October 25, 1915. 



Refining Lumber on the Loading Dock 



The possibility of turning cents into dollars by following the course 

 suggested in the caiition above, seems to have been considered a 

 rather formidable [irocedure by certain manufacturers. Hardwood 

 Recokd has gotten the opinions of certain people who have practised 

 this economy for a good many years and are in a position to know 

 what they are talking about. 



To begin with, all that is necessary is an ordinary swing cut-off saw 

 aiul an ordinary rip saw. The rip saw should be of the self-feed 

 type and the power can be either steam or electricity. In one ease in 

 question one of the most successful manufacturers using this method 

 uses steam as it is very convenient to get steam to the loading dock 

 engine which runs the saw. At another mill electric motors are used, 

 but both methods are equally satisfactory. Where steam is used direct 

 from the sawmill boilers to the little engine on the loading dock, it 

 makes a rig which mo.st any negro can handle without danger of 

 injury to the appliances. 



Where motors are used, a 20 H. P. is used for the rip saw and a 

 5 H. P. for the swing saw. These motors may be either direct con- 

 nected or belted to a line sliaft. 



It seems to be the opinion of the trade that a belt direct from 

 the motor to the rip saw is best, and also that when motor driven 

 the swing saw should set on a base on the upper frame of the saw, 

 and the mandrel then belted directly from the motor. There seems 

 to be no question that the self-feed adjustment on the rip saw pro- 

 iluces altogether satisfactory results. 



In the ca.se of the electrically-driven ai)i)lianees, it is very desirable 

 that there be an over-load relay, which in itself costs only $15 and 

 absolutely eliminates the possibility of burning out the motor through 

 ths choking down of the saw. The relay is an instrument which shuts 

 off the current whenever the saw is suddenly choked, and the cost of 

 many a burned out fuse will be saved, and also the cost of repairing 

 burned out motors, which item itself frequently runs to from $50 to 

 $100. In short, the ap- 

 ]iliance makes the motor 'g^' 

 fool proof. 



The Possibility of Sav- 

 ing Money 



So much for the outfit. 

 As to the advantage of 

 using the method of re- 

 fining lumber it is prob- 

 ably most clearly put by 

 simply quoting a letter 

 which was received on 

 this subject from one ef 

 the most successful saw- 

 mill operators in the 

 South: 



It is not practical to 

 properly manufacture lum- 

 ber to a fine point in the 

 sawmill (or the following 

 reasons : A man has not 

 the time to study the 

 boards ; the Iioards are con- 

 stantly on the move and 

 must pass on ; a man is not 

 in a position to see the en- 

 tiro board, for in putting it 

 through the edger or trim- 

 mer he is standing at one 

 end of the boards and being 

 up level with his hips, he 

 could not see worm holes 

 and other defects at the 

 middle or farther end. It 

 is practically impossible to 

 hold strictly first-class in- 

 spectors in the mill or on 

 the .slip, as they will take a 



position in a lumber yard as soon as they can get one. Lumber changes in 

 appearance while drying and often needs worl! done on it that the same 

 inspector would not have done while the l>oard was green. 



The inspector who ships the lumber is usually counted as a finished 

 Inspector, and he can talic all the time necessary to examine the lumber. 

 Lumber should not be counted as manufactured until the shipping inspector 

 has finished with it. A sawmill man will watch other lealis very closely, 

 but often pays little attention to what his shipping inspectors are doing 

 in the way of shipping the lumber which he has been trying to produce as 

 cheaply as possible. The shipping inspector is the last man to get a chance 

 at the lumber, and he is either making his employer money by getting out 

 of the stock its full grade, or he is losing him money by not trying to work 

 the stock up right for grade. 



Sometimes customers object to stock whicli has been remanufactured, 

 claiming that the sawmill man should not have trimmed it up. This is 

 simply because they do not understand why it is that lumber cannot be 

 properly manufactured when green. Kemanufactured lumber always shows 

 either a cut olT end or a bright edge where it has been ripped and the 

 customer sometimes says the mill man has gone into lower grades and worked 

 his stock up. This Is not the case. Take plain red oak, for instance ; there 

 are always more or less split ends caused in drying, that have to be cut off. 

 There arc, in all kinds of lumber, boards which liave a little bark on the 

 edge, which should be ripped off; or it may be a little bunch of worm holes 

 or other small blemishes. Eliminating this helps the stock and makes it 

 better for the customer. 



Timber is going up in price all the time and it is the man who gets down 

 to fine points from now on who is going to be able to stay in the game. 



The preponderance of plain walnut logs leads us to the conclu- 

 sion that too great care cannot be given to the matter of carefully 

 manufacturing the veneer, and too diligent attention to the details 

 of cutting and trimming with the idea of matching properly so that 

 the very best figures can be gotten out of the stock, making it pos- 

 sible to build up high-class panels that will go into the most elegant 

 products rather than mediocre panels that will go into the more mod- 

 erate priced and less select woods. This is merely another one of 

 those points where dollars lie dormant to be unearthed by the man- 

 ufacturer who gives attention to details. 



