This same principle is applicable to making chamfers or bevels with a chisel or knife (Fig. 615). You will find frequent occasion to apply this principle of breaking the grain into small pieces before making the final cuts in many kinds of work. It is in constant use in "roughing out" carving.

To trim to a curve as shown in Fig. 616, begin at the edge just outside of the end of the curve and work with the grain from a to b. It is often a help in such cases to first remove part of the wood with the saw, as on the lines bc and then ef. Finally trim the curve smoothly close to the line. Frequently this can be done to better advantage with the work held in the vise instead of lying horizontally on the bench.

Paring off superfluous wood down to a given line or trimming off an irregular edge with the chisel is very easily done provided the grain of the wood is straight, or runs in the same direction, even if slanting, as in Fig. 617, because you can then cut with the grain. It is often better, however, to cut across the grain, or diagonally, with the chisel, as the wood is less likely to be split by the tool.

When the grain runs in several directions, and keeps cropping up to the surface and dipping down again as shown in Fig. 701, it becomes more difficult to pare the surface smoothly with the chisel. In such a case remember the sliding or drawing stroke and traverse the surface with a diagonal crossways motion (Fig. 619) that will trim off the fibres with a slanting stroke without causing them to be torn up. Slant the cut so that if the wood should tend to split, it will be in the direction of the part cut away and not towards the piece to be kept—i.e., so that the chips will split and not the body of the wood. Reverse the chisel and cut in the opposite direction when a change in the direction of the grain requires it. Some pieces are, however, so extremely irregular that you cannot do this, but must slice away the best that you can and leave the rest to other tools. In cutting off a corner or rounding or bevelling an edge you can use the slanting cut (Fig. 620).

In using the chisel for paring, let the left hand, which is nearer the cutting-edge than the right, act as a brake or countercheck or drag to check the progress of the tool. It is largely by the varying balance of these two forces—the pushing forward of the tool with the right hand and the checking and controlling with the left—that correct and effective control of the tool is gained. The left hand should in many cases rest upon or grasp the wood as well as the blade. See Chisel.

Paring-Chisel.—See Chisel.

Parting-Tool.—See Carving Tools.

Pencil.—See Marking.

Pincers.—There are various kinds of pincers, pliers, and nippers. A pair of common pliers and also cutting nippers will be very useful.

Plane.—A plane is in principle (roughly speaking), as you will readily see, nothing but a chisel stuck through a block of wood or iron. Small or narrow surfaces may be smoothed to a certain degree by the chisel, the knife, or even the hatchet, but for large surfaces something is needed which can be more exactly controlled than the knife, ax, or chisel, held in the hands. So, to hold the chisel firmly in one position and to apply force to it more advantageously, it is firmly fixed in a block of convenient size and shape and becomes a plane.

A very short block will prevent the chisel cutting deeper at one point than another, but the tool will follow the irregularities of the surface and, though it may make the surface smooth, it will not make it level, or flat; so the block is made longer, that it may not go down into all the little hollows, but plane off only the higher parts.

The two essential parts of a plane are the iron and the stock. The bottom surface of the stock is called the sole or face (ab in Fig. 621), the wedge-shaped hole where the iron goes is called the throat (c), and the slot at the bottom through which the edge of the iron projects is called the mouth (d).

Bear in mind that the shape of the cut made by the plane will be a reversed copy of the shape of the cutting-edge. If the edge is rounding, the cut will be hollowing. If the edge is hollowing, the cut will be rounding. If the edge is straight, the cut will be straight. If the edge is nicked, ridges will be left on the wood.

If buying new, you will do best, as a rule, to get iron planes, though very good ones can be had with wooden stocks, but with the convenient appliances of the iron planes. Some workmen still prefer the old wooden planes, but it is better to buy iron ones.

The jack-plane is used for coarse work and to rough off the surface with large shavings, ready for the other planes. Fourteen or fifteen inches is a good length. The edge of the iron is not ground squarely across, like the chisel, but is rounded slightly so as to cut deeper in the middle (Fig. 622). Heavy shavings can be cut and the rough outside of a piece of wood taken off quicker and easier than with a more squarely ground iron, but it does not leave the surface smooth, as the strokes of the jack-plane form a series of hollows and ridges (Fig. 623, exaggerated). After taking off the rough surface with the iron projecting considerably, you can of course set the iron finer, and by going over the work several times you can take off the worst of the ridges, but without a great deal of labour you can never get a really smooth surface with a plane that cuts hollows. A common use of the jack-plane is for "traversing," or planing across the grain, which is often the quickest and easiest way to reduce a surface to the desired shape, and for cleaning off where pieces have been glued together. If you should use a jack-plane to do the work of a fore-plane, have it ground more squarely across like the fore-plane.

