HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



Approved Method of Quarter-Sawing. 



The Il.-udwood .Mnmil'aitiirers' Association of 

 the United States, tbiougli its secretary. Lewis 

 Doster, bas issued a blue print exhibiting the 

 most approved commercial metliod of quarter- 

 sawing oak. This system is practiced by the 

 most intelligent and successful operatgrs in the 

 country. 



The lirst four figures in the cut on this page 

 show the way to handle logs 20 inches and over 

 in diameter, and are accompanied by the follow- 

 ing directions : 



Fig. 1 — Slab log on one side and turn ihat 

 side to knees, then cut from A to P.. throwing 

 C back to deck. 



Fig. 2 — Turn slabbed side to head block, and 

 cut from E to E, throwing G to deck. 



Fig. 3 — Turn slabbed side to angle of 4." de- 

 grees with head block, and cut from II to I or 

 until the piece J has a sharp edge. 



Fig. 4 — Turn J over so that the line I is 

 against the knees, and finish, being very careful 

 not to make the last board a miscut. 



G is to be sawed same as shown in Figs. 3 

 and 4. 



C is to be sawed same as slinwn in Figs. 2, 3 

 and 4. 



The figures from 5 to 10, Inclusive, show the 

 correct handling of logs less than 20 inches in 

 diameter. It will be noted that it is recom- 

 mended to cut the larger proportion of small 



ing all the younger growths which have 

 started and the .seed as well, and seed trees 

 from which future forests must be produced. 



"Including the consumption of wood for pulp 

 and papci". lumber cut for export and for do- 

 mestic use. telegraph poles, cross-tie.s. piling 

 and fuel, of which much is still used in many 

 locations, the timbers used in mining opera- 

 tions and that destroyed by forest fires, there 

 are seventy-five billion feet of timber con- 

 sumed each year, with an increased quantity 

 yearly. It is evident therefore that we have 

 not enough timbei- standing to continue com- 

 merciall.v for more than twent.v years in all 

 the United States, including the Pacific coast 

 forests. 



*'ln estimating American forest areas, a 

 Washington City publication recently made 

 ridiculous claim.s by States, tending to prove 

 that our forest possessions were so great as 

 to be inexhaustible. In this estimate millions 

 of acres were included which are brush lands, 

 from which all commercial timber has been 

 removed, and farms which have been cleared 

 for forty or fifty years. 



"There are in the Allegheny and Blue Ridge 

 mountains and other rough localities large 

 areas which are to some extent co\*ered with 

 scrubby growths but which will not mature 

 for more than a century. 



"Other localities have swamps iu which an 



New Dry Kiln System. 



Tile successful drying of lumber has long 

 been a problem to lumber manufacturers. It is 

 a (luestion which has lialtled the inventor with 

 greater persistency than any other in connection 

 with the lumber trade. All have striven to- 

 ward the same goal — to dry lumber by artificial 

 means, tbortaighly and quickly, for Nature's 

 method of drying is far too ."ilow [or these times, 

 and man nui.st needs intervene lest the wheels 

 of commerce become clogged. 



To a large extent the manufacturer has learned 

 to look upon his dry kiln as a gamble. Often has 

 bis kiln failed a( a crucial moment, si)oiling a 

 (piantity of iundior and probably thereby wiping 

 out the profit. The dry kiln up to date, with 

 one or two exceptions, has been to a great ex- 

 tent a nuitter of speculation, and speculation is 

 neither a safe nor satisfactory element to reckon 

 wilh. 



For .vears there 1ms been an increasing call 

 for a di-y kiln that is safe and sure, one that 

 will convert green lumber into a thoroughly dry 

 marketalde product in the shortest time and 

 with the least loss to the manufacturer. 



