Chapter VIII.
As different materials require somewhat different management, and even in the matter of wood alone this rule holds good, it may be as well to have some idea of what is meant by hard and soft wood.
The young mechanic has most likely hitherto considered all wood under one head; but there is a vast difference, nevertheless, in the internal structure, even of such kinds as grow in England; and the woods of foreign countries differ again from these, some being of such close texture that it is almost impossible to work them with ordinary tools, and some (such as the palm) being little else than gigantic ferns, and in structure like that much-dreaded implement of flagellation—the schoolmaster’s cane.
In England the hardest wood found is that of the box-tree, the chief place of which is in Surrey, at Box Hill; it is, nevertheless, found scattered here and there in all parts of the country, but not generally of a size greater than 3 inches in diameter. It is of very slow growth, and our own country would not nearly satisfy the demand made for it by various trades. Hence a large quantity of box, of larger growth, and generally of harder and better quality, is imported every year from Turkey, to be used in the construction of blocks for engravers, who alone require many tons weight annually, and for carpenters’ rules, mallets, turned boxes, and tool-handles; to which I may add the important item of peg-tops. I fear some of my readers may think I should have placed these first on the list! Opinions, however, I imagine, differ in this particular, as in most others, and upon all subjects.
The grain of boxwood is so close and even that it is one of the most valuable turning materials we possess. It takes excellent screw-threads, provided they are not too fine; is a very general material for boxes of all kinds, and also for chucks, although there is really no reason why it should be wasted in so applying it, when other woods of less value make such efficient substitutes. Probably its use for this purpose arose from the facility with which a screw can be cut in it to fit that on the mandrel, and that it is so hard as not to allow the collar beyond the screw to make much impression upon it. In consequence, when it is well fitted, such a chuck can be screwed on many times exactly to the same point, and will continue to run true. But I myself have found that if the mandrel-screw is not very coarse, the threads cut in the inside of the chuck are apt to break off.
Somewhat similar in texture, though by no means generally used, is the wood of the Elder, which is quite different, be it observed, from the Alder, although I often hear the names confounded together. The wood I allude to is that of the tree which bears umbels of sweet, white blossoms, which give place to those jet-black berries we find upon them late in summer, and which are made into elder-wine, for home consumption at Christmas, when, no doubt, most of my readers have drunk it, hot and spicy and sugary, to keep out the wintry cold. From the same tree are commonly made those harmless engines of mimic warfare—pop-guns!
If it were not for the presence of the pith, which is in fact the very quality which makes it valuable to boys for the latter purpose, this wood would certainly have been eagerly seized upon by turners. Even with this defect, it is used instead of box for the inferior kinds of carpenter’s rules and other purposes, and the larger pieces will make very good chucks, if a little care is exercised to prevent splitting them. It is indeed a wood that might be far more extensively used in this way than it is.
The Yew, perhaps, should come next in order, for this too is very close-grained and very beautiful, and when highly polished it will bear comparison with many foreign woods which we import at a high price; it is, however, brittle and apt to splinter.
Walnut varies considerably in quality, some being harder and richer in grain than others. This wood, however, is not to be classed among those which are properly speaking hard, as it can be cut with ease, and can only be planed and worked as deal would be, viz., with the grain; whereas the hard woods work with almost equal facility in either direction. This indeed in a great measure constitutes the difference between soft and hard woods, in the turner’s sense of the words. If you were to hold a chisel flat on the rest, so as to let it scrape a cylinder of wood as it revolved in the lathe, you would find in some cases that it would tear out the fibres in shreds—these are soft woods. In other cases it would leave the surface rough but otherwise tolerably even, and with some it would leave the same fairly turned.
I cannot call to mind any English wood but box that can be turned by a chisel held so as to scrape it, but the greater number of foreign woods are always turned in this manner, being hard and close in the grain.
Birch.—Oh, once-dreaded tree! birch! with its long, swaying, switchy boughs, drooping as in sorrow at the mean uses to which it was applied! It is nevertheless a very useful tree, and the young mechanic can take full revenge upon it by cutting, and chipping, and turning it into all sorts of useful articles. It is, however, now more generally used in cabinetmaking, for wardrobes, bedsteads, chests of drawers, and such like, as it looks very neat when planed and varnished. Perhaps, as a wood for the exercise of the turner’s art, it must give place to
Beech, which is a common and excellent material for the essays of beginners, who can turn tool handles especially from the small trimmed billets of it which are kept by the chairmakers, and which can generally be bought for a trifling sum in any town, and in many villages. If not, the wheelwright may be applied to for a supply, as he uses it rather extensively for the felloes of his wheels. It is peculiarly liable to the attacks of the little worm, weevil or maggot, who drills such innumerable and such beautifully round holes in furniture that stands long unused.
Beech is often used for the screws of carpenters’ benches, as it takes very well a thread of such size as is required for that purpose. It will also, for the same reason, answer very well for chucks, for which it has the recommendation of cheapness and toughness.
