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Excerpt from Book of Trades, Algrove Publishing Classic
Reprint Series, 1999. (Originally published in 1866.)
The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer
Mahogany and many other of the harder woods are difficult to
work, as the grain does not all run the same way, so that in
planing them the wood is likely to split or chip where it should
be shaved off smoothly. To remedy this inconvenience, the Cabinet
Maker's planes are furnished with double irons, that is, an
iron with a flat dull edge is screwed on to the face of the
cutting iron, so as to prevent the shavings chipping against
the grain. The more cross-grained the wood is the closer the
workman brings down the dull iron towards the edge of the sharp
one, and his shavings are consequently finer.
The veneering plane is about the same size as the smoothing
plane, but the iron instead of having a smooth edge is toothed
like a fine saw, so that, instead of taking off shavings, it
makes scratches all along the grain of the wood. This is applied
to the veneer as well as to the wood to which the veneer is
to be glued, so that the glue may easily hold the two rough
surfaces together.
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to the veneer being put on, the work is well warmed before a
fire, and the glue brush worked freely over both the veneer
and wood to which it is to be applied. When the veneer is put
on, it is rubbed backward and forward, at the same time being
pressed down with the hands until it sticks in the right place.
There are often lumps here and there where there is too much
glue, and these are remedied by the veneering hammer, the head
of which is made of wood furnished with a strip of iron plate.
This strip is laid flat on the veneer, and the head of the hammer
pressed with the hand while it is worked about by the handle,
pressing out the glue as it moves towards the edge. When a piece
of furniture is too large to be covered with one veneer, these
thin slabs of wood are laid on in several pieces, the edges
being first planed quite straight and made to meet with the
greatest accuracy. The whole surface is afterwards worked with
the toothing plane, and then scraped with a flat square piece
of steel, which takes off a wonderfully fine thin shaving and
leaves the surface perfectly smooth. It is afterwards finished
with sandpaper. |
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