Chapter XVI (6)

=Shooting-Board.=--The shooting-board is very useful for jointing edges, particularly for short, thin stock. The carpenter or cabinet-maker will make you one for a moderate price, or you can make one yourself as soon as you become a good enough workman (see page 93).

To use it, the board to be jointed is laid flat on the raised part of the shooting-board, where it is firmly held with the left hand, with the end of the board pressing against the stop of the shooting-board, and the edge to be jointed lapping over the edge of the raised part. The planing is done with the plane lying on its side on the lower part of the shooting-board (Fig. 677). The cutting-edge of the plane thus being at right angles with the surface of the board, the edge will be planed squarely across. The shooting-board should be fastened on the bench in some way, to prevent it from slipping around.

Attachments to keep the sole of the plane at right angles to the surface of the piece can be had at any hardware store, and serve the same purpose as a shooting-board for thick stock, but not equally well for thin pieces.

You can reverse the sides of two pieces to be jointed for gluing, as described on page 406, giving a joint like that shown in Fig. 678 (which is exaggerated). The iron of the plane is sometimes purposely set to project unevenly beyond the sole.

If you have many joints to make, you can have the edges jointed at slight expense at any wood-working mill on a planer made for the purpose. See _Jointing_.

=Smoothing-Plane.=--See _Plane_.

=Smoothing Surfaces.=--See _Plane_, _Scraper_, _Sandpaper_.

=Splices.=--See _Joints and Splices_.

=Spline.=--A flexible strip, used as a ruler, for drawing curves. See _Marking_.

=Splitting-Saw.=--See _Saw_.

=Splitting Wood.=--We have seen how a log in drying cracks along the radial lines (page 31), thus showing the natural lines of cleavage or separation in the direction of the medullary rays, that is, radiating from the centre. From this we see that the wood will, of course, split most easily and smoothly on the radial lines. Like all wood-choppers you can often make practical use of this fact in splitting wood with a knife or chisel, or in splitting fuel with an axe. The next easiest way to split wood is as nearly as may be on the line of the annual rings, or tangential to the line of the medullary rays, in the same direction as when the layers separate in forming "cup shakes" (see Appendix). This way is sometimes easier than to rive a stout log through the centre.

=Spokeshave.=--The spoke-shave is very useful for smoothing small curved and irregular surfaces. Metal spoke-shaves of various patterns can be bought with various adjustments for different curves, etc. Also a "universal" spoke-shave can be had, with movable handles and detachable bottoms which can be adapted for curved or straight work, and a width gauge by means of which it can be used for rabbeting.

The spoke-shave is a very useful tool and works upon the same general principle as the plane, but lacking the long flat sole of the plane is used only for irregular surfaces, which its short and sometimes curved face enables it to smooth with great ease. It also acts on the same principle as a draw-knife with the addition of a guiding stock. It bears somewhat the same relation to the draw-knife that the plane does to the chisel.

Grasp the tool firmly, bearing downward with both hands and pressing forward with the thumbs, pushing the tool from you so as to cut like a plane (Fig. 679). Of course it can also be drawn towards you when the circumstances of the work render it advisable. See _Paring_ and _Sharpening_.

=Spoon-Bit.=--See _Bits_.

=Square.=--This tool is one of the most useful in the list, for the importance of having your work "square" can hardly be over-estimated.

The _try-square_ should have a metal strip on the inside edge of the wooden arm, head, or beam, or the handle can be wholly of metal. Get a medium-sized try-square (9- or 10-inch blade is good) rather than a very small one, as it is much more useful; and a graduated scale, like a rule, on the blade is sometimes serviceable.

The primary use of this tool is to test or "try" the accuracy of right-angled work--hence the name. The one special point to bear in mind in using it for this purpose is to be sure that the head or beam is pressed _firmly_ against the edge or side to which it is applied, determining the accuracy of the angle by the position of the blade (Fig. 680).

You will also use the try-square continually for marking straight lines across boards or timbers at right angles to one side or one edge (Fig. 681). In using it for this purpose be sure not merely to press the head of the square firmly against the edge of the board, but to _keep_ it securely in the same position. When the blade is placed correctly on the given point do the marking as by any straight-edge. Another way is to place the point of the pencil or knife directly on the given point and slide the square along until it bears on the pencil or knife. Then, keeping the head of the square firmly against the edge, the line can be drawn along the blade.

The try-square sometimes is made with the end of the head or beam next the blade cut on a bevel. By placing this bevel against the edge a try-square of this construction can also be used as a mitre-square (Fig. 682).

