HARD WOODS.
All those woods, properly called hard, including the best box, are of foreign growth, mostly coming from the Tropics. I do not know why they should be so much harder than those of temperate climes, but so it is. There are, however, woods in New Zealand, of which the temperature is similar to that of our own country, which are also exceedingly hard and difficult to work. A very large number of foreign woods are yearly brought to England in logs or billets or planks, some of very large size, and all of great weight. They are mostly liable to one defect, viz., rottenness of the core or heart, which limits the size of the pieces which can be cut from them. They can all be procured from the London lathe and tool shops, and there are also dealers in these woods (Jacques of Covent Garden, Mundy & Berrie of Bunhill Row, and some others). It is almost impossible to procure them in the country, but rosewood, ebony, kingwood, &c., may be sometimes had in such small pieces as the young mechanic may require, at the cabinetmakers’. Among the most useful are—
Ebony, of which there are two or three kinds, some harder and more close-grained and blacker than others, and one which is called green ebony, which is like lignum-vitæ (an English wood, but which grows to a larger size abroad; indeed, many so called English woods are not really so, but have been brought from other countries to be grown here). The general colour is green, but the veins are rather darker. Bowls and skittle-balls are made of it. It is not, however, of the same general use as the black ebony, which is very largely used both for cabinet-work and turning.
Black Ebony is very close and hard, and, of course, proportionately heavy. It splits readily, but when chopped, the chips come off more like charcoal, showing no consistency. This is the kind imported from the Indies, and especially from Madagascar and Mauritius, and is the best for all kinds of turned work. Portugal affords another kind, which bears the same name, but is more brown than black, and softer, less compact in grain, and generally of less value. Ebony will bear eccentric work, and all kinds of beautiful carving and ornamentation in the lathe.
Rose-wood is very commonly used for furniture and turned work. It is a rich red wood, grained with black. It is not very hard, less so than ebony, and has more evident grain or fibre. It turns well, and some pieces are very handsome.
African Black-wood is in appearance similar to ebony, but it is even more close and compact, and is the most valuable of all to the ornamental turner. When this or ebony is set off by being inlaid with ivory, or even holly, it is very lovely in its intense and brilliant blackness. Either this or ebony is used for black pieces for the chessboard or draughtboard, though stained boxwood, being less costly, is sometimes made to take its place.
African Cam-wood is a very beautiful material when first cut. Its rich red tint is diversified with the most brilliant yellow streaks. Unfortunately, however, these are not lasting. Exposed to the air, they gradually become darker, until they become red like the rest of the wood. This material, however, has a fine, close grain, is a genuine hard wood, and of general use to the turner for ornamental articles of various kinds.
Tulip-wood is not very hard. Cut across the log, the appearance is fine, owing to the rings of growth being wavy and irregular, in dark and light red alternations, that reminds one of the flower after which it is called. This tree, indeed, which grows to a large size, bears flowers similar to those of our gardens imported from Holland, which grow upon short perpendicular stems. The centre or core of tulip-wood is generally rotten. It sucks up a good deal of polish before the grain shows out brightly and strongly, from being less hard and more fibrous than many others named above.
Partridge-wood is a nice, hard, and very pretty wood, rather dark or gray. The fibres seem to run both ways, giving a mottled appearance when turned.
Coral-wood is bright red, hard, and close in grain, well suited for red chessmen, where that colour is preferred to black. It looks very handsome in the midst of other coloured specimens; otherwise, like all material of one tint and free from veined lines, there is too much uniformity of appearance to make it pleasing to the eye of one who is gifted with appreciation of colour.
It is not necessary for me to go in order through a long list of foreign woods. The very young mechanic, unless living in London, will seldom meet with many of them; and a very good selection for the advanced turner will be composed of the following:—
Black Ebony.
Cocoa or Cocus, which is not the cocoa-nut tree, this being a palm, the wood of which is stringy like a fern or a cane; whereas, cocoa or cocus is firm, hard, and excellent.
Black-wood, which cuts finely with tools for eccentric work.
King-wood, a good and useful wood, something akin in appearance to rosewood.
Satin-wood, pale yellow grain, like watered silk, turns very well, but is by no means hard; there is also a red satinwood.
Rose-wood, already described; it loses colour after exposure, and is most beautiful newly cut.
If the above are added to the most useful of the English woods described above, it will scarcely be worth while to add to them except as specimens. It is, however, very interesting to collect and arrange these, and it is an employment well worthy of the attention of the young mechanic. Thin slices cut across the grain, and sometimes, or in addition, slices cut with the grain, should be arranged in order after being trimmed to shape (round, square, or triangular, or even six-sided). They should be very carefully polished to bring up the grain, and labelled with the common and Latin (or botanical) name. The country from which procured, with short notes relative to the size and general growth of the tree, should be added. This will compel inquiry, and a great deal of information will be thus gained and stored up. A similar collection of English woods may be made, and, of course, with much greater ease.
