There are so many different kinds, grades, and sizes of brushes and brooms that there is a wide range in the quality of material employed. The more expensive hand brushes have backs artistically turned from ebony, mahogany, rosewood, maple, cherry, and birch; while, for scrubbing and whitewash brushes, beech is very largely used. Maple, beech, and birch are employed. for paint brushes, as well as for duster handles. For many of the cheaper brushes, various woods are used.
Pennsylvania uses more wood than any other State in the manufacture of brushes; while Ohio, New York, Maryland, Maine, and Massachusetts are also prominent in the production of these articles.
Table 51 Brushes (Annual wood consumption, 13 million board feet) Woods Used Per Cent Beech 49 Birch 15 Maple 15 Basswood 6 Cherry 4 Red Gum 2 Yellow Poplar 2 Elm 1 Hickory 1 Other Woods 6 Total 100 38. Dowels.Dowels are wooden pegs used to hold boards together, edge to edge, in the manufacture of table tops and counters, or to hold the parts of sash, doors, and similar articles together. They are usually made of the strongest hardwoods, and are driven tightly into auger or gimlet holes to make strong, close-fitting joints. More than 90 per cent of the dowels are made from birch, beech, and maple, and especially from paper birch. Dowels are occasionally made from oak, hickory, or ash.
Dowel rods are also used in the manufacture of chairs, children's beds, and cribs, and for coops in which poultry is shipped.
The equivalent of about 12 million board feet of lumber is annually consumed in dowel making, and nearly two-thirds of it in the State of Maine. Michigan and New York also produce dowels in considerable quantities.
Table 52 Dowels (Annual wood consumption, 12 million board feet) Woods Used Per Cent Birch 68 Beech 15 Maple 11 Elm 1 Basswood 1 Other Woods 4 Total 100 39. Elevators.Under this heading is included the wood used in the manufacture of elevators and elevator parts, including gates, dumb waiters, platforms, guides, and frames.
Ash and oak are frequently used for the framework and heavy platforms of freight and passenger elevators. Maple is principally used for elevator floors and guides; while white and yellow pine are also used for guides, frames, and platforms in places where great strength is not required. Dumb-waiter cars are made from ma
ple, ash, birch, and some of the lighter woods. Elevator finish is often made of yellow poplar. In the more highly finished elevators, mahogany, ash, birch, and oak are used for interior trim.
New York appears to be the leading State in the manufacture of elevators, while this industry is about of equal magnitude in Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Table 53 (Annual lumber consumption, 10 million board feet) Woods Used Per Cent Yellow Pine 36 White Pine 17 Maple 16 Hemlock 10 Oak 10 Douglas Fir 4 Yellow Poplar 3 Ash 1 Other Woods 3 Total 100 40. Saddles and Harness. Strength is an essential element in the woods used in saddle and harness making; so 98 per cent of them are hardwoods, among which beech and ash are the most prominent.
The principal parts in which wood is used are saddle trees, stirrups, and hames. Ash is largely used for hames, and to some extent, also, are beech, maple, and oak. Stirrups are made of elm or hackberry, with the best ones of oak. In the West, Douglas fir, as well as Oregon maple, is used for saddle trees. Pack saddles are made from Oregon cottonwood, alder, or ash.
Table 154 Saddles and Harness (Annual wood consumption, 9 million board feet) ' Woods Used Per Cent Beech 30 Ash 23 Maple 16 Oak 14 Red Gum 12 Elm 3 Douglas Fir 1 Other Woods 1 Total 100 41. Playground Equipment.Under this heading are included merry-go-rounds, lawn and other swings, athletic platforms, and various field appliances. Since nearly all such equipment requires strength and wearing qualities, it is not surprising that almost 90 per cent of the 9 million feet of wood annually used for this purpose consists of beech, oak, yellow pine, and maple.
Because of its strength and toughness, beech is much used for swings where subject to vibration and irregular strains. Longleaf pine is much used for the platform sills of merry-gorounds; and so are also Douglas fir and oak. Birch and other woods are used for lawn swings and settees; and black ash, for porch swings. Elm is frequently used for bent parts in playground equipment; and maple, for the exterior finish of merry-go-rounds.