ferent people attempt to execute the same design is much greater, and sometimes almost inconceivable; the one making it a clumsy, ill-formed caricature; the other embodying, in solid forms, the real conception of the designer; and this can be done only by one already, in some degree, acquainted with the art of design, and possessed of a correct eye for beautiful forms. We have seen attempts to supply a deficiency of taste by geometrical rules, but, unfortunately for these learned and formal gentlemen who made the attempt, they cannot produce a complex outline, without having to patch it out of curves differently generated; and they know very well that such curves cannot be joined to produce agreeable forms. The best machine for producing curvilinear forms is the hand, trained by practice to obey the eye, and move in easy graceful lines. Practice in drawing on a large scale soon improves both the eye and the hand; while every mechanical substitute for practice ought to be avoided. It was justly remarked by Hogarth, "that Albert Durer, who drew mathematically, never so much as deviated into grace, which he must sometimes have done in drawing from life, if he had not been fettered by his own impracticable rules of proportion." The cabinet-maker, by this time, feels that his art is more nearly allied to painting than to mathematics; and we trust a second reference to our remarks in art. 2, concerning the adaptation of furniture to the beautiful forms of the human figure, will confirm him in this opinion. Of Veneering, Banding, &c. 70. VENEERING is the art of laying down with glue a very thin piece of wood, of a fine quality, called a veneer, upon common wood. Veneers are laid either by means of a tool called a veneering-hammer, or by cauls. In veneering with the hammer, the ground should be warmed at the fire, and the outside of the veneer being wetted with warm water, or thin glue, with a sponge, and the side to be laid covered with a coat of thin glue, and warmed at a fire, the veneer is to be quickly laid on the ground and worked by the hammer, and commencing at one end, work from the middle to each side till neither air nor glue will come out. The object of veneering is cheapness, by saving beautiful wood; otherwise it would have no advantage, for the ground, glue, and extra time, are fully equivalent to the expense of plain solid wood. Veneering with the hammer answers very well, when veneers are tolerably straight and even; but this is rarely the case with finely-figured woods, hence it is necessary to employ another method called veneering with a caul. 71. A Caul is made out of solid wood, shaped to the surface to be veneered, and, being well heated, and afterwards oiled and greased, it is screwed down upon the veneer, and by the pressure and its heat sends out the glue, causing the veneer to bed close to the ground. For curved surfaces, sometimes thin wainscot is used for cauls, and, by heat, made to bend to the crooked surface. In general, cauls of one-inch deal, keyed across to keep them straight with wainscot, are used for card-table tops. Various opinions are held regarding the use of cauls, but where the veneer is of a nature to admit of being laid by the hammer, we would prefer it. If a caul be employed, the veneer must necessarily be rendered of a very uniform thickness or, wherever there is a thin place the glue will collect, and, consequently, the veneer be imperfectly laid, and liable to blister. In order to heat the cauls regularly and sufficiently, a large hot-plate is employed by some cabinet-makers. A hot-plate consists of a thick plate of castiron, with a furnace-fire below it. One heated by steam is more safe, and not liable to over heat; and we may add, that steam-pipes are extremely well adapted for drying, and for warming work-shops, in consequence of their safety against fire. On this subject, Mr. Tredgold, in his treatise on Warming and Ventilating Buildings, remarks, that, "in the manufacture of various articles made of wood, it is desirable that the work-rooms should be dry, and sustained at a moderate heat in winter, about equal to that of dwelling-rooms; but it is not good either for the health of the workmen, or for the articles made, that the temperature should be higher; and steam is certainly the safest mode of heating such places, besides having advantages in heating glue, drying wood, and laying veneers, which cannot be easily obtained by other methods." 