Meadow soft grass has smaller seeds than the majority of grasses. So small are they that, by weigh ng and The King of the Cucumbers is a person of dignity. A large brass-headed furniture tack takes the place of an eyeglass in one eye, while the other is represented by a black carpet tack. His body is upheld by small rounded sticks, and his arms are wooden, too. The mouth, nose, and white of the eye are made by cutting away the peel. a steel bridge are fastened with steel rivets. There are more than a hundred different ways of making joints. And for every one there is a good reason why that one joint should be used rather than any other in a particular case. Here we will consider some of the simple ways of joining woodwork. If you take a piece of board or, say, the cover of a box, you are aware at once that the direction in which the fibre, or the grain, 8 9 10 at home, as well as the carpenter and cabinetmaker, has to employ joints in such a way that they will hold firmly and are suitable to the kind of work, and to see that the grain of the wood is arranged in the strongest direction so that it will not shrink and crack. GLUED JOINTS. Glue is one of the common cements, made from animal gelatine. It is applied hot to the surfaces of wood joints, and when cold it holds so securely that the timber will often split before the glue You could not, for instance, trust glue alone to secure the corners of a box. Not only would the "hold" of the glue on the end grain be weak, but the glued surface would be too small to be strong. In some cases, therefore, a glued joint is as strong as there is any need for, while in others it is almost useless. NAILING. Nailing is a strong and quick means of holding pieces of wood together. It is rather a rough way, because the heads of the nails show, and this, in cabinet-work, would spoil the appearance of otherwise neatly finished articles. Wire nails are used a great deal now, and are made in many different sizes and degrees of fineness. Screws are generally used in work that may have to be taken apart again and that cannot be treated roughly. The only way to get nailed work apart is to prise it with a chisel or screwdriver, or, in the case of a box, a hammer can be used to knock it apart. Nails in wood should always be placed so that, if any cutting is to be done with chisels, gouges, or saws, there shall be no risk of damage to the cutting edges through coming into contact with a hidden nail. CORNER JOINTS. joints suitable for boxes and box-like struc Pictures 1 to 16 show other, the sides go the longest way. Plain joints of this kind are used a great deal, but only for 1ough work. Sometimes sides are rebated, as shown in picture 2. This prevents the ends from being knocked inwards, for nails alone are not sufficient to keep the parts exactly in position. A better way is to form tongues on the ends fitting into grooves, as shown in picture 3. 16 a rough but strong method, often used in making packing-cases. Cleats, or strengthening pieces, are nailed across the end pieces, thus strengthening them, and also increasing the joint surface, so that the box could not so easily be knocked "out of square" by rough usage as some of the others might. Pictures 7, 8, 9, and 10 show corner joints that are seldom used for entire boxes. The grain of the wood in these may run either way. In all the other examples it should only run the way shown. Pictures 7 and 8 are rebated joints, with a bead formed outside to improve the appearance and to make the line of the joint unnoticeable. Picture 9 has what is called an ovolo moulding at its corner, and 10 has both the outside and inside corners rounded. If its inside corner were square, it would not be necessary to fit in the piece as shown. MITRES. Mitres are the joints used for neat, high-class box-work. The mitre, which in its simplest form is shown in picture 11, is the neatest possible joint, but there is no way of holding the parts together very strongly. The ends of all the pieces are cut to an angle of 45 degrees, and they then fit together as shown, with all the end grain hidden. Such joints are glued, but the glue 18 does not hold well on grain cut at such an angle. Sometimes fine nails are used as well, but more generally sawcuts are made (as shown) after the pieces have been glued together and the glue has hardened. Into these sawcuts thin slips of wood or keys are glued, so making it difficult to pull the joint apart. Stronger joints are made by means of stopped mitres, as in picture 12, used when the sides are of different thickness from the ends; or, if they are of equal thickness, lipped mitres, as in picture 13, are strong. In these two last cases there are square HOW THINGS ARE FASTENED TOGETHER shoulders fitting, in addition to the