Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-28
COSTLY CABINET WOODS.
From the New York Sun.

Thin as Tissue Paper
From the New York Sum-
"The demand for fine woods" said one of the
members of q well-known Center street firm,
''is increasing every year. The finest and cost
Hest Is French walnut, which, by the way, is not
French at all, but is product of Oriental coun-
tries. 1t grows In Persia. Circassia, and Asia
Minor. You have seen it in veneering upon
costly furniture, but you probably have no no.
ton how expensive it Is nor how careful we are
to prevent waste in its use. Come into our
workroom and l will let you see 1t in process
of cutting
He led the way into some extensive room.
where ponderOus machinery was revolving and
heavy chains rafting. In one room steam rose
from cracks in the floor
Down there" said the gentleman, sis nit
where we lay large and valuable logs and sub
Ject them to the action Of steam until they be-
come almost as soft as butter. Then we take
them ont, fasten them to an iron beam There he
led the way into another rOOmj and this beam
reyolves around a finely tempered knife, Of the
same length as the log"
With each revolution strip OF wood was
shaved OFF smoothly. and laid i'm piles upon the
floor like skins of leather or sheets of paper.
Every time this beam turns around it moves
fraction OF an inch nearer to the knife. The
whole apparatus works with extreme precision
NO printing press or weaving machine is made
with greater nicely. The knife that siaves off
the sheets OF wood Is rightly immOyable and
ground to a razor like edge. The heavy beam
that revolves with its great load of timber is
1rmness Itself. and is regulated like clOckwork
Inc slightest tremOr in the beam or knife wOuld
Dreak and twist the thin sheets that you see
turned of here with the regularity and per-
lection of newspapers turned out BY the print
ING press These sheets are about 1920 of an
inch IN thickness. but frequently we shave off
veneers as thin as Us to the inch'
He lifted corner Of one of the long sheets.
and ii seemed TO be about the thickness of Or
binary writing paper. The wood was warm and
pabe.
1t is only in this condition that this shaving
process IS possible When fresh from the steam
PIT the knife slips easily through it. Were the
wood cold and hard, the process would be i'm
possible. Even if the knife could do the work,
the sheets would be too brittle, and would
crumbie into small fragments
= For what purpose are these extremely thin
sheets used ?"
The veneers used upon furniture are az
rule, somewhat thicker than these that we are
now turning OFF, The thinnest veneers are used
on picture frames. They are as thin as the
finest tissue paper, and must be backed with or
binary paper attached with paste. to prevent
the glue by which they are fastened to the BODY
OF the frames from showing through. These
veneers are also used to a large extent in the
same way that wall paper is used-tor covering
the walls of rooms Besides this there are
many other and novel uses to which they are
put A short time ago somebody conceived
the idea of having business cards printed upon
them, thinking that the novelty of the material
would cause people to preserve the cards.
do you ever saw logs into such sheets?"
sometimes, but rarely with the more eX-
pensive woods. Saving involves good deal
of waste. For the cheaper woods it ia some
times more desirable, as it is not necessary to
go through the steaming process when we use
the saw. but there is great difference in the
number of sheets that are turned out in that
way. The most that we can get In saving is
twenty-five to the inch'
'.What is the value of the French walnut ?"
Il have seen it sell high as SO pound
At the Paris Exposition tor 1878 one burl was
sold for $1,000, and its weight did not exceed
2 200 pounds"
''What is a burl?'
This is trade expression, and means the
large and tough knots OF eXcrescences like
warts that grow upon the trunk of the tree
The French walnut is a small tree crooked and
dwarfed in its growth. that grows. as I have
stated. in Asiastic countries. It's value is con-
hned entirely to these curious, tough and con-
tOrted bumps that grow upon it. The trunk
itself is of little OF no value. You have often
noticed the singular grain that French walnut
has. if grain you can call it. The fibers and It's
sues seem to be twisted into the most singular
and complicated figures The intricacy of these
figures, combined with their symmetry. is one
OF the elements that determines the value of the
French walnut burl. Color and soundness are
other elements of value"
Does the burl play the same important part
in mahogany and other valuable woods that it
does in the French walnut ~
There are rosewood and mahogany burls
but. unlike those OF the French walnut they are
OF little or no value. In those woods it is the
trunk OF the tree that is priced the nOts are dis
carded."
How do other woods compare in value with
the French Walnut"
Next to French walnut ebony ia probably
the most valuable. Occasionally fine piece is
found that brings even better price than the
French walnut. Not long ago saw some that
sold for $3.50 ton. For a particularly large
piece, even IS pound might be paid In ebony
the main thing is size. 1t is difficult to get
large pieces that can be used without cutting.
Rosewood and mahogany are always i'm de-
mand. The best mahogany is that of San
Domingo Next come the mahOganes of Cuba,
Honduras, Mexico and Africa. There is much
less difference in value between different ma
hOganies and rOsewOOds than between different
specimens OF ebony and French walnut Fair
rosewood will sell in the log for So and cents
per pound French walnut can occasionally, if
poor be bought as low as 3 cents per pound
but the finer burls will sell for hundreds of dol
lars. Burs worth from $500 to 81 600 each are
not rare. recently bought one myself for
$l-2up, ana L think / shall make 1t pan out
$1,000. We must be very careful however. in
buying these burs. Their value is often greatly
lessened by the existence OF hOllOws, sometimes
In the very heart OF the wood. the result of
decay or malfOrmatiOn. These hollow places
are filled up by fraudulent dealers with O SUBJ
stance that is made to resemble the genuine
wood, and they will then sell the burs as sound.
Manure. compressed to the requisite degree of
hardness, Is much used for this purpose Worse
even than this is the practice to which such
knaves sometimes resort OF placing stones in the
hoii0ws to Increase the weight, for the burls as
have already intimated, are sold by the pound.
This fraud is liable to cause serious damage to
the valuable knives that are used in cutting the
veneers"
How about our native woods? Do YOU deal
much in them ~
Yes. to some extent; but for choice cabinet
work the foreign woods are of course more
highly priced Burs In ash and maple are plen-
titul and cheap, selling for two to four cents
pound Black walnut burls command higher
price-ten to twelve cents a pOund-but they
are getting scarce. Yes. the demand for choice
cabinet woods is constantly increasing. In the
houses that the wealthy are now putting up the
fine wood work constitutes large item in the
expenditure. Look at these veneers for table
covers. These handsome designs and this artis-
at aol