Fig. 43.
Fig. 43.
For finally trimming up short pieces, a peculiar knife is used by the lathe and tool makers; and when you can spare the money you should get one, as you will find it easy to use, and it will save you many a cut from the axe. In fact, I never adviseveryyoung mechanics to make use of the latter tool. It requires practice, strength, and a good deal of skill to use it well; and nothing is more easy thanto lop off the end of a finger or thumb, and, unfortunately, nothing is more difficult than to repair the damage. The paring-knife for short thick pieces mentioned above, is made like D, Fig. 43. It consists of a long and curved handle, turned up at one end to fit under a staple, E, with a cross piece of wood for the hand at the other end, and a broad strong blade with one bevel in the middle—(by one bevel I mean, that the edge is not like that of an axe, but like thatof a carpenter’s chisel, the bevel or sloping part being outside). C is the piece of wood to be pared, A the bottom board or platform, B a block fastened to it, and made on a slope to prevent the tendency of the wood to slip away from the knife. The whole of this may be screwed down to the bench, or to a heavy stool when in use. The hook and ferule should not be made so large and loose as in the drawing, and a better joint is that of an ordinary hinge. If made loosely, the blade twists about too much from side to side, escaping from the wood. There is no danger to the fingers from this useful tool, which the young mechanic should add to his workshop as soon as he can.
Another useful and easily-constructed apparatus for the preparation of long pieces is the shave-stool, used by coopers and chairmakers to hold the pieces securely while they are being shaped by the double-handled shave or drawknife, as it is often called, a tool omitted from our list, but very useful all the same. This is sketched at B, Fig. 43. It is often very roughly made, the chief necessity being that it shall be strong. It answers also for a sawing-stool. Upon the stool or bench, A, is fixed a sloping block, B. A swinging frame, C, is hinged or pivoted at D, so that if the lower part is pushed back from left to right, the upper cross-bar, E, will come forward and almost touch the highest part of the sloping block, B, so that any piece of wood, such as F, will thereby be pinched and held tightlybetween the rail, E, and the block. The workman sits astride of the stool at A, facing the block, and his feet are placed on the bar C. When he wishes to hold the wood which is to be shaved by the drawknife C, he pressesfromhim with his feet the lower part of the frame, and he can instantly loosen the wood by drawing his feet towards him. The movement is made in a moment, and the wood shifted round as required, and alternately turned about and held tight, while the drawknife is used almost ceaselessly. A very few minutes generally suffices thus to pare down a rough piece for the lathe. The cross-bar, E, should be tolerably strong, and is better if not rounded very nicely, as the edges help to hold the wood. The latter is sure not to slip away, because the pull of the drawknife tends to draw it up higher on the slope of the block, which pulls it into a still narrower opening. Nothing can exceed the ease with which this appliance is used, and the rapidity with which the required operation can be carried on. No wood-turner’s shop should be without one.
Fig. 44.
Fig. 44.
I must say a word or two as to neatness and order, especially in the arrangement of tools and appliances for the lathe. Whether you have a dozen tools or a hundred, always put them in thesame place, so that any particular article can be found instantly, no time being wastedhunting up and down, or examining a long row of tools for the one required at that particular time. Turning tools, moreover, should be kept distinct from those used for carpentry, and in a special rack by themselves. The best tool-rack, I think, which can be made, is one like Fig. 44. This may be made of deal, but the pieces between the holes are thus liable to get split off, and beech or ash is therefore preferable. The whole frame is made to be screwed to the wall; or, if the latter is damp, the frame should be first screwed to a board covered with baize, and this, in turn, fixed to the wall. Thus arranged, it will have a very neatappearance, and the tools being kept dry, will remain generally free from rust. They should, nevertheless, be carefully looked over once a week and wiped, when those requiring to be ground should be subjected to that operation, and thus be ready for future use when required. They are bad workmen who allow blunt or damaged tools to accumulate, instead of at once setting them in order. The horizontal bars are bored with holes by means of a centrebit. The holes must be arranged as to size by the measurement of theferulesof the tool handles, some being larger and some smaller, so that when the tool is placed in any hole, the handle will drop in to the depth of the ferule and fit. Thus the tools will all stand upright, instead of leaning from one side or the other. After the holes are made, a piece is cut out (see fig. B) at the front edge, because the blades of some tools are wider than the ferules, and, in addition, if this were not done, the different tool-rails must be as far apart as the whole length of the tool (handle and all included), to allow of the latter being lifted sufficiently high to drop into the holes.
The strips for the holes should be about 2 inches wide, the lower one, for the larger chisels and gouges, rather wider than the upper ones. Sometimes these tool-racks are fitted up inside a cabinet, whose doors have similar racks; thus all can be shut in out of the reach of dust and dirt. Holtzappffel, the great lathemaker of London, fitsup such cabinets complete in oak or mahogany, all the tools being handled in hard wood and turned to one pattern. The cost, however, £5 and upwards, renders such less desirable to the young mechanic, who can rig up a common tool-rack, which will serve his purpose equally well. It is also far more satisfactory, in looking round your workshop, to feel that you have at all events been as little extravagant as possible, for amateurs get no return for outlay as tradesmen do.
