Fig. 57.—Cutting Pliers.
A clamp can be made easily by the worker at home. The parts A and B (Fig. 54) are made from two oak cask or barrel staves. The lower portion C may be a sound piece of white deal, 20 in. by 3 in. by 3 in., and the only other requisites will be eight stout 2¼ in. screws. The staves should be cut 2 ft. long by at least 3 in. wide, the points of greatest convexity being in the centre; the more bent the staves are the more useful the clamp will be. Clean up the outside with a spokeshave, leaving one end the full thickness of the staves, or about 1 in., and thinning off gradually to about ¾ in. towards the upper ends, which are to form the jaws of the clamp (Fig. 55). Round off the outer corners, and clean up the inside surface flat, smoothing both sides with glass-paper. The dovetail-shaped tenon in the lower part C, should be at least 6 in. in length, and will require careful cutting, the depth of the shoulders and the width of the upper end depending upon the amount of curve in the staves which are to be attached to it. It should be borne in mind that the object is to embed the staves so firmly that their upper ends, or the jaws of the tool, press tightly together. With this object the tenon should be cut, so that energetic screwing will be required to bring the staves home into their final position. The screws should be countersunk flush with the surface of the staves.
Fig. 58.—Iron Collar Rod.
A small wrench and a medium-sized vice will often be found useful. A nail-claw (Fig. 56) is required for pulling out the nails used to keep the work together. Pincers, nippers, and cutting pliers (Fig. 57) will be found useful as occasion demands.
An iron collar rod (Fig. 58) for stuffing the forewale must be obtained, as well as a hardwood stick, about 2 ft. 6 in. long, and having a V-shaped point, for filling the body of collars with straw; the stick is flat towards the V-shaped end, and round at the other end, the corners being rounded off smooth.
Fig. 59.—Steel Seat-iron.
A steel seat-iron (Fig. 59) is used in putting flock into cart-saddle panels, but chiefly for stuffing the peak of riding saddles, as the tool bends nicely with the shape of the saddle without tearing the cover or stretching it immoderately.