OTHER WOOD-WORKING MACHLNES. 



691 



Veneers are sawu from planks of valuable wood, which are 

 frequently glued to ordmary coniferous planks and then placed 

 in the frame. The valuable wood can then be entirely sawn into 

 veneer without any waste, the thinest veneers sawn being 7 to a 

 centimeter. 



For a number of years past veneer has been cut in machines. 



[A machine for cutting thin boards was invented in 1875 by Leon 

 Plessis,* the action of v.-hich may be understood from fig. 309 : 

 (a) is the cutting blade, 3 or 



4 meters long, fastened to a ^'°- ^^^• 



frame (6) ; (c) regulates the 

 thickness of the cut pieces of 

 wood, which may vary from 2 

 to 20 mm. The greatest thick- 

 ness which can' be cut is 2 centi- 

 meters, supplying boards for 

 cigar-boxes, packing-cases, &c. 

 The instrument slides up and 

 down in a vertical frame, a piece 

 of wood being cut at each down 

 stroke, and the bvitt which is 

 being cut advances thi'ough a 

 space equal to the thickness of 

 the section at each up-stroke. 

 The cutting part of the machine 



weighs 6 tons. The butts cut are as long as the cutting-blade, 

 and are previously steamed, the wood being chiefly softwoods, such 

 as poplar or alder. 



The pieces when cut are pressed dry by hot rollers ; they are then 

 replaced consecutively so as to reproduce the form of the butt from 

 which they were cut, when they are fastened together and kept ready 

 for use. 



This machine is driven by 20 hoi'se-power and cuts in a minute 20 

 pieces, 3 meters long and of any thickness up to 2 c. It can cut 

 30,000 sq. feet of boards in a day.t— Tr.] 



2. Planing -Machines. 

 Planing-machines consist of rapidly rotating, narrow, steel 

 rollers, which are cut in various patterns along their length, and 



* SocUte Franraitie de tranchage de hois. 4, Passage diaries Dallery, Paris. 

 t Boppe, op. cit. 



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