PERHAPS you would like now to make something useful and pretty for your father or your big brother, so I will try to tell you how to make a book-rest like one I made myself for Christmas. It has no fancy carving about it, but is made (as you can see by the illustration) of straight pieces.
The directions for finding the angles might be given mathematically, so that you could get them for yourself with a little figuring, but it will be easier practically to find the angles in the way I describe, and they will be accurate enough for this piece of work.
For the book-rest you must buy some planed whitewood which is preferable to any other on account of staining. A piece eighteen inches long, twelve inches wide and one half inch thick, will be enough; it will cost about ten cents.
Lengthwise with chalk-line mark off eleven strips five eighths inch wide; cut them with splitting-saw and plane, the sides cut with fore-plane, making each strip JUST one half inch in breadth as well as thickness.
We will begin with the uprights for the front.
Take one of these strips, square one end: then measure a little over one half inch down the stick, and with try-square make a continuous line around the stick.
Find the centre of the end just squared by drawing diagonals, and then either with block-plane or knife, point the stick by putting the edge of knife on the continuous line on one of the faces of the square, and directing the blade toward the centre of end; a steady, firm pressure will give a good bevel. Finish the other three sides in the same way, and you will have a pyramid with square base for one end of your stick: cut the stick off square thirteen inches from the point. Finish two more sticks in the same way, and you will have your three front uprights.
Now take another piece; square one end as nicely as possible (everything depends in this job on the neatness and accuracy of your work), measure seven and five eighths inches from squared end; cut off and square: you will have a stick seven and one half inches long. Make another like this from the piece left. These pieces we will mark A: they are the short uprights in diagram. Now cut two pieces twelve and one half inches long: square both ends; find exact middle, measure one fourth inch in each direction from middle and draw lines with square across the stick. Right and left on the side faces (not the one underneath), draw lines parallel with top face one fourth inch from it. These last lines show how deep you are to saw on the first two lines with cross-cut saw. With chisel remove the little piece one half by one half by one fourth. Take care not to cut the stick deeper than the lines indicate. The sticks will look like fig. 1. These are the cross bars, BB.
From another stick cut three pieces six inches long: square both ends; these are marked CCC; two belong to the back, and one for the front connecting CC. From short pieces left cut two pieces two and three fourths inches long, of course squaring the ends: these are DD, and go at side of front.
For uprights of back cut two pieces ten inches long: square ends. On a board or piece of paper mark on a line two points three and one half inches apart. From the right-hand point draw a perpendicular, the line connecting the two points being the base of a triangle. Lay one ten-inch stick from the left hand point to the perpendicular, making the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. You will readily see how much of a bevel is required to make the lower end set firmly. It will probably be about one eighth of an inch; make the same bevel on the other ten-inch piece: these we will mark EE (the uprights for the back). Bevel the lower ends of the three-pointed sticks (the uprights for front) in the same way. (See base of fig. 2.)
On one front upright, measure two and three fourths inches from point on face A: cut out bit one half by one half by one fourth as in piece B. Repeat at eight inches; again at ten and five eighths inches from point of stick. This completes middle upright.
Now to return to pieces EE. On a board or paper mark in line three points three and one half inches apart. Hold beveled end of pointed upright on point one, so that a point Y ten inches from bevel will be perpendicular to point two. Stand bevel end of E on point three, so that the other end will rest against point Y. You will then see the bevel needed on upper end of E to make it fit against point Y. It will be about an inch long.
Treat the other E in the same way, taking care that both bevels start from same face of stick. Square end of new stick: cut off six inches and square again. At point three inches from end cut out bit one half by one half by one fourth, as in B. This is the stick F.
Cut two sticks ten inches long: square ends. These are GG.
The pieces are all cut out; now of course you had more whitewood than these measures, but it is so cheap it seemed best to allow for mistakes, and the spoiling of two or three sticks in cutting bevels, etc. The bits left always come handy.
In putting the parts together you must be very careful. You will need some one-inch brads and some seven-sixteenths or three eighth ones also, and about two feet of brass spring wire, two French screws one inch long (slim ones), and two five eighths inch ones.
Take first the pointed piece for the middle of front: the one with the squares cut out of it: fit one of the B’s into the upper place and the other into the lower one. Put piece F into the middle slot; put two brads through each piece (BBF) and into the pointed one. Turn the whole over so the face A is down.
Take two pieces marked A; with inch-brads fasten pieces D endwise, so that upper face of D will be two and one eighth inches from end of A.
Place one A between the two B’s on the right of pointed stick with D pointing to the right; you will find that the end of F touches A at a point two and one eighth inches from the bottom, so that F and D divide A plus one half inch (eight inches) into thirds.
Place the other A and D facing just opposite on the other side of pointed stick. You will find that the ends of the A’s touch the B’s at a point half-way between the end of B and the pointed piece. Secure in position with inch-brads.
Place one of the other pointed sticks to the right, the other to the left of ends of B and D, and fasten so that the end of upper B is two and one half inches from point, and D two and one eighth inches from upper B and lower B slightly over two inches from bottom of bevel. In placing these two pointed pieces be sure and have the face a (fig. 2) down.
Now for the back. Take the pieces marked E; measure two and five eighth inches from upper ends; fasten one of the pieces C by the ends to these points, and the second C at a point a little over two inches from bottom.
Fasten upper beveled ends of the E’s to backs of points x (see picture) with short brass screws and a couple of brads.
Next take pieces G, and measure two and three fourth inches from end: bore holes large enough to admit long screws; with brads fasten third C at points one and one half inches from ends of G, and one and one fourth inch from holes. (This is to support the book.) Then screw G’s directly under B and A, the long ends directed backward. You will find the seven-inch ends will touch the lower part of pieces E about one half inch from bottom. Fasten with brads.
These two pieces (G) serve to keep the back from spreading away from front and make the rest strong enough to support quite a heavy book.
This is really a very simple thing to make, for the lines are all straight, and if you are careful in cutting, fitting and joining, you will feel paid for the trouble.