Page:Cassells' Carpentry and Joinery.djvu/60

44 poles, scaffold boards, centering, packing cases, etc.—and in the better qualities for dressers and table tops, bedroom floor-boards, cupboard shelves, etc. The wood is of yellowish white, or sometimes of a brownish red colour, becoming of a bluish tint when exposed to the weather. The annual rings are generally clearly defined, the surface when planed has a silky lustre, and the timber contains a large number of very hard, glassy knots. The sapwood is not distinguishable from the heart. Baltic white deal is recognised chiefly by its small hard and dark knots, by its woolliness on leaving the saw, and by its weathering to a greyish tint. When fresh cut, the grain may be more or less pronounced than that of yellow deal. It is subject to streaks of resin in long cavities, and to loose dead knots.

Fig. 173.—Dantzic Timber Quality Marks.

In white deal or spruce fir the knots are small, darker, more brittle, and opaque.

Scotch Fir.—This is the wood of Pinus sylvestris, and is called also the Northern pine and red or yellow pine. From this the timber known as yellow or red deal is obtained; it is tough and strong for its weight, durable and easily worked, cheap and plentiful. Comes principally from the north of Europe, and is shipped at Baltic ports. Characteristics: Colour varies according to soil and habitat; generally of a honey yellow, with distinct annual rings darker and harder on the outside of each, some specimens changing to a reddish cast in seasoning, and others brownish. There are no medullary rays visible. The best has close grain and a medium amount of resin in it. The wood is silky when planed, and when well seasoned crisp and dry to the touch. Its tenacity is 5 tons per square inch, and weight 36 lb. per cubic foot. It requires periodical painting when exposed to the weather. It is used for all kinds of carpentry and joinery. Its source of supply is chiefly the Baltic ports, whence it comes as deals and logs.

Fir Timber, Unconverted.—All Baltic fir is akin to the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris) or the spruce fir (Abies excelsa), the wood of the former being known as red fir, Baltic fir, Memel fir, etc., in the unconverted state, whilst the wood of the spruce is known as spruce fir, or white fir if unconverted; but as white planks, deals, or battens if converted. At the outset this peculiarity of calling the same wood red or yellow under different circumstances should be noticed, since the terms applied have led to the very prevalent and mistaken notion that red, yellow, and white denote, three, instead of only two, kinds of Baltic fir.

Riga Fir comes from the Russian port of that name, north of Memel, and is inferior in strength to Dantzic and Memel fir of best quality, and does not average so large. It runs about 12 in. square and 40 ft. long, but it is often preferred for cutting into scantlings, being of straighter grain and freer from knots. It is, however, subject to heart-shakes.

White Fir.—But little Baltic white fir comes into the market as square timber. When it does, it is termed white timber or spruce fir; but spruce poles, or the young trees felled and stripped of their branches, are imported from Sweden and Norway for scaffold poles, the very best being selected as ladder poles. They run in lengths of from 18 ft. to 50 ft.

Prussian Fir Timber.—Sources: Memel, Dantzic, Stettin, Königsberg. The use of the balks is almost entirely confined to heavy timber work, as they are too coarse and open in the grain for being wrought for joiners' work. They are used for outdoor carpentry and heavy woodwork, such as piles, girders, roofs, and joists. Dantzic—Size: 14 in. to 16 in. square, 20 ft. to 50 ft. long. Appearance: Subject to cup- and star-shakes and wind-cracks. Knots large and numerous, often dead and loose; they are very objectionable when grouped near the centre of a beam, or for piles when diagonal. Annual rings wide, large