of wood, one of which forms just under the bark each year during the
life of the tree. If growth is rapid, these layers, which are known as
_annual rings_, will be relatively thick; if slow, they will be thin.
In warm climates the growth of many trees is almost continuous, the
fiber relatively uniform, and the annual rings very slightly marked.
In cold climates growth is rapid in spring and summer, but almost
ceases in winter, and the annual rings are sharply marked. The wood
produced first in each year is frequently different from that produced
later in the year, so that a distinction is drawn between the early
springwood and the later summerwood. In such cases a cross section of
the tree trunk will show a number of concentric annual rings whose
number is equal to the age of the region of trunk cut. In certain kinds
of trees, for instance, species of pines and leaf-shedding oaks, after
the wood has attained a certain age, it darkens in color, so that when
a crosscut of a 100-year-old part of the trunk is taken, the darker
older central wood contrasts as _heartwood_ with the surrounding pale
_sapwood_.
All hardwoods contain a multitude of long continuous water-conducting
tubes termed _wood vessels_; in cross section they are often visible
to the naked eye as _pores_. In woods like oak and ash these pores are
easily visible in cross section as minute holes, and in longitudinal
section as fine grooves, which are often accentuated by furniture
makers through treatment with a dark filler. In woods like maple and
gum the pores are too small to be seen without a microscope.
Oak, chestnut, ash, and elm are conspicuous members of the ring-porous
group of hardwoods, so called because one or more rows of large pores
are formed at the beginning of each annual ring. Walnut and mahogany
are diffuse-porous because the pores, though plainly visible, are more
nearly uniform in size throughout the annual rings.
In addition to the annual rings and pores, traversing the wood at right
angles to the fibers are thin stringlike structures that run from the
outside of the wood radially inward toward the pith. In some woods
these rays are too minute to play a part in the visible figure of the
wood, while in others, notably the oak, they are conspicuous, and in
quarter-sawed boards produce the effect known as silver grain or flake.
These are the _medullary rays_. For more detailed information about
wood structure, consult any reliable encyclopedia.
These variations in structure, plus variations in coloring, constitute
the physical basis for the innumerable charming effects which expert
wood workers are able to create for the furniture lover. _Some of these
effects can be produced in solid wood; others in veneer only._ They
result from four general methods of cutting:
Plain sawing, or cutting more or less with the grain at right
angles to the rays.
Quarter-sawing, or cutting across the grain, parallel to the rays.
Transverse sawing, or cutting in a direction neither flat nor
quarter, but between them.
Rotary slicing, in which the knife or the veneer lathe follows the
lines of annual growth, but cuts across them irregularly to yield
a striking effect of wavy lines and parabolas.
The interest of furniture buyers lies in the beauty, durability,
romantic appeal and prestige value of the various woods, and not in the
technical processes by which their individuality and fine qualities
are brought out. However, a few facts concerning the various types of
figures are here set down for possible emergency use.
VENEER AND PLYWOOD
[Illustration: Flat Slicing
Quarter Slicing
Half-Round Slicing
Rotary Slicing
Figure 17.--Slicing illustrated.]
"The art of producing and using veneers dates back to the earliest days
of civilization," says the Encyclopedia Britannica.[13]
Although we do not know when and where the art of veneering was
invented, there is no doubt that it had reached a high development in
Egypt 3,500 years ago. It was practiced by the ancient Babylonians and
Assyrians, by the Greeks, and particularly by the Romans, who used it
not only in furniture-making but also in door frames and panels. There
is a record that Cicero, celebrated Roman orator, paid for a veneered
table of citrus wood a sum equivalent to $20,000 in gold.
