596 



INDUSTRIAL USES OF WOOD. 



at their ends, as a notch has to be cut there to admit the 

 head-pieces. The two broadest staves are, that on which the 

 cask rests, and the opposite one in which the bung is inserted. 



Fig. 339. Stave-maker's bench with divider and mallet. (After Boppe.) 



The best wood is used for these two staves. From three to 

 five head-pieces are used at either end of a cask, being dove- 

 tailed together. The tops and bottoms of small casks are 



flat, but in larger ones 

 they are somewhat 

 curved inwards, in 

 order better to with- 

 stand the pressure of 

 the liquid inside. 



Wood for staves 

 is cloven usually in 

 the forest by special 

 artificers, and 

 straight-grained, light 

 and sound wood, free 



Fig. 3-10. The Shave. 



from knots and other 



defects, is employed. It must be strong, and yet pliable and 

 easily cloven ; it is split with a special instrument, termed 

 a divider (Fig. 337), in the radial direction, so that the silver- 

 grain is visible on the broad surface of the staves, as the wood 

 is least permeable in the direction at right angles to this. 

 Whether, or not, wine leaks out of casks appears to depend 



