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A Hatton-Brown Publication

Co-Publisher: David H. Ramsey Co-Publisher: David (DK) Knight Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Publishing Office Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334.834.1170 FAX: 334.834.4525

Volume 41 • Number 10 • December 2016 Founded in 1976 • Our 429th Consecutive Issue

Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com

Executive Editor David (DK) Knight Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Managing Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Jay Donnell Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Marketing/Media: Jordan Anderson Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 334.699.7837 800.669.5613 • bdevane7@hotmail.com Advertising Sales Representatives: Southern USA Randy Reagor P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 904.393.7968 • FAX: 334.834.4525 E-mail: reagor@bellsouth.net

6 14 24 30 34

NEWSFEED Harry Merlo Dies In Oregon

TRICON TIMBER In It For The Long Haul

TERMINAL FOREST PRODUCTS Staying Focused On Cedar Products

WKO INDUSTRIES Filing Expertise Pushes Sawmills

SAW GUIDES A TO Z How To Stay On Top Of Them

MACHINERY ROW

GREEN CHAIN

Know Your Loading Weight

Glory Days Of Scanning & Lawsuits

Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 905.666.0258 • FAX: 905.666.0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com

COVER: Tricon Timber LLC continues to wrestle for position in Montana’s sawmill industry. Story begins on PAGE 14. (Jay Donnell photo) VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.timberprocessing.com

Western USA, Western Canada Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604.910.1826 • FAX: 604.264.1367 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca

Member Verified Audit Circulation

Kevin Cook 604.619.1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com

International Murray Brett Aldea de las Cuevas 66, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • FAX: +34 96 640 4022 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net

Timber Processing (ISSN 0885-906X, USPS 395-850) is published 10 times annually (January/February and July/August issues are combined) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—TP is free to qualified owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors, foremen and other key personnel at sawmills, pallet plants, chip mills, treating plants, specialty plants, lumber finishing operations, corporate industrial woodlands officials and machinery manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. All non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions are $55 annually: $65 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. Funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE: 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.timberprocessing.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Timber Processing magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorse nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Timber Processing. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.

Postmaster: Please send address changes to Timber Processing, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, Alabama 36102-2419 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade

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THEISSUES

Jessica Johnson Associate Editor

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST 14

he year 2016 has been one for the history books. Just a quick read of the world’s headlines will confirm it. I would be lying if I said I was sad to see this one go…But, at the end of each calendar year, I find myself growing more and more reflective: What did I do right? Where can I improve? I scratch my head over a few of my decisions. When I first started in the sawmill-reporter business, the very nature of Timber Processing was explained to me in college football terms. TP strives to showcase the Nick Sabans of the lumber industry first and foremost, but it doesn’t exclude the Bobby Petrinos either. Imagine my surprise when the first time I called a mill to set up a visit I was turned down! Why wouldn’t a mill coming out of a major capital investment, running wide open for the first time in years not want some added attention? “That’s just the way it is sometimes, kid,” is what my editor astutely told me. Even knowing that, sometimes it’s impossible to know other’s motivations for why they wouldn’t want a positive article published for their peers and employees to read. I’m flummoxed when lumbermen tell us we’re not welcome in their mills with our cameras and our tape recorders. But with each one of those unreturned phone calls, or polite but succinct emails, my appreciation for the mills that do say yes grows more and more. Across 10 issues, in 2016, the TP team brought readers 17 in-depth profiles of lumber producing facilities across North America. Without those men and women saying yes, we wouldn’t have their nuggets of wisdom. Here are some of my favorites: “In our business, the market is always coming back; you don’t always know when it might come back, but it always comes back.” —Jill Snider Brewer, 2016 TP Person of the Year, Snider Industries, Marshall, Tex. “People and long-term families that operate as independents, like we do, want to be in the lumber business.” —Charles McRae, co-owner, Rex Lumber, Graceville, Fla. “Once every couple of months we do a full realignment on all machines. If you do have saw problems, it’s usually not the saw’s fault—it’s the machine acting silly.” —Jesse Griffin, co-owner, Griffin Lumber, Cordele, Ga. From the wood yard to the filing room, the open doors across the country have taught even the most seasoned of the TP staff a few things this year. We even joined the modern world by naming a female as our Person of the Year. I hope our coverage brought you up to date as well. This year wasn’t just about keeping the pace for the traditional lumber industry. 2016 was also about taking a chance: September cover story D.R. Johnson in Riddle, Ore. became the first cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturer to gain certification under the ANSI/APA CLT performance standard, showing the world that American-made CLT is a viable building component. While many historians will argue that 2016 was one for the record books as it put Britain on center stage and then the saga in the U.S. of that guy versus that girl, I’ll argue that 2016 was one for the record books thanks to the mill managers who welcomed in and walked a few dusty reporters around. Cheers to 2017. I can’t wait to see what the latest lumber industry innovation will be. I’m sure it’ll be cover-worthy. TP Contact Jessica Johnson, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: jessica@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING

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NEWSFEED

MERLO BUILT LP WITH OSB By Rich Donnell

arry Angelo Merlo, who built LouisianaPacific into a forest products industry powerhouse, riding his vision for a new product called oriented strandboard, died at home in Portland, Ore. on October 24. He was 91. Merlo had been ill for several months, possibly with a form of cancer, but decided not to pursue major treatment. “Harry had tremendous vision for what could be done in forest products,” comments Jim Eisses, who for years was Merlo’s right-hand man as executive vice president and who was instrumental in the company’s development of OSB. “At the time we built our first OSB plant, I think there was only one other one, and OSB basically turned the panel industry around.” LP would build OSB plants at 20 locations during 19781995. In the early stages LP referred to its product as “Waferwood—The Smart Man’s Plywood.” Merlo had his roots in the sawmill industry. He was born in Stirling City, Calif. in the shadow of the Diamond Match Company sawmill operations. His father, Joe, had migrated from Northern Italy, worked in gold mining in California and married, but his wife died in miscarriage, leaving him with their two children. Harry’s mother, Coltilde, better known as Tilde, also from Northern Italy, had married Joe’s younger brother in Italy, but he died in combat during World War I. Three years later Joe pre-arranged for his late brother’s wife to come to America and marry him, which she did, and they met

