Joseph H. Adams

“ Never, under any circumstances, begin sawing without a tracing, or a pattern of some kind, to saw to, for now is the time to cultivate habits of accuracy. With no design or objective-point, nothing but a bit of useless board will result; besides, you will form a habit of working without a guide, a habit that has made more poor artisans than the love of idleness and bad company. Lay the wood on the rest, or plate, and see that it lies solidly. If it shakes, the wood is uneven and should be straightened, for no one can saw a warped board and make accurate work ”

“ Every one knows its little trail, as broad as one’s hand, through the bushes or broom-hedge, or its footprints as it hops over the clear snow. Here, where the path goes under a fence-rail, it has stopped to gnaw. ”

“ But it is man alone who is not content with the first crude efforts; he is constantly aiming after something more substantial and better adapted to his increasing needs. So man becomes the true builder, and as wood is the simple and almost universally obtainable material, carpentry, or the art of working in wood, stands at the head of the applied sciences upon which the civilization of the race depends. ”

“ Near the top of the jaw a hole is cut to receive the screw that is turned with the lever-stick to tighten the jaw. A bench screw and nut can be purchased at almost any hardware-store and fitted to the work-bench; but if this fitting should be too much of an undertaking for a youthful workman, a carpenter will put it in place. The wood screws are cheapest, but those of steel are the most satisfactory. A small steel one will cost about a dollar.
From the apron at the front of the bench a piece should be cut fifteen inches long and six inches wide. ”

“ That is why he prefers the rod to the seine, one big fish to many smaller ones, one cunning old trout or pickerel outwitted to a basket of stupid fish that contended for the bait. Presently he begins to desire more delicate tackle, and understands that he is fishing for sport, not fish. I take it that the whole art and mystery of angling is how to get the most sport and enjoyment out of it. But how?
To begin with, no one will destroy a fish which is not dangerous to man, nor will he fish just for amusement ”

“ The object of a lathe is to cause a piece of wood or other material to revolve from end to end, so that when a chisel or other sharp-edged tool is held against the moving surface it will cut away that part of the material at which the tool is directed.
The boy who lives near a wood-working establishment, or mill, can gain more knowledge in watching a wood-turner at work for half an hour than he can learn from reading a book on the subject for many days. It is a simple craft, but a firm hand and a true cut are the important factors in making a boy a master of the lathe. ”

“ It is a difficult matter to instruct a boy, by written description, how to handle tools; and rather than attempt it, I should advise the young workman to watch a carpenter at his work. Most carpenters are quite willing to have you follow their movements, and many of them will even offer advice, if they see that you are really interested. But remember that a good workman never likes to have a boy meddle with his tools, and you should not ask foolish or unnecessary questions. ”

“ Toboggans, double-runners, skees, and snow-shoes—the very words make the blood tingle in one’s veins, and happy is the boy whose home is in the Northern climes where there is real winter for at least four months out of the year. ”

“ If it is impossible to find the large nails that bind the corners at a hardware store, they may be made from sheet-lead. Disks half an inch in diameter are cut from the lead by means of a small cold-chisel and mallet. The edges of the disks are beaten with a tack-hammer to give them the appearance of a rough, hammer-headed nail. These disks are painted with a dead-black paint, made by adding a small portion of dry lamp-black to thin shellac, and applying it to the metal-work with a soft brush. ”

“ A pole is made fast to the forward running-gear to drag the engine with, and if several boys are to be members of the fire company a rope should be made fast to the axle at both ends or to the body frame, and the boy nearest the engine can steer it with the pole. All the wood-work should be painted red and the metal parts with asphaltum varnish, which will give them a good appearance, and as it is water-proof it will prevent the metal parts from rusting. ”

“ The most important feature of carving is the ability to sharpen and maintain the little tools, and when this is mastered, more than half the difficulty has been overcome. The dexterity to handle, with a firm and sure hand, the various chisels and gouges comes, of course, with practice only.
It is better to begin with a soft wood. Pine, poplar, button-wood, cypress, or red woods are all of close grain and are easy to work. The harder woods, and those with a very open grain—such as chestnut, ash, and oak—should [39] not be carved until the first principles are learned in the softer woods. ”

“ By the time it is well warmed up, the hot air from the stove will have dried out every particle of moisture left in the barrel. If no stove is at hand, the last set of drying rags used must be plied vigorously up and down the barrel until it becomes quite warm from the friction. Drying is the most important part of cleaning, and if the least particle of moisture is left in the barrel it will be a rust spot the next time the gun is taken from its case. The gun may now be oiled, inside and out, with sewing-machine oil or gun-grease, which can be had in any gun store. ”

“ CARPENTRY
Carpentry, or the science of making things out of wood, is the oldest and comes the closest to us of any of the applied arts and crafts. The earliest men made clubs at least. Later they began to build, to construct, and it is interesting to remember that this ability to construct is a faculty shared with man by the animals. There are many species of birds that build well-designed nests; the spider is a weaver; the bee is a geometrician; the ant is a tunnel builder; the beaver, in the construction of his dams and breakwaters, displays engineering ability of a high order. ”

