Part 2

You will have two pieces twenty-three inches long and six inches wide; these are the two end braces. Lay one of these pieces across the legs you have just joined, at the closed end. All the edges must be flush; if not, plane them and make them true. You will see that if you have measured and cut carefully they will come right, for the legs are each two inches thick, making four inches, and the cross-piece is nineteen inches, making twenty-three in all; just the length of your brace. Nail the brace firmly into both legs and cross-piece with six-penny nails. Do the same with the other set of legs.

Now in the space you have chosen for your bench, stand up both pairs of legs endwise to the wall, and six feet apart, leaving full two feet clear beyond, as your bench will be ten feet long when done.

Take the two big planks (the ten foot ones, two inches thick), measure two feet from each end of each plank: draw a line in direction _a a_. (_See fig. 6._) Then parallel to _a a_, draw another, _b b_, one inch farther toward the middle of the board; then another, _c c_, an inch beyond that, always measuring away from the ends. On these lines _a a_ and _b b_ mark the places for your screws in alternate spaces, thus—

Remember always that screws or nails put in diagonally like that hold more firmly than the same number in a straight line.

Before putting in the screws, see that the legs stand parallel and close to the wall; put the first board on the legs so that the back edge of board is even with the back edge of the legs. Screw firmly into place, taking care to have the outer edge of the legs directly under the first or dotted line; this brings the screws evenly along the cross-piece.

Lay the second board close to the first, securing in same way; the front edge of this second board ought to project one inch beyond the legs. The heads of the screws on the top of the bench must be sunk. You have left a board eight feet long, one foot wide, and one inch thick.

This board is to be put on in front directly under the top board and against the legs. It should come flush at the _right end_ only, leaving space of two feet at the left. Nail this board on to the legs with six-penny nails. You have now a capital bench, which only needs a vise to complete it.

Cut from the board _B_ (left from sawhorse) a length of eighteen inches. Square both ends nicely; lay this against the left hand front leg, flush with the outer edge and coming close under the front board, and nail firmly on to leg.

For seventy-five cents at a hardware store, you can buy a wooden screw about two feet long for vise, with shank one and three fourths inches diameter.

On the front board, ten inches from top of bench, and about five inches from left edge, draw a circle one and three fourths inches in diameter; this circle when cut out should come as close to the leg as possible without cutting it.

To cut this hole take a five eighths bit and bore a series of holes round the inside of the one and three fourths inch circle. (_See fig. 7._)

The piece in the middle will fall out and leave a rather rough hole; but the edges can easily be trimmed.

Then take the board _A_ (the three and one half foot piece), cut it thirty-one inches long. Square one end and then round it as at _D_. (_See fig. 8._) On the back side draw a pencil line through the middle; place the board against the left leg, with the sharp edge flush with _top_ of bench, so that the pencil line will bisect the circular hole. Draw a similar circle on the board, and cut out as before.

Be careful in the doing of this, as the two holes must be exactly opposite for the screw to pass through. You ought to have two bits of wood left after cutting the legs and cross-pieces. Take one of these bits and put behind the front board on its two inch side and about three inches to the right of the left leg and parallel with the leg. It should just clear the hole. Fasten securely, so that it will cross the joint _A_. It will serve as a brace, and also give a level bearing for the wooden nut which comes with the screw and is wound on the end of screw after it passes through the two holes.

Your vise as it is will work all right for small pieces, but if you have a large article to hold, the loose board _b_ will not keep its parallel position, for the thickness of the object you have in above will throw out the top end, and the lower end will of course swing in. To remedy this and make your vise adjustable to work of any size, you must do one more thing:

A little to the right of leg, and one inch from the lower edge of the fixed upright, cut a slot two inches high and one inch wide; make a corresponding hole in the loose upright.

Take a strip of board two feet long, two inches wide, and one inch thick. On a line drawn lengthwise through the middle measure one inch from end and mark; then two inches from that point on same line make a second mark; at both those points bore holes with half-inch bit and fit in a peg at each hole. The pegs will be one and one half inches apart.

Then at intervals of one inch bore two alternate rows of holes with half-inch bit, as far as the length of the strip allows. Run this strip through the slot in loose board as in _fig 8_, and through the corresponding slot in upright put a peg in _a_ in _front_ of loose board and a peg in _b_ _behind_ loose board; these pegs will hold the strip firm in the slot in the loose board.

According to the size of the object to be held in use, draw the loose board toward you and put third peg into hole at proper distance to keep the loose board parallel with the fixed upright.

You see by having holes enough in the strip you can adjust the vise to any size. Of course you understand that this is not needed in small work.

If you look closely at _fig 6_ you will find that there is still one thing unexplained: the rows of holes in the front board.

