30 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



May 25, 1919 



< C'liliniu;! fn.m /■,i,/i- 2(>' 



and some of the veneer wood used by Romans was 

 carried on camels from the region of the Mountains of 

 the Moon in Ethiopia. 



Veneer Company Plans Enlargement 



E. V. Knight, head of the New Albany Veneering Company, 

 New Albany, Ind., has announced that the company will spend 

 $100,000 on a new addition which will be 80x288 feet, of brick 

 and concrete construction. It is planned to increase the output 

 of the plant to about $1,000,000 of finished material annually. 

 The new department will close in the third side of a square, with 

 plant facing on three blocks, and with excellent railroad facilities 

 at command. 



Announcement has also been made that the company has vol- 



SPECIALISTS IN 

 -DIFFICULT ITEMS- 



We Manufacture 



ROTARY CUT VENEERS 

 THIN LUMBER SPECIALTIES 



BIRCH DOOR STOCK 

 MAPLE PIANO PIN BLOCKS 



YEARS OF EXPERIENCE BEHIND OUR PRODUCTS 



MUNISING WOODENWARE CO. 



MUNISING, MICH. 



North Wisconsin 



IRON-RANGE 

 HARDWOODS 



Tlie finest and most l^eautifnl 

 Birch, Oak, Basswood, Ash and 

 Elm grown in this coimtry. 



We use this quality stock exclusively for our: 

 ROTARY CUT LOG RUN 

 ROTARY CUT DOOR STOCK 

 ROTARY CUT FURNITURE 

 ROTARY CUT PIANO STOCK 



VENEERS 



ROTARY CUT HOOPS AND LINERS 

 THIN LUMBER SPECIALISTS 



RE AI EMBER we are specialists in 



LOG RUN VENEERS 



;iny thickness, any lengths up to 98 in. 

 Let Is Figure on Your Rcquircincnis 



Kiel W^oodenware Co. 



KIEL WISCONSIN MELLEN 



untarily made a ten per cent increase in wages to employes, and 

 set fifty-five hours per week as the regular schedule. 



Veneer Plant Will Move 



The Merrimac Veneer Company will move its plant from 

 Byram, Miss., to Jackson, according to a recent announcement in 

 the Jackson, Miss., Ledger. The new plant will be located on the 

 Natchez branch of the Y. 6c M. V. railroad. The necessary build- 

 ings are being erected to house the plant and shelter the product. 



Live Oak as Source of Veneer 



The possibilities of live oak trunks, stumps and roots and a 

 .source of veneer seems to have been overlooked by manufacturers, 

 though the suggestion has been made more than once. 



Live oak (Quercus virginiana) is one of the largest oaks in 

 America and is abundant in the southern states near the coast, 

 yet it appears to be out of use for practically everything, though 

 it was once in demand by shipyards which wanted knees and other 

 heavy timber. Iron ships sounded the death knell of this oak as 

 a ship timber, and very little has been called for since the Civil 

 war. Trees have not been cut except in clearing land, and the 

 massive trunks have been used for fuel or not used at all, and the 

 gigantic stumps remain until slow^ decay destroys them. 



The beauty of the wood when finely finished and highly polished 

 is known to few, because so few have seen it. It is not on the 

 market. The wood is very dark. Its medullary rays are nearly 

 black, and though they are quite small, they are so numerous 

 that they give a dark tone to quarter-sawed stock. When finely 

 finished it suggests polished black granite. It i<; ver)' hard and 

 takes a high polish. Little can be said of the w^ood s seasoning 

 qualities except that it seasons slow^ly. No drykiln reports on the 

 subject appear to be available. Air drying of lumber w^ould likely 

 be slow^. 



Choice live oak w^ood is mostly located in the base of the short 

 trunks and in the stumps near or below^ the ground level. The 

 main roots are enormous and unite in the stump, forming angles 

 varying from acute to obtuse, and w^here these roots unite, the 

 grain of the wood is curly, wavy, and involved. It varies in color 

 so that clouded effects are often produced, some of which might 

 be not inaptly compared w^ith the tones of Circassian \^'alnut but 

 w^ith smaller and less bold patterns. 



It cannot be ascertained that any veneer mill has ever produced 

 any live oak stump veneers, but it is a field that can be easily 

 investigated and it might be developed. Such veneers w^ould be 

 attractive enough to be popular in any factory turning out furni- 

 ture, interior finish, fixtures, or musical instruments. Doubtless 

 much experimenting would be necessary to determine proper 

 methods of seasoning and vi'orking the w^ood. 



Raw material is now abundant and cheap, because live oak has 

 no buyers. It grows a hundred miles from the coast inland, from 

 Virginia to Texas. Some of the trees are quite large in girth, 

 though none are very tall. A single short sawlog would be all 

 that the average trunk could furnish, but as much more wood 

 could be had by grubbing the stump out. The grubbing would be 

 a man's job, for some of the roots, which unite to form the stump, 

 are as large as barrels. The crotches where such roots unite might 

 furnish the most valuable veneer stock. Such crotches exist at or 

 below the level of the ground. 



The supply is practically unlimited; at least, there is enough 

 to meet a large demand for many years. Scarcely a tree has been 

 manufactured since ship carpenters grubbed them up and hewed 

 ship knees from the roots and the junctions of limbs and trunks, 

 and that business came to an end sixty years ago. Since then the 

 large live oak trees have been highly ornamental but not very 

 useful. The trunks are difficult to handle because so large, heavy 

 and hard, but, once in a veneer mill, the slicer would be able to 

 take care of them. But would the market take the veneer, or 

 would its strange appearance cause it to be classed among freaks? 