There is no operation in which the young mechanic is so much at fault as in that of grinding and setting in order the various tools he has to use. Nevertheless he will never become either an independent workman or a good one, if he has to depend upon others for this necessary labour.
No doubt, to sharpen a tool which is in very bad order is a tedious and tiresome job; but it is not so wearisome an affair to keep tools in condition for work, after they have been once thoroughly sharpened by one who understands how to do it. Never, therefore, use a blunt tool, but at once go to the hone or grindstone with it, and put it in first-rate order. Time thus employed is never wasted, but rather saved; and the result will appear invariably in the work which you are engaged upon. You must, in the first place, understand precisely what it is you have to do; andalthough the following details may be by some considered more adapted for advanced students than for young mechanics, a little attention to the explanations will render the matter clear to any boy of age and intelligence to take in hand, with reasonable prospect of success, the tools of the carpenter, turner, and fitter. I can only say, that boys of this generation are wonderfully well off in having these things explained to them. Twenty years ago young mechanics had to grope along in the dark, ignorant to a great extent of theprinciplesof work, and almost equally uninstructed in the practical part of it.
In Fig. 45 are represented similar angles to those already explained to you, and you will quickly understand how useful is a little knowledge of the elements of mathematics. Suppose A to be a tool, the angle of the point is a right angle, or 90°. B is another of 60° at the point, and I have drawn a line across to show you that the three sides of this figure (called a triangle) are equal. So remember that if you want an angle of 60°, you have only to draw a triangle of three equal sides, and each of these angles will be 60°. Again, I may as well remind you that three times 60° equals 180°, which is equal totwo right angles, so we find here that the three angles of an equal-sided triangle equal two right angles, and even if the sides are not equal, the same thing is true. For instance, look at the first tool, across which I have also drawn a line to make a triangle. The point weknow is 90°, and if the sides,a b, are equal (although the third line isnotequal to either), the two small angles are each 45°,i.e., 90° between them, so the three angles again equal 180°.
Fig. 45.
Fig. 45.
The third tool (which we may suppose a turner’s chisel heldedgewise) is shown to have an angle of 30°, and I have added one more which has an angle of 45°. Now all tools, ifwellground, are ground to a certain known angle, according to the material which they are intended to cut. Tools intended to cut soft woods, like deal, are ground to an angle of 20° to 30°, like the chisel seen edgewise. I shall have a word to say presently as to the direction in which such tools are to be held, in order to make them cut as well as possible. A tool for hard wood is given next at E. The angle is now at least 40°, and it ranges up to 80°, giving a stronger, thicker edge, but not so keen a one. We have, therefore, more of a scraping tool than a cutting one,—at least, in the way it is usually held. Then we come to the tools with which iron is turned and steel also. Fig. F is one of these, and the usual angle is 60°, and thence it ranges to 90°. Thus you see, advancing from soft wood tools to those for hard wood, and thence to a substance still harder, we have increased the angle of the edge, beginning at 30° and ending with 80° or 90°. But now we come to a material which is harder than wood and not so hard as iron, yet we use tools with an angle of 90°, which is still greater, and 70° is the least angle ever used for this metal.
Experience only has taught the proper angle for tools, and it is found, that if brass and gun-metal are turned with tools of a less angle than 70°, they only catch into thematerial, and do not work at all satisfactorily. You can, however,scrapebrass, as a finish, with the thin edge of a common chisel; but then the tool is held so as to scrape very lightly and polish; and its edge will not remain many minutes, unless the maker (intending it to be so used) has made it much harder than he would make it for soft wood cutting.
If you buy your tools at anygoodshop, you will find that they are already ground to nearly the angles named, and when you re-grind them, you must endeavour to keep them to the same. Thebevel, as it is called, of many tools need not be ground at all, as they may be sharpened solely by rubbing the upper face on a hone, or grinding it, holding it so that the stone shall act equally on all parts of it. If, however, the tool should become notched, you must grind the bevel of it, and then you must try and keep the intended angle. One tool, however, or rather one pair of tools, viz., turning-gouges and chisels, are very seldom ground with a sufficiently long bevel when they first come from the maker. The usual shape of the edge is like G, whereas the angle should be much less, as seen at H. This you must correct when you first grind the tools for use, and keep the same long bevel and small angle of edge continually afterwards, for you will never make good work on soft wood if your chisels and gouges are ground with too short a bevel.
