Chapter II

SCROLL SAWING, WOOD TURNING, WOOD CARVING, ETC.

As you may have observed, it takes a pretty good sized room for a shop and quite a lot of tools to do carpenter work and cabinet making.

Now if you find it hard to get these things don’t be discouraged because there are other kinds of woodwork that take neither a whole room nor a chest of tools, and the chief ones of these are (1) _scroll sawing_; (2) _wood turning_; (3) _wood carving_ and (4) _pyrography_.

Not only are the pursuits of these trades pleasant but they are profitable because whether the art objects you make are useful or not the work trains your mind, your eyes and your hands at one and the same time and when you get these three factors working harmoniously together you have achieved something that will be valuable to you as long as you live.

All About Scroll Sawing

Scroll sawing, fret sawing and jig sawing all mean precisely the same thing and that is sawing interlaced and ornamental designs out of wood, or _fretwork_ as it is called.

With a scroll saw frame costing 50 cents and a few thin boards you can saw out the most exquisite patterns and make the most dainty articles imaginable. There is more pleasure, of course, in using a regular foot power scroll saw, but you can do just as good work with a hand frame and though it takes a little longer you’ll enjoy it immensely.

=Scroll Sawing Outfits.=--A scroll saw is a very simple piece of apparatus and it consists of a fine saw fixed in a frame, or otherwise supported, so that it can be moved up and down, and it is narrow enough to turn sharp curves.

Now scroll saws, as I shall call them, are of three kinds and these are (1) those worked by hand; (2) those run by foot-power, and (3) those operated by other kinds of power.

=A Cheap Scroll Sawing Outfit.=--The simplest and cheapest scroll sawing outfit consists of (a) a _scroll saw frame_; (b) a dozen _saw blades_, and (c) an _awl_, all of which are shown in Fig. 8. If it is your idea to saw out brackets and other fancy knickknacks you ought to have a sheet of (d) _impression paper_,[9] (e) some _sheet designs_,[10] and (f) some _fancy wood_.

[9] This is ordinary carbon paper such as is used for typewriting.

[10] See Fancy Woods for Scroll Sawing in this chapter.

The scroll saw frame is a bent iron or steel bar, usually nickel-plated, which forms a frame about 5 inches wide and 12 inches long. A handle is fitted to one end and a clamp to each end so that the saw blade can be held tight in the frame.

_How to Use the Scroll Saw._--The first thing to do is to put a saw blade in the frame and be sure to have the points of the teeth _down_, that is toward the handle.

Next mark the design you intend to saw out on a thin piece of wood[11] planed nice and smooth on both sides, hold it flat on the edge of the table with your left hand, grip the saw handle with your right hand and hold it so that the saw blade is vertical as shown in Fig. 9.

[11] Both can be bought of L. H. Wild, 171 Avenue A, New York City.

You are ready now to begin to saw out the design; set the sawblade on the line, jig the saw frame up and down and be careful to give it even and smooth strokes. You will be surprised to find how easily it works. When you are sawing turn the wood and not the saw frame--the latter can be turned a little sometimes to advantage--and hold it so that the back of the frame is always toward you and the blade should move forward but very slightly.

When you want to saw a piece out of the inside of the board, take your awl and make a hole in it by giving it a twisting motion to prevent it from splitting the wood. Now unscrew one of the clamps of your saw frame and put the free end of the saw through the hole, clamp it in the frame and start to saw again.

=A Few Other Helpful Things.=--A _Hand Saw-Table_.--You can saw out your designs much more easily and neatly if you use a hand saw table as shown in Fig. 10. This is a board about 4 × 6 inches on the sides with a V sawed out of one end and a clamp screwed to the bottom of it.

This makes the end of the board project out from the table it is clamped to, raises the wood you are sawing from the surface of it and gives you a firm grip on it. You can easily make a saw table or you can buy one for 50 cents.[12]

[12] The Millers Falls Company, Millers Falls, Mass., makes them and
nearly all tool companies sell them.

