Another way, sometimes adopted, is to use two cross-cleats with two bolts (queen-bolts) and thick rubber washers (Fig. 247), the bolts being loose enough in the holes to allow the necessary amount of play. Ropes or chain can be fastened from the rear sled to the seat-board, to prevent too much dropping of the former.

Many arrangements for steering have been invented. A cleat at the forward end of the seat-board to brace the feet against, the sled being guided by the ropes held in the hand (Fig. 248), is a simple way, though requiring more strength and steadiness of arm, when the coast is rough or dangerous, than is possessed by many steersmen. The brace for the feet should be bolted to the seat-board or strongly screwed from above and beneath. Another equally simple way is to screw the brace for the feet upon the forward sled (Fig. 243), cutting a shallow gain in the tops of the runners to hold it more securely. In this way of steering the arms can reinforce the legs, or the steering can be done by the legs alone. It is a very effective method, which gives a high degree of control of the forward sled without cumbersome tackle and leaves the seat-board free of obstructions.[22]

In case of a high double-runner, running foot-boards along each side can be added. A simple way to fasten these is by means of pieces of strap-iron bent as shown in Fig. 252 and screwed to the under side of the seat-board, with the foot-boards fastened to the projecting arms (Fig. 253). The dimensions to which the irons should be bent depend upon the height and size of the double-runner, but you should take pains that the space between the edge of the seat-board and the foot-board is such that the feet cannot become caught.

The problem of contriving a perfectly successful brake for a double-runner has not yet been solved. Like all other apparatus for emergencies it should be as simple as possible. Unless it is sure to work it will be worse than not to have one, as you will come to rely on it. The steersman is usually the one who first realises the need of braking, and when practicable he is the one upon whom it naturally devolves. If he steers with the hands he can brake with the foot against a lever as shown below, but if he steers with the feet it is pretty risky business trying to brake also with the foot and, unless you can contrive some way by which he can safely and quickly brake by hand (not an easy thing to do), the brake had best be worked by the rider at the rear. This has some obvious disadvantages. A few ideas are given below, but are not recommended as thoroughly satisfactory.

The simple and primitive way, so often used in the country by drivers of heavily loaded sleds, of dropping a chain under the runner is an effective method of braking, provided you have some sure method of dropping the chain under the runners. Fig. 254 shows a method which can be worked from either the forward or rear end of the double-runner. In the plan, or top view (Fig. 254), the details of the arrangement (being beneath the seat) would ordinarily be represented by dotted lines, but in this case, on account of the small size of the drawing, they are shown by full lines, as they would look if the seat-board were transparent. A way of holding up the middle of the chain is shown in Fig. 255. A small block a, perhaps 3" long, is screwed to the under side of the seat and the chain is held against it by the pivoted bar b (which is pivoted to the seat-board by a bolt and is kept in position by the spring), and on the under side of which a piece of metal is screwed at one end, which prevents the chain from dropping. The end of the bar b is connected by a wire with the lever in front. When the lever is pushed by the steersman's foot the bar b is pulled away from the block a and the chain falls by its own weight under the runners of the rear sled, which quickly brings the double-runner to a standstill. Fig. 256 shows the bar held in position by the spring. Fig. 257 shows the position of the bar after the lever has been pressed, with the open space which allows the chain to drop. The same apparatus can be worked from the rear end of the double-runner by simply having the wire to be pulled led back (Fig. 258), where it can be worked directly by the hand or you can contrive a lever to be raised.

A method of braking sometimes used is by means of a crooked lever formed from an iron rod, one end of which is pulled up by the hand while the lower part has one or more prongs which dig into the surface and stop the sled. Fig. 259 shows a form sometimes used, and Fig. 260 a top view showing position of the handle and prongs when not in use. Any blacksmith can arrange this apparatus, which is attached to the rear sled. A similar arrangement can be contrived to work by the steersman's foot if desired. One prong, attached to the under side of the seat-board, can be arranged as suggested (side view) in Fig. 260a.

The double-runner should be thoroughly oiled, and a coat of shellac, followed after a day or two by a coat of varnish, will add much to its durability as well as to its appearance. Lubricate the working parts with soap or tallow.

If you have a gong, it should be worked by someone other than the steersman.

