A better way would be to build the board up of several narrow strips glued together, as the warping of one would be counteracted by the warping of its neighbors in opposite directions; but to make doubly sure, cleats fastened with tongue and groove joint should be added at the ends, as shown at D. This has an advantage over the first method, as the cleats in C are often in the way and make the board clumsy to handle.
Fig. 77. A Study in Construction. Methods of overcoming Warping and Shrinkage
The student will find many evidences about the house of how the woodworker has tried to prevent warping and shrinkage, as, for instance, in the paneled doors, tables, etc.
The wood of the various trees differs greatly in hardness, evenness of grain, durability, etc., and every boy should know not only what our woods are used for, but he should also know the trees when he sees them.
We are indebted to the trees for many things besides wood. They give us delightful shade and coolness in summer; many of them produce delicious fruit and nuts; from them we obtain such valuable products as maple sirup and sugar; while tar, pitch, turpentine, rubber, and tannin are only a few of the many tree products. The houses we live in, the chairs we sit on,—in fact, most of our furniture, even to the frames of our pictures, the cars we ride in, and the very pencils we write with, are of wood which was once part of the living forest.
Fig. 78. A Large Tree being moved by a Modern Tree Mover, showing Root Formation