If you use an old-fashioned wooden plane, take the handle in your right hand, laying your left over the top and side, just a little in front of the iron, with the thumb towards you and the fingers on the farther side, as shown in Fig. 624. This position allows you to bear weight on the fore part of the plane when necessary and to control the tool to the best advantage. This applies to the old-fashioned wooden planes. If your plane is iron, there is a handle or knob for the left hand which you simply grasp in a natural way.

Push the jack-plane forward steadily an arm's-length. Then stop and start afresh for another arm's-length stroke. When drawing the plane back tip it on the farther edge. The cap or break-iron can be set quite far back from the edge for rough work, about one eighth inch, but much nearer for finer work.

In these days when almost everything is planed by machinery with greater or less smoothness, you will probably not have much use for a jack-plane unless you find you have a good deal of rough planing to do yourself.

The fore-plane or trying-plane is longer and larger than the jack-plane. Eighteen to twenty-two inches is a good length. It is used to straighten and level the surface after the worst roughness has been taken off. The surface having been roughed off by the jack-plane, the fore-plane is not required to take off such heavy shavings and the iron is therefore ground squarely across like a chisel, but very slightly rounded at the corners (Fig. 625). It is held in the same way as the jack-plane, but the stroke should be long and steady, for the fore-plane, which is long, will straighten the surface, and smooth it also. The iron can project more for soft and loose-grained woods than for hard, and the cap or break-iron should be nearer the edge for hard woods.

The jointer (22" to 30" in length) or long jointer (from 24" to 30"), is still longer than the fore-plane and correspondingly more accurate for making a surface level and true, or for shooting the edges of boards. Twenty-four inches is a good length. It is very useful for making joints to be glued, and is used in the same way as the fore-plane, the stroke being continued steadily the whole length of the piece if possible.

The smoothing-plane is used, as its name indicates, for the final smoothing of the surface, so far as it can be done with a plane. It is from five to ten inches long.

It is an invaluable plane to the amateur, and the beginner can get along very well for a great deal of work with no other, for stock can be bought ready planed and can easily be trued and jointed, when necessary, at any wood-working mill or shop at slight expense.

A plane with a short stock, as the smoothing-plane, will make your work smooth, but it is hard to make it straight and level or true with such a tool, because, being short, it will follow the larger irregularities of the surface and will only plane off the smaller inequalities. It will go up and down over the hills and valleys of the wood, so to speak, while a longer plane cannot do this, but will cut off the tops of the hills until the surface is made level, as shown in Fig. 626. The smoothing-plane is therefore merely to smooth the surface after it has been straightened by a longer plane, or in cases where smoothness only is essential and it is not required that the surface should be true. Small pieces can, of course, be straightened and trued by the smoothing-plane alone.

A wooden smoothing-plane can be held as shown in Fig. 627. An iron plane can be used by laying the hand naturally over the knob for the purpose.

The block-plane is small and is meant chiefly for planing across the ends of pieces (for planing "end-grain"), but it is also frequently useful in other directions. The iron is usually set at a more acute angle with the face of the stock than in the other planes and with the bevel upwards, and the width of the mouth is often adjustable, which is a convenience. A block-plane is made which can, by means of a detachable side, be used as a rabbet-plane. The block-plane makes a quite good substitute for a smoothing-plane for amateur work and is a very useful little tool.

The toothed-plane is about the size of the smoothing-plane, but the iron is corrugated or scored with grooves lengthwise, so that one side of the cutting-edge of the iron, instead of being smooth, is notched into little teeth somewhat like a fine saw or the edge of a file, and the iron is inserted in the body of the plane almost vertically. This plane makes scratches all along its course instead of taking off shavings. It is used in veneering and in gluing other surfaces. It can frequently be used to good advantage to break up the grain where two edges or surfaces are to be glued together, so that the glue may hold the two rough surfaces together more strongly, upon somewhat the same principle that the plastering on a lathed wall holds its place tightly through the hold it gets on the cracks between the laths, intentionally left for the purpose. The toothed-plane is used for this purpose in veneering. The idea upon which this tool is based originated with the Orientals, who have for ages scratched or toothed the joints of their wood-work.

