UTILIZATION OF DOGWOOD AND PERSIMMON 
THE SEASONING OF SHUTTLE BLOCKS 
21 
AT THE SHUTTLE-BLOCK MILL 
When the sawing of shuttle blocks is completed the ends are 
dipped into melted paraffin to prevent too rapid drying and check- 
ing. The blocks are then stacked in well-ventilated closed sheds or 
in open, roofed sheds with or without floors. 
The care taken in stacking blocks varies with the manufacturer. 
It need hardly be said that careful stacking of green blocks is es- 
sential. To maintain the neatest and most rigid stacks it is well to 
stack the blocks so that the growth rings, as seen on the end sec- 
tions, curve in the same direction throughout the stacks. Blocks 
are usually placed with their broader face down, one layer of blocks 
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Fig. 15. — Waste dogwood ends and sections sold for fuel 
being laid at right angles to the other, the blocks in each layer being 
placed half an inch to an inch apart. (Fig. 16.) Sometimes in 
outdoor sheds in winter, to hasten the drying, two blocks are placed 
on their sides between layers. This type of stacking opens up each 
pile considerably. 
The blocks are allowed to season from a few days to more than 
a year, depending upon the demand. The rate of air drying can 
be regulated to some degree through the manner of stacking. Season- 
ing proceeds more rapidly when the stacks are open-piled and placed 
far apart. In outdoor sheds the drying is generally more rapid 
in summer than in winter, although, of course, in buildings that 
can be heated, such as shuttle factories, drying is more rapid in 
winter. 
