i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



left to stand until the glue is set, an opera- 

 tion which usually takes a day. 



Fluting and Finishing. 

 At this stage the column is practically 

 made. If the plans call for fluting, however, 

 the work is carried to the turniug machine 

 and the long grooves or channels, called flut- 

 ing, are cut into the wood. No veneered 

 column, of course, can be fluted, that work 

 being done only on the solid stock where the 

 machine can bite into the wood to the depth 

 required. Nevertheless, it is desired at times' 

 to have chanelled or fluted work on columns 

 and pillars when the stock used is very val- 

 uable, such as mahogany, etc., and in these 

 cases two layers of wood go to make up the 

 column. One of these is the inside strip of 

 cheap filler and the outside is the layer of 



FLUTED MAHOGANY COLUMNS IN LA 



SALLE STREET STATION. CHICAGO, 



BUILT BY THE HENRY SANDERS CO. 



valuable wood put on to the thickness suf- 

 ficient to bear the fluting operation, that is, 

 one inch or two inches, or whatever depth 

 may be required. In making a column of. 

 this kj,rid, where -there are two thicknesses of 

 wood, the same method is followed as in the 

 plain, solid work, the coring being built up 

 and the outer thickness of wood being se- 

 curely glued to it. In this form the finished 

 column combines the rich appearance of the 

 valuable hardwood and the artistic effect 

 which the fluted work gives. 

 " After these ornamental forms are put on 

 it is given a thorough overhauling in the 

 finishing room, where it is sanded and rubbed 

 to a beautiful surface. The skill with which 

 the manufacturers of columns finish their 

 work has reached such a stage that only the 

 most minute inspection can discover where 

 the various strips of wood are joined and, 

 after varnishing or in some cases painting, 

 they seem to disappear altogether. 



Mahogany and oak seem to hold first place 

 in the requirements of these expensive col- 

 umns, although, of late, the figure and fine 

 effects' obtained with red birch have caused 



this wood to be specified more and more. 

 Gum also is finding some favor. 

 The Veneered Column. 



It is chiefly in veneered work and in those 

 cases where an extra thickness of outside 

 wood is put on the coring for fluting that 

 the art of the column maker has reached its 

 highest point. This is to be expected, for the 

 wide choice of beautiful facings obtained in 

 valuable veneers and the certainty that the 

 columns, when finished in this way, are su- 

 perior in appearance and more durable in 

 construction than the solid style, has created 

 a demand for them that permits the manu- 

 facturer to exert himself to the utmost. 



In sticking the veneer, and especially where 

 the outside measurements of the work are 

 large, the veneer faces are glued together by 

 means of narrow cloth or linen strips which 

 suffice to hold them in place until they are 

 fastened to the columns. One-twentieth and 

 one-sixteenth of an inch or slightly larger 

 are the thicknesses usually employed in the 

 work. It is the boast of column makers that 

 so carefully and accurately is the veneer 

 applied and glued to the coring that it is 

 practically impossible to discover the joints. 

 The selection of veneer stock for this kind of 

 work is made very carefully in order to 

 insure a uniformity of figure and color in the 

 finished work. 



Capitals and Bases. 



A column, of course, is not complete with- 

 out the capital and base, for these parts give 

 the symmetric beauty which makes column 

 work so desirable. The parts are always 

 manufactured and delivered separately from 

 the shaft for, in many cases, it is necessary 

 for the carpenters to shave off a small frac- 

 tion of an inch to obtain an accurate fit in 

 placing the column in position. 



The square base or plinth is much in favor 

 and in large work throws the column into 

 bold relief. It is susceptible of variation 

 in the more imposing styles, consisting occa- 

 sionally of a surbase, an upper plinth and 

 the plinth, although always plain and never 

 decorated like the capital. 



Much beautiful carved work is done on 



the capitals of columns when they are de- 

 signed for expensive decoration in interiors, 

 the carving, in some cases, being done by 

 hand, and consisting of rare and curious 

 forms. In ordinary manufacture, however, 

 they are turned from patterns on the ma- 

 chine and are often a mixture of composi- 

 tion work and wood, the composition, or 

 cempo as it is called, being fastened to the 

 kind of wood out of which the column is 

 made, in order to have a uniform appear- 

 ance. In every part of .the column, in the 

 shaft, the base and plinth or pedestal and 

 the capital, care is taken to secure uniformity 

 in the woods employed. 



The lumber used for column making must 

 be bone dry. All possibility of expansion 

 or shrinkage is guarded against, and when 

 the strips are built up into columns the 

 finished work is of the most durable type. 



The beautiful figure obtained from valua- 



CROSS-SECTION OF BUILT-UP COLUMN, 



SHOWING KOLL LOCK DEVICE OF 



HENRY SANDERS CO. 



ble woods has probably contributed more 

 than anything else to the high favor in 

 which they are held and the wide use made 

 of them in expensive decorations. Most im- 

 posing effects are obtained from large built- 

 up columns, and in their use the traditions 

 of the best architectural styles are main- 

 tained in a way that would be impracticable 

 in stone. 



Philippine Jdethods of Drying 

 Hardwoods. 



The methods of drying lumber employed 

 by the natives engaged in the hardwood 

 business in the islands of the southern Pa- 

 cific offer some curious instances of the 

 schemes undertaken to solve the difficulty 

 of green stock. There are several systems of 

 sun-drying. which are exceedingly tedious and 

 equally non-effective, the sawed timber be- 

 ing sometimes treated for weeks and even 

 months by subjecting it to the hot rays 

 of the sun, with no care whatever taken 

 to prevent warping. 



The attempt at artificial drying with 

 kilns, however, is especially interesting. 

 In Fig. 1 is shown one of the kilns in 

 common use. It is made by digging a cir- 



cular excavation about two feet in depth 

 and ten feet in diameter in the earth and 

 then sinking a number of hardwood posts 

 in the ground about two feet apart. These 

 posts are supported with hemp ropes and 

 sometimes entanglements of branches are 

 placed between them. The spaces between 

 the stakes are filled in with loam, sand and 

 small stones, and in building up the kiln 

 an aperture is obtained in the center of 

 the pile by employing a bee-hive shaped 

 cone as a mold. A clay-like substance is 

 securely packed around the cone, which 

 can be readily removed after the walls 

 are set, and a number of days are allowed 

 to intervene between the time of erecting 



