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i^ Experience Talks on Woodworking ^^ 



li a tisiii kuilo hut boon introiluii'il lur 



iigi< . lanors and other woodn-orkinf; cutting 



niu. o|wraU' at a very fast speed. The better the quality 



of •: _ 11' high speed knife the more care must be used iu 

 KriiidiiiK- A grinding wheel of proper grit and grade must be 

 used, otherwise Uie knife will bo overheated in grinding and is almost 

 t'crtain to crock. These knives must bo kept in good condition and 

 well sharpened. Owing to the material used in making high speed 

 steel knives, it henfs rapidly, expands and cools quirkly. This 

 puts an enormous strain on the stael, causing very small cracks 

 to appear in the knife, so that when it is put into use again the 

 edge will crumble an.iy and often i|uite largo pieces will drop out, 

 always running straight back from the cutting edge, then running 

 off to one end or the other. All such breaks ■ aro caused by im- 

 proper grinding. Anotlier frequent cause of crumbling is that 

 after having used the knives until they are dull, in the hurry of 

 sharpening the grinder will be forced, and as a result the edg.' 

 will be blued and overheated, and when the knife is again used 

 will break out almost immediately. 



Even tlie self hardening knives, which are similar in appearance 

 at least to the genuine high speed steel knives, can be ruined in the 

 same way. Great care should always be used in grinding. Never 

 hurry, or take too great a feed. A little longer time taken will 

 result in a saving in dollars in the life of the knives. The work 

 which will "be done on the machines will be better and the users 

 of the knives feci more satisfied. 



One often hears the question asked as to the length of time 

 required for glue to set in panels or other veneered work. Glue will 

 do its primarj- setting within a few hours, sometimes a few minutes 

 if the glue is thick and the veneer is rather heavy so that it readily 

 absorbs the surface moisture. The usual practice is t<i 

 leave stock under pressure for at least six or eight 

 hours, and, where convenient, for from twelve to twenty-four hours. 

 It is perhaps better to keep it under pressure forty-eight hours be- 

 cause the primary setting and thorough drying of the glue are two 

 diflFerent things. The jirimary setting may hold so that it is safe 

 to take the stock from uudcr pressure, but there is always the 

 chance that the veneer will pull loose and leave blisters through the 

 strain set up in the drving out of the moisture that has been absorbed 

 by the stock from the glue. It naturally takes a thick pile of 

 panels longer to dry than a single panel, or two or three in a pile, 

 but if ti.e cores and face are thick enough to readily absorb the 

 moisture of the glue, the primary setting should not require a great 

 deal longer than if using a smaller quantity. The best plan to 

 follow is to let the stock stay under pressure for two days, if 

 possible, and if that can't be done keep it there as long as pos- 

 <iiMi\ Tt uill do no li.irm and will often prevent a bad .iob. 



Whenever a furniture m:;n says that he has tried veneer and 

 has turned back to solid panels in woodwork, you can rest assured 

 that he did not try it thoroughly, or else he has been unfortunate 

 in getting veneers that hail been poorly put up. Moreover, where 

 ever you find a man knocking -veneered work, whether he is a 

 manufacturer or user of veneered products, or simply an observer, 

 it is certain that he is either ignorant on the subject, or else he 

 has come in contact with improper work. 



We do come across some of these things now and then, and it 

 is for that reason that we may well turn the light inward a little and 

 look for the cause in the veneer-using industry itself. In other lines 

 of work it is pointed out that the worst enemy to work is the man 

 who does his work poorly. When by argument, by demonstration, 

 and by theories, the enthusiastic veneer man has convinced the 

 prospective veneer user, or the general public, of the superiority 

 of veneer, not only in presenting a good face appearance, but in 

 structural work, a step forward has been made; >)ut after this step 



—20— 



>iii> been Mi:idc, il siiine man who in careleHu, ur ignorant, puts up 

 a job of veneering so poorly that il comes apart and causes dis- 

 appointment, it puts the veneer product, in the eyes of whoever 

 has had this experience, in worse shape than it was in the begin- 

 ning. It is twice as hard to convert a nmn to the use of venei-r 

 when he has been disappointed by impro|>er work, as it is to induce a 

 man who never had experience with it to try it. It nnturallj- 

 follows that all who are interested in the further development of 

 veneer products should study all the weak spots of the industry 

 itself, and do everything possible to eliminate slipshod methods 

 that result in a poor job of veneer work. 



There may have been some excuse for poor work in the early 

 days, but there is no excuse today for poor work to bo forced 

 on the public. The veneer man should conduct exjieriments and test 

 results in his own factory and know where he is before ho puts 

 out the job for the purpose it is wanted. Then he can analyze 

 and understand the failures. It is not the business of the gen- 

 eral public to analyze and understand the difference between this 

 and that chiss of work. It is the duty of the manufacturing in- 

 dustry itself to look after these things, and to eliminate as fast 

 as possible things that interfere with the progress of the industry. 



A rip saw with an aggravating disposition to throw sawdust in 

 the eyes of the operator is an annoying machine to work with. 

 There are ways to lessen this annoyance. One is by proper filing 

 and setting; another, by having a splitter behind the saw. Then 

 there is also a way of suspending something over the saw to catch 

 the flying dust, but best of all is the use of the proper safeguard. 



Good cutting may not improve the figure in a log or veneer flitch, 

 but it does improve the appearance of finished veneer. 



It is during the short days of winter that one appreciates the 

 usefulness of electricity in factory lighting, and it is also a re- 

 minder that one should have the best equipment possible in this 

 line. Here, as elsewhere, the best is usually the cheapest as well 

 as the most satisfactory. 



The foreman who is continually finding fault is very apt to 

 have many faults of his own, or else he is unfortunate in having 

 faulty men under him. He should do sonif weeding out somewhere, 

 because fault finding is joy killing and takes the life out of work 

 and business.' 



Some rip saws, like some men, wabble about only when they are 

 loaded. Others wabble about when running light, simply because 

 they are unfortunately loose jointed. 



It is some of the things that seem small that cause bad accidents. 

 It is better to be careful always than to run a chance of being 

 crippled. 



From the claim that some roofing people make in advertising their 

 product, it looks as though but little thought would have to be 

 given to the repairing of roofs. But the fact of the matter is 

 that it pays to go all over all the buildings every fall and put the 

 roofing in order so that winter storms may not do damage. 



There are many woodworking factories that do very little veneer 

 work and when one tpeaks to the superintendent of such a plant 

 about economy in the department he is told that it is not of any 

 interest because the plant is not large enough. In truth, economy 

 should begin in the small veneer room. It starts with a glue pot 

 and the hand brush for spreading, and the amount of glue that can 

 be wasted by this method is surprising. Very often a glue spreader 

 will pay for itself in a comparatively short time even in a small 

 veneer department. 



