seasons. Settle a definite color, a method for producing the color. Don't use the birch to imitate mahogany, but make a gray on birch of a uniform color, and display it in every furniture sales-room with proper surroundings. Get the architects' and the building publications to publish designs of rooms in this material with its special finish. The makers of wall papers and the makers of wall finishes should prepare and show harmonious colors. If this is done, the trick is turned.

Two good seasons of concerted action will give profit enough over and above the normal profit to pay for the entire expense of the united campaign.

How to Prepare Stain

In this department the reader will probably be looking for information on how to prepare the stains. Undoubtedly the manufacturer will begin to say to himself: "How are all these grays produced that the man is talking about." On several occasions I have touched upon gray, giving one or two formulas, but not entering into the details of the production of a good gray on either oak, maple or birch. This does not mean, however, that it is impossible to produce some kind of a gray on any kind of a wood. The fact remains, however, that the three woods mentioned are the ones most common to our market, and with which the best results are obtained. The underlying principle of producing a gray is the chemical action that takes place between an iron salt, and the tannic acid which is ever present in plant life. I say, "tannic acid" to simplify matters. There are innumerable organic acids present in every species of wood, but their chemical reaction with iron is almost identical with that of the tannic acid, and therefore, the results are alike. This is also true of the iron, whether you use the common tincture of iron, the sulphate or chloride of iron. That which produces the color is because the tannin has a great affinity for the iron and it releases the other components of the salt of iron, and forms the tannate. This brings you back to the day when ink was produced by taking a nail, putting it in a bottle with the puff balls that you found under the oak tree. This was how the ink with which the Declaration of Independence was signed was produced, and it was a black ink and absolutely permanent.

There are a good many methods which will augment the production of a gray stain, such as a certain amount of an acid reaction nigrosine, one that holds its color when used in conjunction with an iron salt, and which iron salt then acts as a mordant to the nigrosine.

To Side-step the Bluish Stain

To aid the throwing of the shade, and taking it away from the bluish cast, a yellow or an orange is used. It must be borne in mind that the percentage of tannin varies in woods. The largest quantity is found present in the oaks. It will vary according to the soil, in which the oak grows. It will vary according to the handling of the timber, the season in which it is cut, all having a tendency to increase the tribulations of the finishing department. Right here let me say that in these daintier colors the difficulties of keeping the shade uniform is greater than on the heavier colors where the color is totally supplied, rather than made dependent upon the color-giving material contributed by nature, the percentage of which always has a direct bearing upon the final shade. If it were possible to use nothing but stock selected from one growth of timber, taken from one locality and all at one time, the stain formula once found correct could be used indiscriminately. But this is not the case. It never will be the case. In the production of gray, especially of the lighter shades, the foreman will have to be continually alert, lest he have a variety of results.

To overcome some of these difficulties, let one kind of

iron be used. The sulphate, as found in the market, and usually sold as copperas, is the cheapest. The chemically pure sulphate, in its crystaline form, when bought in air-tight containers is sufficiently uniform when used by weight. The danger here is that as this crystal contains a large amount of water of crystalization, it is apt to evaporate and leave a simple sulphate, free from the water, but correspondingly increased in strength. This makes an indefinite iron salt, for it readily can be seen that if the crystal contains, for argument's sake, 50 per cent. of absolute sulphate of iron and 50 per cent. of water, the evaporating of an unknown quantity of this water correspondingly changes the strength of the iron. there be used, where possible, the U. S. P. solution of I cannot make this too plain, and therefore, suggest that chloride or sulphate of iron in the production of the stain, in which the iron salt should also form a part.

