THE
YOUNG MECHANIC

CONTAINING
DIRECTIONS FOR THE USE OF ALL KINDS OF TOOLS,
AND FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES AND
MECHANICAL MODELS,
INCLUDING
THE ART OF TURNING IN WOOD AND METAL.

BY THE
AUTHOR OF “THE LATHE AND ITS USES”
“THE AMATEUR MECHANIC’S WORKSHOP,” &c.

FROM THE ENGLISH EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS, &c.

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

NEW YORK
27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD ST.

LONDON
24 BEDFORD ST., STRAND

The Knickerbocker Press

1896

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
G. P. PUTNAM & SONS,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

In presenting the American edition of this little work to the public, we believe we are supplying a want that has long been felt by the Young Mechanics of this country, and many others who desire to become versed in the practical use of tools. We know of no other book published in this country or England, in which the method of using tools is so clearly explained; and although written more especially for boys and beginners, it contains much information that will be of great value to the practical mechanic. The author is evidently thoroughly acquainted with his subject, and understands how to communicate his ideas in a simple and concise manner.

The first six chapters are devoted to the description of Tools for working wood and the manner of using them, beginning with the simplest operations, requiring but few tools, and gradually leading on to the more difficult, giving examples of all the methods of joining and finishing work that are in common use among good workmen, and in this connection we would like to call attention to the small number of tools the author requires for performing all these different operations, the idea among amateurs and boys generally being, that if you only have tools enough you can make anything. This is not so, and if the beginner will follow the advice of the author, and buy a few good tools, and learn the use of them thoroughly, and gradually add to his stock as his knowledge of their use increases, he will find it greatly to his advantage.

The next five chapters relate to the lathe, and the art of turning. The author follows the same plan as in the first part of the book, and gives more practical information in these few pages than we have seen in any other book on the subject, most of them being written apparently for finished mechanics, and not for beginners. The Art of Turning as an amusement, is beginning to attract considerable attention in this country, but not so much as it deserves and would obtain, if it were more generally known how many beautiful and useful articles can be produced in the lathe. The expense of the necessary tools has deterred many from attempting to learn this branch of mechanics; but we believe if any one has the time and patience to devote to the work, they will never have occasion to regret the money spent for this purpose.

The last four chapters contain practical instruction in model-making and working in metal. This part of the book we would particularly recommend to inventors who desire to make their own models, as it contains information in regard to files, drills, and the various small tools used on metal, and also directions for laying out work, which are invaluable to a novice in such operations, and will save him much time and trouble.

As this book was originally published in London, where the facilities for getting many kinds of small tools are better than in this country, perhaps a little advice as to the best way of getting such tools as may be required will not be out of place. In most of the large Hardware Stores, carpenters’ tools will be found, put up in chests, at prices varying from five to fifty dollars or more; but we should not advise the amateur to buy any of these, as the quality of the tools is not always reliable, and as they are usually fitted up to make as much show as possible for the money, they contain many tools which are of very little use. The best way is to make a list of the tools required, and select them for yourself. The most important thing is to have the Cutting tools of good quality. We give below the names of some of the best makers of tools; if you purchase any of these, you may be sure of the quality.

• On Saws,—Henry Disston, Groves & Son.
• On Chisels and Gouges,—Buck Bros., Moulson Bros.
• On Plane Irons,—Moulson Bros., Wm. Butcher.
• On Files,—P. S. Stubs, Greaves & Son, Earl & Co.
• On Rules and Squares,—Stanley Rule and Level Co.

If you live in the City, you will probably find no difficulty in procuring some of the above makes; but if you cannot find them there are some others that are good, and you must rely somewhat on the dealer. In regard to the probable cost of the tools, a set such as is described on pages 29 and 30, would cost from fifteen to twenty dollars.

Of Foot Lathes, the following are some of the makers:

• N. H. Baldwin, Laconia, N. H.
• Goodnow & Wightman, Boston, Mass.
• American Tool Co. ” ”
• G. L. Cady, Lowell, Mass.
• Exeter Machine Co., Exeter, N. H.
• Jas. Stewart’s Sons, New York.

From some of the above the amateur will probably be able to select a Lathe to suit him in size and price. The lowest price at which a serviceable lathe can be bought is about forty dollars this is without tools or chucks. About fifteen dollars more would be required for these. Lathes can be bought from this price up to hundreds of dollars, according to the style of lathe and the number of chucks, but of course the beginner would not need an expensive lathe, and seventy-five to one hundred dollars would buy a lathe and tools suitable for all kinds of small work in wood, ivory, or metal.

This volume being an exact reprint of the English edition, it may be well to explain that the material called Deal in England is much the same as our Pine. The article called in England a “Carrier,” is with us called a dog (see pp. 112, 114, 115). Articles priced in English currency would cost here now about 35 cents to the English shilling, or $7 per £ stg.

Preface.

Of all people in the world who must not be neglected are, first and foremost, “Our Boys,” and, of all boys, mechanical boys deserve a very high place in our estimation. Whatever others may be, these, at any rate, are possessed of sound heads, and willing hands. Therefore, to help these to carry out their designs, appears to be a special duty of those who, once mechanical boys themselves, have lived to become the progenitors of others. In fulfilment of this very duty I have taken up the pen, and with special reference to young mechanics, but without entirely forgetting those of maturer growth, I have thrown together a few hints upon that absorbing question, “How to make and how to use?” In doing this, I have endeavoured to carry out the plan of small beginnings, going from the simplest and easiest to the more complicated and difficult work, although here and there, of sheer necessity, a somewhat different order has been observed. The workshops of King’s College School prove the capabilities of boys to do high-class mechanical work when their efforts are rightly directed by a master’s hand. Where the latter cannot be obtained, guide-books must, however insufficiently, take his place; but whether instruction in mechanical art be oral or otherwise, practice and perseverance are the secrets of success.

“Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,

Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit.”

Contents.

Chapter I.

There never was a time when a taste for practical mechanics was so general among boys as it is now, in this year of grace 1870. There are comparatively few homes in which evidences of this hobby are not apparent in every odd nook and corner, in the shape of carpenter’s tools, not always in first-rate condition, nor by any means generally in their proper places. A saw here, a hammer there, a gimlet, bradawl, or chisel elsewhere.

This probably results from the giant strides which have been made of late years in mechanical enterprise, and the introduction of machinery into every department, as a means of saving labour and facilitating the production of the various necessaries of life.

Man is an imitative animal, and in this as in other things “the child is father to the man;” and hence it comes to pass that the boy whose eyes are continually resting upon machinery of one sort or another (agricultural implements, if a villager; engines for planing, sawing, turning, and so forth, if resident in a town) sooner or later feels an innate desire to construct models of these gigantic mechanical labourers, by whose incessant but unfelt toil our several daily needs are so cheaply and plentifully supplied.

Even if the youthful mind does not always display highly-developed inventive faculties, there is very generally manifested a desire of personally constructing some one or more of those articles which conduce to the gratification of a particular hobby. If the boy has a taste for natural history, cases and cabinets will be made, for the reception of eggs, butterflies, and insects, or to contain stuffed specimens of animals and birds. If he has within him the elements of a sailor, his ingenuity will be exercised upon model boats and ships. If fond of dumb pets, rabbit hutches, dove-cots, or cages will afford him opportunities for the exercise of his constructive powers, and thus the young mechanic frequently lays the foundation of future eminence in that particular line of life to which his tastes naturally lead him.

There are few boyish hobbies in which assistance has not of late years been given by instruction books and guides of a high degree of excellence—natural history, botany, gardening, rearing and breeding all manner of pets—to each of these, well-written volumes have been devoted by able and experienced writers, but mechanical and constructive art has been somewhat neglected. Here and there, in periodical magazines, a few pages are dedicated to the subject, but no book about practical mechanics, written expressly for boys, has yet appeared.

The author of the present volume, himself father of four lads, all of whom in turn occasionally try their hands at this kind of work, and who has himself for many years practised the mechanical arts of carpentry, turning, and model-making, hopes that the hints contained herein may prove valuable to those young friends whom he now addresses. Some of the following chapters will be arranged for very little boys, some for those who are older, while it is believed that other parts of the work may not prove altogether useless to those who have dropped jacket and knickerbockers and rejoice in the vigour of manhood. Thus the little boy, who receives the book as a present, will find it a fast and faithful friend as his years, and, we trust, knowledge and bodily powers increase.

“Small boys need few tools, but much perseverance.” Let this be their motto, as it will stand them in good stead. A pocket-knife, gimlet, hammer, and a few nails will generally serve their purpose; but there is one other tool, namely, a square, which is of great importance, and of which it is well to learn the use as early as possible. A small saw and a bradawl may also be added to the list, and likewise a chisel half an inch wide. Thus equipped, a very youthful carpenter can do a good deal, and, let me tell him, a good deal has been often done without even this moderate supply of tools. It must be taken for granted that the knife and chisel are sharp, because blunt tools make bad work, and by far the best plan for small boys is to get some friend to sharpen them when blunt, as the operation is not easy and requires practice. It is a very foolish plan to try and work with a blunt knife, for the fingers are just as much in danger; and a boy who intends to learn how to use tools must learn at the commencement to use them with due care, so as not to damage himself.

There are small boxes of tools sold, containing generally a wooden mallet, saw, plane, chisel, and gimlet, at about 3s. 6d. or even 5s. Such a box is simply useless. The tools are of iron—will not take a good edge, and are generally disposed to bend and twist. Avoid these, and buy, or get a friend to buy, those I have named, of good quality, and be sure to take care of them, for which purpose you may try your hand at making a box. For this purpose, you will require some thin board (half-inch thick) planed on both sides. (The carpenter will prepare this for you.) Let us see how much you will need. Measure your longest tool, the chisel or saw, if the latter is quite a small one fit to go into a little box; if not, it can be hung on a nail, and you can make your box to contain your knife and chisel and gimlets. I daresay if the box is 9 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 3 inches deep, it will be large enough to take these few tools, for I have just now measured such a hammer and chisel as I have recommended, and find them each about 9 inches in length. The top and bottom of a box should project a little all round, so that you will want them about an inch and a half wider and longer, which will also allow for the thickness of the wood; for you must remember we have given the size of the box inside. To make this clear, I shall here give a plan of the bottom of the box (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

It is 10½ inches long, and 5½ inches wide. The broad black line shows where the edges of the sides and ends will come, these being half an inch thick, so that there is a quarter of an inch all round the outside as a border. Reckon across and you will understand this better. A quarter of an inch outside, half an inch for the black line (equals three-quarters of an inch), 4 inches for the inside width, half an inch again for the black line, and a quarter of an inch outside as before,—altogether making 5½ inches. Now reckon the length. A quarter-inch border, half an inch for the black line, 9 inches inside, half inch for the second black line, and another quarter outside—making 10½ inches. You require, therefore, two boards 10½ inches long and 4½ wide for the top and bottom. Now the two long sides and the ends are to be 3 inches wide to form the depth of the box, and here you want no extra width, but as the inside of your box is to be 9 inches long, and the sides are usually nailed over the ends, like Fig. 2, where I have shown them put together, you see that you must have the sides as much longer than 9 inches as will allow them to lap over the ends; that is, half an inch at each end where I have made them black, or altogether, one inch; so that you will want two pieces 10 inches long and 3 wide. The ends will be also 3 inches wide and 4 inches the other way, and here no additional size is needed. Now, the usual way to cut the sides is to get a narrow strip of board of the required width and thickness, and long enough to make both the sides and ends, just such a piece as Fig. 3, on which are marked the lines where it will have to be cut across, and you will easily perceive that you require 28 inches in length and 3 in width.

But you must understand that when you cut with a saw you waste a little of the wood, which falls in the shape of sawdust, and so if you did not allow for this, your box would be too small. The waste depends on the thickness of the edge of the saw, where you will, if you examine it, see that the teeth spread out right and left to prevent it from sticking fast as it is used. Probably, you would waste three-eighths of an inch, which is nearly half an inch in cutting off the pieces, so that instead of a piece exactly 28 inches long, you must have it 28½ inches, or even a little more.

