22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the company to carry on operations prac- 

 tically the year round. The logs are con- 

 veyed from the river by means of the log- 

 haul into the spacious yards, where they 

 are arranged in piles within easy reach of 

 the giant derrick. As desired they are 

 stored in the large steaming vats where 

 they are thoroughly cured and made ready 

 for the knife. They are then sent to the 

 cutting machine and reduced to veneer. 

 The Chicago Veneer Company enjoys the 

 reputation of putting out veneer of the" 

 highest class. It is used for the finest 



grades of work into which veneer enters, 

 expensive cabinet work, furniture, pianos, 

 cars, etc., and is practically world-wide in 

 its distribution. 



The company was originally organized in 

 1888. Some years later Mr. Lord, then of 

 the Sterling Bicycle Company, became 

 identified with the business. The active 

 ones in the company are: B. W. Lord, 

 president and treasurer; S. J. Glanton, 

 nian.ager; H. Wade Beavers, who has charge 

 of the timber and log department, and Le- 

 roy Kes.sler, mechanical superintendent. 



Vicker=Sticks and SWeep=Sticks 

 for Looms. 



"With the increased demand for hardwood 

 bobbins, shuttles, spools and cops for textile, 

 cotton and woolen mills, there comes an active 

 call for hardwood picker-sticks. I remember 

 when I was a lad that the mill in which I 

 worked furnished handmade picker-sticks for 

 the cotton mills in the vicinity. The ' ' boss ' ' 

 used to send me to the woods to get the 

 proper timber. For a number of years locust 

 was most used. This is not a good wood 

 for this purpose, even when properly seasoned 

 and worked, and the way it was seasoned in 

 this particular shop did not, as may be imag- 

 ined, even bring out its few good qualities. 

 However, it was the best that could be done 

 under the circumstances. The timber was 

 cut, hauled to the mill and sawed. It was 

 not supposed to be used until the next yeaj, 

 giving it a chance to season before the sticks 

 were made from it, but there was never time 

 for this, and green lumber was very often 

 employed. A log was split with wedges as 

 in Fig. 1 and the sticks were then cut to 

 shape with hatchets. They were crude and 

 very irregular, as may well be supposed from 

 the primitive method of manufacture. Fully 

 twenty per cent could not be used at all. 

 Some were knotty and some crooked ; many 

 were only fit to be cut up for sweep-sticks. 



Today the process and the resultant prod- 

 uct are much different. Many of these same 

 mills have undergone a complete transforma- 

 tion ; new and improved machinery has been 

 introduced, effective methods of manufacture 

 are in vogue and the work is well systema- 

 tized. At these mills the wood is especially 

 selected for the purpose from the standpoint 

 of elasticity, toughness, durability and gen- 

 eral suitability for the making of picker- 

 sticks. The incessant hammering of the stick 

 against the bunterg of the loom make it 

 necessary that the pickers be of wood that 

 is firm and close-grained. Defects, such as 

 knots or parts of knots, are disastrous, as 

 the sticks will break off at such weak points 

 almost immediately. 



Picker-sticks are made from many varieties 

 of hardwoods. Crab-tree wood is sometimes 

 used ; but the best and most common woods 

 employed are ash, hickory, elm, oak and 

 birch. Poplar, beech, cherry and walnut are 

 also used with good results. "Whatever wood 



is chosen, precautions are taken at the begin- 

 ning to get from it the best possible service 

 by cutting it properly. The cross lines in 

 Fig. 2 illustrate the method of cutting the 

 logs lengthwise. The slabs are then marked 

 off with lines and the tapering sticks cut in 

 pairs or triplets, as the width of the sla^ 

 permits. Usually but two sticks can be ob- 

 tained from one slab, as represented in Fig. 

 3. Fig. 4 .shows the crude stick of the 

 old days, roughly shaped with a hatchet. 

