Improvements in the Mode of Preparing Wood for Ornamental and Decorative Purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1891--Accepted, 20th June 1391
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Mode of Preparing Wood for Ornamental and
Decorative Purposes.
I, LEWIS WASHINGTON MURCH of Medora, Billings County, North Dakota,
United States of America, Cabinet Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object the sawing or otherwise cutting and preparing of
wood from the trunks of trees or logs in the rough and limbs of trees, into boards
er panels suitable for various ornamental and decorative purposes, including house
finishing work, ornamental work in banks, churches and other public buildings, of
for passenger coaches, street cars, vessel's cabins, musical instruments, coffins,
cabinet work, bric-a-brac, tiling, wainscoting, ceiling and various other ornamental
and useful purposes.
The invention therefore consists in cutting or sawing a log, or limb, having the
bark thereon as in its natural state, obliquely into blocks or pieces, the bark
remaining around the periphery of each block or piece, and finally removing the
bark from the blocks or pieces, in the operation of shaping, as will be hereinafter
described and claimed.
Boards, blocks or panel pieces made from timber cut obliquely across the grain
as above described present a highly ornamental appearance with the heart of the
wood in or near the centre, and their surfaces when finished will be much more
beautiful than when otherwise cut transversely from timber; and each block while
drying being encircled by a ring of bark will be bound thereby and prevented from
splitting or cracking radially. Moreover, the logs do not have to be slabbed or
barked previous to their being reduced to blocks or pieces, as is ordinarily done,
but the bark is removed by the shaping dies or cutters, thus dispensing with one
step and at the same time obtaining the great advantage of retaining the bark
until the very last stage of the process. Their surfaces too will be susceptible
of a much higher polish and a perfectly smooth surface is obtained at a cheaper
rate than when the boards, blocks or panel pieces are produced by sawing parallel
with the grain, as, when cut parallel with the grain, a large percentage of the
boards have cross-grained places in them, which makes the smoothing of their
surfaces both difficult and costly. By cutting the timber, too, obliquely across
the grain, "checking," or cracking at the ends of the boards or panel-pieces is
entirely done away with, thus saving much valuable lumber, as, the grain passes
as it were, around the ends of the board in such manner as to effectually hold
it together and the grain of the board shrinks both on the ends and sides together
towards the centre.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal view of an undressed log, tree-trunk, or limb
intersected by dotted lines indicating cuts made oblique to the grain of the wood,
to form the required boards or panel pieces;
Figure 2 represents, upon a larger scale, a face view of a board or panel piece as
thus cut from said timber, also by dotted lines, the cuts that are subsequently
made to dress the board or panel-piece into shape; and
Figure 3 is a face view of a series of such obliquely cut and subsequently shaped
panel pieces arranged and grouped together to form a piece of wainscoting, ceiling,
or floor.

page_text: A in Figure 1 indicates the rough log, tree or limb and b b the directions of the
saw lines or other cuts oblique to the grain of the wood, necessary to produce the
approximately elliptical shaped boards or panel pieces having the heart of the wood
in the centre, and one of which N is shown in Figure 2. The whole log or limb
may be similarly cut up throughout its length or greater part thereof, and each of
the boards or panel pieces B is afterwards cut or dressed in reverse angular
directions at its edges on opposite sides as indicated by the lines c d, and by
parallel straight cuts e e at its ends, thereby forming a finished panel piece or
block B the profile of which presents obtuse angles on its opposite sides united by
straight lines or chords at its ends. It will be seen that the cuts on the lines
referred to, remove the bark as well as shape the blocks; the bark remaining on
the blocks until this, the final treatment of them prior to polishing. Even if the
logs themselves should be dried prior to being sliced or sawed obliquely, the
encircling bands of bark will, by their binding action, prevent warping, and will
protect the blocks, which are very thin, from mechanical injury. This shape and
finish of the panel pieces or blocks gives a very secure tie or bend of wedge-
like character to the panel pieces or blocks, necessarily breaking joint with one
another midway of their length, when grouped together as shown in Figure 3
and if desired bound by a moulding or border, to be used in a room for
wainscoting or ceiling. Such panels or panel pieces B, in being cut from the
timber diagonally to the grain, will possess superior beauty in always exposing
the heart of the wood, in an elongated form due to the obliquity of the cut, in a
central or nearly central position on the face of the panel, and when the panels are
made of different or contrasting colors a very ornamental effect will be produced
by the group of panels or panel pieces for tiling, wainscoting and ceilings and for
other purposes, and a smooth finish and high polish can be given to the panels
or blocks, as hereinbefore specified. As the diameter of the tree, log, or limb,
combined with the obliquity of its cut, determine the length and width of the
panel, there will be a great saving of stock too, and small timber, that ordinarily
is permitted to go to waste, can be used to great advantage for making panels
or blocks for various purposes. Veneer cut from the tree, limb or log obliquely
to the grain as described will have a much handsomer appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
-
The method, herein described, of cutting and treating wood for ornamental and
decorative purposes, which consists in cutting or sawing a log or limb, with the
bark on, obliquely into blocks or pieces, the bark remaining on each block or
piece, and finally shaping the blocks or pieces and removing the bark at one
and the same operation, thereby avoiding the necessity of slabbing or barking
the log prior to its reduction into blocks or pieces, substantially as set forth.
Dated this th d
1001
L. W. MURCH.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.