I want you to understand all this before you set to work, even though at first you may get a carpenter to measure and cut it for you; because most small boys take no trouble of this kind, and consequently they are sure to make their boxes too large or too small, and they look very bad when done. However, as I said before, I expect my young readers to understand what they are about, and they must set out their work carefully, or they will never get on so as to be able to make good use of the later chapters of this book. A carpenter’s rule is made like this (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.

Sometimes there is a brass slide, to add to its length when necessary, and sometimes it is hinged so as to fold up again. If you want one for your box, you can get it so made, when it will go in nicely. It is 2 feet long—1 foot on each side of the central joint. A foot is 12 inches; the whole rule, therefore, is 24 inches. Now, you will see that each of these inches is divided by short lines into eight equal parts, called eighths; at the second, the line is rather longer, this being a quarter of an inch; at the fourth, there is a still longer line, this being the half-inch; then comes another eighth, then the three-quarters, another eighth, and the inch is made up,—eight-eighths being equal to one whole inch. Very likely you will find one edge of the rule, or sometimes only one inch, divided into smaller parts, which are sixteenths, or half-eighths; and sometimes, but not very often, divisions still smaller are used, which are half-sixteenths, or thirty-seconds, because thirty-two such divisions make the complete inch. Three feet make one yard, but carpenters always reckon by the foot and inch, and by eighths and sixteenths of an inch. In some trades the inch is divided into a hundred parts, and work is measured up and fitted so carefully, that it would be considered faulty if a mistake of less than a thousandth of an inch were made; but you will not yet understand how it is possible even to measure so very small a quantity. You should certainly learn and understand how to measure with a common two-foot rule, and when you can add one to your box of tools, do so.

Now, let us examine the tool called a square, without which the marks could not readily be drawn as a guide for the saw, where the strip of board is to be cut to make the sides and ends of the proposed box. Here is a drawing of one (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

It is a handle and a blade, like a knife half opened, the one being fixed exactly square, or at right angles with the other. The blade is thinner than the handle, and when the latter is placed as in Fig. 6, a line marked across the board against the edge of the blade will be, of course, square to the side, so that when cut off, the piece will be like the end of Fig. 6. This is not the shape which the sides of boxes generally have when made by small boys, because they have not a square, and do not know how to work properly. Nevertheless, if one end of a board is cut square, you might get the piece right by measuring the same distance on each side (say 10½ inches), and drawing a line across from point to point, as a guide for the course of the saw. But, then, as it is absolutely necessary that the end of the board should be square to the side, to do this you had better get a proper square at once, and learn how to use it. You will, indeed, find this tool most necessary for all kinds of work, and you will be quite unable to do without it, even though you only have, besides, a knife and gimlet.

Now, if you want to cut off a piece of board with the saw, you must never cut out the line you have marked as a guide by the help of your square, because if you do, you will get the piece too short, owing to the width of the saw-cut which I explained before. Cut, therefore, just beyond it, leaving it upon the piece you are going to use for the side of your box, or other article. At first, you will find it difficult to saw neatly and close to the line, but you will get used to it very soon; and if the saw does not go quite straight, you can trim the piece with a sharp knife neatly up to the line, which you see you could not do if you cut out that line by sawing exactly upon it. All these directions in little matters are very important, because you will find that, by attending to them, you will work well, and the various things you make will look neat and trim, and be fit to show to your friends.

Now, let us go on with the box, which was laid down just to allow a little explanation about the carpenter’s rule and square. I shall suppose you to have cut off all the pieces quite squarely and neat, and that the edges are also square to the sides, which you must take care to insure by keeping the blade of the saw upright when you use it. It is a good plan to measure and mark both sides of your board for this purpose, and to mark the edges from one of these lines to the other. You will then have guide-marks all round, and, by keeping close to these, you will be sure to cut your work truly. It would not so much signify if the long sides were cut a trifle too long, as I shall explain presently; but the ends must be square and true to measure, 4 inches by 3 inches. You must now proceed to nail them together. This must be done with small brads, which are fine nails, and which for the present purpose may be one inch long. If your pieces are all exact to measure, draw a pencil line across the two side pieces, a quarter of an inch from the ends, by the help of the square, as if you wanted to cut off a quarter of an inch at each of those parts, and with your bradawl make two or three holes (three will be best) along those lines. Do not make the first and last too near the edges, or you will split the wood, and spoil the box. Now set up one of the short pieces, and place upon it the piece which you have bored holes in. If you have a bench with a vice, you can screw up the short piece into it; but it will stand up very well upon the bench if you have no vice. It is now in the position of Fig. 7, C.

Fig. 7.

Hold it thus, and run the bradawl a little way into the lower piece, through the holes already made in the upper. Drive a brad through the middle hole first, which will hold it together, and then through the other two holes. If you have been careful, you will find this corner square and neat, and the wood not split in the least. Do the same with the other short piece, and then nail on the long side that is left. The frame of the box will now be complete.

I told you a short time ago, that it would not much signify if the sides were cut too long. The reason is this: Suppose B to be the side half an inch too long. You would mark off 9 inches of the middle by two lines drawn with the square as before, which would be the length of the inside of the box; you would then place the inner edges of the end pieces against these lines, and nail them on like A, and afterwards neatly saw off the two pieces which lap over these at each end. If the wood is likely to split when the holes are made for the nails, or if the workman is pressed for time, he very frequently does his work in this way, and then cuts it off and planes it neatly. It is, however, better to work as directed, only be sure to bore holes carefully for the nails, so as never to split the wood.

No very special directions are needed about putting on the bottom. Leave all round an exactly even border of a quarter of an inch, and after it is nailed, you may neatly round off all its edges, to give it a finished appearance.

The cover is, of course, to be attached by a pair of small hinges. Brass hinges are the neatest, and when you buy them, ask for screws to match. The hinges may be three-quarters of an inch long, and they will be, when shut, about half an inch wide, which is the size you need. Lay them (shut up) upon the edge of the back, about two inches from the ends, and with a hard pencil cut to a fine point, or with the point of your bradawl, make a mark at each end, as if you were measuring the length of the hinges on the edge of the box. Between these marks you have to cut out pieces like Fig. 8, which will be just the length of the hinges, and deep enough to allow them, when shut up, to fit and lie even with the top edge of the box. Open them, make holes with the bradawl, and put in the screws. If you have not a screwdriver, you can turn them with the end of an old knife; but you may as well get a small screwdriver, for if you intend to do good work, you will often use screws instead of nails. Hinges are always screwed on. Now lay the cover in place carefully, mark its position, so that you have some sort of guide-line to direct you, and then by laying the cover flat on the bench, and standing the (open) box on its side, you can screw on the hinges upon the cover. Round all the edges of the cover as you did the bottom, but keep the edges of the box square and sharp; and so you have now a really well-made little tool-chest. A little brass hook and eye will do to fasten it, for a lock is rather difficult for a small boy to put on.

Fig. 8.

Chapter II.

The method of constructing a simple box has been given in the first chapter, because so many other articles are made upon exactly similar principles. The rules laid down comprise two or three essential points, the neglect of which render the ordinary carpentry of boys so essentially bad. Foremost of these is the use of the square. There is no tool of more general use in the hands of workmen in wood and metal, and yet, generally speaking, either none at all, or a very faulty one is added to the collection of tools ordinarily supplied to boys. In the next place, I have insisted upon accuracy in measurement. The carpenter’s rule is not at all difficult for a young boy to understand; but even if he is not in possession of such at his first attempts, he should always be induced to work by measure of some kind. This causes him of necessity to exercise his mind as well as his hands, and teaches him to consider well at starting as to what he must allow for thickness of wood, the difference between inside and outside measurement, and so forth; all this will greatly conduce to his success, and consequently satisfaction in his work, and will lessen the chances of his beginning a number of articles and casting them aside unfinished—a propensity too common in all boys.

I shall now resume my directions in the first person, which I think is the more easy method both for master and pupil. The next specimen I propose, because it requires even more care than a box, but is at the same time perfectly within a boy’s powers, is a birdcage. Of these there are such a number of varieties that it is difficult to settle upon the best kind to begin upon. I think, however, a wire cage will on the whole be the easiest to construct, only you must take great care in boring holes in the thin strips of wood, and, indeed, if you can get a birdcage-maker’s awl besides the one you have, it will save both time and trouble. It is not made round with a flat end, but is three-cornered with a sharp point, so that it has three edges, and when it is carefully used and twirled round and round by the fingers in making holes, it will hardly ever split even very thin strips and pieces of wood. However, if you cannot get one never mind, you must use the common bradawl according to directions here given.

I shall suppose you now in possession of a carpenter’s rule, and that you have carefully learned all I told you of the inches and eighths, so that you may be able to measure and mark your work very truly. The front of the cage is represented in Fig. 9, before the projecting roof-boards have been put on.

Fig. 9.

Here you see two upright strips at the corners, which shall be 8 inches long. These are 12 inches apart, outside measure. They are ⅜ (three-eighths) of an inch square, and you must get them ready planed from the carpenter. There will be four of them required, as they are at the four corners of the cage; so that, as they are each 8 inches long, you can get a strip 36 inches in length by three-eighths wide, and this being 4 inches more than you need, will allow for waste. At the lower part of the drawing, you see the edge of the bottom board, which projects a little all round. As the outside of the front pillars are 12 inches apart, this board may be 13 inches long, which will allow a border of ½ an inch (half an inch), and it may be 8 inches wide. It need not be thicker than a quarter of an inch. A little above this board (say half an inch) is another board from one pillar to another, which is to be 1¼ inches wide and three-eighths of an inch thick. As the pillars are also three-eighths thick, and their outside edges 12 inches apart, you must take 6/8 (six-eighths) of an inch from 12 inches to find the length of this board.

If you look at the divisions upon your rule, you will see that six-eighths of an inch amounts to exactly ¾ (three quarters), so that your board must be 11 inches and one quarter long. This will also be the length of the board at the top where it falls between the pillars, and this too must be three-eighths thick.

I shall now show you how to mark and cut this top piece into the shape here sketched. Cut the board first of all into an oblong, and mind that you mark it by your square, so that the ends shall be square to the sides. Let it be 2½ inches wide. Here it is (Fig. 10). Measure a length of 6 inches from either end to the middle at A, and make a mark at that place. Draw a line, C B, one inch from the opposite side, the whole length of the board, and mind you draw it correctly. You should measure an inch at B, and at C, and then draw a line from one point to the other along the edge of your rule. You must now draw two lines from the spot you marked at A to the ends of this line (where you see the dotted lines). In order to cut this piece, you must begin at A, not at B or C, or else if the saw should stick you will be sure to split off a strip right across the piece; but if it should stick when you are cutting from A, you will only split off a bit of one of the three-cornered outside pieces, which would not signify at all.

Fig. 10.

When you are sawing, be sure, as I told you before, not to cut into the line you have marked, but saw just outside it, so that the lines will be left upon the two sloping sides of the board. You may cut as close to it as you can, but you must not destroy it, and then you can with your knife neatly shave off the rough edges which the saw has made, until you have pared the wood quite neatly all along the line. If you cut this line out, you will no longer have any guide to work by. Cutting out guide lines is a very common fault, not confined to small boys or big ones. You will find it easy to pare this sloping side if you begin to work from A downwards to B and C, but you cannot cut it in the other direction. A carpenter would, of course, run his plane down the slope, and so will you by and by; but planing is difficult, and it is better you should wait for a time before you buy a plane; for, remember, those foolish little things in boys’ tool-boxes are no use at all.

