of thanks to Mr. Gibson, who has done a 

 vast amount of work and spent quite a tot 

 of time and money upon this proposition- 

 Carried. 



Mr. Davis — Also to the managrement of this 

 hotel for their co-opei'ation in making the 

 meeting a success. Carried. 

 Notes. 



The president of the Hardwood Dimension 

 Association, Edward L. Davis, is of the well 

 known hardwood lumber and wagon stock di- 

 mension house of Edward L. Davis & Co. of 

 Louisville, Ky. Mr. Davis is one of the fore- 

 most producers of wagon dimension material 

 in the country, and operates two sawmills on 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the Louisville i; Nashville railroad, about mid- 

 way between Louisville and KashviUe ; his 

 concern ;s also a large buyer from small mills. 



Charles S. Bacon, who was elected secre- 

 tary, has been identilied wuli lumber produc- 

 tion in Michigan for more than twenty years, 

 and during the last two or three years has 

 become interested in the manufacture of oak 

 lumber and dimension stock in Alabama and 

 Louisiana. He has one mill in operation at 

 the present time at Bellamy, Ala., and is en- 

 gaged in the erection of a second plant at Tre- 

 mont. La. Mr. Bacon is president of the 

 Bacon Lumber Company, and his principal office 

 is at Grand Rapids, Mich. 



Handling Veneer Bloci^s. 



Recent articles in the H.UiDWtiuu Kecokd 

 have discussed veneer factory plans and ha\e 

 pointed out that the carrying out of details 

 in this worlc depends somewhat on local con- 

 ditions. Methods of preparing logs for veneer 

 cutting have also been given, and now there 

 remains, between the boiling vats and steam 

 boxes for preparing logs and the veneer ma 

 chine, room for discussion of present day 

 methods and suggestions for possible improve- 

 ment. 



ilanufacturers of veneer hold different opin- 

 ions in regard to where boiling vats and steam 

 boxes should be located, and the question has 

 incidentally been referred to in an article in 

 tht^e columns on planning a veneer factory. 

 Some prefer to have the vats a.s close as pos- 

 sible to the veneer machine, while others want 

 them as far away as practicable to avoid the 

 heat and steam arising from the vats, which, 

 added to that which arises from the block 

 whUe it is being cut, is frequently a source 

 of much annoyance, especially in frosty 

 weather, as it not only befogs the atmosphere 

 around the veneer machine, but condenses on 

 belts and pulleys and seriously interferes with 

 their pulling power and incidentally does con- 

 siderable damage. Generally, however, the 

 vats are located outside the main building 

 near enough to the veneer machine so that 

 when the blocks are lifted from the vat with 

 a crane and let down on the floor or deck they 

 will not have to be rolled any great dis- 

 tance to the crane that is used to hoist 

 them into the veneer machine. In other 

 words, between the vat and \eneer ma- 

 chine there are generally two cranes 

 and a peeling deck. A block in proceeding 

 from the vat to the veneer machine in the aver- 

 age plant is taken out of the vat by a man 

 with a hand crane, who lets it clown on the 

 floor or deck, generally outside, but close to 

 Ihe big door facing the veneer machine. Re- 

 leasing the hooks or tongs, he takes an axe 

 and skinning spud, which is nothing but a 

 bar of steel flattened at one end, peels off the 

 bark and trims off protruding knots. The 

 next step usually is to swing the block up 

 in another crane which is so set that it will 

 swing it into the veneer machine between tfie 

 chucks. This man 's work practically ends, 

 however, in swinging the block up to the 

 right height and measuring across each way 

 at each end of the block, locating the center 



and luinchiiig it with a type or center punch, 

 furnishing an entering point for the points 

 i.u the chuck spindles and to act as a guide 

 in centering the block in the machine. There 

 aje some variations in this practice, of 

 course, but this method of procedure is fair- 

 iy representative of that in use to-day in 

 most veneer plants, especially those of small 

 or moderate size. 



