We have jack-planes, smoothing-planes, and block-planes. When you want
to make aboard thinner, or smoother, it has got to be planed; also the
sides and edges of a board are sometimes rough, or you wish to bevel
them.
If the grain of the wood is perfect, there is no trouble about planing
in either direction, but generally the grain runs in a slight slant
or angle to the surface of the board instead of parallel to it. If,
then, you start your plane and plane “against the grain” of the board,
the edge of the plane will catch in ends of the grain lines, and the
surface will be chipped instead of smoothed. If, however, you start it
and plane “with the grain,” the ends of the grain lines are smoothed
down, like the feathers on a bird’s wing when you stroke it down
instead of up. So it is well to be sure about the grain before you
begin to plane. Sometimes the grain is twisted and runs one way in one
part of the board and another way in another part in a wavy line. Then
you must vary the planing according to the surface. You would soon
learn these simple things perhaps, but to know them at the outset will
save you some vexation.
The smoothing-plane is much shorter than the jack-plane, and is used
for smoothing smaller pieces which would be lost under the jack-plane,
and also for smoothing inequalities left by the jack-plane. I have put
no smoothing-plane on your list, as for ordinary work the block-plane
can be used as a smoothing-plane. Thus: Turn the small thumb-screw
at the front of the block-plane and press it forward; this opens the
mouth of the plane so that the plane can be _set_ more and cut a larger
shaving.
Now for the proper use of the block-plane, remembering to restore it
to its original _set_ if you have been using it as a smoothing-plane.
To smooth the ends of boards you need a small plane which can be _set_
very fine; i. e., with the blade projecting very little from the face
of the plane, and with the mouth so closed that the blade will not chip
in cutting.
One important principle must be practically learned before you can do
good work: _Everything in carpentry from beginning to end must be done
on the square._ In planing, above all things, the square must begin
every bit of work, and end it, and be used to test it, all the way
along; it is just what the name implies, a _try square_; so perhaps the
next thing explained had better be some of the uses of the square.
To give all the uses of this apparently simple tool would be to give
you a thorough knowledge of geometry, and fill a volume. I will,
however, give some of the more common uses:
1. In sawing across a board, if you wish to have the cut true and even,
you must use the square. One edge is, of course, already planed, and
from this all your lines are drawn. You wish, we will suppose, to saw
three inches from the end of your board; lay the thick or handle part
of the square close against the even edge of the board, three inches
from the end; you will find that the blade lies flat across, the board
at a right angle with the edge, and a pencil line drawn close to the
blade will be a guide for cutting.
2. To test the evenness of the end of a board which you have been
trimming with a block-plane: Apply the square to the side and edge of
the board; if the work is true, the blade will be level with the end of
the board; if uneven, the defect is quickly seen.
3. It is well to test your square itself; thus: Lay your square snug
against a straight edge with the handle to the left; draw a line
where the edge of the blade comes: then reverse the square, having
the handle to the right; draw a similar line: if the square is true
the lines will coincide; if they diverge ever so little the square is
imperfect, and you should buy another.
4. In planing the edge of a board, put the handle of the square against
the _face_ of the board; the blade will then go across the edge, and
you can soon see if it is even; i. e., at right angles with the face of
the board.
Hammering a nail seems a very simple thing, but there’s a right way and
a wrong way to do that, as you’ll find for yourself after you’ve split
two or three bits of work; but you might as well learn the right way at
first.
If you look at a nail of any size, from a brad to a twenty-penny spike,
you will find that the sides are parallel and straight, and two are
wedge-shape or sloping; also one of the straight sides is finished
smooth, the other is rough. A nail is virtually a wedge. Now the
principle of the wedge is to split things when the wedge goes with the
grain, as when you split a board with an axe or hatchet; for an axe is
a wedge, as you will see if you think about it.
If, then, your nail is put in wedge-fashion _with_ the grain, ten to
one the second good tap with your hammer splits the board; if, however,
you turn the nail the other way, so the wedge side is _across_ the
grain, and the straight side _with_ the grain, the nail is held firm by
the grain pressing against the wedge, and the board doesn’t split. This
is the reason that fine work is done with brads better than with tacks,
for tacks are wedge-shaped on all sides, and in driving them if the
wood is thin it is very apt to split.
Always _start_ a nail in the direction you mean to have it _go_, and
don’t depend on straightening it afterwards. If, however, it gets a
wrong slant, don’t bend it back with your fingers, nor hit it a knock
sideway with your hammer which will likely enough break the nail short
off; but with every regular stroke of your hammer give an inclination
in the right way, and it will get there.
Don’t hold on to the nail too long; in soft wood the second hammer tap
ought to find the nail firm enough to stay. Don’t make the first or the
second hammer stroke a long hard one; if you do, likely as not you’ll
mash your fingers. The first tap should be light and short; get the
swing gradually, a few inches first, adding a few inches more with
each stroke; by the time you want full force to drive the nail home,
you’ll find you can’t hit anywhere but on the head of the nail. This
is something that practise alone can make you perfect in. If you watch
a good building-carpenter, it seems as if he threw the nail into place
with one hand and hit it on the way.
Don’t think you must look at each nail in order to place it right. Your
eyes must be in your finger tips; _the smooth side goes with the grain_.
Always keep the different sizes of nails separate; then you won’t be
bothered by finding the wrong nail in your fingers when you are in the
midst of a job.
In using chisels and gouges never strike with a hammer, but always with
a wooden mallet; the hammer splits the handles.
In most chisel work it is better to put the bevel edge to the line you
wish to cut until you have cut out most of the wood, then finish with
the other edge and the pressure of your hand instead of the mallet.
It will be easier to explain the use of the other tools as we come to
them in construction.