The rear sled is sometimes arranged to swivel like the front sled and to be steered by a second steersman, somewhat after the fashion of a long hook-and-ladder truck. This gives good command of the double-runner on curves.

Gymnastic Apparatus.—It will, in most cases, be out of the question for you to attempt to put up any building roomy enough for a "gym," but sometimes a number of you can club together and get the use of some vacant room in which satisfactory apparatus can be fitted at moderate expense. Some of it may be rather primitive compared with the mechanism of a modern college gymnasium, but will answer the purpose so far as getting up muscle is concerned. Most of you can find a place for one or more pieces of apparatus, either indoors or out. Much outdoor apparatus can be supported on posts driven into the ground, or even by fastening to trees. The outdoor apparatus is usually easier and cheaper to make, but has the obvious disadvantages of not being usable in bad weather or winter, to any great extent, and will not last so long on account of exposure to the weather. If, however, you fix things the right way and take the movable parts indoors during the bad weather, such a "gym" will last until it is outgrown, or until the next generation grows up to build a new one. If indoors have the room well ventilated. Often the second story of a barn makes a capital gymnasium. The few simple pieces of apparatus given here will be treated independently, as it is of course impossible to tell how you will be obliged to arrange them. You can vary the designs or proportions to suit the circumstances.

White ash, hickory, oak, hard pine, and for some purposes fir, spruce, and white pine, are suitable for gymnastic apparatus. For everything which is to stand violent strain or wrenching, as the horizontal bars, vaulting poles, and such things, use air-dried stock, if possible, avoiding kiln-dried, as the latter is more brittle and inelastic, and often utterly unfit for such uses (see Chapter III.). Of course for such parts only the toughest woods should be used, as white ash, hickory, oak, spruce.

Parallel Bars.—A useful form (and not beyond the skill of an amateur) is shown in Fig. 261. The height must, of course, depend upon the gymnast, and can range from 3' 6" to 5' 6", the width inside (between the bars) from 14" to 19", and the length from 6' to 8'.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, in Part V., and look up any other references.

The base of the apparatus can be simply made of 2" × 6" planks, as shown in Fig. 261, and fastened by screws (see Screws), or, as shown in Fig. 262, the pieces can be halved at their intersections (see Halving), in which case thicker stock may be used. For a small pair of bars the planks for the base can be somewhat lighter.

The upright posts should be of strong wood not less than 2" × 4" (unless for a very small pair of bars) and should be mortised at top and bottom, as shown in Figs. 263 and 264 (see Mortising). These joints should be pinned.

The bars themselves should be of the best white ash (hickory, oak, hard pine can be used), not less than 2" × 3" (unless for a small pair of bars). The arrangement and object of the iron braces is plain.

After the apparatus is all fitted together, take off the bars and carefully round the top edges for the entire length (see Rounding Sticks). The ends which project beyond the posts can also be rounded on the under side (i.e., made elliptical in section, as shown), if desired.

Machine-planing is sufficient for this apparatus, except for the bars themselves, which should be carefully smoothed by hand (see Plane, Scraper, Sandpaper), although, of course, the whole will appear more nicely finished if smoothed by hand. The square edges should be "broken" (i.e., slightly bevelled or rounded) so as not to be too sharp in case of contact with them.

The whole apparatus can be simply oiled thoroughly, or can be given in addition one or more coats of shellac or varnish (see Finishing), but a coat of oil is sufficient for the bars themselves, as they will be polished by use.

This arrangement has the advantage of being portable, but of course the base can be omitted, if desired, and the posts fastened directly to the floor. If mortises cannot be cut in the floor, blocks can be screwed to the floor around the base of each post so as to form a socket into which the post will fit.

Parallel bars can be readily made for outdoor use by simply setting four upright posts (not less than 3" × 4") firmly in the ground, at the same distances apart as specified for the movable bars described above, and fastening the bars to the tops of the posts by mortise and tenon, as already shown (Fig. 263). The posts should reach 3' or more below ground, both on account of the frost and to give increased steadiness, and the earth should be thoroughly tamped down around them with a sharp-pointed bar or stick. This apparatus should be thoroughly oiled and can be varnished (see Finishing). The posts should be of good thickness at the ground, but can be tapered toward the top, on the outside, to the thickness of the bars.

