3292 Chapter 27 



At the same mill, stacked green veneers were equivalent to the following 

 square footage of 3/8-inch plywood per inch of stack (Williams and Hopkins 

 1969, p. 60): 



Veneer thickness in inches 



Veneer width 1/10 1/8 



Inches Square feet- 



54 56.9 58.5 



27 56.9 58.5 



Random 54.9 56.4 



Fishtails 27.4 28.2 



The foregoing conversion factors allow for normal losses during manufacture of 

 southern pine plywood; losses during hardwood plywood manufacture would 

 likely be greater. 



Weight of hardwood plywood. — One of the drawbacks of hardwood ply- 

 wood is that it weighs more than pine plywood. A thousand square feet of three- 

 ply 3/8-inch-thick panel with oak faces and sweetgum or yellow-poplar core 

 would weigh about 1,215 pounds at 8 percent moisture content. The same 

 amount of loblolly pine plywood would weigh about 115 pounds less. However, 

 a five-ply, yg-inch panel of this hardwood composition would weigh about the 

 same as a comparable all-pine panel. For a tabulation of weights for various 

 hardwood plywoods, see page 2695. 



Additional information on veneers is contained in section 22-8 under subsec- 

 tion VENEER CONTAINERS, in section 22-9 DECORATIVE VENEER AND 

 PLYWOOD, and in section 22-10 under subsection STRUCTURAL PLY- 

 WOOD; pages 2647, 2649, and 2692. 



DIMENSION STOCK AND FURNITURE 



Clear lengths of hardwood lumber ranging from 13 to 100 inches in length are 

 the basic raw material for furniture manufacture. However, most furniture parts 

 are quite short. In a study of an entire year's production by a major manufacturer 

 of a full line of furniture, the average cutting length required was only 3 1 inches 

 (Bingham and Schroeder 1976). Thus, even small, low-quality hardwoods 

 growing on pine sites may be a source of high-value furniture and dimension 

 stock. See section 18-11, subsection LOG AND LUMBER LENGTHS, page 

 1954. 



Use of hardwood dimension stock by the southern furniture industry is dis- 

 cussed in section 22-3, subsection DIMENSION STOCK. Grade specifications 

 for this material are briefly discussed in subsection SAWBOLT GRADES of 

 section 12-7, and in footnote 2 of table 27-115. 



Hardwood blank standard sizes. — Recommended sizes for hardwood 

 blanks for furniture manufacture are listed in table 27- 115. These recommenda- 

 tions are the result of research conducted at Princeton, West Virginia, by the 

 Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service. 



Sawing pattern related to yield. — Sawing patterns and edging practices can 

 substantially affect yields of furniture components. This topic is discussed at 

 length in section 18-11, SAWMILL LAYOUTS FOR SHORT, SMALL, 



