PLATE III. - TURNING WITH GOUGE AND CHISEL.

The Chisel is the plane of the wood-turner, and, rightly managed, will leave a surface so smooth that a touch of glass-paper would spoil it; but it needs to be gripped with a firm hand, and used with decision. Suppose a cylindrical piece of wood to have been turned by a gouge, and that it is desired to finish it to a truer surface than it is possible to produce with a gouge, the chisel is the tool to use. It is not ground straight across, and with the bevel on one side only, as is the case with a carpenter's chisel, but there is a bevel on both sides, and the edge is ground slanting, so that there is formed one sharp point and one blunt one (No. 4, Plate III.). As a rule, the blunt point leads, whether the tool is being worked to right or left (No. 5, Plate III.), and, also, in cutting down hill on a curve or incline. But this tool is not laid flat on the rest, but slightly on edge, for this reason: if laid flat, as a tyro would probably place it, it could only scrape, and would tear up the fibres of any soft wood. It is, therefore, slightly raised upon edge, care being taken that the upper sharp corner never comes in contact with the wood, or it will hitch in and spoil the work. Only the middle part of the edge, therefore, actually cuts, and this, engaging the fibres at an angle, no longer tears them apart. When there is a rounded surface to be worked, this tool is made to travel, like the gouge, both ways down hill; and so, also, in a hollow, it never sweeps the curve from end to end, but the cuts are carried down each way, meeting at the bottom. It may be conjectured that, just at the point of juncture, the two cuts will not exactly meet, but practice will make them do so. The cut is made so as to reduce the shaving at this point to almost nothing; a slight rub of glass-paper will obliterate any little defect that still remains. After a while, even this will be unnecessary. Of course, a beginner must not expect to succeed all at once with this tool, but I strongly advise him for a long time to work entirely with gouge and chisel, and not to attempt hollow work till he has become an adept at what is solid. Let him turn a set of handles, ninepins, towel-rollers, rolling-pins, ring-stands, chair-rails, and anything else he can think of: drawer-knobs, doorhandles, and other articles of curved surface will give him excellent practice, and pave the way for those which require greater skill - a skill only to be gained by steady, consistent, and painstaking practice. I have given drawings here (Plate TV.) of some such articles, including variously shaped tool-handles. The little pilasters will do for rails of book-trays, overmantels, brackets, shelves, and a score of similar articles. A round ruler, well and truly finished by the gouge and chisel alone, may be considered a proof that the young turner has passed his novitiate. Indeed, he may attempt simple hollow work long before his hand and eye are equal to so severe a test of skill.

Hollow Ware is chuck work - i.e., the work is held by the chuck alone, the back poppit being pushed entirely out of the way. Very deep or long articles, however, need extra support, by means of a boring collar, of which we need not speak further at present. An egg-cup will be a capital thing to begin with. Saw off a bit of beech, birch, or other wood, long enough to serve the purpose, the length and size being easily determined by reference to a pattern. Allow a little more than absolutely necessary, and screw it upon the taper screw chuck, after securing the latter in its place on the mandrel. If care is taken to bore a hole centrally, and not too large, the piece will abut fairly against the face of the chuck, and will run evenly; but to insure this it must be cut off squarely at the end. The back poppet may be brought up to help sustain it while the rougher excrescences are being cut away, and the whole brought into approximate form, after which it must be removed. The outside will present no special difficulty if sufficient practice has been obtained upon solid work, but the hollowing out needs some care, and especially needs a knowledge of how to do it in the best way. The end must be first of all faced nicely, using the gouge, as explained, with its bevelled back against the work, and its hollow outwards towards the right hand (No. 3, Plate III.). The rest is still to remain parallel to the Lathe bed, as in turning the outer surface. Now, keeping the back or bevel as before, bring the point or middle of the edge to the centre of the work, and cause it to penetrate slightly, by moving the right hand, which holds its handle, a little outwards. This will cut a little conical recess. Repeat this, pushing the gouge onwards each time beyond the centre, and also gradually raising the point and rolling the tool over, till, at what may be called the top of the cut, it lies almost face downwards. It is difficult to describe the action, but the shaving should curl out rapidly in little coils, leaving a smooth surface. For deep cuts, it may be necessary to turn the rest round somewhat, so as to bring its tee more across the face of the work (as shown in No. 1, Plate III.), but not entirely so. This is a curious way of using a gouge, causing it to cut beyond the centre instead of on the near side; but nothing can exceed the ease with which it will cut when so used, and the hollow can be extended and deepened, within certain limits, with great rapidity: a few minutes will suffice for an egg-cup. It is worth while to risk spoiling one such article, by turning round the rest to stand across the work - (it is so placed for hard-wood turning) - and then to lay the gouge on its back, and try to hollow out the egg-cup by turning the near side instead of the further one. Probably, any novice would try thus if left to himself. The tool held still will bore a hole of its own size, just as a quill bit would do, if used in a carpenter's brace. But as soon as the attempt is made to enlarge it, the gouge will catch in. Even here, however, something may be done by remembering the rule to keep the back, or bevel, against the surface to be cut. By this, however, it is evident that the tool must be on its side, and not on its back; the hollow being towards the centre, and the cut proceeding from without inwards. There will be no "catch in" in this case, and the hollowing may often be carried forward thus. But as long as the tool can be got to work in the other manner, cutting from the bottom of the recess outwards, this will be found to produce the better work. The egg-cup is so comparatively shallow, and of such small size, that it may be begun and finished thus; but for larger work both methods may be combined - now working from the centre outwards, and now the other way. In fact, a turner can use his tools in all sorts of ways with equal facility, but a learner should not take such liberties.