When the ancient European civilization gave way to the Dark Ages,
the art of veneering was temporarily lost, only to be revived in the
form of inlays during the Renaissance. True veneering did not become
common in Europe until after the middle of the seventeenth century,
when a new type of saw was invented which would divide a plank into
thin sheets. As an early result of the discovery of the New World and
the sea route to India and the East, many rare and exotic woods were
carried to Spain, Holland, France, and England and used as veneers
and inlays in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries--among them
mahogany, satinwood, amboyna, kingwood, rosewood, tulipwood, amaranth,
harewood, and vermillion. The art of veneering reached the point of
technical perfection during the reign of Louis XIV, and ever since
that time it has been practiced by most of the great cabinetmakers
in all countries; except of course, in the case of the carvers, of
whom Chippendale is the outstanding example. Most of the magnificent
furniture of France, that of the Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and Adam styles
in England, and the really distinguished furniture of the late Colonial
and Federal periods in America, made a free use of veneers.
The whole process of making veneers, from the selection of a tree in
some far corner of the globe to the finished plywood, is a long and
exacting one which demands the technical knowledge of scientists,
engineers, and chemists as well as the taste of the artist.
[Illustration:
Courtesy The Veneer Association
Figure 18.--Showing the construction of seven-ply plywood. The grain of
each layer is at right angles to that of the adjacent ply.]
Briefly, we can say that the logs must be transported, studied
carefully in order to determine just how to secure the most beautiful
effects from the wood, usually soaked or conditioned to soften the
fiber, and sliced or sawed into sheets of veneer, which are afterward
dried carefully. This is a work for specialists, and is usually done
at established veneer mills. At the furniture factory the sheets must
again be carefully studied, matched, clipped, taped, glued, and built
under a pressure of 200 to 300 pounds into the finished plyboards.
A single tree may yield 500 board feet of lumber or the same number of
surface feet 1 inch thick. Cut into thin face veneers this same tree
would yield 10,000 square feet or 20 times as much in terms of surface
area.[14]
ADVANTAGES OF PLYWOOD
Technically, plywood is the product resulting from three or more
layers of veneers joined with glue, and usually laid with the grain
of adjoining plies at right angles. Almost always an odd number of
plies are used to secure balanced construction. The outside plies are
called faces, or face and back. The center ply is called the core, and
intervening plies, laid at right angles to the others, are called cross
bands. Plywood is a device for combining lightness and great strength
with freedom from the tendency to warp and split.
Modern engineering, chemistry, and machinery have brought the
production of plywood to a point of perfection where it is as strong,
weight for weight, as steel. It is wood engineered for beauty,
strength, and economical application. Its peculiar excellence, as
contrasted with solid wood, results from equalizing the normal
internal stresses of the wood by running alternate layers in different
directions. In standard five-ply construction, widely used for good
furniture, the two outer and the middle ply, or core, have the grain
running in the same direction, while the second and fourth plies, or
cross bands, have the grain running at right angles to that of the
others. Plywood was produced by the Chinese thousands of years ago,
and is found in the furniture of the ancient Egyptians. Yet it has
taken modern ingenuity plus engineering and chemical skill to develop
a product capable of meeting the large scale but exacting requirements
of today--a product now used on land, in the air, and on the seas.
Plywood was not produced by machinery, and in commercial quantities,
until about 50 years ago, when plywood factories were started in
Russia. Ninety percent of all wood furniture manufactured today is of
veneer and plywood construction. It is used in the interest of economy,
strength, flatness, and beauty, not only in cabinet and furniture
making but also in residence and office building, coach-building and
various engineering industries, including aviation. Plywood offers
maximum strength in all directions combined with minimum weight.
BOTH SOLID AND VENEER AVAILABLE IN WOOD FURNITURE
Some persons adamantly insist that to be truly good quality, furniture
must be solid, built wholly of one wood. While many experts insist
that this view is untenable, those who insist upon it should, of
course, buy solid pieces. To do so will frequently involve denying
themselves the full beauty of the fine graining which normally can
be had only in veneer. The salesman and the industry should jointly
educate the customer that good veneer is not only with us to stay, but
is used in some of the best furniture made anywhere in the world and
that good American veneer has lasting qualities in addition to its
value in bringing to the average home graining and finish that can
never be obtained in furniture made from solid wood.
