(particular care being taken to make them regular and even, and to saw them at regular depths), some strong glue be rubbed into each kerf. When bent into the required sweep, a piece of strong canvas should be glued over the kerfs themselves, and the glue be left to harden in the position to which the stuff is bent. Another method is to glue up the stuff in thin thicknesses, in a cawl or mould, made with two pieces of thick wood cut into the required sweep. This method, if done with care, that is, making the several pieces of equal thickness throughout, of wood free from knots, is perhaps the best that can be devised for strength and accuracy. It is also a practice sometimes to glue up a sweep in three thicknesses, making the middle piece the contrary way of the grain to the outside and inside pieces, which run lengthwise. This method, though frequently used for expedition, is much inferior to the above, as the different pieces cannot shrink together, and consequently the joint between them is apt to give way, A solid piece, if not too thick, may be sometimes bent into the form required. If a piece of timber be well soaked upon the intended outside of the curve, it may be bent into position, and if kept in that position till cold will retain the curvature that is given to it. The only other method of forming a curve, necessary for us to mention, is that of cutting out solid pieces to the required sweep, and gluing them upon one another till they have the thickness required, taking care that the joints are alternately in the centre of each piece below it, something in the manner of courses of bricks one above the other. In this case, it will be necessary, if the work be not painted, to veneer the whole with a thin piece, after it has been thoroughly dried and planed level, and then made somewhat rough with either a rasp or toothing-plane. But the joiner must adopt one plan or another, according to circumstances. Scribing. Scribing is the operation by which a piece of wood-work is made to fit against an irregular surface. Thus, for instance, the plinth of a room is made to meet or correspond with the unevenness of the floor. To determine the portion which is to be cut off from a partition, or any wood-work where a floor or ceiling is irregular, it is only necessary to open the compasses to a width equal to the greatest distance between the plinth and the floor; and, passing one leg over the uneven surface, the other leg will leave a mark on the plinth. If the wood be cut away on that line, a surface will be obtained which will make a good joint with the floor or ceiling. But the chief use of the art of scribing is to enable the joiner so to connect the moulding of panels or cornices, that when placed together, they shall seem to form a regular mitre-joint. This method has certainly one advantage over the common method of mitring, for, if the stuff should shrink, little or no alteration will be made in the appearance, but, under the same circumstances, a mitre would open, and the joint would be shown. The method adopted is this: To cut one piece of the moulding to the required mitre, and then, instead of cutting the other to correspond with it, cut away the parts of the first piece to the edge of the first moulding, which will then fit to the other moulding, and appear as a regular mitre. Finishing of Joiners' Work. Joiners' work is generally intended to increase the beauty of a building. When a joiner works in wainscot, oak, or mahogany, his chief object must be to obtain a surface perfectly smooth and even. When the framing is glued together, the glue which oozes out, and may be spilt upon the work, must be allowed to remain a few minutes and chill, and may then be carefully scraped off with a chisel; and the parts which cannot be thus cleaned may be washed with a sponge dipped in hot water and squeezed nearly dry. This not only saves trouble in operations which follow, but prevents staining, always produced when glue is suffered to remain till quite hard, particularly on wainscot, which turns black in every joint or place where the glue is suffered to remain. After this operation, which, though it may appear tedious to some workmen, will be found a saving of time, the work should remain till perfectly dry; and, when the joints and other parts have been levelled with a smoothing plane, the whole surface may be passed under a smooth scraper, and finished with fine glass paper. It will be sometimes necessary, when the grain is particularly cross, to damp the entire surface with a sponge "to raise the grain," and then again to apply the glass-paper. The work will then be ready for polishing with wax, or varnishing, and the good appearance of the work will be in proportion to the time and trouble expended in the process. ་ 1 In cleaning pine, the same precautions must be taken for the removal of glue left upon the joints, or spilt upon the work, as already described. This being done, the work may be cleaned off with a piece of glass-paper that has been rubbed with chalk, or, in some cases, with a piece of hearthstone. The work is then ready for the painter; but as there are knots and other places where the turpentine contained in the wood is apt to ooze out, either with or without the increase of heat, and thus spoil the appearance of the finishing, those parts are done over with a composition, and the process is called priming. This is properly the painter's business; but it must sometimes be done by the joiner, for the sake of saving his work. The composition used for this purpose is made with red lead, size, and turpentine, to which is sometimes added a small quantity of linseed oil. Priming has also the advantage of preventing the knots from being seen through the paint. Some workmen omit in this composition the oil and the turpentine, but the size of itself is apt to peel off, and does not thoroughly unite itself with the wood. Another method of cleaning-off pine is sometimes adopted. When the surface has been made quite smooth with the plane, it is rubbed with a piece of chalk, and the whole is cleaned with a piece of fine pumice-stone, as in the former process it was done with glasspaper; but if the grain should be still rough, the work may be damped with a sponge, and the operation repeated when dry. . As, in finishing interior work, it is now customary to imitate the graining of different kinds of wood, it is necessary that the joiners' work should be well finished; for if a good even surface be not provided, it will be impossible for the painter to produce the effect he desires. Every defect in the ground will, in fact, be more visible under a delicate graining than when the surface is covered with successive coats of color; but, even in the latter case, work well prepared will not only look better, but the color will not be so apt to chip and peel off as when the surface is not properly levelled. TERMS USED IN BUILDING. Abacus.