28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 



1922 



the head of the Federal Trade Commission he placed his unqualified 

 endorsement on the activities of the Millwork Cost Bureau, and stated 

 that it was the most classical thing that had been brought before 

 the Federal Trade Commission; this after a most careful investigation 

 of every phase of the bureau's work. 



Meeting Open to Public 



I might state for your information that there never has been a 

 meeting of the members of the Millwork Cost Bureau except the annual 

 meeting which occurs in April, and at no time has there been present 

 in excess of 25 per cent of the membership, and all meetings are open 

 to the public. There has never been a meeting of the directors except 

 the meeting that immediately follows the members' meeting. There 

 has never been a committee appointed in connection with the asso- 

 ciation's activities. At no time has the bureau attempted to collect 

 or distribute any information concerning selling prices, or the price 

 at which goods are sold, the entire activity of the bureau being con- 

 fined entirely to educational work as outlined, by installing cost sys- 

 tems, educating cost accountants, distributing information bearing 

 upon factory costs, educating estimators how to construe plans and 

 specifications as prepared by architects; and so far as I know, there 

 never has been a word spoken or a letter written having for its pur- 

 pose the influencing of any member concerning sales prices. There are 

 some fourteen thousand planing mills in the United States, involving a 

 large amount of capital and large numbers of skilled workmen. The 

 mills that are left are but a small fraction of those that have been. 

 During Carnegie's lifetime, so far as I know, not a single great fortune 

 has grown out of a planing mill operation. 



It is not my purpose to appeal to the government for any special 

 consideration, but in these days of regulation and ruinous taxation, 

 we ask that we may be assisted and not hampered in the effort to carry 

 on a great constructive work. 



Letter Is Discussed by Hardwood Kecord 

 (Continued from page 21) 



Hardwood Recoud replied as follows to the above: 



In reading over your letter it occurs to me that you may not have 

 in mind precisely the type of dimension referred to in the published 

 letter over the signature "Millman," as appearing in a recent issue. 



In general the discussion of "dimension hardwoods" involves, accord- 

 ing to our understanding, a matter of .small dimensions for specialized 

 purposes, such as in chairs, tables and other types of woodworking 

 products. From your letter we rather assume that you refer to the 

 production of boards of described lengths, thickness and width. 



It is, of course, true that in a general sense the hardwood forests 

 are not now productive of the same class of logs that they were fifteen, 

 ten or even five years ago, and that the millman's selection of material 

 is necessarily more limited than it was at that time. 



Regarding your reference to your success in securing such specifica- 

 tions from the 'West Coast people, the thought strikes us that this 

 may in a measure at least be due to the exceptionally large, clean logs 

 they cut in that region, which makes it quite possible for them to 

 produce boards of almost any prescribed dimension. 



At the same time we heartily concur in your idea that the millman 

 should, in order to properly utilize his forest product, make everj' 

 effort to conform his cut to accepted dimensions, not only in the matter 

 of fine dimension stock, but in the matter of boards produced. 



In that connection, too, we have frequently discussed the possibility 

 of determining factory requirements in advance and cutting to those 

 requirements. As we see it, the great difficulty would lie in the great 

 ramifications of the hardwood industry, which reach from the large mill 

 cutting up to 30,000.000 or 40,000.000 feet a year, down to the small 

 portable mill, cutting 4,000, 5,000, 7,000 or 8,000 feet a day. A very 

 substantial volume of hardwood lumber is during normal times pro- 

 duced on these small mills, which are of necessity out of touch with the 

 markets and proceed to manufacture lumber according to the time- 

 honored custom or as nearly as they can to the requirements of those 

 customs. 



Thus, if it were determined in advance that a certain group of con- 

 suming factories were to utilize a certain quantity of prescribed speci- 

 fications in lumber, the plan might well work out if those factories 

 definitely contracted with certain mills for the production of that 

 material and adhered religiously to those purchases. 



■Without question, however, your own experience is tangible evidence 

 of what can be done under proper conditions, the only difference 

 between your operation and the average operation is that yours was 

 carried on in the interest of your own consuming requirements, and 

 was not so dependent upon the woodworking trade at large as is the 

 sa'wmiU man. 



