34 



Hardwood Record — Veneer &; Panel Section 



February 10, 1917 



in splendid condition often develops later into a permar 

 nent advertisement — of the v^rrong kind — for veneered 

 panels. 



Most people are familiar with the conditions under 

 which large building operations are carried on. The con- 

 tract is usually let to a general contractor, who then lets 

 the detail work to subcontractors. The job of the gen- 

 eral contractor, who has usually a time limit in which to 

 complete the work, with more or less onerous penalties 

 for running over the allowance, is to prod every one of 

 his subcontractors and see that they hurry up their indi- 

 vidual parts of the work. The architect or his repre- 

 sentative is on the ground now and then — infrequently 

 all the time — and is supposed to see that the hurry-up 

 methods of the contractors are not at the expense of 

 quality either in the materials or workmanship. 



Thus it is easy to see that there are two contending 

 forces, one putting the emphasis on time, the other on 

 quality. The contractor's interest is to get the material 

 into place and make way for the next man. The archi- 

 tect is not able to have an inspector at every point on the 

 job all the time, or even occasionally, and hence it is 

 entirely natural that the time element should take prec- 

 edence over everything else. By the time the work has 

 so far progressed that the interior woodwork is to be 

 placed, the time allowance is either exhausted or the 

 expiration of the period is close at hand, and owner, 

 architect and general contractor are all clamoring as 

 loudly as they can for the completion of the work, so that 

 the building may be turned over for use. 



TTie owner, be it noted, has a large investment of 

 idle capital, represented by the value of the building, 

 from which he is anxious to begin drawing revenue at 

 the earliest possible moment. At that stage of the game 

 he is ready to permit quality to be slighted to save a few 

 weeks of time, though later on he forgets that in con- 

 templating the condition of his woodwork. The archi- 

 tect wants to please the owner by having the work 

 finished on time, and the general contractor desires to 

 earn a bonus or escape a penalty by getting through 

 within the limits imposed. Thus all of the circumstances 

 conspire to put a premium on haste. 



The writer knows of woodwork being installed in build- 

 ings into which not a degree of heat had ever been turned. 

 TTie damp condition of every new structure, and espe- 

 cially large ones, is well understood, and of course panels 

 handled under such conditions absorb a tremendous 

 amount of moisture. When the heat is shot into the 

 building, and the moisture driven out in a hurry, it is 

 surprising that the panels are left looking even half- 

 way respectable. That they show the results of such 

 treatment is not to be wondered at, and yet owners and 

 architects are known to shake their heads over examples 

 of such results, and to declare that it is no longer pos- 

 sible to get fine built-up panels such as one saw in the 

 good old days! 



The trouble is not with the paneling, but with the 



conditions under which it is handled. Furniture manu- 

 facturers are accustomed to having it drilled into them 

 that panels must be kept at an equable temperature, 

 neither too hot nor too cold, and that the amount of 

 moisture they are permitted to absorb should also be 

 regulated. If they buy their panels ready to lay, the 

 panel man anticipates any trouble by showing his cus- 

 tomer how to handle the goods so that they will stand 

 up in the work. In this way the cabinet-making trade 

 is pretty well educated on the subject of glued-up stock, 

 and does not expect the impossible. If defects turn up, 

 it is fairly easy to say what has caused it, since the 

 routine through which the work has passed can be 

 analyzed to determine what v^^as wrong. 



But, as suggested, there is no such protection and no 

 such understanding in the architectural field. After the 

 work goes from the hands of the panel maker to the 

 contractor, it is Good-night! as far as having expert, pains- 

 taking care extended to maintain the condition of the 

 material is concerned. The contractor is through when 

 his work is accepted, and it is accepted if it looks all 

 right. Sometimes owners find out later on that looks do 

 not tell the whole story, and suits have been tried in 

 courts of equity because they have felt that they were 

 not given a square deal; but as a rule the trouble is 

 attributed to inherent defects in built-up work, and 

 seldom does anyone lay his finger on the weak place. 



From the standpoint of the manufacturer of veneered 

 work, who is anxious to develop more business in the 

 building construction field, it seems highly desirable that 

 greater safeguards be thrown around the installation of 

 his products. He cannot very well dictate to his cus- 

 tomer, but he can at least state the ideal conditions under 

 which glued-up panels should be installed. If these con- 

 ditions are not provided, he will at least have the satis- 

 faction of knowing that he has done his share to get a 

 good job for the owner. G. D. C., Jr. 



Avoid Lumpy Surfaces on Core Stock 



No man will probably ever name all tlie causes for loose places 

 in veneer (wliat arc generally termed blisters in face veneer), be- 

 cause there are so many diffeient things that may cause it, some of 

 which may be guarded against. For example, if the core body is 

 uneven on the surface, lias low spots and higli lumps, it is mighty 

 difficult to make a good .job of gluing face veneer on it unless the 

 piece is taken individually. If a number of pieces are put in a 

 press, practically all the jircssure will come on the higli lumps, and 

 the low spots may show loose afterwards. In doing this kind of 

 work, the small user of veneer who works individual pieces is 

 likely to do the best job, because he will take hand clamps and see 

 that every bit of his face veneer is pressed firmly down. Every 

 man, however, should seek to guard against lumpy places in his 

 core stock — the cores must be true and flat to insure a good job. 

 If the work is lumpy there is danger of sanding through the face 

 in finishing, especially if it goes through a m.ncliino, and if it is 

 cleaned off by hand after being put up and varnished, it will show 

 as a bad face and lumps will stand out conspicuously. 



Keep veneer piles covered and protected from dust, if you want 

 a good job of glue work, for glue does not stick well to a dry, 



dusty surface. 