I must also guard you against another common error, which, however, is very difficult to avoid at first, and only long practice will enable you entirely to overcome it. I, is the chisel (held edgewise as before) ground as it ought to be; K is the same tool ground as it generally is by young hands, or, even if it is correctly formed at the grindstone, one or two applications to the oilstone almost invariably round it off as shown. The bevel ofalltools must be kept quite flat and even, and when the tool is afterwards rubbed on the oilstone to give a finish to the edge, another flat, even bevel should be made. In the same figure at L is an exaggerated view of the chisel, with its first long bevel formed at the grindstone, and the second very small bright bevel seen at the extreme edge of all such tools when they have been set upon the oilstone. This second bevel, slight as it is, you will at once understand makes the angle of the edge a little larger, therefore you must allow for it, and grind a little keener edge than you really require.
Now, all this is very simple and easy to understand, and when you have mastered this much, you will be in a fair way to understand more. The second part of the subject, nevertheless, requires very close attention, and very likely may not become quite clear to you when explained. I shall therefore draw a line here, and make this lesson a special paragraph, which you can look back to some other day,when you are grown from a boy-mechanic to a man, and have had more experience in cutting and turning wood and metal.
The tools above described have their cutting edges formed by the meeting of two planes at a given angle,—these planes being the flat bevels (or the flat top and one bevel) formed by the grindstone. But in some tools three planes meet to form an edge instead of two, and the angle of the cutting edge is not the same as that of either of these, although it depends upon them, and can be nicely calculated. This calculation, however, requires a knowledge of some higher branches of mathematics than the young mechanic is supposed to be acquainted with, and therefore a table is added instead, by which, when the angles of two of these planes are known, the third may be at once seen, which last determines, of course, the angle of the edge.
As an example, take the graver, of which you will find a drawing among the other tools, but which I give again in this place. M, Fig. 45, is the tool, looking at the face or bevel which has been ground upon it, making a lozenge-shape or diamond. But this face is athird plane, and the cuttingedges,aandb, depend for their angles upon all three of these. Now, for iron we want an angle of 60°. How are we to make the edges,a b, of that exact size? The bar is first of all square in section, like N, which would be its shape before the third face or bevel is ground, and all the angles are now right angles of 90° each. But instead of this, we want two of them 60°, the other two being of no importance. We simply proceed thus:—Determine which angle is to become the point of the tool (it is no matter in the present case, as all are alike), then grind away underneath till the new bevel forms an angle of 45° with the back (by which I mean the edge which runs along from the sharp point towards the handle—the edgexin fig. O). Trigonometry enables us to find out that an angle of 45° is the one required, but you will find it in the table annexed to this chapter, and an explanation of this table is also given to enable you to use it easily. Thus ground, the edgesa bof fig. O will be each formed of two planes meeting at an angle of 60°. You can make a gauge of card or tin, P, to work by, of the required angle.
Fig. 46.
Fig. 46.
Fig. 47.
Fig. 47.
In order to understand the use of this table, it is necessary to give names to the several angles of a tool. That upon the front or face of the tool, as A of the point-tool, is called the plan-angle; that made by the upper surface and the front edge, as B (a, being the angle in question), is called the section angle, because, if you were to saw rightthrough the central line lengthwise, this is the angle that would appear at the point, viewing it sideways. Now, if we look at C, Fig. 47, we shall be able to understand how the front line,b c, is obtained, which constitutes one side of the section angle of a tool. It results from the meeting of the two diamond-shaped planes at the sides formed by the grindstone, but is dependent also on the plan-angle. These two side-planes are to be generally ground at an angle ofabout 3° from the vertical, which is to give the clearance of the tool if held in a fixed position, as in the tool-holder of a slide-rest, the tool being supposed horizontal. This is in accordance with what I have before told you, viz., that the cutting edge should be presented to the work at the smallest possible angle, 3° being very small indeed. This angle is generally measured by placing the side ground in contact with a cone of wood or metal, turned to an angle of 3°, such as D,—kbeing a tool the front of which is evidently 3°; or a piece of tin,l, cut to the same angle, and stood on its edge, will answer the same purpose. By 3°, I mean an angle of 3° measured on the circumference of a circle, as I have already explained in a former page, such angle being of course at the centre of the circle where the lines drawn from the several degrees on the circumference meet.
Now, when you have ground these two surfaces, the lineb cof B (or C) will have a certain slope or inclination depending on the plan-angle of the point. The exact inclination of it may be therefore said to be accidental; but, whatever it is, it becomes of great importance in the final result, being one side of the angle which will give any particular angle of cutting edge. And here the table comes into use:—Suppose I wish to have an edge of 60°, for cutting iron. Measure theplan-angle,—say it is 90°, which is that of the graver; then, on the table, under thewords “plan angle,” you will see 90°, and opposite, above 60° of “cutting edges,” you will see 45°. You have only to grind back the upper face of the tool, until it makes an angle of 45° (section angle) with the front edge or line,b c, and the edgesx xwill be angles of 60°. Or take the tool E, of which the plan angle is 120°, and suppose you want cutting edges of 80°, for brass, opposite 120°, and above 80°, is 78° 5″. Grind back the top face to an angle of 78° 5″ (or 78½) with the point line, and it is done.
