HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



ing in the mind of the writer — to handle side boards from the 

 crooked logs is to cross-cut them before edging. This involves a 

 departure from the regular order of business in the sawmill, but it 

 is a departure that can usually be" arranged for without seriously 

 disturbing the regular order of business. It is simply a matter of 

 arranging to pass these boards back to the cross-cut saw before 

 they go to the edger and of then returning them to the edger. In 

 the early days of lumbering when timber values were only nominal 

 it was perhaps not worth while to go to this extra trouble, but 

 today good hardwood timber is worth so much that one can well 

 afford to alter the regular routine a little and go to some trouble 

 to obtain either one of two results — get more material out of the 

 same log, or improve the grade of the material. 



So far it has been the side boards from the crooked logs that 

 have been the center of attention — that is, the boards coming from 

 the sides of the crooks and being crooked like the logs. There are 

 two sets of boards of this kind from each crooked log, and then 

 there are two sets of edging boards of another kind — those made 

 from the hump of the crook on one side, that are wide in the center 

 and go to a point toward the end, and those from the concave of 

 the log which are wide at each end and go to a point in the center. 

 The latter are in a class with slabbings from a swelled butt log. 

 which start wide at the end and go to a point. To an extent they 

 can be worked into shorts and to dimension, but since they are 

 cross-grained they are not received so well in this as the_v might be. 

 There are instances, however, of people actually making money out 



of this very cross-grained feature of these boards. Veneer men 

 have taken these and formed them together in panels of four pieces 

 so that they make a beautiful figure combination. It is a modifi- 

 cation of this that makes the much-desired figure of crotch mahog- 

 any, and often in mahogany and walnut it is from just such defects 

 as crooks and swelled butts that a veneer manufacturer obtains 

 those fantastic figures which when fitted together in panels bring 

 an enormous price. 



In plain oak it is seldom possible to get any such fantastic figures 

 as are obtained from walnut and mahogany, but often there may be 

 obtained from trimming and watching these very short end boards 

 from crooked logs a beautiful figure combination which when made 

 up into panels'will actually be worth more than good lumber from 

 straight-grained logs. Things of this kind have been done with 

 veneer and they can also be done with solid boards. It was this 

 idea brewing in the mind of the writer which led to the visit to the 

 mahogany mill, and there some confirmation of it was received. 

 The idea it is desired to put forward here as a possible profit 

 making wrinkle in sawing hardwood, is that these short end and 

 center pieces from the concave and convex sides of crooked logs be 

 handled separately from the regular run 'of lumber, with the pur- 

 pose in view of making them up into panels and realizing a special 

 price for them. The slabbing from swelled butts go into the same 

 class, and often there are burls and knots which spoil a part of 

 the log for the regular lumber classification, the product of which 

 mav be turned to value through this same channel. .T. C. T. 



^i :WiMaK>^iii<i)i(^>^i™ !»ili>i^^ 



Fancy Hardwood Floors 



Parquetry or wood mosaic is usually considered as representing 

 about the highest attainment in the way of fancy or expensive 

 hardwood floors. Many patterns of this work are both fancy and 

 expensive, but it quite often happens that the parquetry flooring 

 manufacturer has occasion to make other kinds of flooring that put 

 a new meaning to the word fancy and sometimes add a new figure 

 to the matter of expense. 



While talking shop with a parquetry manufacturer recently, he 

 incidently displayed an order for some flooring, the price of 

 which was thirty cents per square foot. This sounded like a pretty 

 good figure to pay even for hardwood flooring, and it led to a dis- 

 cussion of the many special patterns that are called for, and brought 

 out a new definition to the word fancy. The new definition con- 

 strues fancy to mean the making of whatever particular pattern or 

 kind of floor some architect or builder may suggest. This still 

 leaves fancy in a way synonymous with expensive, because peoples ' 

 fancies often take a turn that calls for expensive work even though 

 it may not look so elaborate as some other work. 



For example, there is a noticeable disposition among the people 

 of New York and Washington to copy after the woodwork of 

 luxuriant steamships and yachts. One man will want a heavy teak 

 flooring because teak is a favorite wood for steamship flooring. 

 One may fancy a straight flooring of teak which is comparatively 

 expensive in itself, partly because the material is costly, but also 

 partly because it is hard to work and this adds materially to the 

 cost. The flooring machine with the knives ground and put in order 

 so that they will run a half day on oak and then need whetting, 

 after running an hour on teak must be taken off and ground, not 

 merely whetted. This is because the teak, while it is of a somewhat 

 oily nature and has apparently no greater degree of hardness than 

 some of our oak, really contains a gritty substance in its make-up 

 that dulls planer knives and other cutting tools rapidly. So the 

 man who buys teak flooring has not only to pay the original price 

 of the wood but pays an extra price for difiiculties involved in 

 manufacturing it. 



A method of copying after ship decking in patterns for floors 

 is the use of boards, six or eight inches wide, square jointed, put 

 down with counter sunk screws over the heads of which are put 



alternating round plugs and dovetailed keys. This style seems to 

 be one of the leading favorites in Washington and New York City. 

 Sometimes stock may be fitted closely together at the end and at 

 times may be tongued and grooved, but the more elaborate floor of 

 this class is made by putting these wide boards down, leaving a 

 crack ^ or J/4 of an inch, and then filling in those cracks with an 

 inlay strip of mahogany, walnut or some other fancy wood to get 

 a striped effect. This stripe, the dovetail keys and the round plugs 

 make the ornamental features of the floor. The work may be 

 varied at times by using alternate wide and narrow strips, laid with 

 borders and various other features, but one of the characteristics of 

 this imitation of fancy ship decking in floors is the dovetail key 

 and the round plug with the open joint and the inserted strip of 

 darlc wood. 



The parquetry manufacturer talked to has quite a trade in the 

 East, built up largely on the theory of catering to the desires of 

 those who want to do something unusual or unique in the flooring 

 line. He makes it his business to supply a buyer as nearly as 

 possible with what he wants, and to charge him accordingly. That 

 is the reason for those flooring prices that run up into such fancy 

 figures now and then. Of course the manufacturer in mind has 

 also parquetry patterns and flooring ideas of his own that he 

 pushes, but one of the most interesting features of his work is that 

 of supplying the material for fancy floors, which often involves 

 searching all over the country for the different kinds of wood 

 asked for. and always calls for a lot of mechanical ingenuity to 

 successfully carry out the various details of the work. It is an 

 interesting work and the resultant product is one of the best orna- 

 mental uses of hardwood. 



It is not how much lumber you get through the mill, but how 

 much money you get for it that counts for most, and very often 

 you can get more money by putting less through and doing the 

 work better. 



Because you carried on your business a certain way last year is 

 not much argument for carrying it on the same way next year, 

 for time brings changes and the wheels of progress move pretty 

 rapidly these days. 



