Shop Lumber

By J. M. LEAVER, SR., the Pacific Lumber Co., S.cotia, Cal.

Shop Lumber, as it is known to us, but sometimes called "cuts" in the far East, is that type of board'or plank which will, by a 'process of refinement by ripping'and, cutting to eliminate certain defects, be raised in grade,a,nd value as determined by the sizes and application of such sizes to the various millwork requirements. Always there is in this cutting grade, as it may be termed, scope for ,the very best jud'gment of the lumberman in getting the very highest value from the stock.

When we undertake cutting of shop lum,ber, we enter into a problem-will the end justify mgznsf-lr/hich in this case argues, will the resultant product frgured carefully as to its value in 'the work to r,r'hich it is applied, bring back to the operator original cost,of m,aterial, expense of refining and rvaste made in the refining process? Supposing that such condition obtained there would then be no advantage in substituting shop for upper grade lumber which would be figured out on basis of cost of material and lower working charges and lesser amount of waste.

might well be named "cdnservative" grade, for that is its true status. Intelligently and carefully manipulated it is a builder up of upper grades and also is under 'certain specifications and conditions an augmenter of volume of com,mon grades. Irn its board or plank shape it is neither "fish, flesh ,or fowl.'f It is not uppers and it is not com,mon-it has a ,character all its own and despite the fact that it is sometimes called "shop common" I always think of it from the viewpoint of its conservation qualities.

We read and hear a lot about conservation these days; we get surfeited with technicalities expressed by the impractical or those lacking in practical experience, who consum,e much printer's ink with theories, and, we fortunately, do find many practical opera'tors who practice real conservation-those who refine shop lumber are true conservaiionists.

'fhe lumbernran, rvhether sawmill or planing mill operator, has to answer for ,many things, among which is wastefulness, which may be illustrated for the saw mill man by

But rve know that shop lumber cuts quite a figure in planing mill operations and it is therefore safe to say fhat its value in augmenting the footage of upper grades is recognize,d; if demand and c'orndition of stock on hand ,are any criterion.

My experience with shop lu,mber covers some 27 years in white pine and 13 years in redwood. I know practi,cally n,othing about the shop product of fir and spruce, but I do know in a ge'neral way that a cutting type of stock exists in all the wocds we use in P'laning Mill operations and that, therefore, ifit can be shown to be profitable to refine this stock to fill the necessities for short upper grade stock ,of which so much is used in building, manufacturi.ng, etc., then the thing to do is to put all the judgment and experience we possess into the conversion of th'is grade so that the long length upper grades may be used as they should, i. e., without waste as far as 'humanly possible.

I think "shop" or "cuts," whichever 'terrn you may use, his investment in refuse burners wi'th voracious appetites. The planing mill man ,is an offen'der to the extent of reducing the details of providing storage and system,atic handling of short stocks that would apply as efficiently as longer stock rvhich he chops up, in'to sh'ort pieces; in this he is very ably seconded by the so-called carpenter who dearly Ioves to push a handsaw through a long len'gth of good lumber rather than stoop to pick up a short piece that w,ould cover the missfng space.

Naturally all these things are mere ma'tters of habit and difhcult to change-My thought is that if we would apply the shop or conservation idea more thonoughly than we do n'ow the operator of sawmill ,would, when he found that he could get back a little more than one new dollar for'one old dollar, set in motion by,means for putti'ng the refuse burner on a diet rvhich would be largely made up of ba,rk and real refuse. In like manner the planing mill operator would

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(Continued from Page 35) have at 'his call stocks of short material suited to well defined uses at prices differentiating in his favor so that he could realize a profit. There is fortunately'now-a days no difficulty in providing means for obtaining numerous I'engths of accurate dimensions, in fact as many as f'orty lengths are 'now being cut without changing or dilturbing the irrangement,

Now as to the "Shop" grade of Redwood, we cut say 110120 million feet of Redwood in a year 25 per cent which will be "shop" and com,e in all shapes, 1 in., Itl in., lf in.,2 in. and thi'cker, in fact up to 6 inches thick of which we produce quite arn amount-as well as considerable 4 in., and 5 inches thick-and I think that having'in m,ind the fact that Red' wood has special characteristics which make for success{ul use where exposure to weather, heat, insulation, etc., are factors, you will realize that for us the refining of Shop takes on a wider aspect than if we worked for Doors, Sash, B'oxes, etc., mostly-and when I add that we use some 30 refining u,nits and carry 15 million feet of short material in' stock, you w'ill realize we pay consi,derable attention to the refining of Shop Lumber.

