154 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



MEASURING TAPES 



These measuring tapes are used by survey- 

 ors when they desire to make accurate 

 measurements. The whole instrument is 

 metal except the handle, but that is an im- 

 portant part and is of wood. The hand 

 retains a firmer and easier grip on wood 

 than on metal, and for that reason the 

 wooden handle is preferred. 



pen holders. The latter article does 

 not demand a colored wood, or one 

 that whittles nicely. It is thus prac- 

 ticable to utilize rejects from the pen- 

 cil factory in making other articles. 

 Pen holders are made of many woods 

 other than cedar, and they are so well 

 covered with paint and varnish that 

 the user may never know the kind of 

 wood. A pretty large percentage of 

 penholders are pine ; some are yellow 

 poplar, basswood, tupelo, and other 

 common woods. 



It was once a custom, though it was 

 perhaps not the general custom, for 

 pencil manufacturers to soak thor- 

 oughly their cedar logs in ponds and 

 rivers and leave them there exposed 

 till their sapwood had disappeared by 

 decay. That was easy to do because the 

 sapwood is so susceptible to decay 

 and the heartwood so resistant 

 that the former disapjiears long be- 

 fore the heart has even been aflfected 

 by rot. Three or four years, under 

 favorable conditions, .suffice to rot 

 away the sapwood. While that is tak- 

 ing place, the heart becomes mellow 

 and brittle, preciselv the condi- 



tion desired by the pencil maker. 



Less rotting is purposely done now 

 than formerly, because the white sap- 

 wood is put to use for pen holders 

 and cheap pencils. Deliberate waste 

 is no longer popular, even the waste 

 of a thing as cheap as cedar sapwood. 



Wood intended for lead pencils 

 passes through several processes or 

 operations. The trees are cut down 

 and the logs are sawed off the same 

 as any other logging operation. The 



RULES FOR LOG AND BOARD 

 MEASURE 



The upper cut in the accompanying illus- 

 tration represents a board rule, while the 

 lower is designed for measuring the con- 

 tents of logs. Both are of wood and in 

 most instances are made of hickory. They 

 are made in different patterns to meet 

 various needs and to conform to different 

 tastes. 



logs may be sent directly to the fac- 

 tory which carries out all the work 

 till the finished pencil is ready to pack 

 for sale ; but generally the commodity 

 known as a pencil slat 

 is a product intermediate 

 between the log and the 

 cotnpleted pencil. The 

 slat is the product of a 

 special mill. It is a thin 

 board about seven in- 

 ches long and of a thick- 

 ness equal to half the 

 diameter of a lead i)en- 

 cil, and wide enough for 



six pencils side by side. The slat is 

 passed through a machine which 

 shapes each half pencil and cuts a 

 groove for the graphite. In that 

 state of manufacture the slats are 

 shipped to the factory that inserts 

 the graphite, glues together the two 

 longitudinal halves, polishes, prints, 

 and boxes the pencils, and they are 

 ready to ship. 



It is worth remark that though 

 the product is called a lead j>encil, 

 it contains not a particle of lead. The 

 name simply conforms to the popu- 

 lar belief that the marking substance 

 is lead. Real lead pencils were for- 

 merly made. The process consisted 

 in pouring melted lead into a goose 

 quill, or into the pith cavity of some 

 small weed or reed, and thus make 

 a pencil that would leave a black mark 

 on white paper. It was expected of 

 the old-time pedagogue, as a part of 

 his educational attainments, that he 

 should be able to make lead pencils 

 for his pupils who were far enough 

 advanced to need them. The process 

 of making was simple, but a little 

 dangerous. The quill that was to re- 

 ceive the lead was stuck upright in 

 a potato or a turnip while the peda- 

 gogue poured in the molten lead from 

 a ladle or an iron spoon. Usually all 

 went well ; but sometimes when the 

 hot lead came in contact with the wet 

 pulp of the vegetable, a resulting 

 flash of steam threw the molten metal 

 in every direction, and the eyes, 

 hands and faces of teacher and pu- 

 pils were in danger of severe burning. 

 The quantity of hot lead was usually 

 so small that no serious damage re- 

 sulted ; but if such operations were 

 attempted in schoolrooms today, the 

 National Safety Council would likely 

 get busy immediately and require the 



N62 

 BOXWOOD MEASURING RULE 



Boxwood is better than ivory in the manufacture of meas- 

 uring rules because the wood is less susceptible to weather 

 changes than is the ivory. Therefore, wooden rules fill 

 more exacting places than those of more expensive ma- 

 terial. (Photograph by courtesy of the Stanley Tool and 

 Level Company, New Britain, Connecticut.) 



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