78 



THE ST. LOUIS LUMBERMAN. 



any other wood reported in Missouri and the piano 

 makers find place for the most of It. 



Patterns. 



The making of patterns, models and flasks is 

 a comparatively small industry in Missouri, less 

 than half a million feet being required to meet its 

 demands for lumber. Foundry flasks are rough 

 boxes in which the sand is placed preparatory to 

 receiving the molten metal in making the casting. 

 Nearly any wood will answer this purpose. The 

 foundry pattern, however, is a more carefully made 

 article, and most of the white pine listed in Table 

 XX went to the shops where such patterns are cut 

 out. The pattern is shaped exactly like the article 

 to be cast. A soft, even-grained wood is demanded 

 and it is necessary that it hold its shape because 

 warping and twisting, after the pattern has been 

 cut out, would destroy its usefulness. Experience 

 has shown that white pine has no superior for pat- 

 terns. The wood's high price sometimes lessens 

 its use and another wood is pressed into service. 

 The fact that 94 per cent of all the pattern mate- 

 rial in Missouri is white pine is evidence that no 

 other has made serious inroads on its use there. 

 All the white pine listed in Table XX was not em- 

 ployed for foundry patterns, though most of it 

 was. Model makers draw supplies from that 

 source. A model is usually an exact representa- 

 tion of a part of a machine or some other article, 

 such as a wheel, valve, boat, column or something 

 that is to be made in specified shape. The models 

 are sometimes called machine-shop patterns to dis- 

 tinguish them from foundry patterns. Hat blocks 

 are occasionally spoken of as patterns, and there 

 are several kinds, each having its special use. Hat 

 flanges are used in shaping the brims of felt hats; 

 curling boards for brims of silk hats, stretchers 

 for widening hats and hat sets to lengthen or widen. 

 Yellow poplar is the best wood for hat blocks. It 

 is seasoned a long time in dry air, then placed in 

 artificial heat until the wood ceases to lose weight. 

 Expensive hardwoods, like cherry and mahogany, 

 are materials for models or shop patterns. 



PATTERNS. 



FRAMES AND MOLDING. 



TABLE XXII. 



Totals 



131,300 



100.00 



$ 35.00 



Total 

 cost 

 t. o. b. 

 factory 

 $ 1,502 

 1,228 

 900 

 840 

 75 

 40 

 11 



$ 4,596 



Grown In 

 Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 



Grown out 

 of Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 

 36,850 

 30,150 

 30,000 

 30,000 

 3,000 

 1,000 

 300 



131,300 



supplied none of the wood demanded by this in- 

 dustry. 



Printing Material. 



Most of the wood listed in Table XXIII is used 

 as base blocks for stereotypes, electrotypes, half- 

 tone and zinc plates. Printers tack thin metal plates 

 upon blocks of wood in printing. Such blocks are 

 beech, sweet birch and cherry. The wood should 

 be hard, straight-grained and smooth. It is liable 

 to come in frequent contact with water and it 

 should resist a tendency to shrink and swell quick- 

 ly. The three woods named are put to some use 

 in Missouri in the manufacture of commodities of 

 another kind used by printers, such as cases for 

 type, cabinets and "furniture." The word furni- 

 ture as the printer understands it means small 

 blocks and strips of wood used in locking up forms 

 of type preparatory to putting them on the press. 

 Much of it is made of metal, but some prefer wood 



PRINTING MATERIAL. 



actual amount of wood in an aeroplane is small, but 

 it is selected with much care and the waste is com- 

 paratively large. Scarcely any mechanism demands 

 greater perfection in material which enters into its 

 construction, for a defect is liable not only to ruin 

 the machine, but to result fatally to the operator as 

 well. 



The frames are made of spruce. It is necessary 

 that the wood be straight-grained and free from 

 knots and other defects. The strain on an airship 

 is at times sudden and severe, and the machine is so 

 constructed that it distributes the strain equally on 

 all parts or as nearly so as possible; and the wood 

 is selected with the purpose that every inch of it 

 must stand its part of the strain in critical mo- 

 ments. Much care is bestowed on the propellers. It 

 is absolutely essential that they shall have the 

 strength necessary to stand the strain and at the 

 same time no superfluous weight is allowed. They 

 are sometimes made wholly of spruce, and at other 



TABLE XXIII. 