Our one inch Shop r,uns largely 3 to 12 in. wide, we aim to produce all the Strips possible in 4 in., 5 in., 6 in. and 8 in. wide and 8 to 2O ft. long f'or Bevel Siding which is, with us, a continuity operation amounting to about 15 million ft. board measure per year-lengths below 8 ft. are cut on

6 inch multiples commencing at 7r/2 ft. and advancipg 6 in. per cut until 8 feet is rea,ched.

We also cut special lengths for K. D. Window, Door Frames and, in fact ,any special line of demand where the volume an,d time for delivery justifies preparation in advance; it wiill be obvious to any of you that have made a study of cutting processes that the liability of added wraste is a factor when the time limit for delivery is shortened.

Hamlet exclaimed "To be or not to be," I mean the same thing whe,n, in considering Shop Lumber I think-to ,cut or not to cut-for there have been times when shop lumber shipped in the rough board or plank was worth more F. O. B. cars than the refined product, true this does not often happen but when the symptoms appear the pencil is sharpened and the deadly parallel is used to show up both sides of the question.

It may interest you to know that we think of the problem something like this. Take 1,000 ft. of, say, 1 in. shop lum,ber worth $40.00 F..O. B. cars shipping point, add $5.00 refining charge, estimate a product of 850 ft. net--450 ft. of which is 8 ft. and longer, 250It is 5 ft. to 7 lt.6 in. and 150 ft. under 5 ft., the'n if the market value of the resultant net products exceeds the rough value'of the unrefined product, we decid'e whether to cut or not.

FTER thirty-five years test in the fi"ry crucible of time, Pioneer Products have found Fame and Place in the busy marts of trade.

Men who know have built the rep utation of PIONEER PRODUCTS on a splendid foundation of PROVEN RESULTS, they have'achieved a recognized standard in an age of ex-

I assume, horvever, that the members of this, Congress are thoroughly posted on matters pertaining to getting out stock suited to their requirements, hence will not be enlightened by any'thi:ng I have said, yet I feel that owing to the mass of detail with which th'e Planing Mill operator has to contend, some may take the easiest way, i. e., cut up long length high grade lumber where shop would be mo -e profitable and here may be a partial explanation for the difficulty in making a reasonable profit. The old 5xq1-"\le pains, n,o gains" may apply here. A thought in this connection is that there being no excess of U.pper grade stock in any wood an'd the future showing no relief from this condition, it is all the more necessary to think and act seriously with regard to refining Shop-also t'hat Shop for r,efining while it ,may ak peal to you as No. 1, 2 or 3-yet has a u'ider range depending'on the quality of the refined product whi,ch for one c,o,nsumer may have all the requirements' of an upper grade though for another consum,er the grade conditions may be so much easier that the grading of the shop may be varied downward t'o suit cbnditions. After all, when studyi:ng refining as a means of elevating quality it matters little whether the resulting material is door, sash, box or any special stock. The whole process is one of thorough understand,ing of requirements and meeting these requirements with all the knowledge, experience and liking for the pr'oblem that you can,cornmand.

I am of the opinion that neith,er diagrams, photographs or written descriptions of shop lumber and how to cut it can ever take the place of actual personal contact and study of the refining process, nay more, there must be, that heartfelt inter'est that only the lover of lumber and its problems can fully appreciate and understand.

New Yard At Norwalk

It is reported from Norwalk that The Liggett Lumber Co., of Santa Ana have leased ground for a lum'ber yard and will begi:n operations at once.