Practical Carpentry - Radford

In getting out the present work it has been my constant aim to take up the subject of building construction in a systematic and concise way. With this object in view, I have first treated the subject of geometry in so far as it proved a help in carpentry. Every example given involves some fundamental principle of carpentry and if thoroughly mastered will prove of inestimable value later on in the work.

One chapter is devoted to the use of the steel square in carpentry in which a number of suggestions are given, especially along the line of roof framing which will help to simplify what was formerly a troublesome part of carpenter work. In treating the subject of house framing, both good and faulty methods of construction are given so as to more clearly bring out the errors most common in the trade. Various ways of constructing cornice, sills and porches are illustrated. Framing studding and joist bearer and cutting window openings are also described in a comprehensive manner.

In the chapter of roof construction it has been thought best to start with the simplest shed roof and work into the more complicated roofs, covering in the chapter all the principles involved in their construction.

The department of questions and answers is one of the most useful, interesting and instructive parts of this work. They are questions which have arisen in the daily work of practical carpenters all over the country and in answering them my aim has been to make them as clear and concise as possible so as to be understood by everyone.

Original illustrative diagrams, over two hundred in number, are contained in the work, including many full-page illustrations which give clearer and better ideas than could be given in any other way. Great care has been taken to secure absolute accuracy in all of this work so as to make it reliable in every detail.

All the rules and examples are placed under appropriate headings, with index commencement words printed in bold type, so that the eye of the reader can catch the particular information wanted at a glance.

We are fortunate in being able to present a number of full-page details, showing the construction of cornices, porches, stairs, etc., which were prepared for this work by G. W. Ashby.

It has not been thought necessary to give any explanation of these details, as they are self-explanatory. They show the construction of each part completely and complete dimensions are given in all cases.

In Volume II the subject is taken up where it was left off in this volume, treating the subject of stair building, shingling, window construction, fireplace construction and the various kinds of mouldings.

William A. Radford,

It is scarcely necessary to say that the roof of a building is that covering which is to protect the inhabitants and their property from the effects of the weather and that, in addition to this, it should be so constructed that it may shelter the walls, foundation and fabric generally from snow and rain.

Roofs are of various forms and pitches; the high pitched roofs are more generally found through the north, as they discharge the rain with greater facility and the snow lies on their surface for a much shorter time. When constructed on sound principles, the roof is one of the principal ties of a building, as it binds the exterior walls to the interior and to the partitions; while a badly designed roof will have the tendency to give way or to force the walls out of the perpendicular.

The most simple form of roof is that known as the lean=to or shed roof. This is illustrated in Fig. 131, and it derives its name from the fact that it is the roof usually used on a small annex or shed built against or leaning against the main building.

The roof most in use and also very simple in its construction is the saddle roof or gable roof, as it is often called.

This is illustrated in Fig. 132, and shows that the roof has a double slope, and the highest point where they meet is called the ridge of the roof.

Before going into the detailed construction of roofs, it will not be out of place to explain some of the principles involved in roof construction.

In Fig. 133, if AB, CB be two rafters, placed on walls A and C, and meeting in a ridge B, even by their own weight, and much more when loaded, these rafters would have a tendency to spread outwards at A and C, and to sink at B. If this tendency be constrained by a tie established between A and C, and if AB, BC be perfectly rigid and the tie AC incapable of extension, B will become a fixed point. This, then, is the ordinary couple roof, in which the tie AC is a third piece of timber, and which may be used for spans of limited extent; but when the span is so great that the tie AC tends to bend downward or sag, by reason of its length, then the conditions of stability obviously become impaired.