Totals 



110,007 



100.00 



68.90 



Total 

 cost 

 f. o. b. 

 factory 

 $ 4,982 

 1,660 

 850 

 78 

 3 

 7 



$ 7,580 



Grown in 



Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 

 2,500 

 1,500 

 1,000 



5,000 



Grown out 

 of Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 

 71,700 

 20,200 

 11,500 

 1,550 

 50 

 7 



105,007 



TABLE XX. 



Totals 



.. 417,148 



100.00 



Total 

 cost 

 f. o. b. 

 factory 

 * 25,726 

 438 

 90 

 240 

 136 

 56 

 50 

 157 

 45 



64.57 * 26,937 



Grown in 

 Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 



Grown out 

 of Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 

 393,723 

 9,100 

 6,000 

 4,000 

 . 2,000 

 1,125 

 1,000 

 900 

 300 



417,148 



Weighing Apparatus. 



Three woods demanded in Missouri by manufac- 

 turers of .weighing apparatus are listed in Table 

 XXI. The' total amount is not much above a quar- 

 ter of a million feet, and about two-thirds of it is 

 shortleaf pine. Cypress is employed in making 

 scale boxes and the reason assigned for its use is 

 that it resists dry rot. The same reason is given 

 for employing Douglas fir for a similar purpose, 

 but this wood answers many other purposes in the 

 manufacture of weighing machines. Such machines 

 are often exposed to dampness in situations pecu- 

 liarly liable to induce decay, and the woods em- 

 ployed must meet that condition. 



v WEIGHING APPARATUS. 



because it is lighter than metal. The quantity of 

 boxwood used in this industry in Missouri is so 

 small that it would not deserve mention were it 

 not that it is the most expensive wood listed in 

 any industry. The price is $1000 per thousand feet. 

 Even that is below rather than above the usual 

 cost of this wood, which is imported from Russia 

 and Turkey and is employed in making high-class 

 wood engravings. It sometimes costs three or four 

 dollars a foot, and, of course, is not employed 

 where a cheaper material will answer. It is in de- 

 mand for rollers for skates and was formerly bought 

 by shuttle makers, but of late years dogwood and 

 persimmon have been substituted for shuttles. En- 

 gravers employ substitutes also and sugar maple 



TABLE XXI. 



Average 



cost 



per 



1000 ft. 

 $ 23.60 

 22.11 

 56.00 



Totals 



299,150 



100.00 



$ 23.14 



Total 

 cost 

 f. o. b. 

 factory 

 * 4,619 

 2,275 

 28 



9 6,922 



10,000 



Grown out 

 of Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 

 185,750 

 102,900 

 500 



289,150 



Frames and Molding. 



Planing mills manufacture molding intended for 

 interior finish of houses and other intended for 

 picture and mirror frames and the frames in which 

 advertising matter is displayed in public places. 

 Table XXII gives statistics of molding which goes 

 into frames. The figures are supplied by the mak- 

 ers of such frames. The industry is small in com- 

 parison with some others which use many times 

 as much wood, but it is well defined and many 

 shops make the commodity. Perhaps more wood 

 goes into advertising frames than into the frames 

 of pictures and mirrors. Much of the cypress and 

 oak of the table was worked into advertising frames 

 and the basswood for picture frames. It finishes 

 nicely and nails well, and when the article is to 

 be gilded or covered with goldleaf basswood proves 

 satisfactory; it likewise gives good service if the 

 frame is enameled. Red oak readily takes am- 

 monia fumes in giving mission finish and it does 

 well also when polish is desired. White elm is 

 said to finish nearly as well as red oak, but its 

 grain is not as handsome as that of oak. The black- 

 walnut and white pine listed in the table were used 

 in the form of thin lumber or veneer, as backing 

 for mirrors. The walnut was cheaper than the 

 white and red oak, but little was used. Missouri 



and apple and pearwood are among the best, but 

 no substitute was reported in Missouri. For coarse 

 engraving many woods are employed. Formerly 

 wood type was cut from boxwood, but its high 

 cost now stands in the way of that use. West In- 

 dies boxwood is a different species and much 

 cheaper than that from Turkey. 