It can also be used to subdue a refractory piece of crooked grain which you wish to get smooth, but which may crop to the surface in such a way that you cannot plane it without chipping the grain. By scratching the surface thoroughly in all directions with the toothed-plane set very fine, the obstinate fibres can be broken so that the surface can be smoothed with the scraper, not using the smoothing-plane. As a matter of fact, however, if you cannot smooth a piece of wood, the trouble is usually with the edge of the plane-iron or its adjustment, or with your manner of planing, for a very keen edge is supposed to be able to cut the most obstinate grain, unless, of course, the wood is extraordinarily hard.

The bull-nosed-plane has the iron close to the fore end of the stock, to work into corners and awkward places which cannot be reached by the smoothing-or block-planes. The iron is reversed. A very small plane (perhaps four inches long) of this kind is useful.

The circular-plane is used for planing curved surfaces, the sole being now made of a thin, flexible metal plate and adjustable so that either concave or convex surfaces can be smoothed. It is very useful at times, but is not essential for an amateur.

The rabbet-plane, which is used to cut rabbets, as the name indicates, is a useful tool, but in most cases you can dispense with it by having rabbets cut at a mill.

A router, for cleaning out and smoothing the bottoms of grooves and depressions, is very useful at times.

There is a variety of other planes for special purposes, as the plough, matching-planes, hollow and round planes, beading-planes, etc., as well as various combination and "universal" planes. Many of these are excellent, but, as a rule, are not important for the amateur in these days, as the work they do can be so easily and cheaply done at a mill. You will seldom feel the need of buying any of them, unless you live where you cannot reach a factory.

You will find it important to bear in mind the purpose of the cap or dull iron screwed upon one side of the cutting-iron, in what are called "double-ironed" planes. A plane with a single iron, like a chisel, will cut satisfactorily and easily for straight-grained, soft wood, and for hard wood when planing with the grain, but many pieces of stock are difficult to plane, because the grain does not run in the same way, but turns and twists, cropping up to the surface and dipping down again in all sorts of curious and perplexing ways. In planing them the wood is likely to be continually chipping or tearing and breaking off below the surface, instead of planing smoothly like a piece of straight-grained pine, leaving dents and rough hollows over the surface. The natural tendency of the plane-iron is to split the wood in front of the iron in such cases (Fig. 628). To remedy this the plane has a double iron. An iron or cap with a dull edge is screwed on to the face of the cutting-iron (Fig. 629) so as to help bend and break off the shavings before the split gets fairly started (Fig. 630), when the iron can cut it smoothly off. The thickness of the shavings is greatly exaggerated in the cuts for the sake of illustration.

The cutting edge is said to have "lead" in proportion to the distance it is in advance of the cap-iron. The cap can be set some little distance from the edge for the jack-plane, as far as an eighth of an inch, but with the fore-plane and smoothing-plane it must be set quite close to the edge, the distance varying according to the character of the wood. The more crooked or cross-grained the wood, the nearer the dull iron is brought down towards the edge of the sharp one. The nearer the edge, the smoother the result, but the harder to work the plane.

Something more than the break-iron is required, however, to insure breaking the shavings. There must be an angle, against which they can be broken, close in front of the cutting edge and above the shaving. This angle is the forward edge of the mouth or slot in the sole through which the iron projects (Fig. 631). Thus the width of the mouth makes a difference in the smoothness of the surface, for a narrow mouth is necessary to ensure the shaving being readily broken by the cap. With a wide mouth, the shaving will not be broken by the cap in time, because there is no corner against which to break it.

With straight-grained wood this does not make so much difference, but with crooked and broken grain narrowness of mouth is quite essential to a smooth surface, provided that the opening is wide enough to allow the shaving to pass through freely. Rough and knotty wood requires the mouth very narrow and the iron set very fine (i.e., projecting but very little from the sole) and the cap quite near the edge.

