' ^ c:TOiaaa5C:amw)tMa iCHJJ5;^)^ ■w^iia^ ^' 



Editor's Note 



The appended paper was read before the recent convention of the National A^eneer & Panel Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation, held at the Auditorium hotel, Chicago, by E. V. Knight of the New Albany Veneering Company, New 

 Albany, Ind. It may be said that this paper marks the beginning of an effort to insure the market for yeneered 

 panels as against substitutes. 



Some few years ago the average buyer of 

 furniture seemed to believe that "veneered 

 furniture" was synonymous for "cheap fur- 

 niture," and that only furniture made of all 

 solid stock represented quality and value. 



Investigation proves, however, that just the 

 reverse is true, and that in the very finest 

 furniture manufactured veneered stock is 

 used. As the best proof of this statement, we 

 ask those who may be inclined to doubt it, to 

 examine closely pieces of antique furniture, 

 furniture manufactured a hundred, or two or 

 three hundred years ago. Is it solid or is it 

 veneered? In almost every instance we be- 

 lieve the investigator will find that the tops, 

 fronts, end panels, posts and frames — in fact, 

 nearly all of those parts where durability, 

 reliability and a beautiful effect as to color 

 and figure are required — are veneered. 



The question may be asked why veneering 

 should be used when, according to the common 

 understanding, solid stock is so far superior. 

 The reason in part is that solid stock, built 

 up into furniture with dowels, glue joints, 

 mortises, etc., would never stand the test of time for the following 

 reasons: All woods are subject to changes from heat and cold and 

 moisture variations, which cause contraction and expansion; all 

 solid woods have a tendency to take up moisture, then dry out 

 again, eventually causing the glue joints to open, the dowels to 

 come loose, the mortises to shrink, which results in the falling 

 apart of that particular piece of furniture. 



Not so with veneered or built up stock, which is made three, 

 five and, in some instances, seven ply, each ply being so crossed 

 and laid contra-wise to the ply next to it, that there are no joints 

 to shrink and come open. For the benefit of those who may not 

 understand what multiple-ply stock is, we beg to explain that each 

 top, front, panel, etc., going into veneered furniture is glued up 

 with different and separate plies of wood, each ply of which is laid 

 at right angles to the one next to it. 



For example: In veneering a 5-ply top for a dresser, sideboard 

 or table, say a 48"x24" top, a piece of veneer 49" long and 25" 

 wide is first laid lengthwise; next a cross veneer 25" long by 48" 

 wide, covered on each side with glue, is put on; then the core or 

 center 49" long by 25" wide is laid on the cross veneer. On the 

 core is laid another cross veneer 49" long by 25" wide, covered on 

 each side with glue, and then is laid the last or face veneer, with 

 the grain running the 49" way. 



The entire top is then put under hydraulic pressure and remains 

 there until the glue has thoroughly set. This operation usually 

 requires from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and makes the 

 entire five jdies as one solid jiiece of wood, except that because of 

 the cross plies it is impossible to split a 5-ply veneered top with 

 an axe, and the same is true also of a thin tSj" or V4," 3-ply panel. 

 Each ply being laid contrawise to the one next to it, makes a 

 strong, reinforced lamination with fully as much strength and 

 resistance against splitting as will be found in a piece of solid 

 wood of from one to one and a half inch thickness. 



So much for strength and durability; now for beauty of figure 

 and uniformity of color. 



In using solid stock it is impossible to select all the pieces that 

 go to make up a piece of furniture of the same figure, color and 

 texture, for the reason that, in sawing thick lumber, no effort is 

 made to keep the boards together, and in the average car of rough 



—30— 



KNIGHT, NEW ALBANY, 



lumber may be a lot of from one to two 

 thousand or more different boards, cut from 

 a hundred or more different trees, each tree 

 probably grown in a different kind of soil, 

 each soil growing wood of different texture 

 and figure. 



How about veneers? Let us take, for in- 

 stance, our native white oak and the process 

 of manufacturing it into quartered oak 

 veneers. 



First, from a whole tract of timber are 

 selected only those trees which show tall, 

 straight, unblemished trunks of large and 

 even growth. These trees are felled, cut into 

 logs, taken to the mill, where each log is cut 

 into halves, each half into quarters and each 

 quarter into eighths, great care being taken 

 to divide the quarters exactly. Each log thus 

 produces eight flitches. Then from the eighth 

 of a log each side is cut until the desired fig- 

 ure is shown; a twenty-four inch log making 

 flitches eight inches wide; a twenty-six inch 

 log, ten inches wide; and a thirty-six inch 

 log, flitches fifteen inches in width. Thus it 

 is readily understood that there is much waste in sawing flitches 

 for high-grade veneers. A properly sawn flitch should He cut 

 from 2^/' to 3" thick. 



Next the flitches are taken, to the veneer mill to be cut into 

 veneers. A A^eneer saw is composed of fourteen segments and is 

 ground very thin so there will be the least possible waste in sawing. 

 The segments are fastened with counter sunk screws to heavy iron 

 flanges or discs, making the complete saw about seventy-two inches 

 in diameter. 



The veneers are cut to the thicknesses desired, the standard 

 thickness in oak being 1/20 inch to 1/16, though for special work 

 thicker stock is often used. 



Each sheet or piece of veneer is numbered as it comes from the 

 veneer saw, and all pieces of each flitch are kept together in the 

 exact order in which they are sawn. 



After being sawn, the flitches are taken to the dry-kiln, and 

 when thoroughly kiln-dried, all sheets are inspected, measured, and 

 the entire number of pieces of each flitch tied together just as they 

 came from the saw, and are then ready for the manufacturer of 

 veneered tops, panels, etc. 



Now a word as regards the selection of veneers and the proper 

 handling and care of same preparatory to gluing up into tops and 

 panels. 



All veneers should be carefully selected for their color and tex- 

 ture, as well as for figure, as many well figured veneers are unfit 

 for use in the manufacture of high-grade built-up stock, because 

 of, first: A soft, spongy texture, which has a tendency to take up 

 too much color in staining and looks flat under the finish, and 

 second: Because of alternation of smooth, hard streaks with 

 streaks of a softer texture, which veneer shows light and dark 

 streaks after staining and is quite as undesirable as the soft, 

 spongy woods. 



At one time, in quartered oak especially, the demand was for 

 a large splashy figure, though at this writing we find a number of 

 furniture manufacturers, especially those who make the better 

 grades of furniture, who call for a more modest display of figure, 

 and who are paying more attention to color and texture. This, 

 we believe, should be the first requirement in veneers used in 

 building up furniture tops, panels, etc., as beyond question the 



