George Alexander Ross

“ The workman has to know from experience just how thick the glue has to be for the work he has on hand. A hardwood piece of work requires a thinner glue than soft wood. The average consistency of glue should be about like that of thin syrup, and should be applied hot to the work. Sometimes in cold weather [Pg 116] the glue “sets” quickly; then the pieces to be glued should be heated so that the glue may be kept soft. When the pieces are put together clamp them up quickly or rub them together, forcing out the surplus glue from the joint. ”

“ In Fig. 118 is shown a method that is sometimes used in the construction of trusses. A truss is that part of a roof which supports the purlines, rafters and sheathing. A roof is the covering or upper enclosure of a building with the frame work by which it is supported. It may be of almost any shape. A light roof is usually of moderate span, without trusses, the rafters being supported by the walls or partitions of the building. A heavy roof is employed for wider spans, [Pg 96] and the rafters are then supported by the purlines and trusses. ”

“ The tools used for doing this cutting are the rip-saw and the cross-cut saw.
Now, a great amount of time can be lost in this work by the student, for the reason of his trying to do work with one tool when another should be used, and especially is this so in regard to saws. A saw will [Pg 10] cut faster than a chisel in some places, and sometimes make the work as good if not better; so the student should learn to file and to keep a saw in just as good order as any other tool used. ”

“ For instance, if he is to make frames where the corners are to be mitered, he will make a miter box. This box (which is not a box at all) is three pieces fastened together to form a bottom and two sides, all of which must be true before being nailed together; then by cutting across the sides in both directions with the saw at an angle of 45 degrees and square to the bottom, the so-called miter box is made, an illustration of which is shown in Fig. 90. Iron miter boxes are now in general use; of these Fig. 91 is a good representation. ”

“ The perfect saw is one that cuts the fastest and smoothest with the least expenditure of power; to do this it is evident that each tooth [Pg 11] should be so constructed and dressed as to do an equal proportion of the work, for if any of the teeth are out of line or shape they are not only useless themselves but a disadvantage to the others.
A saw tooth has two functions—paring and scraping. A slitting or rip saw for wood should have its cutting edge at about right angles to the fibre of the wood, severing it in one place, the throat of the tooth wedging out the piece.
Fig. ”

“ The pitch of the roof is determined by the distance the peak of the roof rises above the walls; thus if a roof has a quarter pitch, the peak would rise above the walls one quarter the width of the building; if half pitch the peak would rise one half the width of the building, etc. For simplicity in laying out this problem we will make the pitch one half. The points A, B, represent the span of the walls; also the lines A, C, and B, C, show the outside margin of the upper chord of the truss. ”

“ Around the whole put a four-cornered piece of old linen about 10 × 13 inches, and fold it around the ball just as you have done with the woolen cloth but in such a way that you can hold it by the end of the goods. On the smooth side put a few drops of linseed oil, and then begin to polish the surface with a light and even pressure in a circular movement from one side to the other, forward and backward, until the entire surface receives a slight covering of polish. When the work becomes more difficult the ball requires moistening by a few drops of oil ”

“ There are a number of different styles of this joint and methods of fastening, which we will consider later in our work.
The working drawing shown in Fig. 64 gives the dimensions of the pieces, the material of which is to be worked out in one piece, as [Pg 53] directed in the previous exercise, and then cut up into lengths suitable for the exercise. The student should commence work on a piece with a full understanding of what is required to be done in order to finish the work as called for, and not try to make any kind of work do in order to proceed to the next task. ”

“ To remove the portion between the sawed lines take the chisel, Fig. 56 (the same directions to be used for grinding and sharpening a chisel as are used for the plane-iron) , pare lightly (about half through the width of the piece) , cut down to the gauge line, and then turn the [Pg 44] piece around and finish from the other side, leaving a straight surface at the bottom of the notch. Be careful not to take too heavy a cut, for the chisel will be hard to guide if the workman has to exert his whole strength to push it through the wood. ”

“ They are extremely strong and rigid, and with our steel and iron vise make an outfit practically indestructible. We make benches only fitted with our vises, and can furnish any style desired, either single or double. Cabinetmakers’, carvers’ or special designs made to order. Our prices are but little, if any, higher than asked for cheaply made benches with wooden vises or cheap cast-iron vises. This is an excellent bench to have about the house, and is suitable for boys from 6 years old to men of 60. They are superior benches for manual training and have plenty of capacity for the work. ”

“ One of the most important methods employed by the joiner is that termed dovetailing, which is of three kinds, namely, common, lap, and miter. Common dovetailing (see Fig. 97) shows the form of the pins or projecting parts, as well as the excavations made to receive them. Lap [Pg 72] dovetailing is similar to this, but in that system the ends of the dovetails of the side A, Fig. 98, are shortened, and the recesses which are to receive them in B are not cut through when joined together; only the ledge is visible on the return side. ”

“ To whet or sharpen the iron an oil stone is used. Oil stones are of different grades; a stone of medium hardness is best, as it will cut a little faster and leave a fairly smooth edge; whereas if the stone be hard much time is required to whet the iron, but it leaves a smoother [Pg 34] edge. A coarse stone leaves a rough edge. Use oil that will not become gummy on the stone. Several good artificial stones have lately come on the market which give good service. To sharpen the iron, apply it as shown in Fig. 36, 1 and 2, and move it back and forth as indicated in Fig. ”

