CHAPTER XI

A FEW MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS

=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 more difficult.

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Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Knife_, in Part V.

Mark as shown (Fig. 335), and remove the wood at the corners, forming four rabbets, giving a section of the piece the shape of a Greek cross (Fig. 336). Next lay out the links, alternating as shown in Fig. 337, and allowing space enough so that they can have some play when cut. By notching in from the outside and finally cutting away the wood within the links, they can be separated. The whittling must be done carefully, of course, and wholly by _cutting_ with a _sharp_ knife. If you try to do it by prying or twisting with the blade, you will be likely to split the wood. Finally, round and smooth the links (Fig. 338), doing as much of this as you can before the links are separated. Use fine sandpaper (see _Sandpaper_). Leave the chain in the natural wood or oil and shellac (see _Finishing_).

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=Ball and Block.=--White pine or any other easily whittled, straight-grained wood will do for this whittling exercise (Fig. 339).

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Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Knife_, in Part V.

First get out a cubical block, each edge of which may be, perhaps, 1-1/2" or 2" long. Gauge a line around each side parallel to the edge and about 1/4" from it (see _Gauge_). Cut straight in on these lines and then make slanting cuts to meet those first made. Remove the wood on the same general principle as in cutting a notch, gradually shaping the middle part into spherical form; while the cuts which are parallel with the sides finally meet and form four posts between the top and bottom. The wood must be removed by cuts, not by prying. Trim the ball to be as nearly spherical as you can. If you wish to make the ring or handle shown on top, additional length must be allowed in getting out the original block. The whole can be sandpapered with fine sandpaper (see _Sandpaper_) and finished with oil or shellac (see _Finishing_).

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=Box-making.=--In laying out common boxes, bear in mind that the sides, top, and bottom usually lap over the ends,--the sides over the ends, and the top and bottom over the sides and ends (Fig. 340). Sometimes, however, to avoid joints showing on the front, the front and back are made to lap over the top (Fig. 341), occasionally the ends lap over the back (Fig. 342), and other arrangements are sometimes made. Do not rely on glue for these common square joints in box-work, but place your dependence on nails or screws.

Either lid or bottom or both can sometimes project slightly to good advantage (Fig. 343). In nice work, however, the bottom is more often set in so as not to show, either simply fitting in between the sides and ends or into a rabbet (see _Rabbet_) cut in the lower edge (Fig. 344, showing box bottom up).

The lid or cover can be hinged to the top edge of the back of the box, or a narrower lid can be used and hinged to a strip fastened at the back of the box (Fig. 345). Plain lids of this sort, for everything but rough or temporary work, should be cleated, either by end cleats, by framing, or simply by cleats on the under side (see _Cleats_ and _Doors_).

Remember that the joints will be held more tightly (for a permanent box) if you "toe" the nails (see _Nailing_).

Mitring is a common way of making box-joints. It is, however, one of the poorest of all ways in point of strength, and unless done with much skill,--more skill than the average amateur usually acquires,--the joints are very liable to come apart, or at least gape open, and be weaker and look worse than the common, squarely fitted joint first shown.

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Glue can be used and is a help. Mitred joints can, however, be strengthened by splines or keys or pieces let into saw-kerfs (see _Mitring_).

A mitred box is hard for an amateur to put together, particularly when it is to be glued. The whole process should be rehearsed before gluing. Everything must fit exactly before you begin to finally put the box together. If you get one corner out of place, all four will probably be thrown out of position before you get through puttering with them, and the glue become cold and the operation be spoiled. Only a skilful amateur can make a box with nicely fitted mitred joints that will hold permanently.

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There are various other ways of making joints by machine (see _Joints_). The rabbeted joint shown in Fig. 346 can be made by hand very well, but so much quicker with a circular saw that you will save much time by having it done at a mill. It is a good, strong, neat joint and shows less wood at the end than the common way. When it is allowable to round what little end wood there is (Fig. 345) it makes the joint quite inconspicuous. Glue can also be used to advantage with this joint on account of the shoulder.

Dowelling the corners is a method sometimes used. It is easier than mitring, but by no means a strong joint, unless skilfully made. The principal advantage of dowelling is in cases where it is objectionable to have nails show. But, as a rule, there is not much gain in trying to _conceal_ joints. Certainly not unless you can do the work in the best of style.

Learn first to make the common, plain joints accurately, and you can then attempt the more difficult ones with some chance of success. The joints can sometimes be reinforced to good advantage by triangular corner-pieces or posts, glued and screwed in place.

