Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-04-01
WALNUT BURLS.
The Queer EScrescence Which Grows on
Tree and Is Made Into Veneers.

The Queer Excrescence Which Grows OF
Tree and Is Made Into yeneers.
do YOU see that burl?" exclaimed a
veneer manufacturer to reporter,
pointing to a large, wart-like object
which had grown in the shape of an ex.
crescence on an enormous tree in for
eign country. 1T is rather large. II
would take an interesting race of giants
TO have game of marbles with a few
such articles. The burl weighs about a
thousand pounds, though some weigh as
much as six thousand pounds. 1t is
French walnut, from which about fifty
per cent of the veneers used in this
country are made. There are also used
burls from mahogany, rosewood. maple,
ash. cherry, oak and some other varie-
ties Burls (alSo called burrs across
the water) are not to be COMPOUNDED with
knots. They are an essentially different
growth Their deSirabilitv is due. of
| course. TO the peculiar and rich effect of
| the grain, which is of a character found
| in nothing but buri. The term is I'M
derstood TO have originated from the
raised points which dot the surface and
indicate the tortuous disposition of the
wood fibers of the interior. and which
are sharper and more pronounced than
| the birds ewes in maple.
| The foreign tree is no more valuable
/ for its lumber than an American tree,
! but walnut burls do not grow TO any
extent in this country. Neither do they
grow numerously in France. notwith-
standing they are called French. The
EYrge and valuable walnut burls come
chiefly from Persia and CircaSsia. In
the rough they NAV cost from fifteen to
forty cents per pound. and when they
come to be worked up they may turn
out to be worth three times as much.
The actual value is known only when
they come TO be cut up with veneers. and
is dependent on the soundness of the
wood. the character of the grain and
freedom from blemish. Before shipping
to this country those who get ont the
burls often bore into them with an
auger TO get an idea of their character.
and the sheets of veneer are necessarily
defaced. The grain usually varies from
light TO dark. and shows numerous
changes as the center is reached. Owing
TO the value of the material that which
is decayed or otherwise imperfect is cut
up and the good separated from the
bad The former is utilized for patch
work. and some of the most elegant
chamber sets are veneered with CON-
bination of pieces; vet they are so arts
tically Joined that the initiated would
never detect the splicing and filling.
Veneers range in thickness from about
one-fortieth to an eighth of an inch. and
the average size is about thirty to the
inch. As a novelty veneers are cut as
thin as one hundred and sixty to an
inch
"How are the veneers made? They
are softened by steam in sort of
sweat-boX. process requiring from six
TO thirty-six hours, open-grained woods
taking less time than close-grained.
Then they are cut up by an enormous
knife, which is part of machine made
entirely of iron and steel, and weighing
about thirty-six tons. The wood is bolted
to a two-ton stay-log or beam, and with
a downward swing q sheet of veneer,
equal to the entire surface of the burl is
sliced off The oscillating motion of
the stay-log is impaired by driver and
cross-bar stroke below. A good-sized
machine will cut stuff up to ten feet in
length and thirty-four inches in width.
The edge of the knife must be kept like
that of razor. and If duIled by grit 1t
must be Immediately sharpened- Such
woods as ebony and lignum vit@ are too
hard for the knife and must be sawed.
There are other machines which reyolve
a log and cut off continuous sheets OF
yeneering down to the heart of the
wood. Some burlS are four feet through,
and one of them could be sliced up in
about an hour into some fifteen hun
bred sheets. The veneer business flour
ishes in the East, but several million |
feet. surface measure, are annually !!
burned out In Chicago. "-Chicdgo Nescs.