HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



face, but is harder than basswood and its 

 grain is more pronounced. Soft maple also 

 is hard, compared to basswood, and has a 

 surface that is slightly less desirable for 

 pyrographic purposes than either of the 

 other two woods. 



A wide variety of objects is made at the 

 several large factories dealing in wood for 

 this kind of work. Besides the furniture, 

 screens, etc., which are decorated with the 

 pyrographic needle, more pretentious work 

 is frequently attempted, one large hotel in 

 Chicago having the frieze about the ladies' 

 dining room finished in this style, and mural 

 decorations in private residences and hotels 

 are often executed in this way. 



All kinds of minor decorative and useful 

 objects are manufactured from basswood, 

 cottonwood and soft maple, and finished for 

 pyrographic work, such as boxes for gloves, 

 handkerchiefs and neckties, picture frames, 

 etc. 



Furniture is also manufactured. In order 

 to secure the necessary strength the wood used 

 for coring is strong, usually oak or birch, and 

 the veneer is basswood, sanded to the smooth 

 surface required for the work. Pedestals, 

 tabourets, chairs, coat hangers, etc., are 

 among the familiar objects manufactured for 

 the trade, although any kind of furniture will 

 be made to order. 



In the large pieces, as in the small objects, 

 figures are stamped on the work in outline 

 so that the amateur may finish the decora- 

 tion. In the case of important artistic ef- 

 forts, however, where the designs are to be 

 worked out by skilled artists, these outlines 

 are not stamped in, but the figures and scenes 

 are drawn and burned by the craftsman him- 

 self. 



Occasionally most attractive work is done 

 by supplementing the pyrography with paint- 

 ing, oil being used, and a most harmonious 

 effect being obtained. 



For pure decoration, without the idea of 

 utility, ovals or medallions are made, these 

 in many eases being laminated and three or 

 five-ply, the coring being of some cheap wood 

 and the veneer of basswood or the other 

 species suitable for the work. The stock is 

 cut on the bandsaw a dozen or more at a 

 time and the veneer prepared to size. The 

 veneer on the filler runs from 1-16 to 1-20 

 of an inch in thickness and the inside stock 

 generally 14 or 3-16 of an inch. The veneer 

 is glued on with its grain running in the 

 opposite direction to that of the foundation 

 wood and several of the made-up panels are 

 placed in the hydraulic machines together and 

 stand under pressure until the glue has set. 

 Becoming firmly jointed they are run through 

 a sand-papering machine and brought to a 

 certain degree of smoothness; then through 

 a finer sanding roll and afterwards put on 

 the sand drum and given the peculiarly glossy 

 and even surface which is susceptible of high 

 class work. 



Pyrographic work is more than a recreation 

 for amateurs. Some of the best of modern 

 artists have expended their energies in em- 

 bellishing and beautifying the white and per- 



fect surfaces of basswood, cottonwood and 

 soft maple. The improvements in wood- 

 working machinery have made possible a face 

 of such smoothness and the methods of dry- 

 ing both the filler and veneer used in built-up 

 panels and medallions have made the stock 

 so free of warping tendencies that it is pos- 

 sible to obtain splendid artistic results. The 

 stock used must be entirely free of defects. 

 Workers in pyrography claim for their art 

 that it is more durable than oil and that the 

 wood, when old, has a mellowed appearance 

 similar to old ivory. It is certain that beau- 

 tiful effects can be secured by a skilled 



craftsman on a surface of well-seasoned and 

 finely treated wood and that the most diffi- 

 cult subjects, even landscapes, can be worked 

 out with creditable effect. The American hard 

 woods mentioned above have peculiarly de- 

 sirable qualities as a material on which to 

 work, basswood being most popular. There 

 has always been a shortage of the white bass- 

 wood used for pyrographic work and there 

 is considerable trouble this year to supply 

 the needs. Houses interested in this line of 

 work report that orders for the coming season 

 show a demand greater than at any other time 

 in their history. 



ReVieW of the Southern HardWood 



Situation. 



Under date <.f December 8, Lewis Doster, 

 secretary of the Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation of the United States, makes the follow- 

 ing statements, which tell the story of northern 

 hardwood conditions succinctly and with author- 

 ity : 



Oak. 



Hardwood production lias shifted from its 

 center to both the north and the south. Indi- 

 ana and Ohio first supplied the requirements of 

 users of oak. The increase in the consumption 

 of oak products shaped to meet the needs of 

 hundreds of different classes of users made it 

 impossible for the two great oak states to sup- 

 ply all that was desired. Commerce levied trib- 

 ute upon the resources of West Virginia and 

 Kentucky, later branching out so as to include 

 eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina 

 and West Virginia on one side and southeastern 

 Missouri. Arkansas. Mississippi and Louisiana 

 on the other. Small quantities of oak are se- 

 cured in Michigan and Wisconsin. 



