20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 25. 1922 



Dimension Stock and Dimension Prices 



The subject of proper manufacture and reasonable purchase of 

 dimension stock, as an offset to the uneconomic and wasteful ship- 

 ment of low-grade hardwood lumber, has been tossed about by 

 both the producing and consuming industries for, "lo! these many 

 years." The subject reminds one of the toy balloon used by even- 

 ing celebrants at some of our ultra-cabarets, or, if you will, by 

 eager participants at many of our best lumber banquets. The bal- 

 loon is inflated and then batted around from one to the other, 

 never stopping long enough at one place to let anybody see ex- 

 actly what it is made of or what keeps it up in the air. 



This simile might have been applied up to a more or less recent 

 date, for during the past year or two certain earnest men who 

 have seemed capable of appreciating both sides of the question 

 have got behind the dimension movement and crystallized the 

 thought of the past generation or two into something which ap- 

 parently is being gradually put into workable form. It is the 

 understanding of Hardwood Eecord that something definite may 

 be advanced within the next two or three months. 



In the meantime, the subject has been followed with absorbing 

 interest by experienced hardwood operators all over the country. 

 It is in no sense stretching the facts to state that the warmest sup- 

 porters of dimensioning have been the manufacturers. In support 

 of this statement is the littered trail which marks the course of 

 the dimension business up to a recent date. The path is marked 

 with the remains of innumerable earnest endeavors on the part of 

 lumber manufacturers to eliminate the waste involved in shipping 

 unusable material in board form, when, provided the consuming 

 industries as a whole would dignify the dimension business with 

 recognition of what it is, namely, good sound merchandising of 

 hardwood lumber, it could be more economically shipped with truer 

 regard for conservation if reduced to clear dimensions. 



It is absolutely a fact that the hardwood manufacturers are 

 entirely willing to manufacture and sell accurate dimension at a 

 price wliich will enable them to show just a reasonable profit. 



The Sawmill Man's Viewpoint 



Hakdwood Record's references during the past few months to 

 the dimension problem have elicited a substantial number of com- 

 munications on the subject. Both sides have been presented in 

 these communications, none of which has, however, so clearly 

 expressed the sawmill man's angle as does the letter from a promi- 

 nent operator reproduced below. 



This letter is a cordial, impartial and sincere effort to state the 

 lumberman's conviction in the matter of dimension production, 

 and carries with it an invitation to anyone interested in the ques- 

 tion to offer further discussion, either in accordance or at issue 

 with this writer's views. 



Hardwood Eecord wishes on its own account to add that its 

 pages are wide open to any discussion whatsoever that may help 

 to establish the dimensioning of hardwood lumber on a basis that 

 will insure its permanent occupancy of a recognized position both 

 among the producers and consumers of hardwood lumber. If any 

 reader of this article has any thought whatsoever which he wishes 

 to contribute either with or without his signature, Hardwood 

 Eecord will be delighted to receive those comments whether they 

 be brief or lengthy and to give them space in the first available 

 issue. 



The letter follows: 