_Files for Scroll Work._--To do a really neat job at scroll sawing you should have a set of scroll saw files. These files are long and thin and are made round, oval, knife edge, half round and three cornered as shown at A in Fig. 11.

_A Twist Drill Stock._--A twist drill stock and a drill, see B, Fig. 11, is far better for making holes in wood than an awl and as they only cost 50 cents you should have one. You can make a hole in a ¹⁄₈ inch thick board in the ¹⁄₁₀₀th part of a minute.

_A Pair of Pliers._--A pair of flat-nose, side cutting pliers is a very useful tool which will go a long way toward making your scroll sawing efforts a success. A pair is shown at C in Fig. 11.

_A Small Hammer._--And finally get a small hammer to drive brads with as pictured at D.

_Scroll Saw Blades._--There are two kinds made and these are known as (1) _Star saw blades_ and (2) _German saw blades_.

_SCROLL SAWYER’S FILES_

_A TWIST DRILL STOCK_

_FLAT NOSE, SIDE CUTTING PLIERS_

_A SMALL HAMMER_

_SAW BLADES (HALF SIZE)_

_THE TEETH OF A SAW ARE PLACED WIDE APART TO CUT CLEAN_

FIG. 11. SOME NECESSARY SCROLL SAWING TOOLS]

As one is as good as the other by all means buy Star blades. The sizes from 1 to 10 are shown at E in Fig. 11, but three smaller and two larger sizes are made. The smaller sizes cost 10 cents a dozen and the larger sizes 15 cents a dozen. The spacing of the teeth on the blade is shown at F.

=How to Trace a Design on Wood.=--You can draw your own designs or buy them printed ready to use. In either case you must transfer the design to the surface of the wood you are going to saw.

To do this lay a sheet of _carbon paper_ as typists call it, or _impression paper_ as jig sawyers call it, with the prepared side next to the wood; lay the design sheet on top of it; and fasten the corners of the sheets to the wood with glue, or, better, with _thumb tacks_.[13]

[13] Thumb tacks are short, flat headed tacks used by draughtsmen.

Now take a sharp, hard lead pencil or a piece of pointed bone and trace the outline of the design. When you have it all done you will find that the design is plainly marked in black lines on the wood--that is except where you forgot to trace it.

=Designs for Scroll Sawing.=--Designs in great variety can be bought of H. L. Wild, Publisher, 171 Avenue A, New York City. Besides glove boxes, handkerchief boxes, bird cages, clock cases, thread and thimble stands, photo frames and a thousand and one other pretty and useful articles you can get patterns for doll furniture, alphabets and mechanical designs like the horizontal engine shown at A in Fig. 12 and the fire engine shown at B.

=Foot-Power Scroll Saws.=--There are several makes of foot-power scroll saws on the market and the prices of these range from $4.50 to $25.

_The Cricket Scroll Saw._--This is the cheapest foot-power scroll saw that you can buy and is the one that sells for $4.50. It has a _table_ that tilts which permits you to saw your work on a _bevel_--that is on a slant--so that you can _inlay_ it with some other kind of wood or metal.

=A=--_A HORIZONTAL STEAM ENGINE_

=B=--_A FIRE ENGINE_

FIG. 12. MECHANICAL MASTERPIECES MADE WITH A SCROLL SAW]

This little machine weighs 17 pounds and is 33 inches high; it is made of lighter castings than the machines which follow but it will do just about as good work as the higher priced ones. Fig. 13 shows what it looks like.

_The Lester Scroll Saw._--This is a well made saw, has a cast iron frame and the _arms_ of the saw frame and the _pitman_--that is, the rod which connects the crank wheel with the frame--are of ash.

The Lester has several very handy attachments and these are (a) an _automatic dust blower_, which blows the sawdust away from the line you are sawing on; (b) an _adjustable lever saw clamp_ with a hinged jaw which prevents the saw blades from breaking; and (c) a _drilling attachment_.

This saw, which is shown in Fig. 14, costs $10.00, is 35 inches high and weighs in the neighborhood of 30 pounds. The lathe attachment costs $2.00 extra.

