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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



September 25, 1917 



had names, such as oak figures have now. Three figures 

 were highly esteemed by the Romans, the "tiger," the 

 "panther" and the "peacock." The figure made up of 

 wavy lines was the tiger, spiral lines were responsible for 

 the panther figure, while lines forming feathers and eyes 

 were the peacock. Furniture makers sold veneered 

 tables of this wood, named according to the prevailing 

 figures. The furniture was known by the animal's name. 

 The purchaser of a "tiger" received a table of the desig- 

 nated pattern. The peacock table was valued more 

 highly than the others. 



WHAT THEY CALLED IT 



The Roman writers called the process of veneering 

 "xilotarsia," and the finished veneered work "sectiles 

 laminae." It is believed from references by ancient 

 writers, that the veneer workers who made the costly 

 Roman tables were Greeks, and that the art of veneering 

 was carried from Greece to Italy. 



it wcis all handwork, of course. The tools of a car- 

 penter of the time of Cicero were much more crude than 

 the present day tools, but they were sufficient to produce 



very fine work. It depended then as now largely upon 

 the skill of the workman. Some of the furniture un- 

 earthed at Pompeii would not suffer much in comparison 

 with the best made at the present day at Grand Rapids 

 or Jamestow^n. But it is unfortunate than none of the 

 fine veneers of which Pliny speaks have been found at 

 Pompeii. It would be interesting to study them to see 

 how they compare v/hh our present work. If further ex- 

 cavations should bring any of them to light, they will 

 be eagerly examined by woodworkers. 



ANCIENT TRICKS OF THE TRADE 

 A little inside information concerning the tricks of the 

 veneer trade have come down from 2,000 years ago. 

 Pliny said the "barbarians" improved the color of citron 

 wood by covering it with wax while green and burying 

 it in the ground. It was next buried in heaps of wheat, 

 for further improvement of the color. Finally, it v^^as 

 soaked in sea water by which it was given the finishing 

 touches, and it was then ready for cutting in the thin 

 slices for gluing upon other woods. The ancients do 

 not appear to have used veneers of cheap wood for panels 

 to be used as cores upon which to glue the costly veneers. 



Specialization in Panel Making 



Possibilities of Training Men Along Certain Lines to Increase 



Technical Skill 



EVERAL YEARS AGO a well-known panel 

 manufacturer undertook an experiment which 

 attracted some attention, because it suggested 

 possibilities which had not been worked out be- 

 fore. It involved building an organization to handle each 

 kind of material going through the plant, in order that 

 the peculiarities of each might be studied and met to the 

 best advantage. 



Thus this panel man had a separate department de- 

 voted to Circassian walnut; another to quartered oak; 

 another to mahogany, etc. From the statement of the 

 case the reader will realize that this was several years 

 before the war started, when Circassian was probably 

 at the crest of its popularity. In fact, the peculiarities of 

 this material, the chance of having to deal with damaged 

 veneers, and the consequent necessity of expert handling, 

 were among the factors wrhich suggested to this manu- 

 facturer the creation of the separate departments for this 

 and other woods. 



The idea was that here the clipping, taping and match- 

 ing of the veneers would be handled, and that they 

 would be sent to the general glue-room, as the work 

 from then on was to be purely mechanical. In getting 

 the veneers ready to lay, however, it was believed that 

 those dealing constantly with one kind of wood v^ould 

 develop a technique which would give them a big advan- 

 tage and would make their services of the utmost value 

 to the plant. 



The results of this experiment cannot be stated defi- 

 nitely, for the reason that conditions were altered to such 

 an extent as to make it impossible to complete it along 

 the lines originally outlined by the manufacturer to the 

 writer. In the first place there came a slump in business, 

 with consuming factories using a greatly reduced footage 

 of glued-up material, and with the volume of business 

 going through the panel plant consequently reduced. 

 This continued for so long that it was no longer safe or 

 desirable to pile up stock, and the working force had to 

 be reduced. 



That led to a complete reorganization of the plant. 

 The best men from each department were retained, and 

 instead of operating all departments full time all the 

 time, one department at a time was run by a crew 

 which had been organized from the pick of the whole 

 factory. This was easy to accomplish, as a practical 

 operation, as the factory was using electric motors and 

 central station service, and could turn on the juice just 

 in a single department, if this was desired. 



The matter of specialization of course went by the 

 boards during this period. It was simply a question of 

 using labor to the best advantage, of holding the desir- 

 able workers together during a period of slow trade, and 

 of making the most of a bad situation. Instead of being 

 able to do one thing superlatively well, each man was 

 called on to do many things and do them all well enough 

 to get by. He was supposed to run a machine, handle 



