General Observations
: HOW TO HOLD AND HANDLE TOOLSIf the workman will carefully observe the foregoing requirements he will have taken the most important steps in the knowledge of the art. If he permits himself to commence work without having his tools in first-class condition, he is trying to do work under circumstances where even a skilled workman is liable to fail.
Avoid making for yourself a lot of unnecessary work. The best artisans are those who try to find out and know which is the best tool, or how to make a tool for each requirement, but that tool, to be serviceable, must be properly made, and that means it must be rightly sharpened.
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First Requirements For Designing
First, then, let us see what is necessary to do when you intend to set about making an article. Suppose we fix our minds upon a table as the article selected. Three things are necessary to know: First, the use to which it is to be put; second, the d... First Requisite
A beginner should never attempt a piece of work until he learns how the different tools should be sharpened, or at least learn the principle involved. Practice will make perfect. ... First Steps
Now lap together the inner surfaces of these boards (Y, Z), so the ends are toward you, as shown in Fig. 45. Then, after measuring the thickness of the boards to be joined (the thinnest, if they are of different thicknesses), set your compasses, o... Flat Effects
If the board is flat it may be shaded, as shown in Fig. 131, in which the lines are all of the same thickness, and are spaced farther and farther apart at regularly increasing intervals. <div> <table summary="Fig 133/134" border="0" cellpadding="0... Flattened Perspective
Fig. 144 shows the new perspective, in which the three vertical lines (A, A, A) are of equal length, and the six angularly disposed lines (B, C) are of equal length, but shorter than the lines A. The only change which has been made is to shorten the... Fly-wheel
It now remains only to provide a fly-wheel and treadle with the communicating belt. The fly-wheel may be of any convenient size, or it may be some discarded pulley or wheel. Suppose it is two feet in diameter; then, as your small pulley is 2 inches ... Focal Points
The focal point of a circle is its center, and is called the <em>focus</em>. But an ellipse has two focal points, called <em>foci</em>, represented by F, F in Fig. 148, and by B, B in Fig. 149. A <em>produced line</em> is one which extends out beyo... For Cross-cutting
For ordinary cross-cutting the angle of the saw should be at 45 degrees. For ripping, the best results are found at less than 45 degrees, but you should avoid flattening down the angle. An incorrect as well as a correct angle are shown in Figs. 21 a... Forcing A Saw
Forcing a saw through the wood means a crooked kerf. The more nearly the saw is held at right angles to a board, the greater is the force which must be applied to it by the hand to cause it to bite into the wood; and, on the other hand, if the saw... Forcing Saws In Wood
One of the reasons why the forcing of saws is such a bad practice will be observed in cutting white or yellow pine. For cross-cutting, the saw should have fine teeth, not heavily set, and evenly filed. To do a good job of cross-cutting, the saw must... Forming Lines And Shadows
It is not my intention to furnish a complete treatise on this subject, but to do two things, one of which will be to show, among other features, how simple lines form objects; how shading becomes an effective aid; how proportions are formed; and, ... Framework
As we now know the sizes, the first thing is to build the framework. The legs should be dressed square and smoothed down with the fore plane to make them perfectly straight. Now, lay out two mortises at the upper end of each leg. Follow the illust... Front And Side Lines
From the floor diagram, and the door and window spaces, as marked out, we may now proceed to lay out rough front and side outlines of the building. The ceilings are to be 9 feet, and if we put a rather low-pitched roof on the square structure (Fig. ... Fundamental Truss Form
In every form of truss, whether for building or for bridge work, the principles of the famous A-truss must be employed in some form or other; and the boy who is experimentally inclined will readily evolve means to determine what degree of strength t... Fundamentals Of Designing
A great deal of the pleasure in making articles consists in creative work. This means, not that you shall design some entirely new article, but that its general form, or arrangement of parts, shall have some new or striking feature. A new design in... Gages
One of the most valuable tools in the whole set is the gage, but it is, in fact, the least known. This is simply a straight bar, with a sharpened point projecting out on one side near its end, and having an adjustable sliding head or cheekpiece. Thi... General House Building
