ames, etc., are
made in a similar manner.

Fig. 209 shows the top portion of a table leg and a home-made dowel
gauge. The gauge is made of any hardwood, and steel wire pins are driven
through at the required positions and sharpened similar to the spur of a
marking gauge. The legs are sawn and planed up true and square, and the
advantage of the gauge is that all legs are marked exactly alike and are
therefore interchangeable until glued up. A gauge of this type is easily
and quickly made and may be kept for its specific purpose or altered for
other work.

Fig. 210 indicates the Queen Anne type of leg, a sketch of same broken
below the knee also being given. Here we have another type of irregular
setting out, which is accomplished in the following manner. Saw and plane
the broken portion of the leg true as shown; take the timber which is to
be jointed and treat it in a similar manner; now place four ordinary pins
on the lower portion. Carefully place the top portion to the required
position and smartly give it one tap with the hammer; this will cause the
pin-heads to leave indentations, and if these be taken as centres for
boring, accurate work will result. The new portion of the leg is
afterwards sawn and wrought to the desired shape.

This is an example of work where it is next to impossible to use a
gauge, and as only one joint is required it is not worth the time taken
to make a template.

[Illustration: Fig. 208.--Dowelling a Dining-Table Leg.]

[Illustration: Fig. 209.--Dowel Gauge for Legs.]

[Illustration: Fig. 210.--Dowelling a Cabriole Leg.]

The tools used in dowelling are: Brace, countersink, dowel-rounder, twist
bit, try-square, marking-awl, and the usual bench tools. The first four
are illustrated at Figs. 194, 195, 196 and 197 respectively.

The method of working is: Plane up, mark out, bore holes, countersink,
glue dowels and complete joints.

THE SCARF JOINT

The method known as "scarfing" is used for the joining of timber in the
direction of its length, enabling the workman to produce a joint with a
smooth or flush appearance on all its faces. One of the simplest forms of
scarfed joint is known as the half lap, in which a portion is cut out at
the end of each beam or joist, equal in depth to half the full depth of
the beam, and of equal length to the required scarf.

The two pieces before they are placed together form a joint as shown at
Fig. 211, the projecting part (A) fitting into