The above are merely observations that octurred to us in reading 

 your letter, but we wish to emphasize again that we believe the future 

 of the hardwood lumber business absolutely requires a tremendously 

 greater concentration on the problem of merchandising lumber prod- 



ucts, which problem of necessity incorporates the requirements of 

 knowing and meeting consumers' requirements just as far as the log 

 produced will permit. — The Editor. 



Red Hickory As Strong As White Hickory 



"The insistence of the public on having only white hickory in tool 

 handles and vehicle parts causes a large part of the hickory grown in this 

 country to be used for fuel or for other purposes where the exceptional 

 strength properties of this wood are not needed," says Technical Note 

 No. 171, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison Wis. "Usually only a 

 small outer portion of a mature hickory tree contains white wopd ; the 

 inner part, or heartwood, is red. Many people think that this red wood 

 is not so strong or tough as the white wood. This belief, however, is dis- 

 credited by actual strength tests made at the Forest Products Laboratory 

 upon many specimens of red and white hickory. The tests show con- 

 clusively that, weight for weight, sound hickory has the same strength, 

 toughness and resistance to shock, regardless of whether It is red, white, 

 or mixed red and white. 



"The belief that white hickory is superior to red probably arose from 

 the observation that young, rapid-growing hickory trees, which are nearly 

 all sapwood, or white wood, generally have excellent strength properties. 

 As the tree matures, however, this same sapwood is transformed into red- 

 dish heartwood ; and a half-million tests made at the Forest Products 

 Laboratory have failed to show any change in the strength of wood of any 

 species, due to this natural change from sapwood into heartwood. 



"A reliable indication of the strength of hickory is its density. That 

 is to say, of two pieces of the same size and dryness, the heavier will be 

 found to have the better strength properties. This fact makes it possible 

 for large manufacturers or purchasers of hickory handles or wheel spokes 

 to inspect the pieces by weight very rapidly and at small expense with 

 automatic machinery. 



"The man who is buying only one handle will usually find a visual 

 method of judging hickory more convenient and practical than weighing. 

 A fairly reliable visual guide to strength is found in the proportion of 

 summerwood appearing on the end of the piece. The summerwood is the 

 solid-looking or less porous portion of each yearly growth ring. It is 

 quite easy to distinguish from the springwood portion of the ring, which 

 is full of pores or small holes. The summerwood has much greater 

 strength than the springwood, because it contains more wood substance 

 per unit volume. Wide bands of summerwood and relatively narrow bands 

 of springwood, therefore, indicate a stronger piece of hickory than bands 

 of summerwood and springwood of nearly the same width. The greater 

 the proportion of summerwood in a tool handle or other piece of hickory, 

 the greater will l>e its strength. 



"The number of growth rings per inch also affords some means of grading 

 hickory. Few growth rings per inch, as shown on the end of a handle, 

 indicate a stronger and tougher piece than many rings, provided, of course, 

 that it is straight-grained and free from defects at important points. Ac- 

 ceptable handles commonly show not more than 20 rings per inch, although 

 much good hickory will be found with as many as 40 rings per inch. More 

 careful inspection, however, by weight, is recommended for this very slow 

 growth material. 



"As a further guide in choosing a good tool handle, it is worthy of 

 note that the best hickory shows an oily or glossy side-grain surface when 

 smoothly finished ; also, when it is dropped on end on a hard surface, 

 such as a concrete floor, it emits a clear, ringing tone, in comparison with 

 the dull sound produced by hickory of inferior quality. 



"The adoption by the general public of these methods of grading hickory, 

 in place of the worthless prejudice with respect to color, would put an 

 end to the wasteful practice of culling red hickory stock. When hickory 

 was plentiful this was a matter of seemingly little importance ; but now 

 every means should be taken to conserve the waning supply of an im- 

 portant wood, for which no satisfactory substitute has been found." 



Who's Who in Woodworking 

 Finley P. Mount 



(Continued from page 22) 



tains his legal residence at La Porte, Ind., 'where the main office of 

 the Advanee-Eumely Company is situated, but also maintains an 

 oiEce at 701 Tower building, Chicago, and temporary residence at 

 5492 South Shore Drive, Chicago. He maintains a summer resi- 

 dence at Burt Lake, Mich. 



Mr. Mount is a member of the executive committee and the 

 publicity and emergency committee of the National Association 

 of Farm Equipment Manufacturers. He is chairman of the 

 National Tractor and Thresher Division of the above association. 

 He is active in all work connected with the tractor and thresher 

 industry. 