_The Fleetwood Scroll Saw._--This is the best and consequently the most expensive foot power scroll saw made. It has a swing of nearly 16 inches. It is fitted with a tilting table, a vertical drill and a blowing attachment. A scroll saw of this kind with a plain stand can be bought for $21.00, or one with a fancy stand, see Fig. 15, can be had for $25.00.

=How a Foot-Power Scroll Saw Works.=--If you will look again at Figs. 13 and 14 you will see that the scroll saws shown have saw frames very like a hand saw frame. The lower part of the frame is connected with a crank on the end of a spindle, which has a small grooved wheel fixed to it, by a pitman or rod and the treadle is connected with the large drive wheel by another pitman; finally the drive wheel is belted to the small grooved wheel.

Now when you work the treadle with your foot it produces a _reciprocating motion_ and this is changed by the pitman into _rotary motion_ which it imparts to the drive wheel. Since the grooved, or driven, wheel is smaller than the drive wheel it revolves faster and this gives the pitman connected with it a very rapid rotary motion on one end but as it is pivoted to the frame which in turn is pivoted at the rear end it is changed into an up and down or reciprocating motion exactly like the treadle but many times faster.

The Fleetwood works a little differently, in that instead of a frame the pitman is connected with a metal block that slides in a guide. The lower end of the saw is fastened to the upper end of this sliding block and the top of the saw blade is fixed to the end of a long, curved spring whose elasticity tends to make it fly up.

This action keeps the saw blade always taut and pulls it up except when the pitman pulls the block down and the saw with it. This is the principle on which large power jig saws used in shops are worked.

=How to Saw on a Foot-Power Scroll Saw.=--Lay the board you are going to saw flat on the table of the machine and put your finger tips of both hands on top of the board; when possible keep one hand on one side of the saw and the other hand on the opposite side of it.

Press down hard enough on the work to keep it on the table against the up strokes of the saw; as the top of the table is polished it is easy to slide the work around and keep the saw on the line. Run the saw at an even speed and do not feed the wood against the blade too fast.

TABLE OF SCROLL SAW WOODS

_Price per foot_
_planed to a thickness of_
_Name_ _¹⁄₁₆ to ¹⁄₈ in._ _³⁄₁₆ in._ _¹⁄₄ in._
Poplar, or White Wood or Bass $0.07 $0.08 $0.09
Spanish Cedar .10 .12 .14
White Maple .10 .12 .15
Sycamore .11 .13 .15
Hazel Wood .11 .13 .15
Oak or White Ash .11 .13 .15
White Holly .12 .14 .16
Black Walnut .14 .16 .18
Bird’s Eye Maple .14 .16 .18
Mahogany .14 .16 .18
Cocobola .20 .25 .30
Amaranth .20 .25 .30
Rosewood .25 .30 .40
Satin Wood .30 .35 .40
Tulip .50 .60 .75
Real Ebony .50 .50 .50

These woods can be bought of H. L. Wild, 171 Avenue A, New York City, or of J. Gabriel and Company, 672 Grand Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.

=Fancy Woods for Scroll Saw Work.=--Fancy woods that are planed on both sides for scroll sawing can be bought in thicknesses of ¹⁄₁₆, ¹⁄₈, ³⁄₁₆ and ¹⁄₄ inch. Wood that is ¹⁄₈ inch thick is the best to use for all ordinary work.

The foregoing list gives the name, thickness and price of the chief common and fancy woods that are good for scroll sawing.

=Trimmings for Boxes, Etc.=--Brass hinges, knobs, screws, drawer pulls, box hooks, French screws and wire nails, that is brads, catches, metal legs, small locks, escutcheons, turned moldings, etc., can be bought of the above dealers who specialize in scroll sawyer’s materials.

Turning in Wood

And now we come to another and highly fascinating kind of wood-work and this is to spin a stick of wood in a lathe and shape it with a chisel or gouge, or _wood turning_ as it is called.

