He went into the house and came out with a pamphlet on lumbering, which he opened at the picture shown in [Fig 88]. It represents the old style of sawing out planks by hand before the coming of the saw-mill.
The man in the pit is called a pit man, the one on the log, the sawyer. This method of cutting lumber was in vogue up to about fifty years ago.
"This," said Ralph, "is what your line of reasoning would lead us back to, so if I am to be your instructor you must leave these things to my judgment, and my advice is to start work with a good bench having on it a good vise."
Fig. 88. The old way of getting out lumber
To let you into a family secret, the boys' work in carving had been admired by several friends and they had worked up quite a trade in making and selling their carvings. From the money they had saved they purchased the bench shown in [Fig. 89]. It was very well built, having a heavy top of 3-inch maple and a modern quick action vise. The seven drawers underneath were not really necessary, but the boys found them very handy for storing tools, nails, screws, unfinished work, etc.
Fig. 89. Bench with quick action vise