The amateur woodworker, especially in the small towns, generally has trouble in procuring fittings, such as escutcheons, hinge-plates, etc.,. and it is the purpose of this article to show how they can be made at home at a very small expense. For the purpose will be required some 24 to 30 gauge sheet brass and some pieces of hard thin wood, say about 3/16" thick, such as is used for fret-sawing. First, draw on one piece of the wood the design, as shown in Fig. 1 at A. Then place a piece of brass of suitable size between two pieces of wood, as indicated at B. Drill the holes, E, through the top piece of wood and the brass, which will be the holes for screws in the finished escutcheon, and put small screws through into the bottom piece. With the two pieces of wood and brass fastened between them, it is an easy matter to saw out with a strong fine-toothed fret-saw the keyhole and around the edge, and,, with a little filing and polishing, a very nice-fitting ornament can be made.

Fig.1

Fig. 2

In Fig. 2 D represents a folded hinge made in the same manner as described for Fig. 1. If the amateur is handy with a graver, scrolls can be cut on the surface which will add to the looks, but a nicely polished surface looks neater than poorly cut scrolls.

The above is just a hint, and may interest some of the readers of Amateur Work to the extent of making some very pretty additions to their cabinet work.