Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/230

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
156
The Practical Boy.
[Dec.

tongue-and-groove joints are employed. They must be well made, however, so that perfect unions will result; for every piece of furniture will rack in time if not properly constructed. For this reason, only the plain joints are advocated for the young workman.

Of course there are more pieces of furniture shown in this article than one boy will wish to make; but, as tastes differ, I have given a generous assortment from which to select.


A Bracket-clock.

A Good design for a simple bracket-clock is shown in the illustration. It is made from thin boards half an inch thick, half a yard of burlap,
Fig. 1. A Bracket-clock
some large-headed nails, and an inexpensive clock movement run by springs or weights.

The box part of the case is eight inches square and three and a half inches in depth, and the bracket ends may be detached or he a part of the sides, cut, as shown in Fig. 2, to extend six inches below the bottom of the box. The dial and glass frame should measure six inches in diameter, and to fit it to the box it will he necessary to cut a hole in the front of the case five and a half inches in diameter, as shown also in Fig. 2.

The shelf top to the box is beveled at the under side and attached with glue and nails. It overhangs the sides and front of the box about two inches, and is made from wood three quarters of an inch thick.

If it is impossible to find large-headed nails to finish the edges of the front and sides, mock nail-heads, three quarters of an inch in diameter,
Fig. 2. Detail of the Bracket-clock cask.
can be cut from lead and applied with thin steel nails. The movement, which can be purchased from a clockmaker, is attached to the back of the case before the dial is made fast. The clockmaker can also mount and adjust the dial and movement if necessary.


A Reading-chair.

A useful piece of furniture, as shown in Fig. 3, is a reading-chair, which is arranged with shelves under the seat at bath sides to accommodate books. The frame of the chair is twenty inches across the front and twenty-two inches deep, outside measure, and the corner posts are two inches square and twenty-three inches high. The front board between the leg-posts is twelve inches wide, and is cut at the lower edge, as