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The Dimension Problem 



The following letter is from a leading veteran and well-posted 

 Indiana lumber and dimension stock manufacturer: 



Referring to your issue of December 10, page 27, under lieadmg 

 "Hardwood Dimension Stocli," we quoted on tbis bill as follows : 

 Memorandum No. 1. Clear Qtd. Wbite Oak, 3 1-3" to 6 1-3' Iong..$75.00 



6^4' and up long 90.00 



Memorandum Xo. 2. I'lain Wbite Oak 3 1-3" to 6 1-3' long 50.00 



G\n' and up long 60.00 



Memorandum No. 6. Clear Qtd. Wbite Oak 3 1-3" to 61-3^ long.. 60.00 

 6V4' and up long .' ..75.00 



Delivered to New York, lighterage free, to be clear from all defects 

 with the exception ot bright sap, stating we would not undertake the 

 order eliminating the bright sap. The prospective custcmer comes back 

 with a letter reading as follows : 



"We have your favor of the 2nd inst. and have carefully noted con- 

 tents of same. We fear you have entirely misunderstood us as to grading. 

 The jrrade we require is not that of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association rules, but a prime srade for export, i. e.. free from sap. 

 heart and all defects. This we stated in our original inquiry and you 

 quoted us special prices on same. Now you say that the day i.s past 

 when the millman wiil cut off good wood, even sap-wood, to meet 

 specifications, etc. We beg to inquire what percentage of loss you 

 would have by eliminating the sap, and also how many per cent over 

 the market price you ask in quoting on these items. Our specifications 

 call for 3V4 to <iVi' and up, no average. Are not these lengths of 

 the grade of common ? You quote prices icell ahove the price of Ists and 

 Hds. and expect us to take sap as well. 



"We can only buy stock on our own inspection and are prepared to pay 

 your prices for the common lengths, but the stock must be distinctly up 

 to gi'ade of prime above described. You know as well as we do that 

 shorts are worth nothing like the prices you ask unless they are of 

 prime manufacture. Therefore we request you to take up these dimen- 

 sions and calculate seriously, so that you will know exactly what this 

 stock costs you. We can use any quantit,v, but must have it according to 

 specifications. If you will adapt to these, we can do a large business 

 with you for a term of years. Awaiting your favors in this direction, 

 we remain, yours very truly, etc." 



Tour correspondent is calling your special attention to the under- 

 scored above. It is possible that the prices quoted for clear lumber in 

 the dimensions given are well above the price of Ists and 2ds, but where 

 is the market that can buy 1st and 2ds at these prices? Possibly all ot 

 our customers to whom we sell all we can manufacture in quartered 

 white oak are a lot of lunatics to pay us our prices, or it is possible 

 that the quotations of the various lumber journals in the country are 

 not correct, and yet your correspondent believes that Haedwood 

 Recced will bear out the assertion we are making, when we say the 

 price quoted for the grade offered Including bright sap is very reason- 

 able and much below the market price for regular 1st and 2ds. The 

 prospective customer loses sight of the fact that in this day and age 

 the millman has a market for chair backs, seat stock, table tops, clear 

 strips and other similar dimensions, etc., all of the above admitting a 

 reasonable amount of bright sap. They evidently expect • the manu- 

 facturer to take his 1st and 2nds lumber at a high price and cut out 

 of it the clear dimension stock required, and supply same at a lower 

 price than the 1st and 2ds. It has been our experience that that is 

 the general expectation from a large share of the buyers of dimension 

 stock. They want clear dimension stock at a price of common lumber, or 

 even less, though we are glad to say that in our small business we 

 manage to sell all of the clear dimension stock we can manufacture, at 

 a price much above the price of common, and in some instances where 

 sizes are difficult, at above that of 1st and 2ds, and to people who have 

 purchased the various grades of lumber and attempted to cut the clear 

 dimensions therefrom. 



There is no question that this concern knows how to manufacture this 

 dimension stock as good and as cheaply as it can be made to meet every 

 possible requirement of the most fastidious buyer, but only a percentage 

 of these buyers appreciate the immense loss when sap is to be eliminated, 

 and in your correspondent's opinion the elimination of bright sap is 

 idiotic in most cases. There is a time coming when a large number of 

 the millmen will manufacture their low-grade lumber into high-grade 

 dimension stock, but not until the buyers of this class of stock will 

 pay a price at least equal to what the manufacturer can get out of his 

 low-grade lumber, plus waste, labor, etc. 