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for the first time off the was trying to obtain a train in Sacramento. monopoly in the southHarry’s parents moved ern pine plywood industo Stirling City and lived try through the acquisiwith another of Merlo’s tion of timberlands and uncles who already mills. The case went on worked at the sawmill. for two years and FTC Merlo’s father also went proposed that GP divest to work there. Merlo’s itself of eight softwood mom prepared meals for plywood plants along boarders at the Merlo with a large amount of home. timberland. Merlo always credited Merlo meanwhile was his mother as the foregrowing discontent with most teacher in his life, his situation and that of shaping his attitude and the company’s and ofbelief in the potential and fered to buy majority ingoodness of mankind. He terest in GP facilities once said, “Personal exthat he had nurtured in cellence every day of our several communities in lives is what my loving northern California. mother held out to her GP’s Pamplin came back family. She told us, ‘Be- Harry Merlo, when most of his career at LP and proposed to the FTC cause we are foreigners, was still ahead of him. that GP divest itself of we must work harder to be worked for a company that 20% of its assets into a new worthy of America. We must salvaged lumber from demol- company and he asked Merlo earn the right to be Ameriished buildings, and then if he wanted to become presicans.’” went to work at Rounds and dent and CEO of it. FTC Today, at the entrance to Kilpatrick Lumber in agreed to the deal and so did Clotilde Merlo Park in StirCloverdale, Calif. as a shipMerlo ling City stands a bronze stat- ping clerk. During the next Merlo would hardly be in ue of Clotilde with her small decade he excelled at the charge of a shoestring operason, Harry, at her side. growing firm and at age 33 tion. The new company Merlo was born on March became vice president and would begin with spin-off as5, 1925. A young Harry piled general manager and referred sets of $327 million, 6,000 stickers and handled lumber to Ralph Rounds as a father employees, 500,000 acres of in the mill yard. He also ran figure to him. timberland, and 46 plants, infood to area logging camps Merlo was part owner of cluding sawmills in the West for the town grocer. the company when CEO and South with 1.2 billion BF Merlo served stateside in Robert Pamplin and Georgiaof capacity and plywood mills the U.S. Marine Corps and Pacific bought it in 1967, in the South with 626MMSF was a Marine light heavylargely impressed by Merlo’s of capacity, along with a pulp weight boxing champion. He business acumen. Merlo submill in Ketchikan, Alaska. rose to first lieutenant but a sequently became vice presiThe first choice for the training exercise leg injury dent in charge of timber, plyname of the new company ruined his ambition to serve wood and lumber operations was Texas-Pacific, but then overseas. Merlo nearly opted in the Samoa, Calif. division they found a railroad operatto make a career in the miliof Georgia-Pacific, and two ing under that name, so the tary but instead decided to years later was vice president official name became pursue business. He received for GP Western Operations. Louisiana-Pacific. It incorpoa Bachelor of Science in Merlo moved to corporate rated on January 5, 1973. In Business Administration from headquarters in Portland. the company’s first year the University of California at But in the Southern U.S., Merlo made 17 acquisitions. Berkeley, working during the GP received word in 1970 Several years later at a summers at a molding operathat the Federal Trade Comhomebuilders trade show in tion in Chico. mission was looking into Dallas, Merlo came upon a After graduation, Merlo complaints that the company panel product made in Cana-

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NEWSFEED da composed of wafers. “I went back to the booth about three times,” Merlo recalled. “I checked out of my hotel that night, got on my airplane and visited every plant in Canada that was making this kind of board. I came home from that trip and said this is our future.” Merlo liked that the product was made from trees that previously had no market, such as aspen. Within 30 days, LP had ordered the equipment for its first OSB plant to be built in Hayward, Wis. A second one in Houlton, Maine started up a few years later, and then they started springing up every year, not only built by LP, but also GP, Potlatch, Norbord, Grant Forest Products, Weyerhaeuser, Huber, Martco and others. Merlo’s image became that of a swashbuckler, a maverick, his company guided only by himself and a few others. “He was a doer,” recalls Eisses. “A lot of folks talk that they’re going to do this or that but Harry was one who just did it and got on with it and watched the progress.” Merlo’s actions contributed to his reputation. In the early 1980s he took on the unions in the Northwest when he proposed freezing wages and benefits for current Western workers and cutting them for new hires in order to bring Western operations more in line with those in the South. Union members at 17 LP operations walked out, but they slowly returned and ended up voting to decertify the union at most of the plants. “I have nothing against the union,” Merlo said. “But if there’s no economics, at some point you have to say, ‘Hey, I can’t afford that.’ It was very difficult, but you have to take a stand. You have to have the courage.” Always a sports fan, Merlo and LP sponsored the U.S.

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Davis Cup tennis team, but when the team lost to Sweden and two of its stars, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, behaved not unlike they often did, Merlo wrote a letter for public review that said LP would withdraw its sponsorship unless the players showed some behavioral discipline. Merlo brought professional soccer to Portland and had a hand in landing a United States Football League team in Portland as well. One of the low points of Merlo’s career was when the fedMerlo on the cover of TP, March 1985 eral government “forced” LP to sell more than 25,000 acres of BF of capacity, and ownerredwood forest in northern ship and/or management of California. “We still haven’t more than 2 million acres of gotten all our money for timberland. that,” Merlo would moan sevBut in July 1995 a Denver eral years later. federal grand jury returned a But the lowest hour came 56-count indictment against in the summer of 1995, when LP for fraudulent OSB certifithe LP board forced Merlo cation processes and for tamand two of his top executives, pering with air emissions conEisses and Ronald Paul, to re- trol equipment at its OSB sign. How could it have come plant in Montrose, Colo. At to this? the same time, class action By then, Merlo had turned lawsuits mounted alleging LP into a $3.2 billion sales that the company produced company with $346 million in defective OSB siding. net after-tax earnings along The following year LP with $315 million in the bank would pay out a large settleand no debt. The company ment on its siding issue, and had 20 OSB plants and 5.26 nearly three years later would billion SF of capacity in oper- plead guilty to 18 felony ation or in construction (incounts and pay a $5.5 penalty cluding one in Ireland), seven for the environmental case softwood plywood plants with and $31 million for the quali1.630 billion SF capacity, ty assurance testing scheme. three medium density fiberBy then, Merlo was gone, board plants, three particleousted quickly in July 1995 board plants (the composite by the LP board, which said it board plants pioneered the had been scrutinizing how the U.S. implementation of concompany was managed and tinuous presses), a hardboard had determined it was time plant, and 47 sawmill operafor a new management team. tions (27 in the South and 20 “It was a shock, but the in the West) with 2.44 billion company had matured to a

point where it could stand on its own,” recalls Eisses, who also had to resign. “Harry was 70 and he had been thinking about retirement anyway. Harry didn’t like it, but it wasn’t the end of the world to him. He just took it in and said that’s the way it is.” “You could be a sorrowful man complaining about everything bad that’s happened to you,” Merlo said. “You know, we’re here just a minute.” In the ensuing years until his death, Merlo worked with his son, Harry, Jr., to develop vineyard lands (Lago di Merlo Vineyards) in Sonoma County, traveled the world on his planes, entertained family and friends on his yacht, supported worthy causes through the Merlo Foundation, continued to give millions of dollars to the University of Portland (the soccer field is named for him), the World Forestry Center, St. Mary’s Home for Boys and other causes. In 2008 Merlo wrote his autobiography, “Vintage Merlo: Reflections on a life well-lived.” He is survived by his wife, Flo Newton-Merlo, his son Harry Merlo Jr. from an earlier marriage to the late Nadine Merlo, daughter-in-law Billie Merlo, step-children Andrea MacLeod and William Purdy III, two grandsons, and brothers Pete Merlo and Frank Merlo. A memorial mass was held November 19 at the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at the University of Portland. “Harry was a normal guy,” Eisses says. “He dealt with everybody the same way.” TP

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NEWSFEED The company’s original business was boat renting, but BIEWER LUMBER it jumped into the treating business in the late 1950s. LEADER PASSES Sawmills at McBain, Mich. Richard N. (Dick) and Prentice, Wis. Biewer, who was inwere built in the latter strumental in the half of the 1980s. growth of John A. Biewer was born Biewer Lumber of St. March 11, 1931 in St. Clair, Mich., died Clair to the late John peacefully surrounded and Hazel Biewer. He by family and loved honorably served his ones on November 7. country with the U.S. Dick Biewer He was 85. Air Force. “This is truly a On April 18, 1959 great loss to our company and he married Shirley Fordt in St. to our community as a whole,” Mary’s Church in St. Clair and according to a company statethey enjoyed 57 years of marment. “He will be profoundly riage. missed by everyone whose Biewer was one of the lives he touched.” founding members of the St. Under Biewer and the famiClair Golf Club. He was also a ly leadership, the company member of the St. Clair Investgrew to operate four sawmills ment Club, Knights of Columand several treating operations bus Council 2251, St. Clair, St. (a new sawmill is starting up in Mary’s Catholic Church and the Southeast). the Ushers Club.