Horizontal Bar.—A design suitable for the amateur wood-worker is shown in Fig. 265.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, in Part V., and look up any other references.

First make the upright posts or guides. These are somewhat like a trough in shape, side boards about 6" wide being screwed (see Screws) on the sides of a 2" × 3" joist. Fig. 266 shows sections in the middle and at each end, blocks being inserted at the ends for strength. The joist can be of any strong wood. The side boards, which serve as guides for the bar, had best be of hard wood. Hard pine, oak, maple, ash, or any strong wood can be used. You will require two of the joists and four side boards, all sawed squarely off the exact height of the room.[23]

The usual way would be to get out the pieces a little too long and, after they are fastened together, to saw off the ends so as to give the required length. Gauge lines on each side of the upright pieces (see Gauge) and intersect these lines at regular distances by others squared across and around three sides of the uprights, thus determining the places for the holes for the pins which hold the bar in position. These can be bored from each side with a ³/₈" bit (see Boring).

Another way sometimes adopted when you have one or two stout timbers on hand or already in position for the posts is to screw two upright cleats of plank to the inner side of each timber, thus forming the groove for the bar, as shown in section in Fig. 267.

The uprights can now be fastened in place, taking care to have them exactly vertical and in line with each other. The distance apart will depend on the length of the bar. The uprights can of course be mortised into the floor, or the wood-work above, if the conditions admit, but it will usually answer every purpose to hold each end in place by four cleats firmly screwed to the floor or ceiling. It is usually simpler to have these uprights extend to the ceiling, but this is not necessary, and in some cases it may be advisable to brace them to the floor only, by wooden or iron braces, in some of the ways already shown, or they can be guyed with wire rope and turnbuckles.

The bar you had best have made or buy already made, in which case you can arrange the dimensions and position of the uprights to fit the bar. It can be from 5' in length to perhaps 6' 9" (6' is a good length), and should be not less than 1¾" in diameter, nor over 2". It should be of the best clear, straight-grained white ash or hickory (air-dried, not kiln-dried). One having a steel rod for a core is the best. The ends can be left square and bound with a square ferrule or band of iron of the right size to slip easily up and down in the grooves of the upright guides (Fig. 268). Any blacksmith can arrange this, as well as the pins to hold the bar. This apparatus can be finished in the same way as the parallel bars just described.

A suggestion for a post for outdoor apparatus is given in Fig. 269. The post should be set in the ground at least 3' and the earth well tamped down around it with a pointed bar or stick. The lower ends of the braces can themselves be set in the ground or abut against heavier posts set in the ground. This apparatus should be protected from the weather as in the cases described above.

Vaulting Apparatus.—You can buy iron standards or bases, and of course the whole apparatus, for high jumping and pole vaulting, but it is a simple matter to make a pair of uprights that will answer the purpose satisfactorily (Fig. 270).

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, in Part V., and look up any other references.

Take two straight sticks 10' or 12' long and about 2½" square. Taper each piece with the plane until about 1½" square at one end. Make each base of two pieces of board about 4" wide and perhaps 3' long, as shown in Fig. 270, or halve two pieces of plank (see Halving). Mortise the larger ends of the posts into these bases as shown in Fig. 271 (see Mortising).

Before fastening the posts to the standards, mark a line along the middle of one side of each post. On this line lay off feet and inches from the bottom and carefully bore a quarter-inch hole through the posts at each of these points (except, of course, those near the ground) for the pins which are to support the cross-bar or cord (see Boring). Then fit the posts in the mortises and brace them by three braces each. The ends of the braces can be cut at a mitre and screwed in place, or the blacksmith will make iron braces for a small sum (Fig. 271). Finish like the other apparatus already described.

Vaulting poles should be round, very straight-grained, from air-dried (not kiln-dried) stock of light, strong wood, as spruce, free from knots or any cross-grained, weak spots. The thickness should of course depend on the length, but should not be less than 1¼" for an 8' pole (which is quite short), and the pole should taper toward each end (see Rounding Sticks).