This was the necessity which set Z. Clark 

 Thwing. manager of the Grand Uapids Veneer 

 Works of (irand Rapids, Midi., to thinking some 

 two years ago, resulting ultimately in the in- 

 vention of a new dry kiln process, said to pos- 



A ^ S 



logs into plain sawed stock. Instructions for 

 sawing these sizes are given as follows : 



I'Mg. o — Take a thin slab ; 



I''ig. Ti — Turn slabbed side down and saw one 

 Ixjard past the heart ; 



I''ig. 7 — Turn remaining half to position indi- 

 ':iied in this figure and .saw to heart; 



l*'ig. .*<- -Turn to position indicated and saw to 

 heart ; 



Fig. 9 — Turn remaining ipiarter to position in- 

 dicated and saw to heart : 



Fig. 10— Turn remaining eighth with heart 

 to head and knee, and lie careful to avoid mis- 

 ■ 111. 



\Vhile tliere is nothing particularly new in the 

 riu'tbods outlined, the diagrams will assist saw- 

 yers of oak who are not thoroughly familiar with 

 Huarter-sawing. 



A Note of Warning. 



Arboriculture, the magazine of the interna- 

 tional society of that name, of Connersville. 

 Ind.. in referring to the facts brought out at 

 the last meeting of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association that at the present rate 

 "f cutting the total existing timber area of 

 this country would be exhausted in thirty- 

 three years, says: 



"But there are several other contingencies 

 which must be considered in such calculation 

 the annual fires in forests destroy an in - 



cre<lible Quantity' of standing timber, includ- 

 inferior timber growth remains, giving the 

 appearance of a forest, yet the commercially 

 \'ahiable trees have been removed. 



"I'nder the best conditions there must be 

 a long interval of seventy-tive or more years 

 from the year A. D. 1925 when the bulk of 

 our trees will have been consumed, and the 

 beginning of the twenty-first century, when, if 

 protected, these brush lands may become ma- 

 tured timber, during which long period the 

 United States will he destitute of native lum- 

 ber. 



"It is none too soon therefore 'that some- 

 fning should be done, and done immediately.' 



"We have urged repeatedly that quickly ma- 

 turing trees be planted in immense quantities 

 to forestall the coming timber- famine, and we 

 now emphasize these statements, and again 

 urge Government, States, lumbering com- 

 panies, land corporations, and. above all. the 

 farmers to plant trees as extensively as possi- 

 ble and without delay. 



"So long as Congress insists upon placing 

 a high premium upon national suicide by re- 

 taining the prohibitory duty on lumber, the 

 only remedy lies in the planting of huirdreds 

 of millions of trees of such species as will 

 grow in the briefest possible time, and which 

 possess the qualification demanded for lum- 

 ber, cross-ties and all commercial purposes. 



sess every ropusite for converting green stock 

 into scientilicaily chieil liuiihcr in a remarkably 

 short time. 



Some three years ago the rapidly increasing 

 l)usiness of the Grand Rapids Veneer Works 

 made necessary some new and more expeditious 

 method of drying lumber. T'he old kilns were 

 overtaxed and could not be forced to dry oak 

 thoroughly in less than three weeks without dam- 

 age to the lumber. Vet no better system was 

 available. The order books began to get peri- 

 lously ahead of the shipping department and Mr. 

 Thwing. in sheer desperation, began a series of 

 experiments along entirely new lines. While it 

 was found po.ssihIe to dry the lumber a little 

 more quickly by other methods, the product was 

 invariably twisted and marked and checked 

 around tlie knots. These experiments were con- 

 tinued nearly a year and failed to accomplish 

 satisfactory results. Something was lacking. 

 Siune basic principle had as yet been undiscov- 

 ered, though persistently sought for by Mr. 

 Thwing and ills mechanical engineer, A. D. I*inu. 



A little over a year ago Mr. Thwing became 

 convinced that he was on the wrong track and 

 he issued orders to tear out the apparatus with 

 which the experiments had been conducted for 

 so many nninths. The work of demolition was 

 actually under way when Mr. Uinn, (piite by 

 iocidcnt. dis(overcd a peculiar condition. He 

 slnpprd iIm' wnrk at once and began the con- 



