HARDWOOD RECORD 



Electric Equipment of the Great Southern Lumber 

 Company's Plant at 'Bogalusa, La. 



One of the most important electrical instal- 

 lations of recent years is that lately com- 

 pleted by the Great Southern Lumber Com- 

 pany at Bogalusa, La. The importance arises 

 not only from the fact that this is the first 

 installation of the kind in that section of the 

 country, but because it is the largest elec- 

 trically-equipped woodworking plant in the 

 world. 



The enormous capacity of this plant has 

 made it necessary to cover a large area, con- 

 sequently considerable of the woodworking 

 machinery is located at such a distance from 

 the main sawmill that the transmission of 

 power would be almost impracticable through 

 any other means than by the application of 

 electric motors. The distribution of power 

 could have been accomplished by cable trans- 

 mission, or the various mills could have been 

 operated by independent steam plants, but the 

 low efficiency of such methods of drive was 

 objectionable in this case. 



A practical millman will readily understand 

 that there are a large number of complica- 

 tions required where rope transmission is used 

 and that such a system only multiplies the use 

 of belts, pulleys, hangers, etc., as well as adds 

 to the cost of help necessary to keep such ap- 

 paratus in working order. 



The installation of several steam plants, 

 including the costs for boilers, steam engines, 

 pumps, piping, etc., may not be considered as 

 being prohibitive in the matter of first cost, 

 but the expense of maintenance, including in- 

 surance and the cost of labor connected with 

 these separate steam installations make such 

 applications expensive and the plant a source 

 of worry and annoyance to the management. 

 The electric drive, when properly installed, 

 does away with long lines of shafting and 

 multitudes of hangers, journal boxes, etc., 

 which have to be continually looked after and 

 kept in repair. It further does away with a 

 great number of expensive belts, which fre- 

 quently break and have to be renewed or re- 

 tightened owing to various conditions which 

 must be anticipated. 



It is not possible to eliminate all belting 

 in a woodworking plant where electric motors 

 are used, as, for example, the small machines 

 in the filing room which may be grouped so 

 that several operate from one motor, or the 

 lumber sorters, blowers and stackers may re- 

 quire short lengths of belting, but even in this 

 ease long lines of shafting and gearing may 

 be eliminated. The excellent arrangement and 

 consequent economy of operation of the 

 Bogalusa plant, secured by direct drive, is in 

 great part due to the efforts of G. U. Borde 

 of New Orleans, who acted as consulting en- 

 gineer for the company. 



The entire 1,500 horsepower for use about 

 the mill is generated at a central point by 

 General Electric generators and is distributed 

 through cables to motors located at the ma- 



chines to be driven. The three generators, 

 direct driven by slow speed engines and de- 

 livering current to the line at 2,300 volts, are 

 excited by current from two direct current 

 marine engine sets shown in the foreground 

 of Fig. 2. The entire current is carried to 

 the mill through cables in underground con- 

 duits: The heavy black line running to the 

 left from the power house in Fig. 1, shows 

 the course of the underground conduit sup- 

 plying the two planing mills, sorter and 

 stacker and ending with the forty-two motors 

 in the main planing mill. 



The woodworking machinery furnished by 

 the Berlin Machine Works, as well as the 

 auxiliary apparatus and sizes of motors, is 

 listed in the following table: 



Planing Mill No. 1. 



Thirteen IG-inch No. 238 trim saws, each 



diiect coupled to 5 II. P. 1200 R. P. M. motor. 



Seventeen No. 94 planers and matchers, each 



dii-ect coupled to 35 H. P. £00 R. P. M. motor. 



Two No. 266 three-saw gang edgers, each 



belted to 35 H. P., 900 R. P. M. motor. 



One 64-inch No. 285 band rip saw, direct 

 coupled to 55 H. P., 514 R. P. M. motor. 



One 44-inch No. 283 band rip saw, direct 

 coupled to 25 H. P., 600 R. P. M. motor. 



One 44-inch No. 281 band rip saw, direct 

 coupled to 25 H. P., 600 R. P. M. motor. 



One 30-inch No. 177 double surfacer, direct 

 coupled to 35 H. P., 900 R. P. M. motor. 



Three double 70-lnch Sturtevant blowers, each 



direct belted to 150 H. P., 600 R. P. M. motor. 



All machinery in the filing room is connected 



with line shafting, belted to a 10 H. P., 1200 



R. P. M. motor. 



Planing Mill No. 2. 

 Eight No. 94 planers and matchers, each 

 coupled to 85 H. P., 900 R. P. M. motor. 



