Transcriber’s Notes
Text printed in italics and bold face in the source document has
been transcribed _between underscores_ and _between equal signs=
respectively. Small capitals have been transcribed as ALL CAPITALS.
Text ~between tildes~ represents letter-like shapes rather than
characters. Text +between plus signs+ was printed in the specific
font mentioned, or in a sans-serif font.
More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.
HANDICRAFT FOR BOYS
[Illustration: A MODEL ENGINE CONSTRUCTED FROM DIAGRAMS SHOWN IN THIS
BOOK]
HANDICRAFT
FOR BOYS
BY
A. FREDERICK COLLINS
INVENTOR OF THE WIRELESS TELEPHONE
_Author of “Inventing for Boys,” “The
Boys’ Book of Submarines,” etc._
_WITH 185 ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS_
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
_Copyright, 1918, by_
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
TO
MY NEPHEW AND NIECE
CLARENCE AND MAY ZEITLER
A WORD TO THE BOY
Your life, if you live it like the average boy, is split up into four
parts and these are (1) eating, (2) sleeping, (3) working and (4)
playing.
Now I haven’t a word to say about the first three phases of your
existence for you will attend pretty well to the eating and sleeping
ends, and your elders will quite likely see to it that you get enough
work to do in and out of school.
But when it comes to playing I want to edge in, for this is a very
important and often a sadly neglected part of your daily routine. There
are three kinds of playing, namely (a) where your mind only is engaged
as for instance at dominoes, checkers or chess, (b) where your body is
chiefly in action as in gymnastics and outdoor games, and (c) where
your mind and body are doing something more or less constructive.
This book which I have written for you deals with playing of the latter
kind and while I don’t want you to get so interested in any of the
various arts and crafts described to the extent of using all your spare
hours doing it, still it is a great mistake not to have a hobby such
as jig-sawing, printing, die-sinking or the like. There is something
tremendously fascinating about visualizing things in your brain and
then fashioning them with your hands and you ought to do it.
Different from other kinds of playing the by-products of these arts and
crafts last a long time after your efforts have been spent upon them
and it is a source of great pleasure to look at them once in a while
and know that you made them with your own hands.
Not only is there the fun of planning and doing the things I have
described, but you will at the same time pick up a lot of information
and, what is of far more value, your brain and eyes and hands will
learn to work together like a dynamo direct connected to an engine, and
then you can depend on them to serve you well whenever the occasion may
arise.
A. FREDERICK COLLINS.
“The Antlers,”
Congers, N. Y.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. CARPENTRY WORK AND CABINET MAKING 1
THE TOOLS YOU NEED -- THE KINDS OF TOOLS -- SOME HINTS ON
USING TOOLS
How to Hold a Hammer -- How to Use a Saw -- How to Use
a Plane -- How to Use Chisels and Gouges -- How to Use
a Brace and Bit -- How to Use a Rule -- How to Use a
Marking Gauge -- How to Use Hand Screws and Clamps --
How to Use a Nail Set -- How to Use a Gimlet -- How to
Drive Nails and Screws -- How to Make a Glue-Pot -- How
to Make Good Glue and How to Use It
HOW TO SHARPEN YOUR TOOLS
About Sharpening Saws -- About Sharpening Chisels and
Plane Bits -- About Sharpening Auger Bits
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR TOOLS -- REMOVING RUST FROM
TOOLS -- TO ETCH YOUR NAME ON TOOLS -- KINDS OF WOOD TO
USE
Pine; Cedar; Mahogany; Oak; Birch; Walnut
HOW TO MAKE JOINTS
Edge Joints -- Corner Joints
ABOUT WORKING DRAWINGS -- THINGS FOR YOU TO MAKE
How to Make a Work Bench -- How to Make a Tool Chest
II. SCROLL SAWING, WOOD TURNING, WOOD CARVING, ETC. 24
ALL ABOUT SCROLL SAWING
SCROLL SAWING OUTFITS -- A CHEAP SCROLL SAWING OUTFIT
How to Use the Scroll Saw
A FEW OTHER HELPFUL THINGS
A Hand Saw-Table -- Files for Scroll Work -- A Twist
Drill Stock -- A Pair of Pliers -- A Small Hammer --
Scroll Saw Blades
HOW TO TRACE A DESIGN ON WOOD -- DESIGNS FOR SCROLL
SAWING -- FOOT-POWER SCROLL SAWS
The Cricket Scroll Saw -- The Lester Scroll saw --
The Fleetwood Scroll Saw
HOW A FOOT-POWER SCROLL SAW WORKS -- HOW TO SAW ON A
FOOT-POWER SCROLL SAW -- FANCY WOODS FOR SCROLL SAW
OUTFITS -- TABLE OF SCROLL SAW WOODS -- TRIMMINGS FOR
BOXES, ETC.
TURNING IN WOOD
GET A LATHE FIRST
How a Lathe is Made
THE CHEAPEST LATHE YOU CAN BUY
Attachments for the Companion Lathe
TURNING TOOLS FOR WOOD -- HOW TO TURN WOOD
THE ART OF WOOD CARVING
YOUR SET OF CARVING TOOLS -- THE BEST WOODS FOR CARVING
-- KINDS OF WOOD CARVING
Chip Carving -- Panel Carving -- Carving in Solid
Wood
PYROGRAPHY, OR WOOD BURNING
THE NECESSARY TOOLS
How to Make an Etching Tool -- How to Make an Alcohol
Lamp -- A Better Outfit -- About the Designs -- How
to Burn in the Designs
COLORING AND STAINING WOOD
Where to Buy Stains -- Ebony Stain -- Fumed Oak
III. METALS AND METAL WORKING 56
YOUR KIT OF TOOLS -- THE VARIOUS KINDS OF TOOLS -- SOME
HINTS ON USING THE TOOLS
About Sharpening Tools
METALS AND THEIR USES
Iron
Wrought Iron
Steel
Tin
Zinc
Lead
Copper
Aluminum
A FEW USEFUL ALLOYS
Brass Type-Metal Pewter
HOW TO DO METAL WORK -- FIRST SKETCH YOUR IDEAS --
SHEET METAL WORK
Cutting and Sawing -- Making Seams and Joints
HOW TO SOLDER METALS
Fluxes Solders
BOLTS AND RIVETS -- BENDING SHEET METAL -- FINISHING UP
METALS -- COLORING METALS
Bluing Steel -- Bluing Brass -- Giving Brass a Green
Color -- Giving Brass a Dull Look -- Frosting Brass
Articles -- Lacquering Brass and Copper -- How to
Make the Lacquer
IV. VENETIAN IRON, REPOUSSÉ, PIERCED BRASS AND PEWTER WORK 76
VENETIAN BENT IRON WORK
THE TOOLS YOU MUST HAVE -- THE MATERIALS YOU NEED --
WHAT TO DO FIRST
Making a Simple Design
HOW TO MAKE A TOASTER -- HOW TO MAKE AN EGG BOILER --
HOW TO MAKE A VENETIAN PLATE HOLDER
A Dead Black Finish for Iron Work
DOING REPOUSSÉ WORK
TOOLS NEEDED FOR REPOUSSÉ WORK -- HOW TO PREPARE THE
WORK -- TRACING THE DESIGN -- BOSSING THE WORK -- HOW
TO MAKE A FLAT CANDLESTICK -- HOW TO MAKE A PHOTO FRAME
Cleaning and Polishing Metal Work -- Finishing,
Coloring and Lacquering Metals
PIERCED METAL WORK
THE OUTFIT TO DO IT WITH -- HOW TO DO THE WORK
CASTING AND WORKING PEWTER
SOMETHING ABOUT PEWTER -- HOW TO MAKE PEWTER -- ABOUT
WORKING PEWTER -- HOW TO CAST PEWTER -- THE PATTERNS
NECESSARY -- MAKING THE MOLD -- FINISHING THE WARE
ENGRAVING ON METAL
THE TOOLS THAT ARE USED -- HOW TO ENGRAVE ON METAL
V. DRAWING SIMPLY EXPLAINED 103
FREE-HAND DRAWING
TALENT VERSUS PRACTICE -- PICTURES FOR YOU TO DRAW --
SIMPLE LINE SKETCHES -- SKETCHING SIMPLE OUTLINE
FIGURES -- THE PROPORTIONS OF THE HUMAN FIGURE -- HOW
TO DRAW FACES -- SKETCHING STILL LIFE OBJECTS --
DRAWING IN PERSPECTIVE
The Vanishing Point
HOW TO SHADE A DRAWING
WORKING DRAWINGS
DRAWING TOOLS YOU SHOULD HAVE -- SIMPLE WORKING
DRAWINGS
Making Plain Drawings -- Isometric Perspective
Drawings
SOME SIMPLE AIDS TO DRAWING
HOW TO DRAW A CIRCLE -- HOW TO DRAW A SPIRAL -- HOW TO
DRAW AN ELLIPSE -- HOW TO MAKE AND USE A PANTAGRAPH --
HOW TO MAKE A REFLECTING DRAWING BOARD -- HOW TO MAKE
TRACINGS -- TO MAKE LASTING IMPRESSIONS -- THE ANCIENT
AND HONORED ART OF CUTTING SILHOUETTES -- TRANSFER
PICTURES OF DECALCOMANIA
How to Transfer the Pictures
VI. SOME KINKS IN PHOTOGRAPHY 131
HOW TO MAKE BLUE PRINTS
The Materials Required
ANOTHER KIND OF CONTACT PRINTING
To Tone and Fix the Pictures -- Receipt for a
Combined Toning and Fixing Solution
THE SIMPLEST KIND OF A CAMERA -- HOW TO DEVELOP A DRY
PLATE
How to Make the Developer -- How to Make a Fixing
Bath
A GOOD AND CHEAP CAMERA -- HOW TO MAKE AN ENLARGING
APPARATUS -- HOW TO MAKE AN ENLARGEMENT
A Developer for Bromide Paper
HOW TO MAKE A REFLECTOSCOPE
How to Use the Reflectoscope
HOW TO MAKE A MAGIC LANTERN
How to Work the Lantern
HOW TO MAKE LANTERN SLIDES -- HOW TO MAKE RADIUM
PHOTOGRAPHS
TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHS -- ONE WAY TO CATCH BIG FISH --
