9. For joining wood to wood without glue where there is no great thickness to be penetrated, “needle-points,” procurable of any ironmonger, will be found useful. These are stout eyeless needles, of very brittle steel, about two inches in length. To use them, bore with a fine bradawl a hole partially through the wood, then drive in the needle-point by gentle tapping with a hammer, and when it has penetrated the desired depth snap off all that remains above the surface.
10. Also useful for many purposes are what are called by drapers “blanket” pins. These are of brass, and a card of such pins in three sizes, ranging from two to three inches in length and varying proportionately in thickness, may be bought for a penny. Pins a trifle shorter and thinner than the above are known as “laundry” pins. Apart from their normal uses, pins of these kinds are very useful for bending into hooks, or to cut up into short lengths of stiff straight wire for pivots or otherwise.
11. For all effects dependent upon a thread pull use, in place of ordinary thread, plaited silk fishing line. This is procurable of any sports’ outfitter or fishing tackle dealer, in twenty and forty yard lengths, and in half a dozen grades of thickness, the finest being not much thicker than a hair line. The breaking strain of this is much greater than that of ordinary thread, and it has the further advantage that being plaited instead of twisted it does not unroll or “kink” in use. Allcock, of Redditch, a name familiar to all anglers, is a noted maker of such line, but he has no monopoly of its manufacture. It is usually sold white, but may be easily dyed any desired colour.
For this last valuable “tip” I am again indebted to my often-quoted friend, Mr. Holt Schooling, who, as an enthusiastic angler, is an expert as to lines of all descriptions. The reader will find numerous instances of the practical use of such line in the earlier part of this book.
A good way of dyeing line is to thread a needle on to one end, and pass it by the aid of the needle through one corner, moistened with the appropriate dye, of a soft sponge, and then back again through the dry part of the sponge to clean off any excess of moisture. When dry, if necessary, repeat the process.
12. Square envelopes, for the purpose of forming “nests” or otherwise, are now and then needed by the conjurer, but envelopes precisely square (save the small variety known as “pence” envelopes) are not kept in “stock” by stationers in the ordinary way. When such are needed the readiest plan is to take an envelope of the long “bag” shape and shorten it to an exact square, closing the lower end as before. Envelopes of the above kind are procurable in many varieties of paper, and in widths ranging by various fractions of an inch from four inches upwards.
13. To make a line, thick or thin, run freely over a pulley-wheel or through an eyelet, use as a lubricant powdered talcum, otherwise known as French chalk. This is equally useful for minimising friction between wooden surfaces, or between wood and metal, say between a pulley-wheel and the pivot on which it turns. Where the slight extra cost is not an obstacle the use of ivory as the material of a pulley-wheel secures the perfection of easy running.
It is, I trust, hardly necessary to say that wherever I have mentioned an article to be had by purchase, my recommendation is based solely upon practical experience of its merits. I have no interest, direct or indirect, in any of the articles mentioned, and my knowledge of their manufacturers is derived solely from their respective labels.
[21] This book having been written primarily with a view to British readers, some of my recommendations will naturally be of no value to my American friends, but I have not thought it necessary to delete them. L. H.