SELLING VENEERS WITHIN PRICE RANGES
[Illustration:
Courtesy American Walnut Manufacturers Association.
Figure 19.--Location of cuttings in tree body. Not every tree has a
stump that can be cut into beautiful stumpwood. Fine crotches are
much rarer and burls so precious that the choicest burl veneers, when
mounted and matched for use in furniture, are worth more than their own
weight in sterling silver. All other figure types are cut, by varying
methods, from the long trunk.]
The price range of veneer varies directly with the ready availability
of the species, its color and figure, and its working and finishing
qualities. Some veneers cost 20 times as much as others, and certain
of the rarest and most beautifully figured sheets are literally worth
their weight in silver. Well known commonly used species may be either
high priced or inexpensive, depending upon the desirability and current
demands for that figure.
To illustrate, American walnut may vary exceedingly in price. Taking
the cost of the finest burl as 100 percent, crotch walnut might cost
57 percent as much; stump wood and figured long wood, 30 percent; and
plain long wood approximately 5 percent. These percentages represent
only the finest of each of these particular figures.
Therefore, instead of calling a suite "walnut" as if that is all there
is to be said, it would be wise to point out that it is made of a
particularly desirable piece of walnut, both rare and costly because of
its fine figure and color. The same type of reasoning may be used in
speaking of mahogany, maple, oak, and other beautifully figured cabinet
woods.
IMPORTANCE OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
Furniture making is one of the oldest of human industries. For
thousands of years it remained a craft industry. The transition to a
machine industry began about 100 years ago. Since then, and especially
within recent years, the use of machinery has been developed to a point
of extraordinary efficiency. It is this fact alone which makes good
furniture so low in price today. Indeed, were it not for the machine,
most persons would have little furniture, and that of the crudest kind.
[Illustration: Figure 20.--Shows the names of the parts of a chair.]
And yet it would be inaccurate to think of furniture as an impersonal,
machine-made product; craftsmanship is still basically important in
furniture making, and will remain so always. From 50 to 60 different
and highly specialized machines are used in a modern factory making
desks, chairs, and tables, and these machines perform all purely
mechanical operations with amazing speed and more than human accuracy.
Yet at every stage, from the selection of the woods to the final
touches in the finishing room, the taste and accumulated skill of
expert craftsmen are imperative. In the making of upholstered and reed
furniture, machinery plays a subordinate part, and the skill of the
craftsman is and always will be the dominant factor.
QUALITY OFTEN CONCEALED
Furniture making employs many materials and many processes. In every
one of these materials and processes there are wide differences in
excellence between the worst and the best. All of these differences are
accurately known only to the manufacturer because they are concealed in
the finished product. Many of them are known to the expert salesman.
Few are known to the consumer who buys furniture too infrequently to
become informed on concealed values, and naturally is disposed to base
a judgment of value on the two obvious factors--eye appeal and price.
As a result sales volume, to say nothing of public appreciation of
furniture, is unnecessarily low.
MODERN FACTORIES BUILD CONCEALED VALUES INTO MANY PRODUCTS
It is obvious that all the operations of preparing wood, routing it
through the factory, synchronizing the many processes, and eliminating
waste can be performed most efficiently and economically in a modern
plant and under the control of scientific knowledge and engineering
skill. Factories so operated, therefore, may build into their product
concealed or special values which are passed to the consumer in the
form of lower price, quality for quality. These concealed values
actually may take several forms; they may be concerned with materials
and processes, or with construction and design. Although their service
value is readily understood, their actual presence in any particular
piece of furniture is not so easily determined by the inexperienced
salesperson or the infrequent purchaser.
USE OF WOOD FREE FROM DEFECTS
When wood reaches the factory from the sawmill in the form of dimension
lumber it contains some imperfections, among them rotted or discolored
heartwood, stained sapwood, season checks, splits, knots, worm and
grub holes, and decayed tissue. The more or less complete rejection
of all defective lumber naturally affects production costs, and the
use of perfect lumber in the unexposed parts of a piece of furniture
constitutes a concealed value.
