UTILIZATION OF BLACK WALNUT. 65 
Furniture factories generally buy steamed walnut lumber in order 
that the sapwood as well as the heartwood may be used. Some facto- 
ries make a practice in manufacture of so placing squares and other 
solid walnut pieces that only the heartwood is exposed to the outside. 
The principal waste in furniture manufacture is in the making of 
panels from the veneer sheets. Panel manufacturers estimate that 
there is about 50 per cent waste in rotary and stay-log veneer, and 
60 per cent in straight sliced. If the veneer sheets are cut at the 
veneer mill to the approximate size of the panel, or sliced from small 
clear blocks to the required size, the waste in veneer is much less. 
In the latter case, it is figured that the waste in veneer ranges between 
10 and 20 per cent, with an average of 15 per cent. 
There should be less waste in solid stock if the dimension sizes are 
purchased than if they are cut from lumber. Waste in dimension 
material may come from stock that is poor because of a lack of 
proper or sufficient seasoning or because of improper handling. 
Scant sizes, as well as knots and other defects, are also the cause 
of waste in this material; or, loss may result from a change in the 
size required, after the stock has been purchased. The waste of 
high-grade dimension stock is, of course, a much more serious 
matter to the factory than the waste of a like amount of No. 1 com- 
mon lumber from which it is generally sawed by the furniture 
makers. The use of lumber instead of dimension stock requires, of 
course, the shipment of defective material which would have been cut 
out at the mill ; but this is preferable to the waste of dimension stock. 
The purchase of standard sizes of clear dimension material should 
be profitable to the furniture manufacturer. The amount of waste 
in the use of a certain grade of lumber depends on how advantage- 
ously the required sizes may be cut out. The greater the number of 
sizes to be cut, the less the amount of waste should be. 
The most common substitute for walnut in furniture manufacture 
is red gum. It is a general practice to utilize red-gum wood finished 
in imitation of walnut for corner posts, legs, mirror frames, and, in 
fact, for practically all but the veneered parts. The reason for this 
has been that gum was a lower-priced wood than walnut. On ac- 
count of the recent rapid rise in the price of red gum, however, there 
is now relatively less difference in cost. The same styles of furniture 
are generally made in either walnut or mahogany, and the gum may 
be finished in imitation of either wood. This is obviously a distinct 
advantage to the furniture manufacturer. Birch also is used in the 
same way. On account of the difference in the figure or grain, neither 
of these woods has the same appearance as the walnut, even when it 
is stained to match the color. Consequently, in making the highest 
class of walnut furniture, walnut wood is utilized for all outside 
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