HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



Comparative Talale of Mahogany and 



Total 



Arrivals 



1901. 



Cuban mahogany logs 30,574 



Cuban cedar logs 81,408 



Mexican mahogany logs 15,754 



Mexican cedar logs 10,195 



Central and South American 



mahogany 6,603 



Central and South American 



cedar 437 



African mahogany logs 4,533 



Cedar Log Receipts at New York. 



1901. 

 Total number of mahogany 



and cedar logs received. .149,576 



Much could be said here on the purely 

 technical side of the comparative qualities 

 of the various species of mahogany, but 

 which, after all, would have but little bear- 

 ing on its future sale. It is all marketable 

 and valuable. The most important point to 

 those who are interested in the possibilities 

 of the foreign hardwood trade is the op- 

 portunity for production at the different 

 sources of supply, and in that direction 

 Cuba, under present conditions, seems the 

 most promising. 



An outline of existing conditions in the 

 mahogany and cedar market are of interest 

 in this connection. The local market in ma- 

 hogany and cedar at this time is brisk, the 

 salient features beiug the lack of sufficient 

 receipts in cedar, particularly, and in some 

 grades of mahogany. In mahogany there 

 was a larger number of logs received in 

 April than in March, but all the receipts 

 have been sold and the market is entirely 

 bare of this wood, while the inquiry is very 

 active. There was only one lot of Mexican 

 mahogany received, part of which has been 

 sold, and the larger portion of the small 

 stock previously on hand has also passed out 



of the market. The demand is good and 

 with the small supply in hand dealers should 

 take advantage of the situation and make 

 early shipments. There were no arrivals 

 of Panama or Honduras mahogany in April, 

 with a very fair demand prevalent, and 

 shipments of good logs should meet with 

 ready sale. The situation in the mahogany 

 market is in favor of the shipper, as the 

 natural volume of trade is greatly handi- 

 capped, owing to the small receipts of good 

 wood. 



In cedar, there were no receipts of Mexi- 

 can stock during March and April, and there 

 has been no stock on hand for many months. 

 This is significant when it is considered that 

 the present demand for cedar is almost un- 

 precedented and all arrivals are quickly ab- 

 sorbed at the highest range of prices that 

 has yet obtained. 



In Cuban cedar, arrivals are being con- 

 sumed as fast as received and the market 

 is practically bare at present. Shipments 

 are not only urged, but will meet with 

 prompt sale and be received under very 

 satistactorv conditions. 



Suggestions to Small SaWmill M^n. 



EIGHTH PAPER 



With the increased demand for stock cut 

 to exact dimensions, it may be of interest 

 to the small sawmill man cutting hardwood 

 to discuss the question of where and how to 

 add to his sawmill equipment the machinery 

 necessary for economically manufacturing 

 this stock. If he has a two-story mill the 

 problem is comparatively simple, as it in- 

 volves merely the matter of what machines 

 to add, the place for location being already 

 provided — the basement at the tail end of 

 the mill. With a little groundhog mill, 

 however, that is moved from place to place, 

 the volume of work at any one point hardly 

 justifying framing up off the ground, to say 

 nothing of the trouble and expense of get- 

 ting in logs, it is different, for, as a rule, 

 there is no space left in such a mill for the 

 addition of machinery of any kind. The 

 mill shed is built just long enough for the 

 carriage track and just wide enough to take 

 in the carriage and set works on one side 

 of the saw and the saw cab and main belt 

 on the other. The space in front of the saw 

 cab is given over to the log deck, and back 



of it the off-bearer needs all the room avail- 

 able outside the rolls, and sometimes more. 

 In other words, there is no room in the main 

 building for such equipment, and the ques- 

 tion is where should the addition be made 

 to accommodate it? 



The logical place, if the location will per- 

 mit, is back of the boiler and engine. There 

 are some instances where the boiler is set 

 on the bank of a stream so that there is not 

 much room and no way to get in with teams 

 to load out stock and things of that kind 

 that may make it advisable to cross the 

 main shed and put it on the other side in 

 the back. Where it can be done, however, 

 this addition should be put on the boiler 

 and engine side, because it saves power and 

 line shafting. Being directly back of the 

 engine with the machinery equipment, get- 

 ting to the line shaft from the engine and 

 from the line shaft to the machines is a 

 very simple problem. The line shaft as a 

 rule, will have to go overhead; a good plan 

 is to mount it on a row of posts passing 

 through the center at right angles to the 



frame of the main building. This gives 

 better support than to hang it to the joist, 

 and is generally easier and less expensive 

 to put up. For the small mill the shafting 

 and equipment throughout should bo made 

 as light as consistent with the work to be 

 done so as to save power in running and ex- 

 pense in moving from place to place. If, 

 for example, the equipment is to consist of 

 only a self-feed rip saw and a swing cross 

 cut, the line shaft may be made as light as 

 1 11/10, and if necessary still be able to carry 

 another light machine; for driving a heavy 

 bolting saw the line shaft should be 1 15/16 

 to start on. As a rule it will be found best 

 in getting the shaft to have it smooth 

 turned, entirely without key sets, and use 

 wood split pulleys. This gives free range in 

 placing the journals, and it is also a much 

 easier task in the average sawmill to put 

 on, take off or reset a wood split pulley than 

 an iron pulley with keys, because the only 

 tool required is a wrench. A wood split 

 pulley is better than the iron pulley 

 with set screws in this instance, be- 

 cause when it is to be moved it will not be 

 necessary to take down the shaft to get it 

 by the journal — simply take off the pulley 

 and put it wherever desired. As a matter 

 of fact, the average iron pulley with a set 

 screw is an abomination from a mechanical 

 standpoint. It has poor holding power in 

 the first place, and when it is screwed down 

 on the shaft it mars the face of the shaft 

 and causes considerable trouble when taking 

 off the pulley and putting on a new one. 



In the selection of machines to equip a 

 department of this kind, after making a 

 study of catalogues and prices and finding 

 out how many different machines there are 

 and the promises the manufacturers hold 

 out for returns on their products, the dispo- 

 sition to buy too many machines at the out- 

 set must be guarded against. There are 

 special machines for every conceivable pur- 

 pose of great capacity and also of good 

 earning power where they are required, 

 but these special machines are not often 

 needed in small sawmills where there is 

 variety of work to do and the speed with 

 which stock can be put through a machine 

 is not so much an item as the matter of 

 power and getting stock to and from the 

 work. This does not mean that it is not 

 important to study the different machines; 

 in fact, the sawmill man should familiarize 

 himself with every kind of machine for 

 doing the work in view, and then select 

 machines to suit his particular needs. For 

 dimension stock work, such as making 

 wagon implement material of oak and 

 hickory, ordinarily the best equipment to 

 start with is a self-feed rip saw and a 

 swing cross cut. Even this outlay may be 

 reduced by making the rip saw a plain table 

 or hand feed saw, but if there is any great 

 quantity of work to do it would be money 

 saved in the end to have a power feed rip- 

 saw. Even the cross cut can, where the 

 work is light, be changed to a cord wood 



