[47] It may be useful to know, although not suitable work for the beginner, that there is no better way to joint edges (to make glued joints, as in Fig. 552) than with a first-class circular saw, run by one who knows how to use it. The minute roughnesses left by the saw assist the glue to hold, and as inconspicuous and strong joints as possible can be quickly produced in this way by a good workman with a first-class saw, but do not expect a satisfactory result except under these conditions.
[48] This seems to be the common opinion among experienced men. There are, however, many painters of experience who prefer the prepared liquid paint for outside work, and it certainly saves trouble.
[49] It is not a good plan to wipe brushes on the sharp edge of a tin can, as it injures the bristles.
[50] Another method of doing this is to find a true surface to stand the legs on and measure the distance the free leg rises from the surface—1" for example. Do nothing to that leg, of course, or to the one diagonally opposite, but saw ½" from each of the two other legs. Suppose, for example, the legs a, b, and c touch (Fig. 669), and d rises ¾" from the floor. Make a and c each 3/8" shorter. Of course you cannot hit it exactly by this method, but a few strokes of a tool will finish the work.
[51] In elm, ash, and hickory the sapwood is sometimes considered better than the heart.
[52] The term deal, though often loosely applied to the wood of the pine and fir, properly refers to planks of these woods cut more than 7" wide and 6' long—usually 3" thick and 9" wide. The term is common in Great Britain but not in the United States.
[53] This definition of elevations and plan as being representations of what you would see if you stood opposite the sides or above the top of the object, is merely a rough explanation of the general meaning of the terms. As a matter of scientific accuracy the elevation is, strictly speaking, not the way the side would appear if you looked at it from one position, but the way it would appear if you could look at it from directly opposite every point of it—as if you could have an infinite number of eyes, one being opposite every point of the object. The elevation shows the front or side or end as it really is, not as it looks, either in the form of an exact copy if the object is small, or of a small copy made in the same proportion if the object is too large to be represented full size.
[54] Gr., equal measure.
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