The modern iron planes have simple appliances for setting or adjusting the projection of the iron from the sole and thus regulating the thickness of the shaving. If, however, you are obliged to use the old-fashioned wooden planes, you raise the iron in the same way that you loosen it for removal, by lightly tapping on the top of the fore end of the stock, keeping hold of the plane with the left hand so as to prevent the iron falling through if loosened too much. When the iron is raised enough, fix it in place by tapping on top of the "chip" (Fig. 621, e) or wedge which holds it in place. To lower the cutting edge, loosen as before and, checking the edge with the finger, let it project the required distance, which you can tell about by looking along the sole (Fig. 632), and fix in place by tapping the "chip" as before. This is the process used in removing the iron for sharpening and replacing it, the chip being removed as well as the iron. Any carpenter will show you the operation. Always hold the plane in the left hand in all these adjusting operations. Do not strike or tap any part of it while it rests on the bench or on anything solid.

To smooth a rough piece of wood, use first the jack-plane, to remove the rough surface and superfluous wood, and then the fore-plane, to straighten and smooth the surface. If there is no need to have the surface true, but only smooth, you can omit using the fore-plane and follow the jack-plane at once by the smoothing-plane. With ordinary machine-planed stock you do not usually need the jack-plane, though it is sometimes useful in reducing a piece of wood to a given shape.

Before beginning to plane, see that all dirt or grit which might dull the tool is brushed from the surface.

Turn the plane over and sight along the sole (Fig. 632), not merely to see that the iron projects to the required degree, but also to see that it projects equally, lest one side or corner of the iron should cut more deeply than the other, and thus make a groove or scratch on the wood (Fig. 633). The latest iron planes have appliances to adjust any inequality of this sort, but if your plane is not so arranged a little tapping on one side of the upper end of the iron will correct the trouble. Try the plane on a waste piece before beginning on nice work.

Plane with the grain, as a rule, and the fibres will be cut off cleanly where they crop up to the surface and your work will be left smooth. If you plane against the grain, some of the fibres will tend to splinter or chip off just below the surface before they are cut off (Fig. 634).

Stand behind the work with the plane before you. Plane with the arms (and from the shoulder), not with the whole body. Try to shove the plane straight ahead, also to plane as equally and evenly as possible over the surface; for while it is comparatively easy to get a surface smooth it is quite another thing to keep it true or to make it true if warped or winding.

The natural tendency, and a common fault, is to begin and end the stroke as shown in Fig. 635. Rolling the body back and forth, instead of pushing steadily with the arms from the shoulder, aggravates this trouble. The result of this way (which is unconscious at first) is that the surface after planing is apt to be as shown in Fig. 636. To prevent this, press down with the left hand on the forward part of the plane during the first part of the stroke, and with the right hand on the rear part of the plane during the last part of the stroke (Fig. 637).

In planing wood which is dirty or rough, it is best to lift the plane from the work when drawing it back for a fresh stroke, or to draw it back so that only the point touches the board, or to draw it back on edge, but in planing small surfaces of clean wood it is not usually worth while to take this precaution.

In planing pieces with crooked grain, turn the piece when practicable, so as to plane as much of it with the grain as you can. But many pieces are so crooked in grain that you cannot do this. So at times it is well to turn your plane sideways to get a slicing cut and cross the grain at an angle (Fig. 638); but as a rule the plane should be pushed straight forward.

A few drops of oil rubbed over the face of the plane will make it run more smoothly, particularly on hard wood.

Test the accuracy of your planing of broad surfaces with a straight-edge, the blade of a square, or the edge of the plane itself (if straight). By applying such a straight-edge across the surface or lengthways or diagonally you can tell whether your work is straight and true (Fig. 639). Also "sight" with your eye. If the surface is large or long, winding-sticks can be used (see Winding-sticks). In planing edges test lengthways with the eye and straight-edge of some sort, and crossways by applying the try-square (Fig. 640). (See Jointing.)

It is, of course, harder to plane a broad surface, as the side of a board, than a narrow one, as the edge. When planing a flat surface, as a board, be careful not to plane off more at the edges than elsewhere (Fig. 641), as you will be quite likely to do if you allow the plane to tip sideways over the edge instead of keeping the sole parallel with the flat surface.

When planing across end-grain with the block-plane or smoothing-plane, either secure a waste piece of wood at the side where the planing ends, to prevent the edge chipping off, as shown in Fig. 642, or plane from both edges toward the middle (Fig. 643).

The use of the straight-edge will give the necessary clue to the process of making warped surfaces true. (See Truing Surfaces.)