-The upper member of the capital of a column, that on which the architrave rests. It has different forms in the several orders: In the Tuscan or Doric, it is a square tablet; in the Ionic, its edges are moulded; in the Corinthian, its sides are concave, and frequently enriched with carving. Abutment. That part of a pier from which the arch springs. Acanthus-A plant whose leaves are carved on the Corinthian and Composite capital. They are differently disposed, according to circumstances; and the leaves of the laurel and parsley are sometimes employed in their place. Acroterium.-A pedestal on the angle or apex of a pediment, intended as a base for sculpture. Altitude. The perpendicular height of anything in the direction of the plumb line. The length of a body is measured on the body itself, and remains constant, its altitude varies according to its inclination to or from the perpendicular. Alto Relievo.—A sculpture, the figures of which project from the surface on which they are carved. Amphiprostylos-An order of Grecian temples, having columns in the back as well as the front. Amphitheatre.-A double theatre, employed by the ancients for public amusements. The colosseum at Rome, built by Vespasian, is one of these. Annulet.-A small square moulding, used to separate others; the fillet which separates the flutings of a column is sometimes known by this term. Anto.-Pilasters attached to a wall, receiving an entablature, and having bases and capitals differing according to the order employed, but always unlike those of the columns. Antepagmenta.-A term in ancient architecture, the architraves round doors. Apophyge. That part of a column which connects the upper fillet of the base and the under one of the capital with the cylindrical part of the shaft. Aræostylos That style of building in which the columns are distant from one another from four to five diameters. Strictly speaking, the terni should be limited to an intercolumniation of four diameters, which is only suited to the Tuscan order. Arch. Such an arrangement, in a concave form, of building materials, as enables them, supported by piers or abutments, to carry weights and resist strains. Arch-buttress.--Sometimes called a flying buttress; an arch springing from a buttress or pier against a wall. Architrave. That part of the entablature which rests upon the capital of a column, and is beneath the frieze. It is supposed to represent the principal beam of a timber building. Area-This term is applied to superficies, whether of timber, stone, or other material, and is the superficial measurement; that is, the length multiplied into the breadth. The word area sometimes signifies an open space. Arris-The line in which two surfaces meet each other. Ashler. Common freestone, as it comes from the quarry, generally about nine inches thick, but of different superficial dimen sions. Ashlering.-Quartering, to which laths are nailed. Astragal-A small moulding with a semicircular profile, sometimes plain and sometimes ornamented. Attic Order. A term used to denote the low pilasters which are placed over orders of columns or pilasters, and frequently employed in the decorations of an attic. B. Baluster.-A small pillar or pilaster, supporting a rail. Band.-A square member. To distinguish the situation in which it is placed, or the order in which it is used, an adjective is frequently prefixed; thus, a dentil or a modillion band. Base. The lower division of a column. The Grecian Doric has no base, and the Tuscan has only a single torus on a plinth. Bead.-A circular moulding, which lies level with the surface of the material in which it is formed. When the moulding projects, or several are joined, it is called reeding. Beak.-A small fillet in the under edge of a projecting cornice, intended to prevent the rain from passing between the cornice and fascia. Beam.-A piece of timber in a building laid horizontally, and intended to support a weight, or to resist a strain. Beam-filling. The masonry, or brickwork, between beams or joists. Bearer.-A vertical support. Bearing. The length between bearers, or walls; thus, if a beam rests on walls twenty feet apart, the bearing is said to be twenty feet. Bed Mouldings.-Those mouldings between the corona and the frieze. Bevil.-An instrument used by workmen for taking angles. In form it resembles a square, but the blade is moveable about a centre. When the two sides of any solid body have such an inclination to each other as to form an angle greater or less than a right angle, the body is said to be beviled. Bond.-A term used to signify the connection between the parts of a piece of workmanship. In bricklaying and masonry, it is that connection between bricks, or pieces of stone, which prevents one part of the building from separating itself from another. Bond Timber.-Timber laid in walls to tie or bind them together. Brace. A piece of timber placed in an inclined position, and used in partitions or roofs, to strengthen the framing. When a brace is employed to support a rafter, it is called a strut. Bressummer.-A beam, or iron tie, intended to carry an external wall, and itself supported by piers or posts. Bricknoggin.-Brickwork between quartering. Buttress.-A mass of stone or brick-work intended to support a wall, or to assist it in sustaining the strain that may be upon it. Buttresses in Gothic architecture are used for ornament as well as strength. C. Cabling.-Cylindrical pieces filling up the lower part of the flutes of a column, Camber. To give a convexity to the upper surface of a beam. Cantalivers.-Pieces of wood or stone beneath the eaves to support them, or mouldings above them. Capital. That part of a column or pilaster beneath the entablature; or, in other words, the uppermost member of a column or pilaster. The capital is variously formed, according to the order: Thus, we have the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite capitals, and many others, that have been invented since the times of the Greeks and Romans. Caryatides.-Figures of women, introduced to support an entablature, instead of columns. |