586 INDUSTRIAL USES OF WOOD. 



also is used similarly, but is inferior to oakwood in texture, 

 capability of being polished and resistance to moisture and dry- 

 ness. Pitch-pine wood also is used, being very hard and resinous 

 also the wood of Douglas-fir. All these pieces are longitudinal 

 sections cut between the tangential and radial directions. 



2. Cabinet-making. 



Furniture is made nowadays more in factories than by 

 individual makers. It makes a greater demand on the quality 

 and variety of the wood used than joiners' work, and equals 

 it in the quantity of wood used. 



Sawn timber is used in the form of planks and scantling 

 and round wood of all dimensions. Veneer of finely-marked 

 wood is used frequently to face coarser material, and its use is 

 justified by the fact that these thin strips of wood do not 

 crack, as is always more or less the case with solid woodwork. 

 Only the more valuable hardwoods are used in the round by 

 the cabinet-maker. 



All kinds of wood are used, and for coarser furniture, 

 kitchens, cupboards, school-benches, frames, chests, cheap 

 coffins, etc., coniferous woods, elmwood and soft broadleaved 

 woods are used. The inner part of other furniture is made of 

 these woods and then veneer glued on to it, or they may be 

 covered with upholstery. Oakwood often is used for the inner 

 part of the better kind of veneered furniture. 



Solid furniture is made of broadleaved species, such as oak, 

 walnut, cherry, birch, maple, ash, elm, etc. There is, how- 

 ever, a limit to the construction of solid wood furniture owing 

 to its weight. Beechwood is used largely wherever friction 

 and wear-and-tear will be considerable, as in work-tables, 

 chairs, wedges, etc. Often it is used stained in various tints 

 to imitate more valuable woods. 



The cabinet-maker selects his material for its fine colour, 

 good texture, freedom from knots, ease in working, capability 

 of being polished, and for being little liable to warp or crack. 

 Finely-marked and wavy woods are esteemed. 



In order to reduce warping and shrinkage as much as 

 possible, the cabinet-maker uses only thoroughly seasoned 

 wood ; he does not care for the most durable wood, but prefers 