We are to treat, generally, on the subject of house building, how the work is laid out, and how built, and in doing so I shall take a concrete example of the work. This can be made more effectual for the purpose if it is on simple lines. ... General Observations
If the workman will carefully observe the foregoing requirements he will have taken the most important steps in the knowledge of the art. If he permits himself to commence work without having his tools in first-class condition, he is trying to do wo... Good Taste In Staining
Oak, mahogany, cherry, black walnut, and like imitations are always good in an artistic sense, but imitations of unfamiliar woods mean nothing to the average person. The too common mistake is to try to imitate oak by staining pine or poplar or birch... Great Contrasts Bad
Violent contrasts in furniture staining have the effect of cheapness, unless the contrasting outlines are artistically distributed throughout the article, from base to top finish. ... Hard Wood Imitations
It would be better to use, for instance, ash or oak for one portion of the work, and a dark wood, like cherry or walnut, for the other part; but usually a cherry cabinet should be made of cherry throughout; while a curly maple chiffonier could not b... Hard Woods
Of the hard woods, cherry is the most desirable for the carpenter's tool. For working purposes it has all the advantages of a soft wood, and none of its disadvantages. It is not apt to warp, like poplar or birch, and its shrinking unit is less than ... Harmonizing Wood
Imagine a chiffonier with the base of dark wood, like walnut, and the top of pine or maple, or a like light-colored wood. On the other hand, both walnut and maple, for instance, may be used in the same article, if they are interspersed throughout th... Harmony Of Parts
But one thing should be observed in the making of furniture, namely, harmony between the parts. For instance, a table with thin legs and a thick top gives the appearance of a top-heavy structure; or the wrong use of two different styles is bad fro... Heavy Lines
But there is an exception to this rule. See two examples (Fig. 140). Here two parallel lines appear close together to form the edge nearest the eye. In such cases the second, or upper, line is heaviest. On vertical lines, as in Fig. 141, the secon... Holding The Gage
The hand serves to keep the cheekpiece against the board, while the thumb pushes the gage forward. The hand must not, under any circumstances, be used to move the gage along. In fact, it is not necessary for the fingers to be clasped around the gage... How Any Structure Is Built Up
It should be observed that each structure, however small, is usually built from the base up. Just the same as the more pretentious buildings are erected: First, the sill, then the floor supports, then the posts and top plates, with their connecting ... How To Characterize Surface
Suppose we commence simply with straight lines. How shall we determine the character of the surface of the material between the two straight lines shown in Fig. 125? Is it flat, rounded, or concaved? Let us see how we may treat the surface by simp... How To Set
To set a saw accurately, that is, to drive out each tooth the same distance, is the first requirement, and the second is to bend out the whole tooth, and not the point only. In the illustration (Fig. 10), the point is merely bent out. This is wrong.... How To Start A Saw
If the untried apprentice has such an opinion set him to work at the task of cutting off a board accurately on a line. He will generally make a failure of the attempt to start the saw true to the line, to say nothing of following the line so the ker... How To Start On A Line
The first mistake he makes is to saw <em>on the line</em>. This should never be done. The work should be so laid out that the saw kerf is on the discarded side of the material. The saw should cut alongside the line, and <em>the line should not</em> ... Illustrating Cube Shading
In Fig. 137 I show merely nine lines joined together, all lines being of equal thickness. As thus drawn it may represent, for instance, a cube, or it may show simply a square base (A) with two sides (B, B) of equal dimensions. ... In The Use Of Grindstones
There are certain things to avoid and to observe in the use of stones. Never use one spot on the stone, however narrow the tool may be. Always move the tool from side to side. Never grind a set of narrow tools successively. If you have chisels to gr... Incorrect Way To Hold Tool For Grinding
The incorrect way of holding a tool is shown in Fig. 18. This, I presume, is the universal way in which the novice takes the tool. It is wrong for the reason that the thumbs of both hands are on top of the blade, and they serve as pivots on which t...