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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



February 10. 1919 



The Question of Thickness Discussed 



Feb. 10, 1919. 

 Dear Jim, 



I got your letter Friday and will reply at once 

 because I suppose you are some in a hurry to know what 

 1 think about this thin veneer matter. Well, Jim, they 

 can talk all they want to about their one 32nd-inch 

 veneers, but just so long as your uncle Hen has any 



choice in the 



matter he is go- | 

 ing to have his 

 face veneers at 

 least a 24th of 

 an inch thick 

 and his cross 

 banding a 20th, 

 and he don't 

 care if they come 

 thicker. 



It is all right 

 for these fellows 

 that make or sell 

 veneers to come 

 along and show 

 you a fine flitch 

 and tell ycu what 

 a fine figure it 

 has and how 

 they got so many 

 more beautiful 

 faces by cutting 

 it one 32rd than 

 they could if they 

 cut it thicker. 

 And of course 

 you can't blame 

 a veneer man for 

 getting as many 



a lot of thin veneers. The crate is shipped by freight and 

 may be handled from one to a dozen times before it gets 

 to the buyer. Parts of the crate work loose, some of the 

 veneers slide beyond the edges of others and get broken 

 edges. The more the crate is handled the looser the 

 bundle comes and some veneers get broken in the bumps, 

 because freight handlers don't handle a crate of veneers 



like a case of 



eggs — and they 

 are none too 

 blame careful of 

 eggs. Then when 

 the shipment 

 gets in some one 

 knocks open the 

 bundle and starts 

 looking over the 

 veneers. The 

 veneer foreman 

 has to see them, 

 and the superin- 

 t e n d e n t, and 

 may be the big 

 boss, and a few 

 others, and every 

 time the stuff is 

 handled a few 

 more pieces get 

 fractured a little, 

 if not completely 

 broken. 



Then the ve- 

 neers have to be 

 cut to the re- 

 quired size, and' 

 probably 

 matched, jointed 



feet out of a log as he can when those that buy veneers and taped before they get to the glue room. The thinner 

 are all the time kicking about the price. If a veneer they are the more damage is done in these operations, 

 maker can get a half or a third as many feet again out especially if the stock is crotch or burl. Then comes one 

 of a log by cutting it thinner he can quote a lower price or two more handlings in laying the stock for panel 

 per foot for the veneer and still make more profit on the making before it goes under pressure and comes out in 

 log. And lots of times the buyer will figure the cost and the panel. Up to that point there has been more or less 

 find he is getting more feet for less money and think he breakage and it don't need any expert at figures to see 

 is getting a good buy. that the piece that is broken in the laying of the bale for 



May be he is, but it is a ten to one shot that he isn't, pressure is worth a lot more than the piece that is broken 

 and the reason he isn't is because there is more waste all in the crate, because more labor has been put on the lot. 

 along the line with thin veneer than there is with thick. But where the cost of buying thin veneers really 



Suppose every piece is perfect when the shipper crates amounts to big money is after the panels are made. Per- 



SAVERY'S "LOWBOY," MADE AT HIS PHILADELPHIA SHOP. 



(See article on page 2.3) 