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He was an avid sportsman and his love for the outdoors was apparent in his countless hunting and fishing trips, whether it was a simple rabbit hunt with his beloved beagles or his African safaris and bear trips around the world. He was an active member of the Richmond Sportsman Club, Ducks Unlimited and Safari Club International. Biewer’s generosity was felt throughout the community. He was especially proud of the Cartwheel Kids Statue in St. Clair that he and Shirley donated in honor of their grandchildren. His family will forever remember and cherish his big smile, infectious laugh and the love and friendship they shared together. He is survived by his wife, Shirley Biewer, children Brian (Lillian) Biewer, Timothy (Kim) Biewer, Debbie (Rick) Schleife and Diane (Jeff)

Greig; numerous grandchildren, great granddaughters, nieces and nephews. Funeral services on November 12 began at Young Funeral Home and processed to St. Mary’s Catholic Church, St. Clair, for a Mass of Resurrection. Interment was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, St. Clair. Memorials are suggested to St. Mary’s Scholarship Fund or Kids in Distress.

LEMOYEN MILL GAINS INVESTMENT Gov. John Bel Edwards and CEO Robert Latimer of Adobe Machinery Group LLC announced that LeMoyen Mill & Timber LLC will acquire and invest $2 million to develop a wood products manufacturing facility in LeMoyen, La. LeMoyen Mill & Timber, a wholly owned subsidiary of

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NEWSFEED Adobe Machinery Group, will repurpose a lumber mill previously operated by Bayou State Lumber Co. The new company will acquire both standing timber and cut logs, saw boards and timbers and then assemble timber and laminated mats at the facility. LeMoyen Mill & Timber will create 32 direct jobs, while retaining 20 jobs from the Bayou State Lumber operation. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project also will result in 35 new indirect jobs in St. Landry Parish and the Acadiana Region. The mill site is located near U.S. 71 in northern St. Landry Parish, with access to the Union Pacific Railroad line. “We are very excited about the LeMoyen mill and facilities along with their core team of dedicated and talented personnel,” Latimer comments. “The mill, with its production capac-

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ity and immense hardwood lumber storage, brings tremendous integration opportunities to our mat distribution company, American Mat & Timber. St. Landry Parish, with its abundance of hardwood resources and its proximity to our branch locations, our customers, and rail and major waterways, is the perfect spot for us.” LeMoyen Mill & Timber was formed to acquire and operate the land, buildings, and equipment of the sawmill. The facility comprises more than 190 acres with two rail spurs, more than 431,000 sq. ft. of buildings, including three sawmills, and another 200,000 sq. ft. of covered storage. American Mat & Timber was formed more than 30 years ago and has become a primary supplier of laminated and timber mats to the construction, petrochemical and energy in-

dustries. The company is headquartered in Houston, with branches in Nederland and Corpus Christi, Texas, and Port Allen, La., and it will open a branch soon in Lake Charles, La. Since 1995, the principals of Adobe Machinery Group of San Antonio, Texas have owned and operated major heavy equipment dealerships, material handling dealerships, heavy- and medium-duty truck dealerships, heavy equipment service companies, and financing and leasing companies. American Mat & Timber and LeMoyen Mill & Timber are wholly owned subsidiaries of Adobe Machinery Group.

BANKRUPT PELLET MILLS FOR SALE Production continues at two Southern U.S. pellet plants in

Woodville, Tex., and Urania, La. that were formerly owned by German Pellets GmbH of Wismar, Germany, with both currently in bankruptcy as the plants’ largest creditors seek buyers or new investors. The Texas plant had started up in 2013; the company built an accompanying pellet shipping facility in Port Arthur, Tex., and the mill was running well at its 500,000 metric ton annual capacity until the bankruptcy. The Louisiana plant, also a 500,000 metric tons facility, is currently running despite suffering from construction and startup problems in mid 2015. Sources say the Louisiana plant is paying up front for its raw material purchases, and the Texas plant remains an active member of the Texas Forestry Assn. News reports note both facilities are relatively new plants in good locations.

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TRANSFORMING

TRI CON By Jay Donnell

Tricon Timber makes major improvements to its mill and believes the future is bright in Montana.

ST. REGIS, Mont. ricon Timber began in 1985 with a mill in Afton, Wyo. In 1988 another mill was acquired in Drummond, Mont., and the current location in St. Regis began construction in 1989 for the purpose of sawing small log lodgepole pine regenerated from a 1910 fire. In 1993 The Afton and Drummond mills were sold. St. Regis came on line in 1992 and was originally designed to produce 12MMBF annually. Ken Verley is the longtime co-owner of Tricon Timber and continues to make his company a staple in Mineral County. Tricon has updated and made many investments over the years and following a $12 million renovation six years ago they reached production levels almost 10 times the original target. This investment included a new chip-n-saw line to complement an older headrig side. More recently, Tricon made a $5 million investment into its planer mill, adding a Coastal planer. The project isn’t completely finished, but right now the planer has the capability of running 450MBF in an eight-hour shift of mostly stud lumber.

At left, Willy Peck, longest standing employee of Tricon Timber, 31 years, and VP of Operations Calvin Sheahan

PERSONNEL Vice President of Operations Calvin Sheahan has been with Tricon Timber 14

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Tricon puts long lengths through the merchandiser.

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for five years. His story truly paints a picture of the culture at Tricon. An Oregon native, the 30-year-old Sheahan started off working on the dry chain and worked his way up. He became a shift supervisor and now has been the company’s vice president for over a year. “We’re a part of a great community, a small community, and it’s really like a family here,” Sheahan says of St. Regis, which is 70 miles northwest of Missoula. “We try to take care of each other and that’s been the reason we’ve been successful. When things get rough the community has always been there for us and

Tricon installed a small log line several years ago.

Recently installed Coastal planer has boosted the back end.

we try to be there for them.” Tricon has plenty of experienced workers, but one thing that separates them from a lot of mills is the amount of young people they have employed. “I always hear from people in the industry that it’s hard to find young guys to carry it on. But the future looks really bright here because we’ve got some young, really bright guys,” Sheahan says Tricon is the largest private employer in Mineral County. The company has increased wages and now offers a benefits package and a 401k. Tricon isn’t a highly automated mill so employees must be extremely dependable and skilled. Daren Caster has been with Tricon for 13 years and runs the gang. He can operate just about everything in the mill. “We try to rotate our employees because some of our jobs are labor intensive and we want people to stay healthy,” Sheahan explains. “Daren is a guy that’s stuck

Byproducts are a big part of Tricon’s sales.

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Tricon keeps downstream machinery in operation mode.

