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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



September 10, 1918 



joint and found the tape which was stuck fast to the cross 

 banding, but had let loose from the face. Jim, it dont 

 matter what kind of tape you use for taping veneer joints 

 you should always put it on the out side, because veneer 

 will not stick so good to tape put there to hold the joints 

 together as it will to a core or cross banding. You will 

 prove this if you ever see any of this trouble, because 

 when the veneer comes loose at the joint where the tape 

 is on the under side it is not the tape that comes loose 

 from the core or cross banding, but the veneer comes 

 loose from the tape. 



Of ^'.ourse 1 got a talking to, and then I got Mike Gib- 

 bons and showed him the work, and he got a talking to. 

 He said it was a accident and that they got that face on 

 before they noticed the tape was on the down side and 

 they had let it go because they thought it would be all 

 right and they didnt want to damage such a good piece 

 of veneer. 1 told him that it would be a good thing to 

 avoid accidents, but it would be a damsite better to dam- 

 age some veneer than to damage the reputation of the 

 company. 



While writing I might as well bring in more on this. 

 Now that cross banding stock is so hard to get we have 

 to work it closer here, and 1 suppose you do too. So we 

 tape small pieces together to make a large piece. Now 

 if we are going to do good work when we make our top 

 or panel we must make two operations of laying the 

 crossing and the face. We must lay the crossing with 

 the taped side up so that the tape will be sanded off 

 before we put on the face. In that way we wont have 

 trouble with veneer coming loose from the tape. 



I think some day soon I will go to Chicago at the ex- 

 pense of the boss. There was a glue drummer in yester- 

 day talking to the boss and me, and I asked him lots of 

 questions. He said 1 was so interested that 1 ought to 

 visit a glue factory some day and he asked me to see one 

 in Chicago. The boss said it might be a good thing and 

 he would see what could be done. 



Your friend. 



HEN. 



A Trip Through the Glue Factory 



October 14. 1917. 

 Friend Jim, 



If you ever get a chance to visit a glue factory dont 

 miss it. 1 was at one last Monday way out on the South 

 side in Chicago. The glue drummer I told you about 

 fixed it up with the boss and met me in Chicago early and 

 took me out. It was a great treat, but 1 have night mares 

 most every night since. That glue feller spent all day 

 with me and while I didnt see everything he told me a lot 

 more. To watch the whole business of making glue 

 from start to finish would take weeks. 



Some parts of the glue works are ugly looking and 

 some not so bad. When you see once how the stuff is 

 made and what it is made from you will wonder how 

 they get as good glue as they do and you wont wonder 

 why there are so many different grades. Every night 



when I get into bed I cant help thinking of of the wet stone 

 floors, big steaming tanks, and piles of cattle heads, jaw- 

 bones, ribs, pieces of hide, shoulder blades and other 

 stuff brought in to make glue. It is no place for pleasure 

 trip but for learning it is a good place to visit. 



They say if all these bones and things wasn't used 

 for glue and fertilizer so the packing people could make 

 something out of them, wed have to pay more for meat, 

 but that because they get a good price for these by prod- 

 ucts they can sell the meat cheaper. May be that is so, 

 but meat seems to go up in price every year same as 

 glue. ril tell you some of the things 1 saw. I couldnt 

 tell them all if I was to write for a week, and it is hard 

 to write because there are lots of things 1 cant explain. 



The bones are crushed in a big machine and put in 

 big tanks under a low steam pressure for a while. Then 

 hot water is run in and the stuff stays steaming for an hour 

 or so. Then they draw off the liquid and evaporate it, 

 or hold it for what they call the next run. This operation 

 is gone over several times and takes all the glue stuff 

 from the bones. What is left in the tank is dried and 

 used for fertilizer purposes. 



With hides they do different. These with sinews and 

 skin trimmings are put into lime vats and given a treat- 

 ment that lasts several days. The stock swells up and 

 feels more or less like rubber. The lime is used to loosen 

 the hair from the hide and to prepare the hide to give 

 up all the glue it will. After the liming is over they do 

 something they call washing with some acid to kill the 

 alkaline stuff that comes out of the lime. Then it is 

 ready for cooking or boiling. 



Then comes some very important work and we fellers 

 that use glue dont want to think we have more hidden 

 troubles than some other fellers. The other chap has his 

 to, but we cant see them. Thats the difference. Water will 

 boil at 2 1 2 degrees, but they say it must be hotter than 

 that to bcil glue stock. Now the funny part is that the 

 man they call the glue boiler dont want 2 1 2 degrees 

 of heat on his glue stock. He works hard to keep the 

 temperature down, and so soften and disolve the stock 

 to the point of giving off what they call liquor. Id hate 

 to take a shot of that booze. They say the lower the 

 temperature and the quicker the stock disolves, the bet- 

 ter the grade of glue that comes. To much and to long 

 a heat not only makes a weaker glue but is apt to be the 

 reason for that foaming the glue user runs into in the 

 shop. 



After cooking the glue for a time the liquor is drawn 

 off, the stock covered with water again and cooked until 

 the boiler is satisfied he has all the glue out of the stock. 

 Id like to explain the evaporating machine but its too 

 much for me and any way you have to see them things 

 to understand them. Then you aint always sure you 

 know. After the evaporating process is over the glue 

 liquor is run into a chill room to cool it and make it turn 

 to a jelly as quick as possible. The temperature of the 

 chill room is about 42. They have to take care not to 

 freeze the glue jelly or it will be no good. So you see 



