HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



Veneer ^Department in the SaWmilL 



Altliougli all admit the veueer business 

 lias come to be an important branch of the 

 hardwood industry, it is generally looked 

 iipon as something aside from sawmiliing, 

 Tvhen in reality the cutting of veneer, and 

 •especially the sawing of quarter-sawed oak 

 veneer, really belongs to and could be ad- 

 vantageously carried on in connection with 

 sawmiliing. 



Oak flooring, especially quartered oak, 

 and veneer fit together nicely and make a 

 ^•lose clean-up of timber. The best plan 

 is to work the narrow stock into flooring, 

 ?ince in flooring wide stock is not needed, 

 leaving the wide stock for veneer flitches 

 where it is not practical to use the narrow. 

 Thus it will be seen that the two work 

 together remarkably well, and it is strange 

 that the plan has not been adopted more 

 <'xtensively. Probably one reason is that 

 flooring stock must be thoroughly dried be- 

 fore it is worked, and it is preferable on 

 account of weight in shipping to dry it con- 

 siderably even before shipping it from the 

 mills to the flooring plant when the mill man 

 is not a manufactuix'r of flooring, as is quite 

 frequently the case. In such instances the 

 sawmill man might pile the narrow stock 

 for flooring and load up the veneer flitches 

 while they are green and ship them to the 

 veneer plant. This is especially good ad- 

 vice for small portable mills which would 

 hardly find it practical to install a veneer 

 saw, and which might profit by this same 

 idea by getting out stock or flitches for 

 veneer mills in connection with oak flooring 

 stock. But in an oak mill of any preten- 

 sions, especially if it is cutting quartered 

 oak, it would certainly be worth while to 

 investigate thoroughly the possibilities of 

 adding a veneer department where the wide 

 quartered stock could be immediately cut 

 into veneer. The future use of oak in cabi- 

 net work will of necessity be more and more 

 in the form of veueer since oak is getting 

 so scarce, and consequently high in price, 

 that there is no other way to make the sup- 

 ply meet the enormous demand upon it for 

 any length of time. Moreover,- built-up 

 work with a fine veneer face for cabinet 

 work or any purpose where it is protected 

 from the elements really has qualities not to 

 be found in the solid wood. But what more 

 directly interests the sawmill operator is 

 that the chances are decidedly in favor of 

 getting more money out of this fine quar- 

 tered oak by cutting it into veneer than by 

 cutting it into lumber, and especially if the 

 practice heretofore has been to cut it into 

 thick quartered lumber. The demand for 

 thick quartered oak probably will never 

 again be what it once was, as steel has re- 

 placed wood <juite extensively in the manu- 

 facture of numerous lines, such as tanks and 

 casks for breweries, where large quantities 

 of this oak were formerly used, and two, 

 three or more plied veneer stock is also being 

 substituted for thick oak for a great many 



uses. This deterioration of the thick oak 

 market is not to be seriously regretted, as 

 this same stock can be manufactured into 

 a product that will bring better returns 

 than the thick oak ever offered. It is a lit- 

 tle diflicult to give exact prices on sawed 

 veneer, as so much depends on figure, grain 

 and general quality as well as thickness, 

 but as a rule quartered oak stock cut into 

 veneer will bring better returns than when 

 made into solid lumber, and hence if the 

 process of manufacturing and handling does 

 not cost too much or lead to excessive 

 waste, it should offer an inviting field to the 

 sawmill man making oak lumber. 



Generally speaking, the oak that has the 

 best figure is the brash oak, and it also 

 w"orks easier than some of the tougher varie- 

 ties, so that where it can be handled right 

 it is .sometimes best to work the tough butts 

 into some line of stock requiring strength 

 rather than figure. On the other hand, there 

 is a chance of taking on a confusing variety 

 of lines, and in some cases it will undoubt- 

 edly be found best not to try to assort for 

 figure, but to take all the clear quartered 

 stock where it runs wide, say 8 inches and 

 up, and put it into veneer. One can fre- 

 quently find a sale for the veneer mill-run 

 so that the user of the veneer will himself 

 do the sorting for special figure, and thus 

 save the millman considerable tedious detail 

 that requires expert knowledge. The people 

 who study the fine arts in veneer make good 

 money by carefully sorting veneer and sell- 

 ing that of fine figure for fancy prices,, the 

 prices being largely influenced by figure. 