Explaining a Standard

By "U. S. P." is meant a definite and universal strength of iron solution. It might be well for me to explain this. In their use for medicine, a prescription or formula written in New York, compounded there, will be the same strength if compounded in any foreign country, or in any part of our country. This pertains particularly to those countries that have joined the postal union, and which have adopted a uniform basis of standardization of chemicals and medications. Having produced a method for the production of the iron base for the stain, the modifications remain in the amount of nigrosine, the orange or yellow, and since the final chemical change which produces the color is the tannin, or tannic acid, which is present in the wood, the results are now up to the amount of available tannin. The finisher must, therefore, firstly make his iron stain of a definite strength, reducing it until the shade that he desires is produced. Crowding the strength of iron will not help if the tannin is not correspondingly present, because after all, the tannin has been made into tannate of iron. The excess of iron is useless. The nigrosine is the only thing which will help the color. Therefore, it is better to make a weak solution of iron, and increase its strength until it no longer increases in depth of color. Taking into consideration that the nigrosine, to a certain degree, helps to equalize the color in boards if put into the same piece of furniture where the tannin is present in the various strengths, if the timber contains a sufficient amount of tannin to give the depth of the color by the method above, no artificial supplying of tannin is necessary. But, on the other hand, if the depth of color cannot be produced, the wood must first be coated with a weak solution of tannic acid to assist the iron in producing the gray.

This process can be carried on in an endless number of degrees. One of the results is a finish known as "Bog Oak" in which strong solutions are necessary. The results are beautiful.

Numerous Derivatives

The derivatives of these fundamental methods are numerous; the treating of either the tannin coat, or the iron coat, with various chemicals, such as the copper salts, the alkalis, caustic potash, ammonia, bichromate of potash, permanganate of potash, opens up such an immense variety of shades, and such a large field of possibilities that it will be impossible in this paper to cover them. But they all have their place in the production of shades on the three woods.

The filler and its relation to the style and to the shade of the gray will be covered in another article.

To gain the benefit of these suggestions, let the finisher and let the manufacturer put these suggestions to a practical test. I predict that it will only be the matter of

time when he will be forced to cope with the demand for a gray. Already we see lines cropping out here and there with showings of this style of finish. The manufacturers are quietly reaping the benefit of an inexpensive, but a beautiful finish, one that will last, one that will wear, and one that will increase in beauty and mellowness as it ages.

To become familiar with so simple a stain, so positive of action and which in its use is the exemplification of chemical stains in general, will enable the finishing department to make more than ever apparent how much some scientific knowledge of chemical action may add to the variety as well as the beauty of our furniture.

Who Had

"W

HAT makes your factory so much more orderly than the average one?" was recently asked of the president of a well-known furniture plant.

"Trucks as much as anything," was the immediate response. "You notice that all material in our machineroom is on trucks. It is the same in every other department until the goods are assembled. If you look around you will see a few empty trucks, still we have six new ones ordered. It took us thirty years to find out the value of truck equipment, but now we have the knowledge, we use it."

"But you must have considerable money invested in them, and their upkeep must be tremendous," said the visitor.

"Yes, they stand us some expense considering the interest and depreciation, but it is cheaper than time," replied the host, and noting the curiosity of his guest, he went on:

"Taking it all in all, time is one of the biggest things the manufacturer pays for; time of the operator. We did not realize that up to three years ago. Furniture making is one of the oldest industries, and we furniture manufacturers, as a class, are so bound in by tradition that we are very conservative. We are slow in taking up new ideas, and especially so when it involves any expenditure of money. We usually must have a very good reason for changing our own way of doing things. "Our truck equipment was forced upon us, so to speak. For years our material went through the same old processes. It was cut to length and thrown into a pile on the floor. A lumper came along with a truck, picked the pieces up off the floor, put them on the truck, took them to the rip-saw, or to the next process, whatever it happened to be, and piled them from the truck to the floor. The same motions were enacted at each operation, and so every machine had material in process piled around it. We had upwards of a dozen men taking material from one operation to the next. Operators were handicapped in their work, and also had no chance to clean up the shavings and sawdust not taken care of by the blower system. The room was in confusion all the time, but the work had always been done that way and we saw no other way, or never thought of changing it. "Then one day our superintendent, who had been with us ever since the plant started, thirty years before, was taken seriously ill, and we had to find a new one. We got one that had the best of references, and he got the swing of things at once, but we began to fear that he was not the man for us when he had been there only a week and put in a requisition for twelve factory trucks. We told him that we were willing to do anything within reason, but that there was absolutely no need of any trucks, let alone twelve. He was obstinate and told us

that he had figured on the problem carefully and that he might want more, but the dozen would do for the present. We didn't like the idea at all and remonstrated, but he was so insistent and we were so rushed with orders that we ordered the trucks rather than have any friction at that time.

