28 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



October 25, 1917 



flour," let it be noted that whereas ten years ago it was 

 almost unknown, and when heard of was looked upon 

 with doubt, its use has grown so that pianos, phono- 

 graphs and all grades of furniture and panels are glued 

 up with this veneer glue, and approximately 2,000,000 

 pounds are now being used each month in the wood- 

 working industries. Long time users, who have used 

 It right, say that it is superior to the glue it has displaced, 

 so largely. If one wants evidence as to its merits and 



benefits let him ask any fifty furniture manufacturers 

 what they think about it, and hear the majority of them 

 testify that they would not care to return to the use of glue 

 they formerly used, also if it were not for the new 

 product it is likely their plants would be closed today. 



Prepare no wreaths, or, if you must pluck the flowers, 

 place them reverently on the biers of the old artisans, 

 for the glue manufacturers, veneer and panel men — 

 bosses and bossed — will live for eons to come. A. B. M. 



Veneer and Panel Inspection Vital 



It Isn't So Bad to Make Mistakes, But It Is Inexcusable 



To Let Them Get By 



I HE GERMANS are said to be exceedingly angry 

 with their diplomats, not because they have 

 attempted underhanded and unfair things, but 

 because they have been stupid enough to get 

 caught at it. 



And, as a matter of fact, the world judges entirely 

 according to what it sees, without attempting to guess 

 what is going on behind the scenes. In manufacturing, 

 all that counts with the customer is what is delivered to 

 him. He doesn't know or care what the producer had 

 to accomplish to achieve the result. 



This is by way of preface to the statement that inspec- 

 tion is one of the most important features of the panel 

 business. The assertion may be stretched to include 

 veneer making, as well, for indeed it applies to every 

 line of business where quality and variations in quality 

 enter into the situation to any marked extent. 



The panel man has so many operations to perform, 

 and each one is so definitely dependent for success on 

 the ones preceding, that inspection at each point along 

 the way is needed to make sure that a proper founda- 

 tion has been prepared. And in the shipping depart- 

 ment, where the final "once over" is given the stock 

 before it is crated and shipped out, it helps a lot to have 

 a vigilant and eagle-eyed inspector who will take note 

 of defects and throw out panels which are not up to 

 the mark in every way. 



The trouble in the average panel factory is that inspec- 

 tion is taken as a matter of course, and that it is assumed 

 that those handling the material will notice if everything 

 is not as it should be. But ordinarily the man at a ma- 

 chine is most interested in the performance of the opera- 

 tion to which he has been assigned, and does not always 

 look the material over carefully. He has his job to do, 

 and he does it; and if he doesn't happen to see the bad 

 spot, it is hardly to be regarded as his fault. 



Therefore there ought to be someone definitely 

 charged with the duty of inspection, ■who will look the 

 panels over critically, and will do his best to find some 

 good reason for throwing them out. That sounds like 

 an unreasonably harsh attitude to take, but it should be 



remembered that that is the buyer's attitude, and that 

 it is a lot better to find fault with the product before it 

 is shipped than after. 



One of the most successful panel men in the country 

 said not long ago that he came near losing his best 

 account simply because a few panels in a big shipment 

 were damaged in sanding. The face veneers were thin, 

 the sander cut through into the core, and small but easily 

 noticeable holes in the faces were made. Naturally, 

 these panels did not stand inspection; and the letter 

 which the panel man received from the buyer v^ras much 

 more severe a roast than the amount involved would 

 have indicated. 



When a buyer is asking for the best that can be pro- 

 duced, and is paying top-notch prices for it, he does not 

 overlook trifles, nor make excuses for the shipper. The 

 latter is supposed not to be in the class for which excuses 

 have to be made. The customer was simply out of 

 patience with the manufacturer because his methods had 

 not been made accurate enough to rule out defective 

 material, and to save the user the trouble of throwing 

 it out. 



This customer is a big talking-machine concern, which 

 has a national reputation for its products. It is hardly 

 possible that the concern could have put the panels into 

 its cabinets and finished them without noticing the de- 

 fects, but the remote chance of this happening was what 

 made the buyer dissatisfied vi^ith the service he was get- 

 ting. It made him feel that the panel concern could not 

 be depended upon absolutely, but that the product which 

 it delivered had to be gone over very carefully to 

 eliminate defective panels. 



The same thing happened not long ago in the case 

 of a manufacturer of rotary veneers. This stock was 

 not particularly high grade, but nevertheless the customer 

 wanted accurately manufactured veneers. It turned out 

 that the stock which was shipped, comprising a full car- 

 load, 'was very inaccurately cut, with the result that there 

 was a wide variation in the thickness of the pieces. It 

 was supposed to be 1 - I 6" stuff, but veneers vs^ere found 

 ranging all the way from 1 '8" to 1 '20". The car was 



