glued in these positions and placed in hand screws over night. (Fig. 149.)

"How are you going to get into that box?" asked Harry. "You've closed it up solid and glued the top on."

"Wait and see," was all the satisfaction he got.

Fig. 149. The handkerchief box

The next day the hand screws were removed and the box squared up exactly as if it had been a solid piece of wood. Ralph then made two gauge lines around the four sides,3⁄4inch from the top and1⁄8inch apart. Then he cut the box in two between these two lines with a rip saw, after slightlyrounding all corners except the bottom ones with a plane and sand-paper.

By this method, the box and cover must be exactly alike in outline, and by planing to the gauge lines, they will fit perfectly.

It only remained to hinge the two parts together, but this operation proved to be no slight task.

The body was placed in the vise and the cover laid upside down on the bench top. The two parts were brought together as shown atc, and the four knife lines laid out as shown with knife and try square.

The distance between the lines ataandbmust be equal to the width of the hinge, and the wood between these lines removed to a depth equal to half the thickness of the hinge at its joint when closed. If too much is removed, the box will be "hinge bound" and will not close in front. If too little is taken out, it will close in front and have an open joint at the back. In the former case, a thickness or two of paper placed under the hinge will often be enough to make it close in front. In the latter case, of course more material must be cut out. It is a delicate operation, as the depth of these cuts for 1-inch hinges is only about1⁄16inch. It is a question of accuracy, pure and simple.

Holes for the screws can be made with a brad awl.

The boys made several boxes of various sizes and styles, some plain, some decorated with carving. Pyrography, or burnt work, is frequently used for decoration, and the best wood for this purpose is basswood, because of its white color, softness, and freedom from pitch.

Other woods may be burnt, but pine, which has veins of pitchy sap, is not suitable.

Fig. 150. A box for drawing instruments

A box for drawing instruments is shown inFig. 150. Its outside dimensions are 9 × 51⁄4× 21⁄2inches. Our boys made theirs of gum wood because of the beauty of its colouring and its suitability for carving. The joints used and the method of construction were the same as in the handkerchief box, but it was provided with a tray for the instruments. This was one inch deep over all, and rested on two thin strips fastened to the ends inside.These strips were 41⁄4× 1 ×1⁄4inches, and, by raising the tray one inch from the bottom, left a space convenient for holding triangles, protractors, pencils, etc. The cover was decorated with a border and centre piece in chip carving.

The making of dovetailed boxes is taken up in ChapterXXXV.

Brackets are often required about the house for many purposes, and their size, shape, and decoration are infinite. There is even more fun in designing them than in making them. Tastes differ in this respect, as in everything else, and, given the problem, no two people will bring out the same design unless they simply copy something they have seen, which is not designing.

When our boys started to make brackets in response to urgent demands from the family, Ralph blocked out the sketch shown inFig. 151ata.

"There is a bracket," he said; "it consists of three pieces, and properly put together it will hold what it is designed to hold. It is not a thing of beauty, and we must improve it. How? By changing its outline without impairing its strength. In other words, we must 'design' a bracket constructed of three pieces of wood put together at right angles. There's your problem; now take paper and pencil and let us see what you can do."

Fig. 151. Designs for wall brackets

"What size?" asked Harry.

"Oh, in this case, I'll leave it to your judgment."

For fully an hour, no sound was heard in the shop but that of two lead pencils. Harry was getting experience.

"Let me give you a pointer," said Ralph. "Don't try to draw both sides alike, as it is very difficult where you have free-hand lines. Draw a vertical line representing the centre. Sketch one half of the design, and when you have it about right, fold the paper on this centre line and trace the other half."

Harry went to work again and at the end of another hour produced the sketches shown inFig. 151.

Ralph criticised them all rather severely, and as Harry was tired, this treatment made him sulky.

"Don't get mad," said Ralph kindly; "you know designing is hard work and the only way you can learn is to have me help you by pointing out your weak spots. Artists are obliged to pay for criticism; you know I'm not finding fault."

"All right," said Harry, brightening up, "which one shall I make?"

"I think the one markedxis the best. Work it up more carefully, design the shelf and bracket and put on all the dimensions."

"The bracket? Why, what is this I have drawn?"

"That's the back piece that goes against the wall; the bracket piece supports the shelf, and remember when you make it in wood, the grain must always run the long way of each piece."

"Why?"

"I'll show you," said Ralph.

