Improving the Small Mill Product 



SECOND PAPER 



In the first article on this subject the matter of manufacturing 

 in the small mill -nas discussed. Now assuming that due care has 

 been taken to put the saws and the mills in such shape that the work 

 of manufacture will be properly done, let us take up the matter 

 of working the logs and sorting and caring for the stock so as to 

 improve the product and make it worth more to the raillman, as we'il 

 as easier to market. 



The greater part of the work of the a\erage small hardwood mill 

 is done on bill stuff, orders for timber, car material and other dimen- 

 sions for which the order and specifications are in hand before the 

 cutting is done. Indeed quite commonlv the orders are in hand 

 before the logs are cut, the timber selecting in the woods and the 

 log cutting being in conformity with the requirements of the order. 



The sawyer in the small mill cutting bill stuff has his eye mainly 

 on the bills or orders before him to be gotten out. These are the 

 main source of revenue and the cutting and shipping out is done in 

 rapid succession. There are trimmings in squaring up logs, some 

 cull pieces now and then, and occasionally a log that will not make 

 what it was intended for and must be converted into something 

 else. All these things are given but passing or incidental attention 

 and are what might be termed unsought and unwelcome products of 

 the small mill. 



It is these very products, which arc often sadly neglected and 

 badly abused after cutting in the small mill, that may be made into 

 a valuable source of revenue. The common side products of the smajl 

 mill cutting oak bill stuff is made up of one inch and two inch 

 boards of varying lengtlis and widths. There may occasionally be 

 some thicker boards or flitches and cull pieces of timber or car stock 

 that accumulate on the yard. The hca\-icst accumulation, however, 

 is in one inch and two inch boards of almost every conceivable 

 length — from seven feet up to twenty-four feet and occasionally 

 longer. 



Because these are side products and are not expected to bring in 

 immediate returns they are too often carelessly dumped on one side 

 of the lumber track and left to warp, twist and crack, and become 

 sap-stained until they have but very little market value no matter 

 what may have been their value in the first place. 



The trouble here is that the small millman has always operated 

 too much on a hand-to-mouth basis. He has never properly embraced 

 the idea of accumulating and yarding a stock of lumber to dry thor- 

 oughly and to be properly sorted and graded before shipping. His 

 mind and energies have been centered on -cutting special bill stock, 

 shipping it out immediately and getting prompt returns. He can 

 do this with a limited capital and he looks so persistently toward this 

 part of the business for his living that he has continued to overlook 

 many opportunities for the profit by improving and caring for the 

 lumber pi-oduced incident to the making of bill stuff. The first great 

 need of the average small mill in this connection is to carefully 

 assort for length and thickness and pile boards and planks while they 

 are fresh from the saw. What is meant by this is not merely to pile 

 them up any old way with sticks between to let through some air. 

 They should be carefully piled on well prepared foundations so that 

 they will dry out in seasoning bright and clear and comparatively 

 free from checks and warping. 



Caring for this product is perhai)s the one thing of greatest im- 

 portance and it may be properly classed as improving the product. 

 There is another improvement which is deserving of a little attention 

 here. To properly comprehend this idea the small millman should 

 carefully study grading rules and specifications and also the sizes 

 and specifications of agricultural implement wood and other high- 

 grade dimension stock which brings special prices. With all these 

 properly in mind there are before the small millman many oppor- 

 tunities to improve the value of his side product by proper ripping 

 and trimming to fit it for specific sizes as well as to improve the 

 general grade. 



—22— 



Take, for example, the two inch plauk, a common side product of 

 bill stuff. Generally this is considered a common product and it 

 is either sold locally at a low price or shipped out in a conglomerate 

 mass with no expectation of realizing any more than a low-grade 

 lumber price from it. 



A fair percentage of this side stock is low grade, too, liut while 

 this is a fact, it is also true that there is a fair percentage of clear 

 stock obtainable. Some of the boards are clear or practically clear 

 as they are made in the regular way; others can he reduced to clear 

 stock by a little special trimming and edging, and still others that 

 are of not much value because of one or two bad defects may be 

 reduced to clear dimension of smaller size. 



The theory of getting clear dimension stock out of these siding 

 planks is one that the writer has seen put into practice by taking 

 an item of 2x4x8 to 12 feet to be used for wagon poles and agricul- 

 tural implements. The sawyer was instructed to get as many of 

 these as he could from his trimmings, and they were sorted out and 

 piled with the result that more was realized from this one item than 

 from all the rest of the two-inch siding accumulated in cutting such 

 bill stuff. 



That experiment was tried and worked out successfully at a time 

 when there was very little demand for clear dimension stock aside 

 from the requirements of wagon manufacturers. Today there is a 

 steadily enlarging demand for dimension stock in many sizes, and the 

 small millman manufacturing oak should be able to find a market for 

 enough sizes to make a splendid working basis for refining lots of 

 liis trinunings in making bill stock. This would simply utilize 5. 

 certain percentage of his side product. The balance of it should 

 be sorted and carefully piled for drying so that when enough has 

 accumulated to market and ship, it may not have deteriorated in 

 value. 



It is not only the trinunings which may be worked into special 

 dimension and refined and sorted for specific grade but the cull 

 timlier of pieces and bill stuff may be handled in the same way. To do 

 this right the inspection should be so thorough in the mill where the 

 stock is produced that but very few culls will accumulate in the 

 yards. It is the accumulation of culls out on the yards that is a 

 nuisance and waste. They make a sort of junk pile and are seldom 

 of any material value and it is too much trouble and expense to take 

 them back into the mill for reworking. Most of this accumulation 

 of cull pieces on the yard can be avoided by a rigid inspection in the 

 mill. The sawyer and block setter, by being provided with specifica- 

 tions for the bill stuff and required to do it. should be able to in- 

 spect the stuff as it is manufactured and do the work so well that 

 there will be but few culls out on the yard. If they are not able to 

 do this it would be better to put an inspector just back of the saw 

 in the mill and have the inspection made rigid there instead of at 

 the shipping point. The advantage of this method is that the cull 

 pieces are then convenient for reworking and can be converted into 

 plank or special dimension stock while they are fresh and green and 

 the full measure of their value gotten out of them. 



In this matter of improving the product of the small mill, in 

 judging timber and sorting and refining stock, it is pretty much the 

 same as improving the product by looking after the mechanical 

 equipment of the mill itself. It is a matter of careful attention to 

 detail rather than a matter requiring any special skill other than 

 that which is available at all times among practical operators. It is 

 simply a matter of care, of diligence, of vigilance, of keeping ever- 

 lastingly at it with the idea all the time of getting the best product 

 and selling it for the best possible price. T. C. J. 



Lots of the trouble with poorly manufactured linuber really has 

 its origin in the office from which the purchases of machines and 

 supplies are made instead of in the filing room or mill. 