When you have some long piece of work in your vise you will find it troublesome to keep it level; if you have a number of holes bored in the front of bench, with a good peg to fit, by changing the peg according to the height desired, you can raise the right end of your piece of work to the right level.

A plain hook is a desirable addition to the work-bench: its use is to hold a board when you wish to plane the surface. It is adjustable according to the thickness of the board, and should be set in and screwed on to the bench at point Y. It will cost at hardware store about seventy-five cents.

Note.—In _fig. 1_ (the sawhorse) one leg is drawn in dotted lines to show the way the leg is fitted into the hole, and the right slant. In _fig. 6_ the broken space in front board is to show the position of brace on right leg.

IV.—USE OF TOOLS.

WE begin with the saws, of which you have two: cross-cut saw, and splitting saw.

The use of a cross-cut saw, as the name implies, is to cut _across_ the grain or fibre of the wood: it is one of the most indispensable tools we have. The teeth are finer and closer together than those of the splitting saw, which, as the name describes, is intended to cut _with_ the grain, usually lengthwise, of a piece of wood. Never try to substitute one for the other, for you would injure your tools. When you want to use a cross-cut saw, the saw should be held at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and must also be held steadily without swerving to the right or left; otherwise the teeth of the saw will stick, and you cannot make a clean cut.

You will observe in looking at a saw that the teeth are _set_, as it is called; every other point turning a little away to the right or left of a straight line; the reason of this is, to make the cut wider than the saw blade; otherwise after cutting in a little way the friction would make the blade bind. Saws are, or should be, in proper condition to use when they are bought; if not, or if by any accident the teeth should get bent, you must have the saw _set_ without meddling with it yourself.

A splitting saw is used differently from a cross-cut saw; it should be held more nearly upright; the cutting is always done on the _down_ stroke. Never press the saw against the wood; the teeth will catch, and the saw bend, and the wood won’t be cut if you add any weight to that of the saw itself.

There is a certain amount of knack required in order to saw well, but practise will improve even the most awkward workman. Always saw slowly and easily, in a sort of regular time. Be sure the wood is held firmly and doesn’t _hop_.

USE OF PLANES.

We have jack-planes, smoothing-planes, and block-planes. When you want to make aboard thinner, or smoother, it has got to be planed; also the sides and edges of a board are sometimes rough, or you wish to bevel them.

If the grain of the wood is perfect, there is no trouble about planing in either direction, but generally the grain runs in a slight slant or angle to the surface of the board instead of parallel to it. If, then, you start your plane and plane “against the grain” of the board, the edge of the plane will catch in ends of the grain lines, and the surface will be chipped instead of smoothed. If, however, you start it and plane “with the grain,” the ends of the grain lines are smoothed down, like the feathers on a bird’s wing when you stroke it down instead of up. So it is well to be sure about the grain before you begin to plane. Sometimes the grain is twisted and runs one way in one part of the board and another way in another part in a wavy line. Then you must vary the planing according to the surface. You would soon learn these simple things perhaps, but to know them at the outset will save you some vexation.

The smoothing-plane is much shorter than the jack-plane, and is used for smoothing smaller pieces which would be lost under the jack-plane, and also for smoothing inequalities left by the jack-plane. I have put no smoothing-plane on your list, as for ordinary work the block-plane can be used as a smoothing-plane. Thus: Turn the small thumb-screw at the front of the block-plane and press it forward; this opens the mouth of the plane so that the plane can be _set_ more and cut a larger shaving.

Now for the proper use of the block-plane, remembering to restore it to its original _set_ if you have been using it as a smoothing-plane. To smooth the ends of boards you need a small plane which can be _set_ very fine; i. e., with the blade projecting very little from the face of the plane, and with the mouth so closed that the blade will not chip in cutting.

One important principle must be practically learned before you can do good work: _Everything in carpentry from beginning to end must be done on the square._ In planing, above all things, the square must begin every bit of work, and end it, and be used to test it, all the way along; it is just what the name implies, a _try square_; so perhaps the next thing explained had better be some of the uses of the square.

To give all the uses of this apparently simple tool would be to give you a thorough knowledge of geometry, and fill a volume. I will, however, give some of the more common uses:

1. In sawing across a board, if you wish to have the cut true and even, you must use the square. One edge is, of course, already planed, and from this all your lines are drawn. You wish, we will suppose, to saw three inches from the end of your board; lay the thick or handle part of the square close against the even edge of the board, three inches from the end; you will find that the blade lies flat across, the board at a right angle with the edge, and a pencil line drawn close to the blade will be a guide for cutting.

