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HARDWOOD R 



RD 



Si'l'lollllM'l- 10. 1!1'J2 



The Executive's Round Table 



This Department Is Maintained for the Use of Hardwood Record's 



Subscribers and Is Open at All Times for a Frank Discussion of Any Subject Having to do 

 uith the Production, Sale, Shipment, or Utilization of Hardwood Lumber 



Letters on Dimension Question from Users and Producers of 



Hardwood Lumber 



Tl\o Inrgo cousuiiior of liarjwood lumber who wroto tlio following 

 leltor states a startling case ami one whioli the hanlwooil producer 

 might well give serious thought to. Isn't it true that certain cus- 

 toms are foUowevl merely because they are old customs and licuoo 

 accepted as being the "only way"! 



A»>ril S. 19;2.— Kilitor ll.vijnwoop UKooisn: That some revision of the 

 prvvsont apiwivntly haj\haa;»r\t mothixl of mill operations Is advisable 

 to put the Umibor business on a virviHtable plane is impor.itivo goes, I 

 think, without s;»ylus. I bait rather exteni1o>1 liuerv lows yosterdixj- 

 with ropi-esentatives of three lumbering oomiwnles and from not a 

 sinple one of the thrxH> was 1 enabled to get any definite iiiiotatlon or 

 promise of delivery on i-ather a large stock of himber for which we are 

 In the market at this time. Two of them said that they oouKInt supply 

 our requirements at all. One of them said he would see what his mill 

 could do and then all three of them spent a good deal of time relievins 

 themselves of their congested feelings on the fact that the mills ap- 

 parently had a gre*»t deal of lumber, but they wanted to dl^i>ose of It 

 ami turn the Inventories Into cash and that their, the salesmen's. 

 efforts wei-e practically Ineffective because they could not offer manu- 

 facturers what the manuf-actui-ers wanted. It Is obvious, therefore, 

 that our exivrience has not been unique and in both the b<'Hly and fur- 

 niture business it is evident that there is a distinct trend towards the 

 use of oiher materials than lumber, caused. I rejilly twlleve, based on 

 our own experiences, by the ditllculty of securing lumber In siies that 

 can be use»l for various tyjws of manufacture. Your own exvierience 

 and your centraliied iwsltlon do, of course, give you a much wider 

 range of the field In general than our llmitevl exi>erience could pos- 

 sibly <to- It maj- be also. I'll grant, that the representatives calling on 

 us may be exceptions to the general rule, but they are so nearly unani- 

 mous in their statement of the present j\ositlon that I think you have 

 hit the nail on the head when you state that the future of the har\1wood 

 UimlHT business alvsohitely requires a tremendously greater concen- 

 trating on the problem of merchandising lumber products, and In view 

 of the standardiiatlon of factory production generally the former plan 

 of buying a tract of timtwr, turning In logging crews, erecting a saw- 

 mill and merely proceeding to log and saw an.vthing obtainable on 

 a guess Kasis, and then going out and trying to sell this material Is 

 most Inefilcient and generally unsatisfactory both to the mill, which 

 finds Itself with enormous quantities of lumber on hand and no sale, 

 and the manufacturer, who finds himself unable to secure lumber 

 xrhich It can use with the minimum of waste. 



It will h>e interesting to see what can t>e worked out with a view to 

 remedying this situation. 



Di£culties of Making Ltunber and Dimension at Same Mill 

 The hardwood man spocialiiing in the production of dimension 

 stocks, who wrote the letter carrio<l below, bases liis observations 

 on ."> long perio<l of practical experience during which he dctcr- 

 mintsl that money could be made in dimension manufacture under 

 certain conditions. 



March M. ISSS. — Editor IT.iisnwtxin RrcoRn: I have been re-ading the 

 articles In lIvRowoon Rkcoro and other trade ivn>crs recently, on the 

 sutyecl of dimension stock and dimension prioes. Much of what is 

 said seems to t»e txjm of hope and some of experience, but It Is never- 

 theless \-«<uable and interesting. 



