THE DRAWING TABLE
A table to hold the drawing board should be not less than 3 feet 2 inches high, as much of the work is performed standing up. A stool with revolving seat should be provided for the draughtsman to sit on occasionally.
The table top may be made slanting, but it is better practice to have a heavy flat top of pine, which may be used as a large drawing board itself, and to provide for the slant by using a triangular block under the farther end of drawing board. Two or three blocks may be made, about two feet long and of different sizes, to give different degrees of slant.
Tables for this purpose are often made with tops, which may be adjusted at different angles, and the young designer may try his inventive talent in this large field, but any arrangement which will bring an element of instability is to be studiously avoided. The drawing table should be as solid and rigid as possible.
The design in [Fig. 209] was made by our boys, and has proved very satisfactory. It has much of the mission style about it, with its square legs and mortised joints.
Fig. 209. Drawer for table and table for mechanical drawing
After the description of mission furniture construction in previous chapters, only a few points in the construction need be mentioned.
The board a, used as a foot rest, is necessary when sitting at the table on account of its height, and it also ties the frame together in the front. The cross rail b acts in the same capacity at the back.
The heavy pine top is "built up" like a drawing board of several pieces, and supported by two cleats 3 × 1⁄8 inches across the grain underneath. It may be attached to the frame by any one of the methods described under mission furniture, and its left-hand edge should be as true as that of the drawing board.
If an especially accurate edge is desired, a piece of iron 1 × 1⁄4 inch, planed straight by a machinist, may be let into this edge, as shown in the drawing, and secured by flat-head screws through holes drilled and countersunk. This arrangement is seldom seen, but it is well worth the added cost.
The table shown is provided with a generous-sized drawer. This may be omitted, but is a great convenience for keeping plans and sketches. Its construction is shown in detail. The sides and front have a 1⁄4-inch groove, ploughed to receive the bottom, and at the back end a vertical groove is cut to hold the back piece which is dadoed to fit.
At the top of each side is nailed a strip 5⁄16 inch square. These cleats are to retain the strips s. Make these strips s of hard wood, preferably ash, and about 1⁄16 inch longer than the width of drawer, measured inside.
By placing the strips on top of drawings obliquely, and then straightening them across the drawer, they bind against the sides, and keep drawings down flat. The cleats at top of drawer prevent them from escaping at the top, especially when it becomes nearly full.
The extra front on the drawer with rounded edges covers up the joints around front of box, and is a purely ornamental feature. If this is used, secure to real front by flat-head screws from the inside.
The box which holds the drawers is to be secured to the legs by screws countersunk. Many modifications of this table will occur to the woodworker, such as additional drawers, but it must be kept in mind that comfortable knee room is essential, and the space on under side of the top is largely to be reserved for this important purpose.
A box for holding instruments has been described in another chapter, and triangles, rules, etc., may be kept in it.
The T square should be hung on a hook at either end of table, to overcome any tendency the thin blade may have to twist or warp, the weight of the head helping to draw it out straight.
Fig. 210. A filing cabinet
All drawings should have a neat title, and a number. To work out a system of numbering so that any drawing may be found quickly is a good job for a rainy day.
A good filing cabinet for plans is suggested in [Fig. 210]. Dimensions are not given, as they will depend on the size of drawing paper used. A uniform-sized sheet should be adopted at the start, and the drawings scaled to accommodate this size of paper.
The shelves should be 1⁄4 inch thick, and gained into sides as shown. A clear space of 11⁄2 inches between the shelves will be ample, and a semicircular curve should be cut in the front. The depth of cabinet should not be over half an inch more than the width of the sheets.
A top and mitred base are shown, and the space between should be closed by a panelled door to keep out dust.
A cabinet of this style should not be less than thirty inches high, and if the whole space is not required for drawings, the lower part may be changed and fitted with drawers for models, specimens, and other treasures.
For boys who are interested in collecting, whether minerals, butterflies, or other things, such a cabinet may be made entirely of drawers, and the panelled door omitted.
Fig. 211. Drawer construction
For the safe keeping of butterflies, moths, and other insects, an eminent scientist has recommended a drawer construction as shown at [Fig. 211]. This detail shows a section at the front, with the bottom piece gained into a groove. The bottom of the drawer is covered with a layer of sheet cork, and over it oiled paper. The upper part of box is not fastened, but is slipped down inside strips s, which have rounded tops, and extend around the four sides.
The upper half is grooved to receive a sheet of glass, which is held in place by a small cleat. By this method the drawer is covered while the specimens are visible, and dampness is kept out. The cork bottom is to receive the pins, and the specimens may be reached by simply taking out the top. The dimensions recommended for the drawer are 22 × 16 × 2 inches, outside measurements, and if a number are to be used, the spaces between the shelves of the cabinet should correspond with these figures.
A quaint conceit sometimes used by enthusiastic collectors is to make their boxes in the form of books, as shown at a ([Fig. 212]).
Fig. 212. Book shaped boxes
The outside has the shape of a book, the two halves being fitted by tongue and groove joint. This keeps out moisture, the great enemy of dried specimens, and when a number of these boxes, properly coloured and labelled, are piled on a shelf, they have the appearance of so many large volumes.
This unique idea may be used in other ways. A very pretty illustration is a stamp box for the writing desk, made up in the form of a book, which apparently has a silk ribbon for a book mark. This ribbon is the handle of a little drawer, which pulls out, disclosing the contents. The arrangement is shown at b. The idea may be carried still farther by having half a dozen of these small volumes in a book rack, the labels reading—"rubber bands," "pens," "stamps," etc. All should be stained a uniform colour, and the illusion may be carried still farther by gilding the parts which represent the edges of the leaves.