And now to commence. Arrange the pieces of carpet on the board, and
mark off the size of each part required with a piece of chalk or
pipeclay. By cutting with the carpet, laying the right side up, we
shall be able to see that the pattern of it will be in the same
direction on both sides of the bag when made up. We next take the ball
of hemp, and by pushing the finger through the hole in the center of
it, drive out the end. To use the hemp from the inside is much the
best way, because the ball will stand perfectly still, whereas, if
started from the outside, it will be darting in all directions about
the floor of the workroom, and entwining itself around any obstacle
which lies there, unless it is placed securely in a box and drawn out
through a hole in the center of lid.
A hook must be fixed in some convenient place to make the waxends on,
or, as they are called in the trade, "threads," which term it will be
as well to call them by here; thus a _four-cord thread_ means a thread
or waxend containing four strands of hemp, a six-cord contains six
strands, and so on. One of the greatest difficulties for the amateur
is to produce a well-formed thread. He generally finds it thicker a
few inches from the point than at any other part. These are known in
the trade as bull-necked threads; and as the mechanic finds it
difficult to use them when his employer starts a new apprentice and
gives him this job for the men, I must impress on the worker here the
necessity of making them as perfect as possible.
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