30b 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



December 10, 1916 



Veneer Buying 



Should the Producer or the Buyer Carry the Stock? 



HAT there are many points to be considered in 

 connection with veneer buying goes without 

 saying, and now and then some very interest- 

 ing points turn up. For example: A planing 

 mill man who uses a fair amount of veneer in doing 

 miilw^ork had an extensive job of interior finish on a 

 store building, in veneer, involving the use of quite a 

 lot of figured mahogany. In contracting for the veneer 

 he took the details of the job and submitted them to 

 the veneer manufacturer, who supplied samples to 

 suit the architect, and in buying the veneer this planing 

 mill man made his agreement that he would pay so much 

 for enough veneer to complete the job. In other words, 

 he bought the exact finished measurement and had the 

 veneer man shoulder the problem of making allowance 

 for and taking care of the waste. 



This, naturally, made safe figuring for the millman, and 

 the veneer manufacturer probably got enough for his 

 stock to take care of the extra amount to trim and fit 

 into the job. If a piece, or a dozen pieces of veneer, 

 showed defects and were not up to the specifications, the 

 architect was asked to pass on it before it was glued up, 

 and it was returned to the veneer manufacturer. In that 

 instance the whole plan worked very nicely, because 

 both the veneer manufacturer and the veneer user were 

 in the same city. How it might work if a veneer user 

 should do business on this basis with a manufacturer in a 

 different city may be a question. 



This instance is a reminder that there are two ways of 

 buying veneer. One is buying for immediate needs and 

 with a view to filling the need only; the other is buying 

 to get such lots of stock as may be used up to advantage. 

 Which method should be followed probably depends 

 upon the veneer user and his work. For a large piano 

 manufacturer, it naturally is a better policy to buy in 

 quantity such veneer as he thinks will turn out the best 

 looking piano cases; that is, entire flitches or the entire 

 batch of stock in some shipment. In the same way some 

 furniture manufacturers advantageously buy large quan- 

 tities of a given kind of veneer, because it suits their busi- 

 ness in a general way. 



Then there may be other manufacturers who do not 

 find it well to look far beyond current needs, because 

 their needs vary and they do not know just what will be 

 called for next. These are in a quandary occasionally 

 when they want a little special figured wood, whether 

 to buy just what they need or try to buy a quantity that 

 will include not only what they need, but a lot of other 

 stock, for the sake of getting a job lot of veneer. 



There is such a thing as going back over the work of 

 the past year to try to anticipate the demand of the 



coming year, and lay in veneer that one thinks will be 

 attractive, just as one lays in a stock "of other material; 

 then feature this veneer to prospective customers and 

 strive to lead the possession, instead of tagging along 

 and contenting one's self with filling every peculiar 

 notion that buyers take. It may not be wise to risk too 

 much on it, but it is a tendency that may well be fol- 

 lowed. The users of smaller quantities may wisely culti- 

 vate the practice of buying in more liberal quantities of 

 certain kinds of veneers, instead of barely for immediate 

 needs. 



Not "How Much Pressure" but "How 



Little" 



Generally speaking, it takes more pressure to do a 

 good job with thick veneer than with thin. Not because 

 thick veneer has to be pressed tighter together, but be- 

 cause the wrinkles and uneven places in thick veneer 

 require more pressure to flatten them down and insure 

 thorough contact all through the joint. With very thin 

 face veneer only a small amount of pressure is necessary 

 to bring it down flat and firm against a core body. There 

 is probably three times as much pressure used in the 

 average glue room as is really necessary, or rather would 

 be necessary if enough care were taken in smoothing 

 down the core stock and making cauls and forms that 

 will come down flat on the face all over. It is a good 

 idea to try to save pressure by doing neat, smooth work, 

 and to try some experiments and see, not how much 

 pressure can be put on the work, but how little can be 

 used for good work. On the theory that it takes more 

 pressure for thick veneer, it also takes more pressure 

 comparatively for a lot of veneer panels in a press than 

 it does for one or two. 



After a day's work in the dusty shop or mill a good, 

 long walk in the open air, preferably in the country, will 

 put one in better shape for a night's sleep and for the 

 next day's work. It will be tiresome the first night, less 

 so the next, and by the end of a week will be found 

 restful. 



A concern prominent in the manufacture of gluing 

 appliances says it frequently has inquiries for competent 

 young men to take charge of glue rooms in good factories, 

 but that such men are hard to find. It suggests that 

 ambitious young men will do well to fit themselves for this 

 work. 



