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Cutting of Veneer Dimension 



Editor's Note 



As is well known lo thu majority ol" veneer niunulaeturei's, the unproUtable pari oi' llie veneer business is llie 

 cutting of dimension sizes, and notably of large dimension sizes, to till specific requirements for the production of 

 doors, car ceilings, interior finish, furniture, etc. This subject had no inconsiderable study and discussion at the 

 meeting of the National Veneer & Panel Manufacturers' A.^sociatiou. held at Chicaso on December 12 and 13. B. W. 

 Lord, head of the Chicago Veneer Company, liurnside, Ky., expressed himself on the subject in a thoughtful paper. 

 His opinions were generally concurred in by members of the association, but it seemed to be the consensus of opinion 

 that it was impractical to abandon tlie manufacture of dimension sizes in veneers, but that the price for this 

 material should be advanced to a point commensurate with its worth, which would result in the diminution of 

 demand for cut sizes, and turn the trend of demand to log run stock. 



It is very easy to look at any question, or to argue any question, 

 from one side, but the comparison of log run and dimension stock 

 I want to try to take up from both sides. 



In the first place, in figuring a price on any order for dimension 

 stock, that price is based on how much of that order can be cut out 

 of your logs, and that is determined entirely by the amount of waste. 

 Kow, who is going to pay for that waste f 



If the manufacturer pays for the waste, he has to make his price 

 accordingly, and if the consumer pays for the waste, he pays for stock 

 he does not get, and in either case stock is destroyed, and no one 

 receives any benefit for it. 



When a consumer uses only a small number of standard sizes, it 

 is undoubtedly wise for him to buy stock, cut his sizes, and let the 

 manufacturer get out the best he can, but when the customer uses a 

 number of different sizes, and especially when he uses some core 

 stock, if he will figure out what his log run stock wiU cost him, his 

 labor in cutting the stock to his sizes, and his waste, he will be sur- 

 prised at the result. 



It is not reasonable, or even possible, for an employe of the veneer 

 mill to understand exactly what sort of an inspection some consumer 

 may require in his particular work, as it is very seldom this employe 

 has the least idea of what the stock is used for, so that he will either 

 make the stock too good, which means that considerable material is 

 wasted, or he will make the inspection too hard, so that the stock 

 wiU rot be satisfactory. 



Another point to consider is that a customer will order stock cut 

 to certain dimensions; then he may change his sizes, or he may take 

 orders for other work that requires different sizes; and either he has 

 to cut stock down, with more or less waste, or else his sizes are so 

 large that his dimension stock on hand is useless. 



Almost every dimension order is wanted promptly, and it very often 

 happens that a mill will receive a number of orders for dimension 

 stock at about the same time. The manufacturer can not cut them 

 all at once, so there is bound to be delay in shipping some of the 

 orders. If he tries to rush them out, he hurries his work and his 

 drying so that some of the stock is unsatisfactory, when with log run 

 stock, a mill can keep a good supply of both good and center stock 

 and all the standard thicknesses on hand for immediate shipment, and 

 his stock is better manufactured and he can give his customers better 

 service. 



From a millman's standpoint, it is much more satisfactory to cut 

 his logs into log run stock, as he can make larger cuts, manufacture 

 much more economically, systematize his mill better, have very much 

 less waste, and by manufacturing to the best advantage give his 

 customers the benefit of a minimum price. 



When a millman has to select certain logs for certain orders he is 

 very apt to accumulate a certain class of logs which may mean his 

 best logs or his poorer ones, and these logs will damage to some 

 extent, or in getting dimensions he is sure to have more or less waste 

 in the ends of his logs, so that in either case the dimension customer 

 has to pay for this waste. 



When a customer buys dimension stock and by changing his sizes 

 or trying to make those sizes into other sizes he joins a lot of small 

 pieces, it is expensive and unsatisfactory. However, if he buys log 

 run stock, it is in large enough sheets to permit him to cut out special 

 sizes to better advantage, and what stock is defective and not suitable 

 for some work is large enough to be desirable for core stock. Then 

 again, as it takes a certain length of time to manufacture any dimen- 

 sion order, the user does not have to anticipate his wants so far ahead. 



This log run proposition has been thoroughly tried out by some of 

 the largest manufacturers in the country, and two or three have told 

 me personally that their men knew a great deal better what they 

 needed for their particular work than my men did, and while the 

 man who used that stock preferred to have it bought cut to exact 

 size so as to make less trouble for him, my friends told me they had 

 found it more profitable from a dollars-and-cents standpoint to buy 

 log run stock. 



Every veneer mill in the country burns millions of feet of stock 

 that could be used by the consumer, and this stock will be used by the 

 consumer more and more as timber becomes scarce, and as the veneer 

 industry develops, and this stock that is burned by the mill is paid 

 for by the consumer. 



Conservation of timber is the keynote of progress and is being 

 given a great deal of thought, and will be given more thought each 

 year. 



From the millman 's standpoint, the manufacture of log run stock 

 means higher efficiency in the manufacturing, and if the buyer will 

 study this carefuUy and will investigate and test it out himself, he 

 will know the large amount of waste in manufacturing dimension 

 stock, and will realize that he has to pay for that waste. 



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The Prevention of Sap Stain 



SAP STAIN AND ITS CAUSES 



The Forest Service has publisliod a circular written by Howard 

 F. Weiss, assistant director, Forest Products Laboratory, and Charles 

 T. Bamum, engineer in wood preservation, covering the results of a 

 series of experiments made last year with various chemicals to 

 prevent the sap staining of lumber. Experiments were made entirely 

 with yellow pine, and did not cover the treatment of gum, tupelo 

 and other wood prone to stain. 



The circular alleges that when freshly cut lumber is piled in the 

 open air to season it frequently becomes discolored within a few days. 

 It occurs in the sap part of the wood only, and • for that reason 

 is called sap stain. It is considered a defect, and lumber attacked 

 by it is reduced in value, partly on account of its unpleasing 

 appearance, but chiefly because some people believe lumber is not 



—se- 



as sound as it was before the stain developed. The discoloration 

 can not be washed off or otherwise removed, for it is not a surface 

 deposit. It lies deep in the underlying cellular structure of the 

 wood. Beduction in value of stained lumber results in an enormous 

 loss, ranging from fifty cents to two dollars a thousand feet. Per- 

 haps one-fourth of the annual mill cut of the United States is 

 attacked, but with different degrees of intensity in different regions 

 and at different seasons of the year. The South suffers most, 

 because climatic conditions — dampness and heat — facilitate the 

 devilopment and spread of the organisms which cause the stain. 



The writers estimate' the loss for the whole country from sap 

 stain at about eight and n quarter million dollars annually. To 

 prevent lumber from sap staining it is necessary either to attack the 

 fungus or else to render tlio wood proof against infection. 



