the end.
[HOW TO MAKE A TOOL CHEST.]
BY AN OLD BOY.
Carpentering is such a useful, healthy, and pleasing employment that boys will do well to learn the use of tools for convenience in making their own toys, traps, sleds, etc., even if they are never called upon to do some little "job" for their mothers.
Of course if a boy can afford to buy a full set of tools and chest, this particular article will have but little interest for him, as it is especially intended for those who must begin on an economical scale.
The tools absolutely needed, and which can be purchased for the least money, are: a handsaw, about 20 inches long, which can be used to cut crosswise as well as lengthwise of the wood; a tenon-saw, about 12 inches long, for cutting dovetails, and also across the grain of the wood; a smoothing-plane, about 8 inches long by 2½ inches broad; a mallet; a joiner's hammer; a two-foot rule of box-wood; a set square; two chisels, one an eighth of an inch broad, and the other three-eighths; a screw-driver; a marking gauge; a gimlet; a brace, with four or five bits of different sizes; a medium-sized gouge; and a bench-dog to hold the wood on the bench when it is being planed. With this assortment of tools the amateur carpenter will get on very well, and he can add to the stock as he grows more expert in the business.
Do not make the mistake of undertaking a too elaborate piece of work at first, for it is only by practice that you can come anywhere near perfection; but let your first work be to make a box for your tools, and see how neat a job you can make of it. You will want one about 2 feet long, 21 inches broad, and 10½ inches deep, for which the following material will be required: 12 feet half-inch pine-wood 11 inches wide, one pair of hinges or butts, 12 screws half an inch long, lock and key, glue, and brads.
Cut the wood into pieces, as follows: For the sides, two pieces 24½ inches long; for the ends, two pieces 21½ inches long; for the lid, two pieces 24½ inches long; for the bottom, two pieces 24 inches long. These dimensions should be marked off on the board with a rule and pencil before they are cut. The sides and the ends should be planed on both sides, and the top and bottom edges planed true and square. The breadth of the wood will be 10½ inches.