Whenever you make nice articles from wood planed by an ordinary cylinder planer, the wood will seem quite smooth just as it is, but do not neglect to smooth it carefully so as to take out all the "planer-marks" or those little corrugations across the grain left by the machine will often show clear across the room as soon as the work is finished. See pages 44, 45, and 46, and also Sharpening.

Planing.—See Plane, Jointing, Truing Surfaces.

Plank, Laying.—See Boards, Laying.

Plough.—See Plane.

Plumb.—You can make a plumb-line by merely hanging any weight at the end of a cord, when the cord will of course be vertical as soon as it stops swinging (Fig. 644). For convenience in using hang the cord on a board as shown in Fig. 130. When the cord hangs exactly on the line or at the apex of the notch the edge of the board will be vertical.

A long board will give a more accurate test than a short one in most cases, just as a long plane will make a straighter edge than a short plane, for the long board will bridge over the irregularities of the surface to be plumbed. For example, to take an exaggerated case, the post plumbed as at a (Fig. 645) is vertical, taken as a whole; while the same post plumbed as at b leans over, because the short board happens to be placed where the surface of the post is not straight.

When the plumb-line is used to determine a point exactly over or under another point, as in surveying, the bob is shaped with a point like a top (Fig. 646). For making the plumb, see page 96. (See also Level.)

Pod-Bit.—See Bits.

Punch (for Nails).—See Nail-set.

Putty.—Common putty is (or should be) a mixture of linseed oil and whiting of about the consistency of dough. A mixture of white lead worked in with the whiting is, however, superior for some purposes, and is better when but one coat of paint is to be put on after the puttying. To colour putty, stir the colouring matter in a little oil and then work and knead it into the putty until the whole is coloured. Keep putty under water. Do not leave it wrapped in the paper in which you may take it from the painter's, for the oil will be absorbed by the paper and the putty will quickly become dry and hard. Use a square-bladed putty-knife for flat surfaces, and do not use your fingers. See also Holes, To Stop.

Putty-Knife.—An old case-knife can be used (better if reshaped squarely across or to an obtuse angle), or, in fact, any knife, but a regular putty-knife is best.

Quill-Bit.—See Bits.

Rabbet.—A rabbet is a recess or rectangular groove cut lengthways in the edge of a piece of board, plank, or other timber (Fig. 284). It is usually better for the amateur to get such work done at a mill, when practicable, rather than to do it by hand. The rabbet-plane is, however, a very useful tool to have. In some cases, as at the end of a piece, the saw can be used, the lines for the rabbet having been carefully marked with a knife or chisel. The chisel can also be used to make a rabbet, much as in cutting a mortise, taking pains when driving the chisel down next the line not to cut under or jam the wood beyond the line. In the final trimming to the line, the chisel should be held with the flat side toward the line. In removing the wood with the chisel, it is often best to pare across the grain rather than with it (see Paring).

A strip of wood can be clamped across the piece exactly on the line as a guide for the saw and the sawing be done with the heel or rear corner of the saw, keeping the latter close up to the gauge stick, and pieces are sometimes even clamped to the saw itself to guide it, but such arrangements, though useful expedients under some circumstances, are hardly the most workmanlike methods.

Rabbet-Plane.—See Plane.

Rasp.—The rasp—only used for wood—is a sort of coarse file, but instead of ridge-like teeth it is studded with projecting points, which tear off the wood more quickly, but also more roughly, than the file. It is extremely useful to remove surplus wood and to get curved objects roughly into shape. One good-sized half-round (or "slab-sided") rasp will be a great help. See File.

Rasping.—See Filing.

Reamers.—See Bits.

Repairing Furniture.—To repair thoroughly—to make things as strong as when new and to leave no sign of the mending—often requires more skill and ingenuity and more general knowledge of wood-working than to make new articles. Skill in repairing comes not merely from general knowledge of wood-working, but from experience and ingenuity in applying your knowledge to new problems. You will rarely have two jobs of repairing just alike, even if of the same kind, and the variety is almost endless. It is, therefore, impossible to give rules to cover all the different cases. In fact, to attempt to give complete directions for repairing would be to describe the majority of operations used in wood-working, and the reader is referred to other parts of the book for whatever information it may contain. Suggestions on one or two points may, however, be of use.