There is no better or more workmanlike way of putting boxes together than by some form of dovetailing (see _Dovetailing_), but this process is hardly one for the beginner to undertake, and should be postponed until he has acquired considerable skill, for, though the principle of laying out and cutting dovetails is easy to understand, much exactness is required in the execution.

Where the box does not open at the top but lower down, as in Fig. 347, the best way is not to make the two parts separately, but simply to put together a tight box and then saw it apart wherever you wish to have it open.

Be careful to gauge accurately the line by which to saw it open (see _Gauge_), and not to drive any nails too near this line. Any which you omit can easily be added after the sawing. Saw the box open very carefully on the line. Smooth the edges after the saw, but take pains not to plane away the wood too hastily, for a very little carelessness will spoil the joint and necessitate a general truing of the edges.

A good form for a plain chest is shown in Fig. 348. The construction is the same as in the other cases. The bottom can be fitted to a groove cut around on the inside and can be inserted when the box is put together, or for a rougher job can be simply nailed in place.

A simple form of tool-chest is shown in Fig. 349. This can be made of any size desired and of any wood. It is usually as well to make a good-sized chest, for the cost is but little more than to make a small one. Hard wood will be much more durable than soft. Stock from 3/4" to 7/8" in thickness will be suitable.

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Unless you have had considerable experience you had best be content with the simpler joints rather than to attempt dovetailing the corners, as shown in the cut. It is not necessary to cut a rabbet for the bottom, because of the base-board or moulding which is to be nailed around the bottom, and the latter can be nailed or screwed directly to the edge, before the moulding is put around. The rest of the construction of the chest is obvious and like the cases already shown. If the moulding around the lid is to be arranged as shown, it will be best to fit the lock first, as it will be easier to attach the hasp of the lock before the moulding has been added (see _Locks_ and _Hinges_).

At about two or three inches from the top, fasten a ledge on the inside of the front and back. This can be about 1/4" thick by 1/2" deep and is for the sliding-tray, shown in the cut, to rest upon. This tray can be of soft wood, from 1/4" to 3/8" in thickness, and can be divided as you wish. It will often be advantageous to arrange the lid and the top tray so that tools can be fastened on the inside of the lid. Saws and various flat tools are often thus disposed of, being held in place by straps, blocks, and buttons. You can also arrange a rack around the inside of your chest for such tools as chisels, gouges, etc. When kept in trays, such tools should be separated by divisions. The various details of making such a chest do not differ from those of the articles just described in the preceding chapter on Furniture.

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In nailing together rough boxes for packing or some temporary purpose, you do not need to devote much thought to the arrangement of the pieces with reference to the direction of the grain, so long as you put them together in a way that your common-sense tells you will be strong. Examination of a few packing-cases will show you all you need to know for such work. But when you make a better grade of box, to be glued, regard must be paid to the direction of the grain and the matter of expansion and contraction. In the majority of boxes and chests the grain of the sides and ends should run in the same way--horizontally or around the box, as shown in the illustrations.

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This gives a strong edge all around at the top of the box and permits the use of glue (with some joints) where the sides and ends meet, as the parts glued will thus naturally tend to expand and contract alike. When the grain goes in opposite directions (_i.e._, at right angles), such joints, unless short, should not be glued. Where the top board is fastened to the sides and ends of the box, as in Fig. 347, it should not be glued, except in the case of a small box, and the grain should run lengthways, so that there will be as little change as possible due to the expansion and contraction (see Chapter IV. on Laying Out the Work, and Appendix).

When several boards are required to cover the top or bottom of a box, if you wish to have as few cracks as possible and to avoid the swelling and shrinking across the grain as much as you can, lay the boards lengthways of the box, but if you merely wish for strength, lay them crossways.

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Care must be taken about testing the angles with the square, and guarding against winding (see _Winding-sticks_), in making nice boxes, as with all framed work. If the bottom and top are got out accurately they will, of course, assist in the matter of getting the box square, and for common work carefully fitting the bottom (or bottom and top) in place will be all the "squaring" required. In nice work where the joints are glued, waste pieces should be placed over the joints (across the grain of the sides) before applying the clamps, not merely to prevent the work being marred by the clamps, but also to distribute the pressure and ensure as close a joint as possible (see _Clamps_).

The final smoothing of the outside of a box should be done after it is permanently put together, allowing plenty of time, if glue is used in the joints, for it to dry before dressing off the surfaces. The inside must, of course, be smoothed before putting together.

The variety of forms in which boxes are made is too great for all to be specified, but the same general principles apply to nearly all forms of box-work. In the case of chests or large boxes, you will often see them with the sides and ends panelled, but this is rather an elaborate form for the beginner to attempt and had best be avoided by the inexperienced worker. A form which is not too hard for the amateur is shown, however, in Fig. 350, the sides and ends being fitted to grooves or rabbets cut in posts at each corner.

