*o 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10, 1918 



lumber and have a large quantity of one-quarter Incli qunrlored and plain 

 white oak now In their sheds. 



Grand Rapids Veneer Works Issues Dry Kiln Booklet 



A booklet ilescrlblnB the Grand Uaplds vapor kilns has Just been issued 

 by the Granil Kajjlds Veneer Works, (irand Uaplds, Mich. The booklet Is 

 amply Illustrated, not only to show the actual working of the kiln, but to 

 bring home principles through simple Illustration of similar principles 

 which govern In every day occurrences. The booklet contains a good 

 ■deal of practical information on dry kilns and kiln drying. It gives sug- 

 gestions for forms for keeping record of dry kiln operation and lists various 

 instruments recommended for dry kiln work. 



Organize New Company in Charleston, W. Va. 



11. C. Dunfee, formerly of the American Column & Lumber Company 

 and later with Tbos. Hall Lumber Company, respectively of St. Albans and 

 Charleston, W. Va., has organized and is the owner of the Dunfee Lumber 

 Company, which has a rating of ,$40,000. The company will manufacture 

 lumber and handle the output of several small mills in the Charleston 

 section. Its total output will l)e from lij to 20 million feet of West Vir- 

 ginia lumber. It will supply regular trade and also handle a good deal of 

 government stuff as well as mine lumber. The company will shortly install 

 a sawmill on a tract of timber which it has purchased on the Kanawha 

 .& Michigan railroad. 



Established Lumber Department 



The Mercereau-IIawkins Tie Company of Huntington, W. Va., has estab- 

 lished a liUmber department in addition to its cross tie business, and 

 will hereafter handle all kinds of hardwood lumber. 



C. W. Peters, formerly of C. W. Peters Lumber Company of Columbus, 

 Ohio, is manager of this department. 



A West Virginia Mill Changes Hands 



The sawmill at Clover Lick, West Virginia, formerly owned by N. S. 

 Wise & Sons, has been purchased by A. D. Neill, president of the North 

 Fork Lumber Company. Mr. Neill owns a tract of 5,000 acres of timber 

 near the mill which he has bought, and it is estimated that it will keep 

 the mill supplied for five or six years. 



Pertinent Information \ 



Wood Exports for January 



The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce has published figures 

 showing the January exports of wood products from this country with 

 data for January of last year for the purposes of comparison. The 

 statistics follow : 



Article. Jan. 1917. Jan. 1918. 

 Round logs $ 42,436 $ 45.35.S 



Square logs . . . 

 Railroad ties . . 

 Cypress lumber 



Fir 



Gum 



Oak 



White pine . . . 

 Yellow pine . . . 



Poplar 



Redwood 



Spruce 



127,314 89.215 



221,740 204,647 



9.337 220.701 



363,371 457.179 



35,201 106,124 



99,567 241,226 



109.065 59,781 



836,747 1,106,346 



7,016 95,659 



82,509 45.091 



207,057 395,498 



Total lumber $1,873,705 $3,225,705 



The total exports of lumber for January this year were nearly double 

 what they were for the corresponding month of 1917. Other exports of 

 forest products follows : 



Article. Jan. 1917. Jan, 1918. 



Wooden furniture $ 333.303 $ 370.392 



Handles 93,827 



Barrels 51,678 44,543 



Box shooks 164,564 318,294 



Barrel shooks 361.431 



Staves 350.340 277.847 



HeadiBg 12,389 33,551 



House trim 32,340 20,398 



Woodenware 23,746 26,072 



Wood pulp 187,129 281.908 



Total of all wood manufactures $4,598,867 



,$6,198,216 



Wood Bridges 



That wooden trestles are much more economical than those of concrete 

 Is the decision arrived at by a committee of the American Railway 

 Engineering Association after an exhaustive Investigation. 



The report of Committee No. 7 on wooden bridges and trestles, sub- 

 mitted to the recent convention of the association at the Coliseum in 

 •Chicago, and adopted by the association, says : 



Creosoted timber trestles are more economical than concrete except 

 ■when the cost of the concrete structure is less than one and one-half 

 "times the cost of the wooden structure. 



Forty Billion Feet Cut in 1917 



Almost forty billion let of lunilicr — enough to build 2.000.000 bunga- 

 lows — was produced in the United States during the year 1917, according 

 to a preliminary estimate made by the Forest Service. The estimate Is 

 based on the reports of 17,000 mills made to the Forest Service and the 

 National Lumber JIannfacturers' .Association. An equal numl)er of mills 

 arc yet to report to these agencies, but it is not expected that the sub- 

 sequent reports will alter Ibis estimate radically. 



