Seasoning of Wood, Joseph Bernard Wagner [best beach reads txt] 📗

outward is lighter than its neighbor.

Examining the pieces, this difference is not as readily explained by the appearance of each piece as in the case of pine wood. Nevertheless, one conspicuous point appears at once. The pores, so very distinct in oak, are very minute in the wood near the center, and thus the wood is far less porous.

Studying different trees, it is found that in the pines, wood with narrow rings is just as heavy as and often heavier than the wood with wider rings; but if the rings are unusually narrow in any part of the disk, the wood has a lighter color; that is, there is less summer-wood and therefore less weight.

In oak, ash, or elm trees of thrifty growth, the rings, fairly wide (not less than one-twelfth inch), always form the heaviest wood, while any piece with very narrow rings is light. On the other hand, the weight of a piece of hard maple or birch is quite independent of the width of its rings.

The bases of limbs (knots) are usually heavy, very heavy in conifers, and also the wood which surrounds them, but generally the wood of the limbs is lighter than that of the stem, and the wood of the roots is the lightest.

In general, it may be said that none of the native woods in common use in this country are when dry as heavy as water, i.e., sixty-two pounds to the cubic foot. Few exceed fifty pounds, while most of them fall below forty pounds, and much of the pine and other coniferous wood weigh less than thirty pounds per cubic foot. The weight of the wood is in itself an important quality. Weight assists in distinguishing maple from poplar. Lightness coupled with great strength and stiffness recommends wood for a thousand different uses. To a large extent weight predicates the strength of the wood, at least in the same species, so that a heavy piece of oak will exceed in strength a light piece of the same species, and in pine it appears probable that, weight for weight, the strength of the wood of various pines is nearly equal.

Weight of Kiln-dried Wood of Different Species

Species Approximate Specific
Weight Weight of 1
Cubic
Foot 1,000
Feet
Lumber (a) Very Heavy Woods: Hickory, Oak, Persimmon, Osage Orange, Black Locust, Hackberry, Blue Beech, best of Elm and Ash 0.70-0.80 42-48 3,700 (b) Heavy Woods Ash, Elm, Cherry, Birch, Maple, Beech, Walnut, Sour Gum, Coffee Tree, Honey Locust, best of Southern Pine and Tamarack 0.60-0.70 36-42 3,200 (c) Woods of Medium Weight: Southern Pine, Pitch Pine, Tamarack, Douglas Spruce, Western Hemlock, Sweet Gum, Soft Maple, Sycamore, Sassafras, Mulberry, light grades of Birch and Cherry 0.50-0.60 30-36 2,700 (d) Light Woods: Norway and Bull Pine, Red Cedar, Cypress, Hemlock, the Heavier Spruces and Firs, Redwood, Basswood, Chestnut, Butternut, Tulip, Catalpa, Buckeye, heavier grades of Poplar 0.40-0.50 24-30 2,200 (e) Very Light Woods: White Pine, Spruce, Fir, White Cedar, Poplar 0.30-0.40 18-24 1,800 "FIGURE" IN WOOD

Many theories have been propounded as to the cause of "figure" in timber; while it is true that all timber possesses "figure" in some degree, which is more noticeable if it be cut in certain ways, yet there are some woods in which it is more conspicuous than in others, and which for cabinet or furniture work are much appreciated, as it adds to the value of the work produced.

The characteristic "figure" of oak is due to the broad and deep medullary rays so conspicuous in this timber, and the same applies to honeysuckle. Figure due to the same cause is found in sycamore and beech, but is not so pronounced. The beautiful figure in "bird's eye maple" is supposed to be due to the boring action of insects in the early growth of the tree, causing pits or grooves, which in time become filled up by being overlain by fresh layers of wood growth; these peculiar and unique markings are found only in the older and inner portion of the tree.

Pitch pine has sometimes a very beautiful "figure," but it generally does not go deep into the timber; walnut has quite a variety of "figures," and so has the elm. It is in mahogany, however, that we find the greatest variety of "figure," and as this timber is only used for furniture and fancy work, a good "figure" greatly enhances its value, as firmly figured logs bring fancy prices.

