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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



August 25, 1917 



tion, and while they represented an enormous cost when 

 figured up at the mill, the veneers which were secured 

 fully justified the effort and expense put into them by 

 the buyer. 



Many times the cleverness of the log buyer gives the 

 manufacturer who uses the veneers an opportunity to 

 do some effective promotion work in connection with 

 the finished product. For instance, a certain veneer 

 concern managed to get hold of a famous old tree 

 which stood on the grounds of a country club in the 

 East. A lightning bolt was the medium. The buyer 

 heard about it and purchased the tree "as is," taking a 

 chance that most of the material was o. k. The results 

 were entirely satisfactory, and the entire out-turn was 

 sold to a big piano manufacturer in that vicinity. 



This tree, it happened, had figured in some historic 

 episodes of the Revolution, and when the story was told 

 to the piano manufacturer, he realized that this would 

 make the finest kind of advertising material. Conse- 

 quently the cases which were faced with these veneers 

 were offered as a special lot, and were advertised in the 

 piano trade papers and to prominent individuals who 

 were likely to appreciate this feature. All of which de- 

 veloped value outside of the merely intrinsic quality of 

 the veneers themselves. 



A tree may look good from the outside, and still be 

 disappointing to the veneer manufacturer, who is look- 

 ing for figure, color or other special qualities needed for 

 face veneers. Even though the tendency of the times is 

 favorable to less conspicuous and extreme effects as to 

 wood figures than it was a few years ago, buyers are 

 still looking for the unusual, if not the spectacular. And 

 it is not always possible to say what the inside of a 

 log will look like merely from examining the outside. 



Some rather clever work along this line has been done 

 by buyers of logs which were intended to be manufac- 

 tured into figured gum veneers — provided there was a 

 figure to justify the manufacture. One such buyer in 

 particular, who is connected with a leading veneer con- 

 cern in the Ohio Valley, makes periodic forays into the 

 South, buying logs that represent considerable specula- 

 tion, in view of the fact that they must be shipped an 

 unusually great distance to the mill. This buyer is cred- 

 ited with being able to tell whether a log will do for 

 veneers by the appearance of the butt, a "calico" effect 

 being in evidence if figure is there. On the other hand, 

 there are buyers who are more conservative, and who, 

 while admitting that a fresh-cut log can often be sized 

 up accurately in this respect, do not believe that it is 

 possible to do more than guess, after the log has been 

 on the ground for a short time. 



A good many veneer mills have small bandmills in 

 connection. Perhaps this serves the veneer mill as the 

 undertaker does the doctor — buries its mistakes. Cer- 

 tainly it is a good idea to be able to cut into lumber 

 the logs which were intended but not destined for 

 veneers. The two work well together for another rea- 

 son, namely, the difficulty of buying selected logs with- 



out reference to other timber the owner may have for 

 sale. Those who have trees to offer, especially in the 

 territory where the log buyers have been operating for 

 a long time, are canny folk, and they realize that a few 

 fine specimens "sweeten" the batch to such an extent 

 as to help them to put over the scrubby and undesirable 

 trees. 



Consequently when a log buyer for a veneer mill 

 comes along and wants to pick out just a fevf of the 

 best trees for his own use, he is not given much encour- 

 agement, and either he must pay a big premium for 

 these, or buy the whole lot. If the manufacturer is run- 

 ning a bandmill along with his veneer mill, this is easy. 

 If not, the buyer must arrange to dispose of the less 

 desirable timber to a lumber manufacturer, or trust to 

 getting the flitches of the veneer logs from the sawmill 

 man who ultimately takes the block of timber. 



One can readily syinpathize with the log buyer who is 

 told to go out and get the best possible material for 

 the mill, but not to pay more than a modest price for 

 it. He is in the same position as the heroine of the 

 famous poem: 



Mother, mother, may I go swim? 



Yes, my darling daughter; 

 Hang your clothes on a hickory limb 



But don't go near the water! 



Many a log buyer complains that he is asked to do 

 the impossible, and that he is forced to bow to compe- 

 tition because his principals will not pay prices which 

 are current in his territory. Yet if there ■were no restraint 

 placed upon them, the log buyers would have a merry 

 time of it, though the veneer manufacturers wouldn't 

 make any money. The buyer of veneers, incidentally, 

 must pay the cost of the tree at the stump, as well as 

 transportation and manufacturing charges, and is inter- 

 ested in the limitation of this factor to a reasonable 

 amount. 



The thing which keeps prices from being altogether 

 restricted, however, is the possibility constantly con- 

 fronted of being able to get hold of a tree or log that 

 will prove a wonderful buy when the material is exposed 

 to view. There isn't the wide scope for speculation that 

 exists in mahogany, perhaps, but there is enough range 

 to make hope spring eternal in the breast of the optimistic 

 log buyer. The superintendent of the mill is usually less 

 hopeful, and takes what comes with philosophy, while 

 the office people, including those who have to sell the 

 product, stand around with their mouths open when a 

 particularly fine log is being prepared for manufacture, 

 in the hope that they are going to get something to brag 

 about this time. 



So the job of log buyer is not so unimportant as it 

 seems to the outsider, but comes pretty close to domi- 

 nating the situation at times. Any way, the man who 

 wants fancy figured stock is so dependent on what the 

 log man does for him that he ought to be interested in 

 this story of his occasionally brilliant exploits. G. D. C. 



