XV The Equipment for a Shop
Nothing is so necessary to the saving of time and energy as an orderly shop. Our boys had bought a quantity of white pine to begin operations and it was lying in a pile on the floor where it was always in the way.
To cut a piece of stock from one of these 12-foot boards it was necessary to use two kitchen chairs for trestles, so it was decided to construct two saw horses, and as soon as they were finished, to build a lumber rack against the wall where their little supply could be stored out of the way.
“We will carry out our regular practice by first making a drawing,” said Ralph. “We know from experience that it saves time.”
Fig. 92 shows the proportions of the trestle at a, and the mechanical drawing with all dimensions at b.
The body of the trestle was built up of four pieces, two long and two short ones. The open space in the centre, Ralph explained, would make a convenient tool rack where hammers, chisels, etc., could be placed while they were working, especially at outdoor work, instead of being dropped on the ground. The body then called for two pieces 3 feet long by 4 inches wide, and two pieces 10 inches long by 4 wide.
These were sawed from a rough plank with the rip saw by using the chairs as trestles. A pencil line was laid out 31⁄4 inches from one edge, and the saw cut made directly on the line, 8 feet long.
The cross cut saw was used to cut the strip off and this strip was then sawed with the same saw into four pieces of equal length for the legs. Another strip 41⁄4 inches wide, 7 feet 8 inches long, was ripped out and taken off with the cross cut saw, for the body, and divided into two pieces 3 feet 10 inches long, for convenience in planing.
Harry now had his first real experience in planing. All the pieces were of 1-inch rough lumber, with sawed edges, and had to be planed down to 7⁄8 inch in thickness.
To plane six pieces of stock straight and true, with squared edges and of definite size, was no easy task.
“How do you like manual labour?” asked Ralph, mischievously.
“I like it all right,” replied the perspiring boy, “but we won’t need any gymnasium work for exercise while we are doing this.”
“Wouldn’t you like to make a bench in hard wood right away?” asked Ralph.
“No, I guess you were right after all.”
Ralph showed him the proper way to stand, and how to hold the jack-plane so as to get the best results. He promised to show him how to sharpen and adjust the plane as soon as the lumber was stored away on the lumber rack.
Harry’s business was to dress down one of the flat faces of each piece till it was smooth, straight and true both with the grain and across it. He tested it by his eye and the edge of his plane and when he thought it was about right, passed it over to Ralph for criticism.
Ralph was a very exacting instructor, but made allowance for the boy’s inexperience. He was making the second trestle at the same time and it was exasperating to Harry to see the ease with which he turned out his work.
“Never mind,” said Ralph, “you can do as good carving now as I, and in a few weeks you will be able to do just as good joinery or carpentry. The first day is always the hardest. You are all impatience and want to get through right away. After a while you will learn by experience that you can only do one thing at a time, and will not rush so.”
Finally, one face on each of the six pieces was pronounced finished, and the next step was to “joint” or “dress down” one edge straight, smooth and square with the working face—the first planed surface. This seemed easier after the experience of making the bench hook, and Harry knew how to test for squareness with the try square.
Working on the two long pieces for the body, both edges of each were squared up, a 10-inch piece was marked off on one end of each with pencil and try square, and sawed off with cross cut saw.
It was decided to leave the inner faces rough, as they would be inside the trestle, and out of sight. These four pieces forming the body were now nailed together with 21⁄2-inch wire nails, as shown in a.
The four pieces for the legs were dressed on all four sides, and it only remained to cut the angle at top and bottom.
This brought into use a new tool, the bevel. The angle x was found by laying the bevel on the mechanical drawing, and fixing it at the angle by tightening the set screw provided for the purpose. The line was carried across the face by means of the try square, and the bevel used on the farther edge. When this laying out was finished, the piece looked like c, the triangular piece y being removed by sawing directly on the pencil lines.
After the four legs were laid out in this manner and cut, they were nailed to the body with 3-inch wire nails.
The saw horse was now complete with the exception of the two braces, and the final truing up.
The braces were made by holding a piece of stock 4 inches × 7⁄8 inch in position and marking the slope with a pencil, sawing to pencil lines and nailing in position d.
The final process of truing up was an interesting one to Harry, and he used it many times afterward in finishing pieces of furniture, such as tables, tabourettes, etc.
The horse was placed on the bench, and a pair of dividers set as shown at e.
A line was scribed on each leg wherever the compasses point touched it, holding the latter upright and going around all four sides of each leg. By sawing to the lines made in this way, the trestle was found to stand on the floor perfectly true. This is a method much used in truing up articles that rest on three or more legs, and it overcomes any inaccuracies that may have arisen in the process of assembling; but it is very important that the surface on which this truing up is done shall itself be perfectly true. The bench used in this case was new and had not yet warped at all, but an old bench might not have been suitable. This can be ascertained by testing the surface in several directions with a long straight edge.
The facts of warping and shrinkage in wood must always be taken into consideration.
The saw horse is an important part of every shop equipment, and the boys now relegated the clumsy chairs to the kitchen, where they belonged, and were prepared to saw out stock from their longest boards.