30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



VENEERS 



VENEERS IN AUTOMOBILE MANUFAC- 

 TURE 



In tlie first place, the indisiriniiuate use 

 of the word ' ' veneers ' ' and its improper ap- 

 plication to a great many articles in manu- 

 facture that are simply the product of cut- 

 ting machines or are compounded from such 

 products is deplorable. The word "veneers" 

 as used today has become a misnomer, and I 

 say this without referring to the definition of 

 the word as found in the dictionary. The 

 time was when that defintion was absolutely 

 correct, but it has become obsolete. The cus- 

 tom nowadays seems to be to call everything 

 that is produced upon a cutting machine a ve- 

 neer, and not only this, but in some in- 

 stances to go farther and call the glued-up 

 stock that is used for sides and tops in the 

 manufacture of automobiles a veneer. I 

 think that it is a mistake, in the first place, 

 in using the word ' ' veneer ' ' as applied to 

 all the products of a cutting machine, no mat- 

 ter what the wood, the thickness or the pur- 

 pose for which it is used, and it is decidedly 

 improper to call glued-up stock veneer. There 

 are other and better terms, such as three- 

 ply stock, five-ply stock, or as the railroads 

 term it, "compound wood" or "laminated 

 wood." I believe the latter to be the best 

 term of all of them. 



The use of laminated wood in the manufac- 

 ture of vehicles is not new. For years car- 

 riage tops and bodies, hearse tops," the sides 

 of delivery wagons, car ceilings, in both 

 street cars and railroad cars, have been 

 made of laminated wood. There seems to 

 have been no difficulty about the finish or the 

 practicability of the work in either of these 

 lines. It ought to be unnecessary to say that 

 glued-up stock, if exposed to moisture" with- 

 out protection, will clisiutegrate the glue as 

 soon as the moisture attacks it ; therefore, 

 all classes of work where laminated wood 

 is used must be carefully protected by paint 

 or varnish, or both. 



Where shaped work is required, laminated 

 wood is almost indispensable. There should 

 be no trouble about solid lumber checking. 

 The man who makes any class of vehicle 

 work should know when his lumber is dry and 

 should finish it properly, and the danger of 

 checking is then inconsiderable. The dan- 

 ger of checking, in my opinion, in laminated 

 wood is more probable. The mere fact of 

 cutting, i. e., the forcing of a knife through 

 wood, no matter how well prepared the wood 

 is nor how good the condition of the knife 

 may be, naturally shatters the fiber to a great- 

 er or less extent ; therefore it is necessary in 

 finishing laminated wood to be careful as to 

 the filler and coats, so that the danger from 

 the natural checks of the wood shall be re- 

 duced to the minimum. I think that some 

 concerns that rushed into the manufacture 

 of automobile bodies in glued-up stock and 

 have perhaps not used properly prepared 

 materials thoroughly dried, may not have been 

 as careful in the selection of their glue as 

 they should have been, or may have over- 

 cooked their glue, and for one or many of 

 these reasons their work may have been de- 

 fective and the plies have parted. With good 

 dry material and good glue properly pre- 

 pared, and the plies put together under prop- 

 er pressure, and the moisture evaporated be- 

 fore finishing, there should be no trouble 

 about the plies adhering for an indefinite 

 length of time, provided they are protected 

 from moisture. 



The special advantage in laminated Avork 

 Is that wide stock can be obtained for sur 



faces ::ud, therefore, joined surfaces can be 

 ob\i.ited and the chance of open joints elimi- 

 nated. When large sizes are considered a 

 high cost for the laminated wood must be 

 also considered. The initial cost as compared 

 with steel bodies will certainly be higher, and 

 for that reason they cannot compete with the 

 initial cost of steel bodies. I believe that 

 with care they will last longer. A manufac- 

 turer of dashes claims that they spent months 

 of time and several thousand dollars in ex- 

 perimenting with and perfecting a finish for 

 dashes that would last six months. They 

 probably do not mean to say that that is the 

 life of a dash, but the intimation is pretty 

 strong that within six months they must be 

 refinished to prevent them from going to 

 pieces. On these da.shes veneers as thin as 

 1/30 inch are used. I hardly think that a 

 carload of 1/30-inch veneers has been sold to 

 be used in the bodies of automobiles, yet it 

 is possibly the ease. A carload of 1/30-inch 

 would make up many an automobile.^D. E. K. 

 * * * 



Fi-om the principal veneer centers of the 

 country most gratifying reports are heard on 

 the condition of this Tine of business. The 

 demand continues strong aud plants are run- 

 ning full time and will probably continue to 

 do so throughout the spring and summer 

 months. 



There is a good demand for mahogany aud 

 Circassian walnut veneers, with a good supply 

 of mahogany of various kinds in stock, anil 

 prices remain unchanged. The demand for 

 Circassian veneers is constantly growing, 

 while the supply of logs is insufficient to take 

 care of the call. Prices are quite firm, good 

 figured stock bringing, of course, higher val- 

 ues. Quarter-sawed oak veneers are in 

 active demand, with only a slight advance in 

 price. The call for oak veneers is not as 

 active as the demand for mahogany and 

 Circassian walnut. Plain and fancy veneers 

 of all kinds are generally meeting "with fair 

 sale. 



