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The Handle Trade 



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BROOM HANDLES FROM OTHER WOODS THAN MAPLE 

 Years ago, when l>room corn was cheap aud the jiriueipal aim of 

 the broom manut'actul'er was to turn out an article of the highest 

 quality of manufacture, he preferred to use basswood exclusively 

 for handles, because of its white color, its light weight and the 

 ease with which it worked on the old-style foot-power machinery 

 then in use. However, with the increased price of broom corn and 

 the growing practice of quoting on brooms by weight, the broom 

 manufacturers soon began to see the advisability of cutting down 

 somewhat in the weight of broom corn and making up the weight 

 by using a heavier handle. As a consequence, they gradually 

 changed to handles made of hard maple. At tirst they endeavored 

 to put green stock into their goods, with the idea of making them 

 weigh that much heavier, but, as this was soon found to be imprac- 

 ticable, they finally used dry hard maple entirely. These handles 

 have gradual!}' been increasing in price and decreasing in size. 

 Where they were originally one and one-eighth inches in diameter, 

 the common handle now is only one inch. While the limit in 

 jirice for hard maple handles has probably not yet arrived, it soon 

 will. With advancing price in this line it will not be long before 

 some substitute will be found. Various kinds of woods have 

 already been tried out, but none of them seem to answer the purpose, 

 and there is no reason to suppose that there will be any substi- 

 tution until prices make the use of hard maple absolutely pro- 

 hibitive. In the opinion of the writer, the first wood which will 

 be used to substitute in this line of manufacture will be red gum. 

 If properly taken care of, this wood has excellent qualities; it 

 will turn on the lathes finely, will take a smooth finish, and can 

 be waxed or enameled as easily as the maple. While basswood 

 could be used, its price is prohibitive, even if the broom men would 

 buy basswood handles, which they will not, except for special 

 purposes. Probably the solution of the question lies with the 

 sawmill man. There is undoubtedly a great deal of waste in slabs 

 and edgings, and in the woods after the tree has been cut, that 

 could be easily worked up on bolting saws into handle blanks. 

 These can be sold to reliable factories as fast as they are manu- 

 factured. While the handle manufacturer prefers buying such stock 

 dry, ready to work, he, as a rule, would not object to buying them 

 green when he could get them. 



THE FINISH OF HANDLES 



The trend of custom at present seems to be toward the highly 

 finished enameled handles. This may in part be due to the fact 

 that painters are taking greater pains with that line of work. 

 This type of handles at first was simply given a coat of paint, 

 a few stripes, and a coat or two of varnish. Then the stripes went 

 out of style and the handle was finished in one solid color. But 

 the painters began to use a cheap grade of material in this style 

 of finish, in order to cheapen the product, and did material injury 

 to the trade, as they put out a handle that would lose its color 

 when damp. It has taken several years of careful effort by some 

 of the best firms doing this class of work to live down the reputa- 

 tion thus gained. But it is felt that the enameled handle as 

 turned out today by these firms will stand every test, and the 

 housewife need have no fear of staining her hands with a broom 

 with an enameled handle. 



It is necessary, however, to have, as a basis for enameling, a 

 smooth, well-turned and thoroughly dried handle. While that 

 quality of stock can be turned out by most of the handle plants, 

 it is a fact that the bulk of handles put on the market is not 

 smooth enough for enameling without resanding. While some of 

 the handles appear smooth, they have a gloss finish, and the enamel 

 will not take properly on them without resanding. The process of 

 enameling is very simple in itself, and requires only a lathe for 

 turning the handles at a high speed, the most important feature 

 of the process being the paint or enamel itself. The formula is 

 always a secret one held by the persons doing the work. There 

 are a number of preparations on the market for doing this work, 

 but the best types of finish are put out by men who have been 

 experimenting for years and have worked out their own formulas. 

 This enamel is rather expensive, and while one handle is not very 

 large, a thousand of them will take quite a little material and 

 labor for finishing. The average cost of doing this work is about 

 ten dollars a thousand handles, and up, according to the grade of 

 the finish. The enameled handle is coming more into favor each 

 year, and, in the opinion of the writer, it is only a question of 

 time until all high-grade broom handles will have to be enameled 

 in oriler to be reliable. 



H. B. A. 



''CJ^>a?a5PS!»!:;6mW)^Mtlh)5IS;i W6ra*itTOS^^ 



A ^ew Tropical Hardwood 



C'onacaste is a massi\c timber tree growing iu the southern 

 states of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Peru. The 

 botanical name of this tree is Enterolohium cyclocarpum — Griseb., 

 but in the trade the wood is frequently called guanacaste or juana- 

 casta (pronounced as if spelled wanacasta). It is one of the largest 

 timber trees found in the deep, rich ravines and on moist slopes, 

 chiefly on the west side of the central plateau of Mexico and 

 Central America. This species grows principally in the dense 

 forests, where its enormous crown overtops the surrounding vege- 

 tation. It shoots up a clear trunk from sixty to eighty feet, with 

 a total height of one hundred and twenty feet, and often seven 

 feet in diameter at breast height. The average diameter of the 

 logs that have been cut is about four feet. Oonacaste is nowhere 

 abundant, but, like that of mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni — Jacq.), 

 the large merchantable trees are scattered. A good many large 

 trees are at present inaccessible, for the reason that the country 

 has not yet been opened up and transportation is attended with 

 considerable expense. The streams are all short and swift and do 

 not aid in bringing the timber iu comniunication with the coast. 



Conaca'ste is a new hardwood on the market in the United States, 

 b]i it proinises to become ;'yer_y important, especially on the West 

 coast, wliere it is useil for purposes for which black walnut is 



employed in the East. Thus far it has been shipped principally 

 from Manzanillo, in the state of Colima, on the west coast of 

 Mexico, and from points south. 



In general appearance, conacaste closely resembles Peruvian 

 mahogany or prima vera (Tabeiuia donnell-smithii — Rose.), only it 

 is darker and has a more open grain. In Central America it is 

 sometimes called campano espabi, which means false mahogany, 

 but its structure does not resemble true mahogany. It has rather 

 attractive markings, but its coarse structure will not admit it even 

 in the class of the inferior mahoganj' substitutes, of which no less 

 than thirty are now in the markets. Tests have shown that it 

 will stand up in practically all kinds of climatic conditions. It is 

 necessary-, however, that the wood be carefully dried and seasoned. 

 Conacaste can be worked as easily as Peruvian mahogany, an 

 important mahogany substitute, and can be finished more quickly 

 by the painter, because it takes filler readily. In its natural state 

 this new hardwood approximates oak in color, but finishes with 

 richer and deeper tints. The wood is moderately soft, not very 

 strong, though quite tough, and is not prone to check or warp after 

 it is once thoroughly seasoned. It has a specific gravity varying 

 between .35 and ..55, the average weight of kiln-dried heart-wood 

 and sap-wood being approximately the same, or about thirty-two 



—49— 