The foregoing letter reflects in a general way both the argu- 

 ments of manufacturers of this class of material, showing what 

 they should receive for this character of stock, and the contrary 

 arguments of the average buyer indicative of what he expects in 

 the way of grade and price. It is rare, indeed, that the ' specitica- 

 tions required by the exporter referred to are so severe. It is 

 rarely demanded that bright sap be eliminated in oak dimension. 



The real question involved and of particular moment to both 

 producers and consumers of dimension material today may be 

 summed up in determining the real value of clear dimension 

 stock, vfith bright sap counted as no defect in oak and sundry 

 other woods where the sap-wood and heart-wood are used indis- 

 erimiuately in the making of furniture and other articles. The 



intelligent lumber manufacturer knows that desirable dimension 

 stock can not be produced from slabs, edgings, stick-rotted lum- 

 ber, or extremely low-grade lumber. Dimension stock made of this 

 class of material will not pass muster in a grade to be employed 

 in high-class production. On the contrary, the average buyer insists 

 that dimension stock is made from refuse material and that the 

 manufacturer should demand for it little above the labor cost 

 involved, and seeks to buy it at a price based on this assumption. 

 When a manufacturing consumer succeeds in securing high-grade 

 dimension stock that shows full size when thoroughly seasoned, 

 he is not buying firsts and seconds, but is buying clear material 

 that wUl work without waste. If this same man were buying firsts 

 and seconds to cut into these dimensions, he would find that his 

 waste will average twenty per cent, and in addition to this, he will 

 have a considerable cost involved in cutting, which can not be 

 figured at less than two dollars a thousand. 



The buyer of dimension stock seeks to effect an economy in his 

 lumber cost, and he can accomplish an economy of approximately 

 twelve dollars a thousand feet by paying an average of firsts and 

 seconds price for the class dimension material described; that is, 

 the just price should average firsts and seconds values. The larger 

 sizes should command, say twenty-five per cent above firsts and 

 seconds price, while some of the smaller sizes may be sold at 

 twenty-five per cent less than firsts and seconds price, but the 

 average should be substantially the value of firsts and seconds. 



On this basis lumber manufacturers could afford to manufacture 

 and season stock with special reference to cutting their No. 2 

 and No. 3 into dimension material, and in some instances could 

 afford to cut green dimension stock, but the best dimension stock 

 is made from seasoned lumber after all the defects have developed. 



Lumber manufacturers and the furniture and kindred manufac- 

 turing consumers should get together on a just proposition on the 

 value of dimension material, and when they do reach this point 

 it will enable all elements in the trade to do business at a better 

 profit and on a lower plane of cost to the manufacturing consumer. 



Exports for October 



Advance reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor show 

 that during October the value of exports of hickory, oak, walnut 

 and other varieties of logs runs to $216,590, which was nearly eight 

 thousand dollars more than for October, 1910. The total value for 

 the first ten months of the year is $3,866,086 as compared with 

 $3,048,724 for 1910. 



The sawed and hewn timber export trade for October amounted 

 to $757,338 as compared with $429,100 for October, 1910; while the 

 values represented by the first ten months' exports were $10,906,334 

 as compared with $9,383,656 for 1910. 



Sawed lumber exports for October reached a total of more than 

 202,000,000 feet, or about fifty-four million feet more than for the 

 corresponding month of 1910. The total value of the month's lumber 

 exports was $4,299,479. The first ten months of the year showed 

 an increase in the value of lumber exports of more than five million 

 dollars on the same period of 1910. 



Over in Italy, where they have had lots of experience with cement 

 and marble for flooring, they are now turning more to wood. Here 

 is a hint that ought to make good advertising capital for the maple, 

 beech, birch, and oak flooring people. 



* # * 



Canada is already buying hardwood from the United States at the 

 rate of seven and one-half mOlion dollars' worth a year. The Cana- 

 dian cabinet trade is enlarging and it takes American hardwoods to 

 fill its needs. 



* * « 



If the planer manufacturers push the high speed feed limit much 

 more, shotgun steam feeds will soon be needed for flooring machines. 



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