Bench

“ The background of houses, the bench with the people sitting back to back in various attitudes expressive of weariness, destitution, or despair—one with his head hidden by his arm leaning on the back of the seat, another with crossed legs staring straight before him with the look of one for whom there is no more private resting-place than this—all these half-finished figures, even when only consisting of a few scratches, are as true to every-day life as can be. ”

“ On a bench an exquisitely pretty girl sits beside her mother, with her eyes fixed on space, but quite conscious of the youth in his best embroidered jacket and sombrero, at the further end of the bench, who gazes shyly at her and then looks away with rapture in his eyes. ”

“ So, at least, have I often fancied while lounging on a bench at the door of a small square edifice which stands between shore and shore in the midst of a long bridge. Beneath the timbers ebbs and flows an arm of the sea, while above, like the life-blood through a great artery, the travel of the north and east is continually throbbing. Sitting on the aforesaid bench, I amuse myself with a conception, illustrated by numerous pencil-sketches in the air, of the toll-gatherer's day. ”

“ The bench was placed at the best possible point for one who, between dawn and darkness, made it the business of her life to keep her eye on her world. Not the tiniest mouse nor the most spectral shade could enter or slip away beneath the open archway without undergoing inspection from that omniscient eye, that seemed never to blink nor to grow weary. ”

“ The cherry orchard, now in full bloom, is a very pleasant place. There is a green-painted rustic bench beside the path. . . .
A young woman, dressed in a light summer frock and carrying a parasol, drifts in from the back. She sees the bench, comes over to it and sits down with an air of petulant weariness.
A handsome young man enters from the right. He stops short in surprise on seeing the charming stranger who lolls upon the bench. He takes off his hat_. ”

“ A bench without ornament and without elegance, provided it be solid, provided all the parts are firmly connected, provided one may sit down on it with safety, provided it may be for this purpose suitable, agreeable even, may give an example of the most perfect adaptation of means to an end; it will not, therefore, be said that this bench is beautiful. ”

“ They have anointed our boots with badger’s fat, in case we traverse any wet fields. We are only going along the main road towards Ludesch. That bench on the old Lutz embankment—that bench invariably occupied by a poor hump-backed woman reading—is sure to be empty at this hour.
It is. We sit down to smoke under the dripping firs, and I go ghost-hunting all alone, in the dark. The memories that are crowded into these few hundred yards! They spring up at my feet, from the damp forest earth. ”

“ The men generally sit at the outer edge of the sleeping-bench with their feet on the floor; but the women always sit well back on the bench, with their legs crossed, like a tailor on his table. Here they sew, embroider, cut up skins with their peculiar crooked knives, chew bird-skins, and in short attend to many of their most important occupations, while their tongues are in ceaseless activity; for they are very lively and seldom lack matter for conversation. ”

“ Seated on a bench was a man clothed in a spotted shirt, a red vest, and faded blue trousers, whose body was merely sticks of wood, jointed clumsily together. On his neck was set a round, yellow pumpkin, with a face carved on it such as a boy often carves on a jack-lantern. ”

“ Should you rest upon a bench, and your tired eyes close, depend upon it the policeman would rouse you and gruffly order you to 'move on.' You may rest upon the bench, and benches are few and far between; but if rest means sleep, on you must go, dragging your tired body through the endless streets. ”

“ If he buys the vise-screw, an ambitious boy can make a bench that will answer his needs, provided, also, that he can fasten it to floor or wall. It should be rigid. A beginner will find a hard wood board, 10"×2"×1/4", fastened to the forward end of the bench, a more convenient stop than the ordinary bench-dog. ”

“ Bench and Tool Equipment for Grade Center. The individual bench is to be preferred to the two- and four-pupil bench. Aside from the fact that the double benches are not conducive to good order and system, it is next to impossible to get such benches to remain rigid without going to an initial expense that would be sufficient to purchase the individual bench. Unless they are rigid, it is an injustice to ask a boy to return accurate work. ”

“ The bench is composed of side pieces, legs, end pieces, and a central cross brace. At one end it is provided with stationary top pieces having curved inner edges, as shown in the upper view, which are covered with a thin strip of angle iron extending up flush with the top and bent to conform with the curved edge. To the upper ends of the legs are hinged supports adapted to extend upward to form continuations of the legs, to engage with and hold an ironing board in a horizontal position. ”

“ She sank down on the first empty bench, and looking round she saw other dark shapes, having a vague, huddled appearance, lounging in bunched-up attitudes on the adjacent seats. They seemed preoccupied. ”

“ Behind the bench is a frightful old woman, of the lowest class; and before it another, younger, but repulsively ugly and vulgar, examining, in conjunction with the respectable workman—and with her brow knotted in an awful congeries of wrinkles up to her fiery hair—the hand of a little boy. ”

“ The bench is the favourite seat of the people, who, from thence, command a view of the street. The rooms are always narrow, the difficulty of carrying large timber from the mountains, per-venting them from procuring beams of sufficient dimensions. ”

“ I quarrelled with the others whether it were really my turn to fetch fresh water in the big earthenware jug; I disputed the highly important matter of sweeping underneath my bed, and it was a question of vital interest to me whether I was ordered to scrub the bench or the large table at the great Saturday cleaning.... The bench was so much easier to do. ”

“ If he has a nicely finished bench, he should learn to work without injuring the bench. A cutting board should always be at hand to chisel and pound upon and to save the bench-top from all ill use. The bench-hook should have one side for sawing and one for planing, the former having a block shorter than the width of the board so that the teeth of the saw, when they come thru the work, will strike the bench-hook rather than the bench-top. ”

“ You see that each bench is provided with a dust-brush, to be used in removing the shavings; and a neat workman will keep his bench as free as possible of rubbish. If you want to brush off your bench, you must move your planes twice, or put them on the floor. On the shelf they are always out of the way when not in use. ”

