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N THE preceding article of this series the construction of a Heppelwhite shield-back chair was described. The upholstering of this chair offers a problem which may be attempted satisfactorily by high school boys, though a really high

grade result can hardly be expected upon the first trial. Given several trials with supervision, a student should achieve a well-formed and serviceable seat.

The first requirement, naturally, is the equipment. The special tools which are necessary and which do not usually form part of the cabinet-making equipment, are very few. A light upholsterers' hammer should be obtained if possible, and a ten or twelve inch doublepointed needle must be at hand. The webbing stretcher and the regulator shown in the sketch may be made in the shop. The stretcher is made of 34 inch hard wood, of approximately the size given, with one end padded and covered with leather or canvas, which will prevent marring of the finish. Number 15 brads should be driven into the other end about 3/8 inch apart. The heads of the brads should then be cut off and the blunt ends sharpened.

The first work to be done is called "springing up." This consists of three operations-stretching and tacking the webbing, sewing the springs to the webbing, and tying down the springs. Tacking on the covering of burlap

may also be included in this. By refering to Fig. 1 the position of the strands of webbing may be seen. These strands are tacked in the order indicated by the numerals. The position of the webbing is governed by the position of the springs; that is, the springs must be placed as nearly as possible upon the intersections of the webbing. The webbing is one of the most important parts in the seat, for upon its proper application depends the durability of the uphol stering.

Tack the webbing to the under side of the seat rails, tacking to the back rail first and leaving about an inch to be used to form a roll. For soft wood, use 12 oz. tacks; for hard wood even 6 oz. will answer. Now place the webbing stretcher in position shown in Fig. 4 and press down. Do not stretch the webbing to the breaking point, but have it tight enough not to bulge when weight is applied. When tacked in position, trim off, leaving about an inch, which should be turned over with a double fold and tacked down. This fold can be seen at the end of the webbing in Fig. 4.

The standard sizes of springs are 4 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch, measured in depth of spring. For this piece of work 6 inch springs can be used. Place the springs in the positions indicated by the circles in Fig. 2, with the closed end of the spring on the webbing and the free end, or point, of the spring wire in the upper coil toward the center of the seat. After carefully spacing

the springs, sew them to the webbing. Each spring should be sewed to the webbing in three places and the long stitch between knots run along the bottom of the webbing.

Tying down is the next important process after webbing. To properly tie springs requires practice, though a fairly good job may be accomplished by following the method indicated in Fig. 2.

Gimp.

Cover of tapestry

orer muslin.

Measure the depth of the

Figure 3

frame and allowing 6 inches or 8 inches extra for knots, cut three lengths of twine. An allowance of two inches for each spring crossed is quite common. Tie a knot in the end of one of these pieces of twine and tack to the middle of the back rail with the tack through this knot. Another tack should be driven close to the first and a turn of twine taken around it after which it should be driven tight. Twelve ounce tacks should be used in soft wood and 10 ounce in hard wood. When all three lengths of twine have been tacked to the back rail, each just back of a row of springs and on the inside edge of the rail, as indicated in Fig. 2 at points 1, 2 and 3, the tying down of the springs may be commenced. Taking the lengths in the order shown, proceed as follows: Draw the twine tight over the nearest top coil, holding the spring down to the position desired and take a turn with a loose knot around the coil. See that the spring works perpendicularly. This is very important. If not, slip the coil backward or forward as needed, then with the

Figure 4

spring held down, pull the knot tight. Draw the twine across the spring and knot to the opposite part of the coil, including in this knot the loose end of the wire and the coil just below it; then holding the next spring down, proceed as with the first. Follow this procedure until all are tied. To tack to the frame, a tack is started at the desired point and driven partly into the front rail. Hold the springs down and make a turn of. twine around the tack. Press the springs and pull in slack twine until the springs are the right height, then drive in the tack. Another turn should then be taken around a second tack

and this driven tight in order to hold the twine. Should any springs now work out of perpendicular, they should be adjusted. Keeping to the order shown in Fig. 2, proceed until all tying is completed.

All springs must be of the same height after tying is finished. As a rule, the level of the tops of the springs should be two or more inches above the top of the frame, though in this case somewhat less than this is advised.