The work of getting out the stock for boxes and making the joints can be done so quickly and accurately (and usually cheaply) by a circular saw or other machine that much time is saved, when making nice boxes, by having the parts sawed at a mill. The remarks made at the end of the introduction to Chapter X. (on Furniture), in regard to getting out your work, putting together, smoothing, and finishing, apply equally to making the better class of boxes and chests, and the general details of the work do not differ from those of the articles shown in that chapter. See also, _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Nailing_, _Nail-set_, _Screws_, _Hinges_, _Locks_, _Scraper_, _Sandpaper_, and _Finishing_, in Part V.

=Toy Boats.=--A few suggestions about the wood-work of the hulls of toy boats may be useful to the beginner. The details of rigging and discussion of the merits of the various types and designs are matters which do not come within the scope of this book, and you can easily find information upon these points.

Making your boats yourself is half the fun, of course, and capital practice with tools as well as a valuable introduction to the building of model yachts, which you may undertake later, and to the general subject of boat-building and sailing. Making different types and sailing them is both interesting and instructive.

You will quite often see little boats fitted up as exact copies in miniature of real vessels, with all the complexity of fittings, rigging, and minor details found in the larger boats. These models are often interesting specimens of skill,--as pieces of handiwork,--but the time can usually be spent to better advantage in some other way. If you wish actually to sail your boats, leave out everything which is not essential to successful sailing.

Very little skill, and no instruction, is required to make the simpler forms of toy boats familiar to the small boy who lives near the water. Almost any scrap of shingle or piece of wood upon which a little mast can be raised will sail, as the small boy well knows. The difficulties begin when something more like a boat is attempted, and the first and greatest of all difficulties is that of the design, as you will discover later if you attempt scientific model yacht-building. But advanced model yacht-work requires much skill--more than can be expected of a beginner. At first, in beginning to make toy boats, copy any successful boat as nearly as you can.

After you get beyond making boats of shingles and scraps of board, you may very likely make something like Fig. 351, which is too simple to require special description; but when you begin to build regular boats you will find enough to tax your wood-working skill to the utmost. You had best begin with simple forms and not make your first attempts too large.

One way of making the hull (as of course you know) is to cut it from a solid block of wood of the required size. Another way is to build it up of layers of board laid on one another horizontally (Fig. 352).[27]

The greatest care must be taken in the selection of the wood. It should be free from knots, checks, and bad grain, and above all things must be thoroughly seasoned. Nothing is better than the best quality of clear white pine. Mahogany is excellent, but is more costly and harder to work.

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Take a simple model of the fin-keel type (Fig. 353). First you must have the design or drawing giving the different plans or views. If the drawing is smaller than the actual size you wish to make the boat, it must, of course, be enlarged and a full-sized working drawing made.[28]

Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Chisel_, _Gouge_, _Spokeshave_, _Paring_, etc., and look up any other references.

To cut the hull from a solid block, first prepare the block of the right dimensions, and plane it, making sure that the sides are true and square with one another. The sheer plan must now be transferred to the sides of the block, either by copying it on the wood by the use of transfer paper placed between the drawing and the wood, by cutting out a pattern, or by fastening the drawing itself on one side of the wood and a reversed duplicate on the other side. In the same way transfer the half-breadth plan twice to the top of the block, on each side of a line drawn along the centre, reversing the pattern for one side, of course. Also continue the centre line down each end and along the bottom.

If the top and side outlines can be sawed to the lines marked with a band-saw or jig-saw, the expense will be but slight and considerable labour will be saved. Saw down on the lines 1--1, 2--2, 3--3, etc. (Fig. 354), nearly to the sheer line shown in Fig. 355. In your first attempts at making small boats it may be well to omit the deck sheer, leaving the top flat (Fig. 354), as this simplifies matters in the beginning. Also, saw off the superfluous wood shown by the shaded parts of Fig. 355. Now clamp or wedge the block, bottom up, firmly on the bench, in case you have no vise arrangement by which it can be properly held, and rough it out approximately to shape with a wide chisel (see _Paring_) or the draw-knife (see _Draw-knife_).

The operation of shaping and hollowing out is slow work and requires much care. A little haste may spoil the work of hours. As the bottom begins to approach the desired shape you must have something more than the eye by which to gauge your cutting, for a very little deviation from the true curve may spoil your boat. It is very important to get both sides of the boat alike. On card-board or stiff paper, mark a series of patterns of the different sections shown on the body plan. Cut out each of these patterns so as to save the part which is the reverse of the shape of the section of the boat, thus forming a series of templates, which you can apply to the hull at each section to test your cutting, until the templates just fit the wood at their respective sections, when the shape of the hull will, of course, agree with the plan.

