The object of this work is to place before pupils who are beginning woodwork such information as will lead to a correct use of the tools and lay a good foundation for advanced work without lessening in any way the other benefits of school shop work.

It is designed for elementary rather than technical instruction, and therefore many problems and suggestions found in other works have been omitted. Great care, however, has been taken to arrange and illustrate the exercises employed so that pupils will avoid the common error of using tools improperly in the first years of work, and thus escape fixing habits which later will cause much trouble. We are certain there is no need of using tools improperly in the first years of shop work.

The work is so arranged that each new lesson contains a step in advance, yet is so closely related to the previous exercise that an ordinary pupil may properly comprehend and execute the new problem.

This book is intended for class use, and the author has endeavored so to arrange and grade the exercises that they may be followed very closely. Where no preliminary exercises are made, and the pupils proceed at once to the construction of some complete object, the problems should be studied topically as the pupil has need of them. The complete index and the 'cross references found in the text will aid greatly in finding any desired instruction. The special information required by the instructor will be found in another volume

If the methods of doing work given in the following pages are judged from the standpoint of first-class practical workmen they will be found correct in every case. Where there is a choice of methods, the one which is considered best for the pupil's use is given. The lessons have been tested carefully with many pupils, and the various processes tested not only in the school room, but also in years of practical work among mechanics. The foundation principles involved are treated so thoroughly that no pupil, after completing the book, need fear to use these methods in any first-class shop. In shops where special methods are employed these lessons will be found to have given a broad basis on which to build any special line of mechanical work. Above all, these exercises will give a drill in system, careful forethought, and intelligent perseverance which will be of great value to any pupil, either boy or girl, and will well repay the effort, even though the pupil may never use such tools after leaving school. Care must be taken to do the work thoroughly and earnestly in order to receive the full benfit of the course. Whenever possible, one hour and a half each day should be devoted to shop work.