In Fig. 2 the twine is shown tied to the inside of the frame, while the usual practice is to drive tacks into the tops of the rails. The reason for putting the tacks low in this case can be readily seen when one considers the result desired. The more springs are compressed in

4" —

Webbing Stretcher

tying, the stiffer or firmer the resulting seat. If a low, hard seat is desired, the springs must be compressed with the tops somewhat less than two inches above the level of the seat frame. Should the twine be tacked to the top of the rail and later a heavy weight should be placed on the springs, the seat would give down until instead of the springs supporting the load, this would fall on the twine, which in that case would act as a kind of swing. That the twine would not hold long under this strain will be easily understood. Placing the tacks somewhat lower relieves this possibility.

After tying all springs in both directions, lay on a piece of burlap and tack this to the top of the back rail. Stretch tightly over the springs and tack to the front rail. Cut slits diagonally in the back corners for the back legs and then tack to the side rails. The seat is now ready for the stuffing.

On very cheap furniture only one layer of stuffing is used and the edge formed by what is known as a "bridle." The cover is applied directly over this single layer of stuffing, which in the very cheapest grades is composed of excelsior. Referring to Fig. 3, which shows an approximate cross section of the seat, it will be seen that two layers of stuffing, preferably tow or hair, are used. This is known as a double stuffed seat. Pick a quantity of tow free from lumps or hard places and spread this over the burlap, keeping the edges thicker than the center. By holding one hand above the side of the rail and packing stuffing against this hand, the tow can be banked up quite easily and a straight edge obtained. Lay on another piece of burlap with the threads running square with the seat-not on a bias. Tack this at the back with tacks driven only partly in so that they may be removed easily. This is called slip tacking. Stretch the burlap to the front rail, not enough to depress the springs, and slip tack again. Now proceed to the side rails. In Fig. 3 this burlap is shown tacked to the top of the rail.

Thread the double-pointed needle with ordinary stitching twine. About three or four inches from the edge stitch down the stuffing as shown at "a", Fig. 3. To stitch this edge, run the long end of the needle down through the burlap and stuffing and out through the webbing. Grasp the needle below the webbing and pull through until the short point just comes through the lower burlap. Move this point over about a half inch

Regulator

and force the needle back and out at the top. Do not, under any circumstances, include a coil of the springs or the tying twine in one of these stitches. Stitch around the entire seat with stitches three or four inches long. Remove the slip tacks and add any needed stuffing to the edge formed by stitching. This makes a sort of roll around the entire seat, though it should be kept lower at the back than at the front. Keep this roll leaning out slightly at the top and tack the burlap permanently to the rails. Start from the middle of each rail in tacking and leave all corners until last, when they may be filled out with added stuffing, which is pushed into place with the regulator.

More stuffing is placed over this second burlap and rounded higher toward the center and front of the seat. Over this a layer of cotton should be spread and brought down and tucked under the edges of the stuffing. This is followed by a covering of heavy muslin, the edges of which are also folded under the stuffing. The muslin is then slip tacked to the back, stretched very tight, and slip tacked to the front and sides. Now remove the slip tacks at the back and regulate the edge, after which tack securely to the frame in the rabbet. On some chairs it is necessary to tack this to the top of the rail, as the rabbet is not deep enough to hold the covering and gimp when the muslin is tacked there also. When regulating edges, never put additional stuffing over the other stuffing, but push it in from behind or under the stuffing already in place. When the back edge is properly shaped and tacked, proceed with the front and side edges in turn, leaving corners, as before, until last. Cut a slit in the muslin so that it will open around the back leg and tack all corners. Do any final regulating at this

time.

The tapestry or denim covering is applied in the same manner as the muslin. First slip tack at back and stretch to the front and slip tack there. Then slip tack the sides. This cover should be put on as firmly as possible and must have its threads running square with the seat. Stretch the cover down, smoothing out any wrinkles, removing the slip tacks to do this if necessary. When all is in position, tack with small tacks. The front corners should be carefully folded in and the back corners slit for the back post, and folded. The tacks used should be kept in a straight line so that they may be easily covered with the gimp. Trim off carefully close into the corner of the rabbet.

Space off and mark with chalk the points at which the tacks for the gimp are to be placed. Starting at the back post put gimp entirely around the left side, front and right side of the seat. Tack with small gimp tacks. Put another strip of gimp on the back rail.