“ Fig. 124.
Toe-nailing is the driving of nails obliquely in order to fasten two pieces that may be at an angle to each other, as illustrated by Fig. 125.
Fig. 125.
PROBLEM IN HAND RAILING.
The student, not having had wood turning as yet, will not consider the making of the turned balusters, such work being introduced in the course in wood turning.
In commencing work on the hand railing, notice the several parts that [Pg 107] have to be made; first, the newel post; second, the easing at the bottom of the stairs; third, the straight piece of railing; fourth, the return or twist at the top. ”

“ Then plane the ends of each piece perfectly square to the face side and face edge.
An exercise that was made by a careful student and one that was made by a careless student are shown at Fig. 63, revealing the final results of careful as against careless work.
Having cut out the center pieces and finished the ends we fit them together, seeing that the surfaces come flush; then smooth off the surfaces, being careful not to cut too much off the ends, for this will round the surfaces and thus spoil the work. Sharp tools are essential to good work. ”

“ The special points to be noticed in the working out of this exercise are that the sides are cut out with the rip-saw; the ends cut with the back-saw; the sides to be finished with the plane, using the rabbet plane to plane the corners at the stops at the ends, and the jack-plane for the rest of the surfaces. Surfaces are to be finished with sand paper and shellaced.
In Fig. 112 will be seen the working drawing. The thickness of stock required is 13⁄4 inches. The angle at which to set the bevel for the ends is 1⁄2 inch in 4 inches. All the other dimensions are found on the drawing. ”

“ To lay out the work, mark out the mortise on the top of the stile about 11⁄2 inches from the end. It will be noticed that the mortise is not so long as the top rail is wide; the piece that is cut out of the tenon is known as a rebate or rabbet. The reason for cutting out this piece and shortening the mortise is to strengthen the joint by leaving a piece of solid wood so that the mortise will not be open on the end. Fig. ”

“ Tools, such as molding, beading, rabbeting, and plow planes are found in the tool room, and are issued to students on check when required.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 shows the double bench equipped with rack, cam and quick acting vises, with the locker for the general tools and four drawers on each [Pg 9] side of the bench with tools for the use of the individual student. Carpenters’ benches are usually about 33 inches high, while cabinet and pattern makers’ benches are from 2 inches to 4 inches higher.
The careful workman as a rule takes great pride in the condition in which his bench is kept ”

“ You must observe the work constantly. If everything is in order the plate as well as the ball will keep clean, but if the ball sticks to the plate and gets smeary then you will know that the polish is too thick and must be thinned with alcohol, which you are to put on the woolen cloth, previously removing the linen and putting it back on the other side ”

“ Saw clamps or vises used to hold the saw when filing can be bought (see Fig. 18) , but a simple homemade vise can be put together by means of two pieces of board, one 3 feet 6 inches long and 6 inches wide, and [Pg 19] one 2 feet 4 inches long and 6 inches wide. By fastening a piece 21⁄2 inches thick about 10 inches from the top of each, to act as a fulcrum, and fastening a piece on each board at the top to act as jaws, and using a wedge at the bottom to tighten it up, a very serviceable vise is obtained (see Fig. 19) . ”

“ Glue, which one workman finds all right and from which he obtains excellent results, may, in the hands of another workman, prove a failure from many causes, some of which may be that the glue is too thick, or it may have been chilled before the pieces were clamped together, or the glue is too thin. ”

“ The proper amount of bevel is very important, as is demonstrated by the above figures, for if too much bevel is given the points will score so deeply that the fibres severed from the main body will not crumble out as severed but will be removed by continued rasping. ”

“ After the block is planed true and to the correct dimensions, lay out the lines across the face at the left hand end shown in the drawing and square the lines down the depth on the edges; then set the gauge and mark around the end and notch on both edges. Beginners will find it a little difficult at first to saw a perfectly clean line so as to secure a sharp corner; by cutting notches with a knife point as shown at Fig. 53, it will be easy to secure sharp corners. Place the back-saw, Fig. ”

“ The rail is to be 11⁄4 inches wide and the balusters to be 1⁄2 inch square. The side of the balusters which come on the outside of the stairs comes even with the stringer, and the rail is to be placed so that the balusters are on its center. ”

“ Part one, the bench work, is intended to cover a period of eight weeks, two hours per day, and part two, wood turning, four weeks, two hours per day, thus making a course which will be found to touch the principal points in elementary work, at the same time giving practice in the uses of the tools most commonly used in carpentry, joinery and wood turning. ”

“ Set the gauge to the given thickness (see drawing for dimension) and gauge a line on both edges from face side; then plane to gauge lines. This, if done correctly, will finish the four surfaces. It is sometimes necessary that the ends of a piece of work should be finished smooth; the method of procedure is as follows:
Mark (from one end about 1/64 of an inch) a knife line all around (see Fig. 46) , placing the head of the try-square against the face edge and the face side only; then take a small block and put behind the exercise as shown in Fig. ”

“ The grinding is complete when the bevel reaches the cutting edge,—a condition which can readily be determined by holding the finger along the flat side of the iron and having the light fall in the proper direction; a thin bright line will be seen which will determine whether the iron is ground enough. The plane-iron is shown before it is ground in Fig. ”

“ Fig. 120.
[Pg 100] The line E, D, on the diagram represents a tie-rod, which by the construction of this truss would naturally tend to stiffen the structure by supporting the center of the tie-beam.
Wire, nuts, and washers are supplied (where the student makes a whole model) to make the tie-strut.
The student in writing out notes will make two sketches of trusses he may have observed on shop visits. The buildings visited almost all have trussed roofs, either wood or iron. ”

“ Care should be taken to protect the top of the bench from injury; it should never be marked by the chisel or cut by the saw. If chiseling has to be done on the bench, place the work on the bench hook or on a board, and in sawing use a bench hook such as is shown in Fig. ”