USE OF WOOD WITH CORRECT MOISTURE CONTENT
In wet lumber, wood cells will contain moisture in amounts ranging
from 30 to 100 percent of the weight of the woody fiber itself. If a
considerable percentage of this moisture is permitted to remain in the
pieces which are used for building furniture, a disastrous shrinkage
will result. Kiln drying the wood to secure the ideal moisture content
and to free it from internal stresses requires time, expense, and great
skill. Construction cost can be reduced by slighting the process.
Accordingly, perfectly conditioned wood constitutes a highly important
concealed value in good furniture.
[Illustration:
Figure 21.--A shows a dowel. The spiral and longitudinal grooves permit
the escape of air, and prevent air pockets in the glue. B shows the
mortise and tenon, another method by which wood parts may be joined
together with a fair measure of security. In both dowel and mortise
and tenon construction the use of good glue is essential. The glue is
applied to the portion which is inserted in the socket.]
CHAIRS, TABLES, AND CASE GOODS HAVE CONCEALED VALUES
The points of concealed value in chair and table construction include,
among others:
1. Choice of wood.
2. Method of shaping legs.
3. Method of building solid seats and tops (joinery; character of
glue; and time spent in the clamps).
4. Character of joints (boring; mortise and tenon; kind, number,
and position of dowels).
5. Use of corner blocks, braces, and stretchers.
6. Character of veneers, inlay, carving, or other ornament.
7. Technical skill of the machine operators and assemblers.
8. Care in sanding to ensure fine finishing.
Important points concerning the legs, tops, and end panels of cases
are substantially the same as for chairs and tables. Standard five-ply
for the tops of cases and standard three-ply for the end panels is the
usual but not the universal practice. Other points include:
9. Construction of corner posts--solid wood to the floor, or with
the turned legs separately made and doweled to the bottom of the
posts, which cheapens but weakens construction.
[Illustration: Figure 21a.--C shows how a chair post is joined to
the chair rails. Central figure is the chair leg; beneath it is
a corner block; at either side are the rails with holes bored
in them, as well as in the leg, to hold the dowels. The holes
in the corner block are for screws. D shows how the joint looks
when assembled. The pieces fit snugly and are braced to prevent
pulling apart, the corner block augmenting the dowel joint.]
10. Method of framing--solid framework above, between and below the
drawers, with tongue and groove joints and three-ply veneer panel
dust bottoms, or some cheaper method; frames "dadoed" (rigidly
recessed) into the ends, and end panels dadoed into the legs,
or some cheaper construction; shelves dadoed into end panels
and also doweled into legs, and back doweled into legs, or some
cheaper method, as nails or screws.
11. Drawer construction, including type of plywood; type of
joint-dovetailed joints front and back, which is the best
construction; lock joint (cheaper, but not nailed); nailed joint,
still cheaper; butt joint (also requiring nails, the cheapest and
poorest joint); drawer bottom dadoed into sides and ends, and
supported by triangular rubbed-in blocks, or some cheaper method;
center slides; perfect or less than perfect fitting.
UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE
Here the construction is almost completely concealed. The customer sees
only the exposed portion of the frame and the covering and, except in
the case of advertised goods, knows no more about the construction and
concealed values of a piece than is told her by the salesperson.
Years ago much upholstered furniture was imported from a famous
factory in London. It was costly, but vastly comfortable and of great
durability. Yet when a piece was "taken down" it was found to contain
far fewer springs, tied with fewer knots, than was the case with
American goods of the same general price range. This indicates the
folly, in the case of upholstered furniture, of setting up measures
of excellence based upon exactly standardized practice. What applies
to plywood or dowel joints does not necessarily apply to spring
construction.
CONCEALED VALUES IN UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE
In general, the points of concealed value in upholstered furniture
include:
1. The frame, which in the best construction is of clear, tough,
dry hardwood, with properly glued and doweled joints, and
necessary reinforcing blocks.
