September 25, 1918 



Hard^ 



id Record — Veneer & V 



Section 



25 



Departmental Co-Operation Is Valuable 



Managers Should Endeavor to Understand One Another's Problems 



.FORE STAINING WOODS, it .s essL-ntial tha' 

 they be properly sanded, and for that reason 

 the value of close co-operation between the sand- 

 ing department and the finishing room is in no 

 danger of being overestimated. Many foremen finishers 

 have studied causes and effects so that they knov^' the 

 necessity of having veneered, or other, work sandec' 

 carefully and uniformly before staining, if an even color 

 is to be obtained. They know that the problem pre- 

 sented by the demand for a uniform color is a difficult 

 one. but realize that their work can be made more easy 

 when they do not have to contend with careless sanding 

 in the cleaning up process. 



Frequently poor sanding is due to ignorance on the 

 part of the sanding operator. He seldom, if ever. comc3 

 in direct contact with finishing room conditions, and can 

 hardly be expected to understand the requirements of 

 this room when no one takes the trouble to explain any 

 of them to him. As a rule the machine sanding, when 

 done by experienced operators, needs little attention. 

 Still, there are times when the operator will run the stock 

 through the machine diagonally, or directly across the 

 grain, especially if he has not been told how much better 

 the finish can be applied to stock that has been run 

 through so that the whole sanding operation has been 

 done with the grain. 



Careful students have agreed that, in all probability, 

 wood is the most difficult material on which to produce 

 an absolutely even surface. The structure of the same is 

 so varied; besides the soft, fleshy part are the bone- 

 hard fibers representing the years, or age, of the tree. 

 In some woods the structure is tough, hard and pithy. In 

 others there are short and stocky fibers. Therefore, to 

 sand woods evenly, and so that the flake and soft parts 

 are equally affected by the process, the soft parts 

 should not be crushed down or pressed together, or they 

 will swell later and cause uneven surfaces. If this feature 

 is not explained to the machine operator he may set the 

 feed rolls too close together instead of just sufficiently 

 to allow the stock to feed through. 



If no one takes the trouble to explain in detail, the 

 machine operator can hardly be expected to understand 

 that wood sanded with No. 1 paper will stain darker with 

 the same stain than it will if sanded with No. paper. 

 Neither is it easy to understand that wood sanded with 

 new, sharp paper will take darker with the same stain 

 than will the same wood sanded almost to a polish with 

 paper that is worn smooth. This is a fine point that many 

 managers are not familiar with, but the expert foreman 

 finisher knows about it because he has been confronted 

 with the consequences on more than one occasion. Too 

 frequently, when asked for an explanation as to the rea- 



son for uneven color, he has been looked upon as a won- 

 derful inventor of excuses when he has told these r^-asons 

 as the cause. Here is where close working between sand- 

 ing and finishing departments would produce good results. 



But, why should sanding with different degrees of 

 coarseness of sandpapers have an effect upon the depth 

 of color after the wood is stained? A coarse paper 

 leaves a fine, fuzzy surface, which enables the stain to 

 penetrate. The stain is also absorbed by the fuzz, which, 

 though very fine, is present in large quantities and helps 

 to darken the surface. A fine paper reduces this fuzz 

 and makes a harder surface. Any one who desires a 

 clear demonstration of the effect of sanding on stained 

 wood can take a piece of material that has been run 

 through the cabinet surfacer and cut it into three equal 

 sections. Leave one section as it came from the sur- 

 facer; sand one with No. I Vz paper and the last with 

 No. 00 paper. Have the pieces stained and finished in 

 the usual way, and the result will be apt to prove as- 

 tounding to the man who has not been inclined to study 

 the effect of sanding upon finishing. 



The sanding methods of today, with the use of mod- 

 ern machines, leave very little handwork to be done by 

 the cabinetmaker. He is required to look after some 

 of the solid pieces, tops and minor additions that are 

 placed by him when he assembles the article. Posts, 

 panels, side pieces and ends are all sanded by the ma- 

 chines. Then they frequently are sponged and again 

 sanded or put through the polisher. The finisher's re- 

 sponsibility makes it necessary for him to know when a 

 piece has received all the necessary operations, and 

 whether or not they are correctly done. When work 

 comes out of the factory faulty, unless it be very plainly 

 shown what the cause of the fault is, the blame is apt to 

 be placed on the finishing department. Something has 

 gone wrong with the stain, the filler, shellac or varnish, 

 and many foremen finishers have "sweat blood' search- 

 ing for defects, when in reality the fault was in the sand- 

 ing room, and due either to insufficient or excessive 

 sanding. 



Where laminated material is used there is more or 

 less trouble in the finish room because of the "cutting 

 through" of the surface veneer. The piece is usually put 

 through a machine having three rolls. These rolls are 

 covered with three different numbers of sandpaper, the 

 finest usually being No. 00. The operator of this ma- 

 chine has a very responsible position. He must smooth 

 the piece without cutting through the thin veneer. There 

 is great danger in using too coarse papers and cutting 

 too deeply into the veneered surface. He may not cut 

 entirely through, and an apparently well sanded piece 

 goes to the finisher. But the glue line is nearly exposed. 



