8. Insert ink wells.
Fig. 158. Pen and ink trays
In place of carving this inkstand, an inlaid design could have been used, and the whole piece highly polished, but our boy had not yet had any practice in inlaying or polishing, so he used sweet gum wood and a chip carving design. Later on he made others out of black walnut and mahogany, and gave them a high polish. See [Chapter XXXVI] for inlaying and [XLIX] for polishing.
A very nice little problem in gouge work is shown in [Fig. 159], a pen tray pure and simple, with no provision for ink wells.
The only new feature is the under cutting of the outside. The steps for this are:
1. Square up.
2. Lay out from a centre line, drawn completely around the block lengthwise, and draw with compasses and rule both top and bottom.