“ A Wind-speeder Wind-speeders may be constructed of metal or partly of wood, but one that can easily be made by a boy consists of two sticks, four ordinary tin funnels having their ends stopped up with a plug of wood, and a pole, into the end of which a long iron pin is driven and on which the hub revolves. Fig. 4.
Two hard-wood sticks thirty inches long and three-quarters of an inch square are cut at the middle so that they will lap, and with steel nails they are attached to a hub three-quarters of an inch thick and three inches in diameter, in the centre of which a quarter-inch hole is bored. ”

“ The vital difference between the animal and the human intelligence lies in the fact that the latter is progressive. The spider weaves just the same pattern to-day that he did when the Pyramids were young; the mathematical section of the bee cell is invariable; the mud-swallows build the same kind of houses as their remotest ancestors. The common explanation is that instinct and not reason guides the animal in his work, and instinct is a reproductive faculty, not an inventive one. It is for man alone to progress from the crude beginnings of an art to its highest and most perfect development. ”

“ On each side of the path a stake is firmly driven into the ground. About seven inches from the ground, and on the sides which face, a deep notch is cut into each stake, and a stick flattened at each end is placed across, like the letter H. The sapling is bent down, a strong cord fastened to the end, and tied around the middle of the cross-piece. The noose dangles below, clearing the ground by two inches (Fig. 3) . If the pole is strong enough it lifts the game into the air out of reach of predatory animals. ”

“ Perhaps the first and most urgent need of all living creatures is for shelter. The oriole weaves his hanging nest; the beaver constructs his wonderfully domed house; primitive man builds his hut of interlaced boughs. ”

“ If one is fishing from a boat or not moving about much the fish may be kept alive in a floating live-box or basket, and at the end of the fishing the best may be chosen for keeping and the rest let go. Fish are sweeter, too, if cleaned as soon as possible; besides, the cleaning is done more easily if done early. Learn to do it well yourself, and try to be at home in time to do it before supper. Cleaning fish by candle-light goes far to spoil the sport of a pleasant day. Do not clean fish with your pocket-knife. Have in your kit a stout one for the purpose which will also cut bait. ”

“ CLAY-MODELLING AND PLASTER-CASTING
The boy on whom nature has bestowed the natural talent and liking for art-work will find clay-modelling a fascinating and pleasing branch to follow.
To become a perfect modeller, and finally a sculptor, requires years of patience and perseverance, but to copy simple objects in clay is not a difficult matter, and with some clay, a few tools, and the skeletons, or supports, the amateur should not meet with any great obstacle if the following descriptions and instructions are accepted and practised. ”

“ Look over and test your tackle every time you are going fishing—yes, and every time it gets caught on a stone or stump or in the bushes—if you wish to escape the loss of your best fish. All this means that tackle to be safe must be sound—that is, good all through. A line, for instance, which is strong in one place and weak in another will give you more trouble than one which is not so strong but uniform.
The strain upon the tackle is equalized by the elasticity of the rod, which to some extent makes up for want of dexterity. ”

“ If a hand jig-saw is the only tool available the metal should be held in a vise. With very thin lead the dressing is best done by laying the metal on a hard-wood block and cutting out with small chisels and a light mallet.
Three or four small wood-carving chisels, straight-edges, and gouges will be found admirable tools for this work, and, as the lead does not dull them, they will keep an edge for a long time. A wood-carving chisel is ground on both sides, which makes it better for this work than a carpenter’s chisel, which is ground only on one side. ”

“ Twilled cotton sail-cloth is the proper material of which to make the tent, but if this cannot be had, then a stout quality of unbleached muslin will answer very well for clear weather; but in wet weather it will not shed the water so well as the twilled duck. The seams can be sewed on a machine, but they will be much stronger if sewed by hand with white cotton cord well waxed. All the edges of the cloth should be bound with rope about the size and strength of clothes-line, so that any attachments made to the edges will be borne by the rope instead of all the strain coming on the canvas. ”

“ Since, at the best, the motion of the hand-saw is jerky, not nearly so nice work can be done as with the treadle-saw, which has an even, steady gait.
For all open-work it is necessary to have something to punch holes, so that a start may be made on the inside. Many use an ordinary brad-awl, but this is liable to split the wood. Besides, it is not possible to punch a hole so smooth and nice as it can be drilled or bored; hence, a drill is included in the list, and it will be found a very handy tool for either hand or treadle saws. ”

“ A reel is not so absolutely necessary as the rod, line, and hook, but it is a prime convenience. A well-made single-click reel is better than any multiplier except for the one matter of making long casts from the reel, which a beginner is not likely to do.
For fly-casting a leader or casting-line of gut between the fly and the main line is necessary for making a light cast, but for ordinary bait-fishing the gut-snells which are nowadays so generally sold attached to hook are bottom line enough. ”