2. The springing, including foundation for the springs; number and
character of springs; type of twine and number of knots per coil;
skill of operator and speed at which he is compelled to work;
presence or absence of spring edge.
3. Spring covering, including weight of burlap; method of attaching
it to the frame and to the springs.
4. Stuffing: Double or single method; use of excelsior, tow, fiber,
moss, cotton, or curled hair, alone or in combination.
5. Springing of back and arms.
6. Loose cushions; spring or down construction.
7. Skill and care of the workman; inspection standards for
materials and labor.
REED FURNITURE
In the book _Tropical Nature_, A. R. Wallace, after describing the
great trees of the tropical forest, says: "Next to the trees themselves
the most conspicuous feature of the tropical forests is the profusion
of woody creepers and climbers that everywhere meet the eye * * *.
They twist in great serpentine coils or lie entangled in masses on the
ground."
In such a forest grows Calamus, the rattan palm, whose slender stem
often attains the enormous length of 600 feet. From Calamus is obtained
the basic material employed in making reed furniture. It comes from
the tropical forests of the East Indies after it has been passed
through several primitive processes by native workers. In this country
it is prepared in the forms of cane, rattan, and reed for weaving;
maple frames are designed and built; the weaving is done by American
craftsmen.
Points of excellence include skillful preparation of the raw materials;
sturdy construction of the frames, including bracing; and skill in
weaving. Unhurried work means better construction but higher cost, and
is thus an element of value.
THE APPEAL OF FINISH
The appeal of finish is so potent as to require little demonstration.
Most customers are quite willing to accept wood finish, as they accept
dyestuffs or rayon, as one of the mysteries of chemical science. The
results speak for themselves. No one thinks the less of an old Cremona
violin because the secret of its varnish is known.
The story of modern chemistry is in fact more romantic than all the
tales of the Thousand and One Nights, yet people generally speaking
cannot be stirred by it. Tell them how the old craftsmen of Gothic
Europe, hundreds of years ago, stained oak planks a beautiful rich
brown by burying them for weeks or months under manure and you will
interest them deeply. Tell them how American craftsmen, a generation
ago, got the same results with the fumes of ammonia and a leaden vault
and you will barely hold their interest. Tell them how other craftsmen
today squirt a preparation of coal tar and water from one spray gun,
and a preparation of wood pulp or old rags from another to finish fine
furniture, and they will probably cancel the order.
In the late sixteenth century, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and other
cabinetmakers employed a process of staining, or rather of softly
bleaching fine woods through the action of decomposing salts of
chromium, followed by French polishing with oils and waxes. True
varnish, a solution of resins in hot oils, was discovered in America
in the middle nineteenth century, and achieved an immense popularity.
Modern lacquer, which is totally unlike the Oriental lacquer, is a
twentieth century discovery which combines gun cotton (nitrocellulose)
with butyl alcohol, a byproduct in the manufacture of acetone.
WOOD FINISHING
The salesperson should learn that honest construction and careful
finishing of a piece of furniture often count for more than the kind
of wood used. Beautiful wood, however desirable it may be, is never the
chief source of value. No piece of furniture is really completed until
it has been given an appropriate and artistic finish.
What May Be Expected of a Finish.
There are at least three characteristics of a good wood finish.
1. _Appropriateness._--The finish should be adapted to the needs
which the piece is meant to serve. The polish of a piece of wood
should not hide the beauty of the wood but should enhance it.
Furniture should never make itself obtrusive. If furniture is
noticeable, its artistic quality is usually to be questioned.
2. _Serviceability._--The finish must protect the surface against
the most common difficulties encountered in furniture finishing,
such as bleeding, blistering, blooming, blushing, checking,
caking, grain raising, bubbling, pitting, livering, and sweating.
3. _Beauty._--Good finish should retain the characteristics of the
wood rather than destroy their identity. Usually the natural wood
needs to be softened and enriched to produce the most pleasing
effects in keeping with its different nature and traits.