HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



ator, one can make felloes on a band saw suc- 

 cessfully by means of a sweep, thereby elimi- 

 nating the work of scribing by pattern. More- 

 over, a good operator can not only cut felloe 

 shapes correctly, but he can cut them at such 

 a lively rate as to make the band saw a for- 

 midable competitor of the concave machine 

 in spite of the fact that with the band saw 

 only one side of the shape can be cut at each 

 stroke, while the concave machine, which car- 

 ries saws in pairs, cuts both sides at one 

 stroke. A few years ago there was an an- 

 nouncement of a double band saw machine 



carrying t,„ u - wheels and two sans. 1 



of which were adjustable for doing 

 work of this kind so that both sides of the 

 shape could be cut at one stroke with the 

 p, but just what success that machine met 

 with is not known at this writing. A good 

 thirty-six inch band saw machine is a val- 

 adjunct to any sawmill working oak. 

 and it usually happens that on becoming ac- 

 quainted with the machine manufai 

 greal possibilities for using it in the profit- 

 able manufacture of felloes and other wagon 

 wood work from waste material. 



DoWn the Pasig on a Log Raft. 



While rendering military service in the 

 Philippines, my attention was called at Ma- 

 nila to the great rafts of mahogany log's 

 floating on the muddy waters of the canal 

 in the city proper. These, rafts are made 

 up of ten logs each, attached one in front 

 of the other with hemp ropes and split 

 bamboo stock; this line of ten is then con- 

 nected side by side with another line of ten, 

 and so on, until as many as four or five 

 strings of logs are arranged parallel. Sticks 

 laid across the logs and bound securely with 

 hemp cords make a firm yet flexible bod}\ 

 usually about twelve feet wide and a hun- 



A MAHOGANY. RAFT ON THE TASIG RIVER. 



dred feet long. These individual rafts are 

 joined end to end, often making a com- 

 bination over a mile long. These greal 

 floats are guided by three or four agiie 

 natives who run lightly along the ed 

 steering the great snake-like affair through 

 narrow passages and between numerous 

 rafts of like construction and other 

 with remarkable facility. 



I determined to accompany the natives 

 a trip on one of these, and upon making 

 inquiries learned that the hardwood is cut 

 in the interior of the Island of Luzon 



floated down (he rivers to the towns to be 

 marketed. I decided to begin at the 

 ting of the timber and follow it to its des- 

 tination — the Chinese furniture shops at 

 Manila. With this in mind, I passed uj 

 through the Mariquina valley and far into 

 the interior of the island to the very heart 

 of the wood-producing section. I had little 

 difficulty in arranging with the natives to 

 accompany them on a trip down the Pasig 

 river to Manila on the next mahogany rait. 

 The natives were already cutting the logs 

 which were hauled to the river's bank by 1 

 native beast of the water-buffalo type, the 

 caribou. Here they were made ready for 

 transportation. In some cases the logs are 

 partly squared and the bark removed be- 

 fore the raft is made up, but most frequently 

 they are rolled into the water at once. 

 Sometimes great logs are cut, too big in 

 diameter to be handled easily, in which easi 

 the pieces are made up as shown in Fig. 1. 

 These are often of great size and are fre- 

 quently taken to the cities and exhibited. 

 Some seen by the writer at the Hotel Ori- 

 ente in Manila measured twelve feet in 

 diameter. 



It is very interesting to watch the na- 

 tives prepare the logs for rafting. Con- 

 sidering the crude tools they use and the 

 hardness of mahogany, the results obtained 

 are remarkably good. Fig. 2 shows the 

 process of splitting a log by the use of 

 j.es of iron, graduated in size, which 

 driven into the log in serial order until 

 it splits. The natives have some curious 

 ways of attaching ends of lo".s for trans- 

 portation. On one occasion 1 saw thai the 

 \ es had tediously prepan tailed 



connections, as shown at A, Fig. 3. A pin, 

 represented by the black portion in the 

 fketch, was driven through the dove-tailed 

 work to hold the saw-like ends togethei 

 1 ly. Another method of joining 

 ends of the timber is sketchi 

 which a section, B, with ballli! 

 inlaid in the stock. This method requires 

 al of time and patience, be 

 is plenty of this; time counts for 

 ig with him as he can live on a few 

 da] and use the ground for his 



I,, tie even* of the raft being subje 



■ own in Fig. 5. When the loggia 



• his method is 

 usually employed. deal 



kill and consbl I is not 



used unless absolutely necessary. Probably 



most popular way of connecting logs 

 for the raft is that illustrated in Fig. 6, in 



it the log butts are bored with crude 

 tools and attached end to end with the rope 



1 r. The flexibility of a ral't in which 

 the logs are so attached is a desirable fea- 

 ture and is tie this methoi 

 used so generally. 



After the lo^ 1 to 



gcther the nat t upon the raft a 



crude little hut of nipa branches, consisting 

 of a roof drawn down at the sides but open 

 at the ends, which affords ample protection 

 from the sun, rain and strong night win Is. 

 The raft on which I was to take the trip 

 down the Pasig to Manila having been pre- 



1 in the manner ex] 1 the nipa 



lint constructed, we arranged our blankets 

 inside, and after having secured the neces- 

 sary provisions for the trip, made the s - 

 Our progress was slow, only four or 

 miles in twenty-four hours. Occasion 

 we made better time; sometimes not nearly 

 as good. But the raft represented consider- 

 able money to the natives and they 

 afford to take their time. The agility of the 

 natives in guiding the craft through th9 

 river astonished me. Often they would lie 

 almost flat on the raft with their shoulders 

 to the pole, and their bodies nearly in the 

 water. Almost every day one or mon 



T.yJ 



C=fQ 



T V 4 



_ pMB J B"** 



mm 





the men would tumi >rd and - 



ducking. His ; 'l laugh and 



help him out, and we would • 

 fore. 



When n - s ot " Manila, 



tuc , awaiting us. 



J. ling and dickering that ct - 



belief. Logs worth hun 

 in Amerii 



