Things To Make, Archibald Williams [great book club books .txt] 📗

As the neatness of the stand will depend largely on a and b fitting closely against the sides, their ends should be cut out and trued carefully, special attention being paid to keeping the shoulders between and outside the lugs in a straight line. The wedge holes in c, c, c, c measure 1/2 by 1/4 inch, and are arranged to be partly covered by the sides, so that the wedges cannot touch their inner ends. (See Fig. 9.) This ensures the shelves being tightly drawn up against the sides when the wedges are driven home.

[Illustration: Fig. 8.—End elevation of bookstand.]

The wedges should be cut on a very slight taper of not more than half an inch in the foot run, in order to keep their grip. Prepare a strip as thick as the smaller dimension of the holes, 3/8 inch wide at one end, and 7/8 inch wide at the other. Assemble the parts and push the piece through a hole until it gets a good hold, mark it across half an inch above the hole, and cut it off. Then plane the strip down parallel to the edge that follows the grain until the end will project half an inch beyond the lug next fitted. Mark and cut off as before, and repeat the process until the eight wedges are ready in the rough. Then bevel off the outside corners and smooth them—as well as the rest of the woodwork—with fine glass paper.

Shelves and sides should be wax-polished or given a coat or two of varnish.

[Illustration: Fig. 9. Plan or bookstand shelf.]

Don't drive the wedges in too tight, or yon may have to lament a split lug.

If the stand is to be used for very heavy books, or the shelves are much longer than specified here, it is advisable to bring the angle of the shelves down to the bottom of the standards, to relieve the shelves of bending strain at the centre; or to use stouter material; or to unite the shelves at two or three points by thin brass screws inserted through holes drilled in the overlapping part.

The preparation and putting together of the parts of a ladder having round, tapered rungs let into holes in the two sides is beyond the capacity of the average young amateur; but little skill is needed to manufacture a very fairly efficient substitute for the professionally-built article—to wit, a ladder of the kind to which builders apply the somewhat disparaging adjective "duck."

The rungs of such a "duck" ladder are merely nailed to the outside if the ladder is required for temporary purposes only; but as we are of course aiming at the construction of a thing made to last, we shall go to the trouble of "notching-in" each rung (see Fig. 10), so that the sides shall take the weight directly, and the nails only have to keep the rungs firmly in position. The objection to notching-in is that it reduces the strength of the ladder, which is of course only that of the wood between the bottom of the notches and the plain side. Therefore it is necessary to have sides somewhat deeper than would be required for a centrally-runged ladder; which is pierced where the wood is subjected to little tension or compression.

[Illustration: Fig. 10—House ladder and details of letting in a rung]

Materials.—The length of the ladder will decide what the stoutness of the sides should be. For a ladder about 12 feet long, such as we propose to describe, larch battens 3 by 1-1/8 inches (actual) in section and free from knots, especially at the edges, will be sufficiently strong to carry all reasonable weights without danger of collapse. But be sure to get the best wood obtainable. The rungs may be of 2 by 1 inch stuff, though 2 by 3/4 inch will suffice for the upper half-dozen, which have less wear, and are shorter than those below.

The rungs are 10 inches apart (Fig. 10), centre to centre. The distance may be increased to a foot, Or even more if weight-saving is an object.

Preparing the Sides.—These are cut to exactly the same length, which we will assume to be 11 feet 6 inches, planed quite smooth and rounded off slightly at the corners to make handling comfortable. Before marking them for the rungs it is important that they shall be so arranged that both incline equally towards a centre line.

Stretch a string tightly three inches above the ground, and lay the sides of the ladder on edge to right and left of it, their ends level. Adjust the bottom ends 8-1/2, the top ends 6-1/2 inches from the string, measuring from the outside. Tack on cross pieces to prevent shifting, and then, starting from the bottom, make a mark every 10 inches on the outside corners, to show the position of the tops of the rungs. A piece of the wood to be used for making the rungs of is laid up to the pairs of marks in turn, and lines are drawn on both sides of it.

Cutting the Notches.—The work of marking the ends of the notches will be quickened, and rendered more accurate, if a template (Fig. 10) is cut out of tin. The side AC is 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep. Apply the template to both faces of the side in turn, with its corner A at the line below the rung, and DE flush with the upper corner. When all the notches have been marked cut down the AC line of each with a tenon saw, and chisel along BC till the wedge-shaped chip is removed. Finish off every notch as neatly as possible, so that the rungs may make close contact and keep water out.

