November 10, 1918 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



25 



Letter from a Panel User 



The Far-Sighted Panel Maker Will Provide Now for His Future Labor 



By ALEXANDER T. DEINZER 



F ALL THAT WE READ BE TRUE it is likely 

 that peace will be established before long. One 

 of the big problems of the veneer and panel man- 

 ufacturer is that of labor, while somehow he gets out his 

 goods. Nevertheless, every manufacturer in these lines 

 will admit that the labor shortage has been the most vital 

 problem with which he has had to contend. 



Many of you are wondering whether the same good 

 fellovirs who enlisted or were drafted w^ill return to your 

 various factories. This may be true in a measure, at the 

 same time it would be folly to anticipate the return of all 

 our veneer experts. Many of our boys are going to re- 

 main on the other side for there will be wonderful op- 

 portunities in construction w^ork. Again, men returning 

 may take positions in other lines or at the factories of 

 our competitors. Therefore, "we must not entertain this 

 cocksure notion but while ready with open arms to wel- 

 come those who intend to take up their former w^ork, we 

 should develop experts out of the material we now have 

 at our factories. 



How should the novice be trained and what course of 

 training should be established? If we will but direct our 

 attention to how Uncle Sam solved just such problems, 

 we will receive many valuable suggestions. America has 

 fully realized that in order to make her wonderful con- 

 tribution in war production she must fit and train men 

 for the new peculiar tasks. So it is with manufacturers. 



Every apprentice, be he young, middle aged or old, 

 must learn to know woods, their structure, grain, color, 

 hardness, flexibility and many other important prop- 

 erties. Of course the average veneer w^orkman is not 

 interested in the botany of the tree or v^^ood nor with its 

 cultivation as a crop by the forester. Our concern is with 

 woods used in the manufacture of panels and veneered 

 goods. If we are doing very high grade work we no 

 doubt employ foreign woods such as rosewood, satin- 

 wood, cocobola, ebony, etc. If our line is confined to 

 medium and cheap work our principal woods will no 

 doubt be oak, birch, mahogany, walnut, etc. 



It is surprising that veneer and lumbermen generally 

 do not do a little research w^ork in their offices, time per- 

 mitting. A microscopic study of woods would be really 

 helpful. It is now generally recognized that much more 

 trustworthy evidence as to identity can be obtained by a 

 microscopic examination than from rule of thumb 

 methods so commonly used by nearly all veneer and 

 lumbermen. It w^ill certainly be appreciated by you 

 veneer men how valuable such an instrument would be 

 in determining veneer qualities, detecting veneer rup- 

 tures, etc. If the boss does not interest himself along this 

 line, how can he expect the employe to do so? 



The next material in which we are vitally interested is 



glue. Admitting that the art of veneering, and conse- 

 quently the use of glue, w^as known to the early Egyptians, 

 nevertheless, if the craftsmen of those days were to re- 

 turn to us and visit our modern veneer rooms and observe 

 the wonderfully improved glue that is being used today, 

 what assistance could they offer in solving our many per- 

 plexing problems? We must study the physical prop- 

 erties of glues. We must know how glue should be 

 handled and how to properly test it to determine glue 

 quality. Very fortunately though w^e have learned more 

 about glues within the past fifty years than did our fore- 

 fathers dating w^ay back to the Egyptians' period of 3300 

 years ago. 



Perhaps one of the most annoying problems we have 

 in the veneer room is loose veneer. Sometimes it is loose 

 in crossbanding and sometimes it is the face veneer and 

 sometimes it is both. We know that the chief causes for 

 this evil are overheated cauls; old, wornout cauls; poor or 

 thin glue; overheavy glue; wet veneer or core stock. A 

 little research work along this line would do no harm and 

 w^ill convince the novice or apprentice of the importance 

 of having the stock just right before he can proceed with 

 the w^ork and expect satisfactory results. 



Unless the apprentice has artistic taste this should, if 

 possible, be developed. It is necessary to use the right 

 kind of materials and understand the laying of veneers 

 but another important factor is matching. Some men can 

 match veneers very nicely and get splendid effects, wast- 

 ing very little veneer. Others may spend considerably 

 more time and material to properly match the pieces. It 

 requires a good deal of study and practice to do this w^ork 

 expeditiously, save material and produce a finished article 

 that is perfect in every respect. If w^e will visit some of 

 the furniture stores and carefully observe the matching of 

 veneers we w^ill be able to do helpful criticising along this 

 line. Indeed, many a dealer has been compelled to sacri- 

 fice on the price of the furniture for no other reason than 

 that the veneer vv^as improperly matched by some careless 

 workman. We cannot afford to take chances and it seems, 

 success considered, that w^e cannot spend too much time 

 teaching this art to workmen. We must get over the no- 

 tion that the final place for veneer troubles is in the finish- 

 ing room. The finisher cannot correct your spoiled work. 

 Co-operation is necessary in every department. If you will 

 deliver the right kind of goods to the finisher he will very 

 likely do the rest and the result will be the sale of an 

 article or articles that w^ill remain sold, establish confi- 

 dence and at all times please the purchaser. 



Most cloth has a "right" and a "wrong" side, and some people 

 look for a similar condition in sheets of veneer. Both sides are 

 right, but sometimes, for local or particular reasons, one side pre- 

 sents a better appearance than the other. 