You had better now prepare the holes into which the wires are to be put as you see in the drawing. You can use either iron wire or brass, but the first is cheapest. These will have to be a quarter of an inch apart. Both the top and bottom strips, you will remember, are 11¼ (eleven and a quarter) inches long. Now, 11 inches will be 44 quarters, and one more will be 45; but as the first hole must be a quarter of an inch from the ends, you will find that 44 holes will be required. Look at your rule and count this. You must mark all these by little dots with a pencil on one piece, and then laying the other upon it, mark the rest exactly even with the first. Do this with great care, or the wires will not stand upright when the cage is finished. The space between the top and bottom pieces will be 5¼ inches, so that if you allow the wires to enter a quarter of an inch at the top and bottom, you will want 44 wires 5¾ inches in length—you may say, 6 inches. You can have them all cut and straightened for you, but if you have a pair of pliers with cutting edges, you can do it yourself, and it is almost necessary you should get a pair, or borrow them, if you intend to construct wire birdcages. You will want a few less in each side of this cage, as it will not be there so wide as it is in front. We shall presently see how many it will require.

You may put together the front of the cage at once and set it aside, or proceed to cut out the rest of it. Generally speaking, it is the best plan to cut out and prepare all the main parts of your work before proceeding to fix them in their respective places; but the front of such a cage as I am describing, being complete in itself, you may do as you like about it. We will begin with the wires. Insert the ends one after the other in a row in one of the pieces, laying it upon the bench, or fixing it on its edge in a vice, but taking care not to bend them. When one piece is thus stuck full of wires, lay it flat on its side, and put the other piece in its place, and one by one insert into it the other ends of the wires. A pair of pliers will help you greatly in doing this. I daresay the two pieces of wood will not be very parallel, but will be closer at one end than at the other. This does not matter, because you will set it right in nailing on the upright strips or corner pillars. This, therefore, is the next thing you must do; and you must have two brads top and bottom, each an inch long, but as fine as you can get. Nail to the top board first, and then place the other in position half an inch from the bottom of the pillars. If you have no carpenter’s vice, you had better work with the front of the cage laid down flat and near the right hand edge of the bench or table, so that the pillar almost overlaps it. In this position, you can bore the two holes and nail it together; but be guarded as to splitting the pillars.

You ought now to have the front well and firmly put together and standing square and true as in the sketch; only the bottom board, of which you see the front edge, is not to be attended to at present.

Fig. 11.

There is another way of going to work, namely, to put the whole framework of the cage together and add the wires afterwards. In this case (the holes having all been made beforehand as directed here) the wires are in turn inserted at the top, and then being slightly bent are put in place in the bottom piece—each wire being completely fixed before the next is added. Either way may be tried, but in that given above the wires are not bent at all, and therefore have not to be straightened. Adding them, however, afterwards is the common practice among the cage-makers. Indeed, it generally happens in large establishments that one set of workmen make the woodwork, and another set add the wires—such division of labour proving more advantageous.

Fig. 12.

Attention is now to be given to the sides, of which Fig. 11 is a drawing. Here you need not make any corner pillars. You have only to cut out the top and bottom strips—the lower one, 1¾ inch wide, to match that in front: the top, 1 inch wide, to match the straight part of the ends of the upper front piece or gable, as you see in Fig. 12. You will also see by this drawing that you must nail the side pieces inside the corner pillars, and not upon them, so that the nails go in from the front of the cage into the ends of the two side pieces which carry the wires. I have shown by dots (Fig. 12) where the nail holes are, and they must be carefully made, avoiding the places where the other two nails come, which you hammered in when you fitted together the front. The side strips, A B (Fig. 11), may be 8 inches long. Both sides of the cage are to be made exactly alike. I have told you to make the lower side-rails 1¾ inch wide, because they must come to the bottom of the pillars, for no half-inch space is required at the sides between these rails and the bottom of the cage. It is so left in the front, because a tray, or cleaning-board, has to be slid in there. You had certainly better put together the side pieces by means of the wires, as in Fig. 11, before you nail them in their places.

You now require a piece of board for the back, and quarter-inch stuff will do very well. Bought cages are made of much thinner wood, generally mahogany, but at first it will be easier for you to use thicker boards. If you round off the edges, they will not appear so thick. Very thin deal will warp or bend after it is made up; and, indeed, it is quite possible the back of this cage will do so. Get the wood, however, as dry as you can, and the top boards, when nailed on, will probably prevent it.

To cut out this back board, you may lay down upon the piece from which it is to be cut the whole front of the cage, and draw a pencil round it, only, when you come to the bottom of the side pillars, you must draw a line straight across from one to the other. Then cut from the point at the top, as you did before. Let the grain of the wood run up and down, not across, the back. Nail the back thus cut to the side strips, as you nailed on the front, and you will then only have the roof to put on, and the bottom.

This roof may consist simply of a thin board, cut square and true, nailed on to the two gables, and it will look much prettier if it is made to project beyond the front. If you measure down the slope of the front or back top-piece, you will find it 6 inches long, and a little more. Your board should therefore be 7 or 8 inches wide, because, although the roof pieces meet at the top, they should come down a little beyond the sides of the cage. As the sides are 8 inches wide, cut the top 11 inches long, which will allow it to project in front 3 inches.

If you look at the cage at the end of these directions, you will understand this. You must slope, or bevel off, the top edges of these roof boards, to make them fit neatly together along the ridge; and as you will paint the cage, you can glue on a narrow strip of paper, to make it quite water-tight. The door of these cages is generally in the back. You merely mark and cut out a square hole about 3 inches square. You then fit a piece in, and hinge it either with wire, or (which is easier) by sticking on a strip of calico down the edge of it, and fasten with a wire hook. As the back is but a quarter of an inch thick, you will be able to cut out the hole (before nailing on the back), with a sharp pocket-knife; and again I say, don’t cut out the guide-lines—cut inside them, and then neatly pare exactly up to them. Make the bottom 13 inches long, and 10 wide, which will allow it to project in front, and also half an inch on each side.

Fig. 13.

You have now to make the tray, to slide into the space left in the front below the bottom front rail. This is to hold sifted sand, and is made loose, because it requires to be taken out and cleaned every day (Fig. 13). It is merely a flat thin board (one-eighth of an inch will be quite thick enough), with a strip nailed on, or glued on, in front, to fit the space left for it, and other smaller strips glued on all round it, so as to form a very shallow tray or drawer. The small strips can be glued on flat upon the top of the board, but to fasten on the front, you must first glue on a similar strip to those round the sides, and just such as you made the pillars of, but not quite so thick, and then glue, or nail on with very small brads, the front piece, nailing or gluing it to this strip. This will make it very firm, and will do well enough for your first cage. A, Fig. 13, shows a part of the drawer, C is the front, and D the strip it is glued to. The handle of this drawer or tray is to be made of wire, unless you can find some little knob or other that will do. If you succeed in making this cage, you will have learned a good deal, because, although not really difficult, it requires care and consideration; and if you are in a hurry, you will split the wood, or make it crooked, or cut the pieces too short. It should be neatly painted in oil-colour—green is a favourite colour—but the top boards may be red, and the wires should be left clean and bright, because the bird often pecks at them. If you paint the inside of the woodwork, it should be white.

I have not here put any feeding-boxes, or seed-drawers, because glasses are the best; but you will see two holes (Fig. 11), one inch across, in the lower side pieces, for the bird to put its head through to get at the seed and water. A bit of wire, forming half a hoop, supports the glasses or trays. These ought to be cut with a centrebit—a tool you have not, and the carpenter had better do it for you. Here is the cage complete (Fig. 14). You can do without making holes in the sides, if you put two wires longer than the rest, and bend them, as you see at B in Fig. 13, before putting them in place.

Fig. 14.

Chapter III.

The previous chapters were devoted to such exceedingly simple and easy specimens of carpentry as can be made by any boy of eleven or twelve years of age, or even younger, who has the necessary perseverance, and will take sufficient care in measuring and fitting. In both and all similar cases, it is better for such to buy pieces of board already planed, and of nearly the desired size; but I shall no longer presuppose such necessity, but advance the young mechanic to the dignity of a plane, and a few more of the more necessary and useful tools. The list may therefore now comprise—

1 Hand Saw, 16 inches or so in length, a full-sized one being almost beyond the powers of a boy.

3 Firmer Chisels, quarter, half, and one inch wide.

1 Mallet.—Chisel handles should never be struck with a hammer, which splits the handles.

1 Hammer.—This should be light. The best way is to buy a hammer-head, and make the handle. A heavy one can be added, but will hardly be required at first, and is useless for light work.

1 Jack Plane, 1 Smoothing Do.—The jack plane is not usually added to a boy’s tool-chest, but it is impossible to plane up a long straight edge without it; and as these planes can be had from 12 inches in length, I should certainly recommend one, say 12 to 15 inches.

3 Gimlets, 3 Bradawls.—One of each of these should be as small as can be obtained. Add a medium and a larger one.

1 Screwdriver, 1 Pincers, 1 Cutting Pliers.—Screwdriver should be of a medium size; the pliers such as are used by bellhangers.

1 Compasses.—These should be light carpenter’s compasses, not such as are made of brass and steel. They are very useful.

2 Gouges.—Carpenter’s gouges, not turner’s. They will answer for the present, in many cases, to make round holes in boards. The centrebits and braces are expensive.

1 Oil-stone.—There is a cheap and quick-cutting stone called Nova Scotia which will answer the purpose well.

Mortice-gauge.—The use of this will be shown presently.

1 Square, 1 2-Foot Rule, Glue Pot, and Brush.—These are, as before stated, indispensable. The rule need not have a brass slide; the square may be made entirely of wood, or with a metal blade 6 to 9 inches in length.

The above, with the addition of a carpenter’s brace and bit, two or three augers, about three mortice chisels, and a hatchet, would suffice for a very large amount of good work. Indeed, it represents almost a complete set of tools, the only additional ones that are at all likely to be needed being a longer (trying) plane, rebate plane, and pair of match, or tongue and groove planes. Without any of the latter, the young carpenter will find it easy to carry out a good many light specimens of his ingenuity.

It is much better, in general, to work with a few tools, and contrive to make them answer all sorts of purposes, than to lay in a larger and more expensive set at starting, for the latter are sure to be abused and kept in bad order, because if one chisel gets blunt, another is taken up, instead of sharpening the first; and planes and other tools are treated in a similar manner, and a carelessness is engendered fatal to success. It is astonishing how much may be done with few and inefficient tools, but then the utmost patience and industry have to be exercised, much as we see prevailing among the native workmen of India and America, who execute the most beautiful and delicate work with tools which, in the hands of a European, would be generally simply useless.

The next work that should be attempted by the young mechanic should be mortice and tenon jointing, as used in constructing frames of various kinds for doors, window-sashes, tables, and other articles of everyday use. Perhaps one of the simplest and easiest examples will be a towel-horse, which, at any rate, will be of use when completed.

Now, it may be at once stated, that for work of this kind especially, but generally also for all work, it is essential to be able to square up truly the several pieces required. This will require practice—long and careful practice—and the beginner will meet here with his first and chief difficulty, but he must not despair.

Fig. 15.

It has been presupposed that a strong work-bench, table-plank mounted upon trestles, or some sort of tolerably efficient and firm bench has been obtained, or is accessible, and, in addition, a strong stool upon which to saw, cut out mortices, and so forth. A small carpenter’s bench, with a wooden vice, is most handy and serviceable, but is not absolutely necessary. It will be easy to make one by and by; for the present, any available substitute must be used. The height of the proposed towel-rail may equal the length. About 2 feet 6 inches will be a fair size, and it may be of the simplest possible form, such as is here delineated (Fig. 15). The upright sides may be made of strips of pine, one inch wide and three-quarters of an inch thick—the rails 1¼ wide and three eighths of an inch thick. The feet will be considered presently. If careful attention is given to the following directions, not only will the result be certainly satisfactory, but the way will be paved for the workmanlike construction of a great number of similarly useful articles.