Turn the chair bottom side up and cover the bottom, over the webbing, with black cambric, folding under the edges and tacking with very small tacks. This completes the upholstering. If directions have been carefully followed, an easy, durable seat should be the result.

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Eliminating Graft

E HAD something to say recently about the drastic coöperative methods-and the quite necessary and proper methods-adopted by the allied textile manufacturers to eradicate some of the graft in the sale and purchase of supplies. Andrew Adie, president of the United States Worsted Company, indicates in his annual report to the stockholders of that corporation that he has found the way practically to apply one of the remedies in his own works. He says: "As a result of our new investigations, and of the introducing of new methods in the purchasing of dye

stuffs, etc., the cost of dyeing and finishing has been reduced to at least 33 1-3 per cent. on dyestuffs alone.

"In connection with this particular matter, we have sent out letters, and a form of agreement which has met with the approval of the largest dyestuff concerns, and the same has been executed. This agreement reads as follows:

"In consideration that the United States Worsted Company has given and intends to give some portion of its business to us, we hereby agree to pay to the said company the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), as liquidated damages, if any person directly or indirectly in our employ shall offer to give to any employe of said United States Worsted Company any gratuity, gift or present, with intent of influencing the action of such employe in relation to the business of said company.

"We further agree that our employes shall be notified forthwith that no such gratuities, gifts or presents are permitted, and that we have bound ourselves in the sum above mentioned to answer in damages for any such offer or gift by them.

"Dated this..........day of..........1914.

"I am glad to report," Mr. Adie concludes, "that the quality and production now being turned out in the finishing and dyeing departments is good and the goods are being well received by the trade."-How.

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The Furniture Exhibit at Panama

VERY variety of furniture manufactured in every part of the world will be exhibited at the PanamaPacific International Exposition, to be held in San Francisco in 1915, on a more extensive and complete scale than at any other exposition. These displays will include furniture used in the home, in the office, in the garden, in the theater and aboard ship. So complete will be these displays of furniture that it has been found necessary to divide them in the classification between five of the magnificent exhibit palaces of the exposition in order that every variety may be seen in the proper relation to its particular function.

The palaces to contain furniture exhibits will be those of Varied Industries, Transportation, Horticulture, Liberal Arts and Agriculture.

In the spacious Palace of Varied Industries there will be displays of fixed furniture used in buildings and dwellings and of all kinds of office and home furniture. Metal beds and gas fixtures also will be included with the exhibits in this palace and covering materials for furniture such as silks, cottons, and leathers also will be shown. Small fancy furniture will be shown with these exhibits.

Naval furniture as well as all varieties of ships' furniture will be exhibited in the Palace of Transportation.

There will be an assortment of garden furniture such as chairs and specially designed seats shown in the Palace of Horticulture. In the Palace of Liberal Arts, furniture manufactured specially for theaters will be displayed.

Furniture for stables, barns and kennels will be exhibited in every variety in the Palace of Agriculture. In this palace there also will be shown every kind of wood used in the making of furniture so that the exposition visitor may gain a comprehensive idea of the material as well as of the finished product.

Construction of these exhibit palaces which are to contain furniture displays is progressing rapidly. The Palace of Varied Industries is nearly completed and all of the others are well under way. In fact, the rapid construction work on all of the exhibit palaces now assures the fulfillment of the early promise that the exhibit palaces will be completed and ready to receive exhibits by July 1, 1914, leaving eight months for the installation of exhibits before the opening of the exposition on February 20, 1915.

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EGETABLE glue has come to stay, or, perhaps the manufacturers of the product would say, it has come to slick. The statement is made with emphasis, regardless of the fact that some furniture factories had sad experiences attending its initiatory use. Most of the troubles that first resulted in the use of this product were caused by ignorance of its characteristics, and lack of intelligence in its applica

tion.

Fate handed us the animal glues first, and we are only just getting so we can apply them with a fair degree of knowledge, so why should we marvel if the first applications of a new product did not result satisfactorily? Had the vegetable glue been discovered first the probabilities are that we would have been just as slow in recognizing the value of the animal product when it did arrive.

Perfection, in any line, is not attained in a day, and the vegetable glue proposition has proved no exception to this rule. There is no doubt in the minds of any one but what the producers of these glues have had, and will continue to have, disappointments in their attempts to attain absolute perfection in all applications. When all is said, however, the fact is that when this glue is applied in an intelligent manner to those operations recom-mended to its use, just as good and in some instances more satisfactory results are obtained than if the animal glue were being used.

