Pre-Cutting Advantages

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31190, 14 October 1966, Page 11

Pre-Cutting Advantages

The timber division of the I Christchurch firm of W. H. Sith, Ltd., pre-cuts about 400 houses a year at its Sockburn plant. The builders’, requirements are taken from plans and I specifications and then all the necessary timber frames, are cut, and flooring and weather--boards are supplied. j Pre-cutting is a comparatively new field in the timber industry and it is fast becoming popular with the building trade. Builders find that precutting saves them time and labour. They can also get [better organised when starting on new jobs and construeItion is much quicker. ! In the timber division at Sockburn a Wadkin six-cutter is the pride of the managingdirector of the company (Mr |C. L. Smith). He says it is one of the best planing machines of its kind in the world. The mouldings produced are of very high quality. Also on the 10 acre Sockburn site a kiln is under construction. About 25 persons are employed there.

As H. W. Smith, Ltd., expands, so does the need for more dressed timber, especially for the firm's joinery and timber products activities. The joinery section is at Riccarton and this aspect of the company’s work embodies all the timber manufactured units required for houses, schools, factories and other buildings. Among the range of items produced are window frames of all types—casement, double hung, side and folding—cupboard fronts or cupboard units, wardrobe fronts and similar products. Doors are produced tn a separate department at the plant and these are sold all over New Zealand. Mr Smith said that all of these products would soon be available in even larger quantities to builders and the buying public. “Beech has a great potential and I am convinced of its value,” he said. The front office at the Sockburn plant has been built as a showroom showing the virtues of beech as a panelling timber. The counter and walls have been completely done out in beech.

Production In the year ended March 31, 1964, the total wood pro-duction-in terms of round wood—rose to 197 million cubic feet. This represented an increase of 8 per cent on the previous year. Exotic woods accounted for more than three-quarters of the total production.

Farmers’ Posts.—A survey carried out by tbe New Zealand Forest Service last year showed that farmers used 7,500,000 fence posts in the 12 months. Of this total, half were wooden.