TAKING CARICATURE PHOTOGRAPHS
VII. PRINTING AND ITS ALLIED ARTS 157
KINDS OF PRINTING PRESSES -- THE PARTS OF A SELF-INKING
PRESS -- HOW THE PRESS WORKS -- SIZES AND PRICES OF
PRESSES -- THE OUTFIT YOU NEED
Outfit for a 3 × 5 Press -- Outfit for a 5 × 8 Press
-- Outfit for an 8 × 10 Press
ABOUT TYPE AND TYPE SETTING
Relative Number of Type Letters -- Styles of Type --
The Parts of a Type -- The Sizes of Type -- Table of
Type Sizes -- Your Type Cases -- Setting the Type
MAKING READY -- PRINTING THE JOB -- HOW TO CLEAN TYPE
-- ABOUT DISTRIBUTING TYPE -- THE INK AND ROLLERS --
PRINTING IN COLORS -- PRINTING IN GOLD -- AND FINALLY
YOUR STOCK SUPPLY
THE ART OF PAPER MAKING
WHAT PAPER IS -- HOW TO MAKE PAPER
Making the Pulp -- The Molds You Need -- Laying the
Paper
SIZING AND FINISHING
HOW TO BIND BOOKS
Making the Cover -- Sewing the Book -- Putting on the
title
VIII. RUBBER STAMPS, DIE SINKING, BURNING BRANDS AND STENCILS 183
RUBBER STAMPS
HOW TO MAKE RUBBER STAMPS
The Materials Needed
MAKING THE MOLD -- VULCANIZING THE RUBBER -- MOUNTING
THE RUBBER -- HOW TO USE A RUBBER STAMP
How to Make an Ink Pad
HOW TO MAKE RUBBER STAMP INK -- HOW TO MAKE A COPYGRAPH
PAD -- HOW TO COPY A LETTER -- HOW TO MAKE HECTOGRAPH
INKS
DIE SINKING
HOW TO MAKE BADGES, NAME PLATES, ETC. -- HOW TO SINK
THE LETTERS -- FINISHING UP THE BADGE
BURNING BRANDS
HOW TO MAKE A BURNING BRAND
How to Use the Burning Brand
STENCILS
HOW TO CUT STENCILS
Cutting Paper Stencils -- Cutting Brass Stencils --
How to Use Practical Stencils -- How to Make Stencil
Ink -- How to Use Decorative Stencils -- Mixing
Colors for Stenciling Borders
IX. THE ART OF WORKING GLASS 202
WHAT GLASS IS -- HOW TO CUT GLASS -- HOW TO USE A GLASS
CUTTER -- HOW TO FINISH OFF GLASS EDGES -- HOW TO DRILL
HOLES IN GLASS -- A COUPLE OF WAYS TO CUT GLASS TUBING
-- HOW TO CUT GLASS DISKS -- HOW TO BEND GLASS TUBING
What a Bunsen Burner Is
HOW TO BLOW GLASS -- TO ROUND THE ENDS OF TUBES -- TO
BORDER THE ENDS OF TUBES -- TO SEAL ONE END OF A TUBE
-- TO MAKE A GLASS NOZZLE -- TO MAKE A HOLE IN A TUBE
-- TO JOIN TWO TUBES OF THE SAME SIZE -- TO JOIN A TUBE
TO THE SIDE OF ANOTHER TUBE -- TO BLOW A BULB ON THE
END OF A TUBE
How to Make a Blowpipe -- How to Blow a Bulb
HOW TO ETCH GLASS
The Sand Blast Process -- How to Make Ground Glass --
The Acid Process
HOW TO CEMENT GLASS -- A SIMPLE WAY TO FROST GLASS
SUBSTITUTES FOR GLASS
Mica
Gelatine
HOW TO SILVER A MIRROR
X. TOYS FOR THE KIDDIES 227
HOW TO MAKE A POLICEMAN’S PUZZLE -- HOW TO MAKE AN
AUTOMOBILE TRUCK -- HOW TO MAKE A SWELL COASTER -- HOW
TO MAKE A NIFTY WHEELBARROW -- HOW TO MAKE A HIGH-LOW
SWING -- HOW TO MAKE A STICK HORSE -- HOW TO MAKE A
PONY AND CART -- HOW TO MAKE A LIFE-LIKE GOOSE -- HOW
TO MAKE A DANCING SAMBO -- HOW TO MAKE A WIRELESS PUP
XI. HOME MADE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 252
THE MUSICAL COINS
How to Make Them -- How to Play Them
THE MUSICAL TOMATO CANS
How to Make Them -- To Play the Musical Tomato Cans
THE MUSICAL GLASSES
How to Make Them -- How to Play the Glasses
THE TUBULAR HARP
How to Make It -- How to Play the Harp
THE MUSICAL PUSH PIPE
How to Make It -- How to Play the Push Pipe
THE CURIOUS XYLOPHONE
How to Make It -- How to Play the Xylophone
THE PECULIAR TUBAPHONE
How to Make It -- How to Play the Tubaphone
THE CATHEDRAL CHIMES
How to Make Them -- How to Play the Cathedral Chimes
THE AEOLIAN HARP
How to Make It -- How the Wind Plays It
AN EGYPTIAN FIDDLE
How to Make It -- How to Make the Bow
XII. SOME EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS 274
CARTOONS WHILE YOU WAIT
Drawing the Cartoons
THIRTY MINUTES OF CHEMISTRY -- THE MYSTIC GLASS OF MILK
-- THE MAGIC FOUNTAIN -- THE VICIOUS SOAP BUBBLES --
THE UNCANNY WHEEL -- GIVING A TRAVELOGUE -- AN
ELECTRICAL SOIRÉE -- DEMONSTRATING ELECTRICITY WITHOUT
APPARATUS
The Electrified Papers -- How to Electrify a Person
-- How Like Repels Like
MAKING EXPERIMENTS WITH APPARATUS
The Induction, or Spark Coil -- Demonstrating
Wireless Telegraphy
READING PALMS FOR FUN
How to Read Palms
A TALK ON THE STEAM ENGINE
Making the Model Engine
HOW THE ENGINE WORKS
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
A Model Engine, Showing the Principal Working Parts _Frontispiece_
Some Useful Wood Working Tools 3
A Few More Common Wood Working Tools 5
A Clamp Often Comes in Handy 7
How Edge Joints Are Made 17
How Corner Joints Are Made 19
An Easily Made Work Bench 20
A Wood Vise for Your Work Bench 21
A Carpenter’s Tool Chest 22
The Tray for Your Tool Chest 23
A Simple and Cheap Sawing Outfit 25
The Right Way to Use a Hand Scroll Saw 27
A Hand Scroll Saw Table 28
Some Necessary Scroll Sawing Tools 29
Mechanical Masterpieces Made With a Scroll Saw 31
The Cheapest Foot-power Scroll Saw Made 32
The Lester Scroll Saw with Turning Lathe Attachment 33
The Fleetwood Scroll Saw 34
The Chief Parts of a Turning Lathe 37
The Cheapest Wood Turning Lathe Made 39
A Set of Wood Turning Tools 41
Putting the Rough Wood in the Lathe 42
The Right Way to Hold a Wood Working Tool 42
Sizing the Turned Work 43
Kinds and Sweeps of Carving Tools 45
Markers for Stamping in Backgrounds 46
Schemes for Holding Work When Carving 46
Kinds of Carving 48
A Carved Watch Case Holder 49
The Tool Used for Pyrography 52
An Outfit that Burns Benzine Vapor 53
How the Tool is Heated 54
Burning in the Design 54
The Chief Metal Working Tools 58
Some Other Metal Working Tools 59
How Metal Seams and Joints are Made 70
Materials You Need for Venetian Iron Work 77
A Useful Bent Iron Toaster 79
How to Make an Egg Boiler 80
An Artistic Venetian Plate Holder 81
A Sconce for a Candle 83
How to Hold a Repoussé Hammer 84
A Punch and Punch Designs for Repoussé Work 85
How to Hold a Repoussé Punch 85
A Repoussé Candlestick 87
A Repoussé Photo Frame 89
The Tools You Need for Pierced Brass Work 90
A Pierced Brass Candle Shade 91
A Pierced Brass Toast Sign 93
Iron Ladle for Melting Pewter 95
How a Pewter Casting is Made 96
Home Made Pewter Ware 98
Tools for Engraving on Metal 99
How to Hold a Graver 100
An Engraving on a Sheet of Copper 101
A Simple Line Drawing of a Man and a Horse 104
A Simple Outline Drawing of a Boxer and a Race Horse 105
The Proportions of the Human Body 106
A Full View of the Face 107
A Profile View of the Face 108
The Vanishing Points of a Perspective Drawing 109
How to Find the Vanishing Point 110
The Vanishing Points Put to Use 111
The Drawing Tools You Need 112
The T Square and Triangle on the Drawing Board 114
The Plan Drawing for a Box 115
The Box Drawn in Isometric Perspective 116
How the Lines for Isometric Drawings are Made 117
A Sheet of Isometric Drawing Paper 118
The Proportions of an Isometric Ellipse 119
How to Draw a Circle with a Thread 120
How to Draw a Spiral with a Thread 121
How to Draw an Ellipse with a Thread 122
How a Pantagraph is Made and Used 122
How a Reflecting Drawing Board is Made and Used 123
A Lasting Carbon (Soot) Impression of Your Hand 125
Silhouettes of Your Great-Grand-pa and Great-Grand-ma (When They
Were Young) 127
A Photo Printing Frame 131
An Easily Made Pin-hole Camera 135
The Pin-hole Camera Complete with Cloth and Rubber Bands 137
Two Cheap and Good Cameras 139
A Home-made Enlarging Apparatus 141
A Home-made Enlarging Apparatus 143
A Home-made Enlarging Apparatus 144
A Cheaply Made Reflectoscope 145
A Cross Section Top View of the Reflectoscope 146
The Reflectoscope Ready for Use 147
The Parts of a Home-made Magic Lantern 149
The Magic Lantern Ready for Use 150
A Photograph of a Coin Made with Radium 152
One Way to Catch a Cod 155
How Caricatures are Made 156
A Model Self-inking Printing Press 159
An Outfit for a Model Press 162
The Parts of a Type 165
How the Type Cases are Arranged 167
The Upper Case 168
The Lower Case 168
How to Hold a Composing Stick 169
Putting a Stick of Type in the Chase 170
Tools for Locking Up a Chase 171
A Frame for Paper Making 177
How to Cut Boards and Cloth for Book Binding 179
Sewing on the Muslin Flap 180
The Bound Book Complete 181
The Matrix Frame, Chase and Boards for Making Rubber Stamps 184
The Type in the Chase. Plaster of Paris Impression in the Matrix
Frame 186
