Material. - A piece of molding, 18" long and 2" wide. Work. - To saw the molding in the miter-box and test the result by uniting the pieces.

The successive cuts of the molding are shown in Fig. 4, starting from the right-hand end. Adjust each cut carefully, so that no portion of the edges remains between the cuts. In pushing the saw, which in ordinary practice is a back-saw or small thin cross-cut, guide it so as not to injure the saw-kerfs of the miter-box, and use very little force. The molding cut as directed gives two sets of four pieces. Each set may be fastened to a thin board 4" square, with small finishing nails, as in Fig. 5.

In molding a frame or panel, the lengths are accurately measured, usually by laying the molding on the side of the frame, and marking on its edge with a knife. The inside measurement of the frame (a b, Fig. 6) gives marks as at b and d, Fig. 3, which are adjusted to the saw-kerfs on the side d, Fig. 1, of the miter-box. The outside measurement (c d, Fig. 6) gives marks as at a and c, Fig. 3, and these are adjusted to the kerfs on the bottom piece of the box, as at f, Fig. 1. But in the lower moldings, shown in Fig. 6, the marks are made in the rabbets, and a little care must be taken to adjust them to the kerfs on the bottom of the miter-box.

Very large moldings are built up of several elements fastened to frames, as in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 shows a joint commonly used in trimming windows and doors, in which only the molded part is mitered. This miter is cut with the chisel alone, or with the aid of a guide, as shown at a, Fig. 9.

A miter-box for ordinary work should be about 18" long, and made of hard wood, 4" wide and 1 1/2" thick. The middle or bottom piece (a, Fig. 1) must be planed perfectly flat and with parallel and square edges; the sides (b, c, Fig. 1) firmly fastened with screws. The holes for these screws should be bored as shown in Fig. 2; the first boring, b, should admit the smooth shaft of the screw a; the second boring, c, should be smaller and the full length of the screw; the top of the hole, d, is countersunk for the head of the screw. The saw-cuts are laid out from the face-edge (d, Fig. 1), and made with the saw which is to be used in the box.

Ex. 16.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Fig. 9