“We are going to keep them sharp,” continued Phonny,—“as sharp as razors. Won’t we, Stivy?”
“We are going to try it,” said Stuyvesant.
Phonny took up the plane to show his mother how sharp it was.
“Yes,” said she; “I like that tool too, very much—it is so safe.”
The plane is a very safe tool, indeed, for the cutting part, which consists of a plate of iron, faced with steel for an edge, is almost embedded in the wood. It is made in fact on purpose to take off a thin shaving only, from a board, and it would be impossible to make a deep cut into any thing with it.
Phonny then showed his mother his chisels. He had four chisels of different sizes. They were very sharp.
“It seems to me that a chisel is not so safe a tool as a plane,” said Mrs. Henry.
“Why not, mother?” asked Phonny.
“Why you might be holding a piece of wood with your fingers, and then in trying to cut it with the chisel, the chisel might slip and cut your fingers.”