2. To test the evenness of the end of a board which you have been trimming with a block-plane: Apply the square to the side and edge of the board; if the work is true, the blade will be level with the end of the board; if uneven, the defect is quickly seen.

3. It is well to test your square itself; thus: Lay your square snug against a straight edge with the handle to the left; draw a line where the edge of the blade comes: then reverse the square, having the handle to the right; draw a similar line: if the square is true the lines will coincide; if they diverge ever so little the square is imperfect, and you should buy another.

4. In planing the edge of a board, put the handle of the square against the _face_ of the board; the blade will then go across the edge, and you can soon see if it is even; i. e., at right angles with the face of the board.

Hammering a nail seems a very simple thing, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that, as you’ll find for yourself after you’ve split two or three bits of work; but you might as well learn the right way at first.

If you look at a nail of any size, from a brad to a twenty-penny spike, you will find that the sides are parallel and straight, and two are wedge-shape or sloping; also one of the straight sides is finished smooth, the other is rough. A nail is virtually a wedge. Now the principle of the wedge is to split things when the wedge goes with the grain, as when you split a board with an axe or hatchet; for an axe is a wedge, as you will see if you think about it.

If, then, your nail is put in wedge-fashion _with_ the grain, ten to one the second good tap with your hammer splits the board; if, however, you turn the nail the other way, so the wedge side is _across_ the grain, and the straight side _with_ the grain, the nail is held firm by the grain pressing against the wedge, and the board doesn’t split. This is the reason that fine work is done with brads better than with tacks, for tacks are wedge-shaped on all sides, and in driving them if the wood is thin it is very apt to split.

Always _start_ a nail in the direction you mean to have it _go_, and don’t depend on straightening it afterwards. If, however, it gets a wrong slant, don’t bend it back with your fingers, nor hit it a knock sideway with your hammer which will likely enough break the nail short off; but with every regular stroke of your hammer give an inclination in the right way, and it will get there.

Don’t hold on to the nail too long; in soft wood the second hammer tap ought to find the nail firm enough to stay. Don’t make the first or the second hammer stroke a long hard one; if you do, likely as not you’ll mash your fingers. The first tap should be light and short; get the swing gradually, a few inches first, adding a few inches more with each stroke; by the time you want full force to drive the nail home, you’ll find you can’t hit anywhere but on the head of the nail. This is something that practise alone can make you perfect in. If you watch a good building-carpenter, it seems as if he threw the nail into place with one hand and hit it on the way.

Don’t think you must look at each nail in order to place it right. Your eyes must be in your finger tips; _the smooth side goes with the grain_.

Always keep the different sizes of nails separate; then you won’t be bothered by finding the wrong nail in your fingers when you are in the midst of a job.

In using chisels and gouges never strike with a hammer, but always with a wooden mallet; the hammer splits the handles.

In most chisel work it is better to put the bevel edge to the line you wish to cut until you have cut out most of the wood, then finish with the other edge and the pressure of your hand instead of the mallet.

It will be easier to explain the use of the other tools as we come to them in construction.

V.—HOW TO MAKE A TOOL CABINET.

NOW that you’ve got some very good tools, it is time you knew how to take care of them as well as to use them.

The best tools will grow rusty and dull, and shabby, also, even if they don’t hide away out of sight just when you most want to use them, unless you have a proper place to put them and _always remember to put them in that place when you have done using them_.

I suppose you think you must have a tool chest for this; now a tool chest is a very good thing if you want to carry your tools on a journey, i. e. if you are a city boy and want to take your kit up into the country and have the tools safe from jarring under the hands of the baggage-smashers; but I’ve found that a tool chest isn’t as handy to have in the work shop as a tool cabinet; so I’m going to tell you how to make a good tool cabinet with less expense of money, material and labor than a tool chest would require.

But you must be more exact and careful in measuring and cutting than you had to be in making the sawhorse and bench. In getting your materials, try to have the boards fully one foot wide and three fourths of an inch thick. It is easier to make estimates on these dimensions, and foot boards are usually the easier to obtain; so all the measures for the cabinet are made with reference to these dimensions. If you happen to have boards that are wider or narrower, you must do a little figuring on your own account and make the proper allowance.

For a tool cabinet three feet three inches long and two feet wide, which will hold all the tools on the list given in the first paper and leave room for several more that you will be likely to own by and by, you must have one six-foot board fully twelve inches wide and three fourths of an inch thick; one seven-foot board, twelve inches wide, one half inch thick; one nine-foot board, twelve inches wide, one half inch thick; also a number of three fourths inch screws which you are supposed to have in stock; one pair brass (or iron) hinges for three fourths inch board, and a hook for fastening, unless you prefer a lock.