The Matrix with the Rubber Gum in Place Ready to Vulcanize 187
The Rubber Stamp Ready to Use 188
Pulling an Impression from the Copygraph 191
First Steps in Making a Badge 192
The Badge on a Flat-iron in a Vise. Sinking in the Letters 193
Steel Letters and Figures for Die Sinking 194
Last Steps in Making a Badge 195
A Burning Brand of Iron or Copper 197
Stencil Letters and Stencils 199
Glass Cutters 204
The Right Way to Hold a Diamond Point Glass Cutter 205
How to Cut a Pane of Glass 205
A Cutter for Glass Tubes 207
A Circular Glass Cutter 208
Kinds of Bunsen Burners 210
Bordering the End of a Tube 211
Sealing Off the End of a Tube 212
How to Make a Hole in a Tube 212
Welding Two Tubes Together. Making a T Tube 213
A Regular Blow-Pipe 214
Cross Section of a Home-made Blow-pipe 215
The Glass Blowing Arrangement Ready to Use 216
A Regular Foot Bellows 217
First Steps in Blowing a Glass Bulb 218
Making a Thick Ring of Glass 218
Last Step in Blowing a Glass Bulb 219
Part of the Apparatus for Sand Blast Etching 220
Sand Blast Apparatus Put Together Ready for Etching 221
Etching Glass with Acid 223
A Policeman’s Puzzle, or Now Will You Be Good 228
Plans for the Automobile Truck 229
The Automobile Truck Ready to Run 230
Plans for a Swell Coaster 231
The Coaster Ready to Ride On 232
Plans for the Nifty Wheelbarrow. The Barrow Ready to Wheel 234
Plans for the High-low Swing 236
The Swing Ready to Swing Low, Swing High 237
Ride a Stick Horse to Banbury Cross 238
Plans for a Pony and Cart. The Pony and Cart When Done 240
How the Life-like Goose is Made 241
Goosie, Goosie Gander, Where Shall I Wander 242
The Dancing Sambo 243
The Mechanism of the Dancing Sambo 244
The Wireless Pup, the Slot in the Floor of the Dog House 245
The Back End of the Dog House 246
The Spanker with Electric Solenoid Control 247
Cross Section Side View of the Wireless Pup Ready for Action 248
The Front End View of the Wireless Pup House 249
When You Call the Wireless Pup or Clap Your Hands He Comes Out of
His Dog House in a Hurry 250
The Musical Coin 253
How to Hold the Musical Coin to Spin It 254
The Chopin Tomato Can 255
The Musical Glasses 257
The Harp of a Thousand Thrills 258
How to Play the Harp 259
Parts of a Musical Push Pipe 261
How the Push Pipe is Played 263
A Xylophone. The Bars are Made of Wood 264
A Tubaphone. The Bars are Made of Metal Tubes 265
The Cathedral Chimes 266
The Harp of Aeolus 268
Plans for an Egyptian Fiddle 271
How the Bow is Made 272
How the Fiddle is Played 273
How an Easel is Made 276
First Principles of Cartooning 278
Three Simple Cartoons that You Can Do 279
The Oracle of Amor, or Are You in Love? 280
The Mystic Fountain 282
Making Hydrogen Chloride Gas 283
The Vicious Soap Bubbles 285
The Uncanny Wheel 287
The Electrified Papers 291
A Simple Wireless Demonstration Set 294
Cross Section of the Coherer Showing Its Construction 295
The Parts of the Hand Named According to Science 296
The Parts of the Hand Named According to Palmistry 298
Working Drawings for the Demonstration Steam Engine. Cross Section
Side View of the Engine 302
End View of the Engine. The Crank Shaft. The Rocker Arm 304
Top View of the Engine 306
The Steam Engine Ready to Demonstrate 309
HANDICRAFT FOR BOYS
CHAPTER I
CARPENTRY WORK AND CABINET MAKING
Did you ever think about what you’d do if you were shipwrecked on a
tropical island like Robinson Crusoe?
Well, if you had a good, strong pocket-knife with you it wouldn’t be
so terribly bad and in a few months’ time you’d have fashioned all the
things you’d need to furnish a three-room palmetto bungalow.
To be sure your furniture wouldn’t be very highly finished but it would
be awfully artistic and while in a civilized community it might be
looked upon as a rare exhibit of savage workmanship, it would serve you
nobly and well in your island home.
But you don’t have to be marooned on a lonely isle or limited to the
use of a jack-knife to show your prowess as a worker in wood. All you
need to do is to get some out of the way room where there is plenty of
light for a workshop and buy a few _good_ tools to work with and you’ll
take as keen a pleasure in making useful things with your own hands as
Robinson Crusoe did.
=The Tools You Need.=--It is a great mistake to go out and buy a cheap
chest of tools of whatever size for while there is always a large
number of tools in it they are usually of a very poor quality.
If you can afford to buy a chest of good tools and will get them of a
regular tool supply house you can then buy a chest of tools safely. Now
to make any ordinary piece of woodwork you don’t need many tools but
each one should be the very best, for therein half the pleasure lies.
=The Kind of Tools.=--The tools used for _cabinet making_, as the
finer kinds of joinery are called, are exactly the same as those used
for carpentry though they are usually kept a little sharper and there
should be a few more of them.
All the tools you will need at first are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and
these are (1) a cast-steel, adze-eye, bell-faced _hammer_[1] weighing
about 9 ounces, which is a regular carpenter’s hammer. (2) A _mallet_,
made of hickory, with a 2¹⁄₂ inch face and try to get one in which the
handle goes clear through the head and is wedged in.
[1] The Ohio Tool Company makes good hammers.
(3) Four saws,[2] namely (a) a 16 inch _crosscut saw_--usually called
a _handsaw_--which is used for sawing off boards across the grain, (b)
a 20 inch _rip-saw_, for sawing with the grain so that a board can be
sawed lengthwise, (c) a _back saw_ or _miter saw_ as it is sometimes
called; it is about 12 inches long and has about 20 teeth to the inch
so that it makes a very fine and smooth cut. (d) A _compass saw_; it
has a narrow, tapering blade about 10 inches long and is used to cut
out holes in boards, and to cut _disks_, or wheels of wood. The blade
of a _keyhole saw_ is thinner and narrower than a compass saw and,
hence, smaller holes and shorter curves can be cut with it than with a
compass saw.
[2] Disston saws are the kind to get.
[Illustration:
_THE WAY TO SAW A BOARD_
_A CARPENTER’S HAMMER AND HOW TO HOLD IT_
_SAWING OFF A STRIP WITH A BACK SAW AND MITER BOX_
_WHERE A COMPASS SAW COMES IN HANDY_
_HOW TO HOLD A SMOOTHING PLANE_
_A FIRMER CHISEL IN USE_
FIG. 1. SOME USEFUL WOOD WORKING TOOLS]
(4) A _miter box_ (pronounced mi′-ter) is a little trough of wood
formed of a bottom with two sides screwed to it but without a top or
ends. The sides of the box have saw-cuts in them, or _kerfs_ as they
are called, at angles of 45 and 90 degrees so that strips of wood,
molding and the like can be sawed accurately across, or _mitered_, to
make a corner joint.
(5) Three planes[3] and these are (a) a _block plane_ for small light
work; (b) a _smoothing plane_ which is a little longer and has a handle
and is _set fine_, that is the _bit_, or blade is finely adjusted for
finishing work; and (c) a _jack-plane_, which is a large plane used for
planing off rough surfaces.
[3] I like Stanley planes the best.
(6) Three chisels,[4] or _firmer chisels_ as they are called. These are
regular flat, bevel-edged carpenter’s chisels and the blades should be
¹⁄₈, ¹⁄₄, and ¹⁄₂ inch wide, respectively.
[4] Buck Brothers are noted for their chisels.
(7) Three gouges,[5] or _firmer gouges_, to give them their full name.
These gouges are simply chisels with curved cutting edges so that a
rounded groove can be cut in a board. Get them with blades having ¹⁄₄,
³⁄₈ and ¹⁄₂ inch regular _sweep_, as the curve of the cutting edge is
called.
[5] Buck Brothers’ gouges are also good.
[Illustration:
_BORING A HOLE WITH A BRACE AND BIT_
_THE SCREW DRIVER AND HOW TO USE IT_
_HOW THE TRY SQUARE IS USED_
_A NAIL SET AND HOW TO HOLD IT_
_USING A MARKING GAUGE_
_THE RIGHT WAY TO SHARPEN A CHISEL_
FIG. 2. A FEW MORE COMMON WOOD WORKING TOOLS]
(8) A _brace_ and five _auger bits_.[6] A brace and bit, as you know,
is a tool to _bore_ holes in wood with. You ought to have five bits and
get them ¹⁄₄, ⁵⁄₁₆, ³⁄₈, ⁷⁄₁₆ and ¹⁄₂ an inch in diameter.
[6] When you buy auger bits get the genuine Russel Jennings.
