Crosscut

“ The backsaw is a crosscut saw with small teeth, and has a heavy steel backpiece, Fig. 17, to prevent bending. In this respect it differs from the ordinary crosscut varieties, which bend readily. The purpose of the backsaw is to make fine, straight cuts in delicate, accurate work. The steel [16] back B is necessary on account of the thin blade, but on account of the thickness of B no cut can be made deeper than the line C. This tool will cut in any direction with reference to the grain, but is primarily a crosscut saw. ”

“ If the pitch of the shoot had been to the south, which is improbable, the general pitch of all others in the area being northerly, it is possible that this adit was driven far enough to meet it, but if the pitch was to the north the distance driven was not sufficient to effect its purpose. Again, if the worked part of the shoot was normally faulted, the same doubt suggests itself as in the case of the crosscut from the low level, as to whether the working was sufficiently to the eastward to find the downward continuation of the stone. ”

“ According to the Mines Reports of 1890, the reef at the mouth of No. 1 adit was 6 ft. wide, but for the 250 ft. driven on averaged from 2 ft. 6 in. to 3ft., and the stone was highly mineralized and showed gold all through. Where struck at the end of the crosscut in No. 2 adit the reef is said to have been 8 ft. in width, but after being driven on for 200 ft. diminished to 4 ft. 6in. The stone in this level did not show so much gold as in the upper level, but in constructing a pass up to No. 1 good gold-bearing stone was met at 50 ft. up. ”

“ For some considerable time, however, the company seriously considered the idea of putting in a low-level tunnel at a depth of 400 ft. to 500 ft. below the old workings. There is a strip of reef-bearing country traceable in the vicinity for well over a mile, and the idea of driving an adit for upwards of 2,000 ft. along this at depth in the hope of proving further pay-shoots appealed to the directors. The work would certainly have been a very plucky prospecting effort, but, in view of the fact that the reef-line had been cut by numerous crosscuts for a distance of about 1,500 ft. ”

“ The expert workman (and he becomes expert because of it) makes the hammer do its proper work; and so with every other tool.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
About Saws.—There are four well-defined kinds. First, a long, flat saw, for cross-cutting. Second, a slightly larger saw for ripping purposes. Third, a back saw, with a rib on the rear edge to hold the blade rigid, used for making tenons; and, fourth, a compass or keyhole saw.
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Cross-cuts.—The difference between a cross-cut and a rip saw is, that in the latter the teeth have less pitch and are usually larger than in the cross-cut saw. ”

“ We will now consider the cross-cut saw tooth in regard to rake or pitch; this being one of the most important features, too much care cannot be taken to have the correct amount of pitch for the duty required. To illustrate this. Fig. 5 represents a board, across which we wish to make a deep mark or score with the point of a knife. Suppose [Pg 13] we hold the knife nearly perpendicular as at B; it is evident that it will push harder and will not cut as smoothly as if it were inclined forward as at A. It follows then that the cutting edge of a cross-cut saw should incline forward as at C, Fig. ”

“ 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 the collar to fit snug at the neck the forepart will require stretching at the neck point a trifle. The back being cut on the crease will be improved if a little attention is given to the spring in the centre; the part which requires more skill than any other is the drawing in of the front edge; the forepart is cut with a moderate amount of round, and this drawn in when the button stand is sewn on, and it is customary in some of the best trades to put this to the straight thread of the canvas, in just the same way as with the lapel seam of a frock coat. ”

“ When seeing a collection of patterns, one is astonished at the great variety in cut used to arrive at the different bodice types. Several patterns of single pieces are given, as it aids one to find the fellow-part; for example, the photo of a back given in Fig. C, Plate III (see p. 55) , will go with the front cut on page 290; even though these two pieces did not belong to the same body, the cut is seen from [277] which to design the missing part. Often a small piece is wanting for the top of the shoulder, which can easily be supplied to fill the sleeve measurement. ”

“ If a cutter is troubled with this fault, the best thing he can do is to pin up the fold on and along the in-seam, and anywhere below the crotch, until the leg hangs straight, then fold the pattern the same way and change the draft accordingly. The same effect can be obtained by cutting the pattern through at the outside. But to imitate this cutting through on a pants which is made already, the side-seam should be opened and both sides, back and front, pretty well stretched at and below the side of thigh. Stretching both outsides as far over as possible is equal to shrinking both insides. ”

“ MAKING THE CROSSES ON THE CANVAS.
This, as you will see, completes the first cross, and brings the thread ready to make a second one in the same way.
The lower part of the illustration shows the dog’s tail commenced, and how you should place your needle when you want to make a cross on the slant below. One thing you should be very careful about when working in cross-stitch: see that the threads are always crossed in the same direction, and not sometimes one way and sometimes another. Your work will look so much better if this rule is always followed. ”

“ If a cutter goes to the trouble to mark a line for every degree or fraction thereof, and draw stitches in them, he will find that the legs will fold, or can be pressed into shape, on any of these lines, and on no other. When such a pants leg is sewed together, it may be turned in almost any position, with or without back slope, and will always turn from the point of the angle, though cut off at the ankles; and the sweeps at the knee, or at other points, swept from the point of the angle, will always fit together. ”

