THE USES OF WOOD 



537 



this industry than most people suppose. Not much of it is 

 seen in the finished articles, probably not one foot in 

 ten. It has a grain and figure so distinctive and bold 

 that their concealment by paints, stains, and varnishes is 

 seldom attempted. It is the opposite of yellow poplar 

 in that respect. The reason why chestnut is so seldom 

 seen in musical instruments, though so often present, is 

 that its largest use is for cores or the concealed, inner 

 parts of veneer panels. The surface of such panels is 

 of other woods, 

 but the bulk is 

 chestnut, cover- 

 ed and out of 

 sightr White 

 pine ranks with 

 chestnut in that 

 use c o r e of 

 panels. Yet 

 core stock is 

 not the only 

 place filled by 

 chestnut in the 

 musical instru- 

 ment industry. 

 It is a figured 

 wood and is 

 employed for 

 visible as well 

 as con cealed 

 parts. Its fig- 

 ure is formed 

 by the annual 

 growth rings, 

 as is the com- 

 mon figure of 

 ash and yellow 

 pine. We have 

 only one spe- 

 cies of chest- 

 nut and only 

 one of yellow 

 poplar in this 

 country. 



Other fig- 

 ured domestic 

 woods reported 

 in this indus- 

 try, in addition 

 to chestnut and 

 birdseye maple, are oak, red gum, black walnut, ash, and 

 sycamore. Perhaps birch should be included, though 

 figured birch is rather uncommon. Native woods listed 

 in this industry, but which have little figure, are elm. 

 basswood, beech, cottonwood, tupelo, and cherry. 



The native figured woods most often seen are oak, red 

 gum, and walnut. Oak has a figure due to yearly 

 growth rings, and another due to medullary rays, ex- 

 posed and brought into view by quarter sawing. These 

 two kinds of oak are known to the trade as "plain" and 



AN ELABORATE PHONOGRAPH 



The woodworker is at his best when he makes the cases of high-grade phonographs. The instrument 

 shown in the above illustration is valued at six thousand dollars, a considerable part of which value is 

 represented by the carving on the wooden case. (Photograph by courtesy of the Edison Company.) 



"quartered." Both figures are popular with musical in- 

 strument makers and sometimes one and sometimes the 

 other is the fashion leader. 



Black walnut's figure is by many considered the hand- 

 somest of all native woods. Yearly rings of growth con- 

 tribute much to this figure, but the most delicate and 

 artistic of the figures characteristic of walnut is inde- 

 pendent of growth rings and is due to pigments in the 

 fibers of the wood, dispersed in wavy lines, or in clouded 



areas, or in 

 some what ir- 

 regular p a t - 

 terns. Contrast 

 in the black 

 and brown 

 tones in the 

 different areas 

 is r e sponsible 

 for this figure. 

 Other woods 

 possess it in 

 part, but none 

 other of our 

 native woods 

 equals walnut 

 in delicacy of 

 this figure. Red 

 gum is the 

 nearest ap- 

 proach to wal- 

 nut, but its 

 colors are of 

 lighter tone and 

 the rings of 

 growth are less 

 prominent. 



Manufactur- 

 ers of musical 

 instruments go 

 ahead of near- 

 ly all other 

 workers in 

 wood in mak- 

 ing the most of 

 figured woods. 

 Furniture mak- 

 ers are scarcely 

 their equals in 

 that respect. 



Woods of fine color hold an influential place in the 

 shops of those who make musical instruments. Such 

 woods may display little figure or none. Their value is 

 due to color. One of these is rosewood. Though this 

 wood when freshly cut has the odor of roses, hence the 

 name, that is of no consideration with those who use the 

 material, because the odor has all departed long before 

 the article made of the wood has reached the hands of 

 the final purchaser. But the color remains. Much 

 mahogany is valued for its color rather than its 



