Read Ebook: Elementary woodworking by Foster Edwin W

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Ebook has 315 lines and 20696 words, and 7 pages

PAGE

General directions regarding care of tools and bench. Plan of work and division of tools into groups.

The rule: divisions; method of using. The try-square: method of handling. The framing square. The marking gauge. The bevel.

Saws: necessity for two classes; shape of teeth; set; tapers; method of holding. Backsaw; use of bench hook. The turning saw. The plane: use of cap iron; names of parts. Adjustment of plane. Use of lever and adjusting screw; positions for planing. The jack plane. The smooth plane. Jointers; action of short and long planes. The block plane. The wooden plane. The chisel: size of cutting angle; effect of careless sharpening. The framing and firmer chisels; proper positions for horizontal and vertical cutting. Sharpening on oilstone. Brace and bit. Center and auger bits; gimlet and countersink bits. The spokeshave.

The hammer; use of nail punch. The mallet. The screw-driver. Sandpaper, use of. Squaring up stock; method explained in detail. Laying out work; method of laying out a typical joint. Securing parts; use of glue and hand screws. Nails; method of using cut nails. Screws; method of using round-head and flat-head screws. Mechanical drawing. The drawing instruments explained, and method of making complete working drawings described. Scale drawings.

The forest; felling trees and floating logs to the mill. The forming and breaking up of log jams. The log boom and modern sawmills. Timber and lumber defined. Annual rings; medullary rays; formation of grain. Characteristics and defects in wood. Warping and shrinkage.

White oak. Post oak. Mossy-cup oak. Black and black-jack oak. Red oak. Scarlet and pin oaks. Chestnut oak. Live oak.

Sugar and Norway maples. Silver and red maples. Sycamore maple. Moosewood. Maple keys. Ash-leaved maple. Japan maples.

Horse-chestnut. Buckeye. The hickories. Black walnut and butternut. Locust. Honey locust. Ash.

Elm. The birches. Beech. Iron wood. Buttonball. Sweet gum. Tulip. Basswood. Willow. The poplars. Sassafras. Mulberry.

White pine. Georgia pine. Yellow pine. Hemlock. Spruce. Cypress. Balsam fir. The cedars.

ELEMENTARY WOODWORKING

PART I

INTRODUCTION

In order to obtain good results in the using of tools it is necessary to know their construction, how to properly sharpen and adjust them, and the correct method of handling them. It is also essential to know how to lay out and work the material or stock. Carelessness or a lack of knowledge is invariably followed by a failure. It is more important at first to work carefully and accurately than rapidly.

The plan of work in making all models is in general the same and is as follows:

When the article is composed of two or more pieces a fourth step may be added, namely, fitting and securing the parts.

The tools used may be divided into three groups, as follows:

MEASURING AND MARKING TOOLS

The rule is quite thick, and if laid flat upon the work to be measured errors will usually follow. It should be stood on edge so that the pencil or knife point may touch the divisions on it and the wood at the same time. The proper position when laying out measurements is shown in the sketch . Consecutive measurements should be laid off without moving the rule.

In using the try-square the beam should be held firmly against the face or edge of the stock. When working near the end of the piece, if the beam projects, reverse its position. For nice, accurate work the knife point instead of the pencil should be used for lining.

Hold gauge bottom side up in left hand and rule in right. Place end of rule against gauge block and the measurement desired at spur. Turn set screw. The gauge is then accurately set. In the cut the gauge is set at one inch and is ready for use.

To gauge a line parallel to the edge of a block hold the tool firmly, with thumb and forefinger encircling gauge block. Tip the tool away from you until the marking point barely touches the wood and push the tool away from you. The line made should be as fine as a knife line. A little practice is needed to give the proper control, as the marking point tends to follow the grain of the wood, which is usually not straight.

A good plan is to use a small piece of prepared stock as a practice block, laying out lines a quarter of an inch apart, then an eighth, and finally a sixteenth.

This tool may be used to lay out lines at any angle from zero to 180 degrees. The blade may be fixed firmly at any desired angle by simply turning the set screw. The method of using it is similar to that of the try-square.

CUTTING TOOLS

The little pieces of wood removed in this way are similar to the sawdust made by the saw, the only difference being that in the saw the teeth are narrower and the little pieces consequently smaller, and instead of one chisel dozens are being pushed forward at one time.

The teeth of the ripsaw are also set, but, as will be seen in the sketch, the bottoms are flat like a chisel instead of pointed like those of the crosscut teeth.