If you buy a second-hand square, or if a square has been wrenched, you can test its accuracy by marking a line with it across a surface from a straight edge, then turning the square over and repeating the operation; the two lines should coincide. But the edge from which you rule must be perfectly straight, or the test will be of no value. If, however, you buy new squares made by the best makers they will be as accurate as any test you can apply to them.

Beginners, particularly young beginners, are very apt to be so engrossed in making the line along the blade that they forget to keep the head in position, or let it slip, when the blade will of course cease to be at right angles with the edge or side (Fig. 683).

The _framing-square_, "_steel-square_," or large two-foot carpenter's square, is a very useful and important tool; not merely for framing and large, heavy work but also for small work, and it is of great value in many mechanical operations. Even an iron square is very useful, but a nickel-plated steel-square is the best, as the figures are more distinct and it is less likely to rust. The long arm makes a good straight-edge. See also page 181.

=Staining.=--When you stain wood, do it for the sake of the colour, preserving the beauty of the grain, and not to try to imitate a more expensive wood. It is better, as a rule, to use good wood of a handsome colour and leave it as it is to mellow with age than to stain or colour it, but there are times when you will wish to stain wood.

The main point to bear in mind for successful staining is to colour the wood itself, not to put on a superficial coat of coloured varnish. For instance, the fumes of ammonia (or the liquid itself) will give oak in a very short time the same dark colour which the ammonia in the air will produce after years of exposure. This is a natural process--merely anticipating the change caused by time.

There are a number of ways of staining dependent upon such chemical processes carried on in the wood itself. These ways are the best, as you can readily see. Having got the right colour, the wood can be oiled, shellacked, varnished, or waxed in the usual way. By this method the natural grain of the wood is not obscured. In fact, the figure of the grain is sometimes made more conspicuous.

Another way is to wash the wood with some thin stain of the desired colour, after which you can finish in the usual way. This is a good method, for the wood itself is coloured to some distance below the surface, and after it is finished it will take considerable bruising to expose its original colour. This method also sometimes enhances the beauty of the grain.

The poorest way to stain, but a very common one with amateurs and in cheap work, is, instead of staining the wood itself, to cover the surface with coloured varnish or shellac. This is often the cheapest and quickest way of getting a desired colour, but it is decidedly the poorest way. Of course, no coating of colour put on outside can be as durable as colour imbedded in the substance of the wood itself, and scarring or injury to the coating exposes the original colour beneath. Besides this, the grain and character of the wood are necessarily obscured by a coloured coating. Wood finished in this way almost always has a cheap, artificial look, and you can usually detect the fraud at a glance. There are many cheap "varnish stains" or coloured varnishes, but you will do well to avoid them, unless for the cheapest and poorest work.

There are two things you will wish to do in staining. One is simply to darken or enrich the natural colour of the wood, so as to give it at once the rich, deep, mellow tone produced by age. This is always the best way to do when it will give the colour you want. But if you want to change the colour entirely--to make pine wood red or green, or cherry black, you must use some chemical process that will develop a new colour in the wood, or must apply a regular stain.

Raw linseed oil alone, well rubbed in and allowed to stand before applying shellac or varnish, will deepen and bring out the natural colouring in time as well as anything else, but it takes a good while. Repeated applications, each thoroughly rubbed in and the excess rubbed off, and after standing some days or weeks, given a light rubbing down with fine sandpaper, then another oiling, and so on, will in time give a surface of beautiful colour, as well as a soft and attractive lustre. But to carry out this process may take months, so that you will not be very likely to practise it; but you see the result sometimes on old wooden tool-handles and plane-stocks which have been so treated. If you do not care about deepening the colour greatly, one or two applications, allowed to stand a week or two before finishing, will often be sufficient and will make a great difference in the looks of your work, and take off that raw, fresh look peculiar to recently cut wood.

If your work is such that you can defer the shellacing for a year or so, as in the case of some pretty piece of furniture to remain in the house, there is no way you can develop the richness of the wood better than to oil it and let it stand to mellow, with occasional applications of oil and rubbing down. Then finally rub down with fine sandpaper and shellac in the usual way.

To hasten the process we must apply something stronger than oil. If the work is of oak, shut it up in a box or _tight_ closet, with a dish of _strong_ ammonia on the floor. Do not stay in the box or closet yourself, as it is dangerous. A simpler way is to wash the work with the ammonia, more than once if necessary. Have the room well ventilated when you do this, and do not inhale more of the fumes than necessary. Wetting the wood is sometimes a disadvantage, however, in glued-up work, and it "raises the grain," which must be rubbed down with fine sandpaper before finishing.