One 44-lnch No. 281 band rip saw, direct 

 coupled to 25 H. P., 600 R. P. M. motor. 



i^our 16-inch No. 238 trim saws, each coupled 

 to 5 H. P., 1200 R. P. M. motor. 



One double 70-inch Sturtevant blower, direct 

 coupled to 150 H. P., 600 R. P. M. motor. 

 Planing Mill on Timber Dock. 

 One 30x20-inch No. 1 timber sizer. direct 

 coupled to 85 H. P., 900 R. P. M. motor. 



One No. 94 planer and matcher, direct coupled 

 to 35 H. P.. 900 R. P. M. motor. 



One double CO-inch Sturtevant blower, direct 

 coupled to 150 H. P.. 600 R. P. M. motor. 

 Dbt Lumber Sorter. 

 Dry lumber sorter, driven by one 35 H. P., 

 900 R. P. M. belted motor. 



Lumber Stackers. 



Fuel Conveyors. 

 fuel conveyors, driven by 



35 H. 



900 R. P. M. belted 



Centrifugal Pumps. 



Two 14-inch centrifugal pumps for pumping 

 into log ponds, each diiect coupled to 85 H. P., 

 720 R. P. M. motor. 



Machine Suop. 



One 2 H P. motor connected to upright drill. 



One 2 II. P. motor connected to bolt cutter. 



One 7V'- H. P. motor connected to planer. 



One 2 II. P. motor connected to pipe machine. 



One 2 H. P. motor connected to pipe machine. 



One 3y2 H. P. motor connected to shaper. 



One 5 H. P. motor connected to radial drill. 



One 3V4 H. P. motor connected to machine 

 lathe. 



Relay Blower Stations. 



Two double 70-i:ich Sturtevant blowers, belted 

 to two 150 ri. P., 600 U. P. M. motors. 



Transformers inside the mills reduce the 

 pressure to 440 volts, at which pressure the 

 motors driving the various mill machines are 

 operated. All of the machines in the three 

 mills of this plant are driven by the General 

 Electric Company 's Form K induction motors, 

 which on account of their extreme simplicity 

 and sturdiness are especially suited to this 

 class of work. Moreover the electric motor 

 of such sizes as are used in this work is essen- 

 tially a high speed high efficiency machine, 

 making it not only possible but highly desir- 

 able to connect this direct to the shaft of the 

 machine to be driven. This has been done in 

 all except a few instances, as the higher 

 efficiency obtained with the absence of long 

 belts and Unes of overhead shafting more 

 than justifies the extra first cost for individual 

 motors. Swing saws, planers, matchers and 

 band saws are all connected direct to the driv- 

 ing motor. This makes the lighting remark- 

 ably good, as it does away with all overhead 

 shafting and belts, and at the same time gives 

 an installation of remarkable flexibility. The 

 good lighting and entire absence of belts is 

 well shown in Fig. 3, which illustrates the 

 direct motor drive to one of the Berlin hand 

 rip saws. 



The dust which is generally such an ob- 

 stacle to the satisfactory operation of planing 

 mills is removed by electricity. Seven double 

 blowers are driven by 150 horsepower motors, 

 drawing the dust up through a system of 

 pipes. These blowers are distributed through 

 the mill as follows: One in each of the small 

 planing mills H and I shown in the diagram, 

 two in the rough lumber shed and three in the 

 main planing mill. About eight ounces of 

 pressure is maintained by these, which not 

 only carries away dust and fine shavings, but 

 also knots and large chips. One of these 

 blowers is shown in Fig. 4 and the arrange- 

 ment of the pipes is well shown in Fig. 3. 



Fig. 5, showing an 85-horsepower motor 

 connected to a timber sizer, gives a very good 

 idea of the simplicity and compactness of this 

 form of drive. This sizer is in the planing 

 mill on the timber dock, as shown in the dia- 

 gram. 



Each of the motors is supplied with a start- 

 ing device and protecting fuses at the motor 

 so that each machine is a plant in itself and 

 practically independent of the other machines. 

 Fig. 6 shows one of these starting compensa- 

 tors connected to a motor driving a band 

 edger. The fuses at each machine protect that 

 motor and its cable from internal injury, and 

 as the cables are encased in iron conduits 

 fire danger is eliminated. 



The entire installation is one that exem- 

 plifies the best and most economical metlnuls 

 of handling lumber and the cleanliness and 

 flexibility secured by the improvc<l methods 

 used are making the dutsy sawmills of the 

 past more and more uncommon. 



