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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE GRAIN IN WOOD ANALYZED.
Lumber and Veneers
A Much Disputed Matter Among Users of Wood
—Straight and Cross Grained Woods Dis-
cussed—Terms That Mean Different Things.
No man has ever yet succeeded in defining
"grain," as applied to wood, in a way satisfactory
to all interested parties. People do not understand
it in the same way. Various viewpoints are held
by different users of the term. One man's defini-
tion will not fit another's. When a man talks of
the grain of wood, it is necessary to know in what
way he handles wood before his exact meaning
can be known.
The general idea is that grain means the annual
rings of growth, says the Hardwood Record. Un-
doubtedly that is the 'basic idea with most people,
but it lacks much of being an exact definition, be-
cause "straight grain," "cross-grain," "smooth-
grain" have little meaning if applied to the growth
rings. Such rings never cross, are never straight,
and smoothness cannot be applied to them in a
strict sense.
The term grain in reference to wood is elusive.
It is difficult to pin it down to an exact meaning.
Experienced judges cannot agree among them-
selves.
One man will look at the end of a chestnut log
and say the wood is coarse-grained, and at the
end of a red cedar log and pronounce it fine-
grained. In this case he refers to the width of the
growth rings, those of chestnut being wide, while
cedars are narrow. Mahogany usually has no rings
that anyone can readily see, yet it is perfectly prop-
er to speak of its grain.
It is evident that the term is loosely used and
means different things, depending upon who is
using it. Wood technologists are more • exact in
their definitions, at least those of the United States
Forest Service, who insist that "grain manifestly
should not refer to the rings of annual growth,"
though it is fundamentally influenced by the bands
of spring and summer wood which make up the
rings, and also by the medullary rays.
According to this definition, a wood's grain
should be considered as the arrangement of its
fibres, pores and other elements of which the wood
is composed. The fibres usually run up and down
the trunk. They are the wood cells or strings of
cells. When separated one from another they look
like minute splinters, the longest of them seldom
exceeding a quarter of an inch in length. The pores
of hardwoods are tubes which also run lengthwise
of the trunk, among the fibres. In some woods, as
oak, chestnut and hickory, the pores are readily
visible to the naked eye. In other woods, like cot-
tonwood, yellow poplar and red gum, the pores,
though very numerous, are generally invisible with-
out a magnifying glass.
The Ohio Veneer Co.
CINCINNATI, O.
Importers and Manufacturers of
Circassian Walnut and Figured
Mahogany Veneers for high grade
piano cases and cabinets.
New York Office and Sample Room
N. Y. FURNITURE EXCHANGE
Lexington Ave. and 46th St.
G. H. VAUGHAN, Eastern Representative
ASTORIA VENEER MILLS & DOCK CO.
BIRD'S-EYE VENEER CO.,
ASTORIA, L. I. N. Y.
Custom mills for band and veneer
sawing: slice and rotary cutting of
Mahogany, Circassian and Fancy
ESCANABA, MICH.
Mfrs. of Bird's-eye Maple and plain
wood for Piano Lining!.
THE E. L. CHANDLER CO.,
HENRY S. HOLDEN,
Woods.-
ORLEANS, VT.,
Rotary-cut Rock Maple, for Piano
Pin Blocks. We also manufacture
Birch and Maple Panels.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
Black Walnut Veneers.
Figures Long and Butt Poplar
Cross-banding. Rock Maple. Bird's-
Eye Linings.
If the pores are small or wholly wanting, and the
fibres are small and compact, the wood is classed
as fine-grained by technologists, and as coarse-
grained if the fibres are large and the pores large
and numerous. When this view is taken, such
terms as "cross-grained," "spiral-grained" and
"straight-grained" have a meaning which they do
not have if the yearly rings are taken as the basis
of grain. Black gum is cross-grained because its
fibres and other elements cross one another; it is
line-grained because its pores are small and its
fibres compact. Some chestnut is straight-grained
because the elements are parallel to the axis of the
trunk; others are spiral-grained because the ele-
ments run round like a winding stair. The term
"woolly-grained" is sometimes applied to wood—
usually to mahogany—by the finisher. It refers to
a surface which fuzzes up when attempt is made to
polish it. Such wood is really cross-grained, and
the ends of the oblique fibres are torn loose by
the polishing tool, butt are not cut smoothly off.