In every trussed frame there must obviously be one series of component parts in a state of compression and the other in a state of extension. The functions of the former can only be filled by pieces which are rigid, while the place of the latter may be supplied by strings. In the diagram the pieces AB, BC are compressed, and AC, DB are extended; yet in general the tie DB is called a king post, a term which conveys an altogether wrong idea of its duties. Thus we see how the two principal rafters, by their being incapable of compression, and the tie beam by its being incapable of extension, serve, through the means of the king post, to establish a fixed point in the center of the void spanned by the roof, which prevents the rafters from bending, and serve in the establishing of other fixed points; and a combination of these pieces is called a king post roof. The most simple form of truss is that shown in Fig. 134, and is called the common rafter - so named, we presume, because it is used in all classes of building. When it becomes necessary to add to its strength, the first thing done is to nail on a cross piece, as shown in Fig. 135, commonly called a tie or collar beam. This piece also serves as the ceiling joist where it is desired to finish a room in the attic. Sometimes a vertical piece is added at the center, as shown in Fig. 136. This, of course, stiffens the truss, but it does not add as much to its strength as is generally sup- posed. This is a common form used for one and a half story houses. The cross piece has a double purpose here ; that it, to keep the side walls from spreading outwards and also forms the ceiling. It can be greatly strengthened by the addition of two extra pieces set brace shape from the center of the collar beam as shown in Fig. 137. The lower the collar beam is placed the stronger will be the truss and should not in most cases be placed above one-third the length of the common rafter.

GEOMETRY. Magnitude – Solid – Surface – Plane – Angle - Quantity of an angle - Right angle - Acute angle - Obtuse angle - Parallelogram - Rectangle -Diagonal - Polygon - Circle - Radius of a circle - Chord of an arc - Tangent - Altitude - Inscribed polygon - Problems in Geometry - To bisect a given angle - To erect a perpendicular - To used a given straight line - To describe a square equal to two given squares - Inscribing a pentagon in a circle - To describe the circumference of a circle through three given points - To draw an Ellipse with the trammel - To find how far apart to saw kerfs to spring a board or mouldings

Part II
ARCHES, CENTERS. WINDOW AND DOOR HEADS.
An arch - Sami-circle arch - Segmental arch - Horse-shoe arch - Lancet arch - Equilateral arch – Tracery in a square panel - Foliations

Part III
THE STEEL SQUARE IN CARPENTRY.
Brace Rule - Octagon Kale - Fence - Length of the common rafter - Rafters - Hip-roof framing - To cut bed moulds for gable to fit under cornice

Part IV
HOUSE FRAMING.
Framing a house - Good and faulty construction - Constructing the sill - Construction at the bearing of second floor joist - Construction of cornice - Constructing box sills - Framing ordinary studding- Constructing a porch - Cutting window openings - Framing sills - Method of halving sills - Making a good corner - Framing a joist bearer - Method of setting studding - Constructing a cornice - Cutting openings in frame work - Affixing of joinery work - Grounds - Backings - Attaching woodwork to stone walls - Cutting in studding - Putting on cornice

Part V
ROOFS AND ROOF CONSTRUCTION.
Lean to or shed roof - Saddle roof - Simple form of trust - Scissors truss -  Hammer beam - Principles of roofs - King-post roofs - Flat-pitched roofs - Queen post roofs - Pressure on roofs - To find dimensions of tie-beam - To find dimensions of lung-post - To find dimensions of struts - To find dimensions of the queen-post - To find dimensions of a straining beam – To find dimensions of purlins - To find dimensions of common rafters - Hip-roofs - Principles to be determined in hip-roofs - To find backing of a hip-rafter - How to find the shoulder purlin - To pierce a circular roof - Section of a mansard root - Details of roofs - Valleys - Dormers - Octagonal roofs - Seat and plumb cuts - Jack cut - Hexagonal roofs - To timber a hexagonal roof

Part VI
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Queen rafter and how it is used - Kerfing ogee moulding - Adding one-half story - How to support a gambrel roof - How to lay out a gothic ceiling - Constructing a circular porch - Making scaffold brackets- Make a scaffold bracket - One-half pitch roof - Making a tool chest - Finishing white pine - Cutting siding for a gable - Looking after little things - Scaffold brackets - Finishing porch floors - A transom window frame - How to put ropes in windows - Plan of a barn - Supporting a ceiling - How to join the crown mould - Gutter for gambrel roof - Facts about doors - Constructing saw horses - Constructing a circular porch - Strength of beams - Building construction - Cutting rafters - Sash pulley gauge and marker – Non freezing potato house - Brace for gambrel roof - Trussing a roof - Preventing leaky window frames - Quarter-sawing oak - Putting in snow blocks - Box sill for frame buildings - Sawing kerfs - Adjustable trestles - Remedy for sweating wall - Flues in chimneys - Laying a church floor - Estimated cost of labor in building - How to ceil a circular plancier - Intersecting gable with the eave - Constructing a cess pool