Here you see two upright strips at the corners, which shall be 8 inches long. These are 12 inches apart, outside measure. They are ⅜ (three-eighths) of an inch square, and you must get them ready planed from the carpenter. There will be four of them required, as they are at the four corners of the cage; so that, as they are each 8 inches long, you can get a strip 36 inches in length by three-eighths wide, and this being 4 inches more than you need, will allow for waste. At the lower part of the drawing, you see the edge of the bottom board, which projects a little all round. As the outside of the front pillars are 12 inches apart, this board may be 13 inches long, which will allow a border of ½ an inch (half an inch), and it may be 8 inches wide. It need not be thicker than a quarter of an inch. A little above this board (say half an inch) is another board from one pillar to another, which is to be 1¼ inches wide and three-eighths of an inch thick. As the pillars are also three-eighths thick, and their outside edges 12 inches apart, you must take 6/8 (six-eighths) of an inch from 12 inches to find the length of this board.
If you look at the divisions upon your rule, you will see that six-eighths of an inch amounts to exactly ¾ (three quarters), so that your board must be 11 inches and one quarter long. This will also be the length of the board at the top where it falls between the pillars, and this too must be three-eighths thick.
I shall now show you how to mark and cut this top piece into the shape here sketched. Cut the board first of all into an oblong, and mind that you mark it by your square, so that the ends shall be square to the sides. Let it be 2½ inches wide. Here it is (Fig. 10). Measure a length of 6 inches from either end to the middle at A, and make a mark at that place. Draw a line, C B, one inch from the opposite side, the whole length of the board, and mind you draw it correctly. You should measure an inch at B, and at C, and then draw a line from one point to the other along the edge of your rule. You must now draw two lines from the spot you marked at A to the ends of this line (where you see the dotted lines). In order to cut this piece, you must begin at A, not at B or C, or else if the saw should stick you will be sure to split off a strip right across the piece; but if it should stick when you are cutting from A, you will only split off a bit of one of the three-cornered outside pieces, which would not signify at all.
Fig. 10.
When you are sawing, be sure, as I told you before, not to cut into the line you have marked, but saw just outside it, so that the lines will be left upon the two sloping sides of the board. You may cut as close to it as you can, but you must not destroy it, and then you can with your knife neatly shave off the rough edges which the saw has made, until you have pared the wood quite neatly all along the line. If you cut this line out, you will no longer have any guide to work by. Cutting out guide lines is a very common fault, not confined to small boys or big ones. You will find it easy to pare this sloping side if you begin to work from A downwards to B and C, but you cannot cut it in the other direction. A carpenter would, of course, run his plane down the slope, and so will you by and by; but planing is difficult, and it is better you should wait for a time before you buy a plane; for, remember, those foolish little things in boys’ tool-boxes are no use at all.
You had better now prepare the holes into which the wires are to be put as you see in the drawing. You can use either iron wire or brass, but the first is cheapest. These will have to be a quarter of an inch apart. Both the top and bottom strips, you will remember, are 11¼ (eleven and a quarter) inches long. Now, 11 inches will be 44 quarters, and one more will be 45; but as the first hole must be a quarter of an inch from the ends, you will find that 44 holes will be required. Look at your rule and count this. You must mark all these by little dots with a pencil on one piece, and then laying the other upon it, mark the rest exactly even with the first. Do this with great care, or the wires will not stand upright when the cage is finished. The space between the top and bottom pieces will be 5¼ inches, so that if you allow the wires to enter a quarter of an inch at the top and bottom, you will want 44 wires 5¾ inches in length—you may say, 6 inches. You can have them all cut and straightened for you, but if you have a pair of pliers with cutting edges, you can do it yourself, and it is almost necessary you should get a pair, or borrow them, if you intend to construct wire birdcages. You will want a few less in each side of this cage, as it will not be there so wide as it is in front. We shall presently see how many it will require.
You may put together the front of the cage at once and set it aside, or proceed to cut out the rest of it. Generally speaking, it is the best plan to cut out and prepare all the main parts of your work before proceeding to fix them in their respective places; but the front of such a cage as I am describing, being complete in itself, you may do as you like about it. We will begin with the wires. Insert the ends one after the other in a row in one of the pieces, laying it upon the bench, or fixing it on its edge in a vice, but taking care not to bend them. When one piece is thus stuck full of wires, lay it flat on its side, and put the other piece in its place, and one by one insert into it the other ends of the wires. A pair of pliers will help you greatly in doing this. I daresay the two pieces of wood will not be very parallel, but will be closer at one end than at the other. This does not matter, because you will set it right in nailing on the upright strips or corner pillars. This, therefore, is the next thing you must do; and you must have two brads top and bottom, each an inch long, but as fine as you can get. Nail to the top board first, and then place the other in position half an inch from the bottom of the pillars. If you have no carpenter’s vice, you had better work with the front of the cage laid down flat and near the right hand edge of the bench or table, so that the pillar almost overlaps it. In this position, you can bore the two holes and nail it together; but be guarded as to splitting the pillars.
You ought now to have the front well and firmly put together and standing square and true as in the sketch; only the bottom board, of which you see the front edge, is not to be attended to at present.