It is evident that when a wood's grain is spoken
of it may refer to characters quite different in
their natures.
PLENTY OF LIGHT FOR VARNISHING.
HOFFMAN BROTHERS CO.,
Established 1807.
Incorporated 1904.
FORT WAYNE. INDIANA.
Specialties, Hardwood, Veneers, and
Lumber for Musical Instruments.
T. J. I NARTZIK
Plain Sawed and
id Rotary Cut Veneers
1966 Maud Ave.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
Soft Poplar and Gum Cross-band-
ing. Hard Maple Pin Block Stock.
Bird's-eye or Plain Linings.
any country in South America, and the reduction
of the ordinary postage rates to the domestic basis.
The plan involves for the United States, if ac-
cepted by all Latin-American Governments, a
diminution of about $500,000 a year in revenue,
though this cannot all be counted as a loss of profit.
The war in Europe has already had some inter-
esting effects upon the postal money order business
of the United States. As this business is normally
conducted, money orders are issued in the United
States payable in foreign countries greatly in ex-
cess of the amount of the orders drawn on of-
fices in the United States. The result is that every
three months the United States settles the balance
by draft. This settlement has been extremely dif-
ficult, and in some cases impossible owing to the
fluctuations of foreign exchange rates.
NEW LINE OF KEY_AND CENTER PINS.
The American Musical Supply Co., Jersey City,
N. J., of which Fred Hessmer is vice-president and
treasurer, announces that it is now making a line
of key pins, in both round and oval shapes, as well
as center pins. This concern has specialized for
years on the production of tuning pins, and is the
only country in America engaged in this line.
Daylight Aids Materially in Quick and Satis-
factory Drying of the Varnish.
Varnish will dry better in the light than in the
dark. Hence have the room where the job is
placed when done where it can get plenty of day-
light, says a writer in Woodcraft. It has been ob-
served that varnish will dry much better in the
daytime than at night, hence varnishing done in
the morning does better than that done at the end
of the day.
Varnishing demands plenty of good light for
the varnisher to see right, and good eyes are es-
sential. A young man with good eyes should
make a better varnisher than an older man whose
eyesight is impaired, even though he wears glasses.
Glasses do not make up in full for eye deficiency.
The varnish room must never be an airtight
room, but have plenty of fresh air and ventilation.
PLANS POSTAL RATE CUT.
Postmaster-General Burleson Also to Start
Money Order Service with South America.
In an effort to facilitate trade, the United States
Government, through Postmaster-General Burle-
son, is working hard for the improvement of postal
communications with countries to the South. These
efforts are being turned in two directions, the es-
tablishment of a postal money order service, which
does not now exist between the United States and
American - Made
Tuning Pins
will stand the most tensile strength
"AMSCO"
BRAND
ARE MADE OF SPECIAL STEEL.
Thirty-five years of experience in mak-
ing tuning pins enables us to give you
the most reliable pins in the market.
Guaranteed to hold for a lifetime.
Send for sample set
and prices.
American Musical Supply Go.
451 Communlpaw Avenue, Jersey City, N. J.
Piano Manufacturers
£J£3
soft yellow poplar for cross band-
ing is unapproached in this country.
A large supply always on hand.
The Central Veneer Co., Huntington, W. Va.
SOSS INVISIBLE HINGES
"OUT OF SIGHT
EVER IN MIND"
When you fail
to see an un-
sightly hinge
protruding you
know
SOSS is
the answer.
No. 10J
Write to-day.
ATLANTIC AVE
SOSS MFG. GO • 9 435 BROOKLYN,
N. Y.