AMERICAN SUBSTITUTES FOR TIMBER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 154, 30 June 1881, Page 1

AMERICAN SUBSTITUTES FOR TIMBER

Our American cousins in their ingenuity are finding several substitutes for timber in different industrial applications. Pine sawdust bigbly compressed bas been successfully used to make up centre frames of carriage wheels. It is said to be so solid that it Will bear a pressure equal to twenty-three tons per square inch. -As saw-dust has also been used for partitions and bricks, its applications to the production of complex carvings and mouldings does not seem far off. This opens up quite a new market of saw-dust, which has hitherto been a comparatively waste product. A more startling , substitute still for planking has been manufactured from straw. We are informed that tho iriveiitor can manufacture timber in any desired length from 12 feet and upward, arid -to .32 inches in width, at a cost competing with the better grades of pine, Such artificial wood has several distinct advantages. It can liolda nail as well or better than Wood, and of course cannot contain knots or decayed parts. It is capable of taking a high degree of polish and finish, and if it will compare with pine planking in America it ought to be. much cheaper over here. When we consider the frightful appearance offered by. doors, window frames, shutters, of new domestic dwellings, there is no doubt that a material such as this, not liable to skrinkage, would be a perfect boon to both builders and occupiers. Being also made waterproof/ we see no possible reason jwby it ehould not be, as durable if not more so than: pine, or oal?, while its adaptability is €Videntlyas great for roofing purposes as for the fine work of a dwelling.