"It is queer that when things are running smoothly in the factory none of the officers in the company ever think of visiting it. That is the way it was with me, and nothing took me to the machine-room for several weeks. One day I was looking over the pay roll figures and comparing the current list with some previous ones, when I discovered that seven men, formerly classed as non-producers, were in the producing list. I thought that there must be something wrong and that the new man was trying to reduce his factory burden. Another thing that looked queer was the fact that though we were turning out more work, the pay roll figures had not increased to any great degree.

"You may believe that I went to the shop in fast time and took the sheets along with me to inquire what the superintendent was doing. When 1 got in the room I was so surprised at the change that had been made that I couldn't say a word. It was hard to realize that I was in my own place. Nearly all the material was on trucks just as you see it today, and the producing operators were bringing it to their own stations with no confusion whatever. Men that had formerly been lumpers had been given other work to do.

"No argument was needed then as to the value of trucks. I had the evidence before me, and when I asked the superintendent if he could use any more, and he told me that three would come in handy, I ordered six. Now I know their value, I wonder how we ever got on so many years without enough trucks to keep all our material in process off the floor. I would not be without them if they were twice as expensive. Our superintendent came to us with many new ideas that have worked to the good of the plant. He has never had any opposition from the management since he demonstrated the value of 'rolling stock.' Yet I believe that his insistence that we purchase that first lot of trucks was one of the best things that he has accomplished."

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NA BELT sanding machine a joint in the belt is a factor of no little importance. There are several patent dies available for cutting the belts for jointing, but it cannot be said that any of these are popular with experienced sanding machine operators. The points to be desired on a joint are as follows:

First of all it is essential that the joint will not break or become loose, or tear out. Secondly, the joint must be so made that the belt can be run in either direction and must be as thin and flexible as possible. Having given this subject a great deal of attention, I have found that a butt joint, reinforced with cloth, produces very satisfactory results.

It is optional whether this joint be square or on an angle, but I believe I am safe in saying that a joint cut on an angle is the most popular for belts up to eight inches in width. For reinforcement, a cloth having the same thickness and texture as that used in making flour bags, is preferable, while for wider belts, a cloth similar to that used in making overalls is satisfactory. course, the starch should be washed out of the cloth before it is used.

Of

For a joint on a belt six or eight inches wide, the width of the cloth should be about three inches. First of all cut the paper to the right length and then bring the two ends together, tacking them down on a board, grain side down. Then apply the glue to the paper, having the cloth about three inches longer than the width of the paper. Place this cloth over the glue and then take two pieces of veneer, three inches long and two inches wide, and with these scrape all the surplus glue out of the joint, being careful to remove all wrinkles. This scraping forces the glue into the paper and through the cloth, producing the flexible joint so much desired. The selection of cloth for making the belt joints, and the scraping of the surplus glue out of the joints, are two points far more important than the average sanding machine operator is willing to concede. After the wrinkles and the surplus glue have been removed, place a piece of newspaper over the cloth, and then lay a board on top before putting between clamps to dry. When thoroughly dry the edges of the joints should be trimmed. A good method is to make enough belts on Saturday to last through the following week, and after being made they should be hung up on pegs ready for use. In no case should they be rolled up in small rolls, for it is almost impossible to roll a sanding belt without cracking and weakening it, which shortens its life considerably. Any good hide glue will answer for making joints, providing it is of the necessary consistency.

After a new belt has been run for a few hours, it should be removed, turned around and then run in the opposite direction. This will add to its life as well as

its cutting qualities and is a practice followed by all experienced operators.

On belts that are 15 or 18 inches wide, or even wider,

and which are used on what is called the table type of belt-sander, the joints are often cut as shown in the accompanying drawing, or a modification of same. Where this style of joint is used, it is necessary to make a templet to cut by; outside of this its construction is the same as that of the joints described, and there are numbers of operators who claim wonderful results from this type of joint.

