It is a great mistake to go out and buy a cheap chest of tools of whatever size for while there is always a large number of tools in it they are usually of a very poor quality.

If you can afford to buy a chest of good tools and will get them of a regular tool supply house you can then buy a chest of tools safely. Now to make any ordinary piece of woodwork you don't need many tools but each one should be the very best, for therein half the pleasure lies.

The Kind of Tools

The tools used for cabinet making, as the finer kinds of joinery are called, are exactly the same as those used for carpentry though they are usually kept a little sharper and there should be a few more of them.

1 The Ohio Tool Company makes good hammers.

2 Disston saws are the kind to get.

3 I like Stanley planes the best.

4 Buck Brothers are noted for their chisels.

5 Buck Brothers' gouges are also good.

6 When you buy auger bits get the genuine Russel Jennings.

Fig. 1. some useful wood working tools 3

Boring A Hole With A Brace And Bit

The Screwdriver And How To Use It

How The Try Square Is Used

A Nail Set And How To Hold It

Using A Marking Gauge

Fig. 2. A Few More Common Wood Working Tools

All the tools you will need at first are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and these are (1) a cast-steel, adze-eye, bell-faced hammer l weighing about 9 ounces, which is a regular carpenter's hammer. (2) A mallet, made of hickory, with a 2 1/2 inch face and try to get one in which the handle goes clear through the head and is wedged in.

(3) Four saws,2 namely (a) a 16 inch crosscut saw - usually called a handsaw - which is used for sawing off boards across the grain, (b) a 20 inch rip-saw, for sawing with the grain so that a board can be sawed lengthwise, (c) a back saw or miter saw as it is sometimes called; it is about 12 inches long and has about

20 teeth to the inch so that it makes a very fine and smooth cut. (d) A compass saw; it has a narrow, tapering blade about 10 inches long and is used to cut out holes in boards, and to cut disks, or wheels of wood. The blade of a keyhole saw is thinner and narrower than a compass saw and, hence, smaller holes and shorter curves can be cut with it than with a compass saw.

(4) A miter box (pronounced mi'-ter) is a little trough of wood formed of a bottom with two sides screwed to it but without a top or ends. The sides of the box have saw-cuts in them, or kerfs as they are called, at angles of 45 and 90 degrees so that strips of wood, molding and the like can be sawed accurately across, or mitered, to make a corner joint.

(5) Three planes 3 and these are (a) a block plane for small light work; (b) a smoothing plane which is a little longer and has a handle and is set fine, that is the bit, or blade is finely adjusted for finishing work; and (c) a jack-plane, which is a large plane used for planing off rough surfaces.

(6) Three chisels,4 or firmer chisels as they are called. These are regular flat, bevel-edged carpenter's chisels and the blades should be 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 inch wide, respectively.

(7) Three gouges,5 or firmer gouges, to give them their full name. These gouges are simply chisels with curved cutting edges so that a rounded groove can be cut in a board. Get them with blades having 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch regular sweep, as the curve of the cutting edge is called.

(8) A brace and five auger bits.6 A brace and bit, as you know, is a tool to bore holes in wood with. You ought to have five bits and get them 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16 and 1/2 an inch in diameter.

(9) A maple or a boxwood rule; this should be a regular, 2-foot, four fold carpenter's rule. (10) A marking gauge; the bar of the gauge is graduated in 16ths of an inch and the adjustable head of one good enough to work with is fitted with a brass thumb screw.

(11) An iron bound try-square with a 6, or better, a 9-inch blade. This is used not only to make measurements with but to try whether a thing is square or not, hence its name.

(12) Two screw drivers, one for small and the other for large screws. (13) Two double cut gimlets, one 1/8 and the other 3/16 inch in diameter; these are useful for making holes for starting screws and the like.

(14) Four hand screws, or clamps as they are more often called; these are made of wood and are used to clamp two or more pieces of wood together when they are being bored or after they are glued. The jaws should be about 7 inches long and they should open at least 4 inches wide. They only cost a quarter apiece.

(15) A nail set; this is a steel punch for driving the head of a nail below the surface of the wood without denting it

(16) A Washita oil-stone is the right kind to sharpen wood-working tools on; a stone 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 4 or 5 inches long will be large enough and you should make a box with a cover to keep it in and so protect it from the dust.

(17) A sewing machine oil can filled with sewing machine oil, or any other good, light lubricating oil, is needed for sharpening your tools.

Fig. 2m. A Clamp Often Comes In Handy

(18) A small can of Le Page's liquid glue, or if you want to make your own glue then get a glue-pot and brush. You can buy a 1/2 pint can of liquid glue for a quarter or less, or you can buy a cast iron, water-jacketed glue pot which holds a pint for about 40 cents. Get a small round bristle brush for a glue brush.