BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1935, Page 6 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

A SMALL WRITING DESK. ( This week, by special request, I will give instructions for making a little . writing desk. You will see by the dia--1 grams that it has a drawer, and a hinged j sloping top below which is a compartI ment for note books, paper and so on. At | the back of the desk there is a recess l for pens, pencils, and an ink bottle. For the base of the desk use a flat piece of three-eighths-inch plywood measuring seventeen and a-half inches by thirteen inches, and smooth it on both sides and edges with fine glass-paper. Cut the two sides from planed wood three-eighths of an inch thick, to the dimensions given at A. For the back part, B, saw and plane a piece of three-eighths-inch wood sixteen inches long and four inches wide, and glue and screw this between the sides flush with the back edges. Now glue and screw these parts to the base so that the sides and back are half an inch from its edges. Use three-quarter-inch brass screws, and well countersink the holes on the underside of the base before driving them in. The front rail, C, also of three-eighths-irrih wood, is sixteen inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide, and is glued 1 and screwed in place with the front edges of the sides. The floor, D, is a piece of three-ply wood cut to the required size and supported on fillets of half-inch by three-eighths-inch strip wood which are glued and screwed to the back and sides.of the desk. Cut the partition E to the required size and glue it on to the floor and sides of the desk. Two triangular strips, running the whole width of the desk, must now be glued in the corners to strengthen them, as indicated Jn the diagrams. The back top part and hinged slope are both seventeen and a-half inches

wide, and are hinged together as indicated in the top and lower diagrams. Before screwing the back part in place mark opt on it the position of the flap lid, which is ten inches long and two and a-half inches wide. Cut this out with a fretsaw and make the front cut at an agle to keep the lid level when it is hinged in place. Make the drawer as shown in diagram F, using strips of quarter-inch wood for the sides and back, three-eighths-inch wood for the front, and a piece of threeply wood for the bottom. Glue all the parts together and fix with small panel pins. The finished drawer should slide easily between the side fillets on the sides of the desk. Give the desk two coats of varnish stain and screw a wooden knob to the front of the drawer as shown in the first diagram. The Hut Carpenter.