A line was scribed on each leg wherever the compasses point touched it, holding the latter upright and going around all four sides of each leg. By sawing to the lines made in this way, the trestle was found to stand on the floor perfectly true. This is a method much used in truing up articles that rest on three or more legs, and it overcomes any inaccuracies that may have arisen in the process of assembling; but it is very important that the surface on which this truing up is done shall itself be perfectly true. The bench used in this case was new and had not yet warped at all, but an old bench might not have been suitable. This can be ascertained by testing the surface in several directions with a long straight edge.
The facts of warping and shrinkage in wood must always be taken into consideration.
The saw horse is an important part of every shop equipment, and the boys now relegated the clumsy chairs to the kitchen, where they belonged, and were prepared to saw out stock from their longest boards.
[XVI]
BUILDING A LUMBER RACK
Ralph had painted two signs and fastened them in prominent places on the wall. One read: "One thing at a time"; the other, "A place for everything, and everything in its place."
"Those are very old-fashioned," he said, "but they are none the less absolutely true. Many boys fail to accomplish anything in tool work because they do not heed the first, and more time is wasted than we ever realize, particularly among mechanics, by failing to observe the second. It often seems a waste of time to put a tool or piece of stock away in a definite place, but, on the other hand, one often spends ten times as many minutes in looking for a thing as he would putting it in its place where it could be found instantly."
"What's the answer?" said Harry absent-mindedly.
"The answer is that we will make a rack for our lumber before we do anything else.