10 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



usually sol'd in small quantities. The I 

 nese likewise disregard the real worth of 

 mahogany and eut it up into inferior fur 

 uiture. There is no economy in the u~ 



ogany; it is used for drawer bot> 

 ■ II as fronts, for bureau backs as well 

 as tops. 1" fact, there is almost no cheaper 



• available. I wanted several light 

 transportation purposes and there- 



requested pine. The price proved to b< 



higher than if mahogany had been used, for 

 the reason that practically no pine exists 

 on the islands, while hardwoods abound. 



As soon as the raft is disposed of, the 

 crew disbands, each going his separate way 

 to gamble with the money obtained. After 

 revelling in idleness and dissipation until 

 the last peso disappears, they again assemble 

 and i> -t 11 r ti to the forest. 



— ' ' An Ex-soldier. ' ' 



Limitations Rotary Veneer Cutter. 



Theoretically the rotary veneer machini 

 capable of adjustment to cul veneers from 

 one one-thousandth to three-quarters of an 

 inch in thickness, but from a practical stand 



point thinnesl stuck cul is m ni 



hundred! h oi an inch. Venei i 



such thinness only from closi val- 



uabli w Is, in which it is desirable t" t 



material. Even oak i a 

 fully be i at so thin, whether rotary cut cu 

 quartered, bei a tsi I be body of thi 

 too porous for practical use. In the cutting 

 of common veneer about the thinnest stock 

 that is regularly cut is the light basket splint 

 stuck, varying in thickness 

 seventh to one thirty-sixth of an inch. Aside 

 from this thin stock for baskets, there is lit 

 tie n'lary veneer eut under one-eighth of an 

 inch in thickness. In fact, it may be said 



that tight li of an inch is to the i 



machine w bat I he sawmill, in 



t hi lis! of thicknesses. 

 Stock for bottle wrappers and other 



vi us wrapping and packing purpose 



tlii r than this, but the bulk 



IihhIh ni. n stock runs one-eighth of 



pwards in thickness. A- to how 

 thick it is practical t < ► cut lumix 



i machine, opinions and practices 

 what. W'lnl. stock may be cut tl 

 fourths nt an inch thick with a good ma- 

 chine, and be reasonably sound, for several 

 .r\ seldom desirable to cut 

 ghths of an 

 --. Some individuals maj take 

 nt, Imt ordinarily it 

 is loj genera] practice "ill verify it. 



Tin' trouble with >t..rk more than I 



'lis of an inch, or, at th tside, one 



half inch in thickness, does ool 

 lark of ability to cut it on a rotary veneer 

 Lot rather becausi luct is 



ordinarily adaptable to commercial re 

 quirements. Taking th.' bos and crate trad. 

 H example, into which great quantities 

 of Mii.-.i products regularly go, it will be 

 i that there are few instances where 

 strips of thicker stock than thus.' named arc 

 sides nt these package 

 bin as possible; in fact, a promi- 

 nent bos man recently remark..! that whal is 

 wanted is a quarter inch side that "ill hold 

 a ton. As a rule, the side stork of boxes 

 neer runs from a quarter t" 

 three-eighths of an inch in thickness. The 

 only part nt' th.' package showing an attempt 



,n thickness i- the ends, and those tiro sel 

 diiui made Of veneers unless they are mad" 

 i.t three-plj stock. The desideratum in ends 

 is siu.k thick enough to hold a nail, and not 

 only straight, but strong enough to maintain 

 Hi.- general shape of tin' package. Obviously, 

 mis air i.t't. -n made of sawed stm-k, nol 

 infrequently of stock sawed on the heading 

 saw, nut ..f mills ami ends from the vei 

 factory. 



In times passed there have been efforts 

 made t.. manufacture pail staves on the 



' machine. I n this w..rk ii is if . . 

 necessary t.. cul stock, running about five- 

 eighths of an inch in thickness, as the pails 

 are finished in a lathe, which 'alls for enough 

 surplus wood t.. round up and finish true. 

