Wood-working for Beginners: A Manual for Amateurs

=Anvil.=--An anvil is often useful and is sometimes combined with a vise. It should have a flat steel surface and also a tapering, rounded (conical) point. An old flat-iron does...

Boat-building, like many other kinds of work, can be done (even in its simplest stages) more quickly, more easily, and, of course, more cheaply, by two persons than by one, so i...

Floors are often uneven, and the legs may not be cut exactly the same length. Make the top true and the legs can easily be made to fit the floor afterwards. The piece of 10" boa...

Some article of furniture is frequently one of the first objects upon which the beginner (particularly the amateur of mature years) tries his hand; and boys, as well as their el...

One of the most important things to bear in mind is not to be too ambitious in your early attempts. Content yourself with the simplest forms until you have attained sufficient s...

as nearly as may be, from both sides; that the mere dressing off of the surface by hand will sometimes cause a board to warp badly; and that it is better to buy stock of as near...

strips and it is not important to round them unless you are scoring fractions of a second against time. Another way is to curve the cross-cleats slightly (Fig. 226), leaving the...

Before you can make anything successfully, you must have not merely wood, but the _right kind_ of wood for the purpose. There are, also, "choice cuts" in lumber, as the butcher...

=Wooden Chain.=--White pine or any other easily whittled, straight-grained wood can be used. Take a stick of any length and from 1" to 2" square. If very small the whittling is...

=Wooden Swords, Knives, and Daggers.=--Before beginning work, read _Marking_, _Knife_, _Whittling_, _Paring_, _Rounding Sticks_, _Rasp_, _File_, and _Sandpaper_, and look upany...

"=Cottage Row.="--The little houses shown in the accompanying illustrations[36] afford excellent examples of what can be done by the beginner. These were built by boys, and form...

The sizes and shapes of these houses and cages will depend upon the animals for which they are built and the places you have to put them. Frequently they can be built to advanta...

Look at the complicated and ingenious curiosities whittled with a jack-knife by sailors, prisoners, and other people who have time to kill in that way! Have you ever seen the Ch...

=Stilts.=--There is very little to say about the manufacture of stilts. The construction is obvious (Figs. 195 and 196), the size and arrangement depending on your own size and...

When one has made up his mind to make something, he usually wants to begin work at once; so, as I wish you to read this chapter, I will make it quite short. There is a great dea...

There are still more tools than those given above, as you doubtless know, but by the time you have become workman enough to need more you will know what you need. Ploughs, match...

=Working Drawings.=--A simple drawing will often give you a better idea of an object than you can get from any description in words, for drawing is not only a very ancient form...

sometimes soaked in water before being seasoned. This assists in removing the soluble elements of the sap, but it is doubtful whether the process improves the quality of the woo...

=Summer-houses.=--A form which is quite easy to build, and which is attractive when overrun with vines, is shown in front elevation (Fig. 401) and in side elevation (Fig. 402).

If you have a place where you can build a workshop you will find one described in Part III. If not, try to find a well-lighted shop, both on account of your eyes and your work;...

Even if you are able to use tools quite well, you may still not know how to go to work to make some particular thing, so it is quite important to know how to lay out, put togeth...

1 two-foot rule. 1 try-square (metal-bound). 1 pair of wing compasses. 1 marking-gauge. 1 mortise-gauge. 1 steel square (carpenter's framing-square). 1 bevel. 1 "odd jobs." 1 ch...