 Many country textile mills even now use al- 

 most as crudely shaped sticks as this, local 

 carpenters making them with but few more 

 tools and facilities than we had in that little 



old mill of my early experience. But the 

 city mills, which use thousands of picker- 

 sticks annually, contract with large manufac- 

 turers for their supplies and these sticks are 

 almost invariably sawed out to pattern and 

 then smoothed by planing. Owing to the 

 tapering form of the stick, they are usually 

 planed by hand, although a few of the larger 

 manufacturers have machines to perform this 

 work. Fig. -5 shows the stick after it has 

 been planed. A hole is then bored for the 

 picker-stick stud, about six inches from the 

 foot of the stick, usually one inch in diam- 

 eter. Some makers put metal sleeves into the 

 bores, but as a rule the wood bears direct 

 upon the stud. Next comes the boring for 

 the wiring of the sticks. Small holes are 



bored through the sides of the stick just 

 above and below the stud hole, and wire rivets 

 are inserted and headed up as shown in 

 Fig. 6. Some manufacturers use bolts and 

 nuts for this purpose, but this is not a good 

 plan, as nuts work loose and come off. The 

 rivet is headed and it cannot get free. Iron 

 foot pieces are sometimes added, as repre- 

 sented in Fig. 7, but as this metal increases 

 the weight of the stick, it has never been 

 entirely satisfactory. Yet some patterns of 

 looms require sticks of this form, and conse- 

 quently the manufacturer must produce them. 

 Occasionally a stick which is found to be 

 weak is bound up with rawhide, tarred cords 

 or wires as represented in Fig. 8. Sticks are 

 often curved near the upper end as in Fig. 

 9, so that this curve may come in contact 

 with the back of the picker, thus providing 

 an even sliding motion. 



Let us look at the sweep-sticks, for manu- 

 facturers usually carry a line of sweep-sticks 

 as well as picker-sticks. In many mills no 

 sweep-sticks are furnished and the loom 

 operator is expected to saw sweep-sticks 

 from broken picker-sticks. There is no 

 economy in this, because in his desperation, 

 when in a hurry, the loom operator often 

 saws up a really good picker-stick to get the 

 necessary sweep-stick, and it is always 

 cheaper to buy regularly made sweep-sticks. 

 Fig. 10 is a good pattern. It is made like 

 the picker-stick and of the same wood, but 

 it is not tapered. It is usually about 20 

 inches long. In order to have it as light as 

 possible the middle of the stick is frequently 

 sawed out, as in the pattern shown in Fig. 

 11. It is not absolutely necessary that the 

 ends be bored and riveted, but it is a very 

 good plan, and many manufacturers have 

 adopted it. The same method of riveting the 

 bottoms of the picker-sticks is used to rivet 

 the ends of the sweep-stick. Fig. 12 illus- 

 trates a sweep-stick which is riveted. 



A rather awkward form of sweep-stick is 

 shown in Fig. 13. The idea in this case was 

 to get two pieces of wood combined, making 

 both the sweep and picker sticks, claiming 

 certain advantages. In most mills the merits 

 of sticks as advertised count for little. They 

 are simply put into service and tested. If 

 the stick works well, that is sufficient recom- 

 mendation. Hence it is that we see sticks 

 of many different patterns under experi- 

 mentation in various weaving rooms. This 

 two-piece sweep-stick was being tested in a 

 mill I visited. I was told that the stick was 

 giving fairly good service, but that it was 

 too weighty and bulky for the loom. 



Fig. 14 shows the combination of picker- 

 stick and sweep-stick as run in the loom. The 

 iron picking shaft arm carries a stud which 

 fits into the hole in the sweep-stick. The 

 leather strap is bolted around the picker- 

 stick and to the sweep-stick. As the stick is 

 brought up with a hard thump against the 

 bunters, about ninety times per minute in 

 the broad woolen loom, and about two hun- 

 dred times per minute in the speedy little 

 cotton loom, it may be realized what a 