Today the lower Mississippi river section 

 may be defined as the heart of the oak lumber 

 producing territory. In former years this sec- 

 tion produced oak in small quantities only, the 

 bulk of the timber cut being made into staves 

 and railroad ties. Operations in .the earlier days 

 were contingent upon circumstances. If the de- 

 mand was heavy and conditions favorable for 

 production operations were carried on with 

 great activity, but in the event of a contrary 

 stale of affairs work in the camps and at the 

 mills ceased. Naturally attention first was 

 given t" timber of easy accessibility, a prefer- 

 ence being shown for that located on high 

 ground not subjected to inundation during the 

 wet season. Enlargement of the work carried 

 on both at the mills and in the woods has 

 pushed the workmen out on to soft ground. 

 While heretofore operators were but little in- 

 convenienced by wet weather they now in, large 

 part are compelled to regulate their affairs by 

 conditions in the woods. Never before in the 

 history of hardw I manufacture in I be Missis- 

 sippi valley lias the precipitation been so beat 1 

 At some point- as much as fourteen inches of 

 water is reported i" have fallen in five days. 

 Ihr result has been to cause many plants to 

 shut down temporarily and to bring logging op- 

 erations to a standstill. It has been found 



n ssary to move the animals used in logging to 



higher ground ami keep them there until the 

 water shall have receded. Steam logging also 

 has ceased because the floods have washed 

 away (be railroads, otherwise disarranged equip 

 incut and caused a decrease in woods work if 

 possibly on per cenl 



s 11 operators are the heaviest sufferers. 



Many of them are located away from railroads 

 ami now state that it will be impossible for 

 them to get "in any quantity of stock until dry 

 sveather will set in next summer. Those who 



handle this class of mill products, and make 

 advances to the mills, claim they are confronted 

 by conditions which make it impossible to get 



the stock to the railroads and in s< ses 



this lumber will not reach the market until 

 next summer. 



Operators on higher ground also have felt the 

 influence of Hie disastrous weather cond tions, 

 rain having played havoc with the conduct of 

 their business. The outlook for oak stock from 

 now until March 1 is not very encouraging. 

 The production will be curtailed by those fac- 

 lois which now dominate and prices should 

 remain steady. It is more than probable that 

 some advances will be made, quarter sawed 

 white oak already showing signs of increase 

 owing to heavy demand. In fact, the barometer 

 which indicates weather conditions may also be 

 regarded as the governor of the oak market. 

 Poplar. 



Poplar in some respects has received a set- 

 back during the last few years owing to the 

 decreased output. The river mills prior to the 

 November tide received few logs. Their poplar 

 output naturally has fallen off. Conditions dur- 

 ing the past few years have operated to reduce 

 the available supply of poplar lumber and com- 

 petition for poplar stock has operated to ad- 

 vance prices. This wood is considered a neces- 

 sity by some manufacturers who so far have not 

 found any satisfactory substitute. The heavy 

 demand for poplar has caused most of the mills 

 lo oversell and to put forth great exertion and 

 spend large sums of money in efforts to secure 

 logs from which the stock might be manufac- 

 1 ured. 



The November tides brought to the river mills 

 in Hie Ohio and Kentucky river districts a 

 supply of logs that will keep them busy for 

 some time. Along the Tennessee and Cumber- 

 land rivers manufacturers were not greatly bea- 

 efitted by the lides. hut earlier in the season 

 those sections received logs the majority of 

 which have been cut into lumber and distrib- 

 uted. Some of I he mills have been depending 



upon logs 1 i.iil by rail, furnished by owners 



1 1 small tracts who have put their timber on 

 1 he market in this way. 



Logging operations in the mountains of Ken- 

 imkv and Tennessee have been very greatly 

 interfered with by the rains, which have washed 



away the tramways, caused mountain slides to 



block other mails and generally upset arrange- 

 ments. The excess isture has greatly in- 

 creased I he expense of pulling in logs. In fact, 

 ihe niosi rapid advance has been made in 

 rest of delivering h>c,s to poplar mills The 

 heavy tide carried some of the poplar logs past 

 Hie, milling points, necessitating their towage 

 back to ihe mill. 



Little if any of this stock will be in condi- 

 1 hi to use before spring, as the bulk of it is 

 air dried, a very slow process of curing during 