In making a study of the movements of 

 logs intended for veneers after they are cut 

 into blocks and go to the boiling vats and 

 thence on to the veneer machine, one is im- 

 pressed with the idea that there is not as 

 much systematic and automatic handling as 

 obtain in the modern sawmill. In an up-to- 

 date sawmill logs are not only pulled up by 

 power mechanism, but there are steam bump- 

 ers for knocking them out of the bed or 

 trough of the endless chain, mechanical knees 

 to hold them in position on the log deck, and 

 steam niggers with which to load them on to 

 the carriage, so that a log is oftentimes not 

 touched with a hand appliance from the time 

 it goes into the log pond until after it is 

 made into lumber. The question that nat- 

 urally follows this impression is, can we not 

 devise more modern means for handling 

 blocks from the vats to the veneer machine? 

 Improvements are being offered from time 

 to time, especially «here local conditions are 

 such as to suggest the use of special appa- 

 ratus, but it is remarkable to note the great 

 number of hand appliances in use in the 

 form of cranes, chain blocks and overhead 

 trolleys, and to observe how much of the 

 work is done by what we might term main 

 strength and awkwardness. The writer was 

 at one time making the rounds of an enor- 

 mous veneer plant, in company with the man- 

 ager, on which money had been expended lav- 

 ishly in securing every modern improvemeat 

 at all points, and yet out at the boiling vats 

 there was the same old hand crane that we 

 find in the less pretentious factory for pulling 

 the logs out and dumping them on the deck 

 to be peeled. , 



It is a little difficult to figure out to what 

 this lack of power appliances for handling 

 veneer blocks should be charged, but, para- 

 doxical as it may seem, it is probably due 

 in part at least to the fact that blocks are 

 handled twice between the vats and the veneer 

 machine. They must be released or un- 



23 



loaded from the crane that pulls them out of 

 the vats to be peeled before they are swung 

 into the machine. This peeling is done by 

 hand. A subject of much thought and dis- 

 cussion has been the devising of some method 

 of doing tiiis work mechanically. One of the 

 most logical suggestions made along this line 

 is that the veneer machine be equipped with 

 a special knife and carriage to take oft" the 

 bark and smooth up the block while it is in 

 the machine, prior to its being worked up 

 by the main knife. This idea, however, has 

 never been developed to a successful issue, and 

 its carrying out would probably add so much 

 to the complications and cost of the veneer 

 machine that it is doubtful if it will ever 

 come into general use. In fact, no idea or 

 suggestion for taking the bark oft" \eneer 

 blocks mechanically has ever been advanced 

 that has met with enough general approval to 

 gain recognition and come into general use. 

 It should not be assumed from this that there 

 never will be any mechanical method deviseil, 

 because we are always finding some new and 

 tetter way to do things, but it is well for 

 those who undertake to solve this problem 

 to bear in mind that it is not as easy as it 

 looks, and any machine for doing this work 

 must not only be inexpensive but must show 

 very decided advantages in order to gain 

 favor at the hands of the knowing ones in 

 the veneer machinery trade. 



The task of taking blocks up out of the 

 boiling vats and delivering them between the 

 chucks of the veneer machine, and having to 

 unload and pick them up the second time as 

 in the practice of to-day, should be an argu- 

 ment for instead of against using power ap- 

 pliances in handling them. "WTiat the veneer 

 trade needs is to form a closer acquaintance 

 with electric cranes and trolleys, and also 

 pneumatic hoist, because out of a close ac- 

 quaintance with both these systems of hoist- 

 ing and handling weights there ought to be 

 readily developed something that will be 

 worth while in the handling of blocks be- 

 tween the boiling vats and the veneer ma- 

 chine. Some may prefer electricity, and 

 others may see points of advantage in pneu- 

 matic appliances. Both have their good 

 points, and the study of either ought to 

 bring some light to the trade that would make 

 it worth while. There is work enough for the 

 man that handles the blocks without having 

 to exhaust his strength on a hand crane or a 

 hand chain block, and besides a power ap- 

 pliance for doing this lifting would save time 

 and should incidentally save enough money 

 to pay for itself every year it is in use. 



Woods of Extreme Hardness. 



The hardest known wood Is said to be cocus- 

 wood. It is employed in the manufacture of 

 flutes, clarionettes and other musical instru- 

 ments. The tone which it produces is rich and 

 powerful. Another extremely hard wood is the 

 desert ironwood. Its heart is black and is so 

 hard that when well seasoned it will turn the 

 edge of an axe, and it scarcely can be cut by a 

 well tempered saw. 



