fitted. Mark and cut off as before, and repeat the process until the eight
wedges are ready in the rough. Then bevel off the outside corners and
smooth them--as well as the rest of the woodwork--with fine glass
paper.

Shelves and sides should be wax-polished or given a coat or two of varnish.

[Illustration: Fig. 9. Plan or bookstand shelf.]

Don't drive the wedges in too tight, or yon may have to lament a split lug.

If the stand is to be used for very heavy books, or the shelves are much
longer than specified here, it is advisable to bring the angle of the
shelves down to the bottom of the standards, to relieve the shelves of
bending strain at the centre; or to use stouter material; or to unite the
shelves at two or three points by thin brass screws inserted through holes
drilled in the overlapping part.



IV. A HOUSE LADDER.

The preparation and putting together of the parts of a ladder having round,
tapered rungs let into holes in the two sides is beyond the capacity of the
average young amateur; but little skill is needed to manufacture a very
fairly efficient substitute for the professionally-built article--to wit,
a ladder of the kind to which builders apply the somewhat disparaging
adjective "duck."

The rungs of such a "duck" ladder are merely nailed to the outside if the