Fig. 15.
It has been presupposed that a strong work-bench, table-plank mounted upon trestles, or some sort of tolerably efficient and firm bench has been obtained, or is accessible, and, in addition, a strong stool upon which to saw, cut out mortices, and so forth. A small carpenter’s bench, with a wooden vice, is most handy and serviceable, but is not absolutely necessary. It will be easy to make one by and by; for the present, any available substitute must be used. The height of the proposed towel-rail may equal the length. About 2 feet 6 inches will be a fair size, and it may be of the simplest possible form, such as is here delineated (Fig. 15). The upright sides may be made of strips of pine, one inch wide and three-quarters of an inch thick—the rails 1¼ wide and three eighths of an inch thick. The feet will be considered presently. If careful attention is given to the following directions, not only will the result be certainly satisfactory, but the way will be paved for the workmanlike construction of a great number of similarly useful articles.
The size of the rough material must always be greater than that ultimately needed, to allow of the necessary waste in sawing and planing. Pine boards, however, are usually cut of certain general widths and thicknesses; and although we have here set down stuff of one inch by three-quarters, it may be cut from inch board, because very little will be wasted by the plane, and the finished work will be sufficiently near to the above measure for the intended purpose, one-sixteenth of an inch or so being of no practical importance in the construction of such an article as a towel-rail. Get, therefore, from the carpenter, a strip of pine 1 inch wide and 6 feet in length, cut from a board 1 inch thick, and also a strip for the rails (of which there will be three), 4 inches wide and 2 feet 9 inches long, cut from a half-inch board. The rails you are to saw yourself from the latter strip, which will give you practice in sawing a straight course, and the work is easy in half-inch stuff. You may therefore begin by cutting these, for which purpose you will want guide-lines dividing the strip into three of equal width. There is a very simple way of marking these by means of a chalk line, which I will here describe.
The width of the board I set down at 4 inches, because the rails, when finished, will be 1¼ inches each, or, in all, 3¾ inches. As each contains eight eighths, as already explained, 4 inches will contain thirty-two eighths. Dividing by 3, we shall have ten eighths for each strip, or 1¼ inches, and two eighths, or a quarter of an inch, to spare for waste. Take the compasses, therefore, and open them to 1¼ and a little over (rather less than to the next division on the rule), and take it off at each end of the board (Fig 16, A B).
Fig. 16.
Take off, again, from this to mark the width of the next strip, and the board will be divided with sufficient accuracy for our present purpose. Take a piece of twine, long enough to stretch from end to end of the plank, and something over, and tie a knot at one end. Stick a bradawl through the string, close to this knot and into the board, as seen at C of the same figure. Take a lump of chalk, and chalk the line from end to end. Then strain it down the board, holding it by the left hand, so that it is stretched from one mark to the other, where the saw-cut is to be made. With the finger and thumb of the other hand, raise it a little in the middle, and let it suddenly go, when it will make a perfectly clear and straight line upon the board. Make a similar and parallel line for the next saw-cut. In the present case, you need not mind cutting this chalk mark out. Try and saw right down, so as to split it.
Fig. 17.
You now have your strips cut out, but they require to be planed. You might, indeed, with advantage, have planed the whole strip on both sides before marking and cutting it, but it is equally easy to do it afterwards. The jack plane is the one to be used for this purpose. I must suppose it to be sharp and in good order; if not, ask some carpenter to set it for you for the present, but I will soon tell you how to do it for yourself. Indeed, you will have to learn how to sharpen all your tools before you can be called a good workman. If the plane is properly set, the cutting edge will project very slightly only from the bottom; so that when held as in Fig. 17, and the eye directed along the sole, only a narrow shining slip of metal will appear. If too far out, it will hitch and make bad work; if not far enough, it will not cut at all; but the common fault of beginners is to have it too far out, because from their imperfect handling of this tool they often fail to make it cut, when in the hands of a carpenter it would work well. Now, if the iron projects too far, hold it as shown, so that you look along the sole, and give it a tap with your wooden mallet on the upper face at A, and this is also the way to loosen the wedge and irons for removal. By a blow at B, you can send the cutting edge forward to cut more deeply, or in this case you may tap the iron itself with a metal hammer, but tapping the end of the wood is better.