In planing end-wood, you will have trouble in preventing the corners of the piece from splitting off unless it is placed in the vise in front of another block of wood, the planing being done toward the block. Or one corner may be chamfered with the chisel, as shown in [Fig. 29].
Testing Work.—It is necessary to test work frequently while planing, in order to locate the high places and avoid taking off too much on the low places. This may be done by squinting one eye and holding the board on a level with the other eye, so that you can look down the length of it as in sighting a gun. The uneven places show up very plainly in this way.
Work is also tested by means of the try-square. Place the handle of the square against the edge of the work with the blade of the square extending across the planed surface, and move it the length of the board. Any irregularities in the surface will show themselves as the blade passes over them. In planing up a block of wood, plane up one side and, after proving it to be true, use it for the "tried edge," testing the other sides with the handle of the square pressed against its surface.
There are a number of forms of
Chisels, but the only two classes you will probably ever be in need of are the firmer-and framing-chisels. The former are intended for hand use only, while the latter are used for heavier work, such as mortising, where it becomes necessary to use the mallet.
Figs. 26 and 27.—Paring.
In Using a Firmer-chisel, the work should be placed in the vise or be otherwise held in position, that both hands may be kept upon the tool, the right hand grasping the upper end of the handle and doing the pushing, while the left hand holds the lower part of the handle and acts as a guide in working it.
Paring with the chisel consists in trimming a piece of wood to a given line. It is an operation very often resorted to in finishing the end of a piece of work instead of planing, and in trimming up a curved edge such as is shown in [Fig. 26]. Here the line AB represents the line of the finished end of a piece of work. The board is first placed in a vise and the wood removed to about one-quarter inch of AB with a compass-saw, following the curve of the line as nearly as possible. Then lay the piece upon the bench-hook ([Fig. 11], Chap. I), and pare to the line with the chisel, as shown in [Fig. 26].