It is significant to note, however, that the reports of approximately 

 700 mills whose pruduction is almost equal to the aggregate production 

 of the remaining 17,000 other mills show that the total of lumber cut of 

 these mills in 1917 was 600.000,000 feet less than the total shipped. 

 This is ascribed to labor conditions principally. 



The government's war time demands for lumber require an accurate 

 census both of last year's production and of the mills capacities for 1918 

 and so oflicials of both agencies in charge of the work arc urging the 

 delinquent mills to report as soon as possible. 



The estimate is based upon the reported cut of 845 identical sawmills 

 each of which cut 5,000,000 feet or more lumber in either 1917 or the 

 preceding year. The reports of these mills indicate that in nine states 

 there was an increase in production and in the rest of the country a 

 decrease. The largest increase was in Missouri where the gain over the 

 1916 cut was almost 44 per cent. In the South, Louisiana, Georgia, 

 Florida, and Alabama showed increases varying up to about 10 per cent. 

 Wisconsin and Michigan, in the North, and Washington and Oregon in 

 the Northwest, were the only other stiites in which the cut increased. 

 North Carolina, with a decrease of more than 22 i»er cent, showed the 

 greatest falling off in production. Maine had a shoi'tage of about 20 per 

 cent. The reports from other states indicate varying percentages of 

 decrease, with an average for all states of two per cent. 



Specifications for Cutting Shuttle Wood 



In the haste to proiluce quantity in normal specifications of lumber, 

 many opportunities are overlooked for getting out specialized items in 

 which there is a good margin of profit if their manufacture is properly 

 supervised. One of these is material from which shuttles used in the vast 

 textile industry are manufactured. Practically all of these shuttles are 

 now made from dogwood. The supply of dogwood for shuttle blocks would 

 be materially augmented were the specifications more generally known, 

 and to this end a prominent shuttle manufacturer has prepared specifica- 

 tions given herewith. A great many lumber companies could probably find 

 profit in getting out dogwood shuttle blocks. 



The blocks must be cut to measure full size when the wood is so thor- 

 oughly dried that forced drying will not make it lose weight. To obtain 

 the dry size of 



14y,xl%xiy<,, cut the block 15 x2 xl%, size No. 0. 



15 xl%xli5/s, cut the block 15y2x2i/sxl%, size No. 1. 



16 x2 xl%, cut the block 161/; x2V4x2, size No. 2. 

 16 x2 x2, cut the block 16y2x2V, x2i4, size No. 3. 

 16V2x2V,.xi%, cut the block 17 x2%xiys, size No. 4. 

 17y2x2i4xl%, cut the block 18 x2,»tx2, size No. 5. 

 19 x214x2, cut the block 19y<.x2,»i,x2i4, size No. 6. 

 21 x2y>x214, cut the block 2iy.x2}ix2-ft, size No. 7. 

 23 x2%x2y2, cut the block 23y2x3%x2}S, size No. 8. 



Blocks should be stacked up for at least sixty days to allow partial 

 seasoning and the development of imperfections which one cannot detect 

 in the green block. As each and every shuttle must be absolutely perfect 

 to avoid injuring delicate faljrics in the weaving, perfect blocks only can 

 be used. Costly delays and damages to warp (this refers to fabric) are 

 caused when shuttles of second quality are put in the loom. So each 

 and every block must be perfect in quality and correctly sawn and abso- 

 lutely free from knots, checks, heart, redwood, cross grain, bark and 

 "cat-faces." The proper method of sawing is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. The center or the pith of the heart must be entirely outside 

 of the block. Furthermore, from a selling standpoint, it is best to remove 

 this pith in order to prevent total loss of the block through splitting by 

 quick checking. 



It is a waste of time to saw anything but absolutely straight grain 

 material, and the blocks must be sawed straight with the grain, otherwise 

 they will be worthless. 



Immediately after sawing, each end of the block should be dipped an 

 inch deep in paraffine or paratEne mixed with rosin to prevent checking. 

 The finished block should be packed in burlap bags and each bag marked 

 with a tag showing the quantity and size of blocks contained. 



Fig. 1 

 Correct Sawing 



Fig. 2 

 Incorrect Sawing 



Fig. S 

 Incorrect Sawing 



