In assembling the drawer, it should be made about 1⁄16 inch smaller than the compartment it is to fit, to prevent binding in damp weather.
Bay wood, a light-coloured mahogany, is very appropriate for this piece of office furniture, the edges of partitions being stained to match. A brass drawer-pull, with a space left for a printed label, is to be put on after the polishing is done.
Filing cabinets made by this method may, of course, be made with drawers of different proportions and with any number of compartments, but this size is designed to hold long envelopes, letters, bills, etc.
[XLI]
MISSION FURNITURE
The library table ([Fig. 196]) is a good example of solid and permanent furniture construction. It represents the main principles of the mission style—solidity, strength, simplicity, straight lines, mortise and tenon joints, etc.
To a boy who has worked carefully up to this point it is entirely possible.
As the top is the only part to be glued up, this should be done first. Three boards of 7⁄8-inch quartered oak 10 inches wide, or an equivalent that will aggregate a trifle over 30 inches, and 4 feet long, should be jointed and prepared for dowelling. The method of doing this is shown at a, where two jointed pieces are clamped together. The distance between dowels lengthwise should be measured, and lines squared across the edges with knife and try square. Two pencil lines, as at b, should be made across the joint. Set the marking gauge at 7⁄16 inch. Remove the boards from vise or clamp, and from the faces touched by pencil lines, gauge lines cutting across the three knife lines on each edge.