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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



July 10 1917 





All Three of Us Will Be Benefited if 



{Continue from pape 25) 

 ness devoted to manufacturing glued-up work of this 

 general character. 



The importance of standardization in this department 

 of the veneered products field was emphasized not long 

 ago by one of the executives in the production depart- 

 ment of a large seating company, who said that only by 

 making seats in quantity can the price be held to its pres- 

 ent figure. The company has certain established designs, 

 and no consideration would induce it to depart from these 

 in order to take care of the whims and fancies of an indi- 

 vidual buyer. The cost of making forms for the produc- 

 tion of curved seating is great, and becomes a minimum 

 factor in the production of the work only when the out- 

 put of a given number is very large. The seats are pro- 

 duced by the thousands, and in this way the cost of the 

 equipment becomes a minor factor. But if the forms 

 had to be manufactured for the production of a few seats, 

 relatively speaking, the cost would be out of proportion. 

 The time required for the work would be too great to 

 justify handling a special order of this kind. 



The seating business is probably the largest in which 

 curved panel making is a necessary and permanent fac- 

 tor, in view of the necessity of making a product which 

 will be "form-fitting." That it has seen to it that stand- 

 ards be established and adhered to rigidly, special 

 designs being frowned upon as useless and wasteful, 

 ought to be suggestive to the manufacturer in the business 

 where curved panels are not absolutely necessary, though 

 occasionally introduced as a means of relieving the 

 severity of designs carried out entirely by means of 

 straight lines. If curved work is to be used at all, let it 

 at least follow some established standard, so that its 

 manufacture will be simplified, and the cost of produc- 

 tion held to a reasonable amount. 



The seating business, it is interesting to note, has 

 thoroughly demonstrated the value and utility of veneer- 

 ing as a means of resisting strain and developing the 

 greatest strength and permanence at the smallest cost of 

 material. Only by the use of glued-up work would it 

 have been possible to make the light, graceful and inex- 

 pensive seats which are used in most of the moving pic- 

 ture theaters, and which play such an important part in 

 the most popular recreation of the day. A cheap seat is 

 just as necessary as a cheap film, and building up the 

 material used in making seats opens the way for a sturdy 

 yet economical product. 



It is even to be noted that in making the heavier seats 

 for churches, where it would be possible to use solid ma- 

 terial, the usual practice is to glue inch boards together 

 and to cut the seats out of them, in order to provide a 

 laminated structure which will resist all tendency to warp. 

 Wherever curves are introduced, strain is increased at 

 certain points, and the use of several plies of material 

 seems to be the only way to establish a factor of safety 

 and enable the product to withstand the strain indefinitely. 

 Standardization is the big idea of the day. Its military 

 value is such that it has been given special study ever since 

 the great v^ar began. 



You MenUon HARDWOOD RECORD 



