SEA

410

SEA

SCYRIUM MARMOR, a name given by the ancients,sometimes to a white, and sometimes to a yellowish marble ;both used in the public buildings of the Romans, but seldomin statuary, not being capable of a high polish.

SEALING, the fixing of a piece of wood or iron on a wallwith plaster, mortar, cement, lead, or other binding, forstaples, hinges, or joints.

SEASONING TIMBER, the act of preparing it fbrbuilding, by expelling the natural sap.

Added to the other defects of modern English building,particularly that of the metropolis and its immediate neigh-bourhood, is the improper state in which timber is used.

The major part of our best timber is imported from thenorth of Europe , and is immersed in docks, and lies therefloating till it is sold for immediate use; the consequence ofthis is, that the timber (though even it may be previouslyseasoned) becomes swelled to much beyond its former andits ultimate bulk ; is hastily framed together while the verywater is running from it ; and very soon after it is so con-verted, it shrinks to such a degree, that every tenon becomesloose, every joint strains falsely from the shrinkage, andevery ceiling and quartered partition cracks by the opening,diminishing, and distortion of the wood.

Some persons fancy, that to immerse timber in waterseasons it ; however this may be, (and it may well bedoubted,) it does not render it fit for use, but the veryreverse of it. Timber for ordinary purposes should beshrunken to its smallest limits before it is worked up; theleast possible change should occur in the timber after thework is framed and adapted ; for all the oblique joints of it,by shrinkage, become imperfect, each bearing-timber thenhangs straining upon a single point, instead of upon a flatdirect abutment; thence many of the struts and otherbearing-timbers rend by the weight, hanging merely upontheir angles.

In very many cases, dry-rot is engendered in our hastily-constructed buildings, by the quantity of dock-water pent upin the timber, by its mortises and other joints, by the plas-tering, by the brickwork, and by many other causes. Whileour timber is at the saw-pit, the water not unfrequentlystreams from it, and though it may appear choice and closewhen first selected and wrought, the sun and air in a veryfew days suffice to render it coarse, open, full of cracks, andwholly unfit for good work.

Our specifications are very strict in the requirement ofthe perfection and proper seasoning of timber, but these pre-cautions are almost useless. The builder can hardly procure,at any price, timber which is not in a dropsical condition ;and twelve months, in general, are sufficient to diminish inbulk, and to split our carpentry, alike whether it beframed for the palace or the cottage—for the public or theindividual.

After timber is felled, it should be piled up perpendicu-larly in an airy dry place, with proper interstices to admita free circulation of air ; and thus both rain and the exces-sive heat of the sun being excluded, the timber will dry with-out shakes or fissures.

Some persons, however, prefer to keep the timber as moistas they can, by immersing it in water, to prevent its cleaving.In this case, when the boards have laid a fortnight underwater, they have them set upright in an airy place duringthe heat of summer, and turned every day; by this practice,new-sawn boards, it is said by those who are the advocatesfor the soaking-system, will floor much better than thosewhich have had many years dry-seasoning.

We are, as we have said, opposed to this practice ; but toprevent all possible accidents, when floors are laid, let the

it hinders the

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to the heart of the wood, the substance is presentlynated and destroyed. . n , e tii:

As a means of preventing this evil, the timber is 9 aC qui' e9scorched over a flame, turning it about till every si e f 0 Uo"' s ’a sort of crusty surface; in doing this, it necessaii y ee gS,that the external moisture is dissipated. After 0 wda mixture of pitch and tar, sprinkled with sand an P. nte ndejJshells, may be advantageously applied to the P ar j n g \vd lto be under water, while those more in sight, aft er ^ 0 v efscorched, and while the wood is hot, should be, ru -jj sti'ik 6with linseed-oil mixed with a little tar. Th |S | m rd en ’

deeply into the grain of the wood, and will soon

cn no fn ponnitra no momt nno t-a n f nnint & s llitJ

so as to receive as many coats of paintnecessary. , j g

It has been found, that fir-timber, thus prep are ’equal to oak for durability. „ gon jng ,

The following valuable observations on the^ s ^—I 13timber are extracted from an able article on ‘ mjghed ' nTreatment and Uses,” by Mr. James Wylson, Pthe Second Volume of the “ Builder

“ There are natural and artificial means

set

sun and'wind, and where there is no vegetation» , i>it a

't ft c

on bearers of iron or brick in such manner ns to^ g j to atio^j

” carpent'^ch

culation of air all round and under it.should continue two years, if intended

for

lit,

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double that time if for joinery, the loss o '' r tl> e 1“,

. «r« .i» p«i2s,vi”i

should take place to render it

core,

en te '

id,

mer, being about one-fifth, and for the latter a ^ ( j ieIf it is to be used round, it is good to pre ve ” re( l

• _ be s< l u ‘ ,ii

if ii i 8t0 a b rji«*:

8» U

el*

ot

with timosf nt e s a?riaf e ‘ S f dVanCed ’ “ nd Sp

into logs, it shouM i j 0i 8tren gth. Ii n

w hole-squared if i» e f ° ne soon some sloW - m[I „

the sap- W ood and / S M' en ° Ugh; 83 tfult removeS Its tl ‘ esplitting whirl, • ^icthfates the drying, and P rev . oU n'fform, inrolzt ,S apt , *° take place when it is in the ^from being ] eS g ot the sa p-wood drying belore th ^ ^

to treat it so nft e ’ a ao > ]f >t may be quartered, ( j,at* S ° aher 8 °me time, as the seasoning >*

11 Clllt i(,

means rendered auj,JO .... ....und then, as the pvT 6 I £ is well also to turn .

“To prevent .• porati °n is greatest from the upp er 3 e ,|before it^ eiu • warping, it should be yvell sea bg

cut some ti me uj- 3 filings , and the scantlings^ sbo ({)flseasoning may 6 are to he used, inorder 1 „ beset uprin-fat as P ei 'fect as possible; and if &oterapidly,° ln ,l ® th e better, as then they will *7 g{de ,

they ought the • f & u PP er dries sooner than the loS thetefore to be reversed at intervals

-----^ th e j!I

edges be shot and brought to a joint, or nearly so, jjgytfi* 1down the first year, and finally fasten them the next, ^then remain without shrinking, provided they J 6 .,! hi S eliS0 ZThe following particulars should be attended to ene riiH/ing wood. The sudden decay of the timber is j ( ;cU ' 3owing to the sappy nature of the exterior sur f ace ’|. ca tiot> 0by no means capable of being remedied by any a PP ;t ha 3paint previous to its being seasoned ; on the c . on . tl a na3 , sif c ?been proved, that such application is actually inj ur ! j, w° u afree admission of air and heat, wu ^

9t>

have the property of extracting that sappy quality . 9 p r „vmuch contributes to decay and rottenness. When ^ , (gtice is adopted, the sap strikes inwardly, and, mak 1 7^'

in« 3

ica 1

apP 1i nea^y0^

■„cr h otl1

- ofseaS S-me r |ia3

of which have their recommendations ; but the toa abo eS lcertainly the right of preference, as it gives °. r ? a i p v ay s be 60elasticity, and durability, and therefore shoul aployed in preparing timber for carpentry. . a [[ tl' at ,

“ When there is time for drying it g'' a " aa q,’ in) pnecessary to be done, on removing it fr om , t lter ed fr° ,nof the forest, is to place it in a dry yard, . a nd

it