While the outfit you need to turn wood with costs more than for scroll sawing you will never forget the pleasure of rounding up of a bit of wood into a shapely form, no, not if you were to live a thousand years.

=Get a Lathe First.=--It is far better to buy a lathe than to try to make one, that is if you expect to turn anything on it, for in the first place it is hard to get the things to make one with and in the second you can buy one for very little money.

_How a Lathe is Made._--A wood turning lathe consists of four principal parts, and these are (1) the _headstock_; (2) the _rest_; (3) the _tailstock_; (4) the _bed_ and (5) the _stand_, the first three parts of which are shown in Fig. 16.

_SPUR_

_HEAD STOCK_

_REST_

_TAIL STOCK_

FIG. 16. THE CHIEF PARTS OF A TURNING LATHE]

The head stock is fixed to the bed of the stand; it is formed of a _cone pulley_ mounted on a spindle in a frame. A _spur center_ is screwed to the spindle and this holds the wood tightly in place while it is being turned. The rest, which is adjustable, is used to lay your turning tool on and so keep it in position. A long and short rest usually go with the better lathes.

The tailstock has two adjustments, the first of which allows it to be slipped back and forth on the bed and clamped at any point which gives a rough adjustment, and the second is a spindle which is threaded on one end and has a _taper center_, that is a sharp point on the other end. This allows the piece of wood which is to be turned to be set between the spur center of the headstock and the taper center of the tailstock.

These parts rest on the bed of the lathe and this in turn is mounted on a stand. The stand is fitted with a drive wheel and this is driven by a treadle with which it is connected by a pitman exactly like a foot-power scroll saw.

=The Cheapest Lathe You Can Buy.=--The cheapest lathe you buy is called the _Companion_; it is made by the Millers Falls Company, Millers Falls, N. Y., and it costs $10.50. It has a long and a short rest, three turning tools and a 2 inch face plate and spur center. When you get it uncrate it, set it up, oil it well and you are ready to do some turning. The lathe is shown complete in Fig. 17.

_Attachments for the Companion Lathe._--This lathe is fitted with a 4 inch emery wheel without extra charge. A very useful attachment is a circular saw 3 inches in diameter and a saw table 6 × 7 inches with a straight edge guide; it costs $1.25 extra. A scroll saw attachment that can be clamped on the lathe bed may be bought for $3.00 extra. Both of these attachments are shown in Fig. 17. Of course better and larger lathes can be had for more money.

=Turning Tools for Wood.=--The tools used for turning wood[14] are simply chisels and gouges. The chisels are made with four kinds of points, namely, (1) _skew point_; (2) _round point_; (3) _square point_, and (4) _spear point_, and these are shown in Fig. 18. These chisels can be bought in all sizes from ¹⁄₄ inch to 1 inch wide.

[14] Buck Bros.’ turning tools for wood are counted best.

Gouges also come in sizes from ¹⁄₄ inch up to 1 inch, and a _parting tool_, which is used to cut off a turned piece and which is simply a V shaped chisel, can be had in ¹⁄₂, ⁵⁄₈ and ³⁄₄ inch sizes. These turning tools are also shown in Fig. 18. You can buy them fitted with applewood handles and sharpened ready for use for about 50 cents apiece. You can buy them of hardware dealers or of Hammacher, Schlemmer and Co., Fourth Ave. and 13th Street, New York.

_SKEW POINT_

_ROUND POINT_

_SQUARE POINT_

_SPEAR POINT_

_THE GOUGE_

_THE PARTING TOOL_

FIG. 18. A SET OF WOOD TURNING TOOLS]

=How to Turn Wood.=--Before you can turn out a really good job on a lathe you must practice awhile. A good thing to try your hand on is to make some tool handles. The size of these will, of course, depend on what you intend to use them for.

Take a stick of wood, round or square, it doesn’t in the least matter, a couple of inches longer and a trifle larger than the largest diameter that the handle is to be and drive one end against the spurs of the face plate as shown in Fig. 19.

