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^^ Standard or Special Dimensions? 



A sawmill man who has made a big reputation for the production 

 of quartered oak lumber has come to a conclusion which will be 

 used in operating his plant hereafter. It is to cut as few sizes of 

 lumber as possible. As a matter of fact he intends to confine the 

 manufacture of oak to inch stock, except for special purposes. 

 That is to say, if he has been shipping steadily to a particular cus- 

 tomer 6/4 stock, he will continue to manufacture it for that trade; 

 but will not cut and pile it, in the regular course of business, 

 without having a definite outlet for it. 



"I have found by experience," he said recently, "that while I 

 have been cutting a lot of lumber, and have been producing no 

 more than the average number of thicknesses, I have tended to ac- 

 cumulate a lot of odds and ends which I had little opportunity to 

 move. For example, in making up a stock-sheet recently I found 

 that I had half a million feet of plain oak, yet it was so badly split 

 up, according to thicknesses as well as grades and lengths, that I 

 had only a few carloads of any one item ready to ship. I fouYid 

 on analysis of the proposition that I have been tying up a lot of 

 money by cutting a variety of sizes, since I scatter my efforts over 

 too wide a field. Consequently I have determined to make but one 

 kind of lumber hereafter, so that I can clean up my stocks with less 

 difiiculty than when the mill is cutting random thicknesses, without 

 any definite policy on this score." 



The question of running a mill steadily on inch lumber, for ex- 

 ample, against a variety of thicknesses, is an old one, and much 

 has been said on the subject. At the same time, the fact that mUl- 

 men are arriving at conclusions such as that referred to, after hav- 

 ing been hammering away at the proposition for a good many years, 

 seems to indicate that there is still a marked lack of unanimity 

 as to the best plan. There are some well-qualified mill operators 

 who assert that the only safe rule to follow is to produce whatever 

 thickness is required in order to get the best results out of the 

 log, whether this be %-inch or 3-inch stock. Their point is that 

 the quality of the lumber should not be sacrificed to a policy of the 

 concern as to the thicknesses it wants to handle, and that more 

 will be lost in the mill in endeavoring to meet this arbitrary stand- 

 ard as to thickness, than will be gained at the other end of the op- 

 eration by convenience in handling. 



As a matter of fact, it depends largely upon the size of the mill 

 which is under consideration. A big plant cutting several hundred 

 thousand feet daily, can accumulate enough lumber of all grades 

 and sizes, probably, to make it worth while to produce lumber as 

 the character of the log suggests; in other words, to get all out of 

 the log there is in it, no matter whether this requires cutting one 

 thickness or half a dozen. The yard which is carrying millions of 

 feet of all descriptions is big enough to absorb a well-distributed 

 cut without difficulty. 



On the other hand, it is not unusual to find an extremely large 

 mill cutting only one dimension as to thickness, and usually that is 

 inch. The obvious reason is that the operator wants to move his 

 stock quickly, and believes that he can make more by rapid hand- 

 ling than by risking a tie-up of his capital through the manufac- 

 ture of sizes which are not in general demand, and which cannot be 

 moved as expeditiously as inch and some other stock. However, 

 it can probably be laid down as a fact that the big mill can cut 

 a variety of sizes to better advantage than can the small plant, 

 and that the latter, unless its opportunities for moving its stock are 

 exceptionally good, will usualh' find it worth while to confine its 

 attention to a few standard thicknesses. 



There is a certain advantage in being known as the producer of 

 one thickness of lumber, just as there is in establishing a reputa- 

 tion as "headquarters" for all dimensions of a certain kind. 

 There is one mill which advertises that it constantly has on hand 

 immense stocks of %-inch poplar. There is no doubt that this adver- 

 tisement has made it likely that when a buyer is in the market 

 for that particular kind of lumber, he will think of the producer 

 whose name is identified with it. As long as production is centered 



along that line, there is a definite gain in linking up the demand 

 with the mill in this way, although it is conceivable that Lf it were 

 found advisable to change the policy of the concern and manufac- 

 ture some other dimension instead of %-inch, it might prove diffi- 

 cult to get away from the old reputation as to producing the latter. 



A consideration which applies to everybody in determining upon 

 the thickness to cut is the time required to market thick stock as 

 compared with inch or thinner. A sawmill man of long experience 

 both in manufacturing and selling recently described an experience 

 of his along this line. 



"I had an idea that there ought to be a good market for thick 

 red oak," he said, "and I had the mill cut several hundred thou- 

 sand feet of this material. It occurred to me that I could get a 

 high enough price for it to justify the greater exertion which would 

 be required to move it as compared with thinner stock. However, 

 I realized later on that it would require several months longer for 

 this lumber to dry and get in condition for the market than if I 

 had cut inch stock, and when I figured the interest on the invest- 

 ment for that period I learned that I should have to get a pretty 

 stiff price in order to take care of that feature. By the time the 

 lumber was ready to ship, I had discovered that buyers didn't seem 

 to want the particular dimension I had cut, and that while I coiild 

 sell my inch red oak without difficulty, the demand for 6/4 and 

 8/4 seemed to have gone to pieces. To make a long story short, the 

 lumber remained in the yard for fourteen months before I was able 

 to sell it — and the price I got for it was by no means a premium 

 figure, and did not remunerate me for the expense of carrying the 

 stock for that length of time. I have decided to cut inch for the 

 most part hereafter." 



This point is one that is worth taking into account when the 

 proposition is being discussed. In the case of quartered oak, for 

 example, 5/4 and 6/4 stock is worth from $2 to $2.50 a thousand 

 more than inch. The question is, does this increase more than 

 make up for the increased handling charges which are necessary 

 on account of the longer period required for drying purposes, and 

 in consideration of the admittedly greater difficulty of marketing? 

 While it can be retorted that there is much more inch stock being 

 manufactured than any other kind and that there are consumers 

 of the other dimensions, especially the extremely thick stock, who 

 are willing to pay good prices for it, the point is that inch is a 

 staple, and can be sold without great difficulty, and that the other 

 sizes are in a way specialties, and cannot be disposed of at a mo- 

 ment's notice. 



The technical sawmill man, who is thinking chiefly of the prop- 

 osition of making as good lumber as the log will produce, may not 

 be willing to accept the dictum that he is to cut a given dimension 

 without regard to the condition of the log on the carriage. He 

 may point out that it is almost criminal to manufacture No. 1 

 common when by changing the thickness firsts and seconds lumber 

 could be produced. His point is well taken, but the manufacturing 

 of the lumber is but one of the many factors entering into the 

 business, and is not always the controlling one. 



And it must be remembered, from a practical standpoint, that it 

 is not always easy to coach sawyers as to the exercise of judgment 

 as to what thickness to cut; and that the production will be kept 

 more nearly up to standard if the man at the saw has but one or 

 two dimensions in mind, and is not trying to figure every minute 

 what thickness should be used to keep the grade of the lumber up to 

 the highest possible point. This may sound like a slip-shod method, 

 but in most cases it is the best one for the sawmill operator to 

 follow. 



When lumber is plentiful the consumer gets the benefit of the 

 low prices that result from competition, but that does not keep 

 him from raising a yell when the price goes up again and he has 

 to pay it. 



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