72. Whether veneers be laid with the hammer, or by cauls, the superfluous glue and the air must be driven out, and the veneer prevented from rising in parts, where it had warped in seasoning; much, however, of the trouble which crooked veneers occasion might be avoided by having them kept straight from the time of cutting till they be wanted. Veneered work should never be suffered to dry very quickly. When veneers are to be joined without showing a joint, the line of joining should follow the grain of the wood, in some vein which may be easily imitated by stopping. This method cannot be applied in many cases, on account of the size of the veneer rendering it difficult to match the parts in such a manner as to appear as one piece of wood. If the match cannot be made, joinings, in some regular manner, do better; as, for example, to meet in the centre of a table, pannel, or other piece of work. 73. BANDING is a term applied to a narrow strip of veneer used as a border, or part of a border, either to a large veneer, or to solid wood; in the latter case, a rebate is sunk for the banding. Banding is of three kinds: it is called Straight-banding when the wood is cut lengthwise of the grain; Cross-banding when the wood is cut across the grain; and Feather-banding, when cut at an angle between the two. The latter kind is not often used, nor does it produce a good effect. Between the banding and the central part, one or more lines are generally inserted, and sometimes a narrower band. The chief object of banding is to increase the beauty of a plane surface by forming a species of border to it; and it requires considerable skill to give the desired effect. In considering the Combination of Coloured Woods, we have already given the principles which ought to be understood in applying banding. (See art. 20—25.) The joints of Banding should be as well matched as possible, both in respect to colour and grain; and, excepting the mitre-joints, it is an advantage to make the joints at the veins of the wood. Of Inlaying, Buhl-Work, &c. 74. INLAYING, in cabinet-work, was formerly much in use; but it was executed in a tasteless gaudy style, which led to its being neglected. It is also an expensive mode of ornamenting furniture, and, when not well done, it is subject to speedy decay it has lately been revived in a more chaste and correct style. : The art of inlaying with woods, metals, and shells, is very old; it is said to have been brought from the East by the Romans with their Asiatic spoils. It was practised in Italy with considerable skill in the 15th Century. John of Verona, a painter, and contemporary of the celebrated Raphael, was the first who introduced the use of dyed-woods, and may be considered the founder of the taste for imitating natural objects in coloured woods. His followers improved on his methods by adding the art of browning wood by heat, so as to obtain graduating shades of different intensities. Towards the middle of the 17th Century, the art of Inlaying was carried to great perfection in France, and many very able artists appeared about that time of these, the famous Buhl, or Boule, was the most distinguished; and so numerous and excellent were his works, that it is not uncommon to ascribe to him alone the perfection of the art; indeed, such work is familiarly known here by the name of Buhl-work. The art declined in France for want of encouragement; and, in England, it was never successfully cultivated till within the last ten years, when it was revived here in very good taste, the object being to form ornamental patterns, borders, &c., instead of barbarous and, at best, gaudy imitations of fruit, flowers, birds, animals, and landscapes, in materials so imperfectly adapted for such purposes. 75. In this art the part for the ornament, and that for the ground, are glued together, and the design being drawn upon one, both are at once cut through by a very fine species of bowsaw. Thus, there are four parts obtained, which, being put together in two, the one is the ornament designed in its proper ground; and the remainder of the ground, combined with the remainder of the ornament, gives another pattern called the reverse. 76. The plates of brass or other metal should be of the usual thickness of a veneer, or as thin as can be conveniently worked, and made rough on both sides with a coarse file, or toothingplane. The veneers of wood or other matter to be combined with them should also be toothed; and, both the plates and veneers being warmed, first pass a coat of glue over one of the metal plates and cover it with a thin sheet of paper, then coat the paper with glue, and cover it with the veneer. Place them between two smooth and even boards, and let them be kept together either by a screw-press, or by hand-screws, and remain till dry; they will then be found to adhere together with sufficient firmness for cutting to the pattern. 