To deepen the colour of mahogany or cherry, simply wash it with lime-water (a simple solution of common lime in water) as many times as may be necessary, which is cheap and effective. After this process, thoroughly clean out all cracks and corners before sandpapering, for particles of the lime which may be deposited will spoil the appearance of the work when finished. This process preserves the natural appearance of the wood. The only drawback is the necessity of getting the work so wet. Some days should be allowed for the water to evaporate before shellacking. To get a darker shade, apply in the same way a solution of bichromate of potash in water.

Whitewood takes stains finely--much better than pine. Oak will stain almost any colour, but the individuality of the wood--the character of its grain and structure--is so strongly marked that it is poor taste to attempt to stain it to imitate other woods. If you stain it, stain it just as you would paint it, simply for the colour.

A good way for indoor work, such as a piece of furniture or anything of the sort you may wish to colour, is to mix dry pigments with japan and then thin the mixture with turpentine, or turpentine alone can be used. After the work is coloured in this way put on a couple of coats of varnish. For outside work you can use oil. This is a cheap way and wears well. It applies only to the cheaper woods which you do not care to leave of the natural colour. For black inside work you can use ivory-black, ground in japan and thinned with turpentine. Ivory-black or bone-black are superior to lampblack, but the latter will do very well for most purposes. Dragon's blood in alcohol is used to give a colour similar to mahogany. Alkanet root in raw linseed oil will give a warm and mellow hue to mahogany or cherry.

There is an almost endless number of recipes for staining, but such others as you need you can learn from some finisher or painter, for the limits of this book do not allow fuller treatment of so extensive a subject.

=Steel-Square.=--See _Square_.

=Steel-Wool.=--Long, fine steel shavings done up in bundles can be used instead of sandpaper for some purposes. There are various degrees of fineness. This is good for cleaning off paint and for smoothing curved surfaces, but should not be used until all work with the edge-tools is done, because of the particles of the metal. It can be used for "rubbing down" in finishing.

=Straight-Bent Chisel.=--See _Chisel_.

=Straight-Edge.=--There are no definite dimensions for a straight-edge. Any piece of wood that is straight and convenient to use can be so called; the size and the length depending on the work for which it is to be used, from a common ruler to a long board. The edge of a large carpenter's square is handy for short work. Clear white pine or straight-grained mahogany is good for straight-edges, but a straight-edge is not the easiest thing for a beginner to make, and you will do well to find something straight to use for a while until you acquire the skill to make one--or get the carpenter to make you one, which he will do for a very small sum or for nothing.

To test a straight-edge, mark a line by it, then turn the straight-edge over and see if it still coincides with the line, or mark another line and see if it coincides with the first one. Try your straight-edges by this test once in a while, as they are liable to become crooked. In turning the edge over, however, do not reverse the ends, as in case of an undulating curvature the curves may agree and give you the impression that the edge is straight when it is not. In the first case shown in Fig. 684 (exaggerated) this would not happen, but in the second case (also exaggerated) it might. See _Marking_.

=Strop.=--A piece of hard, smooth leather on which to strop your tools you can easily procure. It can be fastened on a piece of wood (see page 85). Spread on it a paste of sweet oil and emery, lard oil and crocus powder, or some similar preparation. A pine board on which "air-dust" has accumulated can even be used. See remarks under _Sharpening_.

=Tacks.=--Tacks are sold as one-ounce, two-ounce, and so on according to size.

Do not use tacks for fastening wood to wood, but only for fastening leather or cloth or the like to wood. The pointed wedge-shape of the tack tends to split thin wood, and is not at all suitable to fasten two pieces of wood together, particularly in thin wood or near the edge. Possibly you may have seen some disastrous results from the attempt to tack pieces of wood together.

=Tape-Measure.=--This article (preferably of steel) is often useful, though not nearly as important for an amateur to buy as many other things.

=Tenon.=--See _Mortising_.

=Tenon-Saw.=--See _Saw_ (_Back-Saw_).

=Tool-Racks.=--See page 83.

=Toothed-Plane.=--See _Plane_.

=Truing Surfaces.=--To true a curved or warped surface, as of a board, lay it on the bench with the rounded side down and wedge it firmly underneath to make it as nearly level as possible. Then scribe a line with the compasses across each end of the board at the height of the lowest point of the surface (Fig. 685). Cut a depression or kind of rabbet at each end down to this line (Fig. 686). Next, by the use of winding-sticks placed on each of these rabbets you can easily see whether they are in line (see _Winding-sticks_). Alter the rabbets if necessary to get them in line. Draw lines on each edge connecting the bottoms of the rabbets, and plane away the superfluous wood down to these lines. When this is done the top of the board will be true or in the same plane. Test it by placing the straight-edges in different positions on the surface and sighting as before, correcting any errors. One side of the board being made true in this way, the other can be made parallel by gauging a line all around the edge, measuring by the thinnest point of the board, and planing off the superfluous wood in the same manner as the first side.