Spring-Board.—A form not difficult to make is shown in Fig. 272. The framework can be made of any strong wood, but the spring-board itself should be of the best quality of clear, straight-grained white ash.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, in Part V., and look up any other references.

First make the base or framework. Get out two pieces of 2" × 3" plank for the outside pieces (to stand on edge) and screw blocks of the same plank at each end to raise the pieces from the ground as shown. Place these pieces so that they spread apart slightly at the forward end (Fig. 272), being about 22" apart at the rear end. Fit a cross-tie to connect these stringers at about 2' from the forward end.

Another cross-bar, resting on the stringers, is placed nearer the rear end, and about 1' from the rear end a piece of 3" × 4" joist is fitted between the stringers and held in place by a bolt passed through it and the stringers. This should be loose enough to allow the block to turn.

The spring-board can be made of five strips of ⁷/₈" stock, 4" wide and 6' long, screwed to a cleat at the forward end, and securely bolted to the block at the rear end.

This apparatus can be finished as in the cases described above.

Vaulting-Horse.—A simple affair (Fig. 273) can be easily arranged by making a box, perhaps 5' long and 8" or 10" square, which can be supported by flaring legs of joist as shown in the illustrations.

First make the box (see Box-making, in Part II.). The corners and edges should be rounded (Fig. 274), and the whole padded and covered with such materials as you may have at hand or can afford for the purpose. Laying out and sawing the bevels for the tops of the legs is the hardest part of the job. Transfer the bevels carefully from your working drawing to the wood, and saw as exactly to the lines as you can. See also Scribing. Unless you have had much experience some paring will probably be required to make all the legs fit. To make the horse stand evenly see Scribing, Winding-sticks, etc. The other general directions given for the apparatus described above will suffice for this horse.

A horse for outdoors (Fig. 275) can be simply made of a log, perhaps 1' in diameter, smoothed and with the ends rounded, and mounted (by mortising) upon posts set in the ground (see Mortising). The top can be covered with rubber, as indicated in the illustration.

The posts should be set at least 3' in the ground, and the earth well tamped around them with a pointed bar or stick.

The apparatus can be finished as in the cases given above.

Giant Swing.—This piece of apparatus is excellent for outdoors, and affords considerable sport (Fig. 276).

You must have a pole or mast from 15' to 25' long and from 6" to 10" in diameter at the lower end. At the smaller end there should be an iron ring or ferrule. This can be heated and driven on, when it will shrink so as to fit tightly and save the end from splitting. The upper end of the pole should first be squarely sawed off (see Saw). The swing ropes, of which you can have two or four (as you wish), can be fastened by hooks to a pivot set into the top of the post (see Boring), the latter being firmly set up in the ground. The blacksmith can quickly fix a pivot with hooks or pins and with a washer, to which you can fasten the ropes (Fig. 277). The lower ends of the ropes can be fastened at the proper height to sticks for handles. Loops can also be made in which to rest one leg if you wish. Of course you must have plenty of room for swinging around. In setting up the pole dig a hole 3' or 4' deep and after placing the pole tamp the earth compactly down around it with a pointed bar or stick.

A cheaper way, but hardly as good, is to drive a 1" or ¾" rod in the top of the pole, and get out a stout piece of hard wood, 3" or 4" square and 1½' or 2' long, with a hole in the middle to fit the rod, and smaller holes near each end for fastening the ropes by a knot (Fig. 278). A washer can be put under the wooden bar, or the top of the pole may be slightly rounded.

Other Apparatus.—There are, of course, other useful forms of apparatus involving more or less wood-work, such as hanging poles, fixed upright and slanting poles or bars, and various contrivances which you can readily arrange without more special instruction than has been given.

Ladders are of course good, but it is usually as well for the amateur to buy these. A suggestion for a framework for hanging rings, trapeze, poles, rope ladders, and the like, with fixed ladders and horizontal bar, is given in Fig. 279.

Do not make such framework too light. Fasten the joints with bolts rather than screws or nails, and suspend the hanging apparatus from eye-bolts passing through the timber and with washers under the nuts. The dimensions for such framework must depend upon the circumstances. The suggestions about the construction of the other pieces of apparatus given above will assist you in designing and constructing something to suit the circumstances.

