# St. Nicholas/Volume 32/Number 2/Practical Boy

Illustrated by the Author; continued from Nov. 1904
The Practical Boy.
By Joseph H. Adams.
Second Paper
Fitting Up a Boy’s Room
Tools.
Before proceeding further it will be well to say a word about the tools a boy should have. These should be the same as carpenters use, but they may be smaller and not so cumbersome to handle. Tools in a chest, and sold at the toy-store, are not to be relied on for carpentry work, as they are usually dull and made of soft, steel that will not hold an edge.
Good tools can be had at nearly every hardware store or general store in the country.
For ordinary work you will require a good rip and crosscut saw, with twenty and twenty-four inch blades respectively, a claw-hammer and a smaller one, a wooden mallet for chisels and to knock the lap-joints of wood together, a jack and a smoothing plane, a compass-saw, a brace and several sizes of bits ranging from a quarter to one inch in diameter, a draw-knife, square, awls, pliers, rule, several chisels, a screw-driver, and a few other tools that will become useful at times, but which can be added as they are required,
It is hardly necessary to give illustrations of the various tools in a carpentry outfit, as nearly every boy is familiar with their appearance and readily learns their names from a carpenter.
It is a difficult thing to instruct a boy by any written description how to use tools, and rather than to attempt it I should advise the young workman to watch a carpenter at work.
General Remarks.
Some very good results have been accomplished by amateur decorators, designers, and carpenters with their own handicraft.
The color-schemes, designs, and arrangement that may be carried out in fitting up a boy’s room are almost without limit, and hundreds of different ideas could be worked out, depending upon the shape and location of the room, Diagrams and illustrations that the boys can easily follow of a few suggested articles are given in these pages, together with a clear description of sizes, materials, and workmanship that should be a great help to the boy decorator and craftsman.
In the selection of woods from which to build furniture, and the material for upholstering chairs, settees, and stools, the products of the locality in which the boy lives must be taken into consideration, Some States produce pine, white-wood (cottonwood), poplar, or cypress, that can be worked easily; while in others spruce, hemlock, maple, and fir will be easier to obtain; and in the far West gum-wood, red-wood, cedar, and cypress are the least expensive. The cost of the wood is a matter to be considered, and often a more artistic result can be had by using an inexpensive wood.
Some woods have an open and broad grain that, if carefully filled and varnished over, will give a very pleasing effect. Chestnut, butternut, quartered oak and ash have this quality, and all of them are adapted to furniture construction and room trimmings.
For many of the chairs and other furniture, spruce, apple-wood, and cypress will render good results, and all of them have a pretty grain when stained, wiped, and varnished. Ash is harder and will make good solid furniture; and if it will not be found too difficult to work, it will prove a very satisfactory and serviceable wood for chairs, tables, benches, and other pieces of furniture that are subjected to hard usage. In the construction of the various pieces of furniture illustrated, the simple rules of carpentry only are to be followed; and in making all of this furniture only the lap, mortise-and-tenon, and ​tongue-and-groove joints are employed. They must be well made, however, so that perfect unions will result; for every piece of furniture will rack in time if not properly constructed. For this reason, only the plain joints are advocated for the young workman.
Of course there are more pieces of furniture shown in this article than one boy will wish to make; but, as tastes differ, I have given a generous assortment from which to select.
A Bracket-clock.
A Good design for a simple bracket-clock is shown in the illustration. It is made from thin boards half an inch thick, half a yard of burlap, Fig. 1. A Bracket-clock some large-headed nails, and an inexpensive clock movement run by springs or weights.
The box part of the case is eight inches square and three and a half inches in depth, and the bracket ends may be detached or he a part of the sides, cut, as shown in Fig. 2, to extend six inches below the bottom of the box. The dial and glass frame should measure six inches in diameter, and to fit it to the box it will he necessary to cut a hole in the front of the case five and a half inches in diameter, as shown also in Fig. 2.
The shelf top to the box is beveled at the under side and attached with glue and nails. It overhangs the sides and front of the box about two inches, and is made from wood three quarters of an inch thick.
If it is impossible to find large-headed nails to finish the edges of the front and sides, mock nail-heads, three quarters of an inch in diameter, Fig. 2. Detail of the Bracket-clock cask. can be cut from lead and applied with thin steel nails. The movement, which can be purchased from a clockmaker, is attached to the back of the case before the dial is made fast. The clockmaker can also mount and adjust the dial and movement if necessary.
A Reading-chair.
