26 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



Septe 



means five-ply instead of three-ply, and that in turn may 

 mean using very thin stock on the back similar to that 

 used on the face, or it may mean balancing the con- 

 struction in the built-up body without a back to counter 

 the face. 



In using the finer face in the higher priced furniture, 

 harmony as to outside woods and a better sentimental 

 value will be obtained by using seconds of the face 

 veneer in thin stock for backing. In this case, while the 

 back may balance the face mechanically, neither will have 

 enough weight in the structural element to count heavily, 

 so the point of mechanical balance will not amount to 

 much. 



From present indications we are due by and by to 

 come to the point where fine face wood will not be con- 

 sidered as a part of the structural element. It will be 

 but the face finish, and if the same wood is applied on 

 the back, there, too, it will be an outer finish and not a 

 structural factor. Then the panel body, which will con- 

 stitute the structural element, can be made of such com- 

 binations of woods and thicknesses as will insure the 

 structural qualities desired regardless of the face, or of 

 whether the same wood is used on both back and face. 

 Then the question of whether to use face wood on the 

 back or not will be, as it should be, purely a commer- 

 cial one. 



^^«^f C^ 



^^^^^^^^^ 



A Reputation Is Worth More Than a Sheet of Veneer 



Sept. 30, 1917. 

 Dear Jim, 



Sure I am one busy bird these days. Between night 

 school and hunting a house for me and Sue I dont hardly 

 get time to roost a minute. Some of the boys kid me 

 about being in a big hurry to get a house before I have 

 got the wife for sure. But 2 months aint so long to get 

 things in shape and I want a place all ready for Im sure 

 of getting the wife. I dont see Sue so much now. Shes 

 busy getting clothes ready, and when I kick and tell her 



1 gotta see her, clothes or no clothes, she says, "Go on 

 you old silly youll see plenty of me in a short time." Gee 



2 months is a heluvalong time. 



You tell me youve been making some test runs on 

 glue. What do you want to make test runs for when you 

 keep a record all the time? What good is a test run any 

 way? When you make a test run you take good care to 

 see that you get good results and waste no glue by using 

 too much on the stock or spilling any on the floor. Then 

 you figure and find youve got a spread of 25 or 30 

 square feet to the pound of glue. Now if you use this 

 test spread as a cost figure for your work you are sure to 

 be way off, because you made the test with more care 

 than can be used in every day work. I left a system 

 there for keeping records all the time, and if you keep 

 these records you can figure any time how much the 

 average spread is, and get right costs and leave nothing 

 to guess work as to the amount of glue that is being used 

 in regular working conditions. 



Say Jim, we got something new in our glue room and 

 it seems good. You might want to try it. There was 

 an old 1 8 inch fan out in the storage shed that had been 

 used to blow air into a drykiln. I asked the boss one day 

 why we couldnt cut a hole in the glue room wall and blow 

 out the bad air. He didn't cotton to the idea on account 



of the notion that there mustnt be any draft in the glue 

 room to do good work. But after some rag chewing he 

 agreed to try it. So we put the fan up against the wall 

 about 2 feet from the floor above, near the center of one 

 side of the room and cut a hole in the wall. It has been 

 going about 2 months and going fine. The room dont 

 smell so bad because the smell is drawn to the fan and 

 out of the room, and youd hardly notice any draft in the 

 glue room. Of course the fan aint speeded up to what it 

 would be if it was in some other place. 



Yes Jim, I was on the carpet again to day, and after I 

 got off in the bosses office I told a story to Mike Gibbons. 

 Mike means well, but he lets things slip too easy, and I 

 told him today that he better take a brace because there 

 was a long cold winter coming soon when it wasnt pleas- 

 ant to be hunting jobs even if jobs might be found. 

 Cussed carelessness, Jim, that is the reason for lots of 

 gray hairs in young fellers. Heres the tale of woe, so 

 you will take care. 



About the middle of the morning the boss came along 

 and asked me to go to the shipping room with him. 

 When we got there he pointed to one of our best walnut 

 library tables and said that it had been returned by one 

 of our good customers because of inferior work. I 

 wasnt the only one there. It was a regular session with 

 Phil Johnson, the foreman finisher, Ed. Ford, the cabinet 

 foreman, and John Malo, the machine room foreman. 

 The boss told us to look that table over and tell him how 

 any such stuff could get through our hands. 



It was our regular 802 table, and the top is made with 

 a chestnut core, poplar cross banding, walnut face and 

 back. Now the top of this table has been faced with 

 two well matched pieces of crotch walnut that were 

 joined in the center from end to end. Every 8 or 1 

 inches along the joint line were lines of very fine checks 



