24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25, 1921 j 



Method of pi J I ng lumber of varJoos lengths 



costs of coal and labor, a representative cost for kiln-drying 1-inch 

 air-dry lumber was $5 per thousand, exclusive of handling charges. 

 By leaving the lumber in the kiln two or three times longer than 

 necessary, it seems fair to assume that it cost this plant an additional 

 $5 per thousand, or $.5,000 a year in kiln operating costs. 



Now take the stock as it comes from the kiln when dried in this 

 foolproof way. It is invariably casehardened to some extent, even 

 when thoroughly air-dried before kiln drying. In the furniture plant 

 this casehardened condition causes loss all through the machining 

 and finishing processes, and even after finished goods are sold and 

 put in service, from twisting, warping, surface-checking, opening of 

 glue joints and shrinkage. Losses from this source have been known 

 to amount, in some cases, to from ten to twenty per cent of the orig- 

 inal rough lumber. Not only the material is lost or has to be re- 

 worked or patched, but also much of the labor expended on it is also 

 wasted. In a plant of this size, the factory loss from casehardening 

 can safely be assumed to have beeir at least $2,000 per year. 



Foolproof Plan Cost $10,000 Yearly 



Summing up, then, we have in the yard, kilns and factory an aver- 

 age total amount of more than $10,000 per year, which it has cost this 

 plant in conducting its seasoning on the foolproof plan. This amount 

 would have been suflBcient to thoroughly remodel the old, out-of-date 

 kilns, pay a competent operator to look after the kilns and still leave 

 a handsome surplus at the end of each year. 



The second class of dry kiln operations might be called the ' ' Hit- 

 or-Miss" class. At these plants the importance of the dry kilns in 

 a woodworking factory has been more or less appreciated. Steps 

 have been taken to improve both drying equipment and practice. 

 But action has not been based upon a thorough familiarity with 

 different angles of the problem. Kilns have usually been purchased 

 because of the advice or experience of some acquaintance in the same 

 line of business. Sometimes this acquaintance has been well posted 

 on the subject and has given reliable advice. More often, however, 

 he, too, has not studied the question thoroughly and his kilns and 

 methods are far from the best for the purpose. Thus, unsatisfactory 

 kilns and methods are passed along from one plant to another. As 

 a result, a large number of factories have found, after spending 

 many thousands of dollars for new kilns, that these kilns are poorly 

 designed and poorly suited for their purpose. 



If, by chance, such plants happen to be fortunate in their selection 

 of a kiln, they still have to solve the problem of satisfactory kiln 

 operation. Lack of knowledge of good operation often causes costly 

 blunders even when a plant has excellent dry kiln equipment. 



It has been said in fact that good kiln drying is 90 per cent opera- 

 tion and 10 per cent kiln. Personally, I believe this is overstating 

 the case, and that a good kiln has more of an influence than that on 

 successful results. However, it is unquestionably true that a good 

 operator can do better drying with a poor kiln than can a poor 



operator with a good kiln. This is not an argument against getting 

 a good kiln simply because you may not be able to get a good oper- 

 ator, for even a poor operator can do better work with a good kiln 

 than he can with a poor one. It is rather an argument for both a 

 good kiln and a good operator as the right solution of the problem. 



The "Safe and Sure" Class 



The third and most successful class of operations seeks this solu- 

 tion. I have termed them the "Safe and Sure" class. Realizing 

 that good kiln drying is not only important, but vital to the greatest 

 success of their manufacturing operation, these "safe and sure" 

 plants investigate the whole subject of kilns thoroughly before they 

 finally decide on the type they want. They study the principles of 

 kiln drying and secure unbiased advice and information from Gov- 

 ernment and other research and technical service agencies. They 

 secure catalogues and information from a number of different dry 

 kiln companies and weigh all the statements and arguments in the 

 light of the facts and principles developed in scientific research 

 work. They then decide on the type of kiln best adapted to their 

 needs and select the one which will be most economical in the long 

 run, making the first cost a secondary consideration. 



After the kilns are built, these "safe and sure" plants make cer- 

 tain that they will be properly operated by securing a competent 

 and well-trained kiln operator. Since trained and experienced oper- 

 ators are scarce, they have found that the best plan is to select an 

 intelligent, ambitious man from the factory organization and give 

 him special opportunities and encouragement in learning the tech- 

 nique of good drying practice. This can be learned first: by study- 

 ing the literature provided by the Government and sent out by the 

 Technical Service Departments maintained by some of the leading 

 lumber companies; second: by studying the correspondence course in 

 kiln drying given by the engineering department of one of our 

 universities; third: by taking the short courses in kiln drying given 

 at some of the forest schools, or, fourth: by attending the ten-day 

 short course for kiln operators now being given each month at the 

 Government Forest Products laboratory. 



After securing a grounding in the principles of kiln drying by one 

 or all of these methods, any man of average intelligence and interest 

 in his work, will be able to work out the application of these prin- 

 ciples to the correct operation of a specific set of dry kilns. 



As a matter of fact, the subject of kiln drying is really neither 

 technical nor complicated — not nearly so much so as operating an 

 automobile and keeping it in good running order. Yet many thou- 

 sands of men have become chauffeurs and truck operators in a com- 

 paratively short time. 



You would not maintain a motor truck without a trained and com- 

 petent driver. Nor would you become discouraged in the use of a 

 truck because good drivers are scarce. You would either search 

 until you found a good driver, or else develop one. In the same way, 



Lumber Properly Piled for Dry Kiln 



