30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



turer of hardwood lumber can secure the manufacturing cost for low- 

 grade lumber, he will produce more of it, and he will also take from 

 his timber lands at least twenty per cent more lumber than he is now 

 taking from similar timber land. To be more specific, the manufac- 

 turer of northern hardwood lumber, who is now taking ten thousand 

 feet per acre from his timber land, will, if the low grade brings him 

 manufacturing cost, take off twelve thousand foet per acre. 



Under present cost and market conditions fully twenty per cent 

 of the hardwood timber is left on the ground to be of no benefit to 

 anyone; in fact, the land is worth more with it olT than if left on. 

 Now right here is where the ranter of forest conservation gets in 

 some of his deadly work, and cites the example of wilful, malicious 

 waste, but here again comes in the human element in lumber manu- 

 facturers, the same as in other manufacturers. It will take many 

 volumes written by self-styled learned men, and a great deal more 



oratory to convince the lumber manufacturer, the box manufactur- 

 er or anyone else that it is waste to leave a thing that you can get 

 only sixt.y cents to seventy cents for when it costs you one dollar 

 to save it. 



This twenty per cent or more of timber that is left on the land is 

 not all low grade, as it does contain some high-grade lumber, but the 

 proportion of high grade is limited, and as both low grade and high 

 gi'ade are done up in the same package, you cannot take one with- 

 out taking the otlier, and to make it profitable to take all of it, the 

 low grade must at least pay the cost of taking. Cost of stumpage is 

 not a consideration in this item, as that has been provided for in the 

 amount now taken off. Just remember that this forest conservation 

 matter, at least that part of it pertaining to the so called immense 

 waste, is up to the users and consumers of low-grade lumber. If you 

 are willing to pay for conservation, you can get it. 



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In response to repeated inquiries of a number of concerns, Hard- 

 wood Kecokd has dug up some rather interesting data concerning the 

 relative merits of the different woods employed for pattern making 

 purposes. Investigation, conducted at several large pattern shops in 

 Chicago, shows chiefly the utilization of three kinds of wood, i. e., 

 white pine, cherry and mahogany. White pine has always been used 

 primarily in the manufacture of patterns, and still furnishes the prin- 

 cipal supply of material for this purpose. Owing to the high price of 

 Xo. 1 shop and better white pine, which are the grades employed for 

 pattern making, California sugar pine is substituted to a considerable 

 extent in many pattern shops where large castings are made. Sugar 

 pine is regarded as the best substitute there is for white pine, but it is 

 not as satisfactory for the reason that the tiny ' ' sugar streaks ' ' in 

 this wood are prone to ooze resin even through the varnish finish, 

 which often results in a rough casting. However, by the employment 

 of a heavy coat of varnish, this deficiency of the wood is not diiBcult 

 to eliminate. While both white pine and sugar pine are inferior to 

 cherry and mahogany, their lower price makes them more generally 

 employed for pattern making purposes. It has been estimated that 

 patterns made in cherry and mahogany can be used several thousand 

 times, whereas a softwood pattern would endure only about one- 

 quarter as long a period. Constant use will gradually wear off the 

 sharp edges that are all-important in the forming of an accurate 

 mold. When this occurs the usual remedy is to champfer down the 

 blunted corners and set in duplicates of cherry or mahogany. In 

 core boxes, it is a common practice to glue a hardwood veneer over 

 the pine. Only small or delicate patterns that are liable to be sub- 

 jected to unusual wear are always made of hardwoods. The larger 

 patterns, such as gear wheels, have their teeth made of hardwood, and 

 the framework of pine. 



Generallj' speaking, any wood that tends to either shrink or swell 

 is poor material for pattern making. Experience has shown that pine 

 will shrink considerably in width, and will also expand materially 

 when placed in contact with the moist core-sand. This latter ob.jec- 

 tion, however, has largely been overcome by varnishing. 



Considerable quantities of the three above named woods are util- 

 ized each year by the big pattern concerns of the country. As a 

 single instance of the extent of consumption, the Chicago branch, 

 alone, of the Allis-Chalmers Company of Milwaukee, consumes each 

 year 175,000 feet of pine and 1,500 feet respectively of mahogany 

 and cherry. 



The process by which castings are made is an interesting one to 

 watch, but difficult to explain clearly. Blue prints are first made of 

 the special casting desired, and from these the wooden patterns are 

 made. In order to get the impression of both sides of a pattern in 

 the sand from which the castings are made, it is necessary to make 

 the pattern in two halves, fitted closely together by means of wooden 

 pegs. The upper or peg part of the pattern is known as the " cote, ' ' 

 and the lower part is the "drag." Inasmuch as the pattern repre- 



sents space merely, it would be impossible to make a casting from 

 it alone. Hence core boxes are used in connection with those pat- 

 terns in which any recesses or projections occur and make it impos- 

 sible to draw the pattern from the moist sand without disturbing 

 the impression made in it. Core boxes, like patterns, are always made 

 in two sections. 



A core is made of a mixture of sand, flour and resin, which when 

 baked becomes about as hard as wood. In the case of very large 

 cores, a quantity of sawdust is also added to the mix-ture. When in 

 the oven this sawdust burns out, leaving tiny holes through which the 

 gas, generated by the metal shaping around the core, can escape 

 without doing any damage. 



The pattern is first put into a ' ' flask, ' ' i. e., a hollow box of two 

 or three inch stock, filled with damp sand mixed as above stated. 

 The sand is then packed in around the pattern tightly, up to a level 

 with the top of the ' ' flask, ' ' when it is swept off and leveled with 

 a straight-edge. A wire is now used to make air holes through the 

 hard-packed sand and the pattern is removed, leaving a perfect 

 impression. This same process is gone through with both halves of 

 the pattern. The cores arc made with the core boxes in a precisely 

 similar manner. The sand impressions thus made are then shoved 

 into an oven on steel plates, where they harden, and after cooling 

 and glueing or wiring the halves together, the mold is complete. 



Casting consists of pouring moulten metal down through a hole in 

 the sand left for that jnirpose. The metal thus fills the opening left 

 by the pattern, and shapes a metal figure exactly like the original 

 wooden one. The man pouring in the metal can gauge the precise 

 amount desired by watching it rise through another hole made in 

 the sand before baking. 



As the moulten metal is poured into the molds, a kind of vapor 

 can be seen arising from all the small holes punched through the 

 sand. This is the gas generated by the hot metal, and were it not 

 thus provided with some escape, it would form a pocket and prevent 

 the metal from completely filling the hole. Castings take several 

 hours to cool, after which the sand can be readily crumpled away. 



Maple Stain 



A i-orrespondent suggests that niajile stain is of three distinct char- 

 acteristics, and that inspectors should be educated to consider them 

 accordingly. 



First: The light blue or purple stain from tap holes or knots, 

 which damage the wood only where color is an essential. 



Second: The dark stain caused by improper piling or the action 

 of the weather, which injures the color, and is likely to impair the 

 strength. 



Third: Stain caused from souring sap, generally occasioned by 

 the timber being left too long in the woods, or out of water before 

 being sawed, which starts dry rot and disintegration at the ends of 

 the log and under the bark. 