The size of the rough material must always be greater than that ultimately needed, to allow of the necessary waste in sawing and planing. Pine boards, however, are usually cut of certain general widths and thicknesses; and although we have here set down stuff of one inch by three-quarters, it may be cut from inch board, because very little will be wasted by the plane, and the finished work will be sufficiently near to the above measure for the intended purpose, one-sixteenth of an inch or so being of no practical importance in the construction of such an article as a towel-rail. Get, therefore, from the carpenter, a strip of pine 1 inch wide and 6 feet in length, cut from a board 1 inch thick, and also a strip for the rails (of which there will be three), 4 inches wide and 2 feet 9 inches long, cut from a half-inch board. The rails you are to saw yourself from the latter strip, which will give you practice in sawing a straight course, and the work is easy in half-inch stuff. You may therefore begin by cutting these, for which purpose you will want guide-lines dividing the strip into three of equal width. There is a very simple way of marking these by means of a chalk line, which I will here describe.

The width of the board I set down at 4 inches, because the rails, when finished, will be 1¼ inches each, or, in all, 3¾ inches. As each contains eight eighths, as already explained, 4 inches will contain thirty-two eighths. Dividing by 3, we shall have ten eighths for each strip, or 1¼ inches, and two eighths, or a quarter of an inch, to spare for waste. Take the compasses, therefore, and open them to 1¼ and a little over (rather less than to the next division on the rule), and take it off at each end of the board (Fig 16, A B).

Fig. 16.

Take off, again, from this to mark the width of the next strip, and the board will be divided with sufficient accuracy for our present purpose. Take a piece of twine, long enough to stretch from end to end of the plank, and something over, and tie a knot at one end. Stick a bradawl through the string, close to this knot and into the board, as seen at C of the same figure. Take a lump of chalk, and chalk the line from end to end. Then strain it down the board, holding it by the left hand, so that it is stretched from one mark to the other, where the saw-cut is to be made. With the finger and thumb of the other hand, raise it a little in the middle, and let it suddenly go, when it will make a perfectly clear and straight line upon the board. Make a similar and parallel line for the next saw-cut. In the present case, you need not mind cutting this chalk mark out. Try and saw right down, so as to split it.

Fig. 17.

You now have your strips cut out, but they require to be planed. You might, indeed, with advantage, have planed the whole strip on both sides before marking and cutting it, but it is equally easy to do it afterwards. The jack plane is the one to be used for this purpose. I must suppose it to be sharp and in good order; if not, ask some carpenter to set it for you for the present, but I will soon tell you how to do it for yourself. Indeed, you will have to learn how to sharpen all your tools before you can be called a good workman. If the plane is properly set, the cutting edge will project very slightly only from the bottom; so that when held as in Fig. 17, and the eye directed along the sole, only a narrow shining slip of metal will appear. If too far out, it will hitch and make bad work; if not far enough, it will not cut at all; but the common fault of beginners is to have it too far out, because from their imperfect handling of this tool they often fail to make it cut, when in the hands of a carpenter it would work well. Now, if the iron projects too far, hold it as shown, so that you look along the sole, and give it a tap with your wooden mallet on the upper face at A, and this is also the way to loosen the wedge and irons for removal. By a blow at B, you can send the cutting edge forward to cut more deeply, or in this case you may tap the iron itself with a metal hammer, but tapping the end of the wood is better.

To plane the edges of these strips, you ought to have a bench with a vice, but there are ways and means to do without it, and one is so good that I shall speak of it here, although it necessitates a somewhat abrupt break-off in my description of the towel-rail. It is a kind of vice that is fixed to a board which is laid upon the work-bench when required.

Fig. 18.

In Fig. 18 is a drawing of one of two kinds of such vices which I will explain. This first consists of two pieces of wood (ash will be better than pine) about 9 inches long and 2 inches thick. They are cut in the shape given in the drawing, and screwed to the board, not tightly, but so as to move freely upon the screws. The board should be an inch thick to give the screws a firm hold. You can see by the figure that the tails of the pieces cross each other sometimes when in use. To allow of this, they are cut like B and C, so that one can go inside the other. Now, if you consider a little, you will understand that if we stand a strip of board between the two, and push it forward against the insides of the tails of these curiously-shaped blocks, it will make the opposite knobbed ends close nearer together, and these will grip the piece of wood, and the harder we push it forward, the more closely it will be gripped and held; but the moment we draw back the piece, the two jaws will open to let it go free. You can try first of all upon a thin piece, which can be shaped by your knife, and make a model of this vice, and then if you can’t manage to cut out such a one of thick wood, the carpenter would do it for you, and it will be handy for many purposes. If you have nothing of this kind, nor a vice to your bench, drive in two pins or pegs of wood, or two nails, a little way apart, so as to allow your strip of wood to stand upon edge between them, and drive two more a little way from these; then one at the end to form a planing stop. A tap at the sides of these nails will cause them to hold the strip edgewise, quite well enough to allow you to plane it. There are other ways, and I shall describe them by and by. In the meantime use nails, or any other plan that will answer.

Fig. 19.

Fig. 20.

I shall suppose, therefore, that one of the narrow strips is thus set on edge upon your bench ready to be planed. Grasp the handle of your plane firmly with the right hand, and lay hold of it in front of the iron with the left. Draw it back, and then send it steadily forward, pressing it downwards at the same time. Now the advantage of a long plane is, that it does not descend into the hollows of the work, but rests upon the projections, as in Fig. 19, A. A short plane would do as seen at B, and therefore would never make a long straight edge. You have two special points here to attend to. You have to plane a level line from end to end, and also keep the edges square to the sides, which is by no means easy at first. You must keep trying it with your square, as I have shown you in Fig. 20, and not rest satisfied until the handle fits close to the side of the strip, and the edge lies also close upon that of the strip anywhere along its length. I daresay you will think this of no importance in such a common thing as a pine towel-horse; but I may tell you this is the very secret of carpenter’s work, and when you can saw and plane truly, and work “to square,” you can make almost anything. It is true that the strips for the rails are not of great importance in this case, but the upright side pieces are, and if these are out of truth, the holes cut through them for the rails, which are called mortices, will be out of truth also, and you will see the towel-horse, when it is made, all twisted and awry, and nothing you can do will make it stand firm or look well. It is, in short, no use to pretend to learn carpentry unless you at once make up your mind to succeed, and therefore you must always use the square and try your work as you go on. All the difference between the usual work of carpenters, and that of boys or men who do not know how to work, consists of the squareness and good fit of what the former make. Boys never seem to trouble themselves about such things, and so you see their boxes and rabbit-hutches look twisted, and being badly fitted, they soon go to pieces.

Having planed up the sides and edges of the rails as square and true as you can, cut the other long strip in half, and square up this also, taking care that both pieces are alike and both truly worked. If your bench is sufficiently long to take the whole strip, plane it up before you cut it across, and you will be sure to have the sides of your towel-rail equal in size. You have now to make your first essay in cutting mortices. Follow these directions, and you will not fail. I shall not limit the description to these special mortices, but give you general directions.

Fig. 21.

Fig. 21 represents a bar of wood—the side of the towel-horse, for instance—with a mortice cut through it at A, and others marked out at ab, cd. Below, at B, is a gauge, of which the construction and use will be explained presently. F shows how the feet are to be attached and cut. They are morticed while in a “squared-up” condition, and shaped afterwards according to fancy; sometimes they are left square, and knobs screwed below to make two feet.

These mortices may, of course, be of any desired length or width. Those required for the towel-rail sides will be 1¼ inch long by half an inch wide nearly. The planing of the strips may have reduced them more or less below the exact size specified, try therefore with the compasses what the precise thickness is of the ends, and measure that thickness on your two-foot rule. You now want to draw the lines a t, which I have represented as extending the whole length of the strip, and as all the mortices are to be alike, you may so mark them. The gauge B is of two parts, a sliding piece, C, and a rectangular bar of wood about 9 inches long and half an inch square. This slides stiffly through the mortice in C, and is fixed at any part by the small wedge D. This gauge you can easily make. It is not a mortice gauge properly so called, because the latter has two marking points instead of the one seen at h, and which may be the point of a brad driven in and filed up to an edge. Loosen the wedge slightly, and draw back the rectangular bar, or push it forward, until you think that the space between the sliding piece and the point is about that which is required on each side of the mortices, so that if you set the wedge firm, and resting the sliding piece against the edge of the board, cause the point to make a mark, and repeat this on the other side of the same face of the wood, there will be left between the marks thus made the exact width of the required mortice. Try it, and if not, give a tap to the instrument, and adjust it until the space is exactly correct. Then fix all firm, and holding it so that the little point will mark the wood, while the head or sliding piece is against the side of the board, run the tool from end to end, or run it along just where the mortices are required, using both hands. You will thus make the two long lines between which the mortices have to be cut. Now turn the wood over, and do the same on the other side. You are now quite sure that these lines, on opposite sides of the piece, agree exactly in position, which is the object of using a gauge; and as you have planed up a second strip to exactly the size of this first, you have but to repeat the process (no measuring being necessary) upon that; and you may be satisfied that thus far the two sides of the towel-rail will tally. You now set off with the compasses upon one of these lines the lengths of the mortices in their proper places, and at the points thus marked, using your square for the purpose, mark the end lines of these mortices; but when so doing, carry the lines across, as a b, c d, and down the sides and across the opposite side. With the square this will be easily done, the blade of it being laid flat, so that its edge becomes the ruler, while the handle becomes the guide or gauge resting against the side of the wood. At E, Fig. 21, this position of the square is shown.

By thus carrying round all the lines, you will have the mortices marked on both sides in exactly the same relative position, so that you can (and must) cut them half from one side and half from the other, using the chisel nearest to the size required, but always of less width (or length) than the mortice, because you must never cut out the guide lines, but must keep within them, only carefully paring the wood at last close to them. You will never cut mortices correctly, unless you thus mark the position on both sides, and work as directed.

The ends of the cross rails will not have to be cut into tenons, as they will fit as they are, only requiring to be glued into their places, when, if you have worked carefully, the whole will look well, and will be square and true, without twist; but if you did not plane up the sides square, you will find the towel-rail awry and unworkmanlike. Although, however, there is no necessity to make regular tenons in the present case, the usual way is to do so, and to fix with wedges, as in Fig. 15. After a mortice has been cut straight through a piece as directed, this mortice is slightly eased, or sloped off, as seen at a b, which is a section of one. The rail or tenon c is put through after being brushed with glue; and when in exact position, two wedges are glued and driven in at each end, as seen in the drawing. After all is dry, these wedges being firmly united to the rail, as seen at k, prevent it from being drawn back or moved. Nearly all mortice and tenon joints are fixed in this way.

As I am describing this kind of work, I may as well explain the method of marking and cutting tenons, as it will answer not only for affixing the feet, as shown in Fig. 21, but for all similar work.

Fig. 22.

In Fig. 22, I have illustrated the mode of marking out tenons, and at D is a double tenon, which is in wide pieces often substituted for the single, and makes an excellent joint. The longitudinal lines e, f, g, h, are marked as before with the gauge, whether for single or double tenons; the line a b, with the assistance of the square; the cheeks, c and d, are then cut off entirely with a fine saw, called on this account a tenon-saw,—and care must be taken as before not to cut out the guide lines. If, instead of the outer cheeks, the piece between them is to be removed to make a double tenon, this must be done with mallet and chisel, after carefully sawing down the lines x y; and the chisel is to be used first on one side and then on the other, by which means the shoulder will be cut true to the guide lines. If, however, the cut across should curve a little downwards like n, it will not much matter, so long as the edges fit closely. It is nevertheless better to cut straight across. The outer cheeks of this will be marked and cut as in the single mortice (Fig. 22).

If a workman has to cut many mortices on pieces of the same size, he frequently constructs a rough mortice gauge with double points, which marks both sides of the mortice at once, like K. A fixed block at K, the right distance from the points, l m, of two nails, is sufficient when all the mortices are to be alike. There is, however, a regular double-pointed gauge, made generally of ebony, plated with brass, and a brass rule to which one of the points is fixed, and which is acted on by a screw at the end, which can be turned by the thumb and finger. This has the effect of separating or closing the two points according to the desired width of the mortice, its distance from the side of the piece being regulated as before by the sliding head fixed by a wedge. This is an expensive tool, and need not be purchased. There are also, let me add, many costly tools of various forms and uses; but let the boy’s motto (and man’s, too, for all that) be, “Do as well as you can without.” You have no idea how a little ingenuity and contrivance will save your pockets, and that, too, without in the least tending to spoil your work. All you require are a few of the most generally useful tools in first-rate condition—chisels, saws, and planes, sharp and well set, and fit for work at any moment.