Production runs at 80MMBF annually with one shift.

with us and strived. He’s a go-to guy.” Maintenance Superintendent Brandon Simpkins has been another key employee at the mill over the years. “He thinks outside the box,” Sheahan says. “We’ve broken production records in the last month or two and that’s directly due to the way that he’s managing his crew.” Brandon’s brother, Dustin, has taken the chip-n-saw line to new heights, according to Sheahan. “It’s really been a group effort, but those guys are down there bringing things to our attention, doing their homework and coming up with great ideas that we’ve utilized.” While Tricon has a lot of good young employees, it can still be a struggle to find new ones. When Tricon hires a new employee they go through an orientation program and are teamed with an experienced veteran so they can learn the ropes. Some employees have 40-80 mile commutes and leave at 3 in the morning. “We want to pay a fair wage,” Sheahan emphasizes. Currently, Tricon is running one shift. They were running two shifts last fall, but had to lay off a number of employees because of log availability—the lack of it—and the fact that the price of the logs that were coming in didn’t match the market. “We couldn’t afford it,” Sheahan recalls. “On a one shift basis we’re going to do right around 80 million board feet.” Despite the layoffs last September, things have gotten better at Tricon. The company was down to 97 employees after the layoff and now they’re back up to 120. They brought some former employees back in different capacities and focused on maintenance projects and smaller projects that have helped increase production. “One thing that Tricon is good at is being able to buckle down, tighten up costs and ride out the storm,” Sheahan says. Tricon has many young employees, but they also have a core group of veterans. Willy Peck is the longest standing employee of Tricon Timber with 31 years of experience and is a key part of the senior management team. Angelo Ververis is another key member of the team along with part owner Verley. Together, the three men have more than 105 years of combined experience in the industry. “That’s the diversity we have that really helps us be successful,” Sheahan says.

TIMBER SUPPLY Log supply is never taken for granted in Montana.

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The biggest struggle for Tricon remains timber sales. The vast majority of

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The operation runs four dry kilns.

timberland that surrounds Mineral County is federal land. Tricon is directly reliant on the Forest Service and the federal timber sales that go up. But there aren’t enough sales being put up for mills to bid on. A couple decades ago there were 27 mills in Montana and now there are only seven, Sheahan comments. “There’s enough timber out there, but there’s not enough timber being put up for sale. That’s not just in Montana, that’s happening in other areas too.” The business has had to haul logs from as far as Buffalo, Wyo., a nearly 600 mile spread. Fortunately, there has been a strong collaborative effort going on in the area. The Mineral County Resource Coalition has been working directly with Forest Service agents. Tricon has been looking at stewardship sales that will bring money back into the community and use local loggers. “Our biggest push is not just our success as a mill, but as a county,” Sheahan explains. “We’re the largest employer here and we feel very strongly about our community. We have strong ties to the community and it’s important to keep those.”

MILL FLOW

Skilled filers drive the sawing stations.

Lumber is moved out by truck and rail.

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Fifty percent of logs coming into the yard are Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. The other half is white wood, spruce and white fir. As of late the company has been processing logs off several salvage sales in Idaho. Logs come into Tricon in mostly long log lengths. They are scaled and put in a certain deck depending on the species. Taylor, Caterpillar and Doosan log loaders work the wood yard grounds as does a Komatsu wheel loader. Logs go into a 22 in. Nicholson debarker or a 30 in. Cambio debarker and through an MDI metal detector and are merchandised with buck saws. The 30 in. Cambio debarker feeds into the headrig while the Nicholson feeds the chip-n-saw and a small log canter system. Chip-nsaw is usually between an 8 in. and a 15 in. log. The canter system takes a 4 in. top to an 8 in. top and the headrig takes larger logs. Infeed/positioning and turning rolls on the c-n-s line are from Optimil. USNR provided top-side-bottom chip heads, intermediate feedworks, side board separators and a 6 in. VSA, as well as the outfeed/fence. The log is scanned, turned, positioned and chipped. Side boards go to a Schurman (USNR) board edger. The canter system for smallest logs is just a chip head system so it takes that

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small wood and chips faces into it. The piece goes directly into the Schurman gang or to a resaw which takes another board off and then to the gang. The Missoula Tong Dog carriage/Salem bandmill headrig will cut either to the resaw or the gang. A slab will get taken off and that will go to the resaw which takes a flitch off that will go to the board edger. It then starts cutting into the cants and those cants will go to the gang. The mill operates 2x6, 2x4 and a 1x4

green stackers. Lumber is taken to the dry kilns where they get dried down to a 15% average with a 6% deviation. Tricon has four dry kilns. Lumber goes from the dry kilns to the new Coastal planer. This is a 20 knife planer with an A&M feed roll drive system upgrade. The new planer mill will feature a USNR sorter once it gets installed. When Tricon installed the chipn-saw line six years ago the planer became the bottleneck of the mill. They hope that when the planer project is com-

plete and the sorter has been installed, they will really be able to reap the benefits out of a log. Right now Tricon has the capability of running 150 lugs a minute through the planer, but they don’t have the sorter capability they need to increase production. “We’re not able to pull everything out and get every dollar we can out of the board,” Sheahan says. He hopes to have the sorter installed in 2017. The filing room works with Goodwin saws for all round saws. Chris Goodwin is based in Planes, Mont. Some of the filing room equipment includes an Armstrong #4 band saw grinder, Wright topper/facer grinder and a Wright side grinder. The mill day shift is 5:30-2:30. Maintenance comes in on a swing shift at night and weekends. Tricon sells its lumber all over the United States. They use contract trucks and they also ship via rail through the Montana Rail Link. Tricon Trimber also maintains a significant byproducts business, including landscape bark, chips for the paper market and also specialty chips for playgrounds. Chips are sold to Clearwater Paper and the company produces about 48,000 green tons annually.

LOYALTY Tricon continues to be a leader in its community. It all goes back to the employees, Sheahan re-emphasizes. “The employees are so loyal to us. They’ve stuck around and they’ve come back. When we’ve been able to expand we’ve had some good guys come back.” Employees rejoining the business means less training costs and less time getting people back up to speed which equals production. While there are many workers with decades’ worth of experience, there is a young core that bodes well for the future. Tricon also has a great group of subcontractors that do the logging and have been with the company for years. They are loyal and skilled, and understand how to cut the right logs in order for Tricon to gain the best value. They understand how to manage the ground professionally and do what’s right. “My goal is to get back to where we’re being good stewards and managing our forests,” Sheahan says. “That’s what we’re all working for. If we get there—and we will get there—we’ll conTP tinue to thrive.”

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ALL ABOUT

CE DAR By Jessica Johnson

The oldest and largest cedar mill on the West Coast of Canada makes the most of what they have.

W RICHMOND, BC

hen many people think of Vancouver and coastal British Columbia, they think of bright blue waters on a backdrop of mountains, where the weather enjoys four complete seasons and everyone seems genuinely happy. Stepping onto the wood yard at Terminal Forest Products in Richmond, BC, a stone’s throw from the heart of Vancouver, you get exactly that. The mill is full of both vintage and state-of-the-art equipment and a seasoned workforce, but watching the tug boats push bundles of cedar logs out of the crystal clear cerulean river, you’d think you’d stepped into a movie. There’s something about the bundle-lift

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at Terminal Forest Products’ main mill that strikes an eye unlike any other wood yard with a regular log loader. Terminal President and CEO Darcy Johal explains that because of the steep terrain on the coast, and prohibitive costs associated with pushing out roads so close to the water, it’s easier to fell logs into the water and “drag” them around to be scaled and processed. Logging contractors package logs together and then tug boats push the bundles wherever they might be going. “As you get further up the coast, they are on log barges where it is open water,” Johal explains, “but in the inlets and on the river, everything just gets pushed around by tug boats.” Terminal sorts and scales the majority of the logs it consumes at it two

sawmills at their log sort yard on the Sunshine Coast. It is one of the largest log sort yards on BC’s coast. Once scaled, logs are rebundled and sent back into the water, heading for processing. At the main mill in Richmond, logs are punched into the inlet, and a wood yard worker disassembles the cables holding the bundles together—pushing them into the bundle-lift. As they are pulled out of the water, they immediately begin primary breakdown.

