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Enormous quantities of moldings are required to supply the picture 

 frames that adorn the walls of American houses and halls, and the 

 production of this commodity is becoming a distinct industry. Some 

 planing mills now produce little else, while others turn out moldings 

 in connection with other kinds of millwork. All moldings are not 

 made into picture frames. In fact, not half the output is used in 

 that way, but it is not always easy to separate at the mill the portion 

 of the product intended for picture frames and that meant for other 

 uses. Fortunately, it is not necessary to do so except under certain 

 circumstances. 



As an industry, the making of miscellaneous moldings is fairly well 

 detned without considering the man_v purposes for which the different 

 kinds are intended. Though the kinds and uses are numerous, the 

 principal classes are those designed for picture frames; those very 

 similar and intended for advertising fiames; interior house finish, 

 particularly that known as picture molding but which is not for the 

 frame itself but is the strip on the walls of rooms from which pic- 

 tures arc suspended; electric wire molding; fancy moldings for 

 decorative purposes; and various other kinds. 



The moldings which go into picture and mirror frames may be 

 classed as the finest portion of the output, but there are many kinds, 

 styles, sizes, and patterns of frame molding, some being cheap, plain, 

 and common, others are milled from exj^ensive woods, and finished 

 artistically and with care. There is no limit on sizes — that all 

 depends on the demand and the planing null's ability to meet the 

 demand. Some molding is less than an inch wide, others may be 

 nearly a foot, but extra wide moldings are not usual. It is easier 

 to build up a border or a frame by combining narrow pieces than to 

 provide wide, solid moldings. Besides, the wide one-piece work is 

 more apt to give trouble after it is finished. It may warp or check. 



There is little more standard for thickness than for width. Thick- 

 ness must vary greatly where kinds and uses are so numerous. Com- 

 mon thicknesses for the lumber of which moldings are made are 

 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4 inches. Special thicknesses have as wide a range 

 as special widths. 



No complete statistics have been compiled to show the amount aud 

 kinds of wood demanded by manufacturers of molding in this coun- 

 try; but figures have been collected which cover certain parts of the 

 country, and these may be considered as representing fairly well the 

 industry in the whole country. The table which is given below sum- 

 Miavizes :i year's operations of forty manufacturers of picture frame 

 moldings in Missouri, Illinois, and Micliigan, and includes practically 

 all manufacturers in those three states who turn out that commodity. 

 The different woods used, the amount of each, and the cost of each 

 are shown, and also the totals: 



Woods Used Yearly in Foiitv Kactouies Makino ricTiRE Kiiasie 

 Moldings 



Cost ok Lu.\iheii 



Kind op Wood Feet, B. M. at Factouv 



Basswood 14,309,000 .$ 483,108 



White oak 6,755,755 283,809 



Red gum B,039,290 149,700 



Red «ak 3,956,000 146,335 



White pine 3,867,300 • 77,489 



Longleat pine 3,095,000 84,950 



Birch 2,084,000 57,474 



Shortlcaf pine 1,148,000 30,709 



Chestnut 709.000 26,319 



Norway pine 600,000 19,000 



Post oak 150,000 5,625 



Cypress 145,000 5,935 



Black ash 110,000 4,240 



Yellow poplar 104.313 3,111 



White ash 67,745 2,416 



Mahogany 66.500 8,485 



White or gray elm 43,000 1,360 



Black walnut 31,514 2,405 



Sycamore 30,000 875 



Sugar maple 13.000 500 



Cherry 10,000 350 



Hlckor.T 10.000 500 



Rosewoo'l 1 .670 300 



—24— 



Ebony 1,330 560 



Snakewood 1,250 719 



Cocuswood 1,000 275 



Circassian walnut 1,000 410 



Red maple 500 16 



Total 43,351,167 .$1,399,195 



The total of 43,351,167 feet shown in the foregoing table is made 

 up of 34,495,867 feet of hardwoods (broadleaf trees) and 8,855,300 

 feet of softwoods (needleleaf trees). The average cost of the hard- 

 woods at the factory is .$34.24 per thousand feet, and the softwoods 

 $24.63. These figures, it should be understood, are based on factory 

 re|)orts in the three states named, and some of them wiU be too low 

 or too high if applied on the Pacific coast, or in New England, or in 

 Louisiana. They apply in the Middle West, that is, in Michigan, 

 Illinois, aud Missouri. This is a softwood and hardwood region com- 

 bined. Both kinds of lumber are convenient, and manufacturers of 

 moldings can procure what suits them best. In round numbers, four- 

 fifths of the wood used in the manufacture of these moldings in the 

 three states is hardwood, and one-fifth is softwood. The softwoods 

 are pine and cypress; all others shown in the table aie hardwoods. 

 It is apparent that the picture molding business draws supplies prin- 

 cipally from the hardwood forests of the country. It is probable that 

 a similar showing would be made if statistics were compiled in New 

 England or in the extreme South; but en the Pacific coast the soft- 

 woods likely would predominate, for the reason that the region has 

 very little hardwood. 



Basswood is a clear leader of all the woods demanded by the 

 makers of picture frame moldings. This extensive use is not acei- 

 deutal, nor is it due to cheapness, but the wood is demanded because 

 of its special fitness for the particular place it must fill. It 

 has an even, regular grain. The fibers lie in one direction and do 

 not cross one another or form pits, burls, or curls. That is an 

 important property in a wood intended for fine moldings. In passing 

 through the machine the surface is cut in grooves and elevations in 

 order to produce the patterns required, and the knives are set accord- 

 ingly. If the wood is not even-grained, the knives are liable to tear 

 the surface in places, instead of cutting it smoothly, and the moldings 

 will be rough and their value lowered. 



An examination of the accompanying table will reveal the fact that 

 maple occupies a very subordinate place. Only 13,000 feet are listed 

 — not one foot a thousand of basswood. The reason for this is not 

 that maple is inferior to basswood for general purposes — it is an 

 excellent wood, and for many uses ranks above basswood, but it does 

 nof do so as a material for picture frame moldings — but that maple 

 "pulls" when run through the machines which cut it in the desired 

 patterns. The term ' ' puU ' ' is used to denote the tendency of a wood 

 to dress rough. After the knives have passed over it, the surface is 

 apt to show minute pits where small pieces of wood were pulled out 

 by the knives. These may be very small, but when present they are 

 a defect in otherwise fine moldings. The natural grain of maple is 

 wavy, or at least irregular. The bird'seye effect is frequently present. 

 It is a beautiful surface when well polished, but the knives of a 

 molding machine are liable to render it rough. When such a surface 

 IS finished iu oils and stains, the small depressions are accentuated 

 and constitute a defect. 



Some manufacturers of picture moldings offer the same objection 

 to birch, but the objection is evidently less serious, judging by the 

 comparative quantities of the two woods entering the molding indus- 

 try. Much more birch than maple is used. 



White and r»d oaks are popular and reliable woods for picture 

 moldings. They have always been in demand, and will be as long 

 as picture frames are made. The finish of such frames is nearly 

 always natural; that is, it shows the grain of the oak. The wooQ 

 is not concealed beneath gilt, paint, or plaster as is customary when 

 some other woods are made into frames. 



Among the woods in the table, other than oak, which are frequently 

 finished in the natural grain when made into frames, are chestnut, 



