Their household articles commenced with a bread board for the kitchen. ([Fig. 141]). This gave Harry his first experience in planing a broad surface. He used jack and smoothing planes for the working face, and squared the rest of the board as he had smaller pieces. This required some time. The wood about the semi-circular top was removed with saw and chisel, the board held for the chiselling flat on the bench hook. After getting this curve as true as possible with the chisel, it was finished with a sand-paper block. A 1⁄2-inch hole was bored at the centre of the semi-circle to hang it up by, and the two lower corners were rounded with chisel and sand-paper. No sand-paper was used on the flat surface, as Ralph explained this was a board for cutting bread, and the grit from the sand-paper would become more or less embedded in the wood, and it would spoil the bread knife. Sand-paper is made of ground quartz, and it soon dulls the edge of a cutting tool.
Fig. 141. The bread board
The knife and fork box ([Fig. 142]) brought new problems. The list of material was:
| 1 pc. 111⁄2 × 31⁄4 × 1⁄2 | 2 pcs. 7 × 11⁄2 × 1⁄2 |
| 2 pcs. 14 × 11⁄2 × 1⁄2 | 1 pc. 12 × 61⁄2 × 1⁄4 |
It was made of white wood, and, after being assembled, was stained a rich brown by receiving two coats of bichromate of potash. This is a chemical, which may be bought at a paint or drug store in the form of crystals. These are dissolved in water, until the solution looks like pink lemonade. It can be applied with a brush, but each coat must be allowed to dry completely before the whole is sand-papered smooth with No. 0 sand-paper. A deeper brown can be obtained by adding one or two extra coats of stain.
Fig. 142. Method of using hand screws in the construction of a knife box