The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-07-07
Costly Cabinet Woods.

one of the members of q well-known
Centre Street firm, sis increasing every
year. The finest and costliest is French
| walnut which, by the, way, is not
French at all but is = product OF ORR
entail countries 1t grows in Persia,
Circassia and Asia Minor You have
seen it in veneering upon costly furni-
ture, but you probably have no notion
| how expensive it is, nor how careful
we are TO prevent waste in its use.
Come into our work-roomsl and will
| let you see it in process of cutting" I'll
| He led the way into some extensive
rooms, where ponderous machinery
was revolving and heavy chains rafting.
In one room steam rose from cracks In
the floor.
.Down there,'' said the gentleman,
/ Elsa pit where we lay large and valuable
logs and subject them to the, action OF
steam until they become almost as soft
as butter. Then we take them out,
fasten them to an iron beam (here he
| led the way into another room,) and
| this beam revolves around finely tenn
pered knife, OF the same length as the
log. '7yAs4a'f4i sionsH
y With each revolution q strip of wood
was shaved OF smoothly, and laid in
piles upon the H6or Ike skins Of leather
or sheets Of paper. 'e't' p 81 a
time this beam turns around
| it moves fraction of an inch nearer to
the knife. Theswbole apparatus works
with extreme precision. No printing
press or weaving machine is made with
greater nicety,t The knife that shaves
off the sheets Of wood is rigidly immov-
able and ground to razor-like edge.
The heavy beam that revolves with its
great load of timber is iirmness itself,
and is regulated like clock-work. The
slightest tremor in the beam or knife
would break and twist the thin sheets
that you see turned off here with the
regularity and perfection of newspapers
| turned out by the printing press. These
thickness, but frequently we shave off
| veneers as thin as 175- to the inch.
He lifted corner of one Of the long
! sheets, and it seemed to be a cut the
thickness of ordinary writing paper.
The; wood was warm and pliable.
| at is only in this condition that this
shaving process is possible. When
fresh from the steampit the knife slips
easily through.it Were thewood cold
and hard the process would be impos-
! sible.. Even il the knife. could do the
work, the sheets would be too brittle
and would crl1mble into small frag-
ments. fssifer3einsf -iszf4 ttAe74s
:. For what purpose are these ex-
trenlely thin sheets usedp =
s'The veneers used upon furniture
are, as arule, somewhat thicker than
these, that we are now turning off. The
| thinest veneers are used on picture
frames. They are as thin as the finest
tissue paper and must be backed with
ordinary paper attached with paste to
| prevent the glue by which they are fas-
tened 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--for COW
| ering the walls of rooms. Besides this,
| there are many other and novel uses
to which they are put AZ short time
| ago somebody conceived the idea of
having business cards printed upon
| them, thinking that the novelty of the
material would cause people topreserve
! the cards ~ Z - III
do you ever saw logs into such
sheetsp Pr ~
Sometimes, but rarely, with the
more expensive woods. Saving in
wolves a good dealaof waste. For the
| cheaper woods it is sometimes more de-
| sirable, as it is not necessary to 90
| through the steaming process when we
use the saw, but there is a great differ
| ence in the number of sheets that are
turned out in that way. The most that
we can get bvssawing is. twenty-five to
| the inch"
"What is the value of the French
walnut?n ,..Ff,-..,-.,..., arr 'A
81 have seen it sell as high as two dol
lars pound. AT the Paris Exposition
for 1878 one burl was sold for 81, 200,
and its weight did not exceed 1920
pounds. ~ 0--.m - feG 4r.fs.
.What is burl?'' III siisf
''Thisi is a trade expression, and means
the large and tough knots or excres-
,ences like warts that grow upon the
trunk of the tree. The French walnut
is small tree, crooked and dwarfed in
its growth, that grows, as have stated,
in Asiatic countries, its value is confined
| entirely to these curious, tough, and con-
torted bumps that grow upon it. The
| trunk itself is of little or no value. You
have often noticed the singular grain
that French walnut has, if grain you
I can call it. The fibres and tissues seem
to betwisted into the most singular and
complicated figures. The ihtricacy of
these figures, combined with their sym
metry, is one of the elements that. de-
termines the value of the French walnut
burl. Color and soundness are other
| elements of value. ="
! ''Does the burl play the same import
ant part in mahogany and other valua-
BILE woods that it does in the French
walnutp'' a&l II Isl N
| 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 knots are dis
carded." -lsi2s t3~@
.sHow do other woods compare in
value with the French walnut?'
Next to French walnut, ebony is
| probably the most valuable. Occasion
ally fine piece is found that brings
even a better price than the French
walnut. Not long ago l saw some that
sold for $3.50 ton. For a particular
| large piece, even five dollars a pound
mi0lt be paid.-s=In-se bopv-the main