The hatchet stake is a very handy tool about the shop, even if a folder is included in the equipment, as there are some jobs that will not permit the use of the folder to complete them.
Strips of tin as long as the blade of the hatchet stake may be accurately folded over as follows:
A strip of maple 1 inch thick and 2 inches wide and as long as the blade of the stake may be clamped against the flat side of the blade of the hatchet stake with the tin to be folded held tightly between the maple strip and the blade. The mallet is then used to fold the tin over toward the sloping side of the blade, [Fig. 57]. Sometimes two strips of maple may be clamped to a piece of tin to hold it accurately while being folded, but this method is rather cumbersome.
Fig. 56.
Fig. 57.
The different methods of folding have been described at length so that the reader may become familiar with all of them, but a great deal of folding may be done over a sharp-edged maple block, if you have nothing else with which to work.
Professional tinners use a very convenient folding machine made of metal, but these are very costly and need not be described here.