864 THE farmers' handbook. 



CARPENTRY.* 



For a man acquainted with the art of carpentry, <>r even slightly gifted in 

 that direction, it is not a difficult matter to pick up a saw, hammer, chisel, 

 or plane, and to set about the making of a gate or a wheelbarrow ; l>u t when 

 one who knows little if anything about the business finds that his chisel, 

 plane, and saw are blunt, and that things are otherwise "cranky," it is 

 a different problem altogether, and it is then, perhaps, that the truth comes 

 home to him that what he requires is not only the tools, but the knowledge 

 of how to handle them and to put them and keep them in good order. 



Elementary as it may appear, it is nevertheless necessary to know both 

 how to hold and how to adjust a tool, and before the beginner can turn out 

 a satisfactory job these things must be mastered. In the hope that the 

 information will be useful to farmers, it is proposed to otter a few pages 

 about the tools that may usefully be found in a farmer's kit. 



PLANES. 



Plane irons differ slightly — not in angle, but in shape. They may be 

 briefly described thus : — 



It is evident that, while all planes must receive careful handling, the two 

 last-mentioned require to be ground and sharpened with special attention, in 

 order that they may do the fine finishing work satisfactorily. But this is 

 not all. The planes themselves require proper care and handling if the best 

 work is to be got out of them In my opinion and experience, wooden planes 

 are the best to work with, the easiest to keep in order, and the least like'v 

 to be broken, and ; t is with these that I am dealing A beginner wili be 

 well advised to procure second hand planes (provided they are still in fairly 

 good order), as new tools may be seriously damaged in the process of learning 

 their use. 



Wooden planes, old and now, should be regularly oiled all over with raw 

 linseed oil. Great care should be taken of the sole — that is, the bottom — 

 especially of the " try " and "smoother " planes. 



The smoother, try, and jack planes all have double irons — the cutting iron 

 and the back iron. The cutting iron is, of course, the only one that requires 

 sharpening, and during that operation the back iron should be put aside, but 

 otherwise the two irons are handled as one. The back iron acts as a spring, 

 and keeps the cutting iron rigid. The back iron of the smoother and, try 

 should be kept not more than one-sixteenth of an inch from the cutting edge ; 

 that of the jack should be not more than one-eighth of an inch from the 

 cutting edge, being brought correspondingly closer for finer work. 



* M. H. Robertson, Instructor in Carpentry, Hawkesbury Agricultural College. 



