4p 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



WiioUS Ll'UBEH Kli 



J. E. KliiMl.,. sicrituiv of the Xntioiml huiiil.r .Mumlllll•tllr^•r^ ' 

 Association. uil>lrciiM><l the iiii<i>tiii(;, takiiii; for hi:) Niilijpct the 

 whole. liimbtT field. He tool; ii]! the ne»!.|.!i|KT rei>ort tlint tlii- 

 Burenu of ('or|iorntioii!t woiiM I'liiirije liimder niwoi-intionn, etiiM'- 

 cinlly t>ii> Ntitiunnl aiiHOfintion, witli loliliyini; iiinl flxiiiK priren. 



Mr. Khoilc!< ileniotl both nociisntioiis and ilerlnrt'il Hint they 

 were not founded on fnctn or nnythiug resenildinu fuels. The 

 •Mociation dot's not loldiy nnd it dooH not fix or control ]irieeK. 



For sonic months ]>nst the Imsiness conditions in the Southwest 

 hnvc been hard for those who nre doing nssocintion work there. 



Traffic matters hn»e deiiranded much attention of late. The 

 Interstate Commerce Commission is busy with the petitions from 

 railroads that they be allowed n five per cent advance in rates. 

 Mr. Rhodes appeared before the commission in Washinuton and 

 presented the lumbermen's en.se in a brief of several hundred 

 pages, which, it is confidently believed, will have much wei^'ht 

 when the comniitmion takes up the question for final decision. The 

 chief purpose of the brief \Tas to guard against an unduo amount 

 of the proposed raise in rates being sadillcil on the lumber in- 

 terests which are already paying their full share, and mui-h more, 

 in proportion to value, than most other articles shipped in larf;e 

 ipiantity by rail. 



No rulinj; has yet been made in the Pridham case, but it is 

 believed that the wooden l)o.\ will win the chief points contended 

 for— that is, that bo.\es must be standardized, and that the box 

 must be able to carry its load or the transportation companies will 

 not accept it for shipment. 



Mr. Rhodes was gratified with the apparent discomfiture which 

 has overtaken the steel manufacturers in their attempt to force 

 the wiindon car from the railroad trains. This has not been done 



\.i, mill senlitiient, based on knowledge of the merits of I In- 

 light, now favors wooden sujierstructure and steel underfrniiic. It 

 is ndmittod now that it is better to prevciil wrecks than to try 

 to install wreck-proof cars, and there is iiiiirli In be ilone along tliiit 



Overworked watcliiiicii guarding crossings ami switches, <lefecti>c 

 and insufficient signals showing clear on nlislnicled tracks, trying to 

 run loo many trains with not enough repair gangs, and other ivon 

 omies of that kind on the part of railroads, are responsible for unx-ks 

 and loss of life in many instances, while tin- wooden car, if blamal>l<', 

 is only a s«>conilary cause in the majority of cases. 



This is coming to be the viewpoint of many railroad men, and I 

 is shared by investigators who uro stuilying all sides of Uio sllualiii:i. 

 The probable result will bo that the caiiipiiigii against the woodcu 

 car as the chief sinner will be materially iiioilified hereafter. 



Mr. Rhodes insisted that lumbermen should not delude them- 

 selves with the belief that lumber is winning all its battles. It is 

 losing something here ami a little there, aiul the speaker saiil he 

 was sure that the consumption of lumber in the I'niteil States 

 per cajiita is less now that it was four years ago. 

 In Mbmouiam 



The association passed by unanimous voice the following reso- 

 lution in menioriam of H. H. Gibson, former eilitor of H.MiDWOOD 

 Record : 



ItEsoLVBD, That the Northern Mcmlock and Hardwood Manufacturers, 

 In convention assembled, hereby express fliclr iIcim) appreclBllon of tlic 

 loss suffered by the members, and the hardwnod lumber Industry In uen- 

 cral. In the death, March 2r>, 1014, of Henry Illrani (ilbson. formerly blni- 

 self a hardwood lumber manufacturer, but for many years widely known 

 us a writer and export authority on subjects coonecti'd with the munii 

 facturc, merchandizing and comraerclal uses of .\mericaii hardwoods." 



