MANUFACTURES, ETC. 251 



eased timber, and in all cases tke heartwood 

 provides better fuel than the sapwood. 



Finishing Wood. An enormous amount of 

 timber is used the world over for interior decora- 

 tion of houses, railway carriages, passenger 

 steamers, etc. Wood for this purpose should be 

 of the highest quahty and free from resin 

 pockets, knots, etc. It should be carefully 

 milled and left free from tool marks of any 

 description; a further dressing with a hand- 

 smoothing plane and fine sandpaper will improve 

 its appearance, or a steel scraper may be used 

 in place- of the plane. The sandpaper must be 

 fine and must be worked in the direction of the 

 grain. Timber for finishing should be abso- 

 lutely dry. " Beautiful and permanent effects 

 cannot be secured if the material used is not 

 dry. Paint or varnish will not cling to moist 

 wood." Where coniferous woods are being used, 

 efficient drying is doubly essential or gum and 

 moisture may ooze through the finish in small 

 bubbles. 



Various finishes may be apphed to the timber, 

 and it is hardly necessary to detail them here. 

 For satisfactory work timbers with ornamental 

 grain and figuring should be selected. Natural 

 finish is simple and tasteful for certain wood, 

 especially some of the conifers ; oil stains bring 



