Exercises In The Joints

Students in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of manual-training work do not need to follow the exercises in the joints given in "Elements of Construction" so closely as does the student of carpentry. The manual-training student should, however, learn the principles of construction of the joints, together with something of their application and use, and the reasons why one particular type of joint is better adapted to certain uses than are .others. He should also master the tool processes required in making a model containing the form of construction illustrated by an exercise, before he undertakes to make the model itself.

This method is far better than to allow a student to destroy what would be a valuable model, or to finish it by means of less accurate work than the exercises in the involved joints would make possible. As he gains skill, the student will of course be able to dispense more and more with this preliminary work.

In many schools, the students make models of increasing difficulty, but much of the work so done is of little value except as an exercise. In some instances, the model may be named and may be a useful article, but often it requires quite a stretch of imagination to believe that the time spent upon some particular piece of carefully finished work has been spent in the best possible way. The author is convinced by his own work among the students of the above grades, that the time spent in drill and in making a few simple exercises is better invested, provided a definite result is accomplished, the application of which is apparent in making a practicable piece of construction.

Value Of Large Models

Work upon large models not only interests students more than does work upon small ones, but promotes concentration, a more thoughtful study of details, and care in the use of tools. Judgment also may be developed better by working upon large models than upon many of those used commonly in the grades; this work requires, however, more oversight and a broader knowledge upon the part of the teacher.

Sequence Of Tools

Why any one sequence of tools or exercises should be strenuously insisted upon, the author has never been able to discover. There is bound to be a certain amount of awkwardness in beginning to use any new type of tool, which is overcome as the student gains experience and confidence in himself in the use of tools in general. There is no occult reason, for instance, why the use of the jack plane should precede that of the bitbrace, or vice versa, since the beginning and learning processes have to be passed through in either case, and neither depends upon the other.

The amount of skill necessary to use the jack plane well is unquestionably greater than that necessary to do as good work in boring a hole, but as a rule the jack plane is one of the first tools used. This sequence is as it should be, because the jack plane ordinarily will be used more than the bitbrace; this is not, however, a psychological reason, but one depending solely upon the exigencies of the work. If " logical sequence" were followed, the bitbrace should be used first; but this would require that a series of abstract models be made, and in general the devotees of logical sequence are radical upon the question of making anything that cannot be given a name, whether or not it will ever be used.

The block plane is one of the hardest tools to use effectively, but in the courses in which sequence is considered of so much importance, it comes, like the jack plane, quite near the beginning of the work, - and for the same reason, that the work requires it; if logical sequence were carried out, both these tools should come after the bitbrace, the hammer, and a number of other tools that are easier to use than are the planes. The block plane causes more trouble than do most other tools, because of the splitting off of the corners when planing across end wood. This difficulty is overcome by some teachers by block-planing in a bench hook, which acts as a jack board or shooting board, by which the splitting off of chips is prevented and the work planed square at the same time, regardless of the amount of skill possessed by the student.

Although this process is entirely mechanical, many teachers who apply methods of this sort at every opportunity wax enthusiastic over the advantages of the possession of skill, and the beauties of making the hand perform the desires of the brain.

The writer is satisfied that more is gained by teaching the most direct methods of obtaining results, than by teaching those that make unnecessary labor simply for the sake of practice, which seems the only reason for the existence of certain methods followed by some teachers. The student will learn incidentally to use tools in all necessary ways and under all conditions, the important considerations being that he should (1) comprehend the importance of accuracy, (2) acquire the ability to control the tool, and (3) understand the principle upon which it operates. These in general may be as well taught while using the tool in one way as in another; after the student has attained a reasonable degree of proficiency, the tool may be used for any purpose within its scope.

Some of the school methods of using tools and of obtaining results are not, unfortunately, those employed by mechanics, who by their years of experience learn to use tools intuitively and in the easiest and most effective manner. To this statement, teachers who believe that there is some occult principle involved in the particular methods and sequence in the use of tools that they practice, and in the course of models that they follow, will probably find objection, but the writer contends that there is nothing educational in teaching a method that is wrong, - and some methods taught will certainly not stand comparison with those of mechanics in grace and ease of motion, efficiency, or speed. The best results may not be obtained at first, but in a short time, if correct methods of work are instilled into the pupils from the beginning, there will be better progress.

New Tools

If, in the course of making a new model, a new tool is to be used,, or a new process performed, it should be made the occasion of practice before being applied to the model in hand. The size and the combination of constructive elements should be the basis of the progression, rather than the inventing of models that demand the use of tools in a certain sequence. After the student has learned to use the commonest tools well, he will have little trouble with the tools that are used only occasionally.

Importance Of The Model

This must not be construed as meaning that the model is the important thing. It is of little importance, except as it may indicate the care, thought, and progress of the student who performs the work. The model should be considered by the teacher simply as the means of interesting the pupil, and of giving him an incentive to perform the processes that involve the use of certain tools. The student, however, looks upon the model as the chief end of the work, - a conception, which, unfortunately, seems prevalent among nearly all those also who are not directly connected with school work, despite all that has been written and said upon the end and aim of manual training since its inception.