He cut out two pieces of wood about 8 × 1 ×1⁄2inches, one with the grain running lengthwise and on the other the grain running the one-inch way. Handing the first piece to Harry, he said, "Let me see you break it with your hands."

The boy tried and failed. Handing him the second piece he said, "Now try this."

It broke so readily that Harry was astonished.

"That's why," said Ralph, "and that's all."

The three pieces as finally drawn are shown inFig. 151atx. They were all cut out of gum wood with a coping saw, finished to the lines with chisel, spokeshave and sand-paper block, and put together with3⁄4-inch brads. The nails were driven through the back into the bracket, the latter piece being held in the vise in a horizontal position. It was then shifted to a vertical position with the back piece to the left of the vise and the shelf nailed to the bracket. Two brads were also driven through the back into the shelf.

Brackets may be ornamented in many ways; by chip carving, pyrography, or by staining, but the decoration should be put on before assembling.

Another form is shown atbin which the back piece is not carried above the shelf, the latter piece resting on the top of the back. From a constructive standpoint this is a stronger form than the other, as part of the weight is carried by the back instead of by the brads alone.

Corner brackets are sometimes used and may be made in the form shown atc. Here we have two wall pieces and a V-shaped shelf, the V being a right angle. Again, the form may be so long as to require two brackets and it may then be considered a shelf.

In fastening any of these forms to a plastered wall, considerable care must be taken in placing the nails or screws so that they will engage in a stud instead of just in the plaster. The location of the studs can be found by tapping on the wall with the knuckle or lightly with a hammer. A surer way, however, is to find the nails in the picture moulding or base board and plumb from either of these places with a small weight—such as a nail—on a string.

The designing and making of book racks offer an almost endless field for the imagination. The rack may have a fixed length or be adjustable and either of these forms may have fixed or folding ends, and again the shapes of the ends may be varied in form and decorated in several ways.

Fig. 152. Types of book racks

Perhaps one of the simplest forms of folding book rack is shown inFig. 152, ata. The ends are sawed out of the bottom piece, pivoted with two1⁄4-inch dowels and when stood upright the lower part strikes against a cleat, which acts as a rest for the rack and a stop for the end piece.

The weakness of most book racks lies in the gradual weakening of the ends at the joint so that the weight of the books makes them lean outward. This should be considered carefully in working up the design. One of the weakest forms perhaps is shown atb. Theoretically, this is all right, but in practice the ends soon bend or lean out. A skeleton form, making use of the halved joint, is shown atc.

The two long sides and two short ends are squared up and halved as shown. All the ends are bevelled. Holes are bored for the pivots—1⁄4-inch dowels—adistance from the cross pieces equal to half the thickness of the folding ends. This is to insure the ends standing perfectly upright against cross pieces. If this distance is greater than half the thickness, the ends will lean out, and if less than half, the ends cannot be gotten in place. The bottom of the ends must be rounded, or they will not fold over.

The construction is very simple, and requires little material. Another very ordinary method is shown atd. It is as common and simple as it is weak and unsatisfactory. The ends are placed on the bottom piece and hinged. If a cheap and quick method is desired, it would be better to place the hinges as shown ate, because then the tendency to tilt out is prevented by the pressure against the bottom piece as long as the screws hold.

A far better method is to mortise the shelf throughthe end pieces and fasten it with a good, healthy pin or wedge, as shown atf; and a still better plan is to have two mortises and two wedges, as shown atg.

In constructive design, nothing is lost by honesty. The ends in this case are held in place by pins, so instead of hiding the fact, emphasize it by making these pins big and strong enough to do their work. The rack may be further strengthened by adding corner brackets ath.

Having decided on the construction, the form of the ends may be taken up. This is affected somewhat by the construction, but some of the outlines tried by our boys and suggestive to other boys are shown at 1, 2, 3.

They used two distinct kinds. One was characterized by straight lines. These they decorated with chip carving. The other style was distinguished by curved outlines, and decorated by outlines made with the veining tool, and by staining the figures in various colours.

The stains they used were oil colours thinned with turpentine so as to bring out the grain of the wood, rather than to hide it, as in painting, and care was taken to tone down these colours to dull reds, browns, greens, and grays. For staining and polishing, turn toChapter XLIX.