Until you have practically proved it, you can have no idea of the vast importance of having correctly-formed cutting edges, and of placing them within a hair’s-breadth of the proper position. But it is in slide-rest work especially, and in cutting metal with tools held rigidly in one position, that this is of such paramount importance. It makes all the difference between cutting off a clean shaving, and tearing from the material by main force a quantity of disjointed particles, the latter process leaving a rough unfinished surface, the former producing one as smooth and polished as a sheet of glass; and the advantage of this short table is, that you can at any time shape your own tools for the particular work in hand.
After you have had some practice in turning, you should certainly learn to shape your tools from square bars of steel, worn files, and broken steel tools of various kinds; and before you have arrived at sufficient dexterity to do thisentirely by yourself, you will get them roughly shaped for you by the blacksmith, and then with grindstone and file you will further perfect the angles for use. Steel does not require, and must on no account be subjected to, a white heat, or you will spoil it hopelessly; and you can always heat it in a common fire, or in the little stove that I shall describe in a subsequent chapter, to a temperature that will allow you to bend it into any required form with the hammer and anvil—a bright red being the utmost heat it must be brought to.
We must now consider the mode of applying the edge of a tool to the work, so as to produce the best effect. First, we will consider the case of a gouge and chisel acting upon soft wood.
Fig. 48.
Fig. 48.
In Fig. 48, A represents a piece of wood in the lathe, as you would see it if you stood at one end of it, and a chisel is being held against it. The arrow shows the direction in which the wood is supposed to be revolving. Held thus, the chisel would scrape, and its edge would be carried off at once; it could not possibly cut. But, held as at B, it would cut off a clean and continuous shaving as the wood revolved against it, and this shaving would slide off along the upper face,b, of the tool, so that you can see that this face ought to offer the least possible resistance to it. The toolacts, in fact, like a very thin, sharp wedge, which divides the material by pressure, which has to be great or slight according as the edge is sharp and thin or the contrary. Now, if you again look at A, you will see that this wedge-like action cannot take place, so that the tool is in its worst possible position.
Between the two positions, however, here shown, are several others at a greater or less angle to the surface of the wood; but the smallest possible angle it can make is the best, so long as the thickness of shaving removed will suffice for your purpose. This rule holds good with all tools, whether carpenters’ or turners’, which are made with sharp-cutting edges. Care must be taken, however, that the lower face of the tool does not rub against the work, which, again, it is evident, limits to a given degree the angle at which the cutting edge is to be applied to the work.
We now pass on to C, which represents the ordinary tool for turning iron, held flat upon the rest, the position it usually occupies. We see at once that in this case also we have a scraping tool only, and that, although the angle of the edge is far greater than that of the chisel, it must soon be ground off by the action of the metal to which it is applied, or of the hard wood, which is also cut in this way. But with this form of tool we shall find it impossible to apply it so as to cut in the best way; because if we lowerthe handle, as we did that of the chisel, the part below the edge will rub against the work, while the edge itself will be moved out of contact with it. Thus we are obliged to hold the tool in the position first shown; but we may therefore conclude that thetool itself is a badly formed onefor the intended purpose; and so it is, although you will see it in almost every workshop in the kingdom. Let us see what can be done to improve it. At D, I have represented the same tool, but the blackened part shows what has been filed away from the upper face, and the dotted lines show that, when this has been done, a tool is made very similar to the chisel for wood, and that it is also now in a good position forcutting(not scraping), although it is still held horizontally upon the rest. Shavings of iron curl off the upper face of this, as wood shavings curl off upon a chisel.
If the angle, however, is too small, the edge will soon be broken off, and the tool will dig into the work; hence the necessity of knowing at what angle a tool ought to be ground to cut any particular metal successfully.
Such a tool as the last named, which is intended only to cut with the front edge, and which is represented in E, is called a single-edged one, because it only cuts in one direction, but many others are double-edged, cutting the shaving at once on the flat and edge—that is, paring it off from the material below and also from the side. Forinstance, F is a cylinder of iron, from which a shaving is supposed to be in process of being cut. It has to be removed from the shoulder to which it is represented as still adhering, and also from the flat surface,e b, around which it was, as it were, once coiled. But this requires two cutting edges, both acting at the same time, but in different directions; and good mechanics therefore so form the tools, and so use them, as to cut in both directions, which leaves the work beautifully smooth and even.
