The blades of
The Compass-and Gig-saws are small and narrow, the former being used for circular cutting, as the name would imply, while the latter is employed in cutting very thin wood and in making delicate curves. The blades of these saws, especially the latter, are easily broken, and must be handled with care. The teeth are arranged so as to cut with and against the grain.
The slot made by removing the fibre of the wood in sawing is known as
A Kerf. The term is used a good deal in carpenter work, so it is well to know its meaning.
The carpenter of to-day is generally supplied with all manner of planes,—rabbeting-planes, beading-planes, circular-planes, ploughs, etc.,—besides the more commonly used jack-plane, fore-plane, and smoothing-plane. Each of these planes has a special form of work to do, but ordinarily a boy will have occasion to use but the last three named, and many get along with but a jack- and a smoothing-plane.
The Jack-plane is the plane you will first need to remove the rough surface of undressed lumber, and also to reduce quickly the thickness of wood. The cutting edge of the blade is ground so as to gouge the wood, removing thick shavings, but leaving ridges and hollows which must afterward be removed by a fore-plane or smoothing-plane. There is one trouble in using the smoothing-plane for this operation, however, and that lies in the danger of it following the hollows formed by the jack-plane, making a smooth but uneven surface.
The Fore-plane, on the other hand, has a long enough stock to prevent the blade from cutting the lower portions until the high portions have been removed. Although a fore-plane can be used alone for smoothing large work, it is more convenient to finish up with
The Smoothing-plane.
The Stanley iron plane, shown in [Fig. 24], is a great improvement over the old-style wooden ones, and is the most popular plane used to-day. It is more easily handled, as its iron is quickly put in place and adjusted. The illustration gives the names of the various parts. The cap (B) is screwed to the plane-iron (A), and both are held in the stock (F) by means of the clamp on the end of the wedge (C). The thumb-screw (D) regulates the degrees of fineness of the plane-iron, while the lever (E), which moves from side to side, straightens the position of the iron. The base of the stock is known as the sole, or face.