Preface
In preparing this book,
it has been the author's purpose to present, in as
complete and concise form as possible, the knowledge
which every wood-worker should possess regarding the
care and use of his tools and the material upon
which he employs them.
Whether an amateur,
apprentice, or skilled workman, whether a carpenter,
boat builder, pattern maker, or wood carver, the
elementary knowledge of the construction of tools,
of sharpening them,
and
of their adjustment and manipulation is practically
the same.
The structure of wood,
and the necessity of applying its peculiarities of
grain and texture to the advantage of the work in
hand, also is the same upon all branches of
woodwork.
While innumerable tools
and cutting devices have been invented to enable the
wood-worker to accomplish special results
economically both as to time and material, a study
of them will prove that they all operate upon a few
simple principles, a knowledge of which is not
difficult to acquire, though skill and judgment in
the application of the tools can be attained only by
continuous and properly directed practice.
It would be both
impossible and unnecessary in a book of this sort to
describe these various devices, though in a
schoolroom it is a great advantage to have as many
of them as practicable, not for their use only, but
that the students may become familiar with their
purposes and the applications of the fundamental
principles upon which each is based.
The actual use of tools
may be considered the ABC of woodwork, as it bears
the same relation to the finished product of the
workman as the alphabet bears to literature, the
space between the mere mechanical facility in the
use of either tools or alphabet, being the result of
the judgment, skill, and individuality of either the
workman or the author.
Thus, if a student
acquires the facility to use the tools described in
this volume, he will have little difficulty in using
other and more complex tools; and when he has
mastered the principles of construction involved in
the exercises explained in the following book of
this series, the "Elements of Construction," and the
correct use of the tools involved in making these,
together with their applications and combinations,
he has acquired the fundamental knowledge of all
construction in wood.
CHARLES A. KING.
Bay City, Michigan
1911
