In all duplicate work the aim of the worker should be to make as much use as possible of the tool he has in hand before laying it down and taking another. To illustrate, if there should be a number of like parts each requiring two different settings of the gage, he should mark all of the parts at the first setting, then all at the second setting rather than to change the gage for each piece so that each piece might be completely marked before another is begun.
63. Scraping.
—In smoothing hard wood surfaces, a scraper will be found helpful. If the grain should happen to be crossed or curled, a scraper will become a necessity. The plane-iron may be made ever so sharp and the cap-iron set ever so close to the cutting edge, still the surface of some woods will tear. Sandpaper must not be depended upon to smooth a torn surface.
Fig. 118.
Cabinet scrapers for plane and convex surface work are rectangular pieces of saw steel. [Fig. 118] shows a swan-neck scraper suitable for smoothing concave surfaces.
Beginners frequently mistake surfaces which have been planed at a mill for smooth surfaces. They are not; and, unless the “hills and hollows” which extend across the surface of every mill-planed piece of lumber are removed before the finish of stain or filler is applied, the result will be very unsatisfactory.
These “hills and hollows” are present even in the smoothest of mill-plane surfaces. The reason is easily understood. When a board is mill-planed, it is run through a machine which has a flat bed over which the board is moved and above which revolve two knives. [Fig. 119]. Unless the grain of wood is very badly crossed or curled, it will be found very much easier, and time will be saved if the mill marks are removed with a smooth-plane before the scraper is applied.
| A—Delivery Roller. | D—Roller. | G—Work Table. |
| B—Cutter Head. | E—Roller. | H—Knives. |
| C—Feed Roller. | F—Board. |