' v;TOg™ m;;im;itTOiJ6Mi;'i;^/a4m^\i;iwt^ 



^.TO.>tvi\yto:tt/iTOV>s^7;;:.;U»iTOg>TOW:UitK:<!V.t^;i ^^ 



An Opportunity for Dimension 



There has never been a more opportune time for more extensively 

 developing the practice of making dimension stock than right now. 

 One potent reason for this may be found in the fact that many hard- 

 wood consumers are constantly asking for stock cut to specific 

 dimensions. Onrui-ms uning comparatively clear stock are turning 

 more to dimoii^Hin- 1m . m r in reducing their business to a science they 

 find a more im iin. , I, Nml ia the purchase of raw material cut to 

 specific dimenhiuiio Ihuu iii the purchase of low-grade lumber and 

 flitches to be worked up, and that with a waste item of uncertain 

 proportions. So wherever it is practical to standardize and to use 

 uniform sizes there is a disposition on the part of many users to 

 1)uy their wood cut to specific dimensions, which reduces the freight 

 item and enables them to have a better and more positive idea of 

 both the cost and the quantities of raw material. 



The thing about the present situation that should appeal to the 

 hardwood sawmill man and encourage a turning more to dimension 

 work is in that with more attention given to reducing and refining 

 the output, the less would be the quantity with the same crew of 

 men, and the greater should be the returns. 



One of the causes of the past depression in the hardwood lumber 

 world is too much cutting capacity. There has been evident need 

 of curtailment for some time. Every man wants the other fellow 

 to do the curtailing and no man likes to shut down his operations. 

 If instead of shutting down or reducing the crew, the millman 

 will turn to the making of specific dimensions, to refining his lumber 

 and eliminating the cull and waste right at the mill, there would 

 be found several kinds of saving grace. . One of the important 

 factors here will be a reduction of output. Another will be in- 

 creased value of the product through its refinement in reducing 

 stock to dimension. Another important item will be the saving in 

 freight in shipping the dimension stock as compared to the rough 

 lumber. 



It looks like this is the opportune time to center more attention — 

 and action too — on the matter of dimension stock and the more 

 attention given to it the more possibilities will be found for cutting 

 specified dimensions and supplying them to the trade. In the round 

 it will be found that the production will automatically curtail itself, 

 and the lumber situation will soon show up better for both producer 

 and consumer. At least that is the way it ought to work so the 

 subject is commended for earnest study on the part of sawmill men. 

 One of the essentials to proper prqgrcss and economy in the 

 manufacture of dimension stock and special pieces and articles in 

 wood is the establishing of certain universal standards and the 

 elimination of a great jiortion of the useless variety which leads 

 to confusion and uncertainty. While not much has been said about 

 this phase of the matter, it is perhaps the great confusion and 

 useless and unnecessary variety that has retarded more than any 

 one other thing the progress of the dimension stock business as a 

 part of lumbering operations. There is not only useless variety 

 in dimension stock for given purposes but we find this same fault 

 and confusion among certain well defined manufacured articles in 

 wood work that have been in use long enough to have settled down 

 ■to a few specific sizes. Take by way of illustration such items as 

 hickory handles, hickory spokes, oak spokes and wagon hubs and 

 there we have articles that have been in use for several genera- 

 tions. Yet instead of eliminating the useless variety in the course 

 of time and establishing just a few necessary, universal designs 

 and patterns, the variety continues and even multiplies at times 

 and is so confusing that it makes the trade difficult and unneces- 

 sarily expensive all round. 



There have been some efforts to establish hub standards, but so 

 far they have not amounted to much more than that each promi- 

 nent wagon manufacturer has his own standards and they differ 

 in some manner from those of the next one, which not only makes 

 it a little difficult for the manufacture of the material but it makes 

 it a trying and vexing problem for the jobbing houses which strive 



to carry these things in stock to supply the blacksmiths throughout 

 the country with material for making repairs. 



The hubs are perhaps the simplest item on the list, too, but 

 there is even more confusion when we get into spokes, and the 

 confusion and variety increase when we get into handles. All 

 this, in turn, makes for unnecessary variety in the getting out of 

 the raw material in the form of billets or dimension stock. 



Again we have the same proposition in different form when it 

 comes to getting out dimension stock for furniture, for farm 

 implement manufacture and in practically all lines of work where 

 an effort is made toward economy in raw material and freight by 

 the manufacturer of either the blank dimensions or the partly 

 finished articles .somewhere near the jioint of origin of the raw 

 material. 



It would be a great day for the woodworking fraternity if all 

 those interested in the various lines suggested here could get 

 together and establish standard sizes and specifications, making 

 the number as few as practical and eliminating some of the useless 

 variety in dimension wood stock and in manufactured articles. 

 That there is a great burden of useless variety practically all in 

 the trade admit. It should be only a step from the admission of 

 this fact to taking action which would result in benefits all round. 

 It is a step, however, that the trade has been slow to take, not- 

 withstanding the apparent benefits to be derived from taking it. 

 Surely this winter it ought to be possible to lay the ground work 

 for the gradual elimination of some of these useless sizes that 

 cause unnecessary confusion and burden of expense to the wood- 

 working fraternity. j q t. 



An Interesting Tree 



The paddle-wood tree, which is a species of Aspidosperma, is one 

 of the most peculiar trees in the forests of South America. The 

 trunk has the appearance of a number of boards standing on end, 

 one edge of each forming the common center of the tree from' 

 which they radiate. The tree is generally known as paddle-wood, 

 because these board-like natural buttresses are used extensively 

 for making paddles, which are preferred to those made of any other 

 wood for propelling the Ught boats or wood skins, which are usually 

 made of the bark, either of the locust tree (Hymenaea courharil), 

 or of the purple heart (Copaifera puMflora). Canoes made of the 

 bark of these two trees are very light and they are propelled by 

 means of paddles made of the light wood of the paddle-wood tree. 

 The paddles are hewn merely with the cutlass or knife, sometimes 

 out of a soHd block of some other light wood, but more often, because 

 more easily, out of one of these buttresses, which frequently extend 

 from the ground to the base of the crown. In fact, the whole trunk 

 for some distance from the ground often consists merely of board- 

 like longitudinal projections from the center of the tree, which can 

 be readily shaped into paddles. While the paddles made from these 

 buttresses vary from three to six feet in length, their general shape 

 remains the same throughout the region where the paddle-wood tree 

 grows. They generally have broad, oblong blades, round shafts, and 

 a semi-lunar handle at the top into which the hand fits very com- 

 fortably. The wood is moderately soft, and is often ornamented 

 with pointed figures and patterns. 



While there are a good many other trees in the South American 

 forests that exhibit such peculiar fluted trunks or board-like butt- 

 resses, in no other is this habit of growth so pronounced as in the 

 paddle-wood tree. The mora (Bhnorphandra mora) has very wide 

 buttresses at the base of the trunk, but they seldom attain a height 

 of more than ten or fifteen feet. The mahogany, Spanish cedar, and 

 other closely alUed trees frequently develop buttresses of enormous 

 size if they stand on soft or marshy ground. The broad base is neces- 

 sary to support the tree in such situation, and the buttresses provide 