You can sometimes facilitate the process of planing off the superfluous wood by making cuts with the saw and removing part of it with the chisel, or by planing across the grain (the jack-plane is good for this purpose), or paring across the grain with the chisel, or any such method, always being careful not to cut quite as deep as the intended surface, so that all the marks and cuts can be removed by the final planing. See _Plane_, and also page 179.

=Try-Square.=--See _Square_.

=Turning-Saw.=--See _Saw_.

=Turpentine.=--See _Finishing_ and _Painting_.

=Twist-Drill.=--The twist-drill is much better than the gimlet-bit. It makes a good hole, bores easily, is not easily dulled, can be used upon metal, and one kind in common use can be easily kept in order by simply sharpening the ends. There are various patterns. A little care is necessary, however, particularly in hard wood, as they are liable to be snapped by bending. See _Bits_.

=Varnish.=--See _Finishing_.

=Veining-Tool.=--See _Carving-Tools_.

=Vise.=--See page 65. For vise for metal-work, see page 70.

=Warping, To Remove.=--Of course the simplest way to straighten a warped board is to put a weight on it, but the difficulty here is that it usually will stay straight only while the weight is on it, unless you leave it longer than the patience of the average amateur lasts. To do this (or to warp a straight board either) with some chance of success, (1) heat one side, or (2) wet one side, or (3) wet one side and heat the other, or (4) wet both sides and expose one to the fire (Fig. 687). But do not be too sure that the result will be lasting. Sometimes it will and sometimes not. Another way is to thoroughly soak the board, press it into shape between clamps or under a weight, and leave it until dry; a week or more is none too long, and boiling water is better than cold. Simply laying a board down on a flat surface will often cause it to warp, because the two sides of the board will be unequally exposed to the action of the atmosphere. Planing off one side only, or planing one side more than the other, often produces the same effect. See pages 50-53 and Appendix.

=Wedges.=--Wedges are in constant use for lifting or separating heavy bodies, as doubtless you know, and the principle of the wedge comes in in using the axe, hatchet, chisel, knife, and the other edge-tools (see page 25). Besides this use of the wedge you will often find it valuable to tighten or clamp objects of various kinds, or to hold them firmly in place.

If you wish to split objects or tear them apart, use a _single_ wedge, for the increasing thickness of the wedge applied at one point tears or splits the wood apart. But if you merely wish to squeeze, or press, or hold firmly, or move, _without damaging the shape of the wood_, use _double_ wedges,--that is, two wedges having the same inclination or taper and pointing opposite ways. You will see that the sides of the double wedge (that is, the outsides of the wedges) will be parallel no matter how hard you drive the separate wedges, so that the pressure will be exerted without injuring or jamming the surfaces against which the wedge bears (see Fig. 333). Short, flaring wedges do the work more quickly, but require harder blows to drive, and are more liable to slip. Long, tapering wedges work more slowly, more easily, and are not liable to slip. You will also use wedging to secure tenons and dowels (see _Mortising_, etc.).

=Whittling.=--See _Knife_.

=Winding-Sticks.=--Two straight-edges, each of equal width throughout, can be laid on edge, one across each end of the surface to be tested. Stand back a little and look across the top edge of one to the top edge of the other, and if these edges agree you may know at once that there is no winding where you have placed the straight-edges (Fig. 688). By putting them in different positions you can finally determine whether the whole surface is true or not.

It is more accurate to use winding-sticks considerably longer than the width of the piece to be tested, as then any warping or winding will be exaggerated and more easily seen (Fig. 689). If the upper edges of the sticks are thin, or "feather-edged," it is easier to tell exactly when they are in line, but this does not ordinarily matter, except in work requiring extreme accuracy.

To find, for example, when the legs of a table, chair, or the like are cut so that the article will stand evenly, turn it over with the legs sticking up, put straight-edges on the ends of the legs, sight across these (Fig. 690), and trim one or two legs until the edges are in line. See _Scribing_ for other methods.

Warping or winding of short pieces can be detected by simply laying one straight-edge diagonally from corner to corner (Fig. 691). This will show at once which parts require to be planed to make the surface true.

=Withdrawing Nails.=--When withdrawing nails place a block under the hammer-head as shown (Fig. 692), using more blocks, if necessary, as the nail is withdrawn.

