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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



April 25, 1917 



The Matched-Up Veneer Business 



A Specialty Which Developed During Vogue of Circassian — Has It a 



Future? 



SUBJECT on which there is a lot of disagreement 

 among veneer men is whether or not the sale of 



y il veneers matched up, taped and ready to lay 

 will ever develop sufficiently to be regarded as 

 a permanent factor in the trade. At present it can be 

 considered only as an interesting specialty, which is fea- 

 tured by a few houses, but is let severely alone by every- 

 body else. 



Obviously, the matched-up veneer trade is a develop- 

 ment of dimension veneer business, and the latter is some- 

 thing that the average veneer man has always steered 

 away from very carefully. Cutting veneers to dimension 

 is all right in theory, but does not seem attractive in prac- 

 tice because there are so few consumers who are willing 

 to pay the price which is necessary to cover waste, labor 

 and other costs involved in manufacturing dimension 

 stock. 



The man who is cutting veneers to size, of course, is 

 then in a position to carry the process a few steps further, 

 and to match them up and furnish them to the customer 

 ready to glue. This seems to be a service which the user 

 would appreciate, especially if the veneer man were in 

 a position, on account of his knowledge of woods and 

 his volume of business, to employ experts for matching 

 whose work would be superior to that done in the ordi- 

 nary factory by hands that do not handle enough veneers 

 to do exceptional work. 



But these theories are knocked in the head by a num- 

 ber of practical objections; at any rate, they are suffi- 

 cient to have prevented most of the veneer men from 

 attempting to emulate the example of a few houses in 

 supplying a demand for matched-up stock. True, there 

 is a demand of this kind, though it is limited. If it were 

 a universal and overwhelming call, the veneer houses 

 might be compelled to provide the service, and to fur- 

 nish stock in the form designated by their customers. 

 That the bulk of buyers and sellers of veneers have not 

 taken hold of the idea of having the veneer man do the 

 matching seems to show that there is no necessity for 

 introducing this wrinkle. 



In fact, there was more of this sort of thing done a 

 few years ago, when Circassian walnut was in vogue, than 

 there is now. Then it was a question of making the 

 most of material which was likely to be defective. Sell- 

 ing Circassian matched up and ready to lay gave the 

 veneer man a chance to put his material in the best of 

 condition, to handle it so as to eliminate defects as far 

 as possible, and to patch up the veneers where this was 

 necessary. It was a practical device that served a definite 

 purpose, and after Circassian was knocked out for the 

 time being by the war, concerns which had been willing 



to supply their veneers in this form discontinued the 

 practice. 



When the war is over and Circassian comes back — 

 and this, of course, introduces another debatable ques*-' 

 tion — it may again be good policy to feature this idea. 

 On the other hand, most veneer users know that Circas- 

 sian is a defective wood, and that it has to be handled 

 carefully to get proper results. They may prefer to "let 

 George do it," however, and have the veneer man take the 

 trouble and assume the risk involved in putting the Cir- 

 cassian stock together. Certainly there seems to be more 

 room for this feature, as a matter of service to the user, 

 than there is under ordinary conditions. 



One reason, in the opinion of many fancy veneer men, 

 why matching up will never get very far is that the small 

 users of built-up panels are likely to buy their material 

 already glued-up, while the big ones prefer to handle the 

 veneers themselves, in order to introduce the note of in- 

 dividuality and distinction which they desire. It is, of 

 course, true that matching is the most important feature 

 of all in bringing out the beauty of the wood, and in 

 giving character to the finished panel. The wood which 

 is not effectively matched up will not show off well in the 

 finished piece, v^rhile a clever handler of veneers can 

 make the most of the opportunities in matching the stock 

 and get a brilliant result from the same wood. 



Since this is true, big buyers, who are using a lot of 

 figured stock, can afford to have experts in this depart- 

 ment of their plants, and to devote attention to getting 

 the best results. And best, in this respect, includes in- 

 dividuality as well as beauty. The work turned out by a 

 concern matching and taping veneers for a large num- 

 ber of users would in all probability have certain charac- 

 teristics, which would indicate its origin. Those who 

 are looking for the distinctive, and who are selling their 

 goods on the strength of this kind of appearance, prefer 

 to do the matching themselves, believing that they can 

 bring out the features for which they are striving better 

 than anybody else. 



Again, work of this kind, involving, as indicated, not 

 merely furnishing dimension stock, but likewise high- 

 priced labor into the bargain, must necessarily carry a 

 high price, compared with the cost of the same veneers 

 sold without reference to size, as they came from the 

 saw or slicer. And the experience of most members of 

 the trade is that consumers cannot see the reason for 

 increases of this kind. No matter how thoroughly 

 justified they may be, the consumer hesitates to pay what 

 is asked. This means that the profit to be made in fur- 

 nishing service of this character is limited, and that the 

 game, from this standpoint, is hardly worth the candle. 