A useful piece of furniture, as shown in Fig. 3, is a reading-chair, which is arranged with shelves under the seat at bath sides to accommodate books. The frame of the chair is twenty inches across the front and twenty-two inches deep, outside measure, and the corner posts are two inches square and twenty-three inches high. The front board between the leg-posts is twelve inches wide, and is cut at the lower edge, as ​shown in the illustration, with a compass-saw and draw-knife. This board is let into the rear sides of the front legs, as shown in Fig. 4, and a similar board is fastened in between the rear legs, but its lower edges need not be cut out. Fig. 3. A Reading-chair
The top edges of the cross-boards are fourteen inches above the floor, and connected with each other by means of boards nine inches wide and seven eighths of an inch thick, as shown in Fig. 4. They are placed seven inches in from each side, and are fastened in place with long, slim screws driven through the cross-boards and into their ends. These will form the backs to the Fig. 4. Detail of the Reading-chair book-pockets, and to the top and bottom edges of them the seat and under-boards are made fast.
The arms are four inches wide at the front and two at the rear, where the grooves are cut and into which the stop or cross rod fits. These arms should extend out six inches beyond the rear posts, and two inches at the front and sides of the front posts. A solid or framework back, twenty-four inches high and fifteen inches wide, is hinged to the back board of the body.
An upholsterer will make the cushions the size to fit the chair.
A Book-tower
The tower is six feet high and twelve inches square. The posts are one and three quarter Fig. 5. A Book-tower. inches square, and the shelves are seven eighths of an inch thick; but the vertical guardrails are half an inch thick and two inches wide, and are let into the edges of the shelves.
A Desk-chair
The front posts of the chair shown in the illustration are twenty-three inches high, and the rear ones thirty-four, and all of them are two inches square. They are placed twenty-one inches apart at the front and back, and eighteen Fig. 6. A Desk-chair at the sides, and are connected by two side-rails, four inches wide and seven eighths of an inch thick, let into the posts so that the top edge is sixteen inches above the floor. Four inches above the floor a three-inch rail is let into the rear sides of the front and rear posts, while near the top and behind the leather back another one is placed to brace the top of the rear posts. The seat and back are of leather of any color desired, and attached to the rear posts and side-rails by means of large-headed wrought bellows-tacks, or tacks with lead mock heads, as shown.
On both sides and rumning from the upper part of the front legs to the lower part of the back legs should be placed diagonal braces, as shown in the illustration.
A Book-nest and Writing-desk.
The book-nest and writing-desk shown in Fig. 7 is a simple but useful piece of furniture attached to the wall, and in which a multitude of things may be kept. It is made of seven-eighths-inch boards ten inches wide, smooth on both sides and edges, and preferably with a pretty grain that will show well if properly stained some weathered tone and coated with thin varnish. It is thirty inches wide and five feet high, with two compartments and three ledges for books and magazines. At the top a lock compartment is made with two doors, each fourteen inches wide and ten inches high, hinged to the side boards.
Six inches below this closed cupboard another division is made with a cross-shelf for books, and fourteen inches below the book-shelf the ledge to which the drop-shelf is attached is placed so that it will be about thirty inches above the floor. Under this main ledge two more shelves are arranged, and below the bottom one the side boards are cut away to a narrow back leg not more than two inches wide. At the back of the side boards, just under the cap or top board, but not shown in the illustration, a cross-rail is made fast, and through this screws are passed into the wall to hold the nest securely.
A drop-ledge twenty-eight inches wide and fourteen inches deep is hinged to the shelf, as shown in the illustration; and, to keep it in a horizontal position, chains are made fast to it at Fig. 7. A Book-nest and Writing-desk. both sides, as the illustration shows. The front of the drop-ledge and the compartment doors are decorated with sheet-lead, binge-straps, escutcheons, and large-headed nails. The interior of the desk part can be arranged with pigeonholes and a drawer to hold small things. The cap or top board is twelve inches wide and thirty-four inches long, making an overhang of two inches at the front and ends. Under side of Drop-ledge.
A Box Book-case.
Boxes of various sizes can be used for this purpose, according to the space on the wall that will accommodate the case; but for general use two cases can be cut down so as to make them thirty inches high and seven inches deep, and in each one two shelves can be arranged. The boxes are held together at top and bottom Fig. 8. A Box Book-case. with boards seven inches wide and thirty-six inches long; and between the boxes a shelf can be fastened about midway between the top and bottom boards, A wooden back is not necessary to this case, as the wall will form the back; but around the top edge a strip of cornice-molding should be mitered at the corners and attached with long, slim nails or screws.