These tools are mostly used in the slide-rest, where their true position, once determined, can be accurately maintained; and it is, perhaps, only with the slide-rest that perfect work can be done. There is, however, no reason why you should not use tools of all kinds intelligently, and understand exactly how they should be formed, and how held. Suppose you have a tool correctly made by the aid of the table of tool angles already explained, still looking at fig. F, you can see that the smaller part of the roller is that which is to be left finished, and that it ought to be quite smooth, but the shoulder atais not of the same degree of importance. A tool fit for such work would evidently be shaped on itsplan-angleor face, like H in fig. C or I; and, if held as seen, both edges would be brought into action at the same time, as will be at once evident on inspection. In practice, however, the two edges would not be allowed to touch for their whole length, or the angle on the rightwould leave a scratch upon the finished work; therefore it would be eased off a little, as at K, L. But this is evidently as nearly as possible the shape and position to be given to such a tool, and the edge which has to leave the finished surface should, as it were,followthe other; the right-hand angle beingjustandonly justkept out of cut.
The hand-tools you will generally use are the heel-tool, M, held on the rest as shown, which, you see, brings the edge into cut at the least possible angle to the work, and the nail-head, which is in fact a heel-tool of four faces, or, if round, a heel-toolall edge, and which can be rolled over as it gets blunted. To these add the graver, of which I have already spoken. I have tried to show its position at O, with the bevel of the face pointed in the direction of the shoulder, and downwards; but it can be held face upwards also, and in one or two other positions. Always remember that the cutting edge is to be presented at a small angle with the work, and you cannot go wrong if the tool is well formed. The nail-head and heel-tools are single edged, and easily ground without the table of angles, but the graver is a double-edged tool, properly speaking, although only one edge may perhaps be used.
Having explained the principles upon which you have to work as regards grinding your tools and holding them when in use, I shall merely add a few remarks as to theaction of the grindstone and oilstone, and the proper way of using them.
Always let the stone revolve towards you, as if you had to turn it smooth with the tool you have to sharpen, except when you cannot possibly do so without cutting grooves in it. Chisels, knives, axes, planes, and all similar tools with flat edges, are to be ground with the stone running in that direction, by which means you will avoid giving them a wire edge, as it is called (i.e., a ragged-looking edge), and it will instead be even and sharp; the filament of metal being, as it were, driven back into the substance of the tool, instead of drawn away from it. Gouges may be ground in the same way, but must be rolled about to keep up the form of edge. It is indeed the easiest way with these to hold themacrossthe stone, in the same direction as its axis, and then, by rolling them over backwards and forwards, you can give a very good shape to the edge, which should run slightly to a point, or rathertendto one. They are never to be ground square across, like that of the carpenter.
It is generally necessary to have some sort of rest upon which to lay the tools during the operation of grinding, but do not trust to special contrivances for holding them at the precise angle needed; rather trust to your own skill, which will increase more and more by being severely exercised. Always remember to grind your tools to a sharper angle than will be ultimately required, that the final anglemay be given by the oilstone. Of the latter there are many kinds. Nothing probably can surpass a Turkey stone, if good, but this varies considerably in hardness and other qualities. There is a very quick-cutting, slightly coarse stone from Nova Scotia, which is very serviceable, as it does this tedious work with great rapidity, not, however, putting on the tools a very fine edge, but one that admirably suits for such as are to be used on metal. With the rest, a rub or two on Turkey, or Arkansas, or Chorley Forest stone, will impart a finish. Arkansas stone, however, may be had coarse as well as fine; it is much liked by some, but I prefer the Nova Scotia, as it cuts more keenly, and even with the sharpest stone, setting tools is a most laborious process.
The young mechanic will find it very difficult at first to hold the tool steady, and to move it to and fro upon the oilstone so as not to give it any rolling movement, by which the edge and bevel would be rounded, as I before explained, which would in effect enlarge the angle of the cutting edge, besides preventing it from being held at a sufficiently small angle to the work to cut effectively. Nothing but practice will overcome this difficulty; I shall not therefore attempt to describe exactly how the tool should be held and the sharpening effected, such description being not only difficult, but, as experience has proved to me, impossible.
We now enter upon the actual work of the lathe, which should be comparatively easy to understand after the foregoing observations.
Your raw material having been chopped or shaved into a rough cylindrical form, you have to mount it in the lathe. I may suppose it a piece of beech for a tool-handle. If you have the cross-chuck, you should use it; if not, you may use the prong instead. In either case, centre the wood as truly as you can, so that, when the rest is fixed near it, the piece may not be much farther from it, as it revolves, in one place than another. Mind and screw down the back poppit tightly upon the lathe-bed, and also the rest, putting the latter as near the work as you can without touching it. Now set the lathe in motion,—this is tolerably easy, but to keep it in motion will probably not be easy at all. It is one of those operations whichrequire practice, because while your leg is at work upon the treadle, your body must be firm and still, so that you feel yourself free to use the tools without giving much attention to what your leg is doing. After a while you will do this with perfect ease. The wood is, of course, to rotate towards you, and the surface will come in contact with the edge of the tool as the latter isheld tightly down on the rest. Now, this is, after all, the real difficulty, for every projection striking the tool tends to jerk it off the rest, and this has to be resisted with some force. There is, however, this advantage in hand-tools, viz., that they may be held rigidly yet be allowed some slight play, according to the peculiar exigencies of the work; and at first you will save the tool by allowing it to yield slightly until the roughest part has been cut away. Afterwards, there is to be no movement except that required to make it follow the curves or level parts of the work. Do your best first to produce a cylinder,i.e., a straight, even piece of wood, as long as the required handle, and as large round as the largest part proposed to be given it. It is the best plan at first to copy a well-shaped handle, and to turn as many as you want of that size exactly to the same pattern. This will give you such an amount of practice in copying form, as will stand you in good stead in after days; for it is not easy at first to turn even two things exactly to pattern and tosize.
