The Bed.
Fig. 104.
The Beds.—The simplest as well as the longest parts of the framework are called “beds” ([Fig. 104]). Each bed is made of two wooden bars. These bars are united by strong screws passing through small blocks of hard wood so as to keep the bars full ⅜" asunder, and thus allow the shanks of the bolts to pass freely through the slit The scantling of each bar is 2½" × 1½", and the beds are of various lengths from 1' to 10' or even longer. The beds can be attached together in any required position by bolts 6" long. The rectangles and the brackets are attached to the beds by 4" bolts. In one conjunction or another the beds will be found represented in almost every figure in the book. We may specially refer to [Figs. 20], [44], [48], [49], [50], [65], [83].
The Stool.
Fig. 105.
The Stool.—Most of the larger pieces of apparatus have the stool as their foundation ([see Figs. 11], [39], [102]). It is often convenient as in [Fig. 65] to employ a pair of stools, while one stool superposed on another gives the convenient stand in [Fig. 80]. The stool is a stout wooden frame, providing a choice of slits to which beds or other pieces may be attached by bolts. The structure of the frame is shown in [Fig. 105]. It is 2' 6" high and its extreme horizontal dimensions are 2' 6" × 1' 9" of which the greater is A E. In other words, the longer sides of the stool are those open at the top. Each top corner is strengthened by an iron plate of which a separate sketch is shown. The scantlings of the parts of the stool are as follows:—The legs and horizontal top rails are 3" × 2⅛". Two of these rails with the intervening ⅜" slit make the top and legs to be 4⅝" wide. The bottom front rail I is 3" wide and 4" deep. The double side rails D, H are 1¾" wide and 2½" deep, being made thinner than the legs into which they are mortised in order to allow the washers of the bolts to pass behind them. The slits are to be full ⅜" wide throughout. Beech or birch are very suitable materials, but softer woods will answer if large washers are invariably used.