“ Crochet the buttonholes, or finish them with a buttonhole stitch, using a single strand of yarn.
Single Collar and Bands.
1. Knit band on sixteen nails, eight in each row. Cast stitches off nails 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and add them again on the next winding, to make the buttonholes. Knit the first 3 inches with triple cross-stitch, and then change to single stitch.
2. When the band is long enough, as described in section 4, for the double collar, increase the width of the knitting to form the collar by adding one nail on the right only every five or six rows, until the collar is wide enough. ”

“ But I must point to another reason why a coat can be fitted to the same person with either a square or a sloping shoulder. A coat cut too high up at the back and at the side of the neck will have the appearance of a lower shoulder, because the coat starts higher up. At the present time the style for the shoulders is toward a square shoulder, and I think that will be the style for some time to come. Looking back to continental styles and pictures, we find all coats high up at the back and at the side of the neck, and consequently all are represented as low shoulders. ”

“ In practical garment cutting, a cutter is often compelled to cut some backs narrower or smaller on the same kind of a garment in order to save material, or in some cases, when a larger garment is to be cut down to a smaller size, where the points around the back of the armhole, or at the shoulders, cannot be made even with our patterns, then it comes handy for a cutter, if he be able, to place certain quantities on either back or front and take it off on the other. ”

“ In fitting clothing according to the present style, a cutter must see, though he is compelled to cut a coat for a long neck higher than usual, that it gets not too high, but as low as possible for that purpose, and cutters who are not above trying on will often find it to advantage to change the height of the collar a trifle, thought the fit may be the same for all. ”

“ When a pattern, in one or more colours, is to be introduced, break off the ground colour, and fasten on the colour next to be used, in the following manner.—Having made a slip knot in the end of the wool, pass it on the needle in the left hand: twist the end of the coloured wool and that of the ground, together,—knit, [80] in plain knitting, the stitches required for the pattern, then fasten off, by making a loop, and commence again with the ground colour,—fastening on again as above. ”

“ A cutter must also take into account the occupation of a customer. A musician who blows a great horn requires his armholes backward, and a full breast, while a person who plays the violin requires his armholes pretty well forward, or, at least, he needs extra length in the back sleeve seam, no matter if it is a trifle loose when the sleeve drops downward. But if everything is well balanced it is wonderful how small, and again how large, an armhole a man can have in his coat and feel good in either of them. ”

“ To make a nice edge on worsted goods without binding, work the underside with a button-hole stitch and fill the edge like broadcloth. It takes a few hours extra work to make such an edge for a coat, but it saves the binding, and it makes a neat job for anyone who does not want binding on the edges of his garments. Reasonable stretching of the edges of a button-hole, while making, is better than drawing the edges together. ”

“ The center of the front cannot be manipulated like the back, because there are no seams in the forepart passing from one end to the other, except in a double-breasted coat with the lapels cut off. It is true, we can cut small gores under the lapel or at the waist to make the forepart conform to the body, but they must be well understood by the cutter as well as by the coat maker. ”

“ Now, the position of the sleeve and back enables the cutter to keep them in true balance. If the shoulder becomes a 1⁄4 of an inch broader the sleeve loses that much, and if the shoulder becomes narrower, the sleeve must gain that much. If the armhole is cut more forward the back becomes broader and the sleeve that much shorter behind. If the armhole is cut more backward the back becomes narrower and the back sleeve seam that much shorter. ”

“ By another method the thread is carried over the left forefinger, under second and third and over the little finger, exactly as it is held for crocheting: insert the right needle through 1st stitch on left needle in usual way, push it over the thread on left forefinger, and draw this back through the stitch with the point of right needle. Only the needle is held in the right hand, and many workers claim that the work is much more rapidly done. ”

“ Some cutters require that the pants maker hold the back full on the top of the in-seam, and others again I have seen who require the fore part stretched, and others stretch both back and front crotch, while again others have a stay put in the whole length of the crotch seam to keep it from stretching, and all may be right providing the pants are cut accordingly. ”

“ This cut under the arm on a square of 20 is a natural gore for a vest, while for a coat the same spot requires a spring, which is also a natural one for a coat, and both are in their place because the nature of the garment requires it, not the body itself. There are men with quite small and tapering waists, and for such the underarm cut must be made larger, while others with very full waists spread sidewise and require the under arm cut smaller—or no cut at all but a spring. ”

“ Second round—thread before, purl two, knit one, taking the back part of the loop; purl two, slip one, and cast the slipped over; knit the remaining stitches plain; in the first row you have increased one stitch in every fifteen; the second brings them to the original number; knit these rounds alternately, making the holes (which occur in every [3] alternate row) one stitch sooner each time, i. e., knitting five, then four, then three, then two, then one, instead of six stitches, and plain to the purled stitches, then commence as before. ”

“ In ordinary cutting we only push the blade forward; in the sweep-cut there is a “draw” or side movement as well as a push. But the bend or direction constitutes, so to speak, a third movement, and this is the most difficult to determine. To get a certain symmetrical turn or curve we cut without seeing, whereas in ordinary cutting or “wasting” we see clearly just what we are going to slice off, and take it away with confidence. ”

“ Fig. 292. Plain cross stitch on auxiliary canvas.
Two-sided cross stitch, worked in four rows of stitches (figs. 293, 294, 295) .—Straight lines of cross stitch, alike on both sides, can be worked in two journeys to and fro. Working from left to right, begin by fastening in your thread, never with a knot, but by two or three little running stitches, which are hidden afterwards by your first cross stitch. Directing your needle to the right, pass it diagonally over a double cross of the warp and woof of the canvas, and so on to the end of the line. ”