The object of this work is to furnish House Carpenters with the practical directions necessary to find the lines for cutting every description of joint, as well as for framing the most difficult roofs, according to a new and easy system, founded on accurate geometrical principles.

For more than twenty years, the author has applied the rules here laid down, to the framing and connecting of timbers; to the framing and constructing of roofs; to the mitering of planes and irregular surfaces at any angle; to the mitering of circles, and to finding the joints in every variety of splayed work; also to the elevations of the frame work of roofs, and to ascertaining the relative sizes required to support a given weight.

Together with these rules, the author also presents tables of the weight and cohesive strength of the different materials used in the construction of buildings, as well as the weight required to crush said materials. And to all this is added a complete treatise on mathematical instruments.

There can be little doubt that a work of this kind is very much needed by carpenters and builders, especially by those who are inexperienced in the different kinds of labor which they are liable to be called upon to perform. Many a journeyman carpenter has found himself suddenly thrown out of employment, simply because he was ignorant of the rules by which he should perform some required task. It is rather for the benefit of such, than for the experienced workman, that this volume is designed; and should it be the means of promoting their interest, or inciting them to a study of the noble science upon which these arts are founded, the author will feel well compensated for his labor.

It is but due to acknowledge, that the valuable works of Mr. Peter Nicholson and Thomas Tredgold, have been freely consulted in the preparation of this volume.

Newark, N. J, May, 1863.