46 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



May 25. 1922 



By C'tiiiileiiy Baxter D. Wliitiify & Son. liir. 



Direct Motor Driven Double Planer of Latest Type 



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 pansion in this direction, it is doubtful if the remarkable develop- 

 ment in the use of veneer could have taken place, at least not to 

 the extent it has.' 



Great improvements have been made in the dimensioning of 

 veneers and plywood. Veneer clippers have been developed for 

 both edging and cross cutting and the handling of veneer sheets 

 on the clipper table is much more convenient than the old process 

 of sawing. 



There has been developed a veneer jointer, which is a tremendous 

 improvement over the old "shooting board," and a considerable 

 improvement also over the common method of the buzz planer for 

 jointing veneers. In this jointer the veneer is clamped and held 

 flat in a carriage which travels past the cutter. The cutter used is 

 a special type of jointing saw. The edge of the table where the 

 saw runs is beveled and as the saw runs close up against this 

 beveled edge, with just the proper clearance, there is very little 

 danger of chipping the veneer. 



If a piece of waste veneer is placed on the outsides of the stock 

 being jointed, perfect joints are obtained and the machine handles 

 straight veneers, twisted veneer and butt joint stock with equal 

 facility. The traveling carriage stops automatically according to 

 the length of the stock being jointed. Then the operator throws 

 in a clutch and the carriage returns to the loading point. 



Veneer jointers are being manufactured embodying the most 

 modern direct motor-driven, ball bearing developments, having no 

 belts on them anywhere. 



Improvement in Panel Squaring 



An interesting recent development of veneer and panel machin- 

 ery is an improvement over the method of squaring panels on a 

 hand-fed machine. This is a continuous feed sizer, which will take 

 a bunch of panels or loose veneer from 3 to ^Yl" thick, catch 

 it between its upper and lower feed chains, carry the stock between 

 the saws, cutting the two sides perfectly parallel. The off-bearer 

 on this sizer then places the stock on the chain feed double cut-off 

 saw, which cuts the panels to length from which they come perfectly 

 square. 



It is also a fact that laminated panels come through the press 

 stuck together. Considerable time is lost in many factories by 

 separating these panels before putting them across the ripping 

 and cut-off saws, as the panels are generally stuck together from 

 the glue dripping over the ends where it is squeezed out from under 

 the veneer. All of this is cut off by the trim saws. 



On one of these machines a manufacturer running veneer in 

 loose bundles, 33 sheets of 1/20", averaged in a ten-hour day 

 137,000 lineal feet production, based on single veneers, and figured 

 a saving in labor of about 33^:: per cent in handling this stock over 

 the old method of working it by hand. 



Another valuable veneer and panel tool of quite recent develop- 

 ment is an electric edge-veneer trimmer. This tool does its w^ork 

 in one-third the time taken by draw shave and rasp methods. The 



projecting veneer is trimmed off perfectly uniform and smooth 

 and there is no danger of "digging in." This tool weighs about 

 fifteen pounds, has its motor built right in and will operate from 

 any lamp socket. 



It may be said with confidence that machinery for the manipula- 

 tion of veneers and panels has kept pace in improvements with 

 other classes of woodworking machinery. 



The Process of Re-drying 



Due to scientific studies of the nature and habits of veneers by 

 independent engineers and experts of the Forest Products labora- 

 tory, as w^ell as the continually cumulating experience of the 

 practical handlers of this product, methods of handling it in the 

 furniture factory have been greatly improved within ten years. 

 One of the most important of these improvements is the wide recog- 

 nition given to the practice of re-drying. In the article by Mr. 

 Merritt, which has previously been referred to, he said that "ten 

 years ago re-drying veneer was looked upon by a majority of 

 furniture manufacturers as an unnecessary expense only resorted to 

 in an emergency." Now the value of re-drying is almost universally 

 acknowledged, and some producers of veneer even make this a 

 condition of supplying veneer to a furniture or other woodworking 

 plant, holding that without the practice of re-drying, the veneers 

 can not be satisfactorily handled, thus causing them to be worried 

 w^ith needless criticism and blamed for conditions for w^hich they 

 can not accept responsibility. 



Machines have been developed to meet the need of re-drying, 

 in fact, the development of the machine preceded the common 

 acceptance of the practice. One of the most useful of re-driers 

 embodies the well-known "breathing" movement; that is, the hot 

 plates are so arranged that they open and close frequently to expel 

 moisture and allow shrinkage. This is accomplished by balancing 

 one-half the plates against the other half, every other space being 

 open and the alternate spaces closed. The open spaces permit the 

 machine to be loaded and unloaded at the same time veneer is 

 drying under pressure in the closed spaces. These open spaces also 

 give the veneer time to warm up and become pliable under heat 

 before the plates close up. 



Modern conditions are causing a continual increase in the use of 

 veneers and plywood in furniture manufacture and their employ- 

 ment so extensively has had an important influence on the methods 

 of designers. 



One of the very latest improvements in the handling of veneers 

 and panels to receive attention from the furniture industry is re- 

 ferred to as "air conditioning." It has been discovered that ply- 

 wood, veneer tops, etc., should not be subjected to varying degrees 

 of moisture until protected by a coating of varnish or other sub- 

 stance more or less impermeable to moisture. To bring about the 

 desirable uniformity of moisture conditions in the place where 

 veneer products are stored and handled, ventilation engineers have 

 designed systems which will produce a constant moisture condition. 

 This development promises to attract increased attention. 

 Electrical Veneer Press 



There has been recently developed and placed on the market 

 an electrically operated veneer press machine, which is used for 

 obtaining the pressure on the veneer in the stacks. The motor, 

 together w^ith its control, is so arranged that any pre-determined 

 pressure may be obtained on the veneer in the stacks, so that with 

 any setting of the controller, the motor will raise or lower the 

 presshead and when in lowering, sufficient pressure is exerted on 

 the veneer, the motor immediately shuts down. When the veneer 

 has been allowed to remain in the stacks for a given length of time, 

 the control with the pressing of a push button will start the motor 

 in the opposite direction and raise the press-head to the desired 

 height when at this point the motor will again shut down and be 

 ready for the pressing operation again. 



In addition to the above another question under serious con- 

 sideration is the use of electricity for heating such pieces of appa- 

 ratus as the veneer press. In this case, like the above, the electrical 

 manufacturers have to work with the machine tool builders in 

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