SCENERY Owned by the well-known British Columbia Johal family, with 94-year-old Chairman Asa Johal coming into the mill every day, his son Darcy is the “goto” owner when something arises in the

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mill. Terminal Forest Products had a humble beginning in 1962, on just three and a half acres. Now, the 35-acre site cranks out 500MBF a day. Larger cedar logs, with butt diameters of 24 in.- 40 in. are processed on an older headrig. Smaller stuff, typical of what is starting to come in as second growth timber, is processed on a quad bandmill side. Affectionately named the small log side, these butt diameters start at about 5 in. From there, cants travel to a vintage gang saw. The gang saw, slated to be replaced during an upcoming capital improvement period during the Christmas holidays, isn’t handling logs as well as Terminal would like. “We’re always looking into how we can improve our mill. Looking at how to

more efficiently handle the smaller diameter second growth logs. We have to adapt to what’s being supplied to us,” Johal adds. Optimil is supplying the new gang saw. Terminal also has a shop-built resaw line that it will process larger logs on. After passing through the gang saw, lumber moves through a double arbor Optimil machine. One inch and shorts move along the green chain before the vintage sorter. Larger pieces go straight into the sorter. Terminal does sell a portion of its production green, so not all lumber will travel to the five cinderblock conventional heat, double track, dry kilns. Depending on the product, lumber is dried to below 12% moisture content on the industrial grades; decking and boards are dried to 16% moisture or less.

Johal says that in the planer mill there are two main goals, finishing Common and Low Grade lumber, and sorting. Terminal prides itself on sorting for industry grades and customer-specific subsorts. He adds that with one of Terminal’s other locations being the world’s largest cedar reman facility, it makes sense to sort out lumber than can be handled at that location—that’s where the majority of Terminal’s decking, siding and paneling work is done. Boards not being sent to the secondary location are processed on a Stetson-Ross planer, which is a very good, reliable machine. When Asa Johal first got into the sawmill business in the 1960s, saw filing was contracted out. As the business began to grow, and the double arbor TIMBER PROCESSING

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The bundle-lift removes logs from the water for primary breakdown.

gang saw was installed, it became clear that saws needed to be filed in-house. Once the change was made to in-house, Johal has not looked back. Bark and chips coming off the saws are barged and shipped as hog fuel via Terminal’s dry land log sorting facility. Ninety percent of what Terminal produces is sold into the U.S. market, and shipped by truck across the border. Terminal Forest Products cuts a variety of grades, under three brand names: Evergreen, Cowichan Gold and Cascadia. Lumber comes in 1 in., 5/4, 2 in. from 4 in. wide to 12 in. wide to 12 ft. x 12 ft. 20 ft. panel. Ninety-nine percent of production is sold to stocking distributors. Main products include: clear full length in vertical grain; flat grain and high quality Clear bevels and panels; tight knot decking, bevel siding and paneling, finger jointed material in high quality Clear blocked joined to 16 ft. and 20 ft. lengths.

TRADE CONCERNS

Larger diameter logs are broken down on a headrig; while smaller timber is processed on a quad band mill.

Lumber is sorted and dried to below 16% for boards and decking. Industrial grade lumber is dried below 12%. 26

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Being a Canadian company, selling softwood lumber in the U.S. market has garnered some attention in recent years— especially this year as the Softwood Lumber Agreement (and grace period) expired and is in the process of renegotiation. Ted Dergousoff, Terminal’s COO, says that since Terminal is a vertically integrated company, with over 40 years experience cutting Western red cedar and exporting it to the U.S., he has confidence that his existing long-standing customers will continue to purchase their products—as long as prices remain in line with log costs. “It’s always changing. Log prices are very, very high now and that’s a challenge and the Softwood Lumber Agreement’s uncertainty is also a challenge,” he adds. “We’re confident once there is an agreement in place we will be able to adjust and adapt to be successful. The uncertainty in general causes everyone to pull in a little bit and be a touch more conservative—us included.” Terminal is a little different than other Canada softwood lumber exporters. “We don’t have any forest lands,” Dergousoff explains. Each log Terminal buys and processes is purchased from the open market—not the province. “So, the U.S. lumber coalition’s issues are with Canadian companies that have forest licenses and tenures that are administratively priced by the Crown and not by the open market. We’re not one of those.” Terminal maintains that since its buyers purchase open market logs, and therefore do not get the alleged subsidy from the government for managing

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Terminal produces 500MBF of Western red cedar per day.

Ninety precent of Terminal's production is sold into the U.S. market.

provincial lands, the softwood “fight” doesn’t directly involve them. “But, we’re dragged into it, because we’re not able to take ourselves away from that group,” Dergousoff says, “Our government has not allowed us to step aside; we’re thrown into the mix. If there is a subsidy, and the U.S. does put on a duty, we’re treated like everyone else, as if we did receive some type of subsidy, when we did not.” Terminal has grouped itself with other open market log buyers and secondary log

from any trade action. Dergousoff adds, “It’s in the formative stages but as long as the discussion and government support from both sides continues there is a chance for the exclusion process to work.” In the end though, he firmly believes that common sense will prevail. Customers want products made with quality materials that are fairly priced and delivered on time. “Whether it’s a U.S. manufacturer or Canadian, if it’s a fairly priced product and no one is being disadTP vantaged, then it’s all good.”

processors. “We are small in number, we’re relatively small in volume, compared to the total, but we collectively feel that we shouldn’t be part of this. We’re trying to make sure our message is heard with the provincial, federal and even the U.S. government,” Dergousoff adds. He commends the Canadian federal government and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce for allowing those Canadian companies who are not directly part of the softwood lumber dispute to file for an exclusion, which could remove those companies

PREVIOUS WINNERS 1989: Duane Vaagen Vaagen Brothers Lumber, Colville, Wash. 1990: David Hancock M.S. Hancock Lumber, Casco, Maine 1991: James Bibler Bibler Brothers Lumber, Russellville, Ark. 1992: Galen Weaber Weaber Inc., Lebanon, Pa. 1993: John Hampton Hampton Lumber, Portland, Ore. 1994: Jim Seaman Seaman Timber, Montevallo, Ala. 1995: Jim Neiman Devil’s Tower Forest Products, Hulett, Wyoming 1996: Bud Johnson C&D Lumber, Riddle, Ore. 1997: Don Overmyer Linden Lumber, Linden, Ala. 1998: Jim Quinn Collins Pine Co., Chester, Calif. 1999: Jim Hamer Jim C. Hamer, Kenova, W. Va. 2000: Fred Stimpson Gulf Lumber, Mobile, Ala. 2001: Larry Williams Idaho Timber, Boise, Id. 28

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2002: Rusty Wood Tolleson Lumber, Perry, Ga. 2003: Dan Kretz Kretz Lumber, Antigo, Wis. 2004: Dan Levesque Nexfor Fraser, Ashland, Me. 2005: Harold Wayne Hankins Hankins, Inc., Ripley, Miss. 2006: Chris Ketcham Yakama Forest Products, White Swan, Wash. 2007: Bob Jordan Jordan Lumber & Supply, Mt. Gilead, NC 2008: Bill Carden Potomac Supply, Kinsale, Va. 2009: Mike Flynn Midwest Hardwood, Maple Grove, Minn. 2010: Steve Singleton New South, Camden, SC 2011: Bill Wilkins WKO, Inc., Carson, Wash. 2012: Butch and Michael Cersosimo Cersosimo Lumber, Brattleboro, Vt. 2013: Finley McRae Rex Lumber, Graceville, Fla. 2014: Kevin Hancock Hancock Lumber, Casco, Maine 2015: David Richbourg H.W. Culp Lumber, New London, NC 2016: Jill Snider Brewer Snider Industries, Marshall, Tex.