The writer had exjwrlence of about twenty years operating dimen- 

 sion mills in liNliana. and it was profitable and satisfactory to us and 

 those who purchased and u^ed our stock as well, but a sawmill and a 

 dimension mill are rot the same. They may l>e combined or they may 

 t* separate. It combined, they must have double power and ample 

 space with every machine set wiih a view to economical operation, 

 and, in aMition. ample shed room must be provided to keep all dimen- 

 sion St- ■ ' "v I'ry and protected from the sun. Dimension stoclc 

 cirrot <';:*lv piled out of ('oor^ 



T>-" < , L. mill Is not a small mill, on account of the double 



power and space and shed room roquii"ed. It should be centrally lo- 

 cated whore timber could be secured for seveial years' lun. and where 

 trained help and mill operators could bo hail and kept in a well organ- 

 ised crew. A dimension mill business will f.ail If it does not make and 

 shivi exactly what It agives to. A s,atlsfted customer is the only one 

 worth having, 



.\s to prices: Our experience was that our money was made In cut- 

 tins the large dimensions from the best quality of oak. hickory and 

 ash loss, on special onlors. We never cut standard dimensions, as 

 the price was below a profitable point and we would not be surprised 

 if It would be so now, and continue until the demand exceeds the sup- 

 ply the mills In operation can furnish. 



It occurs to us. It would be rather dlfilcult to get onlers for dimen- 

 sion stock from furniture factories, as the style of their furniture is 

 constantly changing, and cuttings are made from time to time for 

 only a limited quantity of their various patterns. Therefore, lumber 

 on thoir yard might be a better commodity than dimension slock 

 that had to be recut. 



The tniuble with working tip closely, into clear dimension, what 

 would otherwise go Into the wood pile or refuse burner, was the fact 

 that a profitable price could not be secured for it. The smaller the 

 stock the more It costs to manufacture and handle it. but to our 

 knowled.ee it has never yet sold, except at a low price. If clear di- 

 mension stock could be sold at the price of clear lumber, it would save 

 the consumer the cost of cutting, and save the absolute waste of .a 

 large peiventage of timber now being left In the woods to rot, and 

 make shipments possible under existing high freight rates, that pre- 

 v;iillng methods prohibit. Who can answer the question of. "How to 

 get the price T" 



Has Been Unable to Secnre Kight Prices for dmenslon 



The following letter comes from one of the best known hardwood 

 ni.Tnufncturers in the country, a man whose word is of particular 

 weight on the question of dimension stock, because he not only is 

 an efficient manufacturer of long experience, but also because he is 

 largely and intimately interested in several important furniture 

 factories. 



April 1. 192S. — Editor n.\nnwooo Rrcoan: Replying to yours of March 

 SI. relative to dimension stock for woodworking factories: 



Our concern is well equipped with up-to-date machinery for making 

 dimension stock. bo:h In clear lumber suitable for cabinet work. etc.. 

 and for crating stock. We have l>een working this for a numljer of 

 years, but have never been able to do as much of this — especially in 

 the clear stock — as we would be able to do. from the very fact that 

 the consumers were not willing to pay what the stock was worth, or 

 anywhere near what It would cost them to manufacture this stock 

 from lumt)er that they might purchase. Dimension stock properly 

 manufactured should bring as much or more than the F.AS lumber, de- 

 pending, of course, larsely upon the specifications for dimension. 

 For example, take seat stock used by the chair manufacturers sold 

 SH" and up wide: This is not worth as much as chair backs or chair 

 arms where they are cut to exact widths. Where you cut exact widths, 

 the stock should bring about ;:> per cent more than F,\S. 



Owing to the present high freight rates. It would mean quite a sav- 

 ing to the manufacturer and consumer to buy dimension stock. I 

 realiie that we need an extensive campaign, both to educate the 

 sawmill men who are wanting to make dimension stock to manufac- 

 ture it properly and to gel the consumers to make so-ne reports as to 

 how the dimension prices compare with their costs. If they will keep 

 an accurate check -^n what they are getting out of their luml>er. they 

 can 1.^0 this. We think there Is quite a number of them who do not 

 know iheir co-ts as they should. Whene\-er we find one who does, we 

 rarely have any trouble in selling him dimension stock. 



If there is an\thing more that we can do that will b? of any .Tsslst- 

 ance to you In furthering this cause, we shall be very glaC to favor you. 



