HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Please give the matter such earl; considera- 

 tion as you can, and any criticism or suggestions 

 with regard to these matters will be most grate- 

 fully received. Yours very truly. 



John h. Bissell. 



It is thus evident that .Mr. Bissell has se- 

 riously taken up the details of the work del- 

 egated to him as president of the association, 



and that the suggestions he outlines are emi 

 nentlj- practical. It will be recalled that Mr. 

 Bissell has some very able assistants in this 

 enterprise. Thornton A. Green of Ontonagon, 

 vice president, is a young business man of 

 energy, who has already accomplished won- 

 derful results in making the association pos- 

 sible. He has been indefatigable in his in- 

 terest in Michigan forestry, and for the or- 



ati 1' the association. The secretary, 



I'- M Sawyer of Ludington, is well fitted to 

 carrj .,] work im idi a1 to the 



assoi i I John J. Hubbell of Mani 



the treasurer, has a vasl fund oi 

 knowledge on the subject of forestry To 



r with the other directors, Mrs, Louisa 



\. Eing of Alma, Hon. ( '. .1. Monroe of South 



Haven, Dr. I.. I.. Subbard of Eoughton, Wal 

 tor C. Winchester of Grand Rapids, Henrj \. 



Loud of A.u Sable and Eon. i; ge B. Eorton 



of Fruit Ridge, a coterie of people • listin 

 guished in both patriotism and . are 



in. luded, that should render the work of the 

 Michigan Forestry Association of inestimable 

 value i" the commonwealth of Michigan. 



The HardWood Dimension 'Business. 



That the various articles in the Hardwood 

 Kecord on the making of wagon woodwork 

 and other small dimension stock of oak and 

 hickory have been read with interest is evi- 

 denced by the many letters and inquiries 

 received from both manufacturers and users 

 of this stock. Some want to know where to 

 buy; others where to sell; others ask for 

 lists of sizes used in different lines of work, 

 but the most frequent inquiry is the com- 

 mercial one. calling for information about 

 prices and the chances for profit in the 

 manufacture of small dimension stock. And, 

 inasmuch as this is the main point in any 

 business, it will be advisable to turn for a 

 moment from the mechanical to the commer- 

 cial side of this matter, where we shall find 

 from the history of the past and the market 

 of the present an unsatisfactory element 

 that needs special attention. 



The profits realized in the manufacture of 

 wagon woodwork, agricultural and furniture 

 dimension stock, and all kinds of small di- 

 mension and specially shaped stock have 

 always been entirely too small. And this 

 trouble dates back to the early days when 

 sawmill operators, for some reason or other, 

 got the idea into their heads that this stock 

 could be cut from waste material at a nom- 

 inal cost of labor, and bring just that much 

 clear profit, as easy as picking up money in 

 the street. This low-price schedule has sur- 

 vived numerous trade depressions and a list 

 of commercial wrecks that is almost stagger- 

 ing to contemplate. Individually, the losses 

 have not been very heavy; mill men are 

 usually too shrewd to be long in discovering 

 their mistakes. Time and again have felloe 

 saws, band saws or other machinery to work 

 waste material into small dimension stuff 

 been installed and maintained a short time, 

 when operators discover that they are real- 

 izing no profit from the venture and aban- 

 don it. The list of those undertaking the 

 experiment is diminished and added to con- 

 tinually, and so it goes on, a sort of involun- 

 tary bunco game in which every man is fool- 

 ing himself, the list of victims extending 

 even to the heavy purchasers and users of 

 this class of stock. There are prominent 



users of wagon wood stock, for example, 

 who equipped plants to manufacture mate- 

 rial of this class who have lost considerable 

 money, and the same is true of furniture 

 people, plow manufacturers and practicall] 

 the entire list of users. 