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PITCH

PER FECT By Dan Shell

WKO Industries’ innovative saw filing operations are boosted by commitment to technology and investment.

CARSON, Wash. ocated in the “heart of the Gorge” along the Columbia River 60 miles east of Portland, Ore., WKO Inc. has long been known as a pro-active independent lumber operation, and under the guidance of Bill Wilkins (2011 Timber Processing Man of the Year) the company is well known as an innovator that’s willing to continually invest in its sawmills to improve recovery, efficiency and production to remain competitive. The company’s filing room operations are an integral part of successful lumber manufacturing, and WKO Head Filer Mike Wyatt says WKO’s ownership “has always made sure we had what we needed to make things run better.”

Head filer Mike Wyatt has worked in WKO’s filing room 25 years. 30

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Working for WKO 41 years after starting on the green chain and working his way up to machine operator, Wyatt has been in the filing room for 25 years and has seen the great gains in accuracy and precision made possible through new and digital technology. He remembers old manual old post grinders and Foley top/face and side grinders when he started, and the improvements since the early ‘90s have been vast, Wyatt says. “We started working with Stellite to go to more thinkerf saws, the IMW guide machines made us more accurate, and the auto levelers have really helped us take off.” Sawing a wide range of log diameters from 5 in. small end to almost 4 ft. at the butt, WKO’s Carson sawmill features two lines, a traditional bandmill carriage headrig and a DLI/quad line, backed by two gangs and two board edgers. Wyatt and his staff of four filers work up roughly 40 saws daily. The pace is due to pick up early next year, when WKO completes a major upgrade that includes a new USNR HSS curve-sawing gang with multiple saw banks, and a new TMT shifting saw curve-sawing gang. A new Vollmer side grinder and Jacobsen JM2000 Tipper set to arrive in December will definitely help, and Wyatt says he and his staff of four are highly flexible and cross-trained and will get the job done.

Band saw work at WKO backs up a quad, horizontal resaw and traditional headrig.

OPERATIONS In the sawmill, band saws are supplied by Simonds, running on a USNR quad DLI line, and a downstream USNR horizontal twin resaw. The saws on both machines are roughly the same except for overall length: a split gauge, .078 plate, 10 in. wide with 21⁄8 in. tooth spacing. The quad saws are 39 ft., 6 in., while the resaw bands are 44 ft., 6 in. The bands running on the Albany headrig are .089 plate, 2¼ in. tooth spacing and 46 ft., 1 in. length. Band saw filing equipment includes #4 and #6 Armstrong grinders with Digicam conversions, a Wright side grinder and Simonds leveler. A Jacobsen tipper applies wire feed, high-speed steel saw tips that are plasma welded with induction annealer. Round saw machines include a Baxleyoptimized Shurman 2 in. board edger, Baxley-optimized 6 in. Shurman gang edger, and a non-optimized Ukiah 10 in. combination edger. The 6 in. and 10 in. machines will be replaced by the new USNR and TMT machines early next year. The edgers run Peerless round saws,

Digital capabilities make tooth design innovations easier to accomplish, Wyatt says.

Improvements in guide machining equipment have boosted accuracy. TIMBER PROCESSING

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saw design’s performance while standing near the edger, where the machine runs noticeably quiet. “The saws cut smoother and cooler and pull a lot less amps in the cut,” he says. “And since there’s less deviation you can run smaller kerfs.” Noting that improved guide milling and saw leveling around the same time enabled a guide clearance reduction in the edger from .003 to .001, Wyatt says improved technology makes it possible. “Doing a multi-pitch saw is almost impossible without digital capability,” he says. “You could grind it, but it would look mighty rough in a few months.”

PERSONNEL

Band saw and round saw filing rooms are separate at WKO’s Carson mill.

purchased from Benchmark Knife & Saw, which supplies saws that are prebenched with WKO’s tooth geometry specs and also offers grinding and tipping services. Burton Saw supplies Stellite* tips that are applied by the WKO filing staff. Round saw equipment includes a Wright P-1 top and face profile grinder, the new Vollmer CHS-840 side grinder, a Simonds round saw leveler and Armstrong stretcher rolls. A Wright TW2 triangle tipper applies saw tips. Wyatt notes the round saw leveler features the newer ball bearing roller system, allowing it to move anywhere on the saw plate. “The leveler speeds things up because you can identify saws that don’t need a lot of work, and because they’re flatter when they leave the filing room, they come back in better shape,” he says. “They can run faster and cooler and longer and you can run tighter side clearances.” Wyatt finds the best use of the levelers is maintaining saws that aren’t too far out of spec. For saws that need extensive work, there’s no replacement for handbenching, he says, adding that one crucial tool he uses is a 62 Rockwell straight edge. “It’s like a chipper knife and guaranteed flat,” he says. The separate filing rooms operate IMW and Schurman guide machines, producing tin-copper babbitt guides. Consumable supplies like grinding wheels, files, scrapers and Stellite tips are purchased from Burton Saw.

PITCH PERFECT A good example of some of the key improvements WKO’s filing staff have helped accomplish are the upgrades to 32

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what is now the sawmill’s 6 in. edger. Earlier in Wyatt’s filing career, the edger was un-optimized, with an operator making maybe seven or eight sawlines a minute, running a .125 kerf. Today, the now optimized edger hums at 340 FPM, running a .070 plate and handling 11 pieces a minute. New and digital technology in the filing room was a big help in the upgrades, as Wyatt developed what he calls a “variable pitch, variable length, multi-depth” saw tooth design that enables the saw to run smoother, quieter and more accurately. Wyatt recalls a past conversation with noted saw specialist Leonard Valdez of Cal Saw & Knife: “He told me that as soon as a saw tooth hits a work piece, it starts up a vibration in the saw that’s like ripples in a pond, traveling both ways around the plate,” causing saw deviation. “What we’re doing is slowing down the vibration by not encouraging it,” Wyatt adds. Using a five-tooth pattern of variable tooth sizes, “We’re making all the gullets fit the size of the tooth, whether it’s bigger or smaller,” Wyatt says. “One tooth encourages the other, and by having the big and small teeth alternating, the vibration never gets going good in any single direction.” The five-tooth pattern is repeated around the saw. Better filing technology means “Every tooth is following the one in front of it exactly—it’s not wavering,” Wyatt says. “And because it’s multi-pitch, it’s not creating a vibration between the material and the saw teeth. It also doesn’t transfer that wavering motion through the plate of the saw, so you’re overcoming three things there,” he adds. On the mill floor, Wyatt shows off the