The association adjourned to meet next July at Marinette, Wis. 



y \ ; r x r /i!r.Ky.. ' A<-i>xi'ii!:ii^>i.iJiiimmjiW'W^^^ 



#' The Straight'Edging Rip Saw -^^ 



There is no line of woodworking machinery in which there has 

 been more striking recent de\"elopment than in power-feed rip saws, 

 and this development holds interest for both the manufacturer and 

 consumer of hardwood lumber. There are not only types of these new 

 machines that are interesting to the furniture manufacturer and to 

 other users of hardwood lumber, but some of them hold particular 

 interest also for the manufacturer of hardwood lumber. 



There has always been a use for the rip saw in the hardwood 

 lumber mill, but the most extensive use of such saws has been found 

 in what the trade terms edgers — single side edgers and gang edgers. 

 Rip saws have been used some on the side for making small dimen- 

 sion stock, but have never been considered as factors in reducing 

 the regular manufactured stock to square edges and to usable form. 

 The old rip saw known as such, whether power feed or hand feed, 

 was not considered a straight edging machine within itself, and for 

 straight sawing the use of a fence was resorted to, which of itself 

 really presumes upon one straight edge being already on the stock 

 to be sawed to dimensions. 



Among the new types of power feed rip saws some are now oflFered 

 with the saw swung aViove the work between two feeding rolls and 

 the work carried on an endless chain in the bed below. This style is 

 featured as a straight-edging type, the claim being made that it will 

 take many-edged stock or any other stock and rip it to a straight 

 line without fence or guard. 



This new idea in circular rip saws seems to be really a develoii- 

 ment from the sharp competition between the band rip-sawing ma- 

 chines and circular rip saws. The band saw type was the first to 

 use the chain or endless bed type of feed, and it made such inroads 

 in the field of rip-saw work that the makers of circular saw machines 

 had to bestir themselves, and out of it all has come some new offer- 

 ings with a combination of chain and roller feeds that should prove 

 interesting and valuable additions to the machinery list for working 



hardwoods of various kinds in the modern sawmill. 



The straight-e<lging rip saw offers possibilities liutli ;i.- :iii cdgiT 

 and as a machine for reworking lumber and making s]iecial dimen- 

 sion stock. It has not the capacity nor will it take the jilace of 

 the gang edger in the big mill, but it may take the place of the 

 side edger in some mills and do a wider range of work in shorter 

 time with less expenditure of elbow grease on the part of the oper- 

 ator. 



Another important use that may be found for this same type of 

 ihachine is in the assembling and wholesale hardwood yards where a. 

 certain amount of trimming and reworking of stock is essential to 

 fill orders satisfactorily and to get full value out of the material. 

 With electric current available in almost all cities and manufac- 

 turing centers, it is a comparatively easy thing to take a machine 

 of this kind, set it up in the most convenient place for getting ma- 

 terial to and from it and to connect it up with a motor. This con- 

 venience of the electric drive is leading to the use of a number of 

 machines about the lumber yard that in times gone by were imprac- 

 tical because of the fire hazard involved in power producing ami 

 investment necessary for power plant equipment. To those adding 

 machinery to help out the yard equipment this straight-edging rip 

 saw .seems worthy of special attention. 



Whether willingly or unwillingly, both sawmill men and wholesale 

 yard men in the hardwood trade are finding themselves getting more 

 and more into the special dimension busines.s, because the consum- 

 ing trade is demanding more dimension stock anil because it is the 

 logical way to a proper utilization of raw material. That is one of 

 the reasons why some of the new offerings in power feed rip saws 

 are of special interest to manufacturers of hardwood lumber as 

 well as to the consuming trade. They may not fit into every need 

 or serve every purpose, but they do give jiromise of filling an impor- 

 tant place and are certainly deserving of attention and study. 