The spoke-shave, and sometimes the plane, can be used to good advantage in the final shaping (see _Spokeshave_). Especial care is required not to slice off too much, and you will, of course, work, as a rule, from the centre (or amidships) towards the ends. The block can be held in the lap or between the knees for this shaping, but it is better for all kinds of crooked work to have the material firmly held by a vise or some other contrivance, so that not merely the hands of the worker are free, but the whole body as well.

This form of hull is simple to make, in that the curves of the outside are all convex. There are no concave surfaces and reversed curves. The surface can be finally shaped by the use of the rasp, followed by a file, and finally smoothed with scraper or glass (see _Scraper_). Do not use sandpaper until the hull is finished.

The inside must next be hollowed. Gauge a line around the upper side, 1/2" from the edge, except at the bow and stern, where a greater distance should be allowed (Fig. 356). The hull must now be held firmly in some way. If you cannot contrive to clamp it firmly without bruising the outside, you should arrange some blocks (padding them with cloth or leather) in such a way that it can be held securely. It is better to spend an hour in fastening the block firmly than to attempt to steady it with one hand and to cut with the other. In all the shaping of the boat, both hands should be free if possible. Grasp the blade of the tool with the left hand, or lay the hand across it, so as to exert a back-pressure on the tool. This gives great control of the tool (see _Paring_).

Bore one or more holes (according to the size of the boat) downward from the top (Fig. 356), being very careful not to bore too deeply, but to leave at least half an inch of wood below the hole (see _Boring_). Now run a groove with the gouge around the deck, inside of the line marked, and hollow out the inside with the gouge, cutting towards the middle. The holes bored will help in this process. Cut down straight from the line marked on the upper side until the thickness of the sides of the hull is reduced to perhaps 1/4 of an inch (Fig. 357). The object of the increased thickness at the gunwale is to stiffen the sides and give a better bearing for nailing down the deck. Below this point make the thickness as uniform as you can, except for a narrow space at the very bottom where the keel is to be fastened, where it is often well to leave a thicker ridge (Fig. 357).

Extreme care is required in hollowing the inside. It is best not to attempt to make the sides thinner than one fourth of an inch, unless you are a pretty good workman with a fair degree of patience, for it is hard to repair the damage if you cut too deeply. Templates can be made for the inside. You can tell quite well whether you are making the thickness uniform by the sense of feeling, gauging the thickness between the thumb and finger. Do not try to cut away too much at the bow and stern, as it will weaken the boat, but leave a sufficient body of solid wood. Smooth the inside neatly with a flatter gouge (if you have it) than that with which you removed the bulk of the wood.

Next, with a thin strip or batten, mark the line for the sheer of the deck by the saw-kerfs already made and remove the wood carefully to this sheer line. The outside can now be thoroughly sandpapered, first with, perhaps, No. 1-1/2, and finally with No. 00. Get the surface as smooth as possible (see _Sandpaper_). Next paint the outside and inside with two coats of white lead and oil (see _Painting_). It is a good plan to apply a coat of hot oil first.

Now to make this same simple model by the method of layers you will readily see that if you take a piece of board of a thickness equal to the distance between the water lines in the sheer plan (Fig. 353), and cut from it pieces of the shape of the water lines as shown in the half-breadth plan (Fig. 353), and also cut out the centres of the two upper pieces as shown in Figs. 358, 359, 360, and then fasten these pieces one upon another as shown in Fig. 361--you will see that you have built up the general form of the boat, and saved much of the labour of shaping and hollowing.

Before cutting out these layers, a centre line must be accurately marked along both sides and at the rounded ends, so that the layers can be put together in the correct positions. Also, for the same reason, mark the midship lines across each side and on the edges, as shown. In drawing the inside lines (for the part to be cut out), care must be taken to leave sufficient thickness at the sides to allow for the final shaping. The sawing of the layers had best be done at a mill with a band-saw and jig- or scroll-saw, but can be done by hand, of course.

The boards or planks must be accurately dressed so as to make as perfect joints as possible when put together. If not convenient to make the thickness of the boards agree with the water lines of the plan, you can easily draw in new water lines to agree with the thickness of the board you may have--say, 3/4" or 7/8" apart. Glue must now be applied to the joints, and the pieces firmly clamped together between boards, or laid flat (bottom side upwards) and weights applied. It is best not to cut out and glue up more than two or three layers at a time, lest they become bent or sprung. Care must be used in applying the pressure to make it uniform and not cause the somewhat flexible sides to be sprung or twisted out of shape (see _Gluing_ and _Clamps_). Do not delay this building-up operation needlessly. Do not leave the pieces lying around for a fortnight. Keep them all clamped up in the proper position, or under pressure, if you can, until the whole form is glued together, as such pieces spring out of shape very easily.