You must not expect to be able to run your tools along the work like a professional or old hand at the lathe; you must do the best you can. Hold the handle in the right hand, and with the left grasp both rest and tool together, and you will hold it firmly. Then yououghtto run it along right or left at the right speed and the right angle, but you will be unable to do so yet;—never mind. Remember theprincipleI have laid down as to the position and angles of cutting tools, and trust to time and perseverance to make you a good workman.
The gouge is the easiest and best tool to use at first; and you can do a fair amount ofsmoothwork with it if you know how, although smoothing and levelling is the special work of the chisel. The gouge, however, is used for all sorts of curves and hollows, and though the actual point will only turn a groove if held still, thesideof the cutting part will, if the tool is steadily advanced, turn very fair surfaces indeed. I strongly advise practice with this tool before attempting to use any other. Your early work is of little importance, and you may make up your mind to cut several pieces into shavings and chips without very grand success, even though you use a chisel; so I repeat, stick to the gouge only for some time, until you can use it towards left or right, and with either hand grasping the handle.
With the chisel, far more care is required than with the last named. It is altogether a more difficult tool to use.Its position may be described as follows, but practice alone will render its use easy. Lay it first flat on the rest as you would the gouge, and let it point upwards at a similar angle, until it also is in the position the gouge would take, ready to cut the piece of wood in the lathe, already turned to the cylindrical form by the latter tool. You will find one point or angle of the edge, the sharpest, reach the wood before the other, and will see at once that this would be liable to catch in, if the lathe were in motion—and so it would. I shall suppose that this sharpest angle is on the right-hand side as it lies flat on the rest, and against the wood. Raise that angle so that the tool lies a little edgewise on the rest instead of quite flat, when the angle of the tool that is highest on the wood will be also raised off it; the lower angle and remainder of the edge still being in contact with it. This is its proper position, with the upper angle out of contact with the work. You may turn it over so that the keenest angle is the lower one, but then you must raise the other, which is now the upper one, for under no circumstances must the one that is uppermost touch the wood. The chisel, therefore, never lies flat on the rest or on the work, but always slightly raised to clear the upper point, and in this position you have to keep it, making it descend into hollows, and rise over mouldings, and cut level places, almost without stopping an instant; and for wood, especially soft wood, the lathe is always itself to berun at a very high speed, by putting the cord on the largest part of the fly-wheel and smallest part of the pulley.
To return to the supposed tool-handle. Having turned a cylinder, begin at the ferule, which you must cut off a brass or iron tube, or, which is easier, buy by the dozen or by the pound ready cut. You will want them three-quarters of an inch for your largest tools, and about three-eighths for the smallest, with some of half an inch, and you can then bore your tool-rack exactly true with centrebits of these sizes. Turn the place down for the ferule, and take care that you make a tight fit. Gauge with the callipers first of all, and turn almost to size, then try it on once or twice until it fits exactly.
If you use the cross-chuck, you have this one great advantage—you can take out your work to put on the ferule, and replace it exactly as it was before, and it will continue to run true. As, however, the piece in the present case is but partially turned, it can be replaced with sufficient accuracy upon the prong-chuck, especially if you mark the side of the chuck, and of the piece of wood, and take care to replace them in the same relative position. You must now try with gouge and chisel to imitate the pattern handle, remembering always to work downwards from right and left into the various hollows—(you cannot cut the fibres neatly if you try to go up-hill); and where the two cuts meet in the hollows, you must do your best notto leave the least ridge or mark. You will be sure to need a little glasscloth to finish off your work, but do without it as much as possible, because it spoils the shape of mouldings, rubbing off the sharp angles, which in many cases add beauty to the work. If the piece of wood is longer than necessary, cut it off with the chisel. In any case, you must cut off a piece at the chuck end; and this being the end of the handle which you will hold in your hand, the ferule being at the end next to the back poppit, you will cut it off neatly with the chisel in finishing it to the required shape.
