Spruce, cypress, or yellow poplar

Fig. 11. A handle well designed for use and beauty.

2 pieces, ⅞" x8" x 16" 1 piece, ⅞ " x 8" x 8" or 1 board, ⅞" x 8"x 4"0"

1 piece heavy tin, 2"x2½"

1 pkg. wire brads, ⅞", No. 18

16 flathead wire nails, ⅝", No. 18.

8 doz. metalene upholstery nails, brown or green. No. 220 or copper tacks, 12 oz.

1 small can penetrating oil stain, brown or green

1 tin prepared wax

I. Getting out material. For this first project select a piece of wood that is free from knots, and smoothly planed on both sides.

The first step is to get 2 pieces, 16" long and 8" wide. If you can get them exactly 16" long at a mill, do so; experience in making lengths will come better later after some practice in handling tools. If you must get out the proper lengths yourself, buy one board 4' 0" long, and proceed as follows: Select the straightest edge of the board, and with the help of the try-square, draw a pencil line at right angles to this straight edge far enough from one end to avoid any "checks" (splits) that may be there. Place the board across two boxes or other support, letting the marked end project. Put your left knee or foot on the board to steady it, and with the crosscut-saw (see Handwork in Wood, p. 64), saw off the end of the board just outside of the mark, Fig. 20. Be careful when you near-lv reach the end of the cut to support the end of the board with your left hand, so that you may cut clean to the edge. In a sim ilar way, cut off two other pieces a little more than 16" long.

Fig 12. Slats and nail heads arranged in rhythmic order.

Fig. 13. Basket with ends of slats covered with mitered nosing.

Mark one broad surface for a "working face." (See Handwork in Wood, p. 72.) If the board is slightly warped, mark the concave side.

II. Planing the edges. The next step is to plane one edge of each 16" piece perfectly straight and square with a broad surface. To do this proceed as follows: Put one piece in the vise, long edge up, and clamp it firmly. Attend to the adjustments of your jack-plane. (See Handwork in Wood, pp. 69-72.) Of these, there are 3 principal ones. 1, the cap (2)1 to the cutter (1); 2, the Y adjustment (7); 3, the lateral adjustment (9).

Let us assume that the cutter is sharp. (If not, see Handwork in Wood, p. 59). In the first place, the "cap" or curling iron (2) should be screwed tight to the cutter (1) so that the edge of the cap is about 1/16" back from the edge of the cutter. Drop these two into the throat (19) of the plane, cap up, in such a way that the rectangular hole in the cap fits over the end of the "Y adjustment" (7). The clamp (4) is now buttoned over the clamp screw (5) and the thumb piece or clamp lever (20) pushed down tight. Now turn over the plane and look along the "sole" as in Fig. 21, and see that the cutter barely projects. You should see it as a thin black line across the shiny surface of the sole, Fig. 22. If it projects too far, bring it back by turning the brass set-screw (8). If one corner projects more than the other, adjust it by means of the lever for lateral adjustment (9). Now try the plane on the wood. Grasp the handle (11) firmly in the right hand, and the knob (12) firmly in the left hand. Place the bottom or sole (16) on the edge of the piece in the vise, so that only the toe (17) (the part in front of the cutter), rests on the wood. Press down hard on the knob and push the plane forward. When the plane rests firmly on the wood press equally on the knob and handle and then as the toe passes off the wood, press only on the handle. Finish the stroke with a slight upward swing of the plane. Be especially careful not to press down on the heel (18) at the beginning or on the toe at the end of the stroke. If you do, the surface which you are planing will not be straight but convex. Test the edge with the straight arris (the external angle formed by the union of two surfaces) of the plane, looking toward the light. (Fig. 23.) If the light does not come evenly between the edge of the board and the arris of the plane, plane off only the high part. Now test the edge for squareness, pressing the head of the try-square firmly against the side of the board and sliding it down until the blade just touches the edge, Fig. 21. Do this at several points along the edge, noticing which, if either, arris is higher than the other. If the left hand arris is higher, take off a shaving along that arris using only the right half of the cutter, that is, letting the left side of the sole of the plane overhang the board more than the right side, Fig. 25. But do not let it wobble. Repeat these tests and cuts until the edge is both straight and square. If the surface you are planing appears torn and not glossy, you are planing "across the grain/' In that case simply reverse the piece.