West Oregon Lumber Co. Has Specialized in Finish For 28 Years

E. D. Kingsley

Known far and wide by reason of the fame of its West Oreson Super Finish, the West Oregon Lumber Company of Ilinnton, Oregon, will soon complete its 28th year in business.

During all of these 28 yeary this firm-has.specialized in the manirfacture of fine Fir Finish for interior work, and during all of this time the making .ard perfecting- ol this supe.frne product has been the pride and joy of E. D' Kingsley, founder and president of this progressive conce.rn' tn- tfre mind of this man was born the great merchandising idea of putting a high-grade Fir Finish on the marke-t, for he was indeed the pioneer in this work, and in 1906 when he was chairman of the market extension committee of the old Oregon Lumber Manufacturers' Association, he traveled across the country and delivered many addresses before retail lumbermen's associations in various states, selling the idea to them for Fir Finish for interior use. One of these addresses rvhich rn'as delivered before the Nebraska Association was reprinted in pamphlet form by the Oregon Lumber Manufacturers' Association and sent broadcast.

The Oregon Association provided a substantial fund for exploiting Fir Finish, and 5000 beautiful sets of samples wele made up and sent out all over the United States. These sets eath contained seven panels of Finish, two of which were natural and five in color, and they were distributed among architects all over the Northern, Eastern and Western States.

That market extension work, originated by Mr. Kingsley was the first exploitation work done in behalf of Fir Finish, and it met with an instantaneous response, for in a few months this finish was in good demand, and it has fully maintained its position ever since.

The name "Super Finish" exPresses exactly this great product of the West Oregon Lumber Company, without exaggeration. Its excellence is surely due to the holding in thought of a high ideal by its manufacturer without wavering, over a long period of years. No expense has been spared in providing equipment for doing the finest work. The finest of Old Growth Yellow Fir logs are picked, and then only the very best of these are used for making Super Finish; in short, the best raw material plus the finest treatment all the way through go into the making of this article.

It is freely admitted in the industry that high-grade Fir Finish is most difficult to produce, and Mr. Kingsley admits in turn that this is iust the main reason he does it. If it was easy it probably would not appeal to him at all. In experimental work he tried out eight various processes of kiln drying lumber, and believes now that the present drying process is as near perfection as can be attained.

"We dry our finish down to seven per cent moisture con- tent" said I\{r. Kingsley to a representative of this paper. "Houses finished with this trim will not show any openings or shrinkage in joints. Our new Stetson Ross sizer added at a cost of $15,00O to our already extensive and very modern planing mill equipment, runs 800 feet a minute, and does perfect work.

"We are enjoying a very fine trade in our Super Finish in California and all over the country. Retailers constantly tell us that it is a trade-buider, and their customers come back for it. If there is one point about our finish of which we a?e more proud than any other it is that due to our scientific method of drying it does not shrink."