You would hardly suppose it possible to turn off the end of a piece squarely and accurately with the gouge, but it is a good tool for the purpose. You must lay it on its side upon the rest, so that its back or bevel rests flat against the end of the piece from which the superfluous wood is to be taken; the edge or point of the tool is then allowed to cut the work by a slight movement of the handle. You can only do it in this way, with the bevel against the piece from which the cut is to be taken. Turned over to its usual position, it will hitch in and spoil the work in a moment. In the same way you can face up a bread-platter or similar flat work; but such articles as these are not mounted between centres, but screwed upon the taper screw-chuck or the flat plate with the screw-holes, so that you can get to the face of them. At first, however, until thework gets tolerably level, you may bring up the back-centre, which will prevent the taper screw of the chuck from being accidentally bent; and when all the rough part is cut away, and the rim turned down, you can remove the back-centre to finish the facing up. In this work, however, the back and face do not need much turning, because the platter is turned from plank wood, planed up truly on each side, and cut roughly into the form of a circle. If accurately planed, it will run true at once, and the small amount of facing may be done with the gouge held as directed. Afterwards it may be necessary to take a lightscrapewith acarpenter’schisel, which answers well for this. Then finish up with glass or sand paper. Take care to make a neat moulding to the edge, which will be about an inch thick, and will therefore look very heavy unless turned off so as to thin it down. A platter is a very good and useful work for a beginner.
In turning a platter you will certainly learn one lesson in mechanics. You will find that it is very hard work to turn anything that is larger than the pulley of your lathe, and you will only be able to take a very light cut. Probably you will find it the easiest plan to set the lathe in rapid movement, and apply the turning-tool only for an instant, and then to remove it until the work has recovered its impetus, thus cutting it, as it were, by repeated brief applications of the tool, instead of by one continuous cut.I do not mean that the tool is to be removed from the rest, but only eased off for a second from the work. If the latter is very large, and the pulley on the mandrel much less in size, you can only work in this way, finishing with a very light cut. There is a tool for the face of such flat works, called a broad. It is like a broad chisel with the end turned up at right angles to the side, only the edge is a bevelled one and thick. They work well in hands accustomed to them, but the gouge and chisel are sufficient for your present need.
I shall sketch here (Fig. 49) one or two articles not requiring to be much hollowed out, which will help you to decide upon such work as is suitable to a young mechanic desiring, by steady practice and application, to become a proficient at the lathe, and as soft-wood turning will teach you more than that in hard wood, I shall direct all the following to be made of it by gouge and chisel alone.
Fig. 49.
Fig. 49.
These examples are not given as specimens of the rich work which can be done in the lathe, but as easy examples of elementary turning. No. 1 is a stand for an urn or hot water jug, and a slight recess may be made in the upper surface, in which a piece of cloth, or carpet, or oilcloth can be glued, which will make a neat finish. No. 2 is a bread-platter, showing how a little neat moulding takes away the clumsy appearance of the thick board necessary for thispurpose. No. 3 is a candlestick. The lower part or stand is to be turned from a separate piece of thick board screwed upon the taper-screw chuck. While it is in the lathe, the hole must be made in the centre (or marked, if the piece is not very thick) by holding a pointed tool a little on one side of the centre, so as to describe a circle of the requisite size. Into this will be fitted a tenon, fig. 3B, which is turned on the pedestal, and which is to be glued into its place. By and by you will learn how to cut a screw upon such a tenon, which is a far more satisfactory method of proceeding; at present glue will answer just as well. You can make the upper part separate, forming the junction at the line C (Fig. 49, No. 3), if you prefer it, or if your wood is not long enough; but as you will not hollow out the top, you may as well let it be cut out of one piece with the pedestal. Turn the top quite level, drive in a piece of stout wire, and point the end of it. Cut out a round piece of tin to fit, and make a hole in the middle of it to let the wire through; drop it over the point, and let it rest on the candlestick; a wax candle can be spiked upon the wire, and will stand firm.
Figs. 7 and 8 are drawings of tool-handles. These are the best shape to grasp in the hand, and they look neat in the tool-rack. Tool-handles with a number of mouldings, are not only absurd, but are uncomfortable to hold, and not at all suited to their intended purpose. 9 and 10are other forms of mouldings, and are given merely to show how angular and rounded forms should be combined to produce a good effect. If these were to be made in hard wood, they might be turned with beading and moulding tools similar to those at A, B, C, D of this figure; such tools are bevelled only on one side, and being held flat upon the rest, cut the curves and hollows rapidly, and clean. Sometimes a number of these are arranged side by side, so as together to make up the outline of the intended moulding, and being held in position by a handle designed for the purpose, are presented all at once to the work as it revolves. In other cases, a flat plate of steel is filed into shape, and bevelled to form a compound moulding tool. Of course, such contrivances greatly help the turner, especially if he has to turn a number of articles of exactly the same pattern, such as the pawns of a set of chessmen, or a set of draughtsmen; but none of these tools answer upon soft wood, because, as already explained, tools which have to be held horizontally will cut and tear up the fibres of all woods that are not very hard and compact in grain.