CHAPTER X
FURNITURE

Some article of furniture is frequently one of the first objects upon which the beginner (particularly the amateur of mature years) tries his hand; and boys, as well as their elders, sometimes confidently undertake pieces of cabinet-work which would tax to the utmost the skill of an experienced cabinet-maker, only to be discouraged by the unsatisfactory result.

Do not be beguiled by the captivating sketches and descriptions in the popular magazines and papers which tell you how someone, at an expense of perhaps only $2.98, easily made a roomful of desirable furniture out of packing-cases, old bedsteads, barrels, soap-boxes, broomsticks, and the like, with only the household hammer, saw, and screw-driver, and a liberal supply of putty, coloured varnish, and the occasional help of the "village carpenter."

That sort of work does very well for your feminine relatives if they wish to amuse themselves in such ways or to contrive makeshifts to save the expense of furniture made in the usual way. You can very well help them in such work, or do it for them, and some very neat, cheap, and serviceable things can be made of such materials (particularly with the use of cloth)—but that is not the way for you to begin your cabinet-making. Learn to do good, plain, simple, useful work in the simplest, most straightforward, practical, workmanlike way. When you can do that, if you wish to exercise your ingenuity in patching up useful articles from discarded ones you will know how to do it properly.

Be sure to begin with simple articles, avoiding attempts at elaborate decoration. Do not spend your time in making a useless object merely because you think it is pretty. Think first whether your design is suited for the purpose intended. If you start to make a case for your books, select or make your design accordingly, and do not be misled, by the multitude of overelaborated articles with which the market is flooded, into making a parlour bric-à-brac cabinet, all built up of turning, and jig-sawing, and machine-made carvings, too complicated and fragile for practical use, with the result that the books continue to be stored on a closet shelf or on the floor.

Next look to the block-form or general proportions of the object. The importance of this is often wholly overlooked by the average amateur,—sometimes because he is too engrossed in trying to make the details pretty,—but it is essential in making a handsome piece of furniture. No amount of exquisite carving, inlaying, or decoration of any kind (however beautiful in itself) will make an ill-shaped, badly proportioned article a thing of beauty; while a well-shaped and well-proportioned object will be pleasing to the eye even if free from decoration of any kind.

Of course, no rule can be given for designing a handsome piece of furniture any more than for painting a beautiful picture, but when you have sketched out the general shape and proportions and think you have done as well as you can, there is one thing it is well to bear in mind—that the average amateur is much more likely to spoil the appearance of his work by adding too much so-called ornamentation than by leaving the work too plain. When you become proficient enough to add carving, or other form of decoration, to your work, by all means use any skill you may have in such ways, but even then remember not to use such ornamentation too freely. Avoid "gingerbread" work, meaningless jig-sawed decorations, and machine-made carvings, turned out by the gross.

Look at some of your great-grandmother's furniture (if you are fortunate enough to be able to do so) and think how long it has lasted, and compare it with the cheap modern furniture after the latter has been in use for a few years. How much of the latter would be in existence now if it had been made when the ancestral articles were? The durability of the old things is partly due to the quality of the wood and its seasoning. The use of whole pieces (instead of scraps of all kinds of stuff glued up with cheap glue), the way the articles were put together, and the generally honest work put into them had much to do with it.

Bear in mind in undertaking a piece of cabinet-work that you must hold yourself to a higher standard in the matter of accuracy of detail, in order to produce a really satisfactory result, than is necessary for much of the other work often done by amateurs. Many slight inaccuracies, which are of little consequence in the rougher kinds of work, become such gaping and conspicuous defects in cabinet-work as to detract much from the satisfaction that should be taken in home-made articles. Remember, then, that while it is easy to make your furniture strong, it is by no means easy to produce close, accurate joints, smooth, true surfaces, square, clean-cut edges, and a good, smooth finish. Choose, therefore, simple forms, easily put together, for your early attempts; for it is much better to make a modest and unpretentious article well than to make an elaborate one badly.

First and foremost, when you come to the actual work, use thoroughly seasoned wood. This is essential to making permanently satisfactory furniture, as you will learn after you have spent much time in making an article out of half-seasoned stock, only to see the ruin of your carefully executed work begin as soon as the finish is dry, or even before.