WKO’s Carson filing room staff includes one filer who does knives and guides, one who concentrates on round saws, one band saw filer and a saw fitter who works where needed. “They’ve all done everything there is to do in a filing room so we have a lot of flexibility,” Wyatt says. “We all help with saw changes and do whatever needs to be done.” The head filer says the three basic things that have to be done for successful sawing are getting the saw flat, getting the right tooth geometry and having the right tension in the saw. “With the levelers we can guarantee the saws are flat and remove the guess work there, and with the computerized side grinders we can take the guesswork out of the tooth geometry,” Wyatt says. “What’s left is the tensioning, and for the and for the tensioning we use the stretcher roll to pre-stretch parts of the saw.” While Wyatt admits that “Every once in a while something gets past us” when the filers are working up saws, he adds that the biggest source of sawing issues tends to alignment-related. “Everything runs well until something gets out of line, a bearing goes bad or a shaft gets bent, and our guys know how to deal with it,” Wyatt says, adding that the DLI line especially has a lot of components that have to stay in alignment. An outside contractor equipped with Brunson scope is brought in periodically to maintain machine alignments. In the filing room, the same approach applies to maintaining saw filing equipment. “We do our own quality control in here,” Wyatt says, noting that any issues with grinding, levelling or related machinery are addressed and corrected immediately. “If we see any problems we stop TP right there and fix them,” he adds. *Stellite is a trademark of Stoody Deloro.

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TAKING CARE OF SAW GUIDES A few takeaways that tend to be overlooked. By Mike West

would like to take you through the steps we take to properly care for and maintain saw guides for a rotary gang saw. There are many different styles and sizes of saw guides depending on the manufacturer and the size of the wood going to the gang saw. These particular guides are for an 8 in. bottom arbor gang. I know that a lot of this information is common practice and common sense but there are a few takeaways here that tend to be overlooked. I hope to explain the entire process and show some tips that helped us achieve and maintain very close tolerances between our saws and guides. I cannot emphasize how important it is to handle guides with care and take the time to thoroughly clean out your gang before loosening the guide clamp nut. A good friend of mine teaches folks to treat saw guides like your grandma’s fine china.

Any bangs and bruises on your guides will translate to poor saw performance. This not only applies to your saw filers but to everyone in your mill that might have a reason to handle guides. If you send a cleanup guy to the filing room for a guide he had better understand how to handle them or you’ll be right back into the machine if he bangs it up. I try to bring anyone that is new to handling saw guides up into the filing room and give them a demonstration on careful handling and what can happen if a guide gets banged up. A little discussion about the parts of a guide. When I order guides I give the manufacturer specific dimensions on head 34

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size and arm size. It is very important that you specify the sizes as well as the finished depth of the recess in the babbitt, sometimes referred to as the lube pocket. Research shows that the optimal depth for this recess is 1/16 in. or 0.062 in. The first thing you do when a guide comes in to the filing room is to examine the wear on the babbitt for unusual patterns that might be an indicator of poor machine alignment or saw lubrication problems. For instance, if the pad shows wear on the top of the left side and wear on the bottom of the right side, your guides might not be plumb to the arbor. If all of the wear is on the left side of the pad it’s a good indicator that the cants are moving to the right when cutting. Learning to read wear patterns can go a long way towards troubleshooting sawing problems.

guide looking for burrs and scratches. Be careful not to remove any more material than necessary. You are just honing lightly to remove burrs and nicks without disturbing the flatness of your guide. These burrs will ultimately make your guides not fit right when clamped together. These guides are machined within very tight tolerances so any imperfections can have catastrophic results on the finished product. I find, with my limited experience running anodized aluminum saw guides, that the honing process is different in that dings and divots show up better and that I don’t need to run the hone across every guide as much as just inspecting the anodized surface for blemishes.

Then you remove the worn pad and clean the guide. Make sure that the lube holes are clean and that the lube passage inside of the guide is clear.

If the lube holes are very plugged it is necessary to remove the plug at the end of the lube passage. I recommend removing these plugs occasionally anyway so they can be removed when necessary. Next I take my honing stone and hone both sides of the mating surface on the

After cleaning and honing the guide I attach a new guide pad to both sides of the guide and then it is ready for milling. Extra care must be used to ensure that there is nothing on the mounting block of the guide milling machine such as specks of babbitt or grit. This cannot be over emphasized. These specs of babbitt can throw off the center of the guide and result in tight guides even if the size is right. Carefully take the honing stone to the mounting block also.

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Start the guide cutter and then start the carriage. Feed the guide slowly into the cutters and be ready to reverse the guide if anything appears wrong. Slowly run the guide through the cutters and let it run until it returns and stops. Turn off the cutters and when they have stopped open the milling machine and remove the finished guide. Carefully mount the guide in the guide dresser, taking care not to bang the edges of the guide arm or deposit any foreign material on the mounting block. Several companies make guide milling machines and I believe the market has improved on that front. Do your homework and don’t settle for a machine that does not hold the tolerances a modern sawmill requires.

Place the guide on the bench and clean up the edges of the babbitt. You do not want any of these burrs to get in between the saw and the guide or between the guide arms. Once the edges have been filed check the guide for size with a micrometer and compare that number to the target number. You want your guides to be within half of a thousandths of an inch. Normal tolerance is plus zero, minus a half. That means it cannot be oversize but it can be as much as half a thousandths undersize. The closer the be-

tween guide tolerance the better. Measure your guides when they arrive and send back any that do not meet specs.

The next check is to see if the babbitt is centered on the arm. This also cannot be over-emphasized. Your guides can be the perfect size but if they are not centered on the arm they will not work with all of your other guides. That is why we came up with this piece of test equipment. It is very easy to build in-house with some leftover dial indicator clamps and a piece of shaft that matches your guide head size. I suggest sending the shaft to a machine shop to be surface ground but if you have a good quality knife grinder that works also. Drill and tap the shaft to fit a standard dial indicator post and you have a very good, very important piece of test equipment.

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A lot of mills use a granite block and a dial indicator but I did not like all of the variables involved. There might be some debris in between the guide and the block, between the dial block and the granite block. The guide might not be totally tight to the granite, several opportunities for a wrong reading. This tool is also used to check the accuracy of the guide milling machine by checking several spots on one side of the guide and repeating on the other side. With this one there are far less chances of error and it is a very quick check that can be repeated time and time again and it is easy to see if it is the guide or the tester.

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Check one side of the guide and put the dial on zero. Turn the guide over and check the other side. This side should also read zero. If it doesn’t, turn the guide back over and recheck for zero. If it does not read zero on that side you must adjust the cutters on the milling machine to center the babbitt. When you get matching zeros on the bench and the correct number with the micrometer it is time to place the guide into the test clamp.

gang manufacturer should supply or at least offer a test jig like this to match their guides. You can get a test paddle made by your saw supplier at a minimal cost. It needs to be perfectly flat and made the same thickness as your saws.

After you have three guides that all check out, clamp them into the test clamp and run the appropriate size saw gauge between the guides. I think every

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The paddle should slide easily between the guides with no resistance. If you get resistance check the guide arms for debris. Often times there is a small speck of babbitt or dust between the arms that throws off the clearance. Or there may be a small spot on the guide arm that got bumped that has to be honed down. Once all of the guides test out place one of the guides on the shelf and leave the other guides in the test clamp to test the next guide with. By using this method to test every guide you can be sure that all of the guides in your machine are compatible with each other. The paddle should slide easily between the clamped guides with no side to side movement. If the paddle is binding at all you need to go back and check your processes.