Joints on Cloth Belts

The joints made on cloth belts in the wood-working trade, are commonly known as lapped joints. These are made by removing the grain from one end of the belt and applying the glue, while the other end is brought up and clamped down on the glued edge. The grain is removed by moistening and scraping.

If left to dry by itself, the cloth will wrinkle, and this can be overcome by having a flat piece of iron heated and used to lay on where the grain has been removed, using this iron in the same manner as you would a flatiron. If trouble is experienced by a joint drawing during the drying process, this can be overcome by placing a strip of wire fly-screen on the cloth side of the joint when putting it in the clamps to dry. This wire screen will come off easily when the joint is removed from the clamps. The same joint as used on paper belts may also be used on the cloth belts. Users of the cloth belts in the wood-working trade generally buy their cloth in 14-inch rolls, using this for belts 14 inches wide and then tearing various widths to meet their requirements.

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Fifty Million Feet of Walnut

WING to the fact that a good deal of interest has been excited in the minds of furniture manufacturers in connection with the prospective increased use of American or black walnut, the question has been raised as to the extent of the production of this wood. The only reason it has not been used generally of late years is the supposed scarcity of the wood. In this connection a leading producer said recently:

"The estimated annual production of walnut in America is fifty million feet. This is enough to keep a lot of factories going on this wood, especially when it is remembered that a lot of walnut veneers are produced. The figure quoted is board feet. The German and British factories which have been using walnut for many years have never found any scarcity of the wood, and have been able to get all they need. They have found in it an excellent material, and have shown American manufacturers that they made a mistake in dropping it. I am hopeful, however, that it will not be long before this error is corrected, and a substantial part of the production of walnut used here at home, where at present it is least appreciated." It is another case of the prophet not being without honor save in his own country, for foreign lands have always shown great appreciation of the wonderful qualities of this superb wood."

ANY new business idea that offers to help a man get more profit out of his business is hailed with welcomemixed with suspicion of the motives of the man offering it.

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WRITER recently stated that the break-out department in the furniture factory is the backbone of the business. This is very true, indeed. However, in order to do good work and to hold this department up to 100 per cent. efficiency, attention must be directed to the selection of proper tools, their care, etc. The progressive manufacturer will buy the very best and most efficient planer, swing-saw, double cut-off, band and circular rip machines, jointers, etc., but it requires common sense, combined with years of practical experience, to operate them.

clamp on the cap, slip the end collars up, putty them properly, and build up a funnel of putty around the oilhole, through which the metal is to be poured, so as to get sufficient weight of the metal to drive it into the bearing and pour in the metal, which will carry down through the channels in the liners and fill the bottom of the boxes as well as the top. When the metal has cooled we remove the top box by means of a cold chisel. If your men are babbitting the old way, have them try this and they will be pleasantly surprised. Of course, we do not claim that this method is original, but there are hundreds of factories doing this work in double the time necessary. Experts have proven that the right temperature at which to pour babbitt metal is 460 degrees C, and the best temperature at which to have the shell into which the babbitt is poured, from 100 to 150 C. It is important that good babbitt metal be selected. It may also be well to state that the babbitt which may prove successful in a heavy, slow-running box, would not be advantageous to use in a high-speed bearing.

Hot boxes are by no means uncommon. Why have hot boxes? Bearings won't run hot without some good reason. One common fault is the use of a poor lubricant. There are buyers today in the furniture factories who know very little about lubricants, so to speak. They say oil is oil, and the man with the lowest priced grade, regardless of gravity, gets the business. We may at some time take up the question of lubrication; space will not permit our doing so in this article. The next cause for hot boxes is bearings which are too tight. The babbitt may require scraping, or the caps may be set down too tightly. The oil holes may be clogged, or the mantle may be crooked. If you employ a millwright who cannot correct hot box troubles, by all means discharge him and engage a man who can. If your plant is too small to afford a first-class millwright, have one of your expert machine men do this work. The trouble with most factories is that the foreman is supposed to do all of this work. Do not impose these duties upon your machine room foreman. If your foreman is an idle man, he is certainly neglecting his duties.

