Septembel 25, 1917 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



25 



Methods of Handling Veneer 



Means Employed 

 Buckling, Blisters, 



N ARTICLE by Lewis Taylor, in a recent issue of 

 the Canadian Woodworker, discusses certain 



p ' methods and processes in handhng first-class 

 rotary cut veneers for high-grade work. 



The condition the veneers are in when the laying oper- 

 ation commences is just as important as the laying itself. 

 Some firms have discarded- the old-fashioned method of 

 drying the veneers and straightening them between hot 

 cauls and instead place the veneers in a caul box having 

 a very high temperature. When this latter method is used 

 the veneers become extremely brittle and require careful 

 handling in order to avoid excessive wastage. Moreover, 

 by this method the buckling of the veneer is not elimi- 

 nated, which makes it more difficult to joint and match. 



Is there anything gainel by adopting the quicker 

 method of drying veneer in the caul box, or do \fe lose 

 what is gained, owing to the difficulty of working the 

 veneer; and again, what is the better way to lay veneer? 

 Is it not better to dry the veneer out even between hot 

 cauls and then lay it, than it is to lay it full of kinks and 

 in the brittle condition the quick drying process leaves 

 it in? 



Veneer that is full of buckles is the kind that causes 

 future trouble. It splits open when laying and this is 

 just the time that it is difficult to make repairs owing to 

 the necessity of getting the stock under pressure as 

 quickly as possible. It is only by getting the veneer free 

 from kinks that success is obtained in the laying opera- 

 tion. This is especially true of fancy walnut veneer, of 

 which there are considerable quantities used in piano and 

 furniture factories. 



A short time ago the writer picked up a piece of fancy 

 Circassian walnut veneer that had been "baked" in the 

 caul box. It was full of kinks and down the center, on 

 the crest of the kink, was a ragged split. The veneer 

 had been handled carelessly, no doubt, but in its brittle 

 and buckly condition it was almost impossible to handle 

 it without breaking it. This was a concrete case of a 

 good piece of veneer having been spoiled through not 

 receiving the proper treatment. 



If any firm is using the baking process of drying its 

 veneers and is having trouble I would strongly urge that 

 it give the "between hot cauls" method a trial. It may 

 seem slower at first, but after all it is the final results 'that 

 count. The wage bill for repairing split and broken 

 veneers must be quite an item in a number of factories. 

 This, could be lessened considerably by drying the veneer 

 between hot cauls. 



There is another point. Nearly every factory using 

 veneer picks out the dampest part of the premises to keep 

 veneer in. Now veneer should always be kept in a warm, 



to Prevent Breaks, 

 Folds and Wrinkles 



dry place, because we should bear in mind that every 

 foot of veneer is supposed to be future stock for the glue 

 room. The storage room must not be too hot, however. 

 There might be doubt about other pieces of stock being 

 used in the glue room, but veneer is intended only to be 

 glued on and therefore should be kept high and dry for 

 that reason. 



The more the writer sees and thinks of veneer troubles, 

 the more he is convinced that those troubles can be almost 

 entirely removed if proper care is taken of each log of 

 veneer as it comes into the factory. In some factories, 

 logs of veneers have lain in a damp place for many 

 years and have finally been brought out and used, with 

 no great care taken to see that the veneer vtras perfectly 

 dry before being laid. If veneer is properly dried and 

 shrunk there should be no trouble, and if we give proper 

 attention to this point it will repay us through the avoid- 

 ance of checks that spoil so much of the finely figured 

 veneer used on high grade work. 



A good place to keep veneer is on top of the caul box. 

 There is usually waste room there and it will get the 



'ITIVIMtvJHi imnvtmnTB 



.iVi 



^m^tm 



VENEERS AND PANELS 



' rz/Mv'WK'ii' 



PLAIN OAK 

 BROWN ASH 



GREY ELM 

 MAPLE 



BASSWOQ^ 



WISCONSIN>VENEEER CO. 



MANUFACTURERS 



RHINEtAI^DER, WIS. 



All Three of U» WUl Be Benefited if You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