Preparing the Rungs.—Lay a piece of rung batten across the lowest notches, the end overhanging the side by a quarter of an inch or so to allow for the taper of the ladder, and draw your pencil along the angles which it makes with the sides. Mark the positions of the nail holes. Cut off the rung at the cross lines; drill the four nail holes on the skew, as shown in Fig. 10; and round off all the corners. The other rungs are treated in the same manner, and the sides are then separated, for the inside top corner and both back corners, which will be handled most, to be well rounded off and rubbed smooth with glass paper.

Assembling.—Before putting the parts together give them a coating of paint, as the contact surfaces will not be accessible to the brush afterwards. When the paint has dried, lay the sides out as before, and nail on the rungs with 3-inch nails. To counteract any tendency of the sides to draw apart, a light cross bar should be fixed on the back of the ladder behind the top and bottom rungs.

Round off the end angles of the rungs, and apply a second coating of paint.

Note.—A ladder of this kind is given a more presentable appearance if the rungs are let in square to the sides and flush, but at the sacrifice either of strength or lightness, unless narrow rungs of a hard wood, such as oak, be used. Moreover, square notches are not so easy to cut out as triangular.

For a short ladder, not more than 9 feet long, the section of the sides may safely be reduced to 2-3/4 by 1 inch (actual), if good material is selected.

Many amateur photographers are obliged to do their developing in odd corners and under conditions which render the hobby somewhat irksome if a large number of plates have to be treated. The main difficulty is to secure an adequate water supply and to dispose of the waste water. At a small expenditure of money and energy it is easy, however, to rig up a contrivance which, if it does not afford the conveniences of a properly equipped dark room, is in advance of the jug-and-basin arrangement with which one might otherwise have to be content. A strong point in favour of the subject of this chapter is that it can be moved without any trouble if the photographer has to change his quarters.

The foundation, so to speak, of the developing sink is a common wooden washstand of the kind which has a circular hole in the top to hold the basin. A secondhand article of this sort can be purchased for a shilling or two. A thoroughly sound specimen should be selected, even if it is not the cheapest offered, especial attention being paid to its general rigidity and the good condition of the boards surrounding the basin shelf.

[Illustration: Fig. 11.—A home-made developing sink for the darkroom.]

The area of the top is generally about 20 by 15 inches; but if a stand of larger dimensions can be found, choose it by preference.

The general design of the sink and its equipment is shown in Fig. 11. For the uprights, which rest on the beading of the washstand, use two boards 9 inches wide, 1/2 inch (actual) thick, and 36 inches long. The top shelf, to carry the pail or other water container, should be of 1-inch stuff; and the two lower shelves be not more than 5 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. Space the shelves at least 11 inches apart, so that they may accommodate tall bottles. The superstructure will gain in rigidity if the intermediate shelves are screwed to the uprights, in addition to being supported on ledges as indicated; and if the back is boarded over for at least half its height, there will be no danger of sideways collapse, when a full bucket is put in position.

The top of the washstand, on which the developing will be done, must be provided with a tray of lead or zinc. Lead is preferable, as lying flatter; but the jointing at the corners is more difficult than the soldering of sheet zinc, which, though more liable to chemical corrosion, is much lighter than the thinnest lead—weighing about 1-1/2 lbs. to the square foot—that could well be used. If lead is selected, the services of a plumber had better be secured, if the reader has had no experience in "wiping a joint."

A zinc tray is prepared by cutting out of a single sheet a piece of the shape shown in Fig. 12. The dimensions between the bending lines (dotted) are 1/8 inch less in both directions than those of the shelf. The turn-ups a, a, b, b, should not be less than 1-1/2 inches wide. Allow half an inch at each end of b b for the turnover c. Turn a a up first, then b b, and finally bend c c round the back of a a, to which they are soldered. A drop of solder will be needed in each corner to make it water-tight. When turning up a side use a piece of square-cornered metal or wood as mould, and make the angles as clean as possible, especially near the joints.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Showing how the tray for sink is marked out.]

A drain hole, an inch or so in diameter, is cut in the centre of the tray. To prevent the hands being injured by the tray, the front should be covered by a 1/2-inch strip of zinc doubled lengthwise, or be made a bit deeper than 1-1/2 inches in the first instance and turned over on itself.

Before the tray is put in position the basin hole must be filled in, except for an opening to take the waste pipe. The plug is pad-sawed out of wood of the same thickness as the top, to which it is attached by crossbars on the under side. The whole of the woodwork, or at least those parts which are most likely to get wetted, should then be given a coat or two of paint.

A waste pipe, somewhat larger than the drain hole and 3 inches long, having been firmly soldered to the tray, beat the edges of the hole down into the pipe. Then prepare a wooden collar to fit the pipe outside, and drill a hole on the centre line to take a carpenter's screw. If the edges of the tray are supported on slats 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick, and its centre is kept in contact with the wood by the collar pressing against the underside of the shelf, any water will naturally gravitate to the centre and