The writer does not profess to know who first discovered vegetable glue, but he believes its practical demonstration came at an opportune time for the demands of the remanufacturers of lumber. The fast decreasing herds of cattle caused a shortage in the raw material from which animal glue is made, and as the ranges are settled the shortage is bound to become greater. Then, too, the growing scarcity of high grade solid lumber and the resulting increase in price has compelled a tremendous consumption of veneers, and their many advantages, besides that of economy, insure an increased demand for built-up stock, and so for glue. Therefore the fact that some substitute was found for animal glue will no doubt influence the use of veneers and the price of the finished products.

It is one of the peculiar characteristics of vegetable glue that it seems especially adapted for built-up stock and veneer laying. The writer knows of desk, case goods, kitchen cabinet manufacturers and others who make furniture of national reputation, to say nothing of manufacturers of flush veneered doors, who state that by the use of the last discovered product they have reduced their glue costs from 15 to 40 per cent. while making the same or a better quality of goods.

Cost reduction is only one of the advantages attending the use of this product. It is practically odorless, and since it is applied cold, the workman appreciates the absence of heat in its application. Of further interest is the fact that it does not sour on standing and so cause waste. The glue joint once made is said to improve with age, and heat seems not to affect it in any way. This last named quality does away with blisters if the glue is properly applied. The users of vegetable glues made

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by reliable manufacturers find that the product runs uniform and they have to pay no attention to changing from one shipment to the next. In manufacturing it is claimed that the processes can be controlled more accurately than even the consumers' conditions of use and the stock to which it is applied. Every batch is brought to a specific standard in the making. When finished it is critically examined and subjected to trial before stocking for shipment. With such care on the part of the manufacturers, who realize that they have a reputation to make and sustain, it is not surprising that the product is making rapid inroads into the field once held solely by the animal glue manufacturers.

The furniture manufacturer, especially the one who makes his own veneered stock, will do well to investigate the merits of this product. He should, however, bear in mind the fact that he cannot buy a quantity and spread it as he has been spreading the glues he has been in the habit of using, but he must accept the coöperation of willing manufacturers who are glad to demonstrate how it is best applied. They gained their knowledge after many vicissitudes of fortune, and the probabilities are that with their specializing they will eventually bring their product to the point where it will be in even greater demand than is the glue that was first discovered.

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Are Furniture Styles Changing?

PECIAL cable dispatches from Paris to New York papers state that Karl Freund, a New York antiquary just arrived, gives it out that an American style will be the outcome of an adaptation of certain features of two or more of the best seventeenth and eighteenth century styles which may easily be brought into graceful harmony, and that cultivation of this style "will take the place of the frightful disorder in internal furnishings prevalent in America for several years. The rage of rich men for antique furniture will soon be replaced by patronage of this American style." This comes under the head of "important if true." If Mr. Freund has private information, it is too bad he cannot particularize. There are no signs of all this visible to the naked eye of the ordinary observer of furnishings in America. But let us speculate on what may be possible. All will doubtless agree that the Mission style will make the strongest practical basis for an American style if we are to have one. Then let us see-seventeenth and eighteenth century. This would take in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, as well as the Louis XIV. There might be a good chance of expert designers harmonizing the Mission, Elizabethan and Jacobean and bringing something distinctive out of it. Perhaps this is what Mr. Freund has in mind and perhaps it is furthest from his thoughts. Meantime the Mission, Craftsman, Arts and Crafts, Craftstyle furniture-all along the same lines continues to hold its own. fication of two years ago failed. so radically different might Review.

The "Flanders" ampliPerhaps something not succeed.-Carpet Trade

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EFORE satisfactory results can be obtained when sanding, it is necessary that the wood be properly surfaced. For this purpose cabinet planers and scraper are used. The knives on a cabinet planer should be ground to a bevel exactly suited to the kind and condition of wood being worked and should be kept at the cutting condition at all times by means of jointing. Modern machines have setting and grinding devices right on the machine. There are some very good cabinet planers on the market and it is to every furniture manufacturer's interest to purchase a good tool.

