July 10, 1917 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



25 



Machinery and Hand Labor 



Address by W. B. Axford Before the Meeting of the National Veneer 

 and Panel Association, Chicago, June I 2. 



O FAR as I know, there is not an engineering 

 concern in the country making a specialty of 

 veneer mill construction and equipment. Per- 

 haps the reason for this is that such a concern 

 would die of starvation. You think, and you are right, 

 that you know more about the veneer business than any 

 engineer who perhaps has never been inside a veneer 

 mill. And yet 1 will venture to say that if a competent 

 engineer were to spend a day in your mill, he could show 

 you a way, with a small expenditure, to save at least one 

 man. 1 have never yet been in a mill where I could not 

 learn something, nor have I ever been in a mill where 

 I could not suggest some improvement. And 1 think this 

 is true of any one present. 



There is not a man among you who would build an- 

 other mill exactly the same as the mill you now operate. 

 If I happen to mention some mechanical methods and 

 improvements that you are perfectly familiar with, please 

 remember that the other fellow may not be. 1 hap- 

 pened in a mill a short time ago in time to help the con- 

 cern out of what was proving to be a serious difficulty. 

 Tlie Proctor dryer was not working properly. It would 

 not dry the stock as quickly as it had for the past two 

 years. The output was only half or a third of what it 

 should be. It had been running this way for a week and 

 no one could locate the trouble. I looked on top of the 

 machine and suggested that if they send some one up 

 there to cross the belt on the exhaust fan they might get 

 better results. The fan was running backwards. The 

 Sunday before some one had been told to take out a 

 piece from the belt because it was running slack. It had 

 been running with a crossed belt. When he took out the 

 piece and put the belt back he forgot to cross it. No 

 one in the plant had been able to locate the trouble for 

 a week. I tell this to illustrate the extent of the mechanical 

 ability in some veneer mills. 



The Log Yard 



In many plants there is more chance for a saving by 

 a rearrangement of the present equipment than by any 

 added machinery. In some I find the equipment too 

 elaborate for the work to be done. It takes more labor 

 to handle the equipment than it would to do the work 

 without it. 



In the gum mills there are but few places where a der- 

 rick and hoisting engine are not absolutely essential. This 

 is about the only practical way to unload logs from a high 

 side car, and an effort is usually made to have this equip- 

 ment do all the work possible and handle the logs at the 

 drag saw and the vats. Frequently in order to do this 

 the derrick is too large for quick work; a log carriage is 

 necessary, requiring extra labor, and the drag-saw must 



be in a place where it h not at all convenient. There 

 seems to be a tendency, in veneer mills, to overlook the 

 advantages of a log-haul and to neglect to take advantage 

 of gravity. Many seem to think that the log carriage, 

 which must be returned for each log, probably to some 

 distant point, is a necessity. In many instances this could 

 be replaced with a log-haul and a man or two saved. The 

 haul rig should be in two parts, so that the part under 

 the saw can be jigged back and forth. This is easily 

 done with a double clutch. With the first section of the 

 haul-rig the logs can be easily elevated to any reason- 

 able height so that the drag-saw can be set a little above 

 the level of the vats and the roll into the vats has suffi- 

 cient pitch to make it easy. The same is true from the 

 vats to the mill floors and a short log-haul from the vats 

 into the lathes is often convenient. 



The use of a steam or air hoist for lifting the logs from 

 the vats and delivering them to the lathes is probably 

 the quickest method and requires the least labor. If air 

 is used, hoists can very often be used to an advantage in 

 other parts of the mill, particularly in a panel plant, and 

 where it is necessary to lift crates into a car. 



So far as I know no one has ever perfected a rossing 

 or barking machine that could be used to advantage in 

 veneer mills, except for small bolts, such as tooth-pick 

 blocks. 



Cut-ofF Saws 



I believe that it is only a question of time when every 

 drag-saw w^ill be replaced by the band cut-off saw. This 

 rig has been greatly improved and is a highly efficient 

 and satisfactory machine. It is a great time saver. A 

 1 6-inch birch log can be cut through in eleven seconds. 

 The machine requires no foundation or strong fastening; 

 it can be bolted to the floor, or may be used in the woods 

 on a boat or skids. It can be driven with about one- 

 third of the power required for other machines. It does 

 more and better work with less waste. The log does not 

 need dogging or holding w^hile being cut. The machine 

 is perfectly balanced and can be handled easily v/ithout 

 friction or other hoist. The only objection I have ever 

 found to it, is that it is necessary to have a man about 

 the mill who can properly file, braze and hammer a band 

 saw. 



If you have up-to-date lathes these have been de- 

 veloped so that a minimum of labor is required to operate 

 them. Tlie main bearings are bored in solid metal, with 

 fiber linings so that they will not run dry and cut out, 

 the feather inserted at the point nearest the chuck so 

 that all chatter or quiver in the spindle is done away with. 

 The power dogging device is one vi'hereby a log is dogged 

 quickly in one operation, without using a trig or hook 



