Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-04-10
MANY USES OF VENEER.
Process by Which it is Prepared for the
Cabinetmakers.

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Hardwood trees. such as the oak, the
walnut. and the ash have been made
more valuable in modern days by the in
vention of veneering machines, which
slice up the logs into uniform thickness
of less than 0ne-twentieth OF an inch.
Veneering is not a new art. but IN early
davs it was all hand work. and the process
was so slow and labOrious that the cost
was great.
Some Of the old furniture of Colonial
davs shows how patiently and accurately
the first American cabinet makers worked;
but as a rule solid wood furniture was pre-
ferred and manufactured. The veneer
of today. says the Christian Endeavor
World. instead of cheapening furniture
really makes il in many respects superior
to the solid hardwood articles
The several layers of veneer are glued
on the surface with the grain running IN
opposite directions. Ths gives a firm,
substantial finish. which viii rarely warp
i'm hot or cold weather or swell or crack.
Heavy mahogany or oak doors are IN
convenient TO handle. bus by making the
doors of light wood and veneering them
ON the outside we have handsome doors
| that are easy to handle, and which never
warp and sag. Altogether the veneer
| is considered one Of the greatest improve
ments in the wood working industry OF
/ the day.
Without veneering machinery it would,
/ of course. be impossible to place iine
cabinet articles within the reach OF the
multitude.
Parlor and ornamental furniture and
cabinet pieces. with handsome veneered
surfaces appear in nearly all of our
| homes. The very best of the oak, the
walnut and the ash trees arr selected for
veneering. Only the poor, coarse and
! knotty logs are turned over 10 the manu-
facturers Of the cheaper articles. A large
| walnut tree, with a perfe't grain, is
worth a good deal oi money for it can be
| made into hundreds of feet OF veneer.
The venoering machines are OF two
kinds-sawing and slicing. The former
was at one time considered tbe best and
| people demanded only sawed veneer for
the choicest furniture, but 1t requires an
expert today to distinguish tho difference.
Expert woodsmen are travelling
through the great woods all the time in
the interests of the veneerng companies,
and when they find a handsome hard
wood tree they buy it. Sometimes 1t is
found in the heart of the woods and again
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of a small country home. If It is large,
straight and perfect in grain, 10 times
as much will be offered for it as it would
be worth for ordinary numbering purposes.
These perfect specimens Of hardwood
trees are then cut and trimmed, sawed
into convenient lengths, peeled and even
split. The logs are shipped TO the fac
tory in this rough condition, sometimes
l3 TO 20 feet in length. The first process
is to cook them. This is done by plungini
them into "a vat OF hot water or steam
where they are left until they become
soft and pliable.
When properly cooked they 60 to tho
yeneering machines. These either sic,
or saw the logs into slabs from onc-tenti
to one-thirtieth OF an inch in thickness
So perfect are the slicing or cutting ma
chimes that the veneer does not vary ,
hair breadth throughout its whole length
The usual veneer is one-twentieth O
an inch in thickness, which Is so thin that
II seems AS il il must he broken wheI
handled: but i'm its soft, pliable condition
il rarely cracks or breaks.
Next il is hardened or seasoned bl
steaming, which takes from one to tw'