If he buys the vise-screw, an ambitious boy can make a bench that will answer his needs, provided, also, that he can fasten it to floor or wall. It should be rigid. A beginner will find a hard wood board, 10"×2"×1/4", fastened to the forward end of the bench, a more convenient stop than the ordinary bench-dog. If he has a nicely finished bench, he should learn to work without injuring the bench. A cutting board should always be at hand to chisel and pound upon and to save the bench-top from all ill use. The bench-hook should have one side for sawing and one for planing, the former having a block shorter than the width of the board so that the teeth of the saw, when they come thru the work, will strike the bench-hook rather than the bench-top.
To measure accurately, hold the ruler on its edge so that the divisions on the scale come close to the thing measured. Let the pencil or knife point make a dash on the thing measured which would exactly continue the division line on the ruler. If it can be avoided, never use the end of the ruler; learn to measure from some figure on the ruler.
The spur of the gage should be filed like a knife point. It seldom stands at zero of the scale, hence, when setting the gage for accurate work, measure from the block to the spur with a ruler. The gage is a rather difficult tool for a boy to use but it will pay to master it. It may be used wherever square edges are to be made, but chamfers and bevels should be marked with a pencil.
In laying out work, the beam (the thick part) of the trysquare should always be kept on either the working-face or the working-edge. (See [page 13], [Directions for Planing.]) Let the blade rest flat on any surface. Hold the trysquare snugly to the work with the fingers and thumb acting much like a bird's claw.
For accurate work (e. g. joints), lines should be drawn (scored) with the sharp point of a small knife blade, held nearly straight up from the edge of the trysquare blade.
Circles are located by two lines crossing at the center.