With regard to uniting two pieces of wood or other material with glue, it must be remembered that if you use this substance in a thick semifluid state, and in quantity, its effect will be lost. Make it a rule to put on as thin a coat as possible, and let it be not thicker than cream, so that it will freely flow into corners, and spread evenly over the surfaces to be united. Make the wood also quite warm, so that the glue shall not be suddenly chilled, and let it be used boiling. Always heat it either in a proper glue-pot, or at any rate, place the vessel which contains it (a small gallipot, for instance) inside another vessel in which water can be kept boiling.

The glue, which should be thin and transparent, being broken into small pieces, should be put into such a vessel as suggested, and covered with cold water, and it should be allowed to remain thus until swollen and softened. Then bring the water in the outer vessel to the boiling point, and do not use the glue until it is entirely dissolved and of one uniform consistence. It should be stirred while boiling with a piece of stick, and a brush used to lay it upon the pieces to be joined. It very generally happens that pieces glued by boys fall apart almost directly. This is almost entirely due to the fact that the glue is used thick and clotty, and in too great quantity, while the wood is never made warm as it should be. If two pieces are properly joined in this way, it is almost impossible to separate them at the joint—the wood itself will give way and split before the glue will yield to the strain. Carpenters use various forms of clamps or vices to hold work together until the glue shall be dry; but for boys by far the best plan, where any such holdfast is needed, is to bind the parts together with twine, and then to set them aside for twelve hours at least. It is seldom that articles once united by glue and separated will unite firmly a second time.

Chapter IV.

The exercise of a boy’s mechanical tastes upon works of practical utility is, of course, far preferable to its expenditure upon mere trifles, made one day to be cast aside and destroyed the next; and as there is scarcely any household that does not need its furniture repaired or added to from time to time, I shall now give directions for the construction of one or two articles that seem to be within fair scope of a young mechanic’s abilities. The first is a plain, useful table, without a drawer, and with square legs, because without a lathe the latter cannot be made ornamental; and lathe work will occupy some future pages, since it is necessary first to give the young mechanic a fair insight into the principles and practice of plain carpentry and joinery.

The very young mechanic, so far as my experience of him goes (and it is rather extensive), makes his early attempt by sticking the points of four nails into the corners of any tolerably square piece of board he can lay hands on. His next attempt, when he has risen to the dignity of a knife and gimlet, is to place four wooden legs at the corners of a similar board, which, if the said legs are glued in (by which a wonderful mess is always made of the structure), is considered a great feat, and worthy of the admiring patronage of fond parents and playmates. Now, a table does not consist of any such arrangement of pieces, although I certainly have seen sometimes, in the cottages of the poor, a three-legged affair of this nature, which is just nothing more than a magnified milking-stool. We cannot content ourselves now with anything of the kind. We shall have to work away with plane and chisel and square, and with neat tenon and mortice joints first construct the frame upon which the top will be placed, and then finish it secundum artem, the English of which, as I am writing to boys, I shall not reveal.

The table shall be 3 feet long, 1 foot 8 inches wide, 2 feet 4 inches high; the top board being half an inch thick when planed and fitted, for which it will therefore be required to be three-quarters of an inch in the rough. The legs demand attention first. Plane up strips cut from a 2-inch board, and let them be exactly 2 inches wide. These must be worked up with the greatest possible accuracy, or it will be impossible to fit the framework so as to make the table stand truly or bear inspection. After four such strips have been planed up, cut a piece from a half-inch board, or from a board that will plane to half an inch. Let this be 4 inches wide and 9 feet long, and be sure to plane this also truly, and to make the edges square to the sides.

Fig. 23.

If you have no strip that will answer of 9 feet long, you can cut two or more instead, remembering that you will require two pieces each 18 inches long and two of 2 feet 9 at the least, all as nearly alike in width as possible. You have now all that you will need for the framework of your table—the top may be left till the rest is fitted. Now you may proceed to cut the requisite mortices in the legs, which you will understand by sketch Fig. 23, which represents one corner of the table before the top is added. There is no more difficulty in this than in the previous work, except perhaps that somewhat more care is requisite in squaring up the several pieces and cutting the mortices with accuracy. Use the gauge as before in marking the mortices, trying it until it is so fixed that it will leave the proper width of the holes, namely, half an inch (which is the thickness of the strips which are to form the framework). This is upon the supposition that your gauge has but one marking point: but to explain its use.

Fig. 24.

I shall now introduce to your notice a regular mortice-gauge of two points, which is vastly more convenient. This is represented in Fig. 24. The main stem is grooved along its length on one side with a dovetailed slit, that is, a groove which is wider below than above. This is generally made in a brass plate attached to the stem of the gauge, but sometimes in the wood itself. In this slides a slip of brass which can be drawn back by pulling the knob A, or by turning a thumbscrew at one end, as in the more expensive gauges. One of the marking points is fixed in the end of this slide, the other in the wood (or metal) beyond it, at B, and when these are allowed to be together they form but one point, being flattened on one side, so that they will fit accurately against each other. Thus it is easy to separate the two points at pleasure to the exact width of the required mortice. By means of the wedged sliding piece C, we now have merely to determine how far the edge of the mortice is to be from one side of the piece. Thus, suppose that in the present case we should prefer to have the side of the frame nearer to the outside edge of the legs than to the inside, we can so arrange it easily; but we must then take care to gauge all alike, either from the inside edge or the outside. We do not, therefore, with this kind of gauge work from both edges, and leave the space between the lines for the width of the mortice, but we work from one edge only of the piece of wood, and mark the mortice at once in any desired position. I need hardly repeat, that for any particular job, a very good substitute for such gauge can be made by driving two small nails into a strip of wood cut with a projecting piece to serve instead of the movable head.

Fig. 25.

Let us now proceed with the work in hand. One of the legs of the table, before being worked into shape, is shown in Fig. 25; the dotted lines show how it will be eventually sloped off below the mortices which carry the top frame. These mortices must not now go through the legs, and therefore you will have to be very careful to hold the chisel upright, so as to insure the squareness of the frame when put together. The mortices being in adjacent sides, will of course meet, but it will be advantageous to cut those which are intended to receive the two longest strips, viz., the front and back, rather deeper than the other two. First set off an inch from the top of the leg at the line A B. If less than this intervenes between the top of the mortice and the end of the leg, you will probably break the piece out and spoil your work. As the side boards are 4 inches wide, and must come flush with the top of the legs, you will have to cut them like C, and there will be 3 inches left for the tenon, all of which may be left, as the wider this is the more hold it will have on the legs into which it is to be glued. It is plain, therefore, that the mortice will be 3 inches long and half an inch wide; and when you have marked it to this size, take care to cut it accurately, because if it is too small, you will break out the piece between the mortices when you try to force in the frame pieces, and if too large, you will scarcely get the whole to remain secure. Work therefore exactly to gauge. It is usual to keep these side and end pieces more to the outside of the legs than the inside, as F, where you are supposed to be looking at the inside corner; and if you look at D (which shows the top or cross section of a leg, as if after the pieces were fitted you had sawn off the leg close down to the mortices, exposing them to view), you will see that by thus keeping near the outside edges you get both mortices deeper than if you cut them, like E, in the middle of the sides of the leg. Of course, the deeper these tenons are let into the legs, the stronger their hold will be. There will now only remain to warm all the pieces and glue them into their respective places, with the precautions before stated as to the thinness of the glue and speed of the operation. See that all stands square and true; if not, a tap here and there as required will set it straight, and then let all stand till dry.

I have told you to cut the side and end pieces 18 inches and 2 feet 9 respectively, so that if the mortices are 1½ inches or so deep, your frame will be about 1 foot 6 inches wide, and 2 feet 6 inches long. The top, which is to overlap as usual, will be now prepared as follows. It will not be possible to make this of a single width of board; and nothing will more fully test the young workman’s skill, than planing the edges of two pieces so that they shall fit accurately together. It must, nevertheless, be attempted.

Cut two pieces of three-quarter-inch board, and plane the sides as accurately as possible. Then set them up edgewise, either singly or together, and plane the edges with steady, long strokes of the longest plane you have, set fine—that is, with the cutting edge projecting but slightly. Try each singly with the square from end to end, and then lay them on any perfectly flat surface, as on your bench, or on a table, and see whether the edges lie close all along. Remember, too, that they may do so when one surface is upwards, and not when turned over, as will occur when the edges are not square to the sides. In cutting out the pieces, therefore,—which, when finished, are to be together 1 foot 8 inches,—you should make them 1 foot 9, so as to allow you a whole inch to waste in planing and fitting. When both are as true as you can get them, lay them down near together, and brush the edges with boiling hot glue. Then immediately put them together, and rub them a few seconds one against the other, till they seem to stick slightly. Then leave them in their exact position, and drive a couple of nails into the bench against the outside edges, so as to keep them together, or in any other way wedge them tightly in position until they are quite dry. When the glue is hard which has been squeezed out along the joint, you may run a plane all over the united boards, and you ought hardly to see the joint, which will be nearly as strong as any other part.

This top has now to be attached to the frame, as follows. Cut some pieces like K in Fig. 25, and glue them here and there along the inside edges of the frame, so that one side of them shall come quite flush with the upper edge. To these the top has to be glued. Lay it, therefore, with its under side upwards, upon the floor (I suppose the short pieces glued and dry on the frame), and having also glued the sides of the short pieces which will touch the under side of the table top, turn the whole upside down, with its legs in the air, adjusting it quickly. Its own weight will keep it in position until dry; or, if not, it is easy to lay an odd board or two across, and put some weights upon them. When dry, turn over your table, and plane round the edges where necessary; and, if it does not stand very well, trim the bottoms of the legs. Clean off glue, and rub any rough places with sandpaper or glasscloth, filling up any accidental holes with putty, after which it will be fit for receiving paint or stain, if it is not considered desirable to leave it white. The corners and edges of the top may be rounded off, to give a finished appearance.

I showed by dotted lines the usual shape of the squared legs. They are planed off, tapering from below the frame, and this should be done after the mortices are cut, and before fitting the parts together. The best way to insure equal taper of all the legs, is to prick off at the bottom of each equal widths from the corners or edges, and to run a pencil line from the point where the taper is to begin to these marks. Then plane exactly to the lines thus made.

Fig. 26.

Let us now consider what errors of construction are most likely to occur in working out these directions. First, it is possible that the framework may be out of square. This may proceed from two causes. In the first place, the side or end pieces may not be of equal length between the legs, owing to some one or two being driven further into their mortices than the others. To avoid this, which is not uncommon in many works of a similar nature, it is well always to mark the length that each is to be, irrespective of the part within the mortices, as Fig. 26, A and B. If the space on each between the dotted lines (carefully marked by means of a square) is equal, it is no matter whether C and D are also equal. We have only to take care to let them into the mortices to a greater or less depth, until the line comes exactly even with the inside edge of the legs. Again, it is possible that when the table is placed upon its legs, these may not rest truly on the floor. Probably one or two of the frame pieces run up like E, instead of standing at right angles to the legs. This results from the mortice not being cut correctly; and as you cannot, in this case, mark both sides and cut from both, as you did in making the towel-horse, this is not unlikely to happen. It will not, therefore, signify much if you purposely cut your mortices a little too long, and then, when you have placed the table on its legs, after gluing up the frame, and before it is dry, you can force it to stand truly, and then wedge up with glued wedges where necessary. You cannot, however, do this with the sides of your mortices, because you require these to fit exactly; you must therefore use extra care in keeping these as true as possible. In many cases you can wedge the ends of tenons to correct a bad fit, but never the sides. These are the probable, or I will say possible, faults against which to be on your guard.