(9) A _maple_ or a _boxwood rule_; this should be a regular, 2-foot,
four fold carpenter’s rule. (10) A _marking gauge_; the _bar_ of the
gauge is graduated in 16ths of an inch and the _adjustable_ head of one
good enough to work with is fitted with a brass thumb screw.
(11) An iron bound _try-square_ with a 6, or better, a 9-inch blade.
This is used not only to make measurements with but to _try_ whether a
thing is _square_ or not, hence its name.
(12) Two _screw drivers_, one for small and the other for large screws.
(13) Two _double cut gimlets_, one ¹⁄₈ and the other ³⁄₁₆ inch in
diameter; these are useful for making holes for starting screws and the
like.
(14) Four _hand screws_, or _clamps_ as they are more often called;
these are made of wood and are used to clamp two or more pieces of wood
together when they are being bored or after they are glued. The jaws
should be about 7 inches long and they should open at least 4 inches
wide. They only cost a quarter apiece.
(15) A _nail set_; this is a steel punch for driving the head of a
nail below the surface of the wood without denting it.
(16) A _Washita oil-stone_ is the right kind to sharpen wood-working
tools on; a stone ¹⁄₂ or ³⁄₄ inch thick, 2 inches wide and 4 or 5
inches long will be large enough and you should make a box with a cover
to keep it in and so protect it from the dust.
[Illustration: FIG. 2M. A CLAMP OFTEN COMES IN HANDY]
(17) A sewing machine _oil can_ filled with sewing machine oil, or any
other good, light lubricating oil, is needed for sharpening your tools.
(18) A small can of Le Page’s _liquid glue_, or if you want to make
your own glue then get a _glue-pot_ and _brush_. You can buy a ¹⁄₂ pint
can of liquid glue for a quarter or less, or you can buy a cast iron,
water-jacketed glue pot which holds a pint for about 40 cents. Get a
small round _bristle brush_ for a glue brush.
=Some Hints on Using Tools.=--Since I have used tools ever since I was
old enough to hold a hammer I can easily tell you just how you should
handle them but to become a skilled workman you must be willing to do
the rest and that is to practice.
_How to Hold a Hammer._--When you use a hammer, grasp the handle a
couple of inches from the free end and hold it so that it will swing
freely and easily in your hand and keep your hand and wrist above the
level of the nail or whatever it is you are pounding; this takes the
jar off of your arm and makes the work of using it surer and less
tiresome. Never use a hammer on wood-work of any kind.
When you use a mallet as for driving chisels hold it rather close to
its head, and need I tell you never to use a wooden mallet to drive
nails with.
_How to Use a Saw._--Hold the wood to be sawed with your left hand--I
am taking it for granted that you are righthanded; put all of the
fingers of your right hand through the hole in the handle of the saw
with your thumb on the other side and grip the handle firmly.
To start the saw put it on the mark where you want to saw the board and
rest your thumb against the side of it to guide and steady it. Stand so
that your eye will look down the back of the saw and don’t hold it too
straight but at an angle of 45 degrees, that is half way between the
horizontal and the vertical. Of course this does not apply to a back
saw or a keyhole saw.
_How to Use a Plane._--Since a smooth plane has no handle lay your
right hand over the tail of it and rest your left hand on the nose of
it. Make short, quick strokes, pressing down on the plane as it goes
forward and letting up on it a little as you draw it back.
A jack-plane has a handle on it something like a saw-handle and it is
held like a saw with your right hand. If there is no knob on the nose
of it hold it by laying your left hand across it. When using a jack
plane give it a long stroke with even pressure and you will take off
the same thickness of shaving all the way along.
_How to Use Chisels and Gouges._--To hold a chisel properly when
cutting a groove grip it a couple of inches below the top of the handle
with your left hand. Hold it with the beveled edge down from you and at
a slight angle from the horizontal when making grooves, and at a slight
angle from the vertical when cutting a mortise. Gouges are used in the
same way as chisels.
_How to Use a Brace and Bit._--Set the sharp pointed end of the bit on
the exact spot which is to be the center of the hole you are to bore.
Hold the top handle of the brace with your left hand and the crank
handle with your right hand. Have the top of the brace and the bit in a
line with your eye and after you start to bore _sight_ the bit on both
sides of the hole you are boring to see that it is _plumb_--that is
straight up and down.
_How to Use a Rule._--A carpenter’s rule is two feet long and divided
into inches which are sub-divided again into 8ths and 16ths of an inch.
In making measurements for joinery use the rule accurately or you will
have misfits.
_How to Use a Marking Gauge._--This is a useful device to mark off one
or more parallel lines on a board when one edge of it is straight.
The head slides on a wooden bar near one end of which is a steel
point. The bar is _graduated_, that is, it is spaced off in inches and
fractions of an inch like a rule and this makes it easy to set the head
at any distance from the steel point.
When you have set the gauge hold the head against the edge of the board
you want to mark, press the steel point against the _surface_ and draw
the gauge along with both hands when the point will scratch a line.
_How to Use Hand Screws or Clamps._--Put the pieces of wood that are to
be held together between the jaws of the clamp and screw each screw up
a little at a time so that the jaws are kept even, that is parallel.
_How to Use a Nail Set._--A _finishing nail_, that is, a nail having a
head only a shade larger than the shank, is used for the finer kinds
of woodwork. After you have driven in a nail until its head is within,
say, ¹⁄₈ inch of the surface put the small, hollow end of your nail
set on it, hold them together with your thumb and forefinger and drive
it in by hitting the nail set with your hammer. After the head is sunk
below the surface of the wood fill in the hole with a _wood filler_[7]
when neither the nail nor the hole can be seen.
[7] To make a wood-filler, melt 1 ounce of white resin and 1 ounce of
yellow wax in a pan and add enough _ochre_, which can be had in any
color, to give it the color of the wood you are using. Stir it well
and fill the dent while hot. This filler sticks well to the wood and
when dry is very hard.
_How to Use a Gimlet._--After you have started a hole with a gimlet
give it a complete turn and then half a turn back each time, for by so
doing it will be far less liable to split the wood. Moisten the point
of the gimlet and it will go in easier.
_How to Drive Nails and Screws._--Put a little common brown soap on the
ends of nails and screws before you drive them in and you will find
that it greatly lessens the friction.
_How to Make a Glue-Pot._--In these days of preparedness it is easier
to buy ready made glue than it is to make it yourself; moreover it is
just about as cheap, nearly as good and certainly far less trouble.
If you insist on making your own glue though, you must, first of all,
have a glue-pot of the right kind to make it in. As I have already
mentioned a glue-pot is made of two pots one inside the other. The
outside pot is half filled with water and the inside one contains the
glue.
You can improvise a glue-pot by using a tomato can for the outside pot
and a pepper or mustard can for the inside pot. While it won’t look
quite as shop-like as the kind you buy it will work just as well.
_How to Make Good Glue and How to Use It._--To make good glue, put
some small pieces of genuine Peter Cooper or imported French Coignet
glue into the inside glue pot in enough water to cover it. The outer
pot is set on a fire and the water in it is brought to a boil. Stir the
glue until it is all melted, when it should be about as thick as sewing
machine oil. Skim off the scum that forms when the glue is boiling.
In using home-made glue have it very hot, for the hotter it is the
stronger the joint it will make; further put it on both surfaces of the
wood to be glued together very thinly as this also tends to make it
stick tighter.
=How to Sharpen Your Tools.=--You must have sharp tools if you expect
to do a job like a carpenter or a cabinet maker.
_About Sharpening Saws._--This is done by filing the teeth with a _hand
saw taper file_ and the saw must be held in a _saw-vise_, that is a
vise with long jaws which keep the saw from vibrating.
When the saw is filed the teeth must be _set_, which means that one
tooth is bent one way a trifle and the next one to it is bent the other
way and this is done with a tool called a _saw set_.
You ought to learn to file your own saws but it would be just as well,
or a little better, to let a man who makes a business of filing saws do
this job for you at first. Keep your saws oiled when not in use.
_About Sharpening Chisels and Plane Bits._--To sharpen a chisel or
a plane bit put a few drops of oil on your Washita oil stone; hold
the beveled edge of the tool on it and toward you, and see to it that
it rests flat on the stone or you will make it rounding and the edge
uneven.
When you get it at exactly the right angle grasp it firmly with both
hands and then move it on the stone, forth and back, pressing down on
it pretty hard as it moves away from you, and easing up on it as you
draw it toward you.
When a chisel or a plane-bit gets a nick in it it must be ground out on
a grind stone; if you haven’t one get a carpenter to do it for you, and
when you get it back _hone_ it, that is, sharpen it on your oil stone
as before.
Get a Washita _slip stone_ for the touching up gouges and instead of
rubbing the edge of the gouge on the stone you rub the stone on the
gouge. Never try to grind a woodworking tool on an emery wheel.
_About Sharpening Auger Bits._--An ordinary auger-bit seldom needs
sharpening but when it does the _cutter_ of it must be sharpened on the
inside. A very fine file can be used for this purpose and then hone it
with a slip of an oil stone.
=How to Take Care of Your Tools.=--If your workshop is nice and dry you
don’t need to put your tools away in a chest or a cabinet after you get
through using them each time.
But if you use them only once in awhile it is a good plan to wipe them
off with a piece of cheese-cloth moistened with oil and then lock them
up where neither the baby can get them nor the hired girl from across
the street can borrow them.
=Removing Rust from Tools.=--Should any of your tools show signs of
rusting you can get the rust off by rubbing some sweet oil on the
rusted part; let it stand a couple of days and then rub it with very
finely powdered unslacked lime.
=To Etch Your Name on Tools.=--Clean the saw, or whatever tool you want
to _etch_ your name on, with a hot solution made by dissolving some
_sodium carbonate_, commonly called _soda_, in water and be careful not
to touch the cleaned surface with your fingers.
Next cover the cleaned surface with a thin layer of melted wax or
paraffin and when it is cold scratch your name clear through it with a
darning needle or some other sharp pointed tool so that the steel is
exposed and the acid solution can act on it.
