Legs six inches high are cut from wood seven-eighths of an inch thick, and fastened under the four corners at the front of the boxes. At the back, the foot-piece is a board ten inches wide, screwed fast to the lower rear ends of the boxes, so that six inches of it will project down to the floor to correspond with the legs in height. A shallow drawer is made to fit between the boxes, and a slide on runners is attached with screws near the top.
Doors ten inches wide and twenty-two inches high are hinged to the outer sides of the boxes, and from sheet-lead the hinge-plates or straps and the escutcheons are cut with a light cold-chisel and mallet, as shown at Fig. 12, A and B. (For other designs, see Chapter VII., on Decorative Hardware.) The front hinge-plates are eight inches long and four inches wide across the scrolls, and the shorter ends are four inches in length. The flat edges that butt against the hinges must be made to correspond with the hinges in width, but they are no part of the hinges proper, being purely for effect. This hardware is coated with the black metal finish. It is then fixed in place with large-headed nails or with steel-wire nails.
A top board, with half-circular supports, can be made and attached to the rear of the desk-top if thought desirable.
A Whatnot
For trinkets, books, and the general assortment of odds and ends that a boy is sure to possess, the whatnot shown in Fig. 13 will be found useful.
It is fifty-four inches high, twenty wide, and twelve inches deep. The cap projects two inches beyond the sides and front. The side-boards are cut up at the bottom, the angle of the coves being ten inches above the floor. Near the top a corresponding effect is obtained by cutting out pieces of wood in the form of shields. The side-ledges are thirty-six inches above the floor, twelve inches long, and seven wide. They are supported by two brackets at each side, five inches wide at the top and six inches deep, cut as shown in the illustration, and made fast with glue and screws.
Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15.
The ledge over the drawers is forty inches above the floor, and each drawer is five inches deep. The lower ledge or shelf is twelve inches above the floor, and the front edge is cut in with a compass-saw.
All the wood-work is of stock seven-eighths of an inch thick, and the edges of the shelves are butted against the side-boards, through which screws are passed, the real heads being afterwards covered with the mock nail-heads. The usual stain and varnish will treat the wood nicely and lend a good finish to this useful bit of furniture.