Although it is very easy to tell you to use nothing but properly seasoned stock, you will doubtless sometimes be deceived, however, as it is by no means an easy matter for the beginner to determine; but you can at least try your best to get wood in suitable condition, for it will be time well spent. (Read the remarks on seasoning in Chapter III.)

Be content with the more easily worked woods in your early attempts. Do not buy highly figured, heavy, and hard San Domingo mahogany (no matter how beautiful) for your first table or bookcase—nor even quartered oak, nor mottled walnut burl, nor wavy maple—but begin with plain, straight-grained material, easy to work.

White pine is often considered rather cheap and common in appearance, but it is suitable for many things in the way of furniture. It is one of the best woods to "stand," or hold its shape, and if not desired of the natural colour (which, is, however, suitable and attractive for some objects) it can be painted. It can also be stained, but is not to be compared with whitewood in this respect.

Whitewood is, like pine, easy to work, durable, can be obtained in wide boards, can be painted, and takes a stain exceedingly well.

Black walnut is good to work and is well suited for furniture, though its sombre hue is not always desirable.

Cherry, when soft and straight-grained, is easy to work and is often (when highly figured or wavy) one of the most beautiful woods. It is easy to finish.

Mahogany is a wood of great beauty and durability, and holds its shape exceedingly well, but the beginner should confine himself at first to the lighter, softer, straight-grained varieties, which can be easily obtained. You can then try the more highly figured and harder kinds, which will tax your skill in smoothing them.

Oak in its softer, straight-grained forms is well suited to the work of the beginner. It is durable, and an article made of oak will stand more abuse without serious defacement than most of the other woods used for furniture. When quarter-sawed it is more difficult to smooth than plain, straight-grained oak, but as you acquire skill you will find quartered oak one of the most satisfactory woods. Oak can be stained if desired.

Many other kinds of wood are sometimes used, as sycamore, ash, birch, beech, maple, rosewood, butternut, ebony, etc., but these woods you can try for yourself, if you wish, as you progress in skill, and thus learn their peculiar characteristics.

An important point, not always realised by the amateur, is that the stock for good furniture should be planed true, that is, free from winding. Buy stock that is as true as you can find (see Chapter III.) and have it planed to be as true as possible. Have as much of this truing done by machine as you can afford, for it is not worth while to spend an hour in working down a surface by hand (see Truing Surfaces, in Part V.) when a machine will do it in five minutes. There are, of course, cases in which this accuracy is not essential,—and judgment must be used, as in all intelligent work,—but, as a rule, it is highly important that the surfaces should be reasonably true if you wish to do your work as it should be done. The pieces, when fitted, should come together easily and naturally, and not require to be sprung or twisted or bent in order to be able to put the article together.

Your furniture should always be hand-planed and scraped, for, though the slight hollows and ridges left by the planing-machine may not be noticeable while the wood is in its natural state, as soon as the surface is finished and begins to have a lustre these inequalities become conspicuous. This applies to any small irregularities of the surface. You cannot get the surface too smooth. You will be surprised at first to see how noticeable slight defects in the surface become in the finished work.

Curved edges occur often in furniture. Many of these curves can be cut with a turning-saw or a keyhole-and compass-saw, but the easiest way (and the most accurate, until you have acquired considerable skill with the saw) is to have them cut at a mill by a jig-saw or band-saw at but slight expense. Have a piece of waste wood put on the under side to prevent the burr, or ragged edge, left by the sawing. These curves can be smoothed with the spoke-shave alone, or spoke-shave and file, or file alone, according to the conditions, as you will soon learn by experience, the final finishing of the surface being given with fine sandpaper.

Put the different parts of your article of furniture completely together once (without glue or nails) to see that everything fits right, that the joints close properly, and that the whole job is as it should be, before putting together permanently.

This often seems to the amateur a needless precaution (and it occasionally is), but, although it takes some time, it is the practice with skilled workmen and therefore a precaution which should not be neglected by the beginner. You will discover the importance of this when you carelessly assume that all the parts of a writing-desk, for instance, will come together properly, or that you can easily correct errors as you go along, only to find, when you have the work nearly put together that something is wrong. In the effort to mend the trouble you will be apt to loosen the parts already fastened, or will have to take the whole apart, which, when glue or nails are used, is particularly discouraging, and apt to damage the quality of the work.

