Back of the Chimney,
and should reach to the ceiling of the room in which the fireplace is to be built. Set the frame, A, B, C, D (Fig. 253), against the wall; then take Z (Fig. 254) and raise it up until it touches the ceiling, and drive a nail at the intersection of X and Y into Z, and another exactly in the centre of A, B; drive them far enough to hold Z in an upright position, but leave enough of the nail-heads protruding to make it easy to redraw them and remove the temporary braces, X, Y, and Z (Fig. 254), when the whole frame will be finished and ready to use.
Fig. 254.—The Back of the Chimney.
Take a stick half the length of A, B (E, F, Fig. 254), and nail the end of Z exactly to the centre of E, F. By pushing up one end or the other you may put E, F exactly at right angles, or “square” with Z. When the stick, E, F, is found to be square, cut two more sticks, A, E and F, B, each a trifle longer than the distance from A to E; cut the ends of these sticks to fit on the top of A, B, and “toe-nail” them in place, as is shown in the small diagram in the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 254. Allow the upper ends of A, E, and F, B to slip under the ends of the stick, E, F, as in the illustration, and nail them securely in place; then saw off the protruding ends even with E, F, and the back of your frame is finished.