It will be observed that I have said nothing of the pines, deal, and larch. They are extensively turned in the lathe, the greater part of the common painted furniture being made therefrom; but deal is, nevertheless, not a turning wood. It splits easily, has an open grain, with fibres loosely connected, and although it can be cut into mouldings with sharp chisels and gouges, it generally needs a little rubbing with Dutch rush, fish-skin, or glass-paper; after which, a handful of its own shavings held against it as it revolves rapidly in the lathe, is the best polisher. Of course, however, it may be varnished, and of late years it has become fashionable, when thus finished, for bedroom furniture. It is, however, in this case generally improved and embellished, by having thin strips of coloured woods inlaid in its surface. It is useless for hollow work; and wood that cannot be hollowed out satisfactorily, is not to be classed among those suitable for the turner.
Whenever you have time to spare, and are not inclined to turn, yet feel disposed to wander into your workshop, it is a good plan to trim and prepare pieces of wood for the lathe. You need a chopping-block, which is the end of a stick of timber sawn evenly across, and stood up in some out-of-the-way corner where chips will not be much in the way, and a light axe or adze, which latter is said to be the best. It is called the bassoohlah or Indian adze, but I never had one, nor ever saw it mentioned, except in one very excellent book by the late Charles Holtzappffel of London, who, indeed, keeps these tools. But a light axe is easily obtained, and will do very well. Take care to saw the pieces off truly square—I mean straight across the log, and not slanting either way. Cut some from your evergreen oak, or beech, or elm, for chucks, remembering to have length for the mandrel screw, beyond what you will probably need for hollowing out, to take the pieces to be turned. Cut some longer than others, and from larger or smaller pieces; from 2-inch diameter to 4, which is a useful general size. But your lathe of 5-inch centre will take chucks or work of nearly 10 inches, so you can cut some few pieces rather larger. Probably, your only work of 6 to 9 inches diameter will be an occasional bread-platter, or a stand of some sort; your general work will be much less. Besides chucks, of which the number is in time very great, you will be constantly wanting tool-handles. Cut some for these, and placing one end on the chopping-block, trim them to something like the required size, but a good deal larger round than you think necessary, because you will find that the size will deceive you frequently.
Fig. 43.
For finally trimming up short pieces, a peculiar knife is used by the lathe and tool makers; and when you can spare the money you should get one, as you will find it easy to use, and it will save you many a cut from the axe. In fact, I never advise very young mechanics to make use of the latter tool. It requires practice, strength, and a good deal of skill to use it well; and nothing is more easy than to lop off the end of a finger or thumb, and, unfortunately, nothing is more difficult than to repair the damage. The paring-knife for short thick pieces mentioned above, is made like D, Fig. 43. It consists of a long and curved handle, turned up at one end to fit under a staple, E, with a cross piece of wood for the hand at the other end, and a broad strong blade with one bevel in the middle—(by one bevel I mean, that the edge is not like that of an axe, but like that of a carpenter’s chisel, the bevel or sloping part being outside). C is the piece of wood to be pared, A the bottom board or platform, B a block fastened to it, and made on a slope to prevent the tendency of the wood to slip away from the knife. The whole of this may be screwed down to the bench, or to a heavy stool when in use. The hook and ferule should not be made so large and loose as in the drawing, and a better joint is that of an ordinary hinge. If made loosely, the blade twists about too much from side to side, escaping from the wood. There is no danger to the fingers from this useful tool, which the young mechanic should add to his workshop as soon as he can.
Another useful and easily-constructed apparatus for the preparation of long pieces is the shave-stool, used by coopers and chairmakers to hold the pieces securely while they are being shaped by the double-handled shave or drawknife, as it is often called, a tool omitted from our list, but very useful all the same. This is sketched at B, Fig. 43. It is often very roughly made, the chief necessity being that it shall be strong. It answers also for a sawing-stool. Upon the stool or bench, A, is fixed a sloping block, B. A swinging frame, C, is hinged or pivoted at D, so that if the lower part is pushed back from left to right, the upper cross-bar, E, will come forward and almost touch the highest part of the sloping block, B, so that any piece of wood, such as F, will thereby be pinched and held tightly between the rail, E, and the block. The workman sits astride of the stool at A, facing the block, and his feet are placed on the bar C. When he wishes to hold the wood which is to be shaved by the drawknife C, he presses from him with his feet the lower part of the frame, and he can instantly loosen the wood by drawing his feet towards him. The movement is made in a moment, and the wood shifted round as required, and alternately turned about and held tight, while the drawknife is used almost ceaselessly. A very few minutes generally suffices thus to pare down a rough piece for the lathe. The cross-bar, E, should be tolerably strong, and is better if not rounded very nicely, as the edges help to hold the wood. The latter is sure not to slip away, because the pull of the drawknife tends to draw it up higher on the slope of the block, which pulls it into a still narrower opening. Nothing can exceed the ease with which this appliance is used, and the rapidity with which the required operation can be carried on. No wood-turner’s shop should be without one.