Both of them made mistakes, which were detected by the others; but at last the board was marked off into equal lengths. The same boys were required to take the steel square, and rule off the lengths. They were not inclined to do it accurately, as the instructor insisted they should. The cutting-off saws were then given to a couple of the boys.
“You must not saw on the mark, but at the right-hand side of it, and close to it. Hold on! you are a quarter of an inch off the mark, Tom Ridley. That won’t do! You must cut the board at just the thickness of the saw-blade from the
mark, so that you can see it all the time. When the sawdust covers it, blow it off.”
“But I can’t make the saw start where I want it to,” replied Tom.
“Catch hold of the board with your hand, and let the end of your thumb rest against the saw-blade to keep it in place,” replied the carpenter, taking another saw, and showing the pupils how to do it. “That’s it! Now you have got a start. Put three fingers through the handle, and keep the forefinger out straight, and pressed against it. Let the saw run lightly; don’t bear on, but rather lift up at the start. When you bear on at all, do it on the downward stroke.”
“I am running away from the mark,” said Corny Minkfield, at the other end of the board.
“Don’t do it: saw close to the mark all the way. Don’t grasp the handle of the saw so tightly. Hold it rather loosely, and take as long strokes as you can,” interposed Mr. Brookbine, as he applied a small try-square to the angle made by the saw-blade and the board. “Your cut through the board is not plumb.”
The five cuts were finally made, and they had six pieces about four feet and an inch long. An
opportunity had been given to all the class to try the saw, and some of them did very well.
“Now, we want a little calculation again in regard to the width of the board. The time spent in making sure that you are right before you cut is never wasted. This piece of lumber is thirteen inches wide at the narrow end. We will cut each of these boards into two pieces lengthwise. But we will first reduce each to a uniform width of thirteen inches.”