Put ¹⁄₂ an ounce of water into a glass stoppered bottle and add ¹⁄₂ an
ounce of _nitric acid_.[8] Shake the solution well to mix it, dip a
splint of wood into it and touch the scratched in letters with it until
the acid covers the exposed parts of the steel.
[8] Nitric acid is a _poison_ and you must so label the bottle
containing it. Do not pour the water into the acid as it will splash
about. Be careful not to get it on your clothes, but if you should,
brush some ammonia over it as this will neutralize it and stop its
action.
Let the acid solution stay on for a half or an hour and then wash it
off with hot water, scrape off the paraffin and you will find your name
etched on the steel exactly as you marked it.
=Kinds of Wood to Use.=--There are many kinds of woods and each one
has its special use in the arts and crafts. For carpentry and cabinet
making you will probably not use more than half-a-dozen woods and these
are, (1) _pine_; (2) _cedar_; (3) _mahogany_; (4) _oak_; (5) _birch_
and (6) _walnut_.
_Pine._--This is a good wood for making things in general. There are
two kinds of pine and these are (a) _white pine_ and (b) _yellow pine_.
White pine is very soft, light and straight grained and it is a
pleasure to use it even if it is only to sit on a fence and whittle
it with a pocket knife. (I wish I could do it again.) You can make
benches, boxes, toys and a hundred and one other things out of it but
it is too soft for furniture and cabinet work.
Yellow, or Georgia pine has a fine yellow color, and a beautiful grain
and together they are very showy. It is harder than white pine and
while it can be used where the latter cannot, it is not nearly as easy
to work.
_Cedar._--This fragrant wood belongs to the pine family and it is
nearly as soft as pine. There are two kinds of cedar and these are (a)
_red cedar_ and (b) _white cedar_.
Red cedar is the kind you want to get to make things of; it has a
pastel red color and a fragrant odor and it is this latter property
that makes it a good wood for wardrobe chests, for moths do not like
it. Next to white pine it is about the easiest wood to work and it is
especially nice for making all small articles, such as glove boxes,
handkerchief boxes and the like.
_Mahogany._--Also and likewise there are two kinds of mahogany and
these are (a) _Honduras mahogany_ and (b) _Spanish mahogany_.
Honduras mahogany is the kind that cigar boxes are made of and it is
much softer and lighter in both weight and color than Spanish mahogany.
You can make all manner of nice things of the better grades of Honduras
mahogany and, curiously enough, it stays glued better than any other
wood. It is nearly as easy to work as pine and it takes a fine polish.
Spanish mahogany is like Honduras mahogany in name only. It is a fine,
close-grained dark-red-brown or yellow-brown colored wood, takes a very
high polish and makes the finest kind of furniture.
_Oak._--This is a strong, beautiful wood and is useful in making all
kinds of furniture the design of which should be plain.
It is not an easy wood to work and tools when used on it soon lose
their cutting edges. But after you have made a piece of furniture you
can depend on it that it will last to the end of time, nearly.
_Birch._--This wood belongs to the oak family but different from oak
it is quite easy to work. It is light in color, fine grained, so tough
and elastic it cannot be easily broken, and it takes a fine polish. For
these reasons it makes nice furniture and it is a very good wood for
turning.
It is from the bark of the birch that the Indians made their canoes,
but this is a story of the long ago and we must stick to the present.
_Walnut._--This is a good old English wood; it is the finest kind of
wood that can be used for ornamental furniture, gun stocks and wherever
else a beautiful color and a showy grain are wanted. It is easier to
work than oak and is a fine wood for carving.
=How to Make Joints.=--The word _joint_ in woodworking means the place
where two or more pieces of wood are fitted together, and hence the
words _joiner_ and _joinery_ in woodworking parlance.
[Illustration:
A· _THE SQUARE OR BUTT JOINT_
B· _THE PLAIN LAP JOINT_
C· _THE BEVELED LAP JOINT_
D· _THE REBATED JOINT_
E· _THE TONGUE AND GROOVE JOINT_
FIG. 3. HOW EDGE JOINTS ARE MADE]
There are two chief kinds of joints and these are, (1) where two flat
surfaces are fixed to each other, and (2) where the edges of two boards
meet to form a corner. Though there are many ways to make both kinds of
joints I shall only tell you about half-a-dozen which you will find the
most useful for your needs.
_Edge Joints._--There are three easy ways to make flat, or edge joints
and these are (a) the _square_, or _butt joint_; (b) the _lap-joint_
and (c) the _matched joint_, all of which are shown in Fig. 3.
In the square joint the edges of the boards are simply _butted_
together and nailed, screwed or glued. This joint is very weak unless
the abutting ends are fastened to something else.
In the simplest form of lap-joint the edge of one board is laid on top
of the other board and these are nailed or otherwise fastened together.
A neater lap joint is made by cutting away half of the edge of each
end of the boards so that when they are fitted and fixed together the
surfaces of the boards at the joints are even and smooth.
A better joint than the lap-joint is made by planing a _tongue_ on the
edge of one board and a groove in the other. To do this easily, neatly
and quickly you need a _rabbet plane_ and as this is quite a costly
tool, you can get along very well without it by using the lap-joints.
_Corner Joints._--There are five corner joints which you should know
about and these are (a) the _butt_, or _square joint_; (b) the _lap_,
or _rebated joint_; (c) the _mitered corner pieced joint_; (d) the
_common dove-tail box joint_, and (e) the _regular dove-tail joint_,
pictures of all of which are shown in Fig. 4.
Now when you can saw a board off straight, plane it true and make a
good joint you will have small trouble in making anything in wood that
you want to make.
[Illustration:
A· _THE BUTT OR SQUARE JOINT_
B· _THE REBATED JOINT_
C· _THE MITERED CORNER PIECE JOINT_
D· _THE SIMPLE BOX DOVETAIL_
E· _A BETTER FORM OF DOVETAIL_
FIG. 4. HOW CORNER JOINTS ARE MADE]
=About Working Drawings.=--When most boys--to say nothing of the
majority of men--start to make something they simply knit their
eyebrows (not high-brows) and think out how it will look in the
_concrete_--that is when it is all done and ready to use.
Then they go ahead and begin to saw up the lumber and put the pieces
together. The result is that when the object is finished it looks very
different from the thing they so proudly pictured in their mind’s eye.
Now the right way to build what you want and have it look as it ought
to is to make a _working drawing_ of it.
To do this draw a picture of it to a _scale_, of say 1 inch to the
foot; that is, if it is to be 4 feet long draw it 4 inches long. The
drawings I have made of the work-bench and the tool box which follow
will show you how to make simple working drawings and the last part of
Chapter III explains it all in detail, so read it carefully.
=Things for You to Make.=--When you have your workshop ready, your
tools at hand, the foregoing ideas of woods in your mind and know about
simple working drawings you can go ahead and make things and your first
job will probably be to make a bench.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. AN EASILY MADE WORK BENCH]
_How to Make a Work Bench._--Go to a lumber yard or a planing mill
and get one 2 × 2 _scantling_ 12 feet long for the legs, and two 2 ×
2 scantlings for the cross bars and the side bars; the middle cross
bar can be any kind of a thick piece of wood. If you can’t get 2 × 2
scantlings get 2 × 4’s and have whichever size you get planed smooth on
all sides.
At the same time get three boards 1 or 2 inches thick, 10 inches wide
and 6 feet long for the top of the bench and two boards 1 inch thick,
10 inches wide and 4 feet long for the tool board. Saw the scantlings
up so that you will have four pieces for the legs 2 feet 9 inches long;
four cross-bars 2 feet 6 inches long, and two side bars 3 feet 6 inches
long.
Build up the frame of the bench first as shown in Fig. 5; then nail, or
better, screw a cross-bar to the middle of the 6 foot boards, lay them
on top of the frame and nail or screw them to the end cross bars. When
you have the bench thus far along put on the _vise_.
[Illustration: FIG. 6. A WOOD VISE FOR YOUR WORK BENCH]
A wood-worker’s vise as shown at A and B in Fig. 6 can be bought for
$3.50 on up to about $9.00. The jaws are about 4 inches wide and 12
inches long and they open nearly 12 inches. All you have to do to fix
it to your bench is to screw the rear jaw to the front left hand edge
of the top of the bench as shown in Fig. 5.
The tool board is not an absolute necessity but it is a great
convenience. To make it saw off two boards 4 feet long, nail
them together with a couple of strips of wood--these are called
_cleats_--and round off one end as shown in Fig. 5. Screw the tool
board to the back of the bench and you are all ready to make things in
wood.
[Illustration: FIG. 7A. A CARPENTER’S TOOL CHEST]
_How to Make a Tool Chest._--Either birch or chestnut are good woods
to make your tool chest of. Make the box, that is the lower part of
the chest, and the lid for it of ³⁄₄ inch thick stuff; have the box
9 inches high, 12 inches wide and 30 inches long and have the lid
3 inches high, 12 inches wide and 30 inches long. Screw the boards
together as nails will not hold tight enough. See A Fig. 7.
Screw a strip of wood inside the chest for the tray to rest on; put two
or three hinges on the box and lid and be particular how you do it or
the lid will not fit evenly on the chest. Fasten a _staple_ on front of
the box in the middle near the top and a _hasp_ on the cover so that
you can put on a padlock, or better you can put on a regular chest lock
which is handier and makes a neater looking job. To keep the lid from
falling back when you open it, screw a piece of chain about 8 inches
long to it and the box and this will serve as a check.
[Illustration: FIG. 7B. THE TRAY FOR YOUR TOOL CHEST]
Finally make a tray of ¹⁄₂ or ⁵⁄₈ inch thick wood as shown at B in Fig.
7. Make the ends 6 inches high and 6 inches long and saw out the handle
grips with your keyhole saw. Make the sides and partitions 4¹⁄₂ inches
high and 28¹⁄₂ inches long, screw them together and put on the bottom.
