For boring, there are many shaped tools of various sizes; 16, 17, [pl. 1], are drawings of the most useful. They have no handles, but at the smaller end a hole is drilled, to admit the point, J, of the puppet, G, [pl. 1]. Having, with one of the turning tools, made an aperture in the work sufficiently large to allow the boring tool to enter, screw the puppet, G, firmly to the bed of the lathe, then turn the small wheel, K, till the point enters the hole in the tool, which must be steadied by holding it straight and firm with a pair of pincers. Make the wheel turn rather quickly, and with the left hand keep moving the left wheel, K, very gently, so as to force the tool into the wood. After a few turns, stop the lathe, and take out the boring tool, to get rid of the shavings and dust; move the puppet nearer and begin again. A little difficulty will be found in making the tool enter the wood, or bite, as it is called, but, by humoring it gently, it will soon take hold; care must be taken to keep it quite straight, and not to go too fast, or it will be liable to break. This method of boring is only used for small hollow tubes, needle-cases, crochet-needles, handles, and small work.
OF WOODS.
There are many beautiful English woods which are excellent for turning; beech is very universally used, and it should be cut into moderate sized pieces and boiled, to render it more durable, and to make it work smoothly.
Elm and chestnut are also much admired; if the latter be dipped in alum water, then brushed over with a hot decoction of logwood, afterwards with one of Brazil wood, it will be made to imitate mahogany. Green wood should never be used, as it is apt to split; it should be kept for at least a year before attempting to turn it. Some persons, if they fear the wood has not been sufficiently seasoned, cut it up and put it in a vessel filled with a ley made of wood ashes. In this it must be boiled for an hour, and allowed to remain in the liquor till quite cold, afterwards it must be dried in the shade.
Old walnut wood is very beautiful; to improve its colour, it may be put in the oven, and when worked, polish it with its own oil, very hot.
Sycamore, when grown in favourable situations, is as white and nearly as hard as holly; the cherry, yew, laburnum, and pear-tree woods, are also very beautiful; but though invaluable for plain turning, they are not hard enough, or of a sufficiently close and fine grain, to admit of ornamenting them in delicate and minute patterns. The milling tools are generally employed for them. Of all English woods, the holly is the whitest, and is rendered still more so by boiling; it is, when very good, used for inlaying, in imitation of ivory. Box is the hardest and toughest of our woods; when cut plank-wise, it is apt to warp, if not well seasoned; but its yellow colour, if highly polished, is much admired, and it will receive the most delicate patterns; it is also used as a substitute for ivory.
The foreign woods are those most prized by the ornamental turner, on account of their hardness, and the beautiful polish which can be given to them. Cocoas, or the wood of the palm, is much used for all kinds of ornamental work. It is of a beautiful brown, streaked with darker veins, and is found in the West Indies.
Ring wood is extremely hard, of a chocolate brown, with black veins; it is a good wood for turning, and comes from Brazil.
Partridge and leopard woods, tulip and snake woods, are also frequently used; the latter is of a very deep red, and very hard.
Calamander wood, a tree growing in the island of Ceylon, is very hard and heavy, and the veins in it most beautifully shaded. The principal colours are a fine chocolate, sometimes deepening almost into black, then gradually shading into a cream colour. It is a very hard wood, and takes a high polish.