portions which are cut at an angle. DOVETAILS. The strongest corner-joints are made by cutting the joints so that they interlock. The simplest joint of this class is not really a dovetail, but is called a lock corner, and is seen in picture 14. These corners are cut by machinery, and are used chiefly 19 for light and small boxes for packing things in. They are glued only, and are very strong, but the appearance of locked corners is not considered good enough for them to be used for anything but cheap boxes. In dovetailed joints, seen in pictures 15 and 16, the interlocking portions are wedge-shaped instead of parallel, like lock corners, and therefore there is only one direction in which they can be put together or drawn apart. These, also, are usually only glued. You will observe that the ends of the dovetails have rather an unsightly appearance, and that the joint is not so neat, in fact, as THE the mitred one. But you may also have dovetails which are not visible, termed secret dovetails. They do not go right through, but only a part of the way into the sides, and there are several ways in which they may be fitted. Pictures 17 and 18 show the separate parts of joints like those in 15 and 16. That at 17 is a dovetailed joint, and is the strongest way to join two pieces of wood. That at 18 is called a lap dovetail. It is secret only when viewed from one face. It is used chiefly for drawers. Picture 19 is a secret dovetail, which, when together, appears on the outside as a mitred joint. Secret dovetails are often made to appear on the outside the same as 13. Secret dovetails are, of course, more troublesome to cut, and are not so strong as plain dovetails, but, for the sake of neat appearance, they are preferred in high-class cabinet-work. Strict accuracy in cutting is necessary for all dovetails, so that their fit may be perfect. DISAPPEARING THIS is a capital trick. Two things only are wanted for it-a handkerchief spread out upon the table, and a sixpence laid in the middle of it. The corners of the handkerchief are folded down over the coin, and anyone is permitted to feel that it is still there. And yet, at the conjurer's command, it passes through handkerchief and table, and is found on the floor beneath. The handkerchief is shaken out, and proves to be empty. This trick is good enough to make quite a reputation for the youthful wizard, and yet it is simplicity itself—when you know it! In the first place we must have two sixpences, in appearance as nearly alike as possible, and one of these we take an opportunity to drop quietly beforehand under the table at which we propose to perform the trick. The only other thing required is a little pellet of beeswax, the size of a peppercorn. This we must knead between the fingers till it is fairly soft, and then press, till needed in another sense, against the hinder part of our lowest vest button. To perform the trick, take the wax off the button, and press it against one corner of the handkerchief which you are going to use. Then lay the handkerchief on the table squarely in front of you, with the waxed corner nearest to the right hand. Lay the sixpence on the centre of the handkerchief, or, better still, let somebody else do this, to prove that there is "no deception." Then fold down the corners of the handkerchief one by one over the coin, beginning with the SIXPENCE waxed corner, and pressing this down a little, so as to make it adhere. This done, we ask someone to make sure, by feeling through the handkerchief, that the coin is still there. Each person who does so presses the wax a little closer. Now comes the exciting moment. "Now, ladies and gentlemen," you say, "I am going to make the sixpence pass right through the table, and be found upon the floor. If you will all be very quiet, perhaps you will hear it fall." They won't, but they may as well imagine that they do so. as We blow upon the centre of the handkerchief, saying, "Presto! Pass!" Then, hooking the first and second fingers of each hand inside the nearer opening of the handkerchief, shown in the picture, we draw the two corners smartly apart, one in each hand, and shake it out. The coin, adhering to the handkerchief, is drawn into the right hand. "Look under the table, and see whether it has gone through," you say, and while general attention is occupied by looking for and picking up the other coin, you will have ample opportunity to get rid of the one in the hand. 66 Of course we are not bound to make the coin pass through the table." If we prefer it, we may order it to pass under a candlestick, into a vase on the mantelpiece, or even into somebody's breast-pocket. All that is needful is to place the duplicate sixpence where we intend that it shall be found, and alter the command accordingly. |