Fig. 27.

In making a similar table with a drawer, the same operations have to be gone through, but the upper frame is somewhat differently constructed, and the corners of the drawer are united with dovetails. Plane up the legs as before, but cut mortices as at A. Fig. 27, which represents the right-hand hinder leg as you would see it standing in front of the table, and before the framework had been fitted in its place. B is the other hind leg, with the tenoned strips just ready to be driven in. The piece E is made as before, as is also C and its opposite piece at the ends of the table. But this pair of mortices, you see, are made shorter than before, and the strip C is notched at the bottom as well as at the top, forming a regular tenon, as it is called. Below this first is a second mortice, cut the other way, the longest side standing across the leg to receive a strip, D, upon which afterwards another strip, X, will be nailed or glued, forming the rebate in which the drawer will slide, and of which the upper surface must be level with that of the strip M. There is a plane for cutting out rebates without the necessity of adding a strip, but I do not suppose you as yet to have such a one. When these pieces, C and D, are driven up close into their places, they will touch along their sides, so that on the outside they will appear as one piece. Of course there will be a similar pair on the right-hand side of the table. D ought to be tenoned, so that the side on which X is to be nailed will lie flush or level with the corner of the leg, so that the strip X shall project wholly beyond it.

The left-hand front leg is shown at P, with its mortices, and the tenoned strips between which the front of the drawer will lie, closely fitting when shut. These front strips should be each 2 inches wide, the mortices 1 inch long, or as long as you can safely cut them; you must tenon the cross pieces, of course, to fit these.

All the rails may be of half-inch board. Mark all tenons across with the square as before, so as to give the exact inside dimensions, and you cannot well go wrong. These lines, too, will guide you in keeping the framework square and true; for if you have planed the legs correctly, and your strips are inserted exactly to the aforesaid lines, it stands to reason the work will be satisfactory. To make the drawer, observe, first, that it is not like a box as most boys would make it, for when turned upside down, as in Fig. 28, Fig. B, you will find the sides projecting beyond the bottom, which projections rest in the rebate, X, of the last figure, and take the whole weight of the drawer, enabling it to slide easily and smoothly in and out, especially if those surfaces which are in contact are rubbed with soap or blacklead, or a mixture of the two. At C you have a drawing of the same, with the bottom removed. This, you see, is a square or oblong frame dovetailed together, and when it is glued and dry, the bottom is slid in along the grooves in the sides (one of which is seen at x x), and a couple of brads driven through it into the back rail, K, fixes it completely. The front board of the drawer is cut and planed to fit exactly between the two rails which were morticed into the legs, as shown in the last fig., and is always of thicker stuff than the sides or bottom. It may, in the present case, be half-inch, and the rest quarter-inch.

Fig. 28.

If you look at C, you will observe that the front and sides of the drawer are of the same depth, and that only the back is narrower. (Remember that in this cut the drawer is seen from below, the groove x x being near the bottom of the sides, and level with the bottom of the back.)

To cut dovetails is not difficult, but requires neatness and care—a fine saw (dovetail or light tenon-saw) and a really sharp chisel; and, above all things, remember not to cut out the lines which have been drawn as guides. H is the end of the front of the drawer; L the left side. Having cut out the latter, and planed it up nicely, draw a line, by the aid of the square, one quarter or three eighths of an inch from the end across it. This will be the line o p of the bottom of the dovetails. Then mark and cut out two or three, as seen in the drawing, using the saw where you are able, and clearing out with the chisel in other places. From o p, measure the exact inside width of your drawer, and beyond the second line made across at that distance, leave a quarter of an inch for the second dovetails, and cut them out as you did the first. Now, prepare a second precisely similar piece for the opposite side. Next lay L in place upon H very truly, and with a fine-pointed hard pencil, or a scriber (a sharp-pointed steel marker), trace round the dovetails, marking them on the end of H, and with a sharp chisel cut them in a quarter of an inch deep, which will allow them to take the side piece exactly flush and level. Mark these two which have been so fitted, and proceed to do the same at the other end of the front piece, tracing these, as before, from the dovetails of the opposite side, which are to be there inserted. You do exactly the same with the back piece; but as this is both narrower and thinner, the dovetails will be cut quite through it, and will be seen on both pieces after being glued up, and there will only be room for one dovetail, instead of two. When all are cut, lay the pieces in position, glue quickly, press all together, and contrive to wedge up or bind round the whole until dry, testing with the square and adjusting, as maybe necessary. We shall return to dovetailing again, but these not requiring excessive neatness, will be a good beginning, and show you in what special points care is needed in such work. Nothing remains but to plane a piece for the bottom, and slide it into place.

Chapter V.

In the last chapter we entered a little upon the matter of dovetails, but as the mode of uniting the angles of boxes, drawers, and such like, is of almost universal application, it will be as well to devote a separate short chapter to the subject.

There are several different kinds of dovetails used, according as it may be desired to let them appear upon the finished work, or wholly or in part to conceal them. Carpenters generally use the kind which is visible on both sides, cabinetmakers, as a rule, take special pains to conceal it, only using the other form upon work that is to be afterwards covered with veneer (a thin covering of some ornamental and more expensive wood glued upon the surface of that which is of less value, and of which the article is made).

The dovetail described in the last chapter, as proper for the attachment of the sides to the front of a drawer, is not that which is ordinarily used by the carpenters, but the following, which is somewhat more easy to make, and is the same as would be used for the other corners of such a common drawer as that described.

I must at the outset remind my young readers once again of the standard rule, without due attention to which they have no hope of success in this neat and delicate operation of carpentry. Never cut out your guide lines, but leave them upon your work, and use your square diligently upon the edges of your work, the bottom of the dovetails, sides of the same, and upon the sides of the pins. Never mind the time necessary for this. You are doing work, remember, that is to bear inspection,—work that will stand wear, and be really useful in the household to which you have the honour to belong. You would not therefore like to see open spaces here and there, requiring to be filled up with putty, or the side of the box not truly square to the back and front. And it may be noted here, that if dovetails are properly fitted together, the box or other article will stand firm, even before the glue is added; but if the same are badly cut, and put together carelessly, no amount of glue will avail to hold the work securely; and it would have been as well or better never to have attempted dovetailing, as such bad work would be stronger united by nails, and in any case is but a disgrace to the young amateur mechanic, whose motto should always be, “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”

Fig. 29.

You will remember how you were taught to wedge up mortice and tenon joints with glued wedges, which, becoming part of the tenon, and rendering it larger below than above, prevents it from being withdrawn from the mortice. Now, a single dovetail has the same effect, and is in point of fact of the same shape and size as the tenon with its wedges attached. See Fig. 29, A and B, the first being a wedged tenon, the second a dovetail.

We shall begin with a single dovetail, which is applied to the construction of presses used by bookbinders and others, and also domestically for house-linen. In these there is a strong tendency to draw the sides upwards, and to tear them from the bottom—a strain which this form of joint is exactly calculated to withstand. The same is also used in making many kinds of frames, where similar strength in one direction is necessary. If you have no special need of such at present, you should nevertheless make one or two for practice, and to give you a better insight into their construction. Indeed, if you cannot make single dovetails well, you will hardly succeed in making a whole row of them exactly alike, for joining together other articles, as drawers, boxes, and cabinets. C of this fig. represents a bar of wood truly squared up, and ready for being marked out. The square is laid across it as seen, and a line drawn on each side by its assistance, as far from one end as is the thickness of the other piece to which it is to be attached, and a little over (say one-eighth of an inch) which will afterwards be neatly planed off. This is allowed merely because the extreme angles at e e sometimes get damaged in cutting out the dovetail, and if they are, they will have to be removed. Having drawn the above line all round the piece, divide it into three by the aid of your compasses, as shown, on what we may call the front and back, and then on both these sides draw lines, e e, to the angle. You now have the dovetail, or rather the pin of the dovetail, marked, and with a fine saw you have only to cut out this piece as you see at D, taking great care to cut accurately close to the lines, but to leave them, nevertheless, on the edge of the piece you are about to use.

If you can saw truly, you should not have to touch these pieces with a chisel, but if not, you must take a very sharp one, and pare the wood exactly true to the lines which you have marked. Now the dovetail made by dividing the width of the stuff into three, as given here, will not answer so well for pine, which is liable to split off in the line H H of the fig. D; but for ash, beech, elm, and such like, it is a good proportion. If the material, therefore, is pine, divide it into four instead of three, as seen at E, and draw lines to the angles from the two outer marks; or, without any such division, set out equal distances from each side, so as to give about this proportion to the pieces which are to be cut out.

Where there are a row of dovetails to be made (as in cabinet work), even this latter measurement into four would make them too angular, as you will learn presently. You must now fix upright in your vice the piece in which is to be cut the dovetail to receive this pin; and laying the latter in place as it will be when the frame or other work is put together, draw round it with a sharp pencil or scriber, as seen on the end of K (the lines c d, at such distance from the end of the piece as is the thickness of the pin, and the perpendiculars, a b, are to be drawn with the square); and if the angles of such pin do not reach the angles of that in which the dovetail is to be cut, as will often be the case, the lines on the opposite side similar to a b must be also drawn with the square. So you see that I was quite right in directing you to add a square to your box of tools, even before many other requisites of carpentry.

If it is not considered desirable that the dovetail should reach the extreme angles of the pieces, as a b, fig. K, the pin piece is first marked as if for an ordinary tenon, and the dovetailed pin marked on this, as M. When the fellow-piece is cut out, it will then appear as N. The effect will be the same as the last, except that the end of the pin will be more conspicuous. A great deal depends upon the material, and on the intended use of the finished article, therefore you must use your own judgment, or consult that of others better acquainted with the art than yourself. L shows the dovetailed joint complete as last described.

Fig. 30.

We now recur to the row of dovetails and pins—or dovetails and sockets, as the part is often called which is to receive the pins. The most common kind is that represented by A B, Fig. 30; and as you ought now to be thinking of a larger tool-box, and would not like it roughly nailed together like the first, you might try your skill by constructing one more worthy of the name, and with a drawer or two in it. You must begin, as before, by marking the two lines across your work by the edge of the square, or, if you prefer it, by your gauge, which, when set to the thickness of one piece, will mark the others correctly; and remember to mark both sides. Then set out your dovetails, but do not make them so angular as you did the single one; for remember you have a whole row of them to assist in holding the work together, and when glued, this will be of necessity a very strong and reliable joint, if well made.

Always make the pins before the sockets, and mark round them as closely as possible, and take great care when sawing not to break them, and if possible keep their angles also very sharp and clean. It is solely care in these particulars, and accurate cutting just to the gauge lines and no further, that makes carpenters’ work generally so superior to that of amateurs, and boys especially are generally careless, and in too great a hurry to get the work done, that they may go to something else. Remember, therefore, that when you begin to hurry your work, you begin to spoil it.

I have made the drawings of the three principal dovetailed joints so plain as to render special description almost unnecessary after the remarks already made. The second and third, however, may need a few words, as they differ slightly from that used in the drawer, of which a description has been given, chiefly because the piece in which the dovetails are, is, in this case, as thick as that used for the sockets.

Suppose the dovetails and pins marked out ready to be cut. Take your marking-gauge and set the slide about a quarter of an inch from the point, and run a line across the ends of the two pieces at A B, and at C D, and also at E F. Stop at A B when you cut the sockets, and take care to get the bottoms of these quite square and even. Cut the dovetails or pins as directed in making the drawer, but stop on the lines e f and g h (the latter also to be made with the gauge on both edges of the work), thus the two pieces will, of necessity, fit nicely together, and only a single line will appear a little way from one corner. If all lines are made with gauge and square, this form of dovetail may require neatness and care, but will not be beyond the skill even of a young mechanic. I should indeed advise that every opportunity be taken of joining pieces of wood with tenon or with dovetail, because, after all, these are the chief difficulties to be encountered. If you can square up your work, and make true-fitting joints, there is little in carpentry and joinery that you cannot accomplish.

