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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



April 25, 1922 



Air Conditioning in Veneer and Panel Work Shops 



By C J. M. 



In a previous article we have explained the necessity for efficient 

 dry storage rooms to take care of veneer materials before these go 

 to the shop to be glued into panels, and likewise for similar dry 

 storage rooms for temporary care of ply and panel materials after 

 gluing, when reasonable time is. available for diffusion and drying 

 out of the glue moisture without recourse to a re-drier. 



No mention was made in that article of the troublesome air con- 

 ditions usually obtaining in the woodworking shops themselves, 

 and of the urgent necessity for rational improvement in this direc- 

 tion, this matter being considered of sufficiently great importance 

 to merit full discussion in a separate article. 



Air Conditioning in its broader senee means purifying, tempering 

 and humidifying of the air used in an inclosed space. As applied 

 to industrial workshops, however, air conditioning concerns itself 

 principally with the correction of the temperature and humidity 

 of the air, in order that these two factors may be maintained at the 

 point best suited to maximum quality and output of the product. 



One of the first industries to appreciate the maintenance of an 

 exact humidity condition of the air circulating in its workshops, 

 was the textile industry, and there is now very great attention paid 

 to the moisture condition of the air in the silk and cotton spinning 

 rooms because scant or excessive humidity of the surrounding air 

 makes a great difference in quality, quantity and cost of the out- 

 put. 



Woodworkers Must Come to Value Air Conditioning 



In the textile industry the profits derived from conditioned shop 

 air w^ere comparatively easy of demonstration. In woodworking 

 shops, and particularly in those employing the highly hygroscopic 

 veneers, air conditioning is just as, or even more, necessary, but 

 its profitableness is not as readily susceptible to a dollar and cents 

 demonstration. 



Nevertheless, the time is approaching fast when the captains of 

 the woodworking industries, such as furniture, piano and all those 

 producing veneered and built up materials, will fully appreciate 

 the necessity for a continuous and effective control of the tempera- 

 ture and humidity condition of their woodworking shop air, and 

 that their proper attention to this item means money, profits and 

 reputation. This may sound like a rather bold and broad state- 

 ment, but the writer knows his subject and can prove the truth 

 of his words. 



It is the writer's firm conviction that in a properly arranged 

 veneer and panel shop, there should be an amply large, warmed 

 dry storage room to care for the veneer and core stocks, as a 

 sort of basin capacity ahead of the gluing shop but separated com- 

 pletely from the shop floor, and that there should be a like dry 

 storage room to receive and take care of the veneered and ply 

 materials after gluing, providing sufficient capacity, and conse- 

 quently storage time, for the assimilation of the glue moisture and 

 drying out of any surplus thereof, the air in both storage rooms 

 being maintained at constant favorable humidity and temperature, 

 as well as in uniformly mild circulation. 



Shop Air Is Often Detrimental 



Where such dry storage facilities are available, and are com- 

 pletely separated from the shop floor proper, the raw^ veneers will 

 be brought to the shop as needed, worked up and leave for the 

 store room within a reasonably short time, avoiding the detrimental 

 influence of the shop air, which latter frequently carries much more 

 moisture than is good for the veneer materials w^orked up there. 

 With such dry storage rooms, if of proper capacity, there would 

 be very much less demand for redrying. 



Circumstances alter cases, and such desirable dry room spaces 

 cannot always be had, no matter how well the necessity therefor is 

 appreciated, and instead of moving through the w^orkshop rapidly, 



both raw^ and finished materials must be stored therein for some 

 time. Under such conditions the only remedy is to so dehumidify 

 the shop air so, that it will be in reasonable balance with the raw 

 veneers and w^ill still be able to take up some of the glue moisture 

 which may come to the surface of the glued stocks, and to cir- 

 culate this dehumidified air w^ith moderate velocity over the en- 

 tire area of the shop, and particularly over the materials stored 

 therein. 



The following actual experience will illustrate the point: In a 

 Piano factory of rather fair sized output an additional building had 

 been provided, on the first floor of which was installed the veneer 

 and panel department. The space allotted to this department was 

 about double that actually required for its operations with a view 

 to future expansion, and part of this therefore, was utilized for the 

 storage of veneers, manufactured panels and other veneered stocks. 

 The gluing shop thus w^as used for storage before and after gluing. 

 Vapors from glue pots, from hot plate redriers and from the glued 

 panels were diffused into the atmosphere of this workshop, and 

 there being no special provision for the renewal of the air, the 

 accumulating moisture had to .find its way out the best way it 

 could, through doors, which were generally open into other de- 

 partments, or through windows, if the latter were opened by those 

 stationed nearest them. 



A Problem Solved By Air Conditioning 



Panels accumulated in the improvised storage space, and all 

 went well until the sanding room reported a lot to be insufficiently 

 dry. A hurried inspection and sampling disclosed that most of the 

 material stored there w^as insufficiently dry, and also that some of 

 it was going to the bad otherwise. Redrying in a lumber kiln was 

 resorted to, w^hich proved costly in labor and losses of material. 

 Then a spare corner in the same shop floor, otherwise unoccupied, 

 was curtained off, equipped with a radiator and a fan, and used 

 as a redrier. This worked, as far as the panels in the redrier 

 were concerned, and the drying w^ent on night and day, but since 

 the moisture eliminated from the panels was forced back into the 

 shop space, the improvised redrier rather aggravated the already 

 unsatisfactory humidity condition of the work shop and increased 

 the moisture absorption of the materials stored there. This led 

 to an engineering investigation which disclosed the actual condi- 

 tion and its cause. As a result an air circulating system was in- 

 stalled, providing uniform temperature and humidity over the en- 

 tire floor area, which held the humidity percentage of the air at 

 a point where moisture absorption by the veneers in storage was 

 checked and a slight drying of glue moisture from the panels was 

 secured. This, in turn brought about an improved quality of prod- 

 uct, as well as increased production. Incidentally the redrier lost 

 some its rush work, although it had been re-arranged on a more 

 efficient basis and was now discharging its moisture direct to at- 

 mosphere. 



Needless to state two hygrometers, of a reliable type, now form 

 part of the shop equipment and not only occupy conspicuous loca- 

 *ions in different parts of the shop floor, but are observed care- 

 fully with unfailing regularity by the foreman. 



Variety of Climate Demands Conditioning 



There are many workdays during the year, in our climate, when 

 the temperature and humidity of the outdoor air is such as can be 

 reduced to very desirable ehop condition merely by warming to 

 65 to 70 degrees. There are other days, as in zero weather, when 

 the outdoor air would, after w^arn^ing, be entirely too dry for the 

 comfort of the workmen as well as that of the materials. A small 

 amount of such fresh air, properly admixed to that already in the 

 shop, in a continuous stream, after it has been warmed to shop 

 I ('fill t hull li 'III /"it/i 4^ I 



