l tK:;it»i;)tVaiiatl!»Oi;3WMi>Sl!WMi^^ 



in«nnnn'y.i 



Satinwoods of Commerce 



l^'hnrinBnt 



Under the name of satinwood a uuniber of entirely diflerent 

 kinds of woods for cabinet making are distinguished in commerce, 

 according to the deeper or lighter shades of yellow. The require- 

 ments of the trade in the United States are satisfied with satin- 

 wood chiefly from the West Indies and the Guianas, but several 

 important kinds are found also in Jlexico, Central America, and 

 Colombia. A great uncertainty still exists as to what species the 

 different satinwoods belong, and in order to determine this definitely 

 it will be necessary to arrive at the true origin of these woods. 

 The only sure way of finding out to what species they belong is by 

 examining authentic specimens of the foliage and flowers of the 

 different trees from which the woods are obtained. 



If it were possible to procure specimens of all the so-called 

 satinwoods, with information as to where and in what quantities 

 they can be procured, their cost, and their physical and mechan- 

 ical properties, and place them before the manufacturer, he would 

 soon be able to select for himself the kind or kinds best suited 

 for his particular pur- 

 poses. While this is 

 possible with a good 

 many groups o f 

 woods, it has never 

 happened with the sat- 

 inwoods. In every 

 case manufacturers 

 have had to take what 

 was offered as satin- 

 wood and make the 

 best of the material 

 which importers were 

 able to procure from 

 one source or another. 

 There are a number 

 of excellent woods with 

 which manufacturers 

 and importers are whol - 

 ly unacquainted and 

 could be used in lieu of 

 the costly substitutes. 



The true and origi- 

 nal satinwood of 

 commerce is produced 

 by a tree gi'owing in 

 Ceylon and India. It 

 is known botanically 

 as Chloroxylon swiet- 

 enia, and belongs to 



the same natural group of plants as the true mahogany of tropical 

 America. While these two trees are closely related botanically the 

 woods have very few characters in common. The East Indian satin- 

 wood tree attains a large size and is esteemed in valua next to the 

 East Indian ebony (Biospyros quaesita), which is the most valuable 

 ornamental wood in Ceylon. The wood is hard, heavy (about sixty 

 pounds per cubic foot), very close and fine-grained, very durable, 

 of a light orange color, takes a beautiful polish and is suitable 

 and used for all kinds of ornamental work. It is more or less 

 liable to warp and split if not well seasoned in the shade. The 

 flowered or feathered satinwood when first polished is one of the 

 most beautiful woods in the world. This grade of wood is gen- 

 erally-obtained from the roots of the tree. Satinwood gets darker 

 and loses much of its beauty unless it is protected by a coat of 

 fine varnish. The wood is exported to Europe chiefly from Ceylon, 

 and to a less extent from India, and occasionally comes to the 

 American markets either direct or is reshipped from England. It 

 is known in the trade as East Indian satinwood, and is quoted in 

 London at prices ranging from fifteen to thirty cents per super- 

 ficial foot. 



—32— 



POLISHED SURFACE OF WEST INDIAN SATINWOOD (XYANTIIOXYLUM FLAYA) 



Of the West Indinn species yielding satinwood, the best known 

 kind is the wood of Xanthoxylum flava, a tree closely related to 

 our southern prickly ash (Xanihoxylwm clava-hercnlis) . The latter 

 is also a native of Cuba, Porto Eico, St. Domingo and Trinidad, 

 and the wood is often substituted for satinwood. It is called yellow 

 Sanders in Jamaica and epineux jaune in the French West Indies. 

 Xanthoxyhtm flava. which is rarely more than thirty-five feet in 

 height and about eighteen inches in diameter, does not develop 

 a distinct heartwood, but the color gradually deepens from a light 

 yellow at the bark inward to a light orange at the center. It is 

 even and very fine-grained, of a satiny luster in a longitudinal sec- 

 tion, and shows on its polished surface a beautiful rippled pattern 

 (see illustration). It is slightly aromatic like the East Indian satin- 

 wood when it is first cut. Its weight is about sixty pounds per 

 cubic foot and its crushing strength 4.31 tons per cubic inch. It 

 is a great favorite for veneering, panels, turned articles, inlaying, 

 cabinet work, and furniture. Its value is from $30 to $35 per 



ton in England. 



Another West In- 

 dian tree yielding sat- 

 ,inwood is the Xan- 

 thoxylum elephantia- 

 sis. It is a somewhat 

 laager tree than 

 X. flava, and the wood 

 is sometimes called- 

 zebra wood. The tree 

 often attains a height 

 of fifty feet and a di- 

 ameter upward to four 

 feet at the base. The 

 wood is of a light yel- 

 low color, beautifully 

 waved and mottled, 

 and takes a very high 

 polish. It is much 

 esteemed . for cabinet 

 work and for interior 

 ornamental work. 



Thorny yellow 

 wood {Xanthoxylum 

 irachyacanthum) of 

 northeastern Australia 

 is often sold as satin- 

 wood. It is a tree 

 from forty to fifty 

 feet in height and 

 from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter. The wood is bright 

 yellow, silky, soft, close and fine-grained, and easily worked. In some 

 of its qualities it is said to be equal or even superior to the West- 

 Indian satinwood. This nood is sometimes imported into England, 

 but it rarely reaches American markets. 



The West Indian satinwood {Simaruba tiiJae), known in Cuba 

 and Porto Kico as aeeitillo, the Spanish for ' ' little oil tree, ' ' is 

 a small tree of from forty to fifty feet high and from twelve to 

 eighteen inches in diameter. It is found throughout the West 

 Indies, Central America, and northern part of South America. While 

 it grows at lower altitudes, it was formerly most abundant in the 

 original forests at an altitude ranging from 1,800 to 2,500 feet. 

 After many years of exploitation this wood has become very rare 

 and little of it is now being exported. So valuable is it at the 

 present time that in Porto Eico the stumps are being dug up and 

 cut into veneer which is highly esteemed for making furniture. 

 Until recently it has been cut and shipped in considerable quan- 

 tities to England at $2.00 per cubic foot. It is sold also by weight 

 and the lower and medium grades sell for from $15 to $50 per 

 ton. It was formerly used extensively in England for the interior 