Under the lower corners wooden brackets may be fastened lo the wall, or when the shoe-cases are being cut down one side may be trimmed, with the compass-saw, in the form of a bracket end. A rod fastened at the top, under the molding, will support light curtains which a mother or sister can make from some pretty goods; but if the curtain feature is not desired, it may be omitted.
Book-ledge and Stool.
Two interesting and useful pieces of furniture are shown in Fig. 9—a book-ledge and a stool; and as the main shelf is but fourteen inches wide, they will not occupy a great deal of space in a room. The main shelf is forty-two inches long, fourteen inches wide, and one and a quarter inches thick. The side pieces or legs supporting it are twelve inches wide and thirty-three inches high. These pieces are thirty-six inches apart, and arranged between them, twenty inches above the floor, an under ledge eight inches wide is fastened with long screws and brackets.
Nine inches above the main ledge a top shelf is supported on side legs which in turn are propped at the outside with wooden braces or blocks six inches high and four inches wide at the bottom. The side supports are placed the same distance apart as the under side pieces, and are held in position on the top of the main ledge with short dowels or pegs driven in their under end and which fit into holes bored in a corresponding position in the ledge. This upper work can he omitted, however, if the plain Fig. 9. A Book-ledge and a Stool. ledge is preferred. If desired, the main shelf may be made two or three inches wider to accommodate a large book, such as a dictionary or an atlas. The stool is twelve inches square and twenty-two inches high, and the top is covered with a stout square of leather caught all around the edges with nails with mock heads.
A Writing-desk.
A very artistic writing-desk has a drop-ledge that closes up and can be locked against the rail just under the line of pigeonholes. Fig. 10. A Writing-desk. The sides are forty-five inches high, fifteen inches wide at the bottom, and eleven near the top, where the square end is shown, and behind which the wood is cut away in a curved form. The top angles of the triangular coves cut at the lower ends of the sides are eight inches high from the floor. Ten inches above the floor, mortises are cut in the sides, just over the cove angles, into which the ends of the lower cross-rail fit. These ends are three inches high and seven eights of an inch wide, and a similar mortise is cut at the top, of each side-piece, into which the ends of the ledge over the pigeonholes ft and are wedged tight with wooden pins.
The desk may be from twenty-four to thirty-six inches in width, but thirty inches will be found a desirable size, The writing ledge is thirty inches above the floor, and to the front edge of it a drop-ledge of the proper width is attached with hinges let into the wood on the top when the ledge is let down, The width of the ledge is made according to the location of the rail that supports the pigeonholes, so that no definite size can be given, but must be determined after the pigeonholes and rails are in place. The lower cross-rail is five inches wide, and is cut at the ends, as shown in Fig. 10, so that they can be anchored with wooden pins. At the back, about midway between top and bottom, laps are cut in the side boards six inches long and seven eighths of an inch deep, into which a brace is laid and made fast. Similar laps are cut near the top, into which the ends of the top or crown board fit.
Excepting the top ledge, the inside partitions are three eighths of an inch in thickness, while all the other woodwork forming the desk is seven eighths of an inch thick, of pretty grained wood which will look well stained and varnished.
A Book-table.
A A Book-table. is a very useful piece of furnitare for a boy's room, For a room of average size the table-top can be forty-eight inches long, twenty-six wide, and thirty high, with the corner Fig. 11. Book-table. posts two and a half inches square, and set in three inches from the edges and ends of the top, so as to form an overhang. A careful in-​spection of the illustration will make its construction clear. ‘The ornamented board serves to hide the joints of the diagonal braces. This board can have a design painted or burnt on it. The top of the table may be left plain or may be covered with cloth or imitation leather.
A Bedstead.
A Bedstead. will not be found beyond the boy's ability to make if it is simple, and of wood that is easily worked.
Fig. 12. A Bedstead.
Single bed-springs are three feet wide and six feet long, and the mattress is the same size. The side-rails of the bed should be three feet one inch apart, and the head and foot rails six feet one inch apart at the inside, so as easily to accommodate the springs, which rest on strips of wood attached all around to the inside of the rails at the lower edge. It will be safer to buy your springs first.
The bedstead shown in the illustration is not a difficult one to make, and in general construction it is similar to many of the chairs, tables, and other furniture that have been described.