To draw the nails from boxes, pry up a board, together with the nails, a short distance--perhaps 1/4"--and then with a _sharp_, _quick_ blow of the hammer pound the board back into place, not striking the nails but the board between them. This will usually leave the nail-heads projecting a little above the surface, so that you can draw them as shown in Fig. 692, and thus save splitting or defacing the boards and bending the nails, as usually results from smashing or wrenching boxes apart. The quick blow drives the board back before the motion has time to communicate itself to the nails, on somewhat the same principle that a bullet makes a round hole in a window pane without smashing the glass.

=Wood-Filler.=--See _Finishing_.

=Wrench.=--A strong wrench is often very serviceable in wood-working operations.

FOOTNOTES:

[41] _Mortise-chisels_ with great thickness of blade (Fig. 486) are not likely to break, and the width of the sides bearing against the sides of the mortise tends to make the cutting more accurate.

[42] You may be told that perfect joints do not require much clamping, but a perfect joint is impossible, and as a practical matter, only the skilled workman or the most accurate machinery can make even a _good_ joint of much length, so great is the difficulty of avoiding little inaccuracies. Besides this, there is always the liability to more or less springing or change of shape on the part of the pieces. The joint which was good when you stopped planing may not be as good by the time the glue has set, particularly if the gluing does not immediately follow the jointing. In addition to this, the pressure from clamping at only one or two points, or at points too far apart, may force the joint to open elsewhere. Do not infer from this that even the beginner should be content with a poor joint, with the idea that it can be squeezed and jammed to a sufficiently good fit by applying muscle to the clamps. Of course this jamming or mashing of the fibres to fit occurs, to a microscopic degree, in even the best joint, and it can sometimes be done to a perceptible extent with soft wood, but to do this intentionally is very unworkmanlike, and the greatest care should be taken to make as good a joint as possible before gluing and applying the clamps. Do not, however, flatter yourself that you can make so accurate a joint that you can afford to neglect proper clamping, unless, in such cases as that shown in Fig. 488, you adopt the old-fashioned way of rubbing the two edges together and then leaving the rest to the glue, but this is not so good a process for the beginner, except with small pieces, such as corner-blocks (see _Corner-blocks_). See _Jointing_.

[43] Shellac is, strictly speaking, a kind of varnish, but it is so different from many kinds of varnish in common use that it is quite commonly spoken of as shellac, in contradistinction from what is popularly known as varnish, and the term is so used here.

[44] In shellacing doors or panel work, first shellac the panels, then the rails, and finally the styles (see Fig. 505), because daubs or runs can be wiped off and covered better when you thus follow the construction of the work.

[45] As an extreme illustration, it may be interesting to note the way the best lacquer work (which is so durable) is made by the Japanese, an article being given, as Professor Morse tells us, one coat a year, the finest work having twenty-one coats and the artist rowing out to sea for miles each time to make sure that all dust is avoided.

[46] Two pieces properly glued are often stronger than one solid piece--that is, the glued joint is stronger than the wood itself, as you will probably discover some day when you have occasion to break apart a piece of good gluing; but after a long time the glue is apt to deteriorate in adhesive or cohesive force, particularly if the joint has not been protected by paint or varnish, so do the best work you can if you wish it to last. Nevertheless, in important work it is usually safest to take a whole piece when you can, rather than glue up two or more pieces, except in cases, perhaps, where the matter of warping, etc., is concerned, when it may be better to build up the desired shape of pieces selected for the purpose.

[47] It may be useful to know, although not suitable work for the beginner, that there is no better way to joint edges (to make glued joints, as in Fig. 552) than with a first-class circular saw, run by one who knows how to use it. The minute roughnesses left by the saw assist the glue to hold, and as inconspicuous and strong joints as possible can be quickly produced in this way by a good workman with a first-class saw, but do not expect a satisfactory result except under these conditions.

[48] This seems to be the common opinion among experienced men. There are, however, many painters of experience who prefer the prepared liquid paint for outside work, and it certainly saves trouble.

[49] It is not a good plan to wipe brushes on the sharp edge of a tin can, as it injures the bristles.

[50] Another method of doing this is to find a true surface to stand the legs on and measure the distance the free leg rises from the surface--1" for example. Do nothing to that leg, of course, or to the one _diagonally_ opposite, but saw 1/2" from each of the two other legs. Suppose, for example, the legs _a_, _b_, and _c_ touch (Fig. 669), and _d_ rises 3/4" from the floor. Make _a_ and _c_ each 3/8" shorter. Of course you cannot hit it exactly by this method, but a few strokes of a tool will finish the work.