CARPENTERING.
[Illustration]
There is not a more useful and pleasant amusement than that of
"Carpentering." Every boy should be able to do little jobs with the
plane and chisel; for whether he may turn out a gentleman or a poor man,
it will be of great use to him. If a gentleman, he can amuse himself
with it, and if a poor man, it will be of essential service to be able
to put up a row of palings in his garden, to make a gate, to build a
pig-stye, to make and fix up shelves, build out-houses, and perform
sundry odd jobs about the house for his comfort and convenience.
Every boy should have a box of tools, and a bench to work at, also a
little room or loft for a workshop. He ought to obtain good tools, and
by no means buy the boxes of rubbish sold to boys for their amusement.
He should go the ironmonger's and purchase the following tools; of
course, out of his own savings,--his own pocket-money,--and not apply to
his parents for it.
Two saws, one small and one hand-saw.
Four gimlets of different sizes.
One pair of pincers.
One pair of plyers.
Four chisels of different sizes.
One gouge.
Two hammers, large and small.
One mallet.
Two bradawls.
Two planes, long and short.
Two flies, large and small.
One level.
One square.
One screw-driver.
Nails, screws, rings, glue-pot, hone, oil, etc.
He must also manage to obtain a carpenter's-bench, which he cannot very
well do without, and then he may begin carpentering with expedition.
USES OF THE VARIOUS TOOLS.
THE SAW.--Before a saw can be used after it is purchased, it generally
has to be "set," as it is termed; that is, its teeth are to be sharpened
and placed a little outwards from the plane of its length. There are
several kinds of saws, namely, the common hand-saw, the key-hole saw,
and the small-toothed saw. The first is to cut planks and thick pieces
of wood; the second is to cut holes in planks or boards; the third is to
cut small pieces of wood, or those that require to be very nicely
divided.
THE PLANE.--The plane is used to smooth boards with. There are several
kinds of planes. The long plane and the short plane are the principal
ones. Within the plane is the knife, which is fastened in by a knock of
the hammer on the wedge inside, which is made so as to fix the edged
knife at any distance from the bottom of the plane, either for thin or
thick shaving. A very little direction from the carpenter will enable
the young carpenter to fix his knife properly; and a knock on the end of
the plane with a hammer will loosen it in a moment. The knife should be
sharpened from time to time on the stone or hone. This should be done
with great care, so as to preserve a proper angle at the edge and great
evenness in every part, otherwise, the planing will be very imperfect.
In planing, the wood to be planed is either laid flat on the bench, with
its end against the little pin, to prevent its moving, or fixed in the
screw of the bench, and the plane being brought upon the top or edge of
the wood, is pushed carefully, but somewhat sharply along. The shaving
comes through the hole in the plane, and must be cleared away, from time
to time, out of the way of the knife. Everything planed should be planed
perfectly level, smooth, and even.
[Illustration]
THE CHISEL.--The use of the chisel is to cut square or sharp-cornered
holes in wood, especially mortices. A _mortice_ is the hole cut in a
post or other piece of wood, in which another piece of wood cut to fit
it, called a _tenon_, is put. The tenon and mortice should both be cut
exactly, and so that they fit at right angles, firmly and securely.
Tenons and mortices are of perpetual use in carpentering, and the young
carpenter should learn as quickly as possible to make them.
THE MALLET is to be used instead of the hammer for a variety of
purposes. In cutting mortices, it is the mallet and not the hammer that
is used, and in almost all cases where the chisel is employed, the
mallet should be used. Were we to use a hammer to knock the end of the
chisel, we should soon split its handle, or so bruise it, as to make it
unservicable.
THE GIMLET AND BRADAWL.--The gimlet is used to bore awls with, so that
nails when they are driven in may not split the wood. Bradawls are used
for the same purpose, before smaller nails, called _brads_, are put in.
A bradawl is sometimes called a nail-piercer. There is a thread gimlet
now come into use, but this requires much care in handling: it must be
very gently put in, and very gently taken out, or it will snap like a
piece of glass; but it is a very useful tool, and is a great improvement
upon the old gimlet.
PINCERS AND PLYERS.--Pincers are used to take loose nails out of wood,
to wrench off staples, or other things that have been attached to wood.
Plyers are a smaller kind of pincers, and are used for small work in the
same way. They are very useful tools, and it is impossible to do without
them.
[Illustration]
THE HAMMER.--Almost everybody knows how a hammer is used: it is used to
drive nails with, and also to take them out. The hammer used to take out
nails, is called a claw-hammer, from its having a claw at one part. The
claw is placed under the head of the nail, when the handle of the hammer
becomes a lever, and the head the fulcrum; and, placed in this position,
the hand acquires great power,--sometimes amounting to at least a
hundred-weight. In using a hammer, we should always be careful to use
the kind of hammer necessary for the work to be done.
FILES.--Files are of various uses, and we cannot do very well without
them in carpentering. There are several kinds of files: one kind flat on
one side and rounded at the other; another is flat on both sides, and
another kind has three edges and three flat sides. The first is used for
rasping wood or other things down to a level; and the others are used to
file things into a point, or to cut them in pieces.
THE SCREW-DRIVER is used to drive in and take out screws. It ought to
have a very hard tough edge and a long handle. When placed in the head
of the screw, to drive in, it should be turned from left to right, and
in taking out, from right to left. There is a particular way of getting
out a screw, which is only to be learned by a little practice. The knack
consists in combining with nicety the pressure on the screw-head and the
turning of the driver. The young carpenter will now and then find a very
stubborn screw and fancy it quite impossible to get it out; but by a
little perseverance, he soon finds out the knack of doing it; and what
seemed immoveable yields to his skill and strength. There is one thing
young carpenters frequently do, and that is, to use their chisels for
screw-drivers; the consequence of this is, the spoiling of the chisel,
for the edges are sure to break away.
[Illustration]
THE LEVEL.--Every piece of work should be square and level, except when
it is of a curved form, and then it should be reduced to the principles
of the circle or ellipse. The level is used in putting up posts,
palings, or work of any kind in an upright position. It consists of a
hoard of wood, upon which a string is suspended, having a plummet at the
end of it, which falls along a straight line at a right angle with the
bottom of the level. To obtain a perfect perpendicular and perfect
horizontal, the level is placed on the work till the line falls
exactly over the nick at the top of the hole. The square is principally
applied to things made at the bench, and is used to bring everything
made to a _right angle_, so that a true level and perpendicular is thus
secured.
STUFF.
The young carpenter will find it very difficult to work without stuff.
He ought, therefore, to purchase a deal sawed into planks or boards,
consisting of one three quarters of an inch thick, another one inch
thick, and another half an inch thick. He ought, also, to obtain a slab
not sawed at all, to cut out as occasion may require. He will then be
provided with wood. He must also lay in a stock of various kinds of
nails, screws, rings, hasps, hinges, etc., and, above all, a good
substantial box to keep his tools and other matters in. This should be
divided into compartments, and everything should be arranged in it with
neatness and order.
LABOUR.
The young carpenter ought to be fond of work; and to feel a pleasure in
it. Should this be the case, there is scarcely an end to his labours. He
may make his hen-houses, his rabbit-hutches, his summer-houses, his
boxes, seats, rustic-chairs, lattice-work and palings for his garden,
build out-houses, and make book-shelves; in short, amuse himself with
the manufacture of a great variety of things, both for use and ornament,
and of which he may justly be a little proud.
Such an amusement is infinitely superior to feats of conjuring and
legerdemain, tricks with cards, and impositions of various kinds, which
are put in some books for the amusement of young people, and which are
highly pernicious both to their mental and moral progress.