Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-01-03
CHANGE IN veNEeRINa.
y Machine That Makes n Straight Grain
Appear yariegated.
A recent product Of inventive talent


A recent product of inventive talent
= worlnng a big change in the manu-
lecture of ~veneering. The manufact-
~ Of v~enecring is a pretty big bust
1es il this part Of the world, too, for
SAere are twenty-three factories in
Now York and Brooklyn, and q stack
q logs big enough TO blockade Broad
nay three deep or more is shaved up
every day into ribbons that are some
times seven feet wide and a thousand
long, and most beautifully figured
1fom end 10 end. The object in max
ing v~eneering, of course, is to give "a
piece OF furniture or n hallway or n
panel the beauty of expensive woods
with variegated grain without the cost
Il using the expensive wood for the
entire article, The more wavy and
~paxiegated the grain of a log is, the
more il twists and curls and run hither
md yon, the more valuable il is for
yeneering. For this reason no end Of
shlmps have been cut up into ribbons,
not 10 mention knots and burls.
However, the supply of logs with
N intricate grain and even Of good
Sumps-for not every stump can be
nsed for veneering-is limited. The
agents of the veneer making firms
have penetrated even the least acces-
6ble forests of the country in search
q suitable timber, and the competi-
Won for trees of q twist grain has
brought the price up 20 high as to
make profits unreasonably low. Trees
lave been known to bring as high as
200 each, though il makes the
nan groan to pay half that sum.
Meantime, while the buying agents
AVE been camping out in all sorts of
uncomfortable wildernesses looking
Tor fancy timber, a few men have
bcen trying to devise plans by which
fnncy grained ~veneering can be made
rom plain grained wood. They do
not think they have obtained perfec-
6on yet in the matter. What they
lave done is TO make the product of q
log of plain grain sell ior Just four
md a half times as much as il did, say
agar ago.
To understand the nov process n
INST first know what the old n was.
That was simple enough. A log seven
feet long or less and Of almost any
diameter above seven inches, exclu-
NE Of sap, had its bark Clipped off
Nth an adge, and was then steamed
sver night in q tank made for the pur-
Tpse. In the morning il was ready TO
b fastened into a big lathe and a knife
11Ade as long AZ the longest log used
wen feet-was kept pressed against
10 log 30 as to cut off q shaving or
ibbon about one-thirtieth of an inch
Gick as the log revolved toward it.
NO men rolled up the ribbon and car
ind it away as it was turned out OF
ssurss the knife had TO be set parallel
9TH the axis OF the log or the wood
would not all be cut up, and 50 il the
Ynin OF the wood were straight tho
0bbon could not have o variegsted ap-
pAnpce; even had tho long, straight
Info cut the grain ct an angle tho
Yoduct would have had no value over
- plain grain, but il was in consid-
oing the possibilities of cutting ut an
@gis that the new process was hit
spon.
The inventor noticed that the growth
q no two different years ina troe had
sEactly the same color and grain, oven
when tho log Wa perfectly straight
eained.
Suppose a knife were made that
vould strip of a ribbon that dipped in
md out through the growth Of gay two
ynnB on q log. Certainly the ribbon
Uould have two kinds Of grain and
10 kinds of color. To get tn. ribbon
Ne inventor made q knife with q
wavy edge. The waves were aquarter
- an inch high. However, this did
not produce a sufficient variety in the
grain Of the ribbon TO suit the in
Ventor. and he added 10 il by giving
he knife an oscillating movement in
he direction Of the length of the log
by a cam Of half inch stroke. Now,
q the log revolved against the knife a
ribbon was cut which contained con-
6nuous waves that zigzagged up and
DOWN in the direction of the length of
he log, and exposed a grain not only
Wriegated in color by the varying
depths 10 which the knife cut, but
which was at tho same time very
wavy, if not curly in appearance. The
variations in the color even Of q plain
lack walnut log were remarkable and
benutiful.
There was one objection TO the We
.sering, and that was it did not lie
DOWN Hat on the surface 10 which it
was TO be glued. This was remedied,
however, by stacking up the ribbon in
q hydraulic press that squeezed it with
pressure Of forty tons 10 the square
inch. IL came out Of that press flat.
At present three kinds OF knives are
1sed in these machines. There is no
telling what new forms Of knives
will be invented. The machine itself
y but little more expensive than the
cid style, but a knife costs several
Zines as much. Besides, when o knife
cots dull, q man has 10 labor over il
with emery wheels for just u month TO
get it in order again. New York Sun.