This done screw up the feed of the tailstock until the back-center is forced into the end of the wood about ¹⁄₈ of an inch; clamp the rest so that it comes to within ¹⁄₄ an inch of the wood you are going to turn and you are ready for work.

Now put your foot on the treadle and work it up and down; very soon the speed of the drive wheel will carry it round smoothly and it will deliver considerable power to the pulley of the headstock. If the drive wheel is 5 times as large as the pulley and you treadle the drive wheel 100 times every minute, the stick of wood which you want to turn will revolve 500 times a minute.

When you have the wood rotating at about this speed grip the handle of it firmly with your right hand, lay the back of the chisel on the rest and press down on the blade with your left hand as shown in Fig. 20. Of course the top edge of the wood is turning toward you.

Whatever you do when you are roughing down a stick of wood don’t try to take off too large a cut. Go at it very gently with the point of your chisel and as it begins to cut you can swing the tool around so that the whole width of the blade is cutting.

_Gouges_ are used in the same way as chisels and with them you can turn out hollow parts. A _parting tool_ is used for cutting off the ends of the wood after you have finished turning it.

_SIZING WITH A PAIR OF CALIPERS_

_A REGULAR SIZING TOOL_

FIG. 21. SIZING THE TURNED WORK]

When you want to turn a piece of wood down to a given size you can do so by testing it with a pair of calipers, as shown in Fig. 21, or you can size it with a regular sizing tool. To size the work measure off the distance between the points of the calipers with a rule for whatever thickness you want the turned part; then as you turn the wood you can try it from time to time until the wood will just slip through between the points.

The Art of Wood Carving

Carving is by all odds the hardest of all woodworking processes to learn and yet there are some simple forms of it that are at once easy to do and pretty to look at. While carving is an art in itself it can be used with fine effect in combination with some kinds of scroll sawed and turned work.

=Your Set of Carving Tools.=--To begin with you can get along very well with a set of six carving tools. A set of this number is made up of a ³⁄₈ inch, a ¹⁄₄ inch, a ¹⁄₂ inch and a ⁵⁄₁₆ inch _straight shank_ carving tools and two of these are _chisels_ and four are _gouges_, so you see that they are just about the same as carpenters’ and turners’ chisels and gouges. Such a set of tools costs about $3.00.

A better set contains a dozen carving tools and this includes the above tools as well as a couple of _bent fluting gouges_, with ¹⁄₈ and ¹⁄₄ inch _sweeps_, a couple of _front bent tools_, a _straight parting tool_, and a _veining tool_, all of which is shown at A in Fig. 22; the sweeps, as the curved cutting edges are called, are shown at B.

The _tangs_ of these tools, that is the sharp ends which fit into the handles, have shoulders on them to prevent the handles from creeping and splitting. The best carving tools on the market are those made by S. J. Addis of London, and you can’t go wrong if you buy them.

=A=
_STRAIGHT CHISEL_
_SHORT BEND GOUGE_
_SKEW CHISEL_
_STRAIGHT PARTING TOOL_
_STRAIGHT GOUGE_
_LONG BEND GOUGE_
_FLUTING GOUGE_
_FRONT BEND GOUGE_
_VEINING TOOL_
_BENT FILE_

=B=
_SWEEPS OF WOOD CARVING TOOLS_

=C=
_CARVER’S MALLET_

FIG. 22. KINDS AND SWEEPS OF CARVING TOOLS]

Carving tools as they come from the makers are sharpened but not _honed_, that is the tools are ground sharp, but the _inside bevel_ of the tools must be rubbed up with an oil stone slip and most wood carvers like to do this themselves.

When you buy a set of carving tools you also want to get a carver’s mallet made of _lignum-vitæ_[15] with a face 2¹⁄₂ inches in diameter and, as you will see in Fig. 22, its shape is quite different from the ordinary kinds. Also get a _Washita oil stone_, and an _Arkansas carving tool slip_, which is a small wedge-shaped oil-stone.

[15] _Lignum-vitæ_ is a greenish-brown wood and is very hard and
heavy. It grows in tropical America.

