Teasdale The Boy's Book of Trades and the Tools used in them

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-3-98826-205-9
Verlag: OTB eBook publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 204 Seiten

Reihe: Classics To Go

Excerpt: ?Every human being born into the world will find that happiness mainly depends upon the work that he does and the manner in which it is done. Those who imagine that the necessity for labour is only an evil must be either grossly ignorant or wilfully wicked. Whoever wastes his life in idleness, either because he need not work in order to live, or because he will not live to work, will be a wretched creature, and at the close of a listless existence will regret the loss of precious gifts and the neglect of great opportunities. Our daily work, however common or humble it may seem, is our daily duty, and by doing it well we may even make it a part of our daily worship. For these reasons the choice of a trade is a most important event in every boy?s life, and it is no less difficult than important, because when a boy has just left school he seldom knows much about the operations of any trade, and cannot be expected to express any preference[iv] for one more than another. Whether this book will be of any use in this respect, by directing attention to some of the principal industries of the country in which we live, must after all depend upon the tastes of each particular reader; but it may at all events claim to be useful in making known what are the operations necessary to some of our great manufactures, and in explaining the method of using the tools employed by those engaged in them.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Teasdale, Sara

Leseproben

THE CARPENTER.
THE CARPENTER’S SHOP. An account of the tools and implements used for working in wood would scarcely be complete without some remarks upon wood itself, and you can have no better information on this subject than that which has been written by a gentleman[1] who is thoroughly acquainted with the different kinds of timber, and with all the materials used in building. [1] Mr. E. Dobson, Assoc. Inst. C. E. If we examine a transverse section of the stem of a tree, we perceive it to consist of three distinct parts; the bark, the wood, and the pith. The wood appears disposed in rings round the pith, the outer rings being softer, and containing more sap, than those immediately round the pith, which form what is called the heart-wood. These rings are also traversed by rays extending from the centre of the stem to the bark, called medullary rays. The whole structure of a tree consists of minute vessels and cells, the former conveying the sap through the wood in its ascent, and through the bark to the leaves in its descent; and the latter performing the functions of secretion and nutrition during the life of the tree. The solid parts of a tree consist almost entirely of the fibrous parts composing the sides of the vessels and cells. By numerous experiments it has been ascertained that the sap begins to ascend in the spring of the year, through the minute vessels in the wood, and descends through the bark to the leaves, and, after passing through them, is deposited in an altered state between the bark and the last year’s wood, forming a new layer of bark and sap-wood, the old bark being pushed forward. As the annual layers increase in number, the sap-wood ceases to perform its original functions; the fluid parts are evaporated or absorbed by the new wood, and, the sides of the vessels being pressed together by the growth of the latter, the sap-wood becomes heart-wood or perfect wood, and until this change takes place it is unfit for the purposes of the builder. The vessels in each layer of wood are largest on the side nearest the centre of the stem, and smallest at the outside. This arises from the first being formed in the spring, when vegetation is most active. The oblong cells which surround the vessels are filled with fluids in the early growth; but, as the tree increases in size, these become evaporated and absorbed; and the cells become partly filled with depositions of woody matter and indurated secretions, depending on the nature of the soil, and affecting the quality of the timber. Thus Honduras mahogany is full of black specks, while the Spanish is full of minute white particles, giving the wood the appearance of having been rubbed over with chalk. The best time for felling trees is either in mid-winter, when the sap has ceased to flow, or in midsummer, when the sap is temporarily expended in the production of leaves. An excellent plan is, to bark the timber in the spring and fell it in winter, by which means the sap-wood is dried up and hardened; but as the bark of most trees is valueless, the oak tree (whose bark is used in tanning) is almost the only one that will pay for being thus treated. The seasoning of timber consists in the extraction or evaporation of the fluid parts, which are liable to decomposition on the cessation of the growth of the tree. This is usually effected by steeping the green timber in water, to dilute and wash out the sap as much as possible, and then drying it thoroughly by exposure to the air in an airy situation. The time required to season timber thoroughly in this manner will of course much depend on the sizes of the pieces to be seasoned; but for general purposes of carpentry, two years is the least that can be allowed, and, in seasoning timber for the use of the Joiner, a much longer time is