Fig. 6 is a profile of a draughtsman, and fig. 6Bshows how they ought to be made, but for this you cannot use soft wood, and had better make them of box and ebony, or holly and ebony—(and, by and by, of black-wood and ivory). A cylinder is first turned, then marked off as shown with grooves cut by a parting-tool. The pieces are thenseparated with a fine saw, and a chuck is hollowed out to fit them so that each can be readily turned upon the face. The desired mouldings having been made on one side, the disc is turned over in the chuck, and the other side operated upon in the same manner.
It is quitepossible, you must understand, to cut these out of soft wood, even pine or deal. We often see boxes of toys, children’s wooden plates and cups, turned very neatly of this material; but it is not worth while to use it if you can obtain boxwood. Moreover, box can be stained black to imitate ebony, and is very often made to serve instead of it.
Figs. 4 and 5 are ring-stands for the toilette-table—very useful presents these to mothers, sisters, and, last but not least, lady cousins, and other young ladies too, perhaps, who are not cousins. These can be made in a variety of ways, and give great scope for the exercise of your powers of design. The first is a simple pedestal on a stand, turned quite smooth in an elegant and simple curve. The stand is also made without elaborate mouldings, giving altogether a chaste and elegant appearance to the design. The extremity is tipped with ivory, and an ivory ring surrounds the bottom of the pedestal. If this is made in plain deal, and thoroughly well finished and varnished, it will look very well. The nicest soft English wood, however, for this is certainly yew, some of which is beautifully fine in grain; and as it will take an excellent polish, it always lookswell; moreover, it can be turned entirely with gouge and chisel.
This ring-stand will be made in two parts; the pedestal being separately turned at one end, a tenon will have to be made as in the case of the candlestick, and just above it the wood is to be turned off a little as if you were going to make a larger tenon. Over this a ring of ivory may be slipped and glued on, and the two can then be turned together. A carpenter’s chisel will do for the ivory, which will be scraped into form by it. It may be polished with a little chalk on a moist rag or flannel. You can buy odds and ends of ivory from the turners in rings and solid pieces, which will come in for all sorts of decorations, and you should save all old handles of knives, tooth-brushes, and such like, for a similar purpose. Both ivory and bone smell very disagreeably when in process of being turned. To tip such articles with ivory, you can drill a small hole in the top of the pedestal with great care, and fit the ivory after being turned into it; or you can, if the work is larger, bore the ivory and slip it on the wood;—much depends upon the size and nature of the work.
The second ring-stand is of rather more elaborate construction. The baskets are made of little turned pedestals fitted into a round piece of wood to form the bottom, and into a ring which makes the rim. Baskets of this form (even apart from the ring-stand) are very neat and useful.
It is very easy to turn rings of any size. Mount a piece of board in the lathe on the taper screw chuck—it need not even be cut to a round form; then determine the size of the proposed ring, and, holding a parting-tool upon the rest turned round to face the work, mark two circles, and deepen the cuts, until the ring falls off. Take care that the outer one is cut through first. The ring thus cut may be afterwards placed upon a cylinder turned to fit it, and finished upon the outside, and then placed inside a chuck of wood bored out to suit the work, and neatly rounded off upon the interior surface. Of course, if you have to make rings of bone or ivory which are already hollow, you can at once run a mandrel or spindle of wood or metal through them and subject them to the various operations required.
Mandrels, or tapered cylinders of brass or iron, fitted as chucks to the mandrel of the lathe, are sold on purpose for this work, but a wooden rod answers just as well, and costs nothing. Turn such a rod a little tapering, and take care not to drive the work too far upon it, because, although at first you can safely drive it on very tightly, if it is of ivory or bone, you will frequently find your ring suddenly split and open when its thickness has been reduced to the required standard. If a number of equal rings are required, it is the best plan to turn a hollow cylinder and then saw off the rings as you are directed to saw off the draughtsmen.They will, of course, have to be finished in a chuck.
If you look round any fancy warehouse in which Swiss carvings are sold, you will see how beautifully soft white pine can be worked in the lathe by keen tools and clever hands. In Tunbridge, too, many thousands of soft-wood articles are manufactured yearly, some plain and merely varnished, and some curiously inlaid with coloured woods, so that you need not despise such materials as willow and sycamore and the various pine woods, which are all capable of being made into pretty articles of one kind or another. The varnish, however, for these is such as to coat them with a glassy layer which does not sink into the wood. Common rosin dissolved in turpentine or in linseed oil, kept on the hob so as to get warm, answers well for these deal articles, and is extensively used where the slight tinge of yellow is not considered important. There are many other much paler varnishes for works of greater value, or where the white wood is to be carefully preserved. Any of these can be had at oil and colour shops.