Aeroplanes. 



The making of aeroplanes is a new industry in 

 this country, and Missouri is the first State to sup- 

 ply statistics of their manufacture. A few 

 dozen were turned out in 1910, and only three woods 

 were reported as to amounts, though others were 

 made use of, at least for experimental purposes. 

 Locust and red gum are mentioned, but the exact 

 uses are not given. Sitka spruce supplied 84 per 

 cent of all, mahogany and white ash the rest. The 



AEROPLANES., 



times are built up of different woods. A built-up 

 propeller may consist of a strip of ash in the middle 

 of each blade, with spruce on each side; then layers 

 of mahogany outside the spruce and thin pieces 

 of ash outside the hub. A propeller constructed in 

 that way is believed to be stronger than one of solid 

 wood. It at least offers the advantage of a more 

 careful inspection of the material. One larger piece 

 may have defects within which cannot be seen; but 

 a propeller made of small pieces offers less chance 

 for hidden defects. The pieces are held together 

 with glue. It is claimed that if high-grade glue is 

 used and is well applied it joins the pieces of wood 

 so firmly that before the joints will pull apart the 

 wood will break elsewhere. Mahogany is usually 

 employed in making the steering wheels of aero- 

 planes. 



Miscellaneous. 



Missouri manufacturers annually make use of 

 over eight million feet of wood outside of the indus- 

 tries described on former pages of this report. It 

 goes into various commodities, the making of none 

 of which is of sufficient importance in the State to 

 be classed as an industry, but when considered in 

 the aggregate they hold a prominent place. Twenty- 

 three woods are listed, red gum being used in 

 largest and mahogany and black cherry in the small- 

 est quantities. Black willow is highest in price and 

 red gum the cheapest. 



The high cost of willow calls for explanation, for 

 it is generally a cheap wood. It was reported for 

 artificial limbs, and was bought partly manufac- 

 tured. There appears to be some doubt as to the 

 exact species of willow used. One of the manufac- 

 turers reported red willow, apparently meaning 

 longleaf willow (Salix fluviatilis), which in most 

 parts of its range is too small for artificial limbs, 

 but it reaches its best development about the mouth 

 of the Ohio River, and there sometimes attains a 

 height of 70 feet and a diameter of two. Some re- 

 ported black willow, and others received willow from 

 New York and supposed it was imported from Eu- 

 rope. In Table XXV all that was reported was list- 

 ed as black willow, though some of it was question- 

 able. 



Most of the cost of artificial limbs is in the labor. 

 The material is scarcely more than one-tenth of it. 

 Much of the wood is cut away and the waste is pro- 

 portionately large. Only wood of straight grain can 

 be used and it must be tough, light, strong and dur- 

 able. Though all visible wood is willow, a little 

 hickory, sugar maple or some of the hardwood finds 

 place in the interior mechanism. In making brush- 

 backs sugar maple, red gum and yellow poplar were 

 employed. Woods intended for brush-backs must 

 meet hard usage, particularly some kinds of scrub 

 brushes. They must wear well when alternately wet 

 and dry, in both hot and cold water, and must show 



TABLE XXIV. 



Totals 



15,900 



100.00 



Average 



cost 



per 



1000 ft. 

 $ 68.28 

 72.00 

 115.00 



$ 71.67 



Total 

 cost 

 f. o. b. 

 factory 

 ? 915 



108 

 115 



1 1438 



Grown in 

 Missouri 

 feet 

 B. M. 



Grown out 



of Missouri 



feet 



B. M. 



13,400 



,,)0 



1,000 



15,900 