usually required. Properly seasoned timber, placed in a dry situation with a free circulation of air round it, is very durable, and has been known to last for several hundred years without apparent deterioration. This is not, however, the case when exposed to moisture, which is always more or less prejudicial to its durability. When timber is constantly under water, the action of the water dissolves a portion of its substance, which is made apparent by its becoming covered with a coat of slime. If it be exposed to alternations of dryness and moisture, as in the case of piles in tidal waters, the dissolved parts being continually removed by evaporation and the action of the water, new surfaces are exposed, and the wood rapidly decays. Where timber is exposed to heat and moisture, the albumen or gelatinous matter in the sap-wood speedily putrefies and decomposes, causing what is called rot. The rot in timber is commonly divided into two kinds, the wet and the dry, but the chief difference between them is, that where the timber is exposed to the air, the gaseous products are freely evaporated; whilst, in a confined situation, they combine in a new form, viz. the dry-rot fungus, which, deriving its nourishment from the decaying timber, often grows to a length of many feet, spreading in every direction, and insinuating its delicate fibres even through the joints of brick walls. In addition to the sources of decay above mentioned, timber placed in sea water is very liable to be completely destroyed by the perforations of the worm, unless protected by copper sheathing, the expense of which causes it to be seldom used for this purpose. In modern houses the labours of the Builder, the Mason, and the Plasterer, would be of little use unless they were accompanied by that of the Carpenter, since a very large proportion of every building consists of the woodwork of which its interior structure is greatly composed. As it is one of the most useful, so the Carpenter’s may be considered the most ancient of trades, for nearly all other handicrafts require the preparation or manufacture of the materials, but the Carpenter originally found his materials in the forest, and at once set to work to construct various articles from the trunks and stems of the trees best suited for the purpose. We can only imagine one trade older than that of the Carpenter, and that is the Tool Maker, and as the earliest tools, or at all events some portion of them, were probably made of hard wood, the Tool Maker may in some sense be said to have been a Carpenter also. Axe. Adze. Saw. Compasses. Plumb Rule. Hammer. Square. Mallet. Strictly speaking, the business of the Carpenter is only with the larger portions of buildings and the rough timber frameworks which support them, and his principal tools are the axe and the adze, for chopping and roughly smoothing timbers; the saw, for sawing beams and planks; the chisel, for making mortis holes for joining beams together, and for cutting and paring wood; the chalk line, a line rubbed with chalk, and used to make a straight line upon a board or beam, to mark the direction in which it is to be sawn; the plumb rule, already described amongst the Builder’s tools; the level; the square; the compasses; all of which have been described in previous trades; the hammer; the mallet, and various sorts of nails. The other tools represented in the engravings belong more properly to the Joiner, but as the trades of the Carpenter and the Joiner are almost always united, we will speak of all the tools as belonging to one business. Carpenter’s work, then, consists of the framing roofs, partitions, and floors, in making the various joints used in beams, ties, rafters, and joists for supporting floors, and the proper way of supporting buildings by posts and girders. The Carpenter requires to be strong and active, that he may properly handle the heavy timbers on which he has to work; he should have a knowledge of the science of mechanics, that he may be able to provide for the strains and thrusts to which the different parts of his work are exposed, and supply the proper means of resisting them; and he should also be able to understand how to make what are called “working drawings,” that he may “set out,” or properly draw a plan of the work he has to do, from the designs of the Architect. The Carpenter being concerned with the portions of a building which are made of timber, you will be better able to understand his trade by a short description of what these are; and we will then speak a little of the Joiner, whose trade is generally confounded with that of the Carpenter. First: Partitions, or inner divisions of a building, may be either of brick, stone, or wood; and, in the latter case, they are generally “framed,” or supported in a more solid framework, which should form a portion of the main building, that is, of the outer wall; and should be quite independent of the floors, which should not support, but be supported by them. Second: Flooring is formed by joists or strong beams of timber reaching from wall to wall, where they rest upon other beams, called wall plates, which are built into the walls themselves. The floor boards are nailed over the upper edges of the joists, and the lower edges receive the laths and plaster, which form the ceilings of the rooms beneath. Large buildings are sometimes fitted with double framed floors, with two sets of joists, and building joists resting on girders; and in superior houses, the wall plates are often supported by...