Ash seems to come next upon the list. It is probably the most useful of all English woods, and where toughness, pliability, with moderate hardness, are valuable qualities, no English wood can exceed it. For frames of carts and carriages, shafts, agricultural implements, wheelbarrows, and smaller articles of husbandry, it is precisely what is needed, and in the workshop of the turner it is equally valuable. Tool-handles of ash are very durable, and hold the tool with great firmness, owing to the natural elasticity of the material. It may be stained and polished, and is then, for real work, preferable to the more costly hard woods of which handles are very generally made for the workshops of rich amateur mechanics.
Oak is little used for turning, the grain being too coarse. The young mechanic need never make use of it for this purpose, and the same may be said of the elm.
Elm is, nevertheless, used by turners for the wooden buckets of pumps, and is a generally useful wood. Bulk for bulk, it is lighter than beech, and it makes a good material, it is said, for lathe beds, though beech is more frequently used. It will answer for chucks, as indeed most woods will that can be cut into screws; it is very tough.
Evergreen Oak, or Holm Oak, as it is called, is very different to the forest tree, and might be classed among shrubs. When dry, it is by no means a bad wood to turn, and will take a good screw thread, and make excellent chucks.
Acacia is an excellent wood. It is of a yellowish brown colour, tolerably hard, and will take a good polish. It is most certainly to be set down among the woods valuable to the turner.
Sycamore is white, very soft until old, when it becomes much harder. This is also a turner’s wood, and used extensively for wooden bowls, backs of brushes, turned boxes, and what is generally called “turnery.” A little of this will be useful to the young mechanic. It will make excellent bread platters, stands for hot water jugs, and such like.
Holly.—The Christmas garland, with its red berries decorating even the poorest homes in midwinter, is a tree well worth the attention of the young mechanic. It is his substitute for the more precious material ivory, and from it he will turn the white draught or chess men, boxes, and many small articles. But it is necessary that this material should be perfectly dry, and to get it in perfection, carefully preserved to insure its whiteness, it will be generally necessary to procure it ready for the lathe at some lathemaker’s, or at first-class cabinetmakers’. If cut green, it requires long seasoning, during which it shrinks considerably. In fact, it takes some years entirely to rid it of the great quantity of moisture which it contains. It is well worth procuring, nevertheless, for it is nearly as white and free from grain as ivory.
Many of the fruit-trees of our orchards and gardens supply good material to the turner. Apple, Pear, Cherry, Plum, and some others, are all more or less useful. The grain of the first is rather dark, the fibres often twisted. It looks well when polished.
Pear has a very fine, even grain, and is largely used for making the curved templates (or patterns of curves for architects and engineers); it will make good boxes, and is fairly serviceable to the turner. Its colour is light brown, but darkens by exposure.
The Plum has a wood veined very like that of the elm, but is a finer and better wood for the lathe. This is the wild plum, and not the grafted fruit-tree of our gardens, which is not nearly so good. The wild plum is excellent for small boxes, and looks well when nicely turned and polished.
Cherry is a very excellent wood, and naughty, fast boys, who take to smoking, like young Americans, when they ought to be filling their young brains with knowledge instead of narcotics, know very well that it is made into pipes and stems of pipes. Happily this is not its only use, for it is fit for many other purposes; and for light, elegant furniture, it is scarcely to be equalled. Dipped in lime-water, it darkens, and by doing this here and there, a beautiful mottled appearance is given to it. It takes an excellent polish, and should be among the stores of the young mechanic.
We now come to another soft, white wood. The Lime, which, as it is more even in grain, more easily cut in any direction than most woods, is greatly used by carvers and pattern-makers (i.e., those who make wooden patterns of wheels, or lathes, or machinery, which are to be cast in metal). [The pattern is pressed into damp sand, and then removed, and the melted metal is then poured into the impression thus made. If the sand is too wet, the process will not only fail, but the hot metal will be scattered on all sides, inflicting dreadful burns and injuries; but with care, the young amateur may make castings in tin or lead, as will be explained by and by.] Even with a penknife alone, very pretty ornaments may be carved from the wood of the lime, and also from that which follows.
Willow.—This is even softer than the last, and will plane into long, thin shavings, which are made into hats. (Once on a time I should have said “and bonnets,” but in these days no one would recognise such articles. They are fast fading out of existence; but I think quite as much sound sense used to be found under them as is now found under the very inefficient substitutes worn by ladies of the present day.) This wood will, of course, turn very easily, but requires very keen tools. In fact, sharp gouges and chisels are invariably necessary for soft wood turning. Get some dry willow by all means, if you can.
The last wood of English growth which the young mechanic is likely to meet with is the thorn. This grows to a tolerably large size, and is hard, close-grained, white, and altogether a good and serviceable wood. It will make capital chucks, taking a clean screw-thread, is easily procured, and is therefore strongly recommended to the notice of the young mechanic. The woods above named, except box, are all to be considered soft woods, and will work with gouge and chisel; but box, thorn, elder, and one or two of the more close-grained, will turn pretty well, and can be smoothly hollowed out, with hard wood tools held horizontally upon the rest.