Suppose the arm of a chair comes off, after having been stuck on with glue perhaps a dozen times. How is it usually mended each time it comes off? The family glue-pot, containing the dregs of all the glue used since it was bought, is put on the stove, a little water poured in, and as soon as the glue gets warmed into a thick paste a lot of it is daubed on to the joints, on top of the thick coating they already have, and the arm pushed as nearly into place as it will go. It is then usually left for a few hours and sometimes even tied on with a string while the glue dries. Of course it sticks for a while and then the usual result follows.

Now how should you go to work to do this properly? First clean off all the old glue. This is important. You want to put the fresh glue on the wood, not on top of the old glue; but do not scrape away the wood in getting off the glue so that the parts will no longer fit. Next, see whether the pieces will fit together as they should. If they will, then contrive some way to clamp them in place while the glue is drying. Sometimes hand-screws will do this, sometimes clamps, sometimes a rope twisted, and often it will take all your ingenuity to contrive any arrangement, but clamped they must be if you wish to be sure of a good job.

The pieces often make an angle with one another, or are curved, so that the clamps or hand-screws will not hold, but slip as fast as you tighten them. In such a case the method shown in Fig. 647 can often be used. Screw a hand-screw firmly on each side of the joint, rubbing chalk on the insides of the jaws to help prevent slipping, and putting on the hand-screws so that the jaws will be parallel. Then, by using two other hand-screws, those first put on can be drawn towards one another and the joint firmly closed. Then proceed to glue the parts as with new work. For the way to do this see Gluing.

In patching old work with new wood, pains should be taken to have the wood match as well as possible, and, as a rule, pare or trim the new pieces after they are glued in place rather than before. Staining to match the older parts is often required (see Staining). See also Holes, To Stop.

The repaired joint may never be quite as strong as a new one, therefore it is well to reinforce it with a block glued and screwed on the under or inner side, in cases where this can be done without injuring the appearance, as inside of the frame under a chair, sofa, or table.

It is not uncommon, particularly in work which has come apart several times, for the tenons to be too small. If you can glue on thin pieces to make the tenon larger, trimming them afterwards to fit, it will be the best way; but if the conditions do not admit of this, a little muslin, laid in glue, can sometimes be wrapped around the tenon as the latter is fitted to place. The same can sometimes be done with round pins or dowels. The expedient of splitting and wedging tenons and dowels can often be applied in repairing (see Mortising and Dowels).

Sometimes you may find it necessary to use screws in places where the heads will show. In such cases first make, when possible, a neat round or square hole with bit or chisel of sufficient diameter to admit the head of the screw and deep enough to allow a shallow plug to be inserted after the screw has been set (see Holes, To Stop). The hardest part in finished work is to make the patch match the rest of the work.

See also Gluing, Clamps, and whatever other operations may be required.

Ripping-Saw.—See Saw.

Rivets.—In heading rivets hold another hammer or piece of metal, or have someone else do so, against the head of the rivet while upsetting the other end.

Rounding Sticks.—It is often required to round sticks for poles, masts, spars, arrows, and a great many other purposes. First plane the piece until it is as nearly square, in section, as you can make it. Then use the form shown on page 95, which will hold the squared stick firmly while you plane off the corners, making it eight-sided. Be careful not to plane the corners off too much, for the eight sides of the stick should be as nearly alike as possible. Next, if the stick is large enough, plane off each of the eight corners so that it will be sixteen-sided. This is about as far as you can go in this way, unless the stick is very large. Set the plane quite fine for taking off these corners or you may plane off too much before you know it. The rest of the rounding you must do with light, fine strokes, testing by eye and by passing your hand over the work (for you can judge a great deal by the sense of touch). The rasp and file can often be used to good advantage. The spoke-shave is good for the final smoothing, followed by the scraper or glass (both of which can be curved) and sandpaper. The latter can be used crosswise as well as lengthwise. Cut it in strips and pull it back and forth around the stick, much as bootblacks put the final polish on shoes with a strip of cloth (Fig. 648).

To hold large sticks for this final shaping and smoothing you can put them in the vise, but if there are several, and large, it is better to contrive some way to hold them after the fashion of the centres of a lathe. For one centre, drive a nail or screw through a block or stick of wood and screw the block in the vise (Fig. 649). Make the other centre in the same way and fasten it at such a distance from the first centre that the stick will just fit in between the two. Just how to fasten this second centre will depend on the length of the stick to be rounded and the arrangements of your shop, but you can easily contrive some way to hold it. The stick held between these centres will be clear of everything and can be turned around without trouble. The middle can be supported, if necessary, by a piece of board or a strip lightly nailed to the bench-top.

