—A carpenter’s rule is two feet long and divided into inches which are sub-divided again into 8ths and 16ths of an inch. In making measurements for joinery use the rule accurately or you will have misfits.
How to Use a Marking Gauge.
—This is a useful device to mark off one or more parallel lines on a board when one edge of it is straight.
The head slides on a wooden bar near one end of which is a steel point. The bar is graduated, that is, it is spaced off in inches and fractions of an inch like a rule and this makes it easy to set the head at any distance from the steel point.
When you have set the gauge hold the head against the edge of the board you want to mark, press the steel point against the surface and draw the gauge along with both hands when the point will scratch a line.
How to Use Hand Screws or Clamps.
—Put the pieces of wood that are to be held together between the jaws of the clamp and screw each screw up a little at a time so that the jaws are kept even, that is parallel.
How to Use a Nail Set.
—A finishing nail, that is, a nail having a head only a shade larger than the shank, is used for the finer kinds of woodwork. After you have driven in a nail until its head is within, say, ¹⁄₈ inch of the surface put the small, hollow end of your nail set on it, hold them together with your thumb and forefinger and drive it in by hitting the nail set with your hammer. After the head is sunk below the surface of the wood fill in the hole with a wood filler[7] when neither the nail nor the hole can be seen.
[7] To make a wood-filler, melt 1 ounce of white resin and 1 ounce of yellow wax in a pan and add enough ochre, which can be had in any color, to give it the color of the wood you are using. Stir it well and fill the dent while hot. This filler sticks well to the wood and when dry is very hard.