 There is no great trouble in finding veneer 

 machines that can cut the stock, but the un- 

 dertaking ha- never proven sufficiently nd- 

 tn make its continuance worth 

 while. Tlii- disturbance ••. th.- grain of th.' 



w I incident to cutting does not show in the 



raw material, but after being dried and fin 

 ished makes its appearance in tin form of 

 This mars the appearance of thi 

 pail and materially loners its grade. How 



some veneer manufacturers are ma! 

 pail staves from their cores, anil other wast.- 

 stock suitable for this use, the work being 

 done with the regular cylindrical pail stave 

 saw. Attention is railed to tins fact, in.' 

 fur fie- purpose of discouraging efforts to 

 manu I . but simply because it is 



limita- 

 tions ■ ■■ '- it is to i ..I in. ■ ; 



ni thi possibilities. Knowing these limits 

 linns, those who intend to embark in the 

 industry are saved the of making 



expi riments all i tain and unknow n 



lines. 



"in- 1 1. .in i hi matter of limital ions in 

 thickness to the field of surface dimensions, 

 a largei scope is found. One of the promi- 

 nent features of the veneer industry i- the 

 ability in make lumber of remarkablv large 

 dimensions considering tin si/, of Ha' block 

 from which it comes. From a block six to. | 

 long and two feet in diameter, boards or 



si ts can be mail.- six feet wide up to ii 



i. -.'ii feet long, l' is not meant by tins state 

 .n.iii that sixteen feet is the limit in length, 



nor that it is essential for tlio block to be 

 two foot iii diameter to make stock of this 

 dimension. To make large dimensions, the 



main essential in a lil. irk Is d i.iinotor enough 



to make it free from defects outside the core. 

 Take a block of this kind, put it in the 

 veneer machine, and tin- result is a solid sheet 

 of veneer, the width corresponding with the 

 length of the block, and any length that may 

 be desired. This length is limited by the 

 practical requirements in stock sizes and by 

 the dimensions and arrangement of the ap- 

 pliances for cutting veneer to sizes. The 

 general practice in the common veneer plant 

 implies the use of a cutting-out knife or 

 clipper and an endless bed table, the length 

 of which is from twelve to sixteen feet. It 

 is this as well as the stock requirements that 

 serves to put certain restrictions on the 

 length of a sheet that may be run out before 

 i is split or broken for convenience in work- 

 ing. 



Even with these limitations the scope of 

 possibilities iii \eiiei r wnrk along the line 

 of surface dimensions is s.. great as t.. make 

 it a prominent feature of the veneer industry. 

 There an- certain lines of work in which it is 

 I.I. i,. have an unbroken surface of 

 such large dimensions that it is impossible to 

 supply it in lumber. In lumber built up 

 from veneer, practically any reasonable di 

 mension can be supplied. Billiard Itahle 

 lips, for example, have dimensions that are 



practically outside the pale of the hardi 



lumber world, and even wen- it possible to 

 saw a board of the width required for this 

 work, it would be so susceptible to cracks 

 and splits in handling and drying that it - 

 use would be out of the question. These 

 tops can be made from three or five ply 

 Miners, not only in one piece, but be made 

 both lighter and inure substantial than would 

 I... possible were they made from solid lum- 

 ber. This is only one of many items, and 

 when it comes to similar dimensions, such as 

 material for trunks, etc., it is found that tin 

 r industry has the inside track. In 



making furniture panels over sixteen inched 

 in width, no matter what the length, to get 

 tin in in single pieces of solid lumber is not 

 only expensive, but the quantity of available 

 Stock is limited. Therefore it is cheaper and 

 more desirable t.. make them of veneers. 

 furniture panels are also better fur being 

 made of built-up stock with the grain crossed 

 in gliini".. as Ih.y have lniieli greater strength 

 than the same thickness in solid wood. In 

 fact, where panel stock of this kind is made 

 of l.iiilt up \ eneer, it is not necessary to n 

 it as think as when it is made of solid lum- 

 ber. 



In a comparison between sawed lumber and 

 cut veneers fur furniture and trunk stock 

 purposes, it is worthy of note that any de- 

 sirable size "t veneer for either purpose can 

 be bent or pressed into irregular ami per- 

 . ni shapes, like the top of an oval trunk, 

 or swell or curved drawer fronts for dressers 

 and furniture of various kinds. There is a 

 long list of other work in which it is de- 

 sirable to have lumber of special shape in- 

 stead of a regular flat form. In this class 

 of work veneers an- practically indispensable. 



