1801 



GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



163 



HOW TO BE YOUR OWN CARPENTER, ETC. 



DK. MILLEK GIVES UK .SOME VALVABLE 

 THOUGHTS IX THIS LINE. 



I like the '• Practical Hints " on page 20. May 

 I say sometliing in the same line? Eriend Root 

 says, " Put a ten-cent knife in each pocket." 

 Of course, lie means in one of the pockets of 

 each pair of pants, so that, if you forget to 

 change when you cliange youi- suit, you will 

 not find youseif without a knife. It may seem 

 a little thing to quarrel about ."> cts. in the price 

 of a knife, but I never saw a ten-cent knife that 

 was satisfactory. I generally liave two or three 

 of the tiftcM'u-cent Karlow knives, and you can 

 keep on them an edge as keen as a razor. The 

 only trouble is. they ai'e so high-tempered that, 

 if you are not careful, you will break nicks out 

 of' the edge in wiiittling hard wood. As they 

 have only one blade. I carry another knife for 

 its small blades. 



"Almost any sort of saw will do if you keep it 

 in order." Yes, 'Mf you keep it in order." But 

 the trouble is, every "sort of saw can't be kept in 

 ordei-. I i)aid a dollar for a saw that isn't worth 

 a dime — so soft you can't keep it sharp. It's 

 economy to get good tools. 



"A sharp leadpencil in each pocket.'' It 

 may be tolerably shai'|) just at the point, but 

 you can't carry in youi' pocket a jvucil with 

 any thing but a very siiort ijoint. If you do. it 

 will break off'. 



"Xever saw a board off without a mark made 

 with your ti-y-square." I think that hardly 

 means to use a try-sijuare on a board a foot 

 wide. The carpenter's square for that. 



Driving nails is so important a part of a bee- 

 keeper's work that it is woi'th while to say a 

 good deal about the minutia?. I have had 

 much expei'ience in it. and yet I suspect there 



DK. MIELEK S >'AII,-BOX. 



is much for me to learn yet. I'd like to tind a 

 good book on diiving nails. Friend Root speaks 

 of a hammer that suits you. and an assortment 

 of nails. I'm sure he'll tell you that you need 

 an assortment of hammers just as well as an 

 assortment of nails. A hammer tit for a six- 

 inch spike would be a poor tiling to drive a 

 half-inch nail: and a hammer just right for a 

 half-inch nail wouldn't drive a spike at all. 

 An adze-eye hammer is the cheapest in the long 

 run. So is a good- priced hammer. A cheap 

 hammer with a soft face is a nuisance. In a 

 little while it is all battered up and one-sided. 

 Have your nails where you can pick tiiem uy) 



handily. Don't try to use them out of the pa- 

 per in which you bought them. If I am doing 

 a long job of nailing, I like a saucer to hold 

 them. For very small nails a plate is good, 

 having on it rather few nails, so that they will 

 lie scattered so as to be easily picked up singly. 

 Sometimes I am doing a long job of nailing, 

 having no convenient place to put my nails 

 without danger of tipping them over, and a lot 

 of spilled nails is somewhat trying on the tem- 

 per. In such case I often use the cover of a large 

 blacking-lx)x. Drive a % nail down through 

 the blacking-box cover, so as to hold it tirmly 

 in its place, even if it stands on the edge of an 

 inch board. But for a regular place to J<;eep 

 my nails I have a set of nail-boxes hung on the 

 wall. I got the idea from seeing some metal 

 ones in a tin-shop. I put nails in the wall to 

 hang them regularly upon, beginning at ^^, H, 

 %, and so on. I am sorry to say. that so many 

 have been handling them that they are not all 

 now in their places. Mine are made of wood, 

 just such as I had most handy. They can be 

 varied in any way. but the general principle, I 

 think, you will like. Mine are made of i^'-inch 

 stuff, division-boards of Heddon supers. 



1 piece I()i,;x4i4. 



2 pieces S.xifi. 



1 piece 4^x414. 



1 piece 4%x3. 



1 piece ifiiXV^. 



Xail the two pieces that are alike on the long 

 piece, letting them come ilush at one end. then 

 on that end nail the largest piece that is left. 

 At that same end. nail on the ])iece three inches 

 wide, and at theoth(>rend nail on the remain- 

 ing piece, letting it come close against the long 

 piece. I used ^^-inch wire nails to make them, 

 putting them in about H of an inch apart. 

 Then whittle out the sides where nothing is 

 nailed on them, and make a hoh^ in the project- 

 ing end of the long board, by which to hang it 

 on a nail on the wall. It is always ready for 

 immediate use. All you have to do is to take it 

 from the wall, and lay it on the long side, giv- 

 ing it a shake to bring some of the nails down 

 on the bottom (or back). 



If you have a lot of stuff cut ready to nail to- 

 gether, the sooner it is nailed the better. The 

 ends dry out. and then it will split in nailing. 

 I once had such a lot of stuff that had lain a 

 year or more, and. no matter how careful I 

 might be. it would split in nailing. I then got 

 a tub of water, soaked the ends threi' or four 

 hours, and had no trouble. Of cour.se. all the 

 ends had to be .soaked aliki> or they would not 

 fit. 



If a nail needs to be straightened a little in 

 driving, do it with the claw of the hammer. 



If you have any difficulty in driving straight 

 enough so that nails will not come out at the 

 side of your board, let the board have its edge 

 towaj'dyou. Tlie eye will detect any variation 

 from side to side, but will not easily tell if the 

 head of the nail bends to or from you. 



Marengo, 111.. Jan. 6. C. C. Miller. 



[Well, well, doctor! who would have thought 

 that you knew so much about driving nails, 

 and making things? Why, I always supposed 

 that you kind o' stood around and let other 

 folks do the work— at least, when it came to 

 nice carpentering. Why didn't you show 

 me those nice nail-boxes? Who in the world 

 studied up that idea of tipping the nail-box 

 over on its back (like laying the baby on the 

 tlooi', for instance) so the nails would scatter 

 down, one at a time, and not prick your fingers? 

 I am sure you might have that nail-box pat- 

 ented. X'ow, doctor, the ten-cent knives that I 

 talked about have exactly the same steel in 

 them that the tifteen-cent Barlow does. You 



