26 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



March 10, 1917 



ture not yet having worked off. Quite frequently stock 

 of this kind, if piled down in a nice pile on a caul board 

 and some weight put on top of it, will straighten out in a 

 week or two and be all right. 



The main objection to this, in either panel work or a 

 door frame, is that it requires too much time. When 

 stock is made up it is generally made up on orders, and 

 the purchaser is wanting delivery, therefore it is some- 

 times out of the question to carry it two or three weeks in 

 the warehouse while it flattens out and assumes its normal 

 condition; in other words, until it gets rid of its moisture 

 from the glue and gets tempered in the air. Fortunately, 

 this trouble does not come with all of it, but where it does 

 come that seems to be the best way to safeguard it, even 

 if it does take lots of time. The matter might be hur- 

 ried a little, where time is an object, by piling the stock 

 in a hothouse or kiln room, so as to dry out thoroughly 

 all the moisture incident to gluing. Yet this of itself is 

 not entirely satisfactory, because what is wanted is tem- 

 pering in the natural air, as some of the veneer will be 

 unnaturally dry and will absorb moisture from the air, 



and swell, and the swelling on one side is just the same as 

 shrinkage on the other. 



If it could be done, it would be a good idea not only 

 to make up veneer panels and give them more time to 

 dry and temper while piled flat and under pressure, but 

 also to make up the core work and let it temper before 

 applying the face veneer. Cores of various sizs could be 

 made in three-ply work — that is, built-up lumber of 

 various sizes and thicknesses — and kept piled in stock, 

 just like a stock of ordinary lumber, so it would have 

 time to temper and settle down to its regular shape and 

 quit this setting up of strains and trying to warp. Then, 

 by using a thin face veneer, only a slight spread of glue 

 would be required, and the strains and moisture which 

 develop from the gluing on the thin veneer would not 

 be sufficient to cause serious trouble. All this and some 

 other things along the same line are among the finer 

 points of veneering that are now coming in for attention, 

 and need studying by those who would get the best 

 results out of their work and help build up a better reputa- 

 tion for veneered work. B. A. 



Efficiency of Staining and Veneering 



Would the Staining of Woodvs^ork Before Its Use Prevent Troubles? 



ANY OF THE WRANGLES that arise between 

 the finishing-room and the glue-room in con- 

 nection with veneer work may be charged up 

 to the staining processes, or in other words, to 

 the practice of staining work after it is veneered instead 

 of before it is used. 



In discussing this subject recently with a prominent 

 veneer and panel manufacturer who has spent practically 

 a lifetime in the business, he gave it as his opinion that 

 if all the staining that was required on woodwork could 

 be done before it is used there would be but little trouble 

 with veneer blistering or coming loose in the finishing 

 room. As it is, when stock is built up with thin face 

 veneer on it and goes into the finishing-room where it 

 receives first of all a staining which may be a water 

 stain or acid or oil stain, or it may be a fumigating treat- 

 ment. In either case, however, it involves the use of 

 moisture, oil and other ingredients which are not by 

 any means beneficial to the glue joint. Often it is the 

 staining itself that causes the loosening up. Perhaps 

 some of the work would loosen up, anyway, but it w^ould 

 be only a small percentage as to what is caused to loosen 

 up by the finishing process. 



This is where the wrangle starts. The finisher con- 

 tends that the gluing is not properly done and that the 

 stuff would go bad anyway, and the glue-room man con- 

 tends that the finisher should devise some way of stain- 

 ing or treating the work which will not endanger the 

 glue joint of veneering. Then they have it back and 



forth, with claims and counterclaims, with perhaps some 

 fault on both sides, but always we have before us the 

 fact that around the staining or finishing process there 

 is built up an almost endless lot of ■wrangles. The result 

 is a percentage of stock spoiled at about the most ex- 

 pensive stage of the game. 



The ideal thing to do would be to put all the neces- 

 sary stain into the wood before it is used. In other 

 words, stain the veneer before it is applied in face work. 

 Then all that would be required in the finishing process 

 would be filling and varnishing, which would not likely 

 endanger the glue joint. 



There are many different ways to treat wood to obtain 

 the stain or color desired before using it. There are 

 some of the old-time ways or burying the logs and lumber 

 in the ground with lime and other acid substances to 

 develop stronger coloring or deeper tones in the wood 

 before it is worked up. 



There is a modern following of this same idea in which 

 wood is treated with steam and acids to deepen the color 

 and to alter and change it. Mahogany, for example, 

 can be deepened in red tones by a few hours' steaming 

 under pressure. Oak under the same kind of treatment 

 turns a shade darker and the color tones even nicely in 

 it. Certain acids can be added to bring out those 

 greenish gray shades or certain other acids to bring 

 brown shades. For example, what is known as silver 

 gray used to be put into maple with a treatment involv- 

 ing the use of copperas. 