A mistaken idea of many millwrights is to pour hot metal on a journal. This very thing may spring your journal and we all know that a journal once sprung can never be the same as new. Some of the progressive machinery manufacturers furnish mandrels with their machines. Too often, however, these mandrels are placed in some corner where they will not easily be found. It is a simple matter, though, to have a mandrel turned. It is imperative, however, that it be absolutely the same size as the journal.

Pouring the Boxes

I have, in times past, read with interest articles contributed by millmen, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of pouring top and bottom boxes at one pouring. We, at one time, employed a superintendent who could not be convinced that it is a saving of time to pour both boxes at the same time. Experiments have proven otherwise and we are not only saving time, but believe our men are doing better work. We cut the box liners so they will fit out snugly to the shaft the full length of the bearing on both sides. We then cut small V's in one edge, all of them next to the shaft, through which the metal can flow to the bottom of the bearing. We next

If the best results are to be obtained in your break-out department, Mr. Furniture Manufacturer, Superintendent, or Foreman, you must insist that the saws be kept in proper shape. This is especially necessary in running thin saws, for while a thick or standard gauge saw will give very fair results where only medium skill in the management of saw and mill is used, a thin saw would fall far short of giving fair results under the same methods and management. A thin saw cannot reasonably be expected to stand as much crowding as a thick one and requires more skill and better appliances to give good results.

The Swing Cut-Off Saw

In the February number of THE FURNITURE MANUFACTURER AND ARTISAN we discussed modern methods of

handling and drying lumber. The first machine to which this lumber is delivered in the break-out department is usually the swing circular saw. There are many men who do not know how to "fit" saws. These men seem to have considerable trouble with saws and many an innocent saw manufacturer is compelled to suffer owing to the ignorance of these would-be saw fitters and filers. We also find operators on swing saws who put off the re-setting and sharpening of their saws just as long as they can force a cut of any kind. When gumming, it is best to gum around the saw several times instead of finishing each tooth at one operation, for by going over the teeth several times, they are less liable to case-harden or blue, and a more uniform gullet is obtained. After gumming, it is advisable to file all around the saw, taking care to remove the fash or burr left on the edges and all glazed or hard spots. Gumming and sharpening with the emery wheel will cause the saw to "let down" or lose its tension much quicker than by the use of file or burrgummer, as it heats and expands the rim of saw, putting

it in the shape generally termed by mill men "buckled," which makes it appear loose and limber and causes it to run "snakey," in the cut. Many saws are condemned just from this cause, and thrown aside as worn out, when by proper work and hammering they can be made as good as new saws of the same size. In sharpening, a saving in time and files is effected by taking a good, deep, full cut, instead of a light, scraping one. A tooth becomes dull on its face in proportion to the depth of cut taken at each revolution of the saw. For instance, when each tooth cuts a thirty-second of an inch, it takes thirty-two teeth to cut one inch, whereas, when each tooth cuts one-sixteenth of an inch, it takes only sixteen teeth to cut the same amount. In other words, the fiber or grain of the lumber has to be broken thirty-two times in one instance, and only sixteen times in the other; when the tooth starts to break the fiber one-sixteenth of an inch in the board it will do so with nearly as much ease and will consume very little more power than if the cut was a thirty-second of an inch per tooth. I simply state this to show the advantages of proper sharpening.

