They
might, at all events, cut a ring round through the bark and sap-wood of
the tree, and leave it to discharge its juices, die, and become
half-seasoned as it stands.
To bend Wood.--If it is wished to bend a rod of wood, or to straighten it
if originally crooked, it must be steamed, or at least be submitted to
hot water. Thus a rod of green wood may be passed through the ashes of a
smouldering fire and, when hot, bent and shaped with the hand; but if the
wood be dry it must first be thoroughly soaked in a pond or puddle. If
the puddle is made to boil by shovelling in hot stones, as described in
the last paragraph, the stick will bend more easily. the long straight
spears of savages are often made of exceedingly crooked sticks,
straightened in the ashes of their camp fires. A thick piece of wood may
be well swabbed with hot water, forcibly bent, as far as can be safely
done, tied in position and steamed, as if for the purpose of seasoning
(see last paragraph), in a trench; after a quarter of an hour it must be
taken out, damped afresh if necessary, bent further, and again returned
to steam--the process being repeated till the wood has attained the shape
required; it should then be left in the trench to season thoroughly. The
heads of dog-sledges, and the pieces of wood used for the outsides of
snow-shoes, are all bent by this process.
Carpenters' Tools.
Pages:
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467