Wood-working for Beginners: A Manual for Amateurs

by Charles G. Wheeler

As soon as you become used to plans and elevations, you can by combining the plan and elevations in your mind quickly imagine the form of the object represented, and often, unless it is complicated, get fully as good a conception of it as from a picture, and a more accurate knowledge of its proportions and details, so that in many cases there is no need of having a picture at all in order to construct the object. It is often a convenience to have a picture, however, and frequently an assistance in forming a correct idea of something you have never seen. Where the appearance of the object is of consequence, as in the case of a house or bookcase, for instance, the picture is of the first consequence, for you must have a correct representation of the general appearance of the object before you begin to make the working-drawings. You will soon find that merely having an idea in your mind is not always sufficient from which to make working-drawings, although the first step in the process. You will often find that when the idea in your mind is put into the form of a picture, it does not look at all as you thought it would, and that if you had started at once on the working-drawings without first making a sketch or picture, the result would have been unsatisfactory and sometimes entirely impracticable.

Even making a sketch or picture that just expresses your idea will not always result in the completed object being just what you wish. Strange though it may seem, it is a fact, practically, that the completed object often looks quite different from what the sketch leads you to expect. That result, however, is something which cannot be helped, so you need not give it any attention, only do not be surprised if once in a while you find that what you have made is not just what you thought it would be. First make the best design you can, then accurate working-drawings, then work carefully by the drawings, and if the result is not always exactly what you expected, you can console yourself with the thought that your experience is only that of architects, designers, carpenters, and workmen in all lines, and that no one can foresee all the conditions by which a piece of projected work will be affected.

Oblique or parallel projections are often used, from which measurements can be made. Such projections are not true representations of the objects as they appear to the eye, but they are often used because readily understood and easily drawn. They often answer every purpose from a practical point of view. Figs. 120 and 344 are examples.

Another way of representing objects for practical purposes is that shown in Figs. 121 and 407, and known as "isometric[54] projection" or "isometric perspective." This method is incorrect so far as giving an accurate picture is concerned, for the object is always represented as being too large in the farther parts, because the inclined lines are drawn parallel instead of converging; but it is often very useful from a practical point of view, because by it all that is required can frequently be expressed in one drawing.

Isometric perspective will not readily give the correct dimensions except in the lines which are vertical or which slant either way at an angle of 30° with the horizontal,—i.e., you cannot take the other dimensions right off with a rule as from a plan, and therefore, so far as obtaining correct dimensions is concerned, it is practically not useful for other than rectangular objects; but so far as merely showing the general shape or conveying the idea of the form it can often be advantageously used in representing many objects containing curved lines. Isometric projection has the advantage of being easy of execution, and of being so pictorial that it is almost always easy to see what is meant.

A First-Class Bench.—The construction of the bench shown on page 101 is not difficult to understand, but considerable skill is required to make a really good one. The arrangement of the vise is shown in Fig. 705, which is an inverted view (as if looking up from underneath). The vise is kept parallel by the stout bars of hard wood, parallel to the screw, which slide through mortises cut in the front of the bench-top, and are further guided by the cleats screwed to the under side of the top, where it is thinner than at the front edge. In case of using such a vise where the bench-top is not so thick in front, the thickness can easily be made sufficient by screwing a stout cleat on the under side where the vise comes. In this cleat can be cut the mortises for the slide-bars. The end-vise or "tail-screw" shown in Fig. 143 involves rather more work, but slides upon a similar principle. Perhaps the best way for the amateur is to make the end-vise in the same way as the main vise, adding the movable stop.

Fig. 705.

There is no better way to make the front of this bench-top than to build it up of narrow boards on edge, planed true, and thoroughly glued and bolted together. The planing and truing can best be done by machine, however. If well put together, such a bench-top will defy changes of weather and will stand a great deal of hard usage. The back part of the top can be thinner, but can very well be built up if desired. An excellent way to fasten the frame of such a bench together is with bolts, by which the parts can be drawn to a firm bearing.

It is impossible to make such a bench too rigid. If so stiffly framed that it cannot change its shape, and if the top is carefully trued, you will have something which will be a great help to good work.