Mahogany, unlike the oak, never draws its "figure" from its small and almost unnoticeable medullary rays, but from the twisted condition of its fibres; the natural growth of mahogany produces a straight wood; what is called "figured" is unnatural and exceptional, and thus adds to its value as an ornamental wood. These peculiarities are rarely found in the earlier portion of the tree that is near the center, being in this respect quite different from maple; they appear when the tree is more fully developed, and consist of bundles of woody fibres which, instead of being laid in straight lines, behave in an erratic manner and are deposited in a twisted form; sometimes it may be caused by the intersection of branches, or possibly by the crackling of the bark pressing on the wood, and thus moving it out of its natural straight course, causing a wavy line which in time becomes accentuated.

It will have been observed by most people that the outer portion of a tree is often indented by the bark, and the outer rings often follow a sinuous course which corresponds to this indention, but in most trees, after a few years, this is evened up and the annual rings assume their nearly circular form; it is supposed by some that in the case of mahogany this is not the case, and that the indentations are even accentuated.

The best figured logs of timber are secured from trees which grow in firm rocky soil; those growing on low-lying or swampy ground are seldom figured. To the practical woodworker the figure in mahogany causes some difficulty in planing the wood to a smooth surface; some portions plane smooth, others are the "wrong way of the grain."

Figure in wood is effected by the way light is thrown upon it, showing light if seen from one direction, and dark if viewed from another, as may easily be observed by holding a piece of figured mahogany under artificial light and looking at it from opposite directions. The characteristic markings on mahogany are "mottle," which is also found in sycamore, and is conspicuous on the backs of fiddles and violins, and is not in itself valuable; it runs the transverse way of the fibres and is probably the effect of the wind upon the tree in its early stages of growth. "Roe," which is said to be caused by the contortion of the woody fibres, and takes a wavy line parallel to them, is also found in the hollow of bent stems and in the root structure, and when combined with "mottle" is very valuable. "Dapple" is an exaggerated form of mottle. "Thunder shake," "wind shake," or "tornado shake" is a rupture of the fibres across the grain, which in mahogany does not always break them; the tree swaying in the wind only strains its fibres, and thus produces mottle in the wood.

SECTION V ENEMIES OF WOOD

From the writer's personal investigations of this subject in different sections of the country, the damage to forest products of various kinds from this cause seems to be far more extensive than is generally recognized. Allowing a loss of five per cent on the total value of the forest products of the country, which the writer believes to be a conservative estimate, it would amount to something over $30,000,000 annually. This loss differs from that resulting from insect damage to natural forest resources, in that it represents more directly a loss of money invested in material and labor. In dealing with the insects mentioned, as with forest insects in general, the methods which yield the best results are those which relate directly to preventing attack, as well as those which are unattractive or unfavorable. The insects have two objects in their attack: one is to obtain food, the other is to prepare for the development of their broods. Different species of insects have special periods during the season of activity (March to November), when the adults are on the wing in search of suitable material in which to deposit their eggs. Some species, which fly in April, will be attracted to the trunks of recently felled pine trees or to piles of pine sawlogs from trees felled the previous winter. They are not attracted to any other kind of timber, because they can live only in the bark or wood of pine, and only in that which is in the proper condition to favor the hatching of their eggs and the normal development of their young. As they fly only in April, they cannot injure the logs of trees felled during the remainder of the year.

There are also oak insects, which attack nothing but oak; hickory, cypress, and spruce insects, etc., which have different habits and different periods of flight, and require special conditions of the bark and wood for depositing their eggs or for subsequent development of their broods. Some of these insects have but one generation in a year, others have two or more, while some require more than one year for the complete development and transformation. Some species deposit their eggs in the bark or wood of trees soon after they are felled or before any perceptible change from the normal living tissue has taken place; other species are attracted only to dead bark and dead wood of trees which have been felled or girdled for several months; others are attracted to dry and seasoned wood; while another class will attack nothing but very old, dry bark or wood of special kinds and under special conditions. Thus it will be seen how important it is for the practical man to have knowledge of such of the foregoing facts as apply to his immediate interest in the manufacture or utilization of a given forest product, in order that he may with the least trouble and expense adjust his business methods to meet the requirements for preventing losses.

The work of different kinds of insects, as represented by special injuries to forest products, is the first thing to attract attention, and the distinctive character of this work is easily observed, while the insect responsible for it is seldom seen, or it is so difficult to determine by the general observer from descriptions or illustrations that the species is rarely recognized. Fortunately, the character of the work is often sufficient in itself to identify the cause and suggest a remedy, and in this section primary consideration is given to this phase of the subject.

Ambrosia or Timber Beetles