The third example is worked exactly like the second, but instead of leaving square the pieces projecting beyond the dovetails and pins, these are sloped off or bevelled carefully from the extreme corners down to the pins and sockets. The result is, that when put together, no joint appears, as it is exactly upon the angle. There is no neater or stronger method than this of joining the sides of drawers, boxes, trays, and such like articles. The cabinetmaker employs no other for heavy work; only when it is very light does he make use of a plan, the appearance of which is (when finished) like the last-described, but it is less trouble to make, and less strong, yet sufficiently so for many purposes. This method is called mitring, and is accomplished in the following way.

The wood (let it be for a small tray) is prepared as usual, truly and evenly, and the ends exactly square to the sides. If you use stuff about a quarter or half an inch thick, or even an eighth (the first or last being suitable for such light work), you can make a mitred joint with the help of the gauge alone, but frequently a mitre-board or mitre-box is used, which saves some trouble in measuring and marking. It is well, however, that you should begin with this trouble, and take up the easier method afterwards; especially as it will in this case give you a simple lesson in mathematics, and teach you some of the properties of the figure called a square. Let us commence with this lesson.

A, B, C, D, Fig. 31, is a square; the lines at the opposite sides are parallel,—that is, they are exactly the same distance apart from one end to the other. To make this clear, E and F are given, which are not parallel, for they are further apart at one end than they are at the other. And as A B is parallel to C D, and A C parallel to B D, so A B is perpendicular to B D and to A C, or what we have called square to it, as you would find with your square, which is made, as you know, to prove your work in this respect. The consequence is, that the angles (or corners) are all alike, and are called right angles. Understand what is meant by angles being the same size or alike. M and H are alike, though the lines of one are a great deal longer than those of the other; but though the lines of K and H are the same length, the angle K is much smaller than that at H.

Fig. 31.

As I have gone a little into this subject, I will go a little further, for it is as well that you should learn all about the sizes of angles, and I only know of one way in which to make the matter clear.

Every circle, no matter how small or large, is supposed to be divided into 360 equal parts, called degrees. That large circle which forms the circumference of the earth is considered to be so divided. Now, if we draw lines from all these divisions to the centre, they will meet there, and form a number of equal angles. I have not divided the circle P all round, because it would make so many angles that you could not see them clearly; but I have put 360 at the top, and then 45, which means, that if I had marked all the divisions, there would be 45 up to that point. Then at 45 more I have marked 90, and so on, marking each 45th division, and from these I have drawn lines to the centre of the circle. Now, if you understand me so far, we shall get on famously. Look at the line from 360 to the centre, and that from 90°, and see where they join. This is a right angle, and this is the angle at each corner of a square. At N, I have drawn this separately to make it clear, and you see I have taken a quarter of the circle, or the quadrant, as it is called, of 90°. And you now see that I might extend the lines beyond the circle to any extent, but it would make no difference,—we should still have 90° of a circle, only the circle would be larger, as those which are partly drawn with the dotted lines.

Now, all angles are thus measured by the divisions of a circle; the line at 45, which meets the line from 360 at the centre, makes with it an angle of 45°, which is half a right angle. A line drawn at 30° would make an angle of 30 with the same line from 360, and so on right round; only when two lines come exactly opposite one another, as 360 and 180, or 270 and 90, these make no angles—they are but one straight line passing through the centre, and are called diameters of the circle, a word which means measure through, or across the circle. Now, the corners of a square frame, or of a drawer or box, are right angles of 90°. At R, I have drawn such a corner of a frame, and if I place one point of a pair of compasses at e, and draw a circle cutting through the lines of the sides of the frame, you see I should make it 90°, or a quadrant, like N. Moreover, if I draw the sides of the frame as if they crossed as at e R, I draw a small square, and the line e R is the diagonal of such square: e R is the mitred joint I have to cut. Look at T S and you will see this, as here the two sides of the frame are represented as cut ready to be joined together.

A square has another quality: all its sides are equal, and this is very important, and will help us in cutting out the work. x Y represents the strip of wood to be properly sloped off for a mitred joint. With a gauge such as that just above x, or your regular marking gauge, set off on the side Y a distance equal to x x (the width of the pieces); join x b by a line, and you will have the right slope. Why? Because when you measured with the gauge you marked the two equal sides of a square, and x b is the diagonal of it, which is exactly the same as you had at e R. By measuring in this way, therefore, you can, if your strips are already truly squared up, always mark out a mitred joint correctly. The two little angles at x and b are also, I should point out, equal—each half of a right angle or 45°, and the other strip or side of the frame will make up the other half right angle, or complete the exact square of 90°.

In all this I have clearly laid down the principles of mitred joints, and given you a lesson in mathematics. I shall now, therefore, go on to the work of practical construction (Fig. 32). You must be very careful to make the edge B square to the side A, as in all other work which I have explained to you; or, if this side is moulded like the front of a picture-frame, you must square the edge with the back. After having cut all the pieces, you have to glue them and fasten them together. Warm them, and use the glue boiling, as directed before, and quickly lay the pieces together. To do so effectually, you must place them flat on a board or on your bench, and having adjusted them, you can tie a strong cord round the whole, putting little bits of wood close to the corners, so that the string shall not mark your work, if such marks would be of consequence. Or you can wedge up strongly in another way. If you look at C you will see a square representing a frame with eight spots round it. These are nail heads, and mark the position of eight nails driven round but not touching the frame into the bench. Then, having prepared eight small wedges, drive them in between the frame and the nails.

You will find this as simple and easy a way of keeping the frame together as any, and all must remain till the glue is dry and hard—probably till the same hour on the following day? Then remove the wedges and take up your frame, which should be trim and strong. Nevertheless, you are now to add considerably to the strength of it in one or both of the following ways.

Fig. 32.

With a mitre-saw or tenon-saw cut one or two slits at each angle, as seen at D, Fig. 32, e and f. Cut little pieces of thin wood, and having glued them, drive them into these slits. If you saw them slanting, some tending upwards and some downwards, it will be better than cutting straight into the frame. Then, when all is dry, neatly trim off these pieces even with the frame. You may also, if the work is of a more heavy kind, as a large picture-frame, finish with keyed mitres, g. Cut a place with a chisel of the shape here shown, about one-eighth of an inch deep, half into one piece and half into the other. Then cut out a key of the same form of thin hard wood, to fit exactly, and glue it in. The shape of the key prevents the joint from coming apart, and makes it very strong and durable. A very large number of light boxes are made with mitred joints, as workboxes, water-colour boxes, compass-boxes, and such like; and you can examine these for yourself; but you will not often see the keys at the angles, because most of such boxes are veneered, or covered when finished with a thin layer of some ornamental wood.

I shall now proceed to show you how these joints can be cut at once without the trouble of gauging and measuring to find the proper angle. Therefore I shall let you into the secret of mitring boxes and mitring boards, which, if you had much to do of this kind, would shorten your work considerably.

Fig. 33, A, represents a mitring-board, B a mitring-box. We must go into a little mathematics again, and try to understand these, because, if you do so, you may devise others, occasionally more suitable for any special work you have in hand.

Fig. 33.

First, look at D of this figure. You have a line, a b, standing upon another C D, and perpendicular to it—that is, it leans neither to the right nor to the left. It makes two angles at b, one on each side of a b, and these are angles of 90°, or right angles, as I explained. Now, if one line like a b stands on another, these two angles are together equal to 180°, or twice 90°, whether this line is or is not upright or perpendicular to the other. Look at fig. C. Here you have the line x x, and standing on it several others; one, a b, is upright or perpendicular, making with it two angles of 90° each, or 180° together. Now, take f b, and suppose this to make 45° on the right-hand side, you see it makes therefore a proportionately larger angle on the other. It makes, in fact, an angle of 135°. But 135° added to 45° equals 180°, which is the same as before, and whichever line you take, the angles together made by it at b will equal 180° of the circle—that is, they will equal two right-angles.

Now, if I take the fig. D again, and carry on the line a b right through c d, where it is dotted, two angles will be made on the other side of c d, which will each be right angles of 90° as before, so that all the four angles thus made are equal. It follows from this, that whenever any two lines cut each other—E Q and R S for instance—the angles at T equal four right angles, no matter whether the lines are or are not perpendicular to each other: and what is more (and what I specially want you to note), the opposite angles are equal—i.e., the two small ones, or the two large ones.

The action of a mitre-block or mitre-box depends upon the principles here laid down, so you see that although few carpenters understand much about mathematics, and simply work as they were taught, without knowing or caring why, those who planned the method of work, and invented mitre-boards and such like devices to shorten work and lessen labour, must have understood a great deal about such things. And so it is generally, as you will find with inventions: things look easy enough, and natural enough, when we see them every day; but it has taken a great deal of thought and sound knowledge to invent them in the first place, and a great deal of practical experience to construct them so neatly. Even a common pin goes through such a number of processes as would surprise you, if you have never been able to see them made.

Look carefully at A. It represents a block of wood, about 1½ or 2 inches thick, and 3 or 4 wide, firmly screwed on the top of a board 1 inch thick. The length is about 18 inches. Two saw-cuts are made with a tenon-saw, right through the block to the board, at angles of 45° with the line a b. These are guides for the saw to work in. The wood to be cut is laid against the edge of the block, and rests on the board, and the saw is then applied in one of the grooves while the wood is being cut by it. Let H be such a piece. If the saw is put in the left-hand slit, it will cut it like y; if in the other, it will cut it the other way, like x; and thus, if a piece is taken off at each end, it will be as you see, ready to become one side of a frame. Now, examine K, which shows all the lines or edges of the mitring-board, as seen from above, with the strip a b sawn across in the line c a. The lines a b and c a cross each other, making the opposite angles equal; and as one angle is 45° the other must be 45° also, so that the right-hand side of the strip is correctly cut. But so also is the other end, and if we turn it over, it will exactly fit, and the two will form two sides of a square. I could prove to you that the second strip contains angles exactly similar to the first, but you ought to be able now to detect the reason for yourself, and I do not want to teach you more mathematics at present, as I am afraid you are tired of these, and will want to go on with the real work of fitting and making. I have, however, said enough, I think, to make you comprehend why the two saw-cuts must be at an angle of 45° with the edge of the top board.

Perhaps you wish to make your own board, however, and would like to know an easy way to get the saw-cuts at the right angle? I shall therefore show you how to do this, but you must be very exact in your workmanship. A B, Fig. 34, is the piece of thick board as seen from above, and close to it is a perspective view of the same which shows the thickness. Set off a distance, A E, equal to A C, and join C E. The dotted line shows you that C E is the diagonal of a square, and the angles at C and E are consequently each 45°; but we do not want this line to end at C, it is too exactly at the corner for convenience. Measure, therefore, a distance, E b and C a, equal, and join a b, which will be the place for the saw-cut; and the other can be marked out in exactly the same way. a x, in the perspective view, must be carefully marked by the help of the square. Take care to mark the line on the bottom board, where the edge of this upper thick piece will fall, and screw the two firmly together. If the edge and face of the thick piece are not truly square to each other, the mitres cut thus will not be correct; but, if all is well made, they may be glued at once together, no paring of the chisel being necessary or desirable.

The mitre-box, Fig. 33, B, is on precisely the same principle, but is chiefly used to cut narrow strips not over 2 inches wide; it should be neatly made of mahogany, half an inch thick. There is also generally made a saw-cut straight across, at right angles to the length of the box or board, which is convenient in sawing across such strips of wood, as it saves the necessity of marking lines against the edge of the square: of course, it is specially used where a large number of strips have to be cut square across. In all these you observe one saw-cut leaning to the right, the other to the left. This is necessary when picture-frames or moulded pieces have to be cut to 45°, because you cannot, of course, turn such pieces over and use either side, which you can do when the piece has no such mouldings.

Fig. 34.

