HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



coring being of tbe same material as the 

 surface woods. The object in using lam- 

 inated wood is to secure a better figure, 

 avoid the tendency to swell and twisl 

 which ; s present in solid pieces, and make 

 a lighter and more easily handled product. 

 Besides this quality a beautiful surface, 

 durable for a life time, is put on the wood 

 so that it excels in workmanship and dura- 

 bility any of the old pieces of furniture. 



Bedsteads, tables and wardrobes have 

 long been the particular pieces on which 



g 1 work shows up best. The size of the 



wardrobe, together with the fact that both 



the cornii upper part and the plinth oi 



loner part are susceptible of mere or less 

 artistic decoration makes it possible tp work 

 with excellent results. These parts are 

 usually made Separate and in many cases 

 handsome pieces of furniture are made that 

 are collapsible, the parts being fitted with 

 tenons and dowels, and when assembled 

 forming a strung, firm whole. The plinth 

 in the more pretentious objects is fitted with 

 drawers which slide in grooves. 



Of the making of tallies there is no end. 

 Tallies like chairs are the earliest known 

 expression of man's instinctive need for 

 furniture. Even where .hairs are nut con- 

 sidered a necessity, as in Japan, the devel- 

 opment of the table has kept pace witli the 

 needs of the people. The styles of the 

 pieces range from the simply constructed 

 kitchen tal Ic to the massive mahogany 

 article with carved legs. In the simplest 

 form of construction, the rails are fastened 

 tn the legs by dowel or mortise and tenon, 

 as may be considered the must convenient, 

 and the top fixed on. In slight parlor 

 tables it is usually sufficient to fasten it 

 with glued blocks placed in the angle* 

 formed by the frames and the tops. In massive 

 table work, the solid tups are rarely, if 

 ever, fastened witli glue or screws, but are 

 secured with buttons fastened to the under 

 side of the top which travel in grooves cut 

 in the framework to allow for expansion 

 and shrinkage. One approved fashion in 

 heavy table work is to turn the legs with a 

 shoulder and insert them in holes in the 

 rails. If they fit tightly, glue alone will 

 do to secure them, but otherwise a small 

 wedge may be driven into the top of each 



ll g. 



In most cases the legs are turned. The 

 framing is either tenoned or doweled into 



the legs and s< -times screws are driven 



from the inside. The tops of tables de- 

 mand the best care of the maker. At one 

 time they were almost all solid in the 

 more ambitious work, but modern experi- 

 ence shows that better results and a better 

 appearance can be secured by using lam- 

 inated wood, the surface strip being about 

 1-26 of an inch in thickness. The coring is 

 cut into strips, uneven in width but 

 scarcely ever more than four inches, and 

 in the best work always of the same mate- 

 rial as the veneers, and this method is fol- 

 lowed not only in table tops but also in all 

 the heavier and more elaborate pieces such 



as bedsteads, wardrobes, bureaus, drawers, 



etc. 



(if course, the ideal way to make furni- 

 ture would be to eliminate entirely glue and 



nails aii 1 use in their place t< nuns, mortises 

 ami dowels, trusting to skilled workman 



ship to tit the parts 80 nicely as in form a 

 siilistunt i;ll anil "lni:i^ whole. This method 



is not always possible. It is never possible 

 in laminated or built-up work when the 

 joining of pic,-.-- In glue is one of the must 



necessary and important parts of the busi- 

 ness, with tongue and groove, dovetailing 

 and other methods reinforced with git 

 joint is obtained thai rarely or never fails 



In hill, I. 



Hardwoods Used for Pipes. 



Advices from London saj thai pipe smokers 

 in. threatened with an advance of 50 per cent 



in tic price ut briars. This is owing 1 om 



binatiuu of circumstances. The chief cause is 

 strikes in 1 he two great pipe working districts, 

 si Cloud, France, am] Nuremburg, Germany, 

 which have practically stopped the output for 

 three months. There has also been a scarcity 

 of gooi] briar in Italy, which produces the best 

 roots. Tbe scarcity is liable 10 become more 



EVOLUTION nf A PIPE BLOCK. 



pronounced, fur the enormous demand made on 

 the commodity has visibly decreased the sup 

 plj 



The briar root, which is not briar nun at all 

 l.ui iic- roof "i ;i large heath scientifically known 



as 1:1 nu arboreo ami lie- English nai if which 



is only a corruption "t the French bruy&re, was 



first inlrnilii I tur pipes about fifty years age. 



The industry began in tin- Pyrenees, and as the 



supply there became exhausted it traveled 



tin- French Rlveria ami the Lygurian coast to 



the Tuscan Maremma ami has now- its richest 

 field in Calabria in the South. This locality 



shows signs alSO ut being SOOn exhausted. The 



south Italian briar is the best commodity, hut 

 a large quantity of Calabrian root comes into 

 the market. 



In order to prepare the stock for export tin- 

 roots, which are two feet or more in circumfer- 



ei an- cut into blocks and boiled. They are 



rarely manufactured at the pla tporl but 



are shipped to tbe various centers of the pipe 

 industry of Germany, France ami the United 

 States. 



Briar root material for pipes is cut into about 

 twenty different sizes ami three principal shapes. 

 The material is turned on the machine, the top 

 ni the bowl first emerging from the block, then 

 the base and finally the stem. Tin- evolution of 

 a pipe from the block to a finished condition is 

 shown in lie- cut herewith. Tin- howl is dug 

 out by a knife ami in this operation the great- 

 est care must be taken in order to secure just 



tl \aet thickness required tur the walls of 



the bowl. After the howl is dug anil the stem 

 pierced the product is finished by hand into 

 the numerous varieties of shapes known to pip'' 

 smokers. 



Briar root for the purpose "f pipe making 

 must he hone dry. It acquires this condition by 

 exposure to the atmosphere. 



Briarwood pipes are almost proof against the 

 heal and Same engendered in smoking them. 

 But they will burn, like any other wood, unless 

 care is taken to moisten them when new for a 

 i.-w minutes before smoking I hem. The water 

 I hits used prevents I he bowl from being burned 

 and causes the tobacco to form a crust which 

 afterward becomes a protective sheathing for 

 tic pipe bowl. 



The panic caused among dealers by 1 he an- 

 nouncement that the supply of briar was giving 

 out is, at the best, nothing hut an instance of 

 much ado about nothing. The great variety 

 of American hardwoods, from which a selection 

 lias heen made to meet practlcallj every re- 

 quirement where wood is needed, will also be 

 able to supply this deficiency. Already Ian' 

 quantities 01* pipes are being made from apple 



w 1. which, although it has not the durable 



qualities which tin- so-called French briar has, 



is still able to furnish pipes that will satisfy a 

 reasonable smoker. The American briar also 



has 1 n found a good substitute for the foreign 



variety and is pushing iis way into tic market. 

 The mills of Hi.- rhododendron have been used 



fur the purpose and in many eases, when 



giiud stuck has been secured, with notable suc- 

 cess. It is Impossible that with the numerous 

 varieties of heath trees, bardu is and strung 



lihered hushes growing On American soil that a 



1 1 substitute cannot he found 1 bat « i:t 



a durable and si rung wooden pipe. The trouble 

 in France ami. Germany will lend interest to 

 such substitution and will at least make the 

 merits of applewood and American briar 

 known to smokers. 



I he Hansen \\ aril \ e C 1 einpain of Baj 



City, Mich., is making extensive Improvements 

 in it- factory which wen- made necessary to 

 pace wiili iis rapidly increasing business. A 

 large addlt Ion i" the fire built 



ami w boiler Installed which will Increa e 



tl input of tin- factory considerably. 