Masts and spars should be "natural sticks," if possible, and the final shaping and smoothing will be all they will require, for which some such apparatus as that just described will save time and trouble.

To round small sticks, as spars for model boats, arrows, etc., the same process should be followed so far as the small size of the sticks will allow, as you can of course shave more accurately with the plane, on account of the long guiding sole, for the same degree of effort, than with any "free-hand" tool like the knife. But when the stick is quite small it is hard to hold it firmly, and it is also too much covered by the plane. In such cases turn Japanese. Fasten the plane bottom-up in the vise (or even hold it in your lap if you have no vise) and pull the stick along the sole of the plane instead of pushing the plane over the stick. But look out for your fingers when you do this, for a plane-iron in this position has a great appetite for finger-tips.

In filing a short, round stick, one end can often be rested on the bench and the stick turned around towards you as you file.

A good way to finish the shaping of such small sticks is to hold your knife with the edge downward close against the side of your leg just above the knee. Then pull the stick up steadily between your leg and the knife. The leg acts as a sort of gauge to steady both the stick and the knife and with care you can cut a very even shaving in this way.

One very important thing to bear in mind in all these rounding operations is that you will rarely find wood with absolutely straight grain, except in "rift" stock or natural sticks (and in these there are often seemingly unaccountable twists and crooked streaks); so you need to keep constant watch of the direction of the grain, for even a slight turn of the stick will often bring the grain wrong with relation to your tool, and one false cut running in too deep, or even across the stick, will spoil the work.

Router.—See Plane.

Rule.—A rule with which to lay out your work and measure your stock is one of the first tools of which you can make use. A two-foot rule, folding once, is the most convenient for shop-work, but the more common kind, folding to six inches in length, is more convenient to carry around away from the shop. One brass-bound (with brass edges) is more durable, but hardly as convenient to use as the common cheap kind, which will answer every purpose until it breaks.

To mark distances with the rule for accurate work, lay the rule on edge so that the divisions marked on it will touch the wood and not be an eighth of an inch above it, as they are when the rule lies flat (Fig. 650). You can thus mark the points more accurately.

Sandpaper.—The fineness of sandpaper is indicated by numbers—00 (the finest), 0, ½, 1, 1½, 2, 2½ and 3 (the coarsest). You will use the fine and medium numbers more than the very coarse ones, and will seldom require coarser than 1½. Test sandpaper, when buying, by rubbing the sand a little with your hand to see if it is securely stuck on, and tear the paper a little to see if it is strong.

Never use sandpaper until all the cutting with the tools is done. Sandpaper with the grain, except for work which is to be painted.

The proper use of sandpaper, as a rule, for such work as you will do, is merely to give a little extra smoothness, to take out little scratches, to round edges, and the like, but not to cut away the wood and scrub it into the shape you wish. To use it much, except to skim over your work, is apt to get you into a slovenly style of working, and the result will lack the sharp accuracy of good work. Do not rely on the sandpaper to remove the defects in your work. Do the work right and you will need but little sandpaper, except in a few operations which will be specified when there is occasion.

For flat surfaces it is well to fold the sandpaper over a flat block of cork or wood (Fig. 651), the edges of which have been slightly rounded. If the surface is curved, the block should be curved correspondingly. A piece of thick rubber or leather which can be bent to fit the surface is excellent. Care should be taken not to round the corners and edges of the work when sandpapering.

In sandpapering any very delicate piece of work, when the edge might get rounded or the surface scratched by the stiffness of even the finest sandpaper, as in rubbing down finished work, split the paper, which you can easily do by removing the outer layer of paper from the back, when the remaining part to which the sand adheres will be much softer and more flexible.

Saw.—Saws are used for cutting across the grain and with the grain and there are various kinds for special purposes.

The cross-cutting saw is used, as the name indicates, for cutting across the grain of wood and for ordinary work. The blade is usually thicker at the teeth than at the back, to stiffen it and to enable it to pass through the wood more freely. From 18" to 24" is a good length for a cross-cutting saw (or more commonly called panel-saw) for your work, with about eight to ten teeth to the inch.