FOREST UTILIZATION 81 



XIX. VENEERING PLANT. 



Veneers are either sawn or peeled (sliced). The furniture factory and 

 the package trade use veneers, with entirely different ends in view, on a 

 daily increasing scale. 



The thickness of sliced veneers ranges down to 1/120 inch; veneers 

 less than 1/40 inch thick, however, are rarely used. 



Sawn veneers are 1/20 inch thick or thicker. 



A. Veneer saws. 



Any saw of a fine gauge is a veneering saw. Largely used are the : 

 I. Horizontal mill saw; 

 II. Fine band saw ; 



III. Circular saw ground to a fine gauge (19 gauge) at rim, 

 strong (5 to 10 gauge) at center; there is only one col- 

 lar, to which saw is screwed. Veneer saws consisting 

 of sections screwed to a common centerpiece are com- 

 mon. 



B. Veneer cutting machines. 



Logs are boiled or steamed (in exhaust) for several hours be- 

 forehand. Usually, logs 3 to 5 feet long are used, the length 

 of the log almost equaling the length of the knife. 

 I. The rotary machine peels any log of, say, over 18 inches 

 diameter, notably poplar, lynn, gum and cottonwood, 

 Into thin layers by revolving the log slowly against a 

 sharp stationary knife. A clipper cuts the roll into 

 pieces of proper size for strawberry boxes, staves, potato 

 barrels, box boards, furniture backing etc. The core of 

 the log, some 6 inches in diameter, does not allow of 

 peeling. 

 II. The stationary log cutter consists of a knife set in a sash 



frame removing at each stroke a thin slice or board. 

 C. Advantages of veneering. 



I. There is little or no loss of timber for kerf and sawdust. 

 Valuable logs (for furniture, cigar boxes) are invariably 

 veneered nowadays. Logs too short for lumber are fit 

 for peeling. 



II. Veneers show little shrinkage and little checking. Hence 

 they allow of rapid seasoning. For that purpose, the 

 veneers are frequently passed between heated rollers. 

 III. The rotary machine yields very large veneers often en- 

 tirely free from knots which are merely contained in the 

 core left unpeeled. 



XX. BOX FACTORY. 



A. Kinds of boxes. 



(a) Planed or unplaned. 



(b) Knocked down or set up. 



(c) Nailed, lock-cornered or dovetailed. 



B. Material. 



Wood as light as possible readily planed, nailed and treated. 