Take three fourths inch board (the one six feet long), plane both edges; then by aid of chalk line and splitting-saw, cut off a strip two and one half inches wide, running the whole length of the board.[A]

[A] I do not explain again how to use a chalk line and a splitting-saw, for you ought to thoroughly understand that if you have read the other papers and made the sawhorse and workbench yourself.

The board that remains should be nine and one half inches wide. Smooth the edge with plane enough to remove the roughness left by the saw; then cut off another strip two and one half inches wide like the first. Smooth the edge of the remaining seven-inch board; then divide this seven-inch board into two even strips which will be six feet long and about three and one half inches wide, perhaps a trifle less, from the loss in planing.

All these strips will have one edge that has been planed and one left rough by the saw. If you lay them together you will find that you have two pairs of strips; one pair two and one half inches wide, and one pair three and one half inches wide. _Each pair_ must be alike in width, otherwise the cabinet will be uneven and lobsided; so before going any farther lay the strips together and plane down any inequalities.

Now take one of the three and one half inch strips with try square and block plane. Square one end; measure three feet three inches from squared end and allow one eighth inch for waste in cutting.[B] Cut off square with cross-cut saw. Square end of piece cut and also of piece remaining. Measure twenty-two and one fourth inches and cut and plane as before. Do the same with the other three and one half inch strip. You have now two sides and top and bottom of main part of cabinet, and some small bits left for which we shall find a use, i. e. you have two pieces three feet three inches long and three and one half inches wide, for sides, and two pieces twenty-two and one fourth inches long and three and one half inches wide for top and bottom.

[B] Where accuracy is required always allow one eighth inch for waste in sawing; draw line and saw _on_ the line and plane off any thickness over and above the measure required.

Now take the two and one half inch strips; cut three feet three inches off each, also twenty-two and one fourth inches as with the others. Each set of pieces must be alike in length and width; you have two pieces three feet three inches long and two and one half inches wide, and two pieces twenty-two and one fourth inches long, two and one half inches wide; these are for sides, and top and bottom of door of cabinet. Lay these four pieces aside while we get ready for the back of the cabinet and front part of door.

From the seven-foot board (after planing and squaring one end) cut off three feet three inches; plane square the ends and cut off another piece three feet three inches.[C]

[C] Always remember to square and plane edges _before_ measuring from them.

From the nine-foot board in the same way cut two similar pieces three feet three inches; smooth edges, planing off as little as possible.

The piece remaining will measure about two and one half feet in length; from this cut off a piece twenty-two and one fourth inches long. Saw strip three and one half inches wide, which to save confusion we will mark _A_; plane edges, cut off another strip two and one half inches wide; mark this _B_. Next a strip three and one half inches wide; mark this _C_. Cut _C_ so as to measure seventeen and one half inches in length.

The cabinet is now mostly cut out; the next step is to put it together.

Take pieces for sides and top and bottom of cabinet. Lay two sides parallel at a distance of twenty-two and one fourth inches apart; put top and bottom in so they will be flush with end of sides. Nail the sides on to ends with six or eight-penny nails. Take care to keep the corners square, as they will be if the edges are even and kept flush.

Before nailing on the back test the squareness of the frame in this way (unless your eye is very accurate; even then it is a good thing to get in the habit of measuring exactly): measure the diagonals from the opposite corner. If the measures are alike, all right; if, however, one diagonal be longer than the other, make it right with gentle, steady pressure on each corner with both hands. When the diagonals are exactly alike the corners will also be right angles. Now lay on two of the two and one half inch pieces (those three feet three inches long and one foot wide); be sure and keep all the edges flush and nail firmly.

Do the same with pieces prepared for doors, and you will find you have two shallow boxes three feet three inches long and two feet wide (outside measure); one will be three and one half inches deep, the other two and one half inches deep.

Now take piece marked _A_, which is for a shelf in the cabinet; measure and mark six and one half inches from right hand end (this is the length for the small plane); then measure and mark another one half inch beyond this point; from this _last_ point measure length of your oilstone, which is probably six or eight inches. The space remaining will make a sort of box, or tray, for rule, chalk line and reel, pencils, etc., when you have made some use of the bits of wood you had left after cutting the shelves.

In the one half inch space between place for plane and oilstone put a little block one half inch wide and one inch long. At the end of space for oilstone nail a strip an inch wide across the shelf, and a similar strip in front. This makes one side and front of tray; the other side and back will be formed by the cabinet itself.

VI.—HOW TO MAKE A TOOL CABINET. (_Continued._)

AFTER shelf _A_ is fitted in this way, you will nail it into its place in cabinet so that the top of shelf is just seven inches above top of lower shelf, or bottom of cabinet which serves for a shelf.