Beside the end views of the two kinds of teeth, the side views, which are also different, are shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

The saw should be held in the right hand, with the left grasping the board. The thumb of the left hand acts as guide, the saw is tilted, as shown in Fig. 15, and drawn toward the worker at the first stroke. This tool should be used without exerting much pressure, in accordance with the general rule that we do our best work with tools when we work easily and deliberately.

Many varieties of saws are designed for special purposes, including those which cut stone and metal.

Before using the plane always examine it carefully. Invert the tool, holding it toward the light with the toe toward you, and glance along the bottom. If the iron projects, observe whether it is even, and if not, move the lever until it is. For a thin shaving the cutting edge should appear as a black line of uniform thickness. For a heavy shaving turn the brass screw until the iron projects slightly.

In using the plane avoid a stooping position. Stand with the right side to the bench and with the shoulders thrown back. Let the pressure of the left hand be greater at the beginning and that of the right hand at the end of the stroke. The tool should rest perfectly flat on the wood from start to finish.

This tool requires more care than the others, as the stroke is usually quite short, and if the cutting edge is allowed to reach the farther corner, the latter will be broken off.

Besides these standard planes there are many patent and special ones for cutting tongues, grooves, beads, etc.

This tool, while lacking some of the adjustments of the iron plane, was much simpler and contained a smaller number of parts.

The iron and cap were held in position by a wooden wedge, which was driven in by a light blow of the hammer. The workman removed the iron and wedge by turning the plane upside down and striking the forward part a light downward blow on the bench, while the thickness of the shaving was increased by a light tap on the plane iron.

A chisel for cutting wood must be sharpened to an angle of from 30 to 35 degrees.

The chisel must be sharp if we wish to do good and accurate work, and a cut on the hand made by such a sharp tool is liable to be a deep one. Special care must be used in handling it, keeping both hands away from the cutting edge, as shown in the sketch, and placing it when not in use where it cannot be pushed off the bench on to the floor or the student's feet.

Fig. 32 shows the method of using the tool on horizontal work, and Fig. 33 for vertical cutting. For this kind of work only a small portion of the cutting edge can be used, the student judging for himself how heavy a cut to take by the hardness of the wood and amount of strength required. Good work can never be done when one has to exert all his strength on the tool. The best results are obtained when we work easily.

When the chisel becomes dull, unless its edge has been nicked or ruined by some accident, it is only necessary to sharpen it on the oilstone. Hold the tool with the bevel flat on the stone. A drop or two of oil may be used to lubricate the stone, the tool being worked back and forth on the face of it. Especial care must be taken to avoid a rocking motion, which will produce a curved edge instead of a flat one.

After the rubbing, reverse the chisel, lay the flat side firmly on the stone, and draw toward you. This is to straighten the wire edge which has been turned over by the rubbing. The wire edge may then be removed by drawing the cutting edge across the end of a block of wood. When the chisel is nicked or very dull it must be ground on the grindstone.

The brace, which is sometimes called the bitstock, allows both hands to be used continuously, which was not true of the old-fashioned auger. Several varieties of the brace are in use, the ones shown in the cuts being common.

Bits are designed for a variety of purposes, the name being applied to a tool which is to be turned by the brace. The old-fashioned center bit shown in the cut possessed most of the essentials of a good boring tool.

The sharp spur in the center allowed the hole to be accurately placed. The lip on the outer edge cut the fibers in a circle before the chisel edge began to remove the wood, and so a smooth hole could be bored; but considerable pressure was necessary to force the tool through the wood.

The progress that has been made in the manufacture of tools can be easily appreciated by comparing this center bit with the modern auger bit.

On the shank of an auger bit will be found a number. This is the numerator of a fraction whose denominator is 16. If we find this number to be 4, it is a ?/??, or a 1/4 -inch bit. If the number is 16, we have a ??/??, or a one-inch bit, etc., always referring to the diameter of the hole which the tool will bore.

In using the brace and bit care must be taken to see that the bit shank is far enough in the brace to be fastened securely, and that the tool is held at right angles to the wood. It may appear from the front to be perfectly vertical, yet by stepping to one side and looking at it from another position it will frequently be found far from vertical. When starting a hole it is well to do this several times until assured that the tool is working in a true upright position.

MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS AND METHODS OF WORK

The various trades have hammers made specially for their needs; thus we have machinists', roofers', upholsterers', stonecutters', and other hammers, but the claw hammer shown in the sketch is the one commonly used by workers in wood.

In driving nails care must always be taken not to mar the surface of the wood by striking the nail head after it has become even with the surface, as this produces a depression and ruins any fine surface.

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