20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the dimension trade had plenty of orders and 

 was able to keep on running when other saw- 

 mills were forced to shut down. 



Another recent source of supply for the 

 chair manufacturer in the way of quartered 

 oak especially has been through the many 

 small stave and heading factories, which cut 

 up stave "bolts," as pieces of timber in the 

 form of quarter logs are called. In the past 

 these ' ' bolts, ' ' which may be seen lying in 

 numerous piles along any railroad in an oak- 

 produeing territoiy, were sold to stave men 

 almost exclusively, but now the factories 

 which supply chair, handle, furniture and 

 wagon stock use them to a very great extent. 

 The method employed to cut the bolts is such 

 that the result is almost perfect quarter- 

 sawed oak, with more of the broad ' ' splashy ' ' 

 figure showing than could be obtained from 

 an ordinary piece of quartered lumber cut 

 info the same dimension. 



It is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say that 

 fully 75 per cent of the lumber now pur- 

 chased* by chair manufacturers comes to 

 them in the form of dimension stock, and 

 there is little doubt but that this system 

 will increase rather than diminish among all 

 furniture and wood-working establishments. 

 This is explained by the fact that in the 

 long run it is usually cheaper to buy dimen- 

 sion stock, for with it the manufacturer only 

 pays for what he uses, thus suffering no loss 

 from down-fall or freight charges on refuse 

 lumber and sawdust. 



KKNT B.VCK ROCKER, S.\^DDLE SEAT. 



In the manufacture of chairs every piece 

 of lumber is thoroughly kiln-dried before it 

 is sent into the factory. Here these pieces 

 pass to the various machines, which turn out 

 the separate parts. On account of the many 

 round spindles, legs, arms and other parts 

 of chairs, the lathe is an important factor 

 here. Many of these lathes are automatic 

 and require only one man to do the work 

 that formerly could not be accomplished by 

 twenty. The most modern machinery is also 

 used in the mill work, and many beautiful 

 dpsigns are made in a single operation. 



The very best chairs, however, are all 

 hand-carved. It is true that the bulk of this 

 work is done by machinery, but the delicate 

 finishing touches must be made by an expert 

 hand-carver. These men receive very good 

 wages and are well worth what is paid them, 

 for some of the chairs which they turn out 

 are exquisite. An idea of what is ac- 



aplished 



this line mav be obtained from 



As in the case of caning, however, it is cus- 

 tomary, especially in finishing the better 

 class chairs, to saudpaper them again by 

 hand. 



In assembling the different parts, wooden 

 .ioinls, fastened together by glue, are used 

 wherever possible. This work is done by 

 men each of whom has become adept in his 

 particular operation so that little time is 



VICE PRESIDENTiAI 



the accompanying illustration of the mag- 

 nificent hand-carved chair occupied by the 

 A'ice-President in the Senate at Washington. 

 The sandpapering process is of consider- 

 able importance. Here, again, machines 

 do most of the work, reaching some por- 

 tions of different parts which one might 

 think were only accessible to h\inian liands. 



RMSHED BY 



wasted during the process of construction. 

 It is very interesting to watch a chair, dur- 

 ing the period of assembling, passing from 

 one man to the next, gaining some new part 

 in each step, and finally assuming its com- 

 pleted form. 



The shellacing and varnishing is less com- 

 tilicatcd than that of a tabic or desk- In 



