impatient for an attack upon the
silky wood with their sharp edges.

The illustration, Fig. 13, gives a clue to the sort of design to begin
with; it measures about 11 ins. long by 7 ins. wide, allowing a margin
all round. The wood should be a little longer than the design, as the
ends get spoiled by the clamps. This little design need not, and indeed
should not, be copied. Make one for yourself entirely different, only
bearing in mind the points which are to be observed in arranging it,
and which have for their object the avoidance of difficulties likely to
be too much for a first effort. These points are somewhat to this
effect: the design should be of leaves, laid out flat on a background,
with no complication of perspective. They should have no undulations of
surface. That is to say, the margins of all the features should be as
nearly as possible the original surface of the wood, which may have just
the least possible bit of finish in the manner I shall describe later
on. The articulation of the leaves and flower is represented by simple
gouge cuts. There should be nothing in the design requiring rounded
surfaces. The passage for tools in clearing out the ground between the
features must not be less than 1/4 in.; this will allow the 3/16 in.
corner grounder to pass freely backward and forward. The ground is
supposed to be sunk about three-sixteenths of an inch.

As you have not got your design made, I shall, for convenience' sake,
explain how Fig. 13 should be begun and finished. First having traced
the full-size design it should be transferred to the wood by means of a
piece of blue carbon paper.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

Then with either the Veiner or V tool outline the whole of the leaves,
etc., about 1/8 in. deep, keeping well on the outside of the drawing.
Ignore all minor detail for the present, blocking out the design in
masses. No outline need be grooved for the margin of the panel at
present, as it should be done with a larger tool. For this purpose take
gouge No. 6 (1/4 in. wide), and begin at the left-hand bottom corner of
the panel, cut a groove about 1/16 in. within the blue line, taking care
not to cut off parts of the leaves in the process; begin a little above
the corner at the bottom, and leave off a little below that at the top.
The miters will be formed later on.

In this operation, as in all subsequent ones, the grain of the wood will
be more or less in evidence.