“ The effect that violent work at one side of a double bench will have upon fine or accurate laying out by some boy on the other side of that bench is not difficult to imagine. The only argument in favor of a double bench is economy of space. ”

“ The bench top must not be marked with pencil or scratched unnecessarily. Chisel boards are to protect the top from any accidental cuts and should always be used for that purpose. Bench tops that are scraped and shellaced or oiled every other year ought to remain in as good condition as when new except for the few accidental marks too deep to remove, which the thoughtless boy may have inflicted.
Good workers take pride in keeping their benches in good order. Tools that are not in immediate use should [4] be placed in their racks that they may not be injured or cause injury to the worker. ”

“ Running round the chamber is a huge carved bench, divided into stalls by jutting pedestals which support a pillar of Ionic base and Composite capital. An entablature also running the round of the room, projecting above the pillars, but receding over the stalls, completes this kind of high barrier between the councillors, and adds considerably to the majestic elegance which charms and impresses one. ”

“ It comes under the general head of statics and is this: by occupying an invariable bench in Our Square, looking venerable and contemplative and indigenous, as if you had grown up in that selfsame spot, you will draw people to come to you for information, and they will frequently give more than they get of it. ”

“ Any boy who is handy with tools can make a bench in a short time of pine or white wood, the top being of hard-wood. If the joiner-work is not too difficult to carry out, it would be better to make the legs and braces of hard-wood also, to lend weight and solidity to the table.
Fig. 14.
The wood should be free from knots and sappy places, and as heavy as it is possible to get it, so as to make a really substantial bench. The top should measure four feet long and thirty inches wide, and not less than one inch and a half in thickness. ”

“ To every bench, as a fixture, there was a chain with heavy anklets. These the hortator proceeded to lock upon the oarsmen, going from number to number, leaving no choice but to obey, and, in event of disaster, no possibility of escape. ”

“ Let the man be stretched upon a large board, or bench, like that upon which we stretch those who have dislocation of the spine, and along nearly its whole length let certain gutters be scooped out, in breadth and depth not more than three fingers, and not more than four fingers distant from one another, so that the extremity of the lever being inserted into them may impel the limb wherever it is required. ”

“ When planing thin wood, one end of the board is braced against the bench stop. Ralph found that starting with a new bench had another advantage. It helped his pupil to take good care of the bench. Harry was very careful not to saw or cut it as he might have done with an old bench, and to foster this spirit of carefulness, Ralph gave him for his first problem the making of a bench hook. (Fig. 90.) The tools used in its construction were:
Fig. ”

“ The front was open, and the bench itself was covered by a 'possum-skin rug.
"This, my friend, is your own bed," said the Master, when he showed the bench to Finn, after all the household had retired that night. "You've slept hard, old chap, and you've lived hard, in your time; but when you want it, there will always be comfort for you here. ”

“ Two or three old folks sat on the bench by the fire with their backs against the wall, a dozen children sat here and there on the unbacked benches; a group of shock-headed ploughboys occupied the seats under the pulpit. ”

“ In the course of half an hour all this was done, and the six shelves were ready to go upon the bench.
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CHAPTER XXV. THE SECOND CLASS AT THE CARPENTER’S BENCH. Mr. Brookbine directed one piece of the board to be taken to each of the benches. He then stationed two of the class at a bench, intimating they were to work together, and divide the labor. When not actually employed, either one of the couple was to observe the other; but he was not to criticise him, for this might lead to quarrels. Every one could improve by noticing the mistakes of others. ”

“ In the same way, and for the same purpose, the work bench has temporary holding cleats at the end and a shelf in front, which are particularly desirable, because either a saw or a square is an encumbrance on a work bench while the work is being assembled, and tools of this kind should not be laid flat on a working surface, nor should they be stood in a leaning position against a truss or work bench. ”

“ On one side of the room was a great bench with a board back much higher than the head of any person who could sit upon it,—which back by an ingenious device could be let down and make a table,—the rude sofa beneath answering for solid legs. ”

“ In placing benches, plan to have the light enter over the back and the left end of the bench. That is, when standing at his bench, the light should strike the pupil in the front and left.
An amphitheater is very desirable both in the high school and the grade school shop. In large classes it is a necessity. With small classes it is possible to make use of desk stools arranged about a bench. Many manual training centers, in fact, most manual training centers, do not have the amphitheater. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Usually a long, narrow bench, without a back, was used with the table-board instead of stools or chairs, and the children did not always get to use this bench as they often had to stand behind the older people while eating. ”

“ This bench was in a work-shop, with two or three more benches in it, some deals set up against the wall, a couple of red cart-wheels sent in for repair, and the tools and materials of his trade all about. The floor was covered with shavings, or spales, as they are called by northern consent, which a poor woman was busy gathering into a sack. ”

“ I agreed. Finical over-accuracy about the weather is likely to discourage a budding acquaintanceship.
“Have one?” He extended a gemmed cigarette-case, and when, removing my pipe, I had declined in suitable terms, lighted up, himself. He then sat down upon the dryest portion of the bench not occupied by my person. ”

“ Fig. 28.—Wooden Bench Screw Vice.
Bench Screws.—A common form of joiner's bench screw is shown by Fig. 28, inside and sectional views being shown respectively by Figs. 29 and 30. D is the side or cheek of the bench to which a wooden nut (A) is screwed. The box B, which accurately fits the runner shown inside it, is fixed to the top rail connecting the legs, and to the top and side of the bench. Care is taken to keep the runner at right angles to the vice cheeks. To fasten the vice outer cheek and screw together, so that upon turning the latter the former will follow it, a groove E is cut. ”