This very useful contrivance is simply three pieces of narrow boards put together in the form of a box, having two sides and a bottom, but no ends or top. Eighteen inches is a suitable length, and its height should be no greater than the width of your saw. The mitre-box is used for holding the wood and guiding the saw at any angle. In the sides of the box are slits running from top to bottom, some passing diagonally, some at right angles through the boards. Any carpenter can make you a mitre-box; do not attempt one yourself, for to be of use it must be accurately made in every particular.
Choosing the Wood
It is well to know a little about what kind of wood to select when you are buying your material, for if you wish to make a durable article, one that will last long enough to pay for the making, you should not use wood that will warp and in a little while spoil your piece of work.
The heart-wood is always the best: this consists of boards cut from the heart, or centre, of the tree; they are harder, dryer than others, and less likely to warp or twist. The sap-wood, which is the part nearer the surface, contains so much sap it is difficult to season and will generally warp.
Select the boards yourself if possible, and see that they are planed equally on both sides and have square edges. Do not take a cracked board, a board with knot-holes or loose knots, or one that seems damp or musty, and be sure, if you can, that all your wood is well-seasoned.
Soft woods are best for your purpose at first, and while pine is very good, white-wood is better, and is easily worked.
What to Make
The Dressing-Table.
And now that all is ready and the workshop well stocked, what shall we make? What shall we not make, rather? Suppose we begin with a few simple pieces of furniture suitable for a summer cottage, a log-camp, or a play-house. We will use boxes, clothes-horses, or anything of the kind that will make a good foundation for the article and save extra work. When you feel that you can construct a piece of furniture without such helps, do so by all means, but at first do not scorn the humble box and barrel, they are excellent things to practise on.