HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



in order to press the cloth in every crevice of 

 the carving without a wrinkle. 



The covering is glued to the wood. Steam 

 jiressing machines go over the surface of the 

 cloth after it has beeu tightly stretched by 

 the operative and every portion of the cover- 

 ing is pressed to the wood. 



The varnish finished casket, which is grow- 

 ing more and more in favor, is an example 

 of the highest grade of hardwood finishing. 

 A priming coat of varnish is iirst applied to 

 the wooden casket, following with several 

 rubbing coats, and lastly a finishing or flow- 

 ing coat. Great care is used to insure an 

 oven, well-finished coat for a genuine piano 

 finish is required. 



The two varieties of caskets, cloth-covered 

 and varnished, are now ready for the stock 



are taken up with the quality of the wood dis- 

 played rather than with the purpose for which 

 the stock is intended. Bows of handsome 

 quartered oak displayd cases fill the stock 

 room, some containing six and others twelve 

 caskets. In the display cases there is a won- 

 derful assortment of caskets, made of every 

 hardwood and some soft timber that is known 

 to man. Elaborately carved teakwood and 

 mahogany caskets, handsome walnut and oak 

 caskets and an array of multi-colored caskets 

 with silk plush or broadcloth covers, stretched 

 over a cedar or basswood shell. 



Every casket is lined with quilted satin or 

 cheaper material, the padding of these linings 

 being the best grade of cotton procurable. A 

 wide range of materials is used in a modern 

 casket plant. The mountings may be made 



HANDSOME STYLE IN AFinCA.X MAHOC;.\Ny, DULL OR POLISHED FINISH 



room, as the outside mountings, such as the 

 handles, name-plate, etc., are not affixed at 

 the factory unless a hurry call is sent in by 

 telegraph or telephone by the funeral direc- 

 tor. The mountings are usually shipped in 

 separate packages to the undertaker, who af- 

 fixes them to the casket himself, as the 

 handles, etc., are of many and various styles 

 and are often selected by the family of the 

 deceased. In case of a rush order, however, 

 the undertaker specifies the kind of outside 

 mountings he desires and they are attached 

 to the casket at the factory, prior to the de- 

 livery of the order. 



The stock room of a casket factory, how- 

 ever depressing would be the effect upon the 

 casual observer, is an interesting sight to an 

 enterprising hardwood man, whose thoughts 



to harmonize with the wood, or the wood may 

 lie made to harmonize with a particular style 

 of mounting. The plush coverings are of al- 

 most every hue, except green — purples, laven- 

 ders, pinks and light blues — which makes one 

 almost feel that a casket is not such a re- 

 pulsive thing after all. 



The material for this storj' was furnished 

 liy W. H. May, general manager of the Louis- 

 ville factory of the National Casket Company, 

 which is one of the largest casket manufac- 

 turing plants in the .country. H. M. Hicks, 

 who is connected with the business depart- 

 ment of the company, also materially assisted 

 in gathering the information for this con- 

 tribution. The accompanj'ing illustrations 

 show some of the products of the company 's 

 Louisville plant. 



The Compound Hub 



In the manufacture of wagons, no piece or 

 part is required to be so free from flaws and 

 defects as the hub. The old saying that "a 

 wagon is good as long as the hubs are good" 

 is quite true and logical enough, for when 

 the hubs fail the wheels are short-lived. 



The bane of the wagon manufacturer, so 

 far as the hubs are concerned, is their inclina- 

 tion to check. Notwithstanding the fact that 

 care is used in proper seasoning, that pains 

 are taken to thorougldy oil and paint, and to 

 firmly set the box and hub bands, yet after 

 every apjiarent precaution, trouble is likely 

 to occur when the hub is subject to hot cli- 

 mates. When a check does occur large 

 enough to admit moisture, the deterioration 

 of the hub is well under way. 



The process of manufacturing hubs is as 

 old as the history of wagons and carts, the 

 oidy advancement having been made in the 

 advent of modern hub manufacturing ma- 

 cldnery. The very best young oak trees, meas- 

 uring from ten to twenty inches in diameter, 

 covering thousands of acres of our forests 

 and representing many million feet of lumber, 

 arc annually sacrificed for the manufacture of 

 wagon hubs alone, to say nothing of smaller 

 trees used for hubs for lighter vehicles. 



The Compound Wood Company of Batavia, 

 Til., makes the rather surprising announce- 

 ment that careful estimates, demonstrations 

 and experience warrant the statement that 

 hubs of a superior quality can be made from 

 the sound parts of the lower grades of oak 



lumber fully as economically as the present 

 manner of manufacturing, thereby effectively 

 conserving the forests by removing the de- 

 mand for these trees for this purpose and at 

 the same time utilizing the by-products of the 

 sawmill. 



The manner or process by which the com- 

 pany proposes to accomplish the result is by 

 the use of a vegetable adhesive compound (or 

 cement) which, when applied to pieces of 

 wood of any size or thickness and subjected to 

 a powerful hydraulic pressure, welds these 

 various pieces into one, which, unaffected by 

 nu)isture or heat, may be subjected to all 

 weather conditions with perfect safety. 



This compound is not new, but has been 

 thcjroughly tested and articles so constructed 

 :nul cemented have been in actual use and 

 subjected to trying climatic conditions for 

 years. The company will guarantee that its 

 hubs will not be affected by weather condi- 

 tions. 



Between the knots and other defects of 

 the lower grades of oak (No. 2 and No. 3 

 Common), hub pieces may be sawed with a 

 limited waste, as they only require a piece 

 3%xl2 inches to form the wall of the hub, 

 as the hole for the hub box is not built in. 

 "Worm holes and like defects are not objec- 

 tionable, as they in no wise weaken or re- 

 duce the quality of the hub. 



These pieces or segments are cemented to- 

 gether, forming a block of the same shape 

 as a rough hub block cut from a tree. The 

 block so formed is then turned, reamed, 

 cupped and mortised in exactly the same man- 

 ner as all hubs are now made. The result is 

 a perfectly dry and perfectly true hub, dif- 

 fering materially from the hubs turned from 

 the tree, as they never season round and true. 

 The heart of a tree is not necessarily in its 

 center, and when the heart is bored out antl 

 the hub turned, there is likely to be con- 

 siderably more sap on one side of the hub 

 and this dries very differently from the 

 denser part, with the result that the hub is 

 sometimes one-half inch out of true. Both end 

 and spoke bands must vary in size and are 

 ]iurposely made in different sizes in order that 

 they may be- adjusted to the various unequal 

 sizes of hubs. It is not uncommon to see in 

 the larger wagon factories today a half-dozen 

 hubs set on end and a man going from one 

 to the other adjusting bands nearest to a fit 

 before the hub goes into the hydraulic band- 

 setting machine. 



But this is not all the trouble an imperfect 

 Inib causes. "When you come to re-mortise, 

 it is often found that the hub is dried so out 

 of shape that its ends are not square and 

 when measuring from the end of the hub to 

 the mortising chisel, more trouble is en- 

 countered and time and money wasted. Often 

 hubs with quite large checks are used, espe- 

 cially if the check is of such a nature as to 

 be drawn together or partially closed up by 

 the bands in the hydraulic press. The cheek 

 or opening is then filled with putty, as it 

 passes through the paint shop — another proc- 

 ess involving tiuje and expense. 



