Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-02-17
Hints for the Apprentice.

No workman who receives COM
pensation for his services has right
to forget how to do that which he
has been shown how to do once; no
workman working for wages has a
right to do anything without think
ing about what he is doing, and to
think out why or the reason for the
way he does it. The habit of Tor
getting is bad habit; working
without thought is bad habit; and
bad habits in The use of tools are
common. It is bad habit to fol-
low, this striking at nail with a
hammer and missing it; cushioninS
the blow OH your thumb, not so par
ticularly bad on accoun OF the
thumb, but it is a waste OF blows
Striking at chipping-chiscl and
missing l., allowing The mechanical
energy stored up in the hammer 10
| expend itself on your hand is not
good policy, as it is a loss Of :iiAc:
and striking over The ch'Scl 50 that
the blow is received from the handle
is not good practice, as that part of
the handle '' is not worth z cent
TO drive chipping chisels; and be-
sides, handles are limited N their
endurance, and to keep up the re-
pairs is costly. In forging, all the
blows, of either hammer or sledSe,
that stop on the anvil do not per-
form useful work. Using the mid
die of the file only, when it is made
to cut the whole length, using a
new file to clean castings, and using
a file to do rough work, are bad
habits. Using a chisel, lathe or
planer tool, or any tool that can be
ground, dull, when there is a grind
stone running near by, is not the
best thing to do; and leaving your
tools lying around anywhere, your
machine uncleaned, the benches in
confusion, is a shockingly bad habit.
1t is bad habit to do anything
without thinking why you do it that
way. If told to do thing in a GER
tain way, do it as you are told; but,
while doing it, think out why you
do it in that way. If by the time
you have it done you are not salts
fed as to why it is done in that way,
ask why. If you are given job
and not told how to do it, think out
how and why There arc usually
two or more ways to do any piece of
work; if one way is better than
another there are good reasons to
be found for it.
This bad habit of centering a
piece and forgetting to see whether
it was true, putting it in the lathe
and forgetting to drill and counter
sink the centers, commencing to
turn aud forgetting to square up
the ends, commencing to turn and
forgetting to take into considera-
ton whether the piece is large or
small, iron or steel; forgetting to
set your lathe running faster as your
piece grows smaller; strapping q
place ON tho ploner ana forgetting
to pack it up SO as not to spring it,
planning down the side and forgetting
to turn the tool-post over sideways;
trying to make a finished job and
forgetting to file off the scale on the
corners Of casting; cutting screws
and forgetting to Oil the dies; run
ming your milling machine and for
getting to oil the cutters; drilling
and forgetting to center the drill
first; running your machinery all
day and forgetting to clean and oil
the slides and bearings; all these
things are everyday reminders Of
forgetfulness, but still this is a
habit less excusable than that of
working without thinking. Another
common specimen of bad habits is
the screwing up of every bolt or nut
as tight as it can be turned, whether
it is necessary or not; when, by
thinking what you are about, many
times you would see that single
turn of the wrench was sufficient.
If we would put little less tension
ON our bolts and nuts, and little
more on our thinking and reasoning
powers and memory, we would have
fewer bad habits and it would be
better for us.-Prof. j. E Street.
PRIDE IN ANIMALs.-We all know