Concerning Saw Filing

"Peg" teeth are used on many double cut-off saws, miter saws, and saws used for ripping veneered stock. When filing these saws, to carefully gum out the gullet do not permit the corner of the file to touch the saw. Experienced operators will tell you that saws filed in this way will cut easier, last longer and do not crack. When selecting your band re-saw blades be certain to have them made so as to have as many teeth cutting as possible, but the teeth must not be placed too close together or the dust produced will be very fine and have a tendency to plaster on the sides of the board and cause friction on the blade. The coarser the sawdust can be made the better the teeth will drag it out of the cut. We, of course, know that teeth can be much closer together for soft-grained woods than for hard, close-grained woods, because in the soft woods the dust breaks out in large particles, while in closegrained woods it breaks out in the form of a very fine powder. Sufficient room should always be provided in the gullet of the tooth to "chamber" the dust properly. The life of a band saw depends very largely on the way it is handled, particularly when it is new and before it has been perfectly adapted to the wheels on which it is run. Many men expect a new saw to do more work than one that has been perfectly adapted and adjusted to the wheels and alignment of the machine. There is a certain quality about a new band saw which can be best described by calling "surplus" elasticity and until this quality is brought down to its proper bearing by the judicious use of the hammer and saw stretcher, in connection with the first "runs" of the saw, it will not be at its best. The blade should, under all conditions, maintain a practically fixed position on the saw wheels. The teeth should project over the front edge of the wheel and the saw should maintain this position without any support whatever on the back edge of the blade. In other words, the saw blade should stay in place without a back-thrust wheel or any other mechanical device for holding it in position. This result may be attained entirely by means of "tension." Of course, all experienced filers and operators know, or should know, that too much tension, excessive speed, uneven tension, case hardening, or glazing from the emery wheel, gum adhering to face of wheels, crystallization from too heavy hammering, cuts on the surface of saw from sharp-faced hammers, vibration of either machine or saw, sharp angles in the gullets, imperfectly adjusted guides, backs of saws too long or too short and excessively cross aligned to make them "track," insufficient throat room and hook, crowding the saws against the guard wheel, will cause it to crack. Of course, pages could be

written on the subject of saw fitting; however, we must not also discuss other problems in this article. Saw manufacturers will at all times be glad to solve your problems.

A New and Interesting Process

T WOULD seem that wide possibilities have been opened up through a process for simultaneously bleaching and extracting the coloring matter from woods, which has recently been perfected and placed upon the market. The editors of Hardwood Record have seen samples of wood treated with this preparation, which is a patented article, and in some cases the results have been really astonishing. For instance, a specimen of mahogany was shown which had been bleached out by this process and it is difficult to imagine a more beautiful wood surface than the white, satiny piece which resulted. It would also be difficult to imagine anything more peculiarly adapted to piano work for the gorgeous drawing-room or music-room than this unusual class of wood. In fact, negotiations have actually been completed with several piano concerns which will result in their placing at least a limited number of their pianos on the market finished in this way. The process has also been used in connection with bird's-eye maple, entirely eliminating the objectionable yellowish stain which results from the ageing of this wood. It is used on red maple to make it white, on red birch to make it white and on other woods, such as basswood and similar species, which go into kitchen utensils.

The possibilities are too broad to enumerate. The idea of the process is to render different colored pieces of an equal color or to make colored wood absolutely white, as after the wood has attained the desired grade of whiteness any finish can be applied and the wood can be oiled, stained, shellacked or varnished in the usual way without danger of future change in its color. This is a great advantage over the old method of whitening wood with oxalic acid.

One process for which it is particularly recommended by the makers, Francke, Phillipson & Co., of Chicago, is in the whitening of hardwood floors after they have been laid. This will make the selection of flooring material a much easier proposition, as uniformity of color when laid will not be entirely essential.-Hardwood Record.

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Safety First

COMMON practice in the construction of factory and mill buildings is that of installing "skeleton stairs," and, in the interests of the safety movement, this is a practice which should be discouraged.

These skeleton stairs are built with treads only and without risers. The open spaces between the steps make it only too easy for some one going up the stairs accidentally to drop something and kick it through the open space to fall on the head of whoever happens to be coming up below them.

Another bad feature of this type of stairs is that it is impossible to sweep them down without the dust and dirt falling through on those who are using the stairs below.

While this feature may not be considered exactly and directly unsafe, it certainly is unsafe in that it is insanitary besides being a nuisance.

In one factory a start has been made toward remedying this evil by nailing a vertical board or riser below the first step at each floor and at each landing. It is at these places that there is the most danger of things getting started for a drop onto some unsuspecting head below. It is the intention to complete the good work and make tight stairs all the way.-W. F. H. in The Factory.