Be particular to clamp the parts of your work together thoroughly when using glue and to allow time enough before removing the clamps (see Clamps and Gluing).

Care should be taken in putting your work together to get it "square," that is, to prove the accuracy of the right angles. In some cases this is of course essential to having the work come together at all. In others, the appearance will be much injured if the article tips to one side or is slanting or twisted. In all cases it is essential to the proper closing up of the joints. It will not do to assume, as the beginner often naturally does, that because the parts of the work seem to be accurately made that the whole, when put together, will, therefore, be square. It must be tested. You will be surprised to see how much "out of square" and how winding the result of your most careful work will sometimes be if you do not test it as you put the parts together. In addition to the obvious way of applying the square (see Square) to the angles, using the large steel square when you can: there are many cases in which measuring diagonals is a good test, altering the angles of the work until the two opposite diagonals are equal, when the work will, of course, be rectangular. This is a good way for large "case" work, using a stick, or fitting two adjustable sticks, after the manner described on page 167, between the angles, when the latter can be altered until the diagonals are equal.

At the same time that you are testing for squareness you must also look out for winding, by sighting across the front or back, using winding-sticks, if necessary.

When your work has a back fitted in, as in the case of a bookcase or cabinet, this will help you much in the final adjustment.

Do not attempt to put your case work together in an upright position, but upon horses horizontally, or flat upon its back or face.

It is well to use corner-blocks in the angles of your furniture, in places where they will not show (see Corner-blocks, in Part V.).

After you begin to acquire some proficiency in your work, a little beading or chamfering can sometimes be used to good advantage, but it is well not to be too lavish with this kind of ornamentation.

Wall-cabinets and other articles to be hung on the wall can be neatly attached to the wall by brass mirror-plates screwed upon the back. These should usually be sunk into the wood so that the back will be smooth.

Your furniture can be finished with oil or wax alone, or with shellac or varnish, as described in Part V. In the case of articles to be hung against wall-paper or where any delicate fabric will be exposed, it is well to avoid finishing with oil alone unless the greatest care is used, for a very slight surplus of oil will quickly soil the paper. For the work of the amateur nothing is better than shellac.

When your work is made of parts which can be readily separated, such parts as are joined without glue or nails, it is best to take the work apart before finishing. Unhinge doors and take off locks, escutcheons, mirror-plates, handles, and the like. Take out removable shelves, backs, and all detachable parts. Finish all these parts separately and then put the work together again. You can finish the separate parts better and more easily, but of course this can only be done with such parts as are readily separable.

In some cases it is desirable to stain your furniture, but as a rule you cannot improve on the natural colouring, which deepens and mellows with age. If you wish mahogany-coloured furniture, use mahogany, or, if you cannot afford that, simply paint or stain some cheaper wood of the desired colour, but do not try to imitate the grain of the mahogany. There are two objections to these attempts at imitation. First, they are not honest; and, in the second place, the deception is usually a failure.

Finally, be simple and honest in all your designing, your construction (which above all things should be strong and durable), and your finishing. Do not put in your room an object which appears at a distance of ten feet to be a mahogany or black walnut centre-table, but which on closer examination turns out to be a pine washstand in disguise.

There are, as you know, hundreds of articles of household utility, other than those here given, which are suitable for the amateur to make, but it is hoped that the suggestions about those which are included in this chapter will be of service in the construction of other objects.

Book-Rack.—A simple rack for books (Fig. 280) can be of any length desired, about six inches wide, and of half-inch stock (or slightly thinner), but the dimensions can be varied according to circumstances.

Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, in Part V., and look up any other references.

Be sure that the bottoms of the ends are accurately cut. The other edges can be rounded if you wish (see Spokeshave and File). The hinges should be sunk in the wood, so that they will not injure the books (see Hinges).

See end of introduction to this chapter for directions about smoothing, putting together, and finishing. See also Scraper, Sandpaper, and Finishing, in Part V.

Desk-Rack.—An easily made arrangement to put on the back of a table or desk is shown in Fig. 281, and can be made of stock of from ½" to ⁷/₈" thickness, according to the size of the rack.