OUR TIMBER INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 205, 31 August 1925, Page 9

OUR TIMBER INDUSTRY.

MOST USEFUL BY-PRODUCTS.

PHOCESS OF SLAKING VEVTT'P

SHAvnJT FROM TEE LOGS.

1% ntien for tie “ star."j

.. •' s-5 me uses to which •UiiOe.. Oj. c.'•proc.'icts, are being cut . Paring tie last ie~ . -Q.-S -= =-- industry nas sprung up f~" some o: the sawmills in mairafactartcg butter _ coses, cheese crates, fruit c^ se= boxes for otier commercial asa ~ Anotne- interesting n-oeess :s veneer and three-piv making* A ~°V extensive plan; 'is involved and & large acreage is covered by buiMia 5 - and the appliances which are neces-1 =ar 7’ to the process of making veneers. ! It is most interesting to follow a log ; :r _°—_ tne time it leaves the truck on hicn it nas ceen orougnt in from the hush till it comes out at the veneer works like "‘thin layers of paper." which in turn are gined together to make three ply up to 45 ply for special purposes. Commencement of Veneer Process. Logs ranging from 20 to 60 feet in lengtn are hired off the trucks by steam winches and placed on skids. From here they ate rolled on to a ions fiat track, watch runs on raffs. and taken under the steam crosscut saw where they are cut into lengths suitable for the various widths of veneer required. These latter vary from two to five feet. The logs are then roiled into steam vats, which hold from 20 to 30 lengths according to size of the cut logs. After eiosing the doors, high pressure steam is turned on, the log remaining in the vat from two to four days. The variation is caused by size and density of the logs and class of timber being treated. The steaming forces out ail the natural sap. Vi hen this part of the process is completed the logs are removed to the log-deck where all the bark is peeled off. A ""barking knife" is used for this purpose, and sometimes the bark comes off in one piece. VTonderful Lathe Vork. Subsequently the log is picked up by an endless chain and sLng and run on an overhead traveller to tne rotary lathe. Here it is placed between two centres and revolved, the knife being fed up to the spinning log. When all waste has been cut off and the log rounded up. the knife is set for cutting the required thickness. This machine will cut from half an inch to one-hun-dred and twentieth part of an inch, as desired. Sheets of rrkn wood are then run off to any required elngth, the veneer coming off just the same as pulling calico off a rolh Tne knife has to be kept up to a very keen edge, and in setting it in the machine great accuracy is required. The pressure bar which works in conjunction with the knife is also a most important factor in the undertaking. If either of these implements are onehundredth part of an inch out it would eoi pass, as this variation would make a difference in the veneer when the process is being completed. Machines Almost Human. As they leave the lathe the sheets go to the Gil machine. Through this they pass and are cut to the required sizes. Tne sheets from this machine are nestconveyed to an automatic- dryer. This machine is 50ft long. Sit wide, containing 1600 ft of drying surface, all travelling at the same time. The machine can be set to change speeds, so that a sheet wfij take 15 •minutes, 30 minutes, or 4-5 minutes to go through, as desired- A sheet measuring 15ft surface by one-fifteenth part of an inch in thickness will reduce its weight by 31b whilst it is travelling through the machine cnee. This means that over 1001 b of moisture is removed every time the machine takes a full round, turn. Subsequent to the veneer being put through this drying machine it is stacked for 24 hours. The next process is gluing. The sheets are taken into the giue-room. Here the first process in making threeply is commenced. The thin layers of wood are fed through a glue machine, which, in a most remarkable manner, spreads the gine evenly over the surface. All day long sheet after sheet is treated in a similar manner, and each one is laid down straight and fiat on trucks. When a sufficient number has been treated in this manner they are taken -into the press-room. Here the sheets are placed between heated plates till the whole machine is filled up. Then the hydraulic pressure is nut on and maintained at two tons to the square inch, or over 30d tons in aIL For an hour this huge pressure is kept on. and then the sheets are taken out and are ready to be cut to size. Trimming is done on a saw with a travelling table which is revolving and moving transversly. Here each set o* ■ sheets of veneer is cut to stock size, j separated and put in a rack to finally drv out.

Wien dry they are taken to the elasser. Each sheet is tested separately for faults as —ell as for its particular class. Subsequently it is packed, a tray to mature, which takes vrotn se~en to fourteen days. The veneer is then readv to be railed stray. Three-ply and Scale-boards. Toree-nlv is made in two thicknesses, namelv. 3-16 and 5.15 of a nineh. Scaleboards are used for packingcheese. and are cut on the same br-im as the veneer for the three-ply. There particular boards are cut to 1-6-n—----part of an inch in thickness, and are turned out round, the same size as- a cheese. They are put up in snooks_o: 1000. this number being tor 5/y) cheeses. The for this work are not steamheated. They are cut as the log comes from the bush, and later erred m a kita sneriaHv made for the purpose. It » snmris&g to learn that out oi each 1000 niesT s fuliv 40lb of water are : extracted. It is absolute!" necessary ■ these scaleboards should be thorougmy drr otherwise they wotua cause the chee=e to become mouMv. On J«ww hand, if thev are top dry also be of nb use. being so brittle they wonld break to pieces m tne a ™f bandies of 1000 each are roundel m machine specially designed pose. Not only does it do tin, wo . in a most remarkaale n also ties each bundle or scaleboards up with wire ready for transportation Strawberry boxes. trnien a-e familiar in Auckland and cut in the same rotary lathe uo®, .. - ; c =t s s tnev come trorn nreen logs _jc_, - h „ lat i, e the nusn. Alter " y*. - T hinnesi the sheets, or long s.np «_^ D £nd then ni wood, are ca«. n> - C . bundled up in i«» ba£Ke - lo^