Two or more _markers_, which are stamps made of tool steel, are very useful for stamping in background work. A number of different designs are shown in Fig. 23 and they cost about a quarter apiece.

_A SNIB_

_A HAND CLAMP_

_A CARVER’S VISE_

FIG. 24. SCHEMES FOR HOLDING WORK WHEN CARVING]

To hold the work while you are carving it you can make two or more _snibs_ as shown at A in Fig. 24. These little clamps are sawed out pieces of wood with an ordinary wood screw through the thick end, and when you want to carve a flat piece of work clip it with a couple of snibs and screw the latter to your bench. A better scheme is to use a couple of hand screws as shown at B. For carving in relief you will need a wood-carver’s vise as shown at C.

=The Best Woods for Carving.=--A wood that is suitable for carving must be tough, even grained and free from knots. For a beginner, and I guess you are one, _yellow pine_ is a good wood to practice on as it is soft and easy to work but you must be careful not to splinter it along the grain.

Oak is much tougher but it is a fine wood for carving and you will not need to take the care to prevent splintering as with pine. Black walnut and mahogany are beautiful woods and are nice to carve, while for finer work apple, pear, sycamore and California redwood are largely used.

=Kinds of Wood Carving.=--There are three kinds of wood carving in general and these are (1) _chip_, or surface carving, (2) _panel_ or relief carving, and (3) _figure_ carving, as shown in Fig. 25.

When you cut your initials in the top of your desk at school you made a primitive attempt at what is called chip carving. Most likely you got the birch for it but it was only the savage instinct for decorative art that was trying to find expression in you, and so it’s not your fault. (But don’t do it again.) Any kind of carving on a flat surface is called chip carving, and some of it is very beautiful. It is shown at A.

=A=--_PLAIN PANEL_

=B=--_FANCY PANEL_

=C=--_FIGURE CARVING_

FIG. 25. KINDS OF CARVING]

Panel carving is done on flat pieces of wood also but the design is made by cutting out or _sinking_ the ground, as shown at B. Sometimes when it is desirable to make some part stand out in relief above the surface it is carved out of a separate piece of wood and _planted on_, that is glued on.

To carve a lily of the valley or a deer’s head out of a solid block of wood is not as easy as the other kinds of carving, but if you have a natural aptitude for using tools and an eye for art you can succeed as well as the next one.

_Chip Carving._--You will need only three tools for chip carving and these are (1) a ¹⁄₄ inch chisel; (2) a parting tool and (3) a veining tool.

The first thing is to get the design you want to carve on the board. To do this you can either draw the design directly on the board, or, better, lay a sheet of impression paper on the board and then the design you want to transfer on top of it and trace it with a lead pencil.

Screw the board to your bench with two or more snibs and you are ready for work. Carve out the heavier lines with the parting tool and the lighter lines with the veining tool. Use the chisel to cut the corners sharp and make the lines clean and even. In chip carving _grounds_ are never put in.

_Panel Carving._--In this kind of carving leaves, berries, scrolls and the like are carved out of the surface of the board and as the ground is sunk these objects stand out in relief.

Begin by drawing, or transferring, the pattern to the board as before; then cut it out with gouges and chisels as shown at A and finally use the veining tool for the radiating lines. The head can be carved out of a separate piece of wood glued to the ground, or _planted_ on as it is called. The work can be oiled and polished but never varnish it. It is shown finished at C.

To make a watch case holder like the one shown at D saw out a piece of walnut, or other wood, ¹⁄₄ inch thick and draw on the design.

Carve the cross and lower part of the case by chipping it; carve the leaves in relief and put in the veins with the veining tool. Now saw out another piece for the pocket 1 inch thick and carve out the front and the back to the shape shown at D so that it is only ¹⁄₈ inch thick when finished and glue it to the other part when you will have a watch case holder of the vintage of 1875.

_Carving in Solid Wood._--This ranges all the way from carving simple leaves as shown at D to the human form divine.