In our discussion of modern machines we must not forget the wood scraper. In preparing flat hardwood surfaces for the final finishing which, even under the most improved conditions, always requires a certain amount of manual effort, the vital point toward the reduction of cost is to reduce the hand labor to a minimum.

Handwork has become so expensive today that the manufacturer aims to produce quality equal to the best and most painstaking hand effort, and to do it in the least time that it can be done.

The wood scraping machine effects on a large scale what the cabinet-maker in finishing hardwood accomplishes with his hand scraper. The knife in a wood scraping machine is whetted sharp and the edge turned by passing a piece of hard steel along the sharp edge with sufficient pressure to turn the edge so that it will project about at right angles to the scraping plate.

A wood scraping machine equipped with this kind of a knife reduces to a mechanical performance an operation usually entrusted to experienced cabinet-makers, of skill and good judgment. It performs its work so that one of the most important and costly processes connected with fine finishing of flat hardwood is effected perfectly and in a fraction of the time formerly expended on this part of the work.

How the Knives are Held

The scraper knife in a wood scraping machine is held stationary in a cast iron knife stock, above the surface of which it slightly projects. Over this projecting edge the work to be scraped is passed at a speed of from 80 to 120 feet per minute, resulting in the removal of a continuous shaving which may be as thin as tissue or heavier than the thickest wrapping paper. Thus the machine does at one broad sweep what hand scraping could only accomplish by a multitude of short strokes; moreover, wood that has been passed through the wood scraping machine excels in beauty of appearance. The grain is brought out clearly and sharply in all its natural effect, without scratching, scoring, or marring the surface, tearing up the grain, rounding the edges, breaking down the ends.

The scraping machine has demonstrated to many furniture manufacturers that it is a money-saver and a profitable as well as an economical machine to operate. Flat veneered, as well as solid work, can be scraped on this machine and there is no operation that brings out the beauty of the grain and the figures as well as the scraping machine.

I have noticed that some of the panel factories have also equipped the scraper with toothing knives which they

use for roughing up cores for the foundation of the panel work and the veneers can be laid and glued to the best advantage.

As the scraping machine finishes or scrapes the material at the rate of 75 feet per minute, the daily output of the machine is much larger than that from any other finishing machine.

The furniture manufacturer not employing a scraping machine in his work does not appreciate what he has missed. A good scraping machine, when once installed, becomes indispensable. I have endeavored to show in actual figures the time a scraping machine will save. It will do more than save time, it will also save paper at the triple drum sander, and it can also be used to good advantage in making wide glue joints.

The manufacturer who installed his machines five years ago and has made no improvements since that time certainly cannot compete with his neighbor who is installing labor-saving machinery. The best of modern machinery, selected carefully to meet the requirements, will yield returns on the investment beyond any comparison with results from older machines. I made this same statement in my article which was published in the October, 1913, number of THE FURNITURE MANUFACTURER AND ARTISAN.

How to Use Sandpaper

Before discussing the modern sanders it may be well to briefly offer suggestions how to use sandpaper so as to obtain the highest efficiency. Thousands of furniture manufacturers use sandpaper simply because it is paperthey know nothing about paper and are satisfied if the superintendent or foreman pronounces the paper as satisfactory. I firmly believe that the first thing the furniture manufacturer should do when ordering sandpaper is to tell the manufacturer for what purpose he intends to use it, whether for a belt sander, a drum sander or a disc machine.

My experience has taught me that different kinds of paper (especially manufactured for these machines) should be used. We all know that the belt machines have made great changes in methods of sanding, and the furniture manufacturer should demand from the manufacturer of sandpaper stock that has a sharp cutting and uniform coating, one that will not scratch, fill or gum up. If your superintendent, foreman, operator, or buyer, for that matter, understands his business he can determine the fitness of the paper at a glance.

The manufacturer of paper should exercise great care in guarding his material, so as to eliminate all coarse particles and foreign substances, and should select nothing but the pure product. Great care should also be taken in selecting the paper, sloth and glue.

I have found manufacturers who became quite careless and were at various times compelled to return shipments. Only a few weeks ago we ordered canvas sand belt four inches wide, which we use in our toilet mirror factory. Owing to short turns in the shapes of these small mirrors it is necessary for operators to help the belt fit into the small rounded curves, and in so doing they must use their fingers on the back of the belt. We discovered that the belts to which I refer were covered