"The trouble is that you will do it too fast, and be careless about it," replied the instructor. "It requires sound judgment to do this work well. As I have told you before, one may waste his wages ten times over in cutting up lumber. Before you put the saw into a stick, you should consider what the piece you cut off is good for. Most of the timber is selected for the frame, so as to make the least waste. I shall have a great deal to say to you on this subject as we go along. No matter how much money you have, or who pays the bills, there must be no unnecessary waste. That he cuts stock to good advantage, is one of the best recommendations for a mechanic."
"Don't we have to fit the tenons to the mortises, and number them, or something of that sort?" asked Luke Bennington.
"Some carpenters frame in that way, which answers very well in a small building," replied the instructor. "We shall use in the boat-house between four and five hundred studs, for example, and it would be more work to number and find them than it would be to frame the whole of them. We shall frame by what is sometimes called the square rule. Any long stud will fit any place where a long stud is required. The jack-studs, or short ones, are of different lengths, and we classify them by their size. Of course the short posts cannot be used in the sides or ends, or the side posts at the corners; but all the sticks of the same class are interchangeable."
The master carpenter ended his lecture. The timbers for the sills had been laid out for framing, and under the direction of the instructor, the students proceeded to mark them off for mortising. It would require a whole series of books to follow him in all the details. In what manner he gave his instruction has been shown. Four students were instructed how to mark for the posts, and they proceeded to do it.
Four more were told how to mark for the tenons at the ends of the posts, and as soon as they were fairly at them, four more were selected to prepare the girders. A squad was put upon the braces, another on the plates and a third on the studs. In a short time they were all at work. Mr. Brookbine looked over the marks as fast as his time would admit. Of course there were many mistakes, and these were pointed out.
After an hour's use of the square and compasses, the boys needed a change of work, and the instructor called for the framing-chisels and mallets. All hands were set to mortising where the marks had been made and proved to be correct. The students worked hard, and when night came they did not feel much like skylarking.
The next forenoon, while the pupils were at their studies, the master carpenter went over the marks and measurements on the timbers. He was surprised to find so few errors. Before noon he had arranged everything for the afternoon. The boys worked hard, and the framing was not likely to last long.