Fig. 16.
Fig. 17.
Get one of the little nickel-plated clocks (sold at sixty cents and upwards). Lay it down on a smooth piece of soft wood—pine or cedar—about seven by eight inches. Mark around it closely with a lead-pencil, and cut out the circular opening with your knife. If you happen to have a fret-saw or suitable tools, you can make it of hard-wood. Smooth nicely with sand-paper. The clock must fit closely into the opening. You will find Fig. 16 very easy to do. Cut out the lines, being careful not to let the tool slip when cutting with the grain. Dilute the walnut stain with turpentine, and paint the design inside the lines; the grooves prevent the color spreading. Let it dry. The next day, with a wad of cotton or piece of canton flannel, rub on some varnish. Soft wood absorbs it very rapidly at first until the pores are filled. When quite dry, sand-paper nicely. Then rub again with varnish, a little at a time. Keep raw linseed-oil near you in a cup; dip one finger of your left hand in this when the work becomes sticky, and apply to the pad; it helps to spread the varnish. Rub briskly with a circular motion. The varnish will dry quickly, when it must have a final polish; this brings out the beauty of the grain. If carefully done, your work will resemble inlaying.
Some Other Designs
The daisy design (Fig. 17) is charming when finished, and has the additional merit of being easy. Cut the daisy form from a visiting-card, and mark around it. Stain the centre much darker than the petals.
Table-tops, jewel-boxes, calendar frames, chairs, etc., may be purchased already polished, and outlined in some dainty pattern. A finer tool (No. 11, 1/64) comes for this kind of work. Of course it cannot be stained, but if desired the background may be stamped with a star-pointed “marker” to give the design prominence.
These patterns may be adapted for the decoration of glove-boxes, bread-plates, knife-boxes, stools, blotting-books, card-cases, match-boxes, music-portfolios, and many other things, which will sell well at fancy fairs, or be highly appreciated as presents.