 However, unless the sawmill operator has 

 some special talent and inclination in this 

 direction it is advisable for him to figure on 

 selling the mill run for a given price, with- 

 out making any attempt at sorting out and 

 passing exjiert opinion on each sheet of 

 veneer. 



With the idea of assorting for special 

 figure eliminated, the process of manufac- 

 turing quarter-sawed veneer is really very 

 simple and requires only a small crew. Two 

 men handle the veneer saw, and while the 

 work may seem slow and tedious as com- 

 pared to sawing lumber, they turn out quite 

 a large quantity of stock, depending of 

 course on the width of the flitches, the con- 

 dition of the mill, etc. 



After the veneer is sawed for flitches, 

 which must be done while it is green, not 

 only because it is easier to do the sawing 

 then, but because thick lumber checks more 

 or less in drying, which spoils some of the 

 veneer, the only thing that remains is to 

 dry the stock and tie it up into bundles 

 convenient for handling. 



The usual method of drying veneer is to 

 edge-pile it in racks, and practically the 

 same method is followed whether the stock 

 is dried in the open air or in a kiln. A kiln 

 or hothouse for drying veneer can be made 

 very easily without a great deal of expense 



by simply making an enclosed room with 

 an open floor and steam pipe coils under- 

 neath to give heat and providing some 

 method of ventilating. In a room of this 

 kind the same piling racks may be utilized 

 as are used in open-air processes and drying 

 done regardless of tlie weather. Some manu- 

 facturers expose the veneers to the direct 

 rays of the sun and others protect it in 

 sheds. It is probably better to have the 

 drying racks under sheds where air drying 

 is adopted, because this thin stock dries out 

 very quickly and the intense heat of the 

 sun in the summertime is often found to be 

 injurious. Big veneer concerns of course 

 have special kilns and special methods for 

 drying veneer, all of which are worthy of 

 consideration to those going into the busi- 

 ness on an extensive scale, but the average 

 sawmill putting in a veneer cutting depart- 

 ment may, without great expense, provide 

 means for drying stock as indicated above. 

 In addition to means for drying there 

 must, of course, be provided : warehouse 

 room for storing veneer, which should be a 

 clean, dry place with the floor enough above 

 ground to keep it free from moisture. The 

 veneer after being dried should be tied up 

 securely in bundles, of a size convenient for 

 handling, as this not only facilitates loading 

 and snipping, but serves in a measure to 

 pi-oteet the veneer, which being thin and 

 frail is subject to damage in handling. 



In connection with this subject it is in 

 order to say that quarter-sawed oak veneer 

 is not by any means the cheapest, is not to b" 

 compared in price to veneer in general anu 

 is, in fact, the most expensive veneer made 

 from the same wood. This is partly due to 

 the fact that veneer sawing is a much 

 slower process than veneer cutting, and 

 necessarily cuts away and wastes generally 

 as much in sawdust as is made in veneer. 

 Xotwithstanding this, however, the demand 

 for quarter-sawed veneer is growing rapidly, 

 since in quality there is absolutely no com- 

 parison between that and cut stock. Sawed 

 veneer when faced up shows a surface ex- 

 actly like that of solid lumber. It has quali- 

 ties that no cut veneer possesses, and this 

 point should be remembered when selling it, 

 so as not to make prices on a basis of those 

 obtained for cut veneer. 



The usual thickness for quarter-sawed 

 veneer is 1/20, 1/18 and 1/16 of an inch for 

 thin stock, and % and ^4 of an inch for 

 heavy stock, such as is used for doors and 

 various kinds of planing mill work. Before 

 beginning to cut anything of this kind, of 

 course, it is best to find a prospective mar- 

 ket and see just what it uses and what 

 quantity and widths in the various thick- 

 nesses. At the present time there is not 

 much demand for narrow widths, say 6 

 inches and under, notwitlistanding the fact 

 that large quantities are used by the fur- 

 niture trade, they evidently figuring on 

 getting the narrow stock out of working the 

 wide. This is another reason why, as stated 

 above, veneer and flooring may, ip- worked 

 in combination to great advantage in mak- 

 ing the most economical utilization of 

 timber. 