By making the tray narrower than the chest you can slide it back and
forth and so get such tools out of the bottom as you may need without
lifting the tray each time you do so.
_Note._--You can buy any tool I have described in this chapter of any
hardware dealer or tool supply company in your town or if one is not at
hand Hammacher, Schlemmer and Company, corner of Fourth Avenue and 13th
Street, New York City, will supply you with just what you want.
CHAPTER II
SCROLL SAWING, WOOD TURNING, WOOD CARVING, ETC.
As you may have observed, it takes a pretty good sized room for a shop
and quite a lot of tools to do carpenter work and cabinet making.
Now if you find it hard to get these things don’t be discouraged
because there are other kinds of woodwork that take neither a whole
room nor a chest of tools, and the chief ones of these are (1) _scroll
sawing_; (2) _wood turning_; (3) _wood carving_ and (4) _pyrography_.
Not only are the pursuits of these trades pleasant but they are
profitable because whether the art objects you make are useful or not
the work trains your mind, your eyes and your hands at one and the same
time and when you get these three factors working harmoniously together
you have achieved something that will be valuable to you as long as you
live.
All About Scroll Sawing
Scroll sawing, fret sawing and jig sawing all mean precisely the same
thing and that is sawing interlaced and ornamental designs out of wood,
or _fretwork_ as it is called.
With a scroll saw frame costing 50 cents and a few thin boards you can
saw out the most exquisite patterns and make the most dainty articles
imaginable. There is more pleasure, of course, in using a regular foot
power scroll saw, but you can do just as good work with a hand frame
and though it takes a little longer you’ll enjoy it immensely.
=Scroll Sawing Outfits.=--A scroll saw is a very simple piece of
apparatus and it consists of a fine saw fixed in a frame, or otherwise
supported, so that it can be moved up and down, and it is narrow enough
to turn sharp curves.
Now scroll saws, as I shall call them, are of three kinds and these are
(1) those worked by hand; (2) those run by foot-power, and (3) those
operated by other kinds of power.
[Illustration: FIG. 8. A SIMPLE AND CHEAP SCROLL SAWING OUTFIT]
=A Cheap Scroll Sawing Outfit.=--The simplest and cheapest scroll
sawing outfit consists of (a) a _scroll saw frame_; (b) a dozen _saw
blades_, and (c) an _awl_, all of which are shown in Fig. 8. If it
is your idea to saw out brackets and other fancy knickknacks you
ought to have a sheet of (d) _impression paper_,[9] (e) some _sheet
designs_,[10] and (f) some _fancy wood_.
[9] This is ordinary carbon paper such as is used for typewriting.
[10] See Fancy Woods for Scroll Sawing in this chapter.
The scroll saw frame is a bent iron or steel bar, usually
nickel-plated, which forms a frame about 5 inches wide and 12 inches
long. A handle is fitted to one end and a clamp to each end so that the
saw blade can be held tight in the frame.
_How to Use the Scroll Saw._--The first thing to do is to put a saw
blade in the frame and be sure to have the points of the teeth _down_,
that is toward the handle.
Next mark the design you intend to saw out on a thin piece of wood[11]
planed nice and smooth on both sides, hold it flat on the edge of the
table with your left hand, grip the saw handle with your right hand and
hold it so that the saw blade is vertical as shown in Fig. 9.
[11] Both can be bought of L. H. Wild, 171 Avenue A, New York City.
You are ready now to begin to saw out the design; set the sawblade on
the line, jig the saw frame up and down and be careful to give it even
and smooth strokes. You will be surprised to find how easily it works.
When you are sawing turn the wood and not the saw frame--the latter
can be turned a little sometimes to advantage--and hold it so that
the back of the frame is always toward you and the blade should move
forward but very slightly.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. THE RIGHT WAY TO USE A HAND SCROLL SAW]
When you want to saw a piece out of the inside of the board, take your
awl and make a hole in it by giving it a twisting motion to prevent
it from splitting the wood. Now unscrew one of the clamps of your saw
frame and put the free end of the saw through the hole, clamp it in the
frame and start to saw again.
=A Few Other Helpful Things.=--A _Hand Saw-Table_.--You can saw out
your designs much more easily and neatly if you use a hand saw table as
shown in Fig. 10. This is a board about 4 × 6 inches on the sides with
a V sawed out of one end and a clamp screwed to the bottom of it.
[Illustration: FIG. 10. A HAND SCROLL SAW TABLE]
This makes the end of the board project out from the table it is
clamped to, raises the wood you are sawing from the surface of it and
gives you a firm grip on it. You can easily make a saw table or you can
buy one for 50 cents.[12]
[12] The Millers Falls Company, Millers Falls, Mass., makes them and
nearly all tool companies sell them.
_Files for Scroll Work._--To do a really neat job at scroll sawing you
should have a set of scroll saw files. These files are long and thin
and are made round, oval, knife edge, half round and three cornered as
shown at A in Fig. 11.
_A Twist Drill Stock._--A twist drill stock and a drill, see B, Fig.
11, is far better for making holes in wood than an awl and as they only
cost 50 cents you should have one. You can make a hole in a ¹⁄₈ inch
thick board in the ¹⁄₁₀₀th part of a minute.
_A Pair of Pliers._--A pair of flat-nose, side cutting pliers is a very
useful tool which will go a long way toward making your scroll sawing
efforts a success. A pair is shown at C in Fig. 11.
_A Small Hammer._--And finally get a small hammer to drive brads with
as pictured at D.
_Scroll Saw Blades._--There are two kinds made and these are known as
(1) _Star saw blades_ and (2) _German saw blades_.
[Illustration:
_SCROLL SAWYER’S FILES_
_A TWIST DRILL STOCK_
_FLAT NOSE, SIDE CUTTING PLIERS_
_A SMALL HAMMER_
_SAW BLADES (HALF SIZE)_
_THE TEETH OF A SAW ARE PLACED WIDE APART TO CUT CLEAN_
FIG. 11. SOME NECESSARY SCROLL SAWING TOOLS]
As one is as good as the other by all means buy Star blades. The sizes
from 1 to 10 are shown at E in Fig. 11, but three smaller and two
larger sizes are made. The smaller sizes cost 10 cents a dozen and the
larger sizes 15 cents a dozen. The spacing of the teeth on the blade is
shown at F.
=How to Trace a Design on Wood.=--You can draw your own designs or buy
them printed ready to use. In either case you must transfer the design
to the surface of the wood you are going to saw.
To do this lay a sheet of _carbon paper_ as typists call it, or
_impression paper_ as jig sawyers call it, with the prepared side next
to the wood; lay the design sheet on top of it; and fasten the corners
of the sheets to the wood with glue, or, better, with _thumb tacks_.[13]
[13] Thumb tacks are short, flat headed tacks used by draughtsmen.
Now take a sharp, hard lead pencil or a piece of pointed bone and trace
the outline of the design. When you have it all done you will find that
the design is plainly marked in black lines on the wood--that is except
where you forgot to trace it.
=Designs for Scroll Sawing.=--Designs in great variety can be bought
of H. L. Wild, Publisher, 171 Avenue A, New York City. Besides glove
boxes, handkerchief boxes, bird cages, clock cases, thread and thimble
stands, photo frames and a thousand and one other pretty and useful
articles you can get patterns for doll furniture, alphabets and
mechanical designs like the horizontal engine shown at A in Fig. 12 and
the fire engine shown at B.
=Foot-Power Scroll Saws.=--There are several makes of foot-power scroll
saws on the market and the prices of these range from $4.50 to $25.
_The Cricket Scroll Saw._--This is the cheapest foot-power scroll saw
that you can buy and is the one that sells for $4.50. It has a _table_
that tilts which permits you to saw your work on a _bevel_--that is on
a slant--so that you can _inlay_ it with some other kind of wood or
metal.
[Illustration:
=A=--_A HORIZONTAL STEAM ENGINE_
=B=--_A FIRE ENGINE_
FIG. 12. MECHANICAL MASTERPIECES MADE WITH A SCROLL SAW]
This little machine weighs 17 pounds and is 33 inches high; it is made
of lighter castings than the machines which follow but it will do just
about as good work as the higher priced ones. Fig. 13 shows what it
looks like.
[Illustration: FIG. 13. THE CHEAPEST FOOT-POWER SCROLL SAW MADE]
_The Lester Scroll Saw._--This is a well made saw, has a cast iron
frame and the _arms_ of the saw frame and the _pitman_--that is, the
rod which connects the crank wheel with the frame--are of ash.
The Lester has several very handy attachments and these are (a) an
_automatic dust blower_, which blows the sawdust away from the line
you are sawing on; (b) an _adjustable lever saw clamp_ with a hinged
jaw which prevents the saw blades from breaking; and (c) a _drilling
attachment_.
[Illustration: FIG. 14. THE LESTER SCROLL SAW WITH TURNING LATHE
ATTACHMENT]
This saw, which is shown in Fig. 14, costs $10.00, is 35 inches high
and weighs in the neighborhood of 30 pounds. The lathe attachment costs
$2.00 extra.
_The Fleetwood Scroll Saw._--This is the best and consequently the
most expensive foot power scroll saw made. It has a swing of nearly
16 inches. It is fitted with a tilting table, a vertical drill and a
blowing attachment. A scroll saw of this kind with a plain stand can be
bought for $21.00, or one with a fancy stand, see Fig. 15, can be had
for $25.00.
[Illustration: FIG. 15. THE FLEETWOOD SCROLL SAW]
=How a Foot-Power Scroll Saw Works.=--If you will look again at Figs.
13 and 14 you will see that the scroll saws shown have saw frames very
like a hand saw frame. The lower part of the frame is connected with a
crank on the end of a spindle, which has a small grooved wheel fixed
to it, by a pitman or rod and the treadle is connected with the large
drive wheel by another pitman; finally the drive wheel is belted to the
small grooved wheel.