At the present time there is a general 

 awakening to the poor record made commer- 

 cially in the manufacture of small dimension 

 stock, and people are asking why it is that 

 this condition has held so long. It is time 

 for the trade to be, not asking questions, but 

 persistently seeking the cause, and taking 

 steps to remedy conditions that have al- 

 ready existed entirely too long. A fair 

 price has never been received for this class 

 of stock. It is worth considerably more 

 than it is bringing in the market today, and 

 the large users know this better than the 

 manufacturers; at least those who have 

 tried their hand at manufacturing the stock 

 know it. They have paid dearly t'or the 

 knowledge, and find it cheaper to buy than 

 to manufacture. Undoubtedly they ezpei I 

 to pay more for it soon, but they do not 

 propose to make the advance, nor would 

 anyone in their place. Yet how many man- 

 ufacturers there are who continue to let 

 buyers name prices! 



There is evidently something wrong with 

 the dimension stock business, if we are to 

 judge by its commercial record. It is sim- 

 ply a case of starting off on the wrong foot. 

 The small dimension stock business is in 

 better condition today than it has ever been, 

 so far as volume and variety are concerned, 

 and it is not as badly off commercially as it 

 has been at periods in the past. What it 

 needs is a fresh start. 



The original idea of considering this busi- 

 ness only in the light of a waste saver is 

 wrong, and has greatly handicapped the 

 trade. It is wise to use waste material for 

 stock of this kind when possible, and it is 

 a manifestation of the proper spirit for a 

 mill man to take up the manufacture of 

 small dimensions in order to make a close 

 clean-up of his timber, but the figuring has 

 been done wrong. In order to sec this point 

 clearly, the question of the use of v. 



material may be laid aside entirely for a few 



tits, ami whatever is cut in the way 

 of special dimensions or shaped work tiiav 

 be considered as cut from regular clear 

 lumber. 'I he cost of clear stock of special 

 thickness added to the cost of labor, allow- 

 ing for loss and waste in cutting and a fair 

 profit on the whole, gives a set of figures 

 which are practically double the prices paid 

 for these small sizes, but they are the figures 

 that should be used. 



To point out the confusion that exists in 

 figuring the cost of manufacturing small di- 

 mension stock, a few figures that recently 

 came to notice may be given. An offer on 

 chair post stock, 2.\2, 15 and 20 inches long, 

 is $25 per thousand feet, board measure, 

 in Chicago, the equivalent of $17.50 net 

 f. 0. b. at mill receiving the offer. W. 11 posted 

 men figure that, including cost of labor, the 

 charge for mill work on small dimension 

 stock should be about $10 per thousand 

 feet, which leaves J7.50 net for the lumber 

 — clear oak, free from sap. Would any mill- 

 man sell idear stock at that liguref 

 There is also a price on standard 

 farm wagon felloes of $1.05 a 

 in Mm old days before | .n-ri 



sharpened as keenly as they .ire now, 

 it was figured that it took a piece of lumber 

 2x6, 24 inches long, to make a farm wagon 

 felloe, and, as it takes twenty-six of these 

 to make a set, 52 feet of lumber is needed, 

 selling, delivered, at approximately $20 

 per thousand. Deducting the freight, which 

 is a little less comparatively than on the 

 above-mentioned stock, as the figures 

 lased on the blanks, we have this felloe 

 lumber bringing practically the same price 

 as the chair stock just mentioned, and these 

 figures may be taken as average prices to- 

 daj , 



There is no possible excuse for such 

 prices, except in the mistaken idea of using 

 only I pile for raw material, which 



unfortunately took root years ago and has 

 continued to thrive because there are so 

 many people who will be taught the manu- 

 facture of small dimension stock in no other 

 way but by the expensive teacher of experi- 

 ence, that as fast as one learns better and 

 quits there is another ready to tako his 

 place. Isn't it time to root out this false 

 idea? When you go to buy a small casting 

 in iron, does the manufacturer let you have 



it cheap 1 .uise it is small dimension' 



he charges you more in proportion than he 

 would for a larger piece it repre- 



s more in labor cost per pound. Of 

 coursi is a difference between iron 



and wood, but the logic that applies to the 

 small piece of iron should also apply to 

 small dimensions in wood. A foot of clear 

 oak is a foot of clear oak, no matter what 

 its use. and i value should be the 



rtion to variations. 

 cither up or down, from the convenient sizes 

 usually cut from the average run of timber. 

 And in making small dimension stock we 