A great deal Is being written and said about dimension stocli for fur- 

 niture, etc., and although I do not want to discourage the men who are 

 behind this propaganda, for I thinl< it Is one of the best movements that 

 have been inaugurated in years, nevertheiess there are certain phases of 

 the situation which have apparently been overloolted. We are told that 

 a great many furniture manufacturers are desirous of purchasing this 

 dimension »tocl£ and that its use would become very easily established if 

 the sawmill would only be more careful and turn out a more accurate 



article. All I have to say to this is that if the furniture man really 

 wants dimension stoci! he can get it and can get exactly what he wants 

 from the sawmill man if he will pay the proper price for It. For years this 

 clear dimension stocli in oali, gum and other woods has been selling for 

 about a No. 1 common price, if anything a little below a No. 1 common 

 price, and the result is that the woods are literally full of men today 

 who have gone broiie trying to get out this dimension stocis for the fur- 

 niture factories. This is a point that needs no argument, for ail one has 

 to do is to malje a few inquiries to establish it. The first necessary pre- 

 liminary in this dimension stock proposition is the aclinowledgment by the 

 consumer of the proper basis of values. I have been told by both fur- 

 niture men and vehicle men that a clear, well manufacturetl small dimen- 

 sion is of more value to them than the grade of F.VS. This being the 

 case I cannot understand why tliese people are endeavoring to buy this 

 stock at around a No. 1 common price. I am acquainted with mills who 

 have experimented in the cutting up of No. 1 common and No. 2 common 

 grades into dimension stock, and their conclusions have invariably been 

 that they must receive a price close to the price of FAS in order to turn 

 out a proper article. This conclusion stands to reason when one roughly 

 analyzes the prices of the various grades. The FAS grade is practically 

 clear and sells at a definite price ;. the No. 1 common grade cuts two- 

 thirds clear in fair-sized cuttings and sells for about half the F.\S price; 

 the No. 2 common grade will cut one-half clear in even smaller cuttings 

 than the No. 1 conmion and sells for about oue-fourth of the F.\S price. 

 The point I am nuiklng Is this, no matter what standard grade of lumber 

 you are buying, you are in reality paying for the clear part of the board 

 and the more clear there is the higher the price. 



■ Odds Are Ten to One 



Now come the furniture men and want to buy an accurately sawed 

 article, entirely clear, and expect to get It In many cases at less than a 

 No. 1 common price. Gentlemen, this cannot be done. It is a simple 

 merchandising proposition, and if you will get out a pencil and paper 

 and figure a little while you will see that the mlllman cannot stand It. 

 He may think he Is getting along all right, but the fact remains that 

 there are ten of these dimension mamifacturcrs that have gone broke 

 to one of them that is still hanging on by his eyelids. I repeat what I said 

 before, that a furniture manufacturer can get exactly what he wants and 

 In exactly the way he wants It If he will only go into the market and 

 oITor a price for the article that will enable the sawmill man to make a 

 rea.sonable profit. And I say "reasonable profit" advisedly, for although 

 a great many of us sawmill men have been cursed high and low for recent 

 years, the fact remains that during the last half century, outside of a few 

 hectic periods of commercial spasm, a sawmill will run, and run contentedly, 

 and run succossfull.v. at a very moderate margin of profit per M feet. 



I am not writing this in a spirit of disi)aragement of the effort being 

 made to encourage the production of small dimension stock ; I think It 

 is a great movement and that we all have been committing a merchan- 

 dising crime In shipping the lower ciitting-vip grades of hardwoods over 

 long distances and paying anywhere from $10 to $25 per M for the privi- 

 lege of sending along thousands of tons of waste which only goes into 

 the Are hole when it reaches destination. This Is all wrong and Is decidedly 

 uneconomical In Its character. Nevertheless, If this movement is going 

 to be a success the subject must be handled In an Intelligent manner and 

 on a sound commercial basis. Otherwise you will find that the dimension 

 mill has been strangled entirely in an effort to produce a most logical and 

 desirable article at a prohibitively low price. The vehicle manufacturers 

 know only too well and to their sorrow that this has already been the 

 case with the mills who used to furnish them their spoke material. 



"SAWMILL." 



Locomotives Traded for Polish Stumpage 



Exchanging locoinotivi's for I'olish stumpage, and later selling the tim- 

 ber to France, is the latest international business transaction Into which 

 Samuel M. Vauclaln, president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, has 

 entered. 



While relating the events of his recent trip to Europe before fellow 

 members of the Delaware Bridge Commission, Mr. Vauclaln explained to 

 them this famous exchange. He says he made arrangements to sell loco- 

 motives to the government of Poland and to take lumber still standing in 

 trees for payment. The timber was sold to France before he returned 

 to this country. 



This Is but another International deal of the locomotive manufacturer. 

 About a year ago he sold locomotives for oil concessions in Roumanla and 

 then sold the oil to British Interests. 



Not only was that deal arranged, but Mr. Vauclaln also said he had 

 been paid a high compliment by the finance minister of Poland In being 

 made the iatter's personal emissary on a mission in this country which he 

 will begin next week. The Intimation was that he will negotiate a loan 

 from American bankers for Poland, but Mr. Vauclaln would not confirm 

 this conclusion when asked to discuss It after the meeting. 



