gimlet.

PINCERS AND PLYERS.--Pincers are used to take loose nails out of wood,
to wrench off staples, or other things that have been attached to wood.
Plyers are a smaller kind of pincers, and are used for small work in the
same way. They are very useful tools, and it is impossible to do without
them.

[Illustration]

THE HAMMER.--Almost everybody knows how a hammer is used: it is used to
drive nails with, and also to take them out. The hammer used to take out
nails, is called a claw-hammer, from its having a claw at one part. The
claw is placed under the head of the nail, when the handle of the hammer
becomes a lever, and the head the fulcrum; and, placed in this position,
the hand acquires great power,--sometimes amounting to at least a
hundred-weight. In using a hammer, we should always be careful to use
the kind of hammer necessary for the work to be done.

FILES.--Files are of various uses, and we cannot do very well without
them in carpentering. There are several kinds of files: one kind flat on
one side and rounded at the other; another is flat on both sides, and
another kind has three edges and three flat sides. The first is used for
rasping wood or other things down to a level; and the others are used to
file things into a point, or to cut them in pieces.

THE SCREW-DRIVER is used to drive in and take out screws. It ought to
have a very hard tough edge and a long handle. When placed in the head
of the screw, to drive in, it should be turned from left to right, and
in taking out, from right to left. There is a particular way of getting
out a screw, which is only to be learned by a little practice. The knack
consists in combining with nicety the pressure on the screw-head and the
turning of the driver. The young carpenter will now and then find a very
stubborn screw and fancy it quite impossible to get it out; but by a
little perseverance, he soon finds out the knack of doing it; and what
seemed immoveable yields to his skill and strength. There is one thing
young carpenters frequently do, and that is, to use their chisels for
screw-drivers; the consequence of this is, the spoiling of the chisel,
for the edges are sure to break away.

[Illustration]

THE LEVEL.--Every piece of work should be square and level, except when
it is of a curved form, and then it should be reduced to the principles
of the circle or ellipse. The level is used in putting up posts,
palings, or work of any kind in an upright posit