August 23, ID IS 



The Lumhermans Round Table 



The Market for Bridge Plank 



Roail construction is one kind of work that the government probably 

 realizes the advantage of, in view of the fact that good roads mean 

 better facilities for transportation by horses and motor-driven ve- 

 hicles, and therefore tend to take some of the burden off the railroads. 

 At all events, a good deal of road building is going on, and it is helping 

 the farmers to get their crops to market, and helping manufacturers 

 to make deliveries in their local trade territories. 



This work always involves a considerable amount of bridge building, 

 and hence a considerable market for the sale of bridge plank. The 

 sawmill man who is looking for a specialty which always has support 

 from buyers, and who has lumber which will cut to advantage in the 

 diairnsions required for this product, can do much worse than feature 

 Ijvidgc plank. Road building is sure to be stimulated as time goes on, 

 and It is unlikely that the man with a good .stock of this material will 

 find it difficult to dispose of. 



Developing Commercial Drying 



f!onunerci:\l sawing and planing have liecn done J'or ;i h)iio wliile, 

 and there is no reason why commercial drying of hardwood lumber 

 .should not be done on a considerable scale. Of course, some of this 

 business has been handled right along, principally, however, as an ac- 

 commodation proposition; but there have been indications of late that 

 it is to be developed as a regular feature of the business. 



Undoulitedly there is a real service to be performed in this way. 

 Comparatively few liardwood manufacturers liave kilns,' and on the 

 other hand a great many consumers, especially those whose require- 

 ments are not extensive, are not in a position to dry their own stock. 

 As air-drying is no longer practicable, they must buy lumber that is 

 kiln-dried, and that means that the manufacturer must arrange to have 

 it dried in transit if he has no kiln of his own. 



The traffic situation of course enters into the proposition to a con- 

 siderable extent, and the logical place for commercial kiln-drying is at 

 one of the gateway cities, where the rates break, as otherwise the move- 

 ment may be interrupted to the extent that local instead of through 

 rates would apply, resulting in a higher transportation charge. 



Tubs and Bottoms 



There is a certain hardwood man who has probably lialf a ilozen 

 different companies, each operating a mill or yard at some particular 

 point in the hardwood district. Books are kept by each concern for 

 itself, and it knows nothing of whU the others are doing. The manu- 

 facturer, of course, keeps clore tab on his various enterprises, and 

 knows whether one operation is doing better than another. In tlii.s 

 way he is able to keep the local managers on their toes, as there is 

 considerable rivalry in the way of prodnc-'.icn and net profits. 



Another liardwood man, ((|ii,-(ll.v well kno.\n, hr.s al.\ays had but one 



company. He doesn't like tu lia\e I nany complexities in the way 



of corporate organizati<ins, but sfi(.-k^ to the old style under which his 

 business was formed ten or twcUe years ago. He has developed op- 

 erations at a number of [Kiiiits, l.ut all of them report to the main 

 office, where the sales are maile and the Ijooks handled, and the only 

 bookkeeping done locally is that which pertains to the actual manu- 

 fai turing expense. 



Which of these two is the better plan ? 



The advantage of the first is that there is never any question about 

 which mill is making money. Those in charge of eacn operation must 

 stand or fall on their merits, without any aid from the other branches 

 of the business. Each enterprise is managed, its product sold and its 

 sales promoted independently of the rest. This might be considered a 

 weakness, though the head of the companies is usually able to manipu- 

 late business to suit the stocks of his several concerns. 



The other man gets the prestige which develops from one company 

 having size and connections at various points. All of his advertising 

 and promotion work are in the name of the one company, and there is 

 but one address. The local managers have nothing to do with selling — 

 they simply produce. The main office handles all of the rest. This 



makes for centralization, and also gives the head of the business more 

 responsibility in keeping each of his various plants up to the mark. 



The first plan seems to be best, provided the local managers arc 

 skilled enough to be able to take complete responsibility for the sue 

 cess of their businesses. The other suits most exactly if the head of 

 the concern feels that it is up to him to participate more intimately 

 in the maangement cf each operation than he could do if each tub were 

 put on its own bottom. It is an interesting question in organizatin)! 

 and management, however, and lumbermen probably have different 

 ideas regarding it. 



Deciding on the Thickness 



There are two types of hardwood manufacturers. One decides on 

 his cutting policy by studying the market, and trying to figure out 

 what thicknesses will be in demand by the time his lumber is dry and 

 ready to ship. The other disregards the market, to all intents and 

 purposes, and studies each log, cutting it to the best advantage, ami 

 getting a number of thicknesses out of each. His plan is to make the 

 most of every foot of timber that he buys, and to produce the best 

 possible lumber. 



The first policy is based on commercial, the latter on technical con- 

 siderations. Apparently the man who takes the most pains with his 

 logs, and tries to get the best stock out of them, ought to win out, but 

 it is doubtful if this policy pays in the long run. In the first place, the 

 production in footage is less under this arrangement, and the gain in 

 value is hardly compensated by the loss in quantity. Furthermore, a 

 log may be cut to best advantage in thick stock, and the demand for 

 thick lumber may be off. That would require the manufacturer to 

 carry the lumber longer tlian the usual time, and hence make his ulti- 

 mate profit less. 



On the other hand, there is a lot of personal satisfaction in cutting 

 up a log this way; a kind of artist's pleasure in seeing just how high 

 the giade can 1 e held, and avoiding the production of defects which 

 are developed because the sawyer has instructions to cut everything 

 inch or six-quarter or whatever the mill manager decides he wants to 

 make. 



Probably the ideal system is to have a general rule regarding the 

 dimension wanted, brt to give the sawyer discretion in the matter. 

 If he fint's that he can get a first and second by cutting a two-incli 

 hoard, whereas inch stock would be a grade lower, it ought to be good 

 policy to do it ; and an intelligent sawyer, without wasting very much 

 time, could make a lot of money in this way for his employer, by 

 keeping the grade just as high as the quality of the log would perm t. 



Advantages of Rope Drive 



Rope transmission is apparently nat losing any ground in tlip lu n: er 

 mauufaciuring and woodworking imlnstries, l.nt if anUhinji is gaining, 



in spite of the fact that manufacturers of ot]ier traasmisM laterials 



do a great deal more promotion work. A visitor in a furniture factory 



not long ago, where rope drive was in use, found the manufacturer a 



strong advocate of this method of transmissi: n, which he said «as 



more convenient than any other. Later on an 



manufacturer who used rope drive de\ doped tl 



economical, the one rope having been in mi \ i 



at his mill for more than ten years. This syste 



popular where a long drive is desirable, as is f 



ting down the fire hazard by isolating the po\ 



that gives rope drive its hold, and inasmuch as fire [iroti 



important subject just now it is entitled to consideration. 



iterview with a veneer 

 testimony that it was 



■ without replacement 

 seems to be especially 



The "swamp mahogany'' that soma lumber dealer claimed 

 have discovered in Louisiana was no new tree. It was the evergrei 

 magnolia or big bay, a familiar object in most of the southern state 



The oldest woodworking edged tool of which any definite knowl- 

 edge exists was the adz. The Egyptian carpenter used one an inch 

 broad, and it served as an ax, plane, chisel, and drawing knife. 