Several modifications exist of mitring-boards; some arranged for sawing, and some for planing; and where thousands of frames have to be cheaply made, the angles are cut off with circular saws, of which I need not speak particularly here, but which I shall probably have to describe in a future page. In Fig. 34, K, I have shown one corner of a simple picture-frame, covered with what is called rustic work, that is—short pieces of oak, ash, or other wood cut from the tree, left with the bark on, or peeled and varnished. These are nailed on with small brads; and, if well assorted and arranged, this will have a very neat appearance, suiting well for rooms fitted up in oak, as many studies and libraries are. In picture-frames, however, a rebate (called rabbit) has to be made at the back, like L, in which the picture with its glass and back-board has to rest; and this requires a special plane. The front also is always either sloped off or moulded. I shall therefore make this kind of work the subject of my next chapter, and describe the operations of rebating, grooving, tongueing, and moulding.

Chapter VI.

These operations, which are frequently required in carpentry, are done on a small scale by planes. On a larger scale, circular saws and other machinery are widely and extensively made use of for the same purpose, as being much more rapid and economical. Of course, the young mechanic will employ the more usual method, and the present chapter will therefore treat of the planes necessary for the above work, and the method of using them.

The common rebate or rabbit plane comes first. This is of various widths; an inch being a very useful size. It is different in many respects from the smoothing-plane, being made with a single iron only, which is so arranged as to reach into angular recesses, which could not be touched by the ordinary plane, of which the iron does not extend quite to either side of the sole. Fig. 35, A and B, will illustrate this. A represents the plane as seen from above and at one side, B gives the perspective view of the sole, C represents the iron, D the wedge. Let us suppose a rebate required upon a strip 1 inch thick, the same to be half an inch wide and deep. A gauge is first set to the required distance, and a line is marked on both faces, as a guide for the action of the plane. After a little practice it will be found easy to guide the entry of the plane with the left hand, grasping it so as partly to overlap the sole, and thus determine the width of the cut, which must not at first be carried to the full width required, but may be brought within an eighth of an inch of such gauge line, and the material removed sometimes from one face of the rebate and sometimes from the other, taking care to keep it nicely square.

Fig. 35.

At first it is an easier plan to nail on with brads a strip of wood accurately planed, which in this case, as the sole of the plane is 1 inch wide, must cover it from end to end to a width of half an inch. This will prevent the possibility of going too deep into cut, and insure the correctness of the rebate, Fig. 35, H. The injury to the sole will not be great if small brads are used, but at the same time it is better to learn the art of using the hand as a guide, which is the more general method of the working carpenter. As for the use of rebates, there are few pieces of cabinet-work or joinery in which they are not found, and as stated in the previous chapter, no picture-frame can be made without them. The shavings which escape from the rebate-frame do not rise out of the top, as in the smoothing-plane, but from the side, which is hollowed out for the purpose, as seen in the drawing.

The skew rebate-plane is made like the preceding one, but the iron, instead of standing at right angles to the sides, is placed at an angle. With this you can plane across the grain of the wood.

The next plane to be noticed, is that with which grooves are cut, such as you will often see in the sides of book-shelves, in which the several shelves slide. The same is done where two boards are to be joined lengthwise, and there is danger of their becoming separated as the wood shrinks in drying. The panels of doors, too, are slid into similar grooves in the styles and rails of the framework, and there are innumerable other cases in which this mode of work is carried out. These grooves are generally cut with the plough, a curious-looking tool, by no means like a plane in appearance, but of great use to the carpenter. Of course, we require various widths of such grooves, according to the special purpose intended, and these are determined by various widths of the cutting irons, which, however, all fix into the same stock; a dozen or more of such irons are sold with a single plane.

Fig. 36.

In Fig. 36 is a set of drawings explanatory of the above tool. The central part, or stock, is that which corresponds to the same in other planes, and it is only modified to suit the other parts, which simply act as guides or gauges regulating the distance of the grooves from the edge of the board, and the depth to which they are to be cut. When the arms, A A, are removed, you have the plane as it appears with a brass fence, b, at one side, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure, and set at any point by the screw C; d is an iron plate which acts as the sole of the plane, the cutting edge being set to project a very little way below it.

The arms A A carry the fence g, which is flat on the inside next the plane, and moulded (merely for appearance sake) on the outside. The arms slide in two holes in the body of the plane, and can be drawn out at pleasure, and fixed by little wooden wedges, e e. Thus, while in use, the fence rubs along the edge of the board, while the groove is being cut at such distance as the fence is fixed, and to such a depth as is allowed by the position of the brass check or guide. Complex, therefore, as this tool appears, it is not so in reality. We shall presently describe a chest of drawers or cabinet calculated to receive small tools, or specimens of coins, shells, and such like, in which another kind of grooving-plane has to come into use, called (with its fellow, which makes a tenon to fit such groove) a match plane. This is of extensive use, less expensive than the plough, and on the whole more likely to be useful to the young mechanic. Indeed, although the plough has been here described and illustrated, it is not by any means to be considered essential, and its purchase may well be deferred until other tools of greater importance has been effected. The side or sash fillister to be presently described, for instance, would be more useful.

Fig. 37.

Fig. 37 is such a cabinet, with six drawers, dovetailed at the corners as usual. The bottom, however, projects beyond the sides, so that the latter are not made lower than the back, as was the case with the table-drawer previously described. The top and sides may be of mahogany, the back and bottom of pine (stained or not at pleasure), or if cost is an object, the whole may be of any other wood; but the grooves in which the drawers slide, can be cut more sharply and neatly in harder wood than pine—birch, for instance, which is very fit for the purpose, and will take a good polish. The outer case is first made like an open box. The dimensions may be regulated according to the intended use, but generally the drawers increase in depth downwards. The top and bottom overlap the sides, the latter to a somewhat greater width than the former. The sides can therefore only be dovetailed to the back; the bottom may be attached with screws, and the top likewise, but the holes must then be plugged to conceal them. If the whole is of deal, and to be painted or veneered, this would be the best plan; but if the top is of mahogany, it is not so easy to fill up the holes above the heads of the screws so as to thoroughly conceal them. If, however, you have no plough to cut a groove to let the sides and back a little way into the top, glue alone will not hold sufficiently. In this case smaller holes may be made to admit 2-inch brads to assist the glue, such holes being easily filled with putty stained to imitate mahogany.

The peculiarity of the drawers consists in their meeting each other quite closely when shut, without the intermediate divisions ordinarily seen. Hence the necessity for a different arrangement of the sliding surfaces as before referred to. The insides of the case have five grooves ploughed across them, as seen at C of this figure, the sixth drawer only being made as usual to slide upon the bottom of the case, and having its sides made lower than the back for this purpose.

In the grooves thus cut, the projecting part of the bottom of the drawers is made to fit and slide, and they will run more smoothly if cut so that the grain of the wood shall run across the bottom, from front to back, and not from side to side. The bottom of the drawer must not come below the level of the front, but either the front should be rebated to take one edge of it, as seen at E, which is the best way, or a slip of wood should be glued along as at F, on which that edge may rest, and to which it can be attached. D exhibits this distinctly, as it is drawn as if the nearest end was removed to show the position of the other parts. The bottom, therefore, will be let into the front, and nailed under the back and sides, and will project rather less than half an inch each way, to fit the grooves in which it is to slide. Another way to effect the same is to make the drawers as usual, with no such projections, and to nail a strip to run in the grooves in the middle of the side pieces, or, if preferred, near the top. The effect is, of course, the same, and such strips being planed up nicely, with the grain running lengthwise, will cause the drawers to work in and out very smoothly.

There is no neater way than this to make a cabinet; and sometimes the whole is closed with a panelled door, for which purpose the case is left to project beyond the drawers. Unless well supplied in the matter of planes, which is hardly to be expected, you will not be able to cut the grooves in the side of the outer case in any way but the following, which, however, will answer very well when the piece in which they are to be cut is not above 9 inches or 1 foot wide. Mark out the places, spacing them with the greatest care, and cut just within the lines with a tenon-saw; then cut out with a chisel the narrow piece which intervenes. There is a plane called a routing-plane used for this by cabinetmakers and joiners, but you may as well exercise your ingenuity to do without it. If you have a plough, you may remove the fence, and let it follow up the saw and chisel, but it will be hardly required if you use the chisel carefully.

I shall now introduce to your notice another very excellent plane, called a side or sash fillister, for cutting rebates of any required depth and width. It is very like the plough in appearance, with a similar wooden guide or fence on two arms to regulate the width, and another of metal, moved by a screw at the top, to regulate the depth of the cut. Fig. 38, A, shows one side of this plane, and B the other. The cutting edge comes down to the level of c d in fig. A; the fence, of which the edge is seen at h, will draw up to the level of a b, or lower to that of the edge. This plane, therefore, is but a more complete rebate-plane, fitted with guides for depth and width. It does its work very perfectly, and is of extensive use.

Fig. 38.

I have given descriptions of these planes, although the young mechanic will not at first possess them, as they are somewhat expensive, because I feel it as well to let him know how work is done by the trade, and why it is that such work is effected more rapidly and better than he himself can do it; but at the same time it is far better that he should, for a long time, work at a disadvantage, by using few tools, and those of the simplest construction, before taking in hand others which cost a good deal of money, which might often be better spent. A look back over these pages will show that with a long (or jack) plane, a smoothing-plane and a rebate-plane, all the work previously alluded to can be done. As, however, I am writing upon the subject of planes, I may as well mention two more—match-planes and beading-planes—to which may be added those for moulding, being an extension only of the last named. Match-planes are always in pairs. Their use is to cut, the one a groove, Fig. 39, A, the other a tenon or tongue, or feather, as it is sometimes called, as Fig. 39, B, down the long sides (with the grain) of boards that are to be joined lengthwise (Fig. 39). If the plough is used, a groove is cut in both pieces, and a slip of board planed up to fit them; either method will answer equally well. When boards joined thus shrink, the tongue or slip fills up space.

Fig. 39.

There is no necessity for illustrating the planes used for beading and moulding after the description already given of others. The irons, instead of being flat, are filed into grooves and hollows of the required pattern, and of course transfer their own form to the wood upon which they are used. They are held on the slope of the moulding to be cut. When blunt, they have to be sharpened with slips of oilstone, which can be had for the purpose, of square and round section; sometimes they are sufficiently soft to be filed into shape, but a keen edge cannot thus be obtained. Mouldings, however, are generally finished off with fine sandpaper. They are always planed lengthwise of the grain in long strips, and are cut to the required lengths (generally with mitres). When very broad, they are made up of several narrower ones, glued side by side. The young mechanic had better get them cut for him by some friendly carpenter, as it is hardly worth his while to buy planes for which he will have comparatively little use.

I shall conclude these papers on carpentry by describing the method of making such a door as would suit the cabinet already described, especially as it will explain the way in which all panelling is done, whether for doors, shutters, or other similar articles. Panelling is indeed of very general application in every household, and it is well worth while even for the young mechanic to learn how it is accomplished. It is absolutely necessary, however, that he should be possessed either of a plough or match-planes for routing out the grooves in which the panels slide.

Nearly all panels have a beading or a moulding running round them as a finish.

Fig. 40.

Fig. 40 illustrates the method of panelling. A, B, C are the styles, D, E, F, G the rails. The mortices and tenons are cut as usual. The inside edges of C, B, D, G are then grooved with the plough, and both edges of the other pieces. The panels are carefully squared up, and then bevelled off at the edges so as to fit the grooves. To put such a door together, A, D, G, E, and F would be first arranged, then the panels slid in from the outside, and afterwards the styles B and C put in place. The part beyond the outer mortices in the latter pieces, which are left for safety in cutting these mortices, and to prevent splitting when D and G are driven home, are not cut off until the glue is dry. The process is simple, but it requires great care, both in setting out the various measurements, and in squaring up the different pieces composing the whole. After the whole is dry, strips of moulding, cut to mitre-joints at the corners, are nailed on with brads round the panels to give the whole a finished appearance.

In the above examples, in which I have gone from the more simple to the more complicated, are comprised the main principles of the art of carpentry. At any rate, when the young mechanic can do as much, he will be able to accomplish a great deal more.