A stencil is a piece of heavy paper or thin sheet of metal in which letters or a design are cut through with broken lines, and it is used for marking the letters or design on any smooth surface by daubing a color on it through the open spaces with a brush or sponge.
There are two kinds of stencils, namely (1) those used for practical work and (2) those used for decorative purposes.
How to Cut Stencils.
—You can cut your stencils in either (a) oil board,[86] or (b) in thin sheet brass or copper. Paper stencils, as those cut in oil board are called, are much easier to make than those cut in sheet metal and as they are quite durable they will probably serve your every need.
[86] Oil board can be bought of C. B. Hewitt and Bros., 48 Beekman St., New York.
Cutting Paper Stencils.
—All you need to cut paper stencils with is a sheet of oil board and a pen-knife with a good, sharp-pointed blade. A stencil alphabet is shown at [A in Fig. 82] and by taking a look at it you will see exactly where the lines must be broken to hold the letters together.
First mark out with a pencil the size of the sheet you want the stencil to be and then draw a line down through the middle to divide it into equal parts. For every line of letters you want draw a pair of lines across the oil board and have the space between them whatever you want the height of the letters to be.
When you mark in the name or word start with the middle letter and draw it on the middle line of the board and then draw in the rest of the letters to the right and to the left; by lettering the oil board or metal this way you will get the whole name or word exactly in the middle of the sheet.
