UTILIZATION OF BASSWOOD. 39 
FURNITURE. 
Basswood is an important furniture wood because it glues well 
and takes and holds screws and nails very satisfactorily. It is well 
liked for such parts as drawer sides and bottoms, mirror backing, 
and shelves, because it does not warp to any great extent. Bass- 
wood is often used for the inside and hidden parts of expensive 
furniture. It is not generally used for outside work in furniture, 
because it lacks the strength of other woods, such as oak and red 
gum, and does not have an attractive grain or figure for finishing in 
the natural state. It is, however, used in enamel work, for which 
purpose it is well adapted, because it has a uniform texture, takes 
paint well, and, since it does not shrink and swell to any great extent, 
it is not inclined to crack the enamel coating as many other woods do. 
Basswood serves well for cores of panels finished in expensive 
veneers. It is especially well suited for producing curved surfaces 
in furniture, because it can be readily bent into various forms by 
steaming, holds its shape after it is dry, and glues well. It is in 
demand, therefore, as a core wood for curved and irregular surfaces 
which are to be covered with figured veneer. Basswood is valuable 
also as core stock for large panels, because it can be obtained in 
large, clear pieces. Experiments on panels show that there is less 
warping when a low-density core wood, such as basswood, is used 
than with a high-density core wood. The low-density core Wood 
has the additional advantage of making a light-weight panel. Bass- 
wood, also, does not split so readily as many other light-weight woods 
and holds the veneer well. In the gluing process basswood absorbs 
the glue very readily; therefore, a liberal amount of glue should be 
used in order to avoid a starved joint. 
The following States use basswood for furniture in largest amounts: 
Illinois, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Ohio, and Indiana. 
TRUNKS AND VALISES. 
Basswood is an ideal wood for trunks because it is light in weight, 
does not split readily, holds nails well, is easily worked, keeps its shape 
well, and is available in wide, clear pieces. Some trunk manufacturers 
use basswood exclusively for the trunk box and also for the lid and 
trays. The trunk box may be made up of a single thickness of bass- 
wood or the sides may be 3 or 5 ply. Trunks made of plywood are 
more serviceable, because the plywood panels will stand shock better 
without splitting or breaking than the solid panels. The plywood is 
made of three or five thicknesses of basswood veneer one-sixteenth 
to one-twelfth of an inch thick, glued together with the direction of 
the grain in each sheet at right angles to that in adjacent sheets. 
Each ply may be made up of several strips of veneer, and small 