Fig. 153

The study of construction includes many items such as strength, proportion, joints, etc. If we look at the roof timbers shown in outline ata(Fig. 153), the interesting parts of the construction are the three spaces enclosed by circles. The straight lines between these circles do not interest us very much, but the parts enclosed do. Immediately the question arises, how are the timbers fastened at these places? In other words, what kind of joint is used? The joint then is the critical part, or we might say the cream of the construction.

A very large number of joints are in use, but many of them are rare. Our grandfathers, who built their houses and barns from oak timbers hewn out with the axe, commonly used the mortise and tenon, fastened with a generous hard wood pin, and many of them are still standing after a century or two of hard usage. The fact that thebeams were rough hewn, instead of sawed, did not in any way affect their strength, because they made good, strong joints.

Some of the more common joints are shown in the accompanying illustrations, and may be used for reference.

No. 1. A butt joint in which the two pieces are fastened together, end to end, by means of glue and dowels. It should be used only in cases where there is little strain in the direction of the two pieces.

No. 2. A dowel joint joining two pieces at right angles. One form of it is shown at No. 3 applied to the leg of a table.

No. 4. Shows two pieces fastened edge to edge by dowels. This joint is often made without the dowels; the two strips, after jointing or fitting, being glued and rubbed together—sometimes called a rubbed joint.

No. 5. A butt joint fastened by nails, brads, or screws, common in box construction.

No. 6. A butt joint where the pieces are not at right angles, owing to the slant. This is called the hopper joint and it is fastened with nails or brads.

No. 7. End lap. A joint much used in house framing.

Fig. 154. Joints used in construction

Fig. 154a. Joints used in construction (continued)

No. 8. Shows the lap joint used for splicing two pieces lengthwise. It needs to be nailed or bolted to prevent pulling apart.

No. 9. A middle lap joint.

No. 10. Dovetail lap or lap dovetail. This form resists pulling apart and is a combination of lap and dovetail joints.

No. 11. Shows a modification of the same, only one side being dovetailed.

Fig. 154b. Joints used in construction (continued)

No. 12. Halved joint. Both pieces are cut out to half their thickness, and a width equal to that ofthe other piece. The pieces may be at right angles or some other angle, as shown at No. 13.

No. 13. Halved joint at 45 degrees.

No. 14. Lock joint. This is a form of lap joint rarely used. It resists pulling apart, but should be glued on account of shrinkage.

No. 15. Notched joint; used where two pieces cross, and where full halving is not desirable, as in the sketch of pergola.

No. 16. Rabbeted or gained joint.

No. 17. Dado joint.

No. 18. Gained or housed joint.

No. 19. Through mortise and tenon, used in furniture construction and building.

Note—16, 17, 18 are often confused, and are named differently by mechanics. They are used in boxes, and cabinet work.

No. 20. Blind mortise and tenon, same as No. 19, except that the tenon does not go through and is invisible. These two joints may be fastened with glue, and are often strengthened by passing a dowel through at right angles to the tenon. Another method is to make two or more saw cuts in the tenon, and drive wedges into the cuts.

In door construction, where the rails meet the stiles, the tenon is often divided, as shown by the dotted line. The two parts fitted into separatemortises give the appearance of two distinct tenons on the edge of the door.

No. 21. Relished mortise and tenon or door joint, a form used at the corners of doors.

No. 22. End mortise and tenon. The tenon is seen on two sides. Used for frames of various kinds.

No. 23. The mitre joint, used in picture frames, picture moulding, interior finish of houses, etc.

No. 24. Lap mitre joint; a combination of end lap and mitre; rarely used.

No. 25. Stretcher joint; a combination of end lap, mitre, and end mortise and tenon; used by artists for frames on which their canvas is fastened. The stretching is done by driving wedges from the inside.

No. 26. Dovetail; used as a splice.

No. 27. Single open dovetail for two pieces at right angles. When two or more are cut in the same place, we have the open or box dovetail.

No. 28. Box dovetail; used in cabinet work and boxes.

No. 29. Half-blind dovetail. The dovetails are seen from only one side; used in cabinet work, especially in drawer construction.

No. 30. Blind dovetail. When the two pieces are together, the dovetails are invisible. Thisjoint calls for very accurate work. It is used in special cases, where strength is required, and yet it is desirable to hide the form of construction.

No. 31. Trick dovetail; not used in construction, and only of interest as a curiosity. The four sides of this trick combination are apparently exactly alike. It seems impossible for them to have been put together, and to bring out the effect it is well to have one piece in light-coloured wood, the other dark. The method of laying out and cutting is shown in the illustration. The dovetails that appear on the surface are only oblique sections of dovetailed-shaped tongues and grooves running diagonally from face to face.

