HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



■V\"it!i these may be contrasted the six heaviest woods: 



Pounds 

 per cubic foot 



Stopper of Floriila 70.02 



Vanquelinia of Arizona 70.88 



Lignum vitte of 1< lorida 71.24 



Mangrove of Florida 72.40 



Purple liaw of Texas? 74.78 



Black ironwood of Florida 81.14 



The heaviest and densest of these woods lacks nearly twenty per 

 cent of being solid wood substance. Pores make up at least one- 

 fifth of the bulk. If it were absolutely solid wood substance, a 

 cubic foot would weigh one hundred jiounds. The difference between 

 its dry weiglit and one lumdred pounds represents, in a general way, 

 the open cavities in the wood. The heaviest woods, therefore, are 

 from three-fourths to four-fifths real wood, and the rest consists of 

 cavities. 



On the other hand, the light woods have comparatively little of 

 actual wood substance in them. Golden fig, the lightest, is less than 

 one-sixth wood and more than five-sixths cavities. 



If woods could be compressed into approximate solids — the sides 

 of all their cells and pores squeezed together — their bulks would be 



reduced from one-fifth in the case of the heaviest woods to five- 

 sixths in the lightest. If that were done, all would weigh the same, 

 bulk for bulk; at least, it is believed that such would be the case, 

 but no njethod has yet been perfected for compressing wood until 

 all cavities collapse and disappear. 



The nearest approach to it is accomplished by heating wood in a 

 retort with the air excluded, so tliat combustion cannot take place. 

 A temperature of 600 degrees has .a striking effect on a block of 

 wood under such circumstances. It cannot burn, but seems to partly 

 melt. It turns brown, contracts in size, and it cuts not unlike hard 

 rubber. When dropped in water, it sinks. It is paradoxical that 

 wood may be made so dry that it sinks in water. However, some- 

 thing besides simple drying takes place when wood is treated to 

 great heat in an airless retort. Such treatment has other than 

 scientific value. It is believed that such wood is valuable for many 

 purposes, and may be substituted^ in some cases, for hard rubber, 

 and in others for the hardest, heaviest foreign woods in manufac- 

 turing commodities like bowling balls, billiard cues, and scientific 

 appai-atus. However, few tests have yet been made in that direc- 

 tion. It is a new field which may or may not develop something 

 practical. 



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l>Jew Woods for Gunstock 



Black walnut has long been the favorite gunstock wood in this 

 country. It is easy to work, takes a high polish, makes up richly 

 and often displays a very handsome grain. .It stands well the 

 strains from ordinary guns, being resilient and tough. There is a 

 decided sentiment attached to the use of black walnut for this 

 purpose, much the same as the feeling that a high-grade handsaw 

 must have an applewood handle. Manufacturers have accordingly 

 stuck to walnut, in spite of increasing difficulty of securing suitable 

 material. The advent of the high-power automatic has demonstrated 

 that walnut is not strong enough to withstand the continued strain 

 from the whipping action and new woods are rapidly coming into use. 



Perhaps the similarity of figure of red gum to Circassian walnut, 

 which has long been the favorite gunstock wood in Europe, lead to 

 its trial. Here, as in most other places where given a chance, red 

 gum has proved its merits. A study of the wood-using industries 

 of Connecticut, where the firearm industry in very important, dis- 

 closes the fact that out of a little over 600,000 feet, board measure, 

 of wood used for gunstocks in 1910, red gum furnished 210,000 feet 

 and black walnut about 390,000 feet. All other woods used, princi- 

 pally Circassian walnut and boxwood, amounted to less than 4,000 

 feet. 



Eed gum has a very decided advantage of being obtainable in 

 desirable quantities and sizes at a low price. The average price 

 paid at the factory for the 210,000 feet of this wood used in 

 Connecticut in 1910 was $4-1..50 per thousand feet board measure, 

 while that of black walnut was over $78 per thousand; Circassian 

 walnut, $2.50; boxwood, $115.50. Only the heartwood of red gum 

 is used, and it is stained and treated to add to the beauty of the 

 wood. The use of red gum, however, is confined as yet to the 

 cheaper grades of firearms, though the excellent service it is giving 

 promises more general employment in this industry. 



In the returns from the wood-using industries in Connecticut in 

 1910 no black or cherry birch was mentioned. Since then, however, 

 the employment of this wood for automatic guns has increased very 

 rapidly. The wood is fairly hard, strong, resilient, fine-textured 

 and capable of receiving a high polish. The rays are finer than 

 maple, but, seen on quarter -sawed material, add materially to the 

 appearance. The natural color of the heartwood is reddish brown, 

 which can be greatly enhanced by staining. The wood is consider- 

 ably heavier and stronger than black walnut, and is also more 

 diflScult to season without checking, which would ruin its value for 

 gunstocks. The best grade of cherry birch costs from $125 to $150 

 per thousand feet board measure. 



In making a cherry birch gunstock the wood is sawed into two- 

 inch planks and allowed to sft'son thoroughly for a year or more — 

 the longer, the better. Several years in a dry room are required to 

 secure perfect seasoning, and even then small checks may appear 

 after the stocks are cut out. A special ammonia process requiring 

 three or four days is employed to darken the wood and add to its 

 beauty. A kiln-dried plank of proper length for a stock is ripped 

 through the middle edgewise and the pieces reversed so that the 

 inside faces are outside. These two pieces are again sawed through 

 the middle, but flatwise this time. Then one section on each side 

 is reversed end for end, tending to produce a herringbone effect, 

 alike on both sides. The parts are carefully matched and glued, 

 roughly sawed to shape, and finally turned down to completed form. 



The weakest part of any gunstock is the ' ' small ' ' or grip, and 

 in fashioning a stock it is important to see to it that the wood at 

 that place is not cross-grained or weakened from any cause. This is 

 not always easy to secure, since the handsomest woods for stocks 

 are usually wavy-grained, gnarled or otherwise irregular in arrange- 

 ment of elements. BuUt-up stocks are stronger than those of a 

 single piece, as the tendency of one part to split or break is counter- 

 acted by the different grain in the one adjacent to it. The wood 

 where the butt-plate is attached should preferably be straight and 

 regular, to prevent splitting. The same is true of the portion 

 where the locks are set in, the direction of grain desired being 

 parallel to the barrel of the gun. 



Circassian walnut is usually given an oil finish instead of being 

 varnished, as in the case of black walnut and most other woods. 

 Before oil is applied the wood is subjected to a process of repeated 

 wetting and drying to bring out the grain. It is then sandpapered 

 down smoothly and oil applied and rubbed in thoroughly, time and 

 time again. A very high-priced stock is the result, but the hand- 

 some product seems well worth the effort. 



Bird's-eye and curly sugar maple are used to some extent for 

 rifle stocks. The wood is very hard, heavy, strong, resilient, and 

 capable of taking a very high polish. Highly figured specimens are 

 very handsome in effect. 



Black cherry makes gunstocks of exceptional merit, but the supply 

 of the right kind of material is so limited and the price so liigh that 

 it does not pay to use it. The rich vinous red of the natural wood 

 can be emphasized by careful finishing, and the appearance of 

 quarter-sawed material rivals or surpasses the richest mahogany. 



S. J. R. 