Now when you work the treadle with your foot it produces a
_reciprocating motion_ and this is changed by the pitman into _rotary
motion_ which it imparts to the drive wheel. Since the grooved, or
driven, wheel is smaller than the drive wheel it revolves faster and
this gives the pitman connected with it a very rapid rotary motion on
one end but as it is pivoted to the frame which in turn is pivoted at
the rear end it is changed into an up and down or reciprocating motion
exactly like the treadle but many times faster.
The Fleetwood works a little differently, in that instead of a frame
the pitman is connected with a metal block that slides in a guide. The
lower end of the saw is fastened to the upper end of this sliding block
and the top of the saw blade is fixed to the end of a long, curved
spring whose elasticity tends to make it fly up.
This action keeps the saw blade always taut and pulls it up except
when the pitman pulls the block down and the saw with it. This is the
principle on which large power jig saws used in shops are worked.
=How to Saw on a Foot-Power Scroll Saw.=--Lay the board you are going
to saw flat on the table of the machine and put your finger tips of
both hands on top of the board; when possible keep one hand on one side
of the saw and the other hand on the opposite side of it.
Press down hard enough on the work to keep it on the table against the
up strokes of the saw; as the top of the table is polished it is easy
to slide the work around and keep the saw on the line. Run the saw at
an even speed and do not feed the wood against the blade too fast.
TABLE OF SCROLL SAW WOODS
_Price per foot_
_planed to a thickness of_
_Name_ _¹⁄₁₆ to ¹⁄₈ in._ _³⁄₁₆ in._ _¹⁄₄ in._
Poplar, or White Wood or Bass $0.07 $0.08 $0.09
Spanish Cedar .10 .12 .14
White Maple .10 .12 .15
Sycamore .11 .13 .15
Hazel Wood .11 .13 .15
Oak or White Ash .11 .13 .15
White Holly .12 .14 .16
Black Walnut .14 .16 .18
Bird’s Eye Maple .14 .16 .18
Mahogany .14 .16 .18
Cocobola .20 .25 .30
Amaranth .20 .25 .30
Rosewood .25 .30 .40
Satin Wood .30 .35 .40
Tulip .50 .60 .75
Real Ebony .50 .50 .50
These woods can be bought of H. L. Wild, 171 Avenue A, New York City,
or of J. Gabriel and Company, 672 Grand Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
=Fancy Woods for Scroll Saw Work.=--Fancy woods that are planed on
both sides for scroll sawing can be bought in thicknesses of ¹⁄₁₆, ¹⁄₈,
³⁄₁₆ and ¹⁄₄ inch. Wood that is ¹⁄₈ inch thick is the best to use for
all ordinary work.
The foregoing list gives the name, thickness and price of the chief
common and fancy woods that are good for scroll sawing.
=Trimmings for Boxes, Etc.=--Brass hinges, knobs, screws, drawer pulls,
box hooks, French screws and wire nails, that is brads, catches, metal
legs, small locks, escutcheons, turned moldings, etc., can be bought of
the above dealers who specialize in scroll sawyer’s materials.
Turning in Wood
And now we come to another and highly fascinating kind of wood-work and
this is to spin a stick of wood in a lathe and shape it with a chisel
or gouge, or _wood turning_ as it is called.
While the outfit you need to turn wood with costs more than for scroll
sawing you will never forget the pleasure of rounding up of a bit of
wood into a shapely form, no, not if you were to live a thousand years.
=Get a Lathe First.=--It is far better to buy a lathe than to try to
make one, that is if you expect to turn anything on it, for in the
first place it is hard to get the things to make one with and in the
second you can buy one for very little money.
_How a Lathe is Made._--A wood turning lathe consists of four
principal parts, and these are (1) the _headstock_; (2) the _rest_; (3)
the _tailstock_; (4) the _bed_ and (5) the _stand_, the first three
parts of which are shown in Fig. 16.
[Illustration:
_SPUR_
_HEAD STOCK_
_REST_
_TAIL STOCK_
FIG. 16. THE CHIEF PARTS OF A TURNING LATHE]
The head stock is fixed to the bed of the stand; it is formed of a
_cone pulley_ mounted on a spindle in a frame. A _spur center_ is
screwed to the spindle and this holds the wood tightly in place while
it is being turned. The rest, which is adjustable, is used to lay your
turning tool on and so keep it in position. A long and short rest
usually go with the better lathes.
The tailstock has two adjustments, the first of which allows it to be
slipped back and forth on the bed and clamped at any point which gives
a rough adjustment, and the second is a spindle which is threaded on
one end and has a _taper center_, that is a sharp point on the other
end. This allows the piece of wood which is to be turned to be set
between the spur center of the headstock and the taper center of the
tailstock.
These parts rest on the bed of the lathe and this in turn is mounted
on a stand. The stand is fitted with a drive wheel and this is driven
by a treadle with which it is connected by a pitman exactly like a
foot-power scroll saw.
[Illustration: FIG. 17. THE CHEAPEST WOOD TURNING LATHE MADE]
=The Cheapest Lathe You Can Buy.=--The cheapest lathe you buy is called
the _Companion_; it is made by the Millers Falls Company, Millers
Falls, N. Y., and it costs $10.50. It has a long and a short rest,
three turning tools and a 2 inch face plate and spur center. When you
get it uncrate it, set it up, oil it well and you are ready to do some
turning. The lathe is shown complete in Fig. 17.
_Attachments for the Companion Lathe._--This lathe is fitted with a 4
inch emery wheel without extra charge. A very useful attachment is a
circular saw 3 inches in diameter and a saw table 6 × 7 inches with a
straight edge guide; it costs $1.25 extra. A scroll saw attachment that
can be clamped on the lathe bed may be bought for $3.00 extra. Both of
these attachments are shown in Fig. 17. Of course better and larger
lathes can be had for more money.
=Turning Tools for Wood.=--The tools used for turning wood[14] are
simply chisels and gouges. The chisels are made with four kinds of
points, namely, (1) _skew point_; (2) _round point_; (3) _square
point_, and (4) _spear point_, and these are shown in Fig. 18. These
chisels can be bought in all sizes from ¹⁄₄ inch to 1 inch wide.
[14] Buck Bros.’ turning tools for wood are counted best.
Gouges also come in sizes from ¹⁄₄ inch up to 1 inch, and a _parting
tool_, which is used to cut off a turned piece and which is simply a V
shaped chisel, can be had in ¹⁄₂, ⁵⁄₈ and ³⁄₄ inch sizes. These turning
tools are also shown in Fig. 18. You can buy them fitted with applewood
handles and sharpened ready for use for about 50 cents apiece. You
can buy them of hardware dealers or of Hammacher, Schlemmer and Co.,
Fourth Ave. and 13th Street, New York.
[Illustration:
_SKEW POINT_
_ROUND POINT_
_SQUARE POINT_
_SPEAR POINT_
_THE GOUGE_
_THE PARTING TOOL_
FIG. 18. A SET OF WOOD TURNING TOOLS]
=How to Turn Wood.=--Before you can turn out a really good job on a
lathe you must practice awhile. A good thing to try your hand on is to
make some tool handles. The size of these will, of course, depend on
what you intend to use them for.
Take a stick of wood, round or square, it doesn’t in the least matter,
a couple of inches longer and a trifle larger than the largest diameter
that the handle is to be and drive one end against the spurs of the
face plate as shown in Fig. 19.
This done screw up the feed of the tailstock until the back-center is
forced into the end of the wood about ¹⁄₈ of an inch; clamp the rest
so that it comes to within ¹⁄₄ an inch of the wood you are going to
turn and you are ready for work.
[Illustration: FIG. 19. PUTTING THE ROUGH WOOD IN THE LATHE]
Now put your foot on the treadle and work it up and down; very soon
the speed of the drive wheel will carry it round smoothly and it will
deliver considerable power to the pulley of the headstock. If the drive
wheel is 5 times as large as the pulley and you treadle the drive wheel
100 times every minute, the stick of wood which you want to turn will
revolve 500 times a minute.
[Illustration: FIG. 20. THE RIGHT WAY TO HOLD A WOOD WORKING TOOL]
When you have the wood rotating at about this speed grip the handle of
it firmly with your right hand, lay the back of the chisel on the rest
and press down on the blade with your left hand as shown in Fig. 20. Of
course the top edge of the wood is turning toward you.
Whatever you do when you are roughing down a stick of wood don’t try to
take off too large a cut. Go at it very gently with the point of your
chisel and as it begins to cut you can swing the tool around so that
the whole width of the blade is cutting.
_Gouges_ are used in the same way as chisels and with them you can turn
out hollow parts. A _parting tool_ is used for cutting off the ends of
the wood after you have finished turning it.
[Illustration:
_SIZING WITH A PAIR OF CALIPERS_
_A REGULAR SIZING TOOL_
FIG. 21. SIZING THE TURNED WORK]
When you want to turn a piece of wood down to a given size you can do
so by testing it with a pair of calipers, as shown in Fig. 21, or
you can size it with a regular sizing tool. To size the work measure
off the distance between the points of the calipers with a rule for
whatever thickness you want the turned part; then as you turn the wood
you can try it from time to time until the wood will just slip through
between the points.
The Art of Wood Carving
Carving is by all odds the hardest of all woodworking processes to
learn and yet there are some simple forms of it that are at once easy
to do and pretty to look at. While carving is an art in itself it can
be used with fine effect in combination with some kinds of scroll sawed
and turned work.
=Your Set of Carving Tools.=--To begin with you can get along very
well with a set of six carving tools. A set of this number is made up
of a ³⁄₈ inch, a ¹⁄₄ inch, a ¹⁄₂ inch and a ⁵⁄₁₆ inch _straight shank_
carving tools and two of these are _chisels_ and four are _gouges_, so
you see that they are just about the same as carpenters’ and turners’
chisels and gouges. Such a set of tools costs about $3.00.
A better set contains a dozen carving tools and this includes the above
tools as well as a couple of _bent fluting gouges_, with ¹⁄₈ and ¹⁄₄
inch _sweeps_, a couple of _front bent tools_, a _straight parting
tool_, and a _veining tool_, all of which is shown at A in Fig. 22; the
sweeps, as the curved cutting edges are called, are shown at B.