No. 32. Another trick. This at first sight appears like a lap dovetail, but the end view shows another dovetail, making it apparently impossible to put together. The construction is shown clearly in the drawing. It is of no value in constructive work.

No. 33. Splice or scarf joint; used in framing, occasionally; of little value to boys.

No. 34. Tongue and groove joint; used in flooring and for sheathing.

Scores of other joints might be shown, but they are seldom used, and are of no value to amateur mechanics.

"There is one tool you have not learned to use," said Ralph, one day, "and I think that it is about time you tried it."

Fig. 155. The gouge

"What tool is that?" asked Harry.

"The gouge ground or bevelled on the outside." (Fig. 155.)

"What is it used for?"

"For cutting concave curves, especially those below the surface. Suppose you practise on a piece of white wood."

A piece of white wood was squared up, a foot long and 11⁄2inches square. The lines shown in the figure were laid out with the pencil. The marking gauge is not suitable for this work, as it makes a sharp cut in the surface just where the edge is to come, so that after the gouge work is finished, it would show this edge split by the gauge mark. (Fig. 156.)

Fig. 156. Practise cuts with the gouge

The two grooves from end to end were first cut,removing a quarter circle, the curve being drawn on the ends by a pair of compasses or dividers. This gave excellent practice in freehand work, calling for good control over the hands, and a constant watching of the grain to prevent splitting.

Fig. 157. An example of gouge work

The other two grooves or coves were next tried. Extra care had to be exercised here to prevent taking off the ends.

To give the boy further practice, the simple pen tray shown inFig. 157was sketched out, and the stock squared up.

The gouge work in this exercise was entirely beneath the surface, and to make the tool work true to the drawing, a depth gauge was made as shown ata. This was simply a straight piece of wastewood with a brad driven into it, carefully, until the head was the same distance above the surface as the depth of the groove called for in the drawing.

By inverting the gauge and running the brad head along the bottom of the groove, the depth could be gauged accurately. The wooden strip must rest on the surface at both sides of the groove, and the brad head just touches the bottom at the same time.

After the gouge work had been carried as far as possible, the groove was finished by sand-papering, first with No. 11⁄2and then with No. 0 sand-paper.

In laying out bevelled edges on a piece of this character, the same objection to the marking gauge holds as for gouged grooves. Ralph showed the boy a simple method of making a gauge for pencil lines to overcome this difficulty. He cut out a piece of white pine shaped as shown atb. The distance from the shoulder to the point of the V was equal to the width of the desired bevel or chamfer. The stock must be held in the vise, as both hands are required in the drawing of the lines. To make the width of the bevel greater, simply cut the shoulder further back with a knife, and to reduce the size, cut the V further in toward the shoulder.This is a very convenient and inexpensive device, quickly made.

A more pretentious project was tried next (Fig. 158,a), which provides for a round ink bottle, and demands some nice chisel work. In the first pen tray the bevels had been all planed. On this second one, only three could be cut that way, as the one on the back had to be chiselled. The successive steps in the construction were as follows:

1. Square up stock.

2. Lay out the drawing on the wood.

3. Bore the hole for ink well half way through the wood with extension bit.

4. Smooth the bottom of the hole with chisel, holding it bevel down.

5. Gouge out the groove and gauge the depth.

6. Sand-paper the groove.

7. Cut out the outline of the back with the back saw and chisel.

8. Cut all the bevels, doing the back part—the most difficult—first.

9. Draw chip carving design.

10. Do the carving.

11. Rub down with wax dissolved in turpentine.

12. Insert ink well.

Design No. 3, shown atb(Fig. 158), called formolded edges, places for two square ink wells, and a simple carved design in the flat space between them. The process in this case was as follows:

1. Square up.

2. Lay out the work from drawing.

3. Cut out squares1⁄4inch deep with socket chisel and mallet.

4. Gouge groove.

5. Make moulded edges by first gouging the quarter circle shown in detail drawing, and doing the long sides with the grain first. Next remove the rest of the wood outside the curved outline with smoothing plane on long sides, block plane on ends. Sand-paper the groove and moulded edges.

6. Lay out and execute carving.

7. Rub down with wax or raw linseed oil.

8. Insert ink wells.

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