[11] By this is not meant the figure or flashes shown by the medullary rays, or "silver grain," seen in quartered oak and some other woods, but the figure of the grain without the medullary rays, as seen in plain oak, etc.
[12] The forests of North America, exclusive of Mexico, are now believed, according to Sargent, to contain four hundred and twenty-two species of plants, besides numerous varieties, which can fairly be considered trees.
[13] The peculiarity of the wood is that the water is not simply drawn in to fill up what we call the pores, as in chalk or any ordinary porous inorganic substance, but enters into the very fibre of the body, forcing apart the minute solid particles with an extraordinary force which does not seem to be fully understood.
[14] If you can afford to buy one ready made, you cannot do better than to begin with such as are sold for sloyd or manual-training schools, but do not get a very small one unless you are only going to do very small work. Get one as large as you can afford. A second-hand bench can often be bought for a small sum, but be sure that it is firm and steady.
[15] The reason for making this bench 5' 10" long, instead of cutting a 12' board into two lengths of 6' each, is that it is hard to get boards sound and square at the ends, and so it is best to allow a few inches for waste. Of course your bench can be of any desired length. Six or eight feet is suitable for ordinary work, but there is no objection to making it as much longer as your space and material will admit. The height should bear a proper relation to the height of the workman. No definite height can be given. Try moving a plane back and forth. If your right elbow, when holding the plane, is slightly bent and your back about straight, the height will be not far from right. Do a little simple work at a table, trying different heights, and you can soon tell what will be satisfactory. If the bench is too low, you cannot manage your work well and your back will get tired from bending over, not to speak of becoming round-shouldered. If the bench is too high, it will be hard to manage your work, you cannot plane well, and your arms will be tired from holding them up unnaturally high. A bench for heavy work like carpentry is usually rather lower than one for cabinet-or pattern-making, while a carver's bench is usually higher.
[16] This vise is fitted slanting, so that the slide at the bottom comes on the outside of the leg and at the same time in the centre line of the movable jaw in line with the screw. A common form has the movable jaw upright, the sliding bar being mortised into it and sliding through a mortise cut in the leg, as shown in Figs. 56 and 57. If you wish to make this kind, study Mortising, in Part V., and lay out and cut the mortise in the leg before nailing the cross-board to it (Figs. 41 and 42). This is the most difficult part of the bench to make nicely, and you can spend a good deal of pains upon it. If you have not yet the proper tools to make this mortise you can mark it out and have it cut for a very small sum at a wood-working mill or shop. When nailing the cross-board upon the legs, bear in mind to put this leg in the right place. Fig. 58 shows a simple arrangement with an additional post, or two posts can be put together and one half the notching done in each (Fig. 59).
[17] In case your bench is in the house and you wish to deaden the sound and vibration from your work you can put rubber cushions under the legs.
[18] Fig. 112 shows a nicer pair of horses. Take two pieces of pine, or any wood not likely to warp, [2]" × 3" (or 4") × 2½' or 3', mark with rule, square, and gauge (see Gauge), and cut with saw and chisel the shallow gains (Fig. 113) for the legs. Make them the same depth at the top as at the bottom (Fig. 114), and clean them out as accurately to the lines as you can. Get out eight legs, and regulate their length as before. Saw the upper ends on a bevel (Fig. 114) corresponding to the slant they are to have. Nail or screw them in place. You can glue the joints for additional strength. Fit on cross-pieces and finish the work as described above. If you ever need horses for very heavy work you can make the legs of plank or joist with the tops cut like Fig. 115.
[19] You can attach your windmill to a building or set it up on a pole, or you can easily make a small trestle-work tower, built of small sticks, on the top of which you can place the windmill, with a small keg (to represent a hogshead or tank), and thus have a very good imitation of the large mills used for pumping water. Small windmills, if you wish to go further into the subject than comes within the scope of this book, can be used to do any light or "play" work by having them turn a bent shaft (or any eccentric movement), connecting with a piston-rod or revolving drum; or various other attachments can be applied, according to your ingenuity.
[20] All of this work can be done cheaply at any mill, leaving the rounding or bevelling of the edges and the bending of the ends for you to do yourself, and for that matter the rounding or bevelling can be done by machine.