The lower edge of the side-rails is ten inches above the floor and the rails are eight inches wide, while those at the head and foot at six inches in width, as you can see in the illustration. The head-posts are four feet high, and those at the foot are three feet. All four of them are two and a half inches square, and of selected straight-grain wood. The spindles in the head and foot are five eight-inch dowels let into holes made in the edge of the top and lower cross-rails. Both lower spindle-rails are two and a half inches in width, and the spindles are spaced two inches apart from center to center, and let into the wood about an inch, where they can be glued to hold them securely.
Fig. 12 shows the manner in which a corner post is cut to admit the cross-strips and the side-rails. Glue and screws are used at the joints, and mock nail-heads make a good effect.
Strong, well-made—casters should be set under the posts. The top cross-pieces at the head and foot are shaped with a compass-saw and a draw-knife, and smoothed off with a wood-file and sandpaper. The woodwork can be stained and varnished or shellacked to correspond with other furniture in the room.
Treatment of a Side Wall.
For a square room an original idea is shown in Fig. 13 for the treatment of a side wall. Each side is to be carried out in practically the same manner, but the picture is changed at each side, with the whole panorama blending together or connecting at the corners. Where a window or door breaks into the picture, the sky-line and cloud effect are carried on over the top of the casing; and beyond the casing the picture begins again, not, however, where it left off on one side of the casing, but continuing as if no door or window intercepted it.
This painting is done on thin linen or cotton fabric that is pasted directly on the wall, and with oil-paints the young artisan may carry out ​his drawing while standing on a packing-case or on two boards arranged across the heads of barrels. The wainscot all around the room is three feet high and made of tongued-and-grooved boards five inches wide, on top of which a six-inch ledge is made fast and supported with brackets. A band of wall, two feet high, above the shelf, is covered with plain ingrain paper, against which small pictures may be hung.
Over the panoramic painting strips of wood one and a half inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick are fastened vertically to divide it off into sections, and at top and hottom a similar strip continues all around the room.
Frames on which canvas is stretched may be painted separately and mounted over a rail, and afterward bound together with vertical strips; but unless the two edges of canvases are together when the painting is done, it is difficult to get the shades of color to blend properly without appearing to be separate paintings.
Light, thin colorings are preferable to solid masses, and considerable poppy or pale drying-oil can be used in the paints to thin them and give the glazed rather than the heavy pigment effect to the pictures.
If the boy has no talent for painting, excellent colored prints or carefully selected and artistic posters or Japanese color-prints may be used for the panels.
A pretty color-scheme for this side-wall treatment will be to work out the panorama in. color, somewhat subdued and not too vivid. The band of wall underneath may be in a soft, light old red, and all the woodwork in a light olive-green, either stained and given one coat of shellac or varnish, or the wood may be treated to one or two flat coats of paint without any gloss, so as to give it a dull finish.
The ceiling is tinted a light buff or cream color with water-paint or calcimine; and any hardware, such as hinges, hasps, gas-brackets, or curtain fixtures, will look well in black.
Fig. 13. A Suggested Treatment of a Side Wall.
​A stained and varnished floor with a rug in the center will complete this room, which, if nicely decorated, will be the pride of the boy who did it and an inspiration for others.
Fig. 14. Another Suggested Scheme for Wall Decoration.
The Side of a Room.
Another scheme for the decoration of a boy’s room is shown in Fig. 14.
The paneled wainscot is formed with vertical strips of wood, four inches wide and four feet high, mounted above the surbase. On top of these a six-inch band of wood is carried all around the room, on which a five-inch ledge is mounted and supported with brackets, which line with the center of the vertical strips. The doors, door and window casings, surbase and wainscot rails are painted white, and all the hardware is black. Hinge-straps of sheet-lead are cut and fastencd to the doors and casings with large oval-headed nails, and to cover the panels in the doors one large panel is made from thin wood covered with burlap and nailed fast to the side of the door facing the room, with large-headed nails or with mock nail-heads not less than one inch in diameter. Ledges four inches wide are placed over the door and window-casings and supported with brackets at the ends that line with the middle of the casing uprights.
The walls above the wainscot ledge are papered, and the panels in the wainscot are covered with burlap and glued to the wall. The burlap on the panels and door may be in a coffee-color or light brown, and the paper in a light shade of old green.
The ledge on top of the wainscot is a capital place for smaller pictures, curios, paint-boxes, small books, and the generous assortment of all kinds of things a boy will collect in his association with other boys or on his vacations.
The January number will contain a timely article telling how boys may make ice-boats, skees, skate-sails, bob-sleds, snow-shoes, etc.