To carve out leaves on a flat surface draw the design as before and carve them out with your gouge to look as much like real leaves as you can and to give them the final touch of beauty cut the veins in with your veining tool.

For carving out heads, as for example the one shown at C, mark the shape of the object which you intend to carve on the sides of the block as it would look if you cut it down through the middle. Now screw up the block in your vise and cut away the sides with your chisels and gouges, using the mallet to do it with. All you want to do at first is to get the rough shape of the figure.

When you have done this you can go ahead and finish up the work with your chisels and gouges. To give the carving a life-like appearance do not use files or sandpaper on it and do not varnish or polish it.

Pyrography, or Wood Burning

This is a simple and pleasing art and one that is easy to practice. It gets its didactic name from the Greek word _pyro_, which means fire, and _graph_, to write, that is writing with fire, only in pyrography you draw with fire instead.

=The Necessary Tools.=--The chief tool you need is called an _etching_ tool. This is formed of a piece of iron, copper or platinum with a curved point which is heated in a flame until it is red or white hot. When it is hot you press the curved point against the wood upon which you have drawn the design and it burns the lines into it.

_=A=--THE ETCHING TOOL_

_=B=--COMPLETE WITH HANDLE_

FIG. 26. THE TOOL USED FOR PYROGRAPHY]

_How to Make an Etching Tool._--Get a piece of copper rod ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter and 3 inches long; file one end down to a point to the shape shown at A and B in Fig. 26 and put a file handle on the other end.

_How to Make an Alcohol Lamp._--The etching tool must be heated in either an alcohol or a Bunsen flame. You can make an alcohol lamp of an ink bottle that will serve the purpose very well. Make a hole in the cork about ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter and make a tin tube 1 inch long that will fit it snugly. Braid a wick of string and put it through the tin-tube; fill the bottle with alcohol and your lamp is done. If you can get gas you can use a Bunsen burner[16] which makes a hotter flame and is less trouble.

[16] Can be bought of the L. E. Knott Apparatus Company, Boston, Mass.

_A Better Outfit._--A good outfit which has a platinum pointed tool and burns alcohol vapor, see C, can be bought for $3.00 and more.[17] If you have gas in your house you can buy a tool which uses it for 50 cents or less.

[17] Everything needed for pyrography can be had of the Frost and
Adams Co., Cornhill, Boston.

_=C=--AN OUTFIT THAT BURNS ALCOHOL VAPOR_

FIG. 26C. AN OUTFIT THAT BURNS BENZINE VAPOR]

_About the Designs._--If you are good at drawing you can make your own designs, but if not you can buy them ready to use. Draw your designs on soft white pine or basswood with a soft lead pencil having a blunt point. Photo frames, plaques, tie racks, collar boxes and things which you can saw out on your scroll saw are greatly improved by burning.

_How to Burn in the Design._--Heat the tool until it is red-hot, or if it is platinum until it is white hot as shown at D. Hold the tool as shown at E and without using too much pressure draw and push the point along the lines until they are burnt in evenly.

When you have burnt in the design burn in the background by making a lot of closely spaced lines; then burn in more parallel lines across the first set. This produces a cross-hatched effect which at a distance makes the design stand out in bold relief.

_=E=_

FIG. 26E. BURNING IN THE DESIGN]

When you have become a little expert you can shade the design but don’t try it until you can burn the lines in evenly.

=Coloring and Staining Wood.=--Stains and dyes of all colors can be bought of the Devoe and Reynolds Company, 101 Fulton Street, New York.

_Ebony Stain._--Brush the wood with a saturated solution of _ferrous-sulphate_ and it will make it inky black. When used on white holly, or any other close grained wood, it gives it a real ebony look. Put the solution on with a soft brush. After the ebony stain has been used the wood should be polished with wax to give it a dull finish.

_Fumed Oak._--Oak can be colored a beautiful brown by putting it in a box with a tight fitting lid in which is a saucer of ammonia; paste up the cracks around the lid tight and leave it for a couple of days when it will take on a brown color which is known by the trade name of _fumed oak_.