30 



HardA 



)d Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



October 10, 1918 



The Dean - SpickerCo. 



Manufacturers of 



Oak— Mahogany— Walnut 



AND 



LUMBER 



22nd St. and So. Crawford Ave 

 CHICAGO 



All Three of Us Will Be Benefited if 



checks don't so much matter. Next, you can get the 

 stuff under pressure quicker and maybe do away with a 

 lot of trouble in the finishing room. 



It is like this. We lay veneer on a core that is wet with 

 glue and it starts soaking ujj moisture. The longer we 

 leave it the more it soaks. While it is soaking up mois- 

 ture expansion is going on, and the longer it is out of 

 the press the more it will expand. So if it expands before 

 it is pressed to the core it will have to contract just as 

 much when it dries. It can't very well draw in from the 

 edges because it is glued firmly, so it gives way at the 

 weaker places where the fibers were fractured when the 

 stuff was sliced. Even so very good veneers will check 

 sometimes if they are not put under pressure quick. 



Of course, most of the time the checking is so fine that 

 it don't show up until it gets to the finishing room, and 

 then it is a hard job to fix up. The filler and other stuff 

 works into the checks and help fill them up for a time 

 but the checks are there and they expand and contract 

 more or less with changing temperature so that after a 

 while the varnish will open up. So you can't call an 

 article that has these checks a high grade piece ■^-f goods. 

 Still Phil fixed up some pretty good and 1 gut him to 

 come over tonight and tell how he done it so I can pas') 

 the dope on to you. He says that on the medium class 

 he sands the stuff and gives it two coats of varnish, but 

 on the high grade he rubs these bad places down in the 

 regular way. He says on this it is better to use oil and 

 pumice instead of water, because if the water goes 

 through the check in the varnish into the check in the 

 veneer it will make it swell and make the defect in the 

 varnish harder to repair. 



Goods that are rubbed down will not take so much 

 varnish as goods that are sanded, because rubbing makes 

 a smoother surface. But, no matter which way it is done, 

 the point is, to be sure to get on enough varnish to do 

 away with any chance of going through to the hard, dry 

 varnish beneath when doing the second rubbing. Phil 

 says that when varnish gets to a certain stage of dry- 

 ness it will not unite with varnish applied fresh, and if 

 you rub through the last varnish put on into the under 

 coat, it will look like it had been scaled off. 



After the stuff has been rubbed be sure to clean off 

 all the oil and pumice and lint. Then look at the checks 

 and be sure none of the edges are rubbed light in color. 

 Phil says it often happens when water has been used for 

 rubbing and it comes in touch with the wood, that the 

 stain is drawn out and would show up light if not touched 

 up before being varnished. To touch up, use the regular 

 stain, but be sure to take off any that may get over the 

 edge of the check onto the surface of the varnish. If 

 any is left on the varnish it is likely to show darker than 

 the rest. You see, Jim, it is a ticklish job to fix up the 

 poor stuff. 



Phil says that after those things have been attended 



to you take a fine brush and put a good coat of thin 



bleached shellac on the parts to be varnished. The 



shellac is cut at the rate of about twenty ounces of gum 



You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



