UTILIZATION OF BLACK WALNUT. 47 
against the knife, and the straight-slice method in which the timber 
moves in a straight line. 
Rotary-cut process. — This process has been used extensively for 
making veneer. It is still the method in most common use, for it 
has the advantage of a low cost of production. 
Walnut veneer logs are sawed into the lengths required for the 
veneer that is to be cut. These sections are put in hot water, gen- 
erally over night ; hard material may require a night and a day, or 
even two nights and a day. Each log section is then taken out and, 
after the bark is removed, revolved in the rotary machine, which is 
constructed like a lathe. The knife is constantly advanced, the ad- 
vance for each revolution of the log corresponding to the thickness 
of the veneer. The veneer is usually torn off where a defect occurs, 
often at each revolution. Logs may be sliced down to a diameter of 
6 to 8 inches, depending on the machine. Some specially constructed 
machines cut down to a diameter as small as 4 inches. The figure 
in this veneer is made by the growth rings, and, since the slicing is 
done in the direction of these rings, a veneer with a large coarse 
figure is the result. Hence only the lowest grade of logs is cut in 
this manner. Moreover, a considerable part of the heartwood, and 
usually the most valuable part, is wasted in the core. If the center 
of the log is defective, there is some advantage in slicing by the 
straight rotary process. 
A variation of the rotary is the half-round process, by which the 
log is set somewhat off the center, and veneer is cut only part way 
around the log. This method is most commonly used with small logs 
in which there is a small amount of heartwood. The veneer may be 
sliced from the heartwood in this way, whereas by the straight rotary 
process little or no veneer can be obtained from the heartwood of 
small logs. If they are trimmed, successive sheets may be matched 
up for panel work. After the slicing of two sides of the log, the 
rest may be straight sliced and will yield quartered stock provided 
the central portion of the log is not defective. If the log is not 
sufficiently clear for veneer, it may be made into dimension stock. 
The stay-log rotary process is a development from the rotary 
method proper, and is now very largely used for walnut. In this 
process a heavy flat plate is set off center, at a distance of about 1 
foot, to which the timber to be sliced is fastened. The walnut block 
to be sliced is in the form of a half -log, generally called a flitch, and 
the sapwood is largely trimmed off (PL V, fig. 1). Holes are then 
bored in this flitch to correspond with those in the plate, to which 
it is to be fastened with stay bolts. By this method the heartwood, 
which must be thrown away in the core in the straight rotary method, 
may be more closely utilized. 