The _tangs_ of these tools, that is the sharp ends which fit into the
handles, have shoulders on them to prevent the handles from creeping
and splitting. The best carving tools on the market are those made by
S. J. Addis of London, and you can’t go wrong if you buy them.
[Illustration:
=A=
_STRAIGHT CHISEL_
_SHORT BEND GOUGE_
_SKEW CHISEL_
_STRAIGHT PARTING TOOL_
_STRAIGHT GOUGE_
_LONG BEND GOUGE_
_FLUTING GOUGE_
_FRONT BEND GOUGE_
_VEINING TOOL_
_BENT FILE_
=B=
_SWEEPS OF WOOD CARVING TOOLS_
=C=
_CARVER’S MALLET_
FIG. 22. KINDS AND SWEEPS OF CARVING TOOLS]
Carving tools as they come from the makers are sharpened but not
_honed_, that is the tools are ground sharp, but the _inside bevel_
of the tools must be rubbed up with an oil stone slip and most wood
carvers like to do this themselves.
When you buy a set of carving tools you also want to get a carver’s
mallet made of _lignum-vitæ_[15] with a face 2¹⁄₂ inches in diameter
and, as you will see in Fig. 22, its shape is quite different from
the ordinary kinds. Also get a _Washita oil stone_, and an _Arkansas
carving tool slip_, which is a small wedge-shaped oil-stone.
[15] _Lignum-vitæ_ is a greenish-brown wood and is very hard and
heavy. It grows in tropical America.
[Illustration: FIG. 23. MARKERS FOR STAMPING IN BACKGROUNDS]
Two or more _markers_, which are stamps made of tool steel, are very
useful for stamping in background work. A number of different designs
are shown in Fig. 23 and they cost about a quarter apiece.
[Illustration:
_A SNIB_
_A HAND CLAMP_
_A CARVER’S VISE_
FIG. 24. SCHEMES FOR HOLDING WORK WHEN CARVING]
To hold the work while you are carving it you can make two or more
_snibs_ as shown at A in Fig. 24. These little clamps are sawed out
pieces of wood with an ordinary wood screw through the thick end, and
when you want to carve a flat piece of work clip it with a couple of
snibs and screw the latter to your bench. A better scheme is to use a
couple of hand screws as shown at B. For carving in relief you will
need a wood-carver’s vise as shown at C.
=The Best Woods for Carving.=--A wood that is suitable for carving must
be tough, even grained and free from knots. For a beginner, and I guess
you are one, _yellow pine_ is a good wood to practice on as it is soft
and easy to work but you must be careful not to splinter it along the
grain.
Oak is much tougher but it is a fine wood for carving and you will not
need to take the care to prevent splintering as with pine. Black walnut
and mahogany are beautiful woods and are nice to carve, while for finer
work apple, pear, sycamore and California redwood are largely used.
=Kinds of Wood Carving.=--There are three kinds of wood carving in
general and these are (1) _chip_, or surface carving, (2) _panel_ or
relief carving, and (3) _figure_ carving, as shown in Fig. 25.
When you cut your initials in the top of your desk at school you made a
primitive attempt at what is called chip carving. Most likely you got
the birch for it but it was only the savage instinct for decorative art
that was trying to find expression in you, and so it’s not your fault.
(But don’t do it again.) Any kind of carving on a flat surface is
called chip carving, and some of it is very beautiful. It is shown at
A.
[Illustration:
=A=--_PLAIN PANEL_
=B=--_FANCY PANEL_
=C=--_FIGURE CARVING_
FIG. 25. KINDS OF CARVING]
Panel carving is done on flat pieces of wood also but the design is
made by cutting out or _sinking_ the ground, as shown at B. Sometimes
when it is desirable to make some part stand out in relief above the
surface it is carved out of a separate piece of wood and _planted on_,
that is glued on.
To carve a lily of the valley or a deer’s head out of a solid block of
wood is not as easy as the other kinds of carving, but if you have a
natural aptitude for using tools and an eye for art you can succeed as
well as the next one.
[Illustration: FIG. 25D. A CARVED WATCH CASE HOLDER]
_Chip Carving._--You will need only three tools for chip carving and
these are (1) a ¹⁄₄ inch chisel; (2) a parting tool and (3) a veining
tool.
The first thing is to get the design you want to carve on the board.
To do this you can either draw the design directly on the board, or,
better, lay a sheet of impression paper on the board and then the
design you want to transfer on top of it and trace it with a lead
pencil.
Screw the board to your bench with two or more snibs and you are ready
for work. Carve out the heavier lines with the parting tool and the
lighter lines with the veining tool. Use the chisel to cut the corners
sharp and make the lines clean and even. In chip carving _grounds_ are
never put in.
_Panel Carving._--In this kind of carving leaves, berries, scrolls and
the like are carved out of the surface of the board and as the ground
is sunk these objects stand out in relief.
Begin by drawing, or transferring, the pattern to the board as before;
then cut it out with gouges and chisels as shown at A and finally use
the veining tool for the radiating lines. The head can be carved out of
a separate piece of wood glued to the ground, or _planted_ on as it is
called. The work can be oiled and polished but never varnish it. It is
shown finished at C.
To make a watch case holder like the one shown at D saw out a piece of
walnut, or other wood, ¹⁄₄ inch thick and draw on the design.
Carve the cross and lower part of the case by chipping it; carve the
leaves in relief and put in the veins with the veining tool. Now saw
out another piece for the pocket 1 inch thick and carve out the front
and the back to the shape shown at D so that it is only ¹⁄₈ inch thick
when finished and glue it to the other part when you will have a watch
case holder of the vintage of 1875.
_Carving in Solid Wood._--This ranges all the way from carving simple
leaves as shown at D to the human form divine.
To carve out leaves on a flat surface draw the design as before and
carve them out with your gouge to look as much like real leaves as you
can and to give them the final touch of beauty cut the veins in with
your veining tool.
For carving out heads, as for example the one shown at C, mark the
shape of the object which you intend to carve on the sides of the block
as it would look if you cut it down through the middle. Now screw up
the block in your vise and cut away the sides with your chisels and
gouges, using the mallet to do it with. All you want to do at first is
to get the rough shape of the figure.
When you have done this you can go ahead and finish up the work with
your chisels and gouges. To give the carving a life-like appearance do
not use files or sandpaper on it and do not varnish or polish it.
Pyrography, or Wood Burning
This is a simple and pleasing art and one that is easy to practice. It
gets its didactic name from the Greek word _pyro_, which means fire,
and _graph_, to write, that is writing with fire, only in pyrography
you draw with fire instead.
=The Necessary Tools.=--The chief tool you need is called an _etching_
tool. This is formed of a piece of iron, copper or platinum with a
curved point which is heated in a flame until it is red or white hot.
When it is hot you press the curved point against the wood upon which
you have drawn the design and it burns the lines into it.
[Illustration:
_=A=--THE ETCHING TOOL_
_=B=--COMPLETE WITH HANDLE_
FIG. 26. THE TOOL USED FOR PYROGRAPHY]
_How to Make an Etching Tool._--Get a piece of copper rod ¹⁄₄ inch in
diameter and 3 inches long; file one end down to a point to the shape
shown at A and B in Fig. 26 and put a file handle on the other end.
_How to Make an Alcohol Lamp._--The etching tool must be heated in
either an alcohol or a Bunsen flame. You can make an alcohol lamp of
an ink bottle that will serve the purpose very well. Make a hole in
the cork about ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter and make a tin tube 1 inch long
that will fit it snugly. Braid a wick of string and put it through the
tin-tube; fill the bottle with alcohol and your lamp is done. If you
can get gas you can use a Bunsen burner[16] which makes a hotter flame
and is less trouble.
[16] Can be bought of the L. E. Knott Apparatus Company, Boston, Mass.
_A Better Outfit._--A good outfit which has a platinum pointed tool
and burns alcohol vapor, see C, can be bought for $3.00 and more.[17]
If you have gas in your house you can buy a tool which uses it for 50
cents or less.
[17] Everything needed for pyrography can be had of the Frost and
Adams Co., Cornhill, Boston.
[Illustration:
_=C=--AN OUTFIT THAT BURNS ALCOHOL VAPOR_
FIG. 26C. AN OUTFIT THAT BURNS BENZINE VAPOR]
_About the Designs._--If you are good at drawing you can make your own
designs, but if not you can buy them ready to use. Draw your designs
on soft white pine or basswood with a soft lead pencil having a blunt
point. Photo frames, plaques, tie racks, collar boxes and things which
you can saw out on your scroll saw are greatly improved by burning.
_How to Burn in the Design._--Heat the tool until it is red-hot, or if
it is platinum until it is white hot as shown at D. Hold the tool as
shown at E and without using too much pressure draw and push the point
along the lines until they are burnt in evenly.
When you have burnt in the design burn in the background by making a
lot of closely spaced lines; then burn in more parallel lines across
the first set. This produces a cross-hatched effect which at a distance
makes the design stand out in bold relief.
[Illustration: FIG. 26D. HOW THE TOOL IS HEATED]
[Illustration:
_=E=_
FIG. 26E. BURNING IN THE DESIGN]
When you have become a little expert you can shade the design but don’t
try it until you can burn the lines in evenly.
=Coloring and Staining Wood.=--Stains and dyes of all colors can be
bought of the Devoe and Reynolds Company, 101 Fulton Street, New York.
_Ebony Stain._--Brush the wood with a saturated solution of
_ferrous-sulphate_ and it will make it inky black. When used on white
holly, or any other close grained wood, it gives it a real ebony look.
Put the solution on with a soft brush. After the ebony stain has been
used the wood should be polished with wax to give it a dull finish.
_Fumed Oak._--Oak can be colored a beautiful brown by putting it in a
box with a tight fitting lid in which is a saucer of ammonia; paste
up the cracks around the lid tight and leave it for a couple of days
when it will take on a brown color which is known by the trade name of
_fumed oak_.