* * * 



The Guelph Patent Cask Company, manu- 

 facturer of hardwood and hemlock lumber, 

 veneers and hoops, with headquarters at Lon- 

 don, England, and large operations at 

 Wolverine and Honor, Mich., will establish 

 another mill at Montreal, Canada. This will 

 be up to date in every respect and will be 

 under the management of Fred Start, who 

 for a number of years has been superintend- 

 ent of the M'olverine plant. Mr. Start will 

 take charge about April 1. 



* * ♦ 



In a recent windstorm the monster smoke- 

 stack on the Roddis Lumljer & A'eneer Com- 

 pany 's plant at Marshfield, Wis., was blown 

 down, smashing the waste tunnel and tearing 

 off sections of the roof of the building. The 

 factory will be closed down about a week for 

 repairs. The company is enjoying an active 

 business, and it is reported tliat its factory 

 may be enlarged if the present rush of or- 

 ders continues. 



* * * 



The Gemmer Lumber & Veneer Compauv of 

 Indianapolis, Ind., has completed a number 

 of improvements in its plant ndiich were 

 made following the taking over of the bu.si- 

 ness of the Standard Veneer Company. Lum- 

 ber sheds have been built and the mill en- 

 larged. The company is now in good shape 

 to take care of its increasing business. 



cern at Indianapolis, organized with $5,000 

 i-apital. The company will establish a plant 

 at once and will engage in the joining and 

 manufacturing of veneers and will also deal 

 in lumber. A. K. Hollow ell, L. P. Hollow ell 

 and Ci. E. Hadley are the organizers. 



->:- s * 



The big plant of the Evansville Veneer 

 Works at Evansville, Ind., continues to run 

 full time as it has during the past year. The 

 company reports business active. 



* * * 



It has been decided by the creditors of the 

 Holland Veneer Company, Holland, Mich., 

 that further operation of the plant affords 

 better possibility of recovering claims, and 

 the company will not be forced into bank- 

 ruptcy now by being compelled to make pay- 

 ments. The factory will be operated for a 

 time under the supervision of five trustees. 

 The liabilities of the concern aggregate more 

 than .$.S7,000 and the assets not much more 

 than .$80,000, it is reported. Recently the 

 company has taken up the manufacture of a 

 veneered dashboard for automobiles, and the 

 new management feels that this product will 

 put the company back on a paying basis. Or- 

 ders for more than 12,000 of these boards 

 have been received and the factory is working 

 overtime in an effort to take care of this 

 business. 



* a -:- 



The Freiburg Lumber Company 's new ve- 

 neer plant is sawing veneers from flitches 

 produced in the company's own mills. This 

 concern specializes in Mexican mahogany and 

 holds the record for bringing in the largest 

 shipments of this wood ever landed in Cin- 

 cinnati. It also cuts a fine quality of Span- 

 ish cedar and quartered sawed oak stock. 

 J, * * 



Frederick Eggers, founder of the Eggers 

 Veneer & Seating Company, Two Rivers, Wis., 

 died recently at the age of eighty years. Mr. 

 Eggers was a pioneer in his state, locating 

 at Two Rivers when but eighteen years of 

 age. He established the industry of which 

 he was the head in 1885 and brought it to 

 its present successful state. 



* -It * 



Work will begin in a short time on the new 

 addition to the factory of the Evansville Di- 

 mension Company, manufacturer of veneers, 

 panels and dimension stock, at Evansville, 

 Ind. The Big Four Railway Company will 

 build an extension from Evansville to Mt. 

 Carmel, 111., and will run the line through 

 the yards of this company, thus greatly im- 

 proving the shipping facilities of the con- 

 cern. 



Fire recently destroyed the plant of the 

 New York Veneer Seating Company at Jer- 

 sey City, N. J. The factory was badly dam- 

 aged and the fire spread to neighboring 

 buildings, burning a number of frame dwell- 

 ings in the vicinity. A $3,000 sander which 

 the company recently installed was totally de- 

 stroyed. A number of finished table tops and 

 other furniture, a large amount of lumber 

 and about $35,000 worth of machinery were 

 also burned. 



# « * 



The Buffalo Hardwood Lumber Company, 

 which operates a fine veneer factory at Buf- 

 falo, N. Y., has been so sucessfiil in this 

 line since it took up the manufacture of ve- 

 neers some years ago that it has outgrown 

 its quarteis and recently moved its whole 

 )ilant to the vicinity of its table factory at 

 Blasdell. just over the south line of the city. 

 The veneer works will be enlarged and new 

 machinery, including a big rotary cut sys- 

 tem, is now being installed. 



The Veneer Joining Company is a new con- The Escanaba Veneer Company. Escainiba. 