77. The pattern should be drawn on the veneer, or if, from the colour, it should not be sufficiently distinct, a piece of paper may be pasted on the veneer, and after it is dry the design may be drawn upon it. The lines of the pattern should be cut with a bow-saw, having a very thin and narrow blade; such a saw may be made of part of a watch-spring, and the bow, or the stretcher, of the saw, is required to be at such a distance from the blade as will admit the latter to turn and follow the lines of the pattern in any direction. The frame of the saw should be as light as possible. Where the pattern does not in any place approach the edge, a small hole must be made for inserting the saw; and it is usual to saw upwards, that mode of sawing rendering it more easy to follow the lines correctly. When the whole of the pattern is cut out, the veneer or shell may be separated from the metal by exposing them to steam, or to warm water. 78. The next object is to join the parts so as to produce two complete ornaments; the one composed of veneer inlaid with metal, the other of metal inlaid with veneer. For this purpose, on a plain surface, place a piece of paper of sufficient size, and the veneer upon it, then with strong glue insert the metal-part in the veneer, and rub it well down with the veneering-hammer and glue; next, cover the whole with another piece of paper, and place it between two plain boards, which had been previously well warmed and rubbed with tallow, and screw or press them together. If this be properly done, the work will separate from the boards when dry; and, the paper being removed, it may be laid in its place as a veneer; but a caul is usually employed in preference to the hammer, (see art. 71.). The reverse pattern, it is obvious, should be prepared for laying in the same manner. 79. The process is the same whether metal and wood, or metal and tortoise-shell, or two woods of different colours be used. When shell is employed, the under side of the shell is G sometimes coloured with some bright colour, as red, yellow, &c., mixed with varnish; and not unfrequently it is gilt. When the colour is dry, the veneer is laid with the coloured or gilt side down; and it produces a pretty effect through the transparent substance of the shell. 80. In order further to illustrate this interesting department of the art, we have given two designs for inlaid Borders in plate VI, Cabinet-making. The upper one is rich and full, and to give the proper effect the assistance of the graver will be necessary. The lines cut by the graver should be filled with melted mastich, coloured black or brown, to match the colour of the wood. The lower figure, in plate VI, is less complex, and in a bolder and better style for use. In this, also, part of the effect must be obtained by the graver, and filling its cuts with coloured mastich. 81. The woods used for inlaying should be of a dense, close-grained texture, particularly when inlaid with metal. Brass is much employed; and, in selecting it, some attention should be given to obtain that of a good colour; for, by varying the quantity of zinc in its composition, both its colour and quality is much affected. The brown and yellow-brown coloured woods combine with either white or black; but, when the brown approaches to red, brass does better; and, in some cases, hard, closegrained satin-wood, of a good colour, might be substituted for brass with good effect, though not with equal brilliancy of relief. The parts of ornaments, in black or white, in any ground, should be kept small to avoid dull heaviness in the one, and too strong a glare of light-colour in the other. 82. We have no doubt that dyed woods may be used with considerable effect in inlaying, provided the error of introducing unnatural colours be avoided. It is a great mistake to imagine that a variegated patch-work of high coloured parts will ever be esteemed by people of good taste; but it is one equally great to suppose that there is any objection to the use of dye when it is applied under proper restrictions; that the beauty of work is indebted to dye must be concealed, and its use should be merely to imitate or improve the brilliancy of natural tints, so as to render beautiful furniture less expensive. Of Carving, Reeding, &c. 83. THE first subject that requires attention, in carving, is the quality of the wood. It ought to be perfectly seasoned, and free from cracks or faults, and as uniform in its texture as possible. The first process is to form the object or ornament roughly, but in its true proportions; this is called boasting, and in this sense it is the principal ground-work of the art, and requires the skill of a master in carving. 84. The carver who is best skilled in drawing is, for the most part, employed in boasting, as he has the best idea of the quantity of projection that should be given to the respective parts, to accord with the design as exhibited on the plane surface of the paper. After making out the sketch, the carver has to shape the outline with saws or gouges, and then make out the prominences of each part when necessary or proper, by glueing on pieces of wood for that purpose. The roughly-formed pieces are fixed for carving, and, in some cases, this is done by glueing them to a board, with paper inserted between, to enable the carver to take the carving |