346 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 19 lo 



scraper, 2x4 Inches, 20c; three auger bits, %, >4, ^ inch surfaced, smoothed or sized on two surfaces or sides. Al- 

 Russell Jennings, $1.09; ten-inch hacksaw, Bishop, 94c; low 34 oi an inch extra in the width of pieces to be S-2-S, 

 nail set, 15c; Rosehead countersink, 20c; Bailey ten-inch and at least j/^ an inch extra in the length in either case. 



spokeshave, 20c; six-inch Stanley T 

 bevel, Eureka flush, 40c; glue heater, 

 i^ pints, $1.35; two-bar carpenters 

 clamps, 4 feet, $4.00; one foot-power 

 grindstone, $4.50; directions for 

 woodworking and wood finishing, 

 "Essentials of Woodworking," $1.00. 



Woodworking and woodfinishing 

 are sciences as well as practices and 

 the amateur handicrafter to get the 

 most satisfactory results must needs 

 know somewhat of the methods of 

 procedure. The various tool pro- 

 cesses, the steps in making the dif- 

 ferent joints, the manner of sharpen- 

 ing tools and in applying the differ- 

 ent woodfinishes are easily learned. 

 A few minutes spent in reading the 

 text specified above as occasions 

 arise will not only bring more satis- 

 factory results, but will save the 

 worker's time and add to his pleasure 

 by enabling him to work to the best 

 advantage. 



It is the part of wisdom 

 for a beginner to "try him- 

 self out" upon some simple 

 piece of wood, preferably 

 in soft wood such as pine 

 or poplar, before undertak- 

 ing something that will 

 take a long time to com- 

 plete and which has difficult 

 construction. Once one has 

 learned to saw to a knife 

 line with a fair degree of 

 accuracy and can "square 

 up" a piece of stock from 

 the rough, he may consider 

 himself ready to undertake 

 cabinetwork such as is here 

 illustrated. 



There is much drudgery 

 connected with woodwork- 

 ing that modern 

 mill practice makes 

 unnecessary for the 

 worker in wood to 

 perform. Every 

 lumber yard carries 

 in stock lumber 

 that has been mill- 

 planed on two 

 sides to stock thick- 

 nesses. Not only 

 this, but the ama- 

 teur will find it ad- 

 vantageous to have 

 table tops and the 

 like surfaced at the 

 planing mill. 



In ordering stock, 

 specify the number 

 of pieces of each 

 size, then the thick- 

 ness, the width and the length 



A three-legged stand 



A round top dining table of mission style 

 I 



A class in cabinet making, at work 



It never pays to order pieces with the 

 ends squared up at the mill. The 

 amateur should do that himself, as 

 well as the rest of the work such as 

 laying out and making the joints, or 

 he would not be warranted in calling 

 the product his own work. To order 

 more than this, the surfacing done 

 at the mill deprives one of the most 

 interesting part of the work and 

 passes the point where the mill ma- 

 chines can do the work more profit- 

 ably than the amateur can do it himself. 

 Of all the woods used in cabinet- 

 work, by far the most satisfactory, 

 considering cost, ability to stand 

 wear and beauty of appearance when 

 finished is quarter-sawed white oak. 



With the revival of waxed finishes 

 for furniture, woodfinishing is com- 

 paratively simple and an amateur 

 may count on getting satisfactory re- 

 sults with but very little experience. 

 ^ The plain, square Mis- 



sion type of furniture is the 

 favorite with beginners. 

 After the amateur has 

 been well broken into this 

 work, he may attempt 

 something a little more 

 elaborate and will find that 

 the crudity and severity of 

 the Mission type of cabi- 

 net work can be relieved 

 by a graceful curve here, a 

 simple bit of carving there, 

 an inlaid pattern or ham- 

 mered copper ornament. 



The accompanying illus- 

 trations are examples of 

 work which may be under- 

 taken by beginners, and 

 show how the severe Mis- 

 sion style may be modified. 

 These photographs, 

 by the way, are il- 

 lustrations of work 

 done by boys in a 

 manual training 

 school, and illus- 

 trate how the natu- 

 ral bent for me- 

 chanical work, 

 which is found in 

 almost every boy, 

 may be developed 

 by the proper guid- 

 ance. Although we 

 have had manual 

 training schools for 

 many years, there 

 are still many who 

 confuse them with 

 trade schools and 

 do not realize that 



If the stock is to be mill- the purpose of this form of training is not to make car- 

 planed specify S-2-S or S-4-S, according to whether it is to penters, mechanics, etc., of the pupils, but to give the child 

 be planed to size on two or four sides. S-2-S meaning an all-round development. Undoubtedly the majority of 



