Fig. 619.
Fig. 620.
When the grain runs in several directions, and keeps cropping up to the surface and dipping down again as shown in Fig. 701, it becomes more difficult to pare the surface smoothly with the chisel. In such a case remember the sliding or drawing stroke and traverse the surface with a diagonal crossways motion (Fig. 619) that will trim off the fibres with a slanting stroke without causing them to be torn up. Slant the cut so that if the wood should tend to split, it will be in the direction of the part cut away and not towards the piece to be kept—i.e., so that the chips will split and not the body of the wood. Reverse the chisel and cut in the opposite direction when a change in the direction of the grain requires it. Some pieces are, however, so extremely irregular that you cannot do this, but must slice away the best that you can and leave the rest to other tools. In cutting off a corner or rounding or bevelling an edge you can use the slanting cut (Fig. 620).
In using the chisel for paring, let the left hand, which is nearer the cutting-edge than the right, act as a brake or countercheck or drag to check the progress of the tool. It is largely by the varying balance of these two forces—the pushing forward of the tool with the right hand and the checking and controlling with the left—that correct and effective control of the tool is gained. The left hand should in many cases rest upon or grasp the wood as well as the blade. See Chisel.
Paring-Chisel.—See Chisel.
Parting-Tool.—See Carving Tools.
Pincers.—There are various kinds of pincers, pliers, and nippers. A pair of common pliers and also cutting nippers will be very useful.