After the glue is thoroughly dry, complete the shaping of the outside and inside as in the case of the solid block, care being taken to pare off the projecting angles on the outside gradually, so as not to cut within the curve marked on the plan.

The fin (when flaring at the top and not too thin) can also be made of wood, glued and screwed on, the lead being screwed to the bottom with brass screws.[29] Be sure that the fin is in line with the centre line of the boat.

Unless the boat is quite small it is best to fit in two or three deck beams to connect the sides and support the deck (Fig. 357). These should be of thin stuff (perhaps 3/16" thick and 1/2" wide), set on edge and very slightly arched, the ends being fitted into gains cut in the sides, and nailed with fine brads. They can also be glued.

The deck should be of thin stuff (perhaps 1/8" planed). Mark carefully on the piece the deck outline and cut it approximately to shape, but well outside of the line. Fasten small blocks of wood to the under side of the deck wherever any attachments for the rigging are to be fastened. Paint the lower side, and when dry bore a row of holes with a very small brad-awl (see _Awl_) all around the edge, 1/8" inside of the line. Smear the top edge of the hull with thick white lead, or white lead putty, and nail the deck in place with very fine wire brads, perhaps 1/2" in length. Care must be used not to split the deck or drive the nails through the sides of the hull. Fine brass screws can be used if necessary. The overhanging edge of the deck can be trimmed down carefully with chisel, plane, or knife. The outside of the deck can now be painted.

The rudder can be fixed in a brass tube, the ends of which can be set in lead. The mast can also be stepped in a brass tube, or simply pass through the deck to the bottom, where it can be stepped in a smaller hole, which must be bored with care lest it go through.

When you come to making models of less simple form--those having hollows and reversed curves in their outside form, as the majority of boats do--the difficulty of shaping accurately is much increased and more care is required, but the principle of construction remains the same.

Suppose, for example, you are ambitious enough to undertake such forms as those which compete for the _America's_ Cup, for instance, you will find it difficult to carry the process of building by horizontal layers below a certain point (Fig. 362) but the keel and lower part can be added by gluing (or gluing and screwing) a piece of board or plank on edge (or two pieces, if necessary) to the bottom. The lead can, in turn, be fastened to the lower edge of the keel by screws. Models of such yachts are not always the best forms for toy boats, however desirous you may be to reproduce in miniature these famous boats.

FOOTNOTES:

[27] Still another way sometimes used for model yachts is to build the hull much in the same way that a real vessel is built--making a framework or skeleton and covering it with little planks, but this method (though a good one in some respects) requires more skill than can be expected of the average amateur, and this mode of construction should not be attempted until you become a skilful workman and accomplished in the building of regular model yachts.

If your boat is quite small it will probably be easier and better in most cases to cut the hull from a solid block; but if much more than two feet in length it is usually better to build it in layers.

Either of these methods can be used in any case, but for a small boat the building in layers is more difficult, while for a large one it is hard to find a block that will be sufficiently free from defects.

[28] In making the plans for a boat, three views are usually drawn, known as the sheer plan, the body plan, and the half-breadth plan. These correspond to the "front or side elevation," "end elevation," and "plan" in ordinary drawings, and give side, end, and top views of the boat,--or of one-half of it, which is all that is needed, as the sides are of course alike. Several equidistant horizontal lines are drawn across the plans. One of these represents the line of the water when the boat has its proper load. It is called the load water-line. The other lines being parallel to it represent other imaginary levels, at equal distances apart--like the lines which would be made by the water if the boat sunk deeper or floated higher. Other lines are also added to show vertical and horizontal, longitudinal and cross-sections, at regular intervals, and also other longitudinal sections, but these details you will find fully described in works on yacht-(and model yacht-) building.

[29] The fin can be cut from sheet metal (brass or sheet-iron) and inserted in a thin saw-kerf cut exactly in the centre of the bottom, being set in thick white lead, or it can be riveted to thin plates screwed to the bottom of the boat, or lips can be bent over alternately on either side of the upper edge of the fin and screwed to the bottom.

The amount of lead required for the bulb at the bottom of the fin can be determined by loading the hull with weights until it is sunk to the water line. The weights will, of course, represent the weight of lead required. This can be cast in a mould and riveted to the bottom of the fin.