Things To Make | Page 3

top. Move the leg about till it makes the proper angle at the mark, and draw a pencil line down each side of the leg as close up as possible. Since the legs may vary slightly in size, use each once only for marking, and number it and the place to which it belongs.
Lines must now be drawn along the upper and under sides of the top, parallel to and 3/4-inch from the edge, to complete the marking out of the notches.
Cut just inside the side marks with a fine tenon saw, and remove the wood between the cuts back to the top and bottom marks with a broad, sharp chisel, making the surface of the cut as true and flat as you can. Then "offer" the leg that belongs to the cut, its end projecting an inch or so. If it won't enter, bevel off the sides of the cut very slightly till it will. A good driving fit is what one should aim at. While the leg is in place, draw your pencil in the angles which it makes with the top above and below, to obtain the lines AB, CD (Fig. 2, a).
Bevelling the Legs.-The marking out of the bevels will be much expedited if a template is cut out of tin or card. It should be just as wide as the legs, and at a point 4 inches from one end run off at an angle of 162 degrees from one edge. (See Fig. 2,b.)
[Illustration: FIG. 2.-Showing how to cut sloping joint for trestle leg.]
Draw with a square a line, EEl, across what is to be the inside of the leg. The template is applied to the end side of the leg and moved up till its sloping edge occupies a position in which a perpendicular dropped on to it from C is 1/2 inch long. Mark the line EF (Fig. 2, b) and the perpendicular CG. The bevel is marked on the other side of the leg, the, angle of the template being at E1 (Fig. 2, a) to guide the saw, which is passed down through the leg just outside the marks till in line with CD. The piece is detached by a cross cut along CG, CD. This procedure, which sounds very complicated, but is really very simple, and performed much more quickly than it can be described, yields a leg properly bevelled and provided with a shoulder to take the weight of the top.
[Illustration: Fig.3--End elevation of sawing trestle.]
The leg at the diagonally opposite corner is an exact replica of the one first made; the other two are similar, but the direction of the bevels is reversed, as will be evident after a little consideration.
When all the legs are ready, knock them into place, driving the shoulders tight up against the top, and nail them on. The projections are sawn off roughly and planed down flush with the top. Then affix the tie C at each end, and plane its edges off neatly.
Truing the Legs.--Stand the stool on end, top flat against the wall. Measure off a 20-inch perpendicular from the wall to the outside corner of each of the two upper legs. (Fig. 3.) Lay a straightedge from mark to mark, and draw lines across the legs. Reverse the trestle, and do the same with the legs at the other end. Then turn the trestle on its side, and draw lines on the other outside faces of the legs, using the lines already made as guides. If the operation has been carried through accurately, all eight lines will be in a plane parallel to the top. Cut off the ends of the legs below the lines, and the trestle is finished.

II. A JOINER'S BENCH.
After finishing his sawing trestle the reader may be willing to undertake a larger job, the manufacture of a joiner's bench--if he does not already possess a good article--heavy and rigid enough to stand firm under plane and hammer.
For the general design and detailed measurements he is referred to Figs. 4 and 5, in which the dimensions of each part are figured clearly. The length of 5 feet, width of 2 feet (exclusive of the back E), and height of 2 feet 7-1/2 inches will be found a good average. If the legs prove a bit long for some readers, it is a simple matter to lay a plank beside the bench to raise the (human) feet an inch or two.
In order to give rigidity, the struts S1S2 of the trestles at the end and the braces DD on the front are "halved" where they overlap the legs and front so as to offer the resistance of a "shoulder" to any thrust.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Front elevation of Joiner's bench]
Materials.--The cost of these will be, approximately: wood, 12s. 6d.; [12