PART II.

OF THE INSTRUMENTS NECESSARY.

The first thing the artist must procure must be a board of fine, close-grained wood, free from knots, to prepare and cut the several parts of his work upon. The best for this cutting-board is beech, sycamore, or pear-tree wood; it should be, at the least, one and a-half inch thick, by twelve inches broad, and about eighteen inches in length. I should prefer it even thicker than stated, as continual planing of the surface to erase the marks of the knife soon reduces its thickness. Let it be squared perfectly every way to allow the T square to work accurately along its edge. As before stated, care must be taken, when the surface has become too much cut up, to have it re-planed, or otherwise the knife is apt to follow the marks in the board, and cut the paper irregularly upon the under side. The size of board mentioned will be found most useful for all ordinary purposes; should the work be of very large dimensions, of course another must be procured, proportionally larger. Two or three boards of close-grained deal will also be found of service for cutting obliquely, &c., &c.

THE MODELLING PRESS.

This apparatus will be found of essential service to the artist, as by its aid he forms the cardboard which is the basis of his model. It may be either of iron or wood; the former is lighter, and more elegant in appearance, but the latter, though plain and homely, is in my opinion preferable in many respects. A common copying press may be used, care being taken not to place the damp paper between the iron, but between two hard, close-grained pieces of wood. On page 27 is an illustration of the press I use, which any joiner can construct for a few shillings. It consists of a cross-beam, A, through which the screw passes; two uprights, B B; a bottom, C, to which, and to the cross-beam, the uprights must be firmly mortised. Between them is a moveable top-piece, D, which by means of cord running through two small pulleys, E E, keeps it pressing continually against the screw; the weight F, at the end of the cord being slightly heavier than will balance the top-piece. By these means, as you unwind the screw, either to place under, or look at the progress of work already there, the top-piece moves out of your way. The sizes of the wood for the different portions is given, and care must be observed in not breaking it by too great a pressure of the screw; as the object of the press is to keep the sheets flatly and firmly together, while the adhesive material sets, no undue degree of force is necessary; indeed it will, for reasons hereafter to be described, be found a disadvantage to press them too closely.

C Bottom piece 18 inches by 12 inches by 2 inches. B B Uprights 12 do. — 4 do. — 1½ do. A Cross beam 15 do. — 4 do. — 2¼ do. The screw 1⅜ths inch in diameter.

This square is formed like the ordinary drawing-squares, with the exception that the blade A is made of steel; this is firmly screwed to a stock of hard wood, which has on each side of the blade a small piece at C C cut out; the object of this is to allow the knife to cut completely to the edge of the paper. The advantage, in fact, the necessity for a steel blade, will be obvious; were it of wood, the pressure of the knife along its edge would indent, or cut it. This square will be found adapted for every description of large and small work, but should the cardboard be of great thickness it is apt to stir, and by so doing cause irregularity of line. To remedy this an instrument is used, called an adjusting straight-edge. A is a straight ruler of flat brass, or of steel, like the blade of the T-square. It is contrived to move to and from the surface of the board upon the upright screws, B B, while a dovetail groove is fitted with a piece of brass to run along it, to allow of the horizontal movement of the ruler. The paper (upon which the cutting-off line has been previously marked) is placed upon the board, the straight-edge adjusted to the line; the straight-edge being then firmly screwed down upon it by means of the two small thumb-screws, 3 3, it is rendered immoveable during the progress of the work, this will be better understood from the annexed engraving.

No. 1 is a section of the cutting-board, showing the groove in which the piece of brass runs. 2, The brass, to which is attached the thumb-screws, by means of a screw through the eye at B. 3 3 3, Thumb-screws, to screw down the ruler upon the paper. The brass rule should not be less than an eighth of an inch in thickness, otherwise it may bend; if steel it will do a little less.

This instrument will be found particularly useful in cutting the necessary mitres for joining together the edges of the work, or for any other work of similar description, such as the copings to walls, mouldings of every description, &c., &c. Having now described these very important instruments in a way we hope may prove perfectly intelligible, we proceed to state the requirements in those necessary ones, knives. The number of these the artist will use, is regulated more by his own fancy than anything else; but there are three shapes he will find absolutely necessary. In modelling, as in painting, there are numerous tricks and contrivances for producing various effects; and as the painter will often value a bit of old scrubby, worn-down brush, so the modeller will find various cutting instruments materially assist him, such as the broken blade of a knife, a steel pen, a bradawl, &c., &c., many of these producing effects that more elaborate instruments would have failed doing. On page 33 will be found an engraving representing three requisite varieties of knives. No. 1. This knife is long in the blade, and, as will be found in all the others, is perfectly straight on the cutting edge; this knife is used to cut straight lines in all directions through strong work, cutting oblique lines, mitres, splays, &c. No. 2. One for lighter work used in forming or modelling ornaments, or, in general, cutting work of a lighter and neater character. No. 3. This blade is used solely for cutting all descriptions of circular work, and curves of every description. It may be useful to remark that this is the only shape of blade that will cut, with clearness and sharpness, curved lines through thick cardboard. The instrument next illustrated is called a knife compass, and is extremely valuable for cutting out circular architraves, &c., &c., doing its work in a way that the hand and knife could not equal, and with the least possible trouble. See illustration, page 36. They resemble, in some respects, an ordinary pair of compasses, but of a little stronger make than the common. A is a moveable sweep of brass, to regulate the opening of the legs of the compasses, which, being opened to the requisite width, are firmly held by tightening the thumb-screw, F. B, the moveable leg to which the cutting-knife C is attached by means of a shoulder to the blade at G, and a socket at H, into which it fixes, and is secured by the screw at D. E and I are two screws working on the rod, K, on each side of the moveable bar, B.

By means of this contrivance the knife is always kept perfectly upright, and in consequence cuts perpendicularly through the cardboard. There may be several knives to fit in the socket for light and heavy work, but a blade of the same shape as that shown in the engraving, will be found sufficient for nearly every purpose. The instrument might perhaps be more useful if half as large again as represented. The dotted lines are given to show the instrument open wider, in order fully to illustrate the utility of the moveable leg at B. The method of using this instrument is this: Having a curve to cut, and having found the centre of the arc, place the point of the leg L within it, then adjusting the moveable leg to the perpendicular by means of the screws I and E, stretch the legs to the requisite radius, and by gradually increasing the pressure on the blade, the curve may be cut with the most perfect ease and truth.