BILLY BOY’S WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 10 May 1930, Page 24 (Supplement)

BILLY BOY’S WORKSHOP

HOW TO MAKE A WORK BENCH. • This week, by special request, I am telling you how to make a small workbench which you will find useful when making other things described in the Carpentry Corner. It should not be at all difficult- to construct if you have learned how to use saw, plane and chisel. You will require the following timber, which can be purchased at a wood yard for a few shillings: One 10ft length of .2,Jin x 2‘m quartering (or two sft lengths); one Oft length of 3in x lin

quartering; one Oft length of Gin x |in planking; one 3ft length of Gin x lin planking; one Gft length of 4in x 5-Bin planking; one 3ft length of 7in x 5-Bin planking. You need not obtain thio wood in one batch; get one or two pieces at a time, as the work proceeds and your pocketmoney allows! The first parts to construct are the end frames for supporting the bench. Take the piece of 2tin x 2in quartering and carefully saw it into four pieces, 2ft Gin long, for the legs. Now, with a try-square and pencil, mark out the lop part of each leg which is “halved” to take the cross-piece A. With your tenon flaw, cut away the parts not required, and remove any roughness with rt chisel. Next, from the 3in x lin quartering, cut four pieces Ift Bin long, and, after roughly planing them all over, screw

them to the legs by two stout screws tn each end, as shown in the second diagram. Each cross-piece A must be cut away, as shown at B, to a depth of Jin removing that amount from each front leg at the same time to accommodate the front bench plank C, which is thicker than the other two. Before screwing down this plank C, fix the cross-piece D to the legs by two screws in each end. See that the top edge of the plank comes flush with the top of the legs. The two. |in planke can be screwed down after planing the edges so that they fit nicely togetherNow take the 7in x 5-Bin plank, eaw it to a length of 2ft Sin, and screw the ends down to the lower cross-pieces. To keep the bench rigid, two diagonal stays, cut from a 2in x lin batten, can be ecrewed to the legs on the inside. The back-piece E (tin x 5-Bin planking), when screwed in position, projects about lin above the top of the bench to prevent took being pushed off.

To complete the bench, mark out the position of the stop G, about Gin from the left hand side-of the bench, and make a rectangular hole 2in x lin right through the plank 0. To do this, take your brace and fin bit and drill two holes side by side, and then finish the hole to the required oblong shape with a chisel. The wooden stop, which can be about 4in long, must be a tight fit in the hole, and can be tapped up when required by means of a mallet or hammer from underneath the bench.

The Hut Carpenter.