Use extreme care when handling the finished guides and make sure everyone that handles them understands how fragile the guide/saw interaction is. It takes very little to make a perfect guide unusable with rough handling. To explain how clean your guides and saw need to be when changing saws I made this example. Any debris between the guides when they are clamped in the machine will cause a saw to get hot. Here I placed a 006 in. shim between the guides at the tip of the clamping surface to represent sawdust or dirt that can be present when tightening your guides. You can see that the paddle will not slide between the guides. These guides will 38

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burn up as soon as the machine starts and that is only 006 in. in one spot. You can see that with only a 006 in. piece of material between your guides that you will have a hot saw and another saw change. I try to teach everyone that when you’re changing saws that the gang has to be clean enough that if your gum fell out and hit the guides you’d put it back in your mouth. I really believe that gang saw manufacturers should offer a test clamp fixture like this with every machine they sell as well as a test guide like this. This guide is used in the machine to test for plumb and perpendicular as well as to check your guide milling machine for zero. A regular guide without babbitt is not manufactured true enough for this and one with babbitt doesn’t offer enough surface area for a proper check. I hope you enjoyed this presentation and that I have given you some tools to take back to your mills. Guides are a pretty simple device and with proper care and processes can be eliminated as a potential problem. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have good precision guides from a reputable supplier. I have had guides manufactured by “the machine shop down the street” because the price was right. They probably do a fine job and they’re sure nice to have close but when it comes to your saw guides go with someone with the proper tools and knowledge to manufacture them. Tell them you expect less than 0.0005 in. variation between guides and you will reject any that don’t meet spec. That’s one half of one thousandths of an inch folks and don’t settle for less. If your saw guides look like this, you probably have larger issues but don’t overlook the small stuff.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike West is Head Filer at Cascade Hardwood in Chehalis, Wash. He delievered this presentation during the Lumber Manufacturing Workshop at the Timber Processing & Energy Expo in Portland, Ore. This presentation is available from Mike by e-mail: westwm@chwa.com. TP

I think the key takeaways from this are: ● Cleanliness ● Handling ● Making sure your babbitt is centered ● Making sure guides are compatible with each other ● Having the proper testing tools

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MACHINERYROW

WHEEL LOADERS CARRY THE WEIGHT Hardwood operation uses onboard weighing system.

omplying with a new International Maritime Organization requirement for exporters to verify the weight of containerized cargo could have posed a significant problem for Matson Lumber. But the Brookville, Pa.-based hardwood lumber producer found a timely solution in the onboard weighing system featured on its new Hyundai HL940 wheel loaders. In the past, the handling of overweight containers has resulted in injuries to workOne of two Hyundai HL940 loaders at Matson Lumber ers and damage to vessels and equipment. Aimed at improving safety, the new rule—an its two Hyundai HL940 wheel loaders to amendment to IMO’s SOLAS (Safety of weigh logs and lumber as the material is Life at Sea) Convention—requires shiploaded into the shipping containers. The pers to provide vessel operators and masystem keeps a record of all weighed marine terminal operators with documentaterials, which Matson uses to meet the tion verifying the weight of all container- SOLAS weight-verification requirement. ized freight. While the new rule allows “We never previously had to weigh weighing containers at the port, many containerized logs or lumber,” Sorek marine terminals do not have the type of explains, “so we didn’t have another soscales needed to verify container weight. lution. We found the Hyundai onboard “We were evaweighing system to be very accurate, luating new wheel well within the tolerances we needed. loaders just before It’s easy to calibrate and has worked the new SOLAS very well. We couldn’t have picked a rule was about to better time to buy those loaders.” take effect earlier Based in Brookville, a picturesque and this year,” says historic town of 4,200, located 80 miles Paul Sorek, presinortheast of Pittsburgh, Matson Lumber dent of Matson is a family-owned and operated enterpriLumber. “We had se that originated as a logging business already decided on in the early 1800s. That was nine generatrying the new tions ago. When Sorek’s grandfather reMatson President HL940 loaders turned from service in World War II, he Paul Sorek from Hyundai expanded into lumber production with a when we realized the onboard scale syssawmill and kiln drying operation in tem on the Hyundai loaders would give Brookville. One of nine family members us a solution for meeting the weight-vestill in the business, Sorek is the third gerification requirement. So that has been a neration of the family to manage the huge and very timely benefit.” expanded operation. Under the SOLAS amendment, ship“We produce logs, green lumber and pers either may weigh the container after kiln-dried lumber,” Sorek says. “Species it has been packed, or weigh the contents include red oak, white oak, cherry, soft of the container and add that weight to maple, hard maple—all native to wethe container’s documented weight. stern Pennsylvania.” Timber comes from Matson takes the latter approach, a combination of the company’s timberusing the onboard weighing system on lands, from state and federal timber40

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lands, and from other private landowners. Finished lumber is shipped all over the world and used to make fine hardwood products, including hardwood veneer, flooring, cabinets, furniture, custom millwork. The company also operates a kiln drying yard in nearby Corsica, Pa., and a second sawmill in Clintonville, another small town in western Pennsylvania. Matson Lumber also has a distribution business that it uses for delivering lessthan-truckloads to customers within an 80- to 100-mile radius of its locations. Two workhorses of the operation are the two HL940 wheel loaders, equipped with hydraulic log grapples for a variety of material handling tasks, including unloading raw logs from delivery trucks, stockpiling logs, moving logs to any of several processing areas on the property, loading logs into the sawmill and loading containers with finished products. When outfitted with their standard buckets, the wheel loaders also handle yard-cleaning and snow-removal. “Over the years we have found that medium-sized wheel loaders are what work best for us,” Sorek notes. “The 3yard machine gives us the power we need; it’s nimble moving around the log yard, and it’s very fuel efficient.” The HL940s are Matson’s first Hyundai loaders. “Our guys enjoy operating them. The controls are intuitive. The cab is comfortable with good visibility. Ride control is also something the operators like because of the rough ground in our lumber yard,” Sorek adds. Matson deals with Highway Equipment Co. Matson Lumber is a year-round operation, running two shifts per day, five or six days a week depending on the workload. The company employs 175, many TP of them longtimers. Article and photos submitted by Cooper Hong Inc., an agency for Hyundai CE Americas, 630-377-2555.

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MACHINERYROW

Metamob Relocates To New Headquarters

European band saw producer Metamob has relocated into a new facility combining production and commercial activities under one roof. The new facility in Satu Mare, Romania with 50,000 sq. ft. of space houses new production equipment from Iseli capable of meeting the increased demands from markets in the U.S. Earlier this year Metamob annouced an exclusive distribution agreement with

Union Grove Saw & Knife, based in Union Grove, NC, which now handles in the U.S. all sales and service of band saw blades produced by Metamob. Istvan Hutton co-founded Metamob in 1994 to meet demand for woodworking tools in local markets. In 1997 the company started producing various configurations of extremely high quality band saw and frame saw blades at competitive prices. Professional sharpening services followed in the same year. Today production is focused on the niche market of

wide and narrow band saw blades for the sawmill industry. The new facility is the cumulative efforts of many individuals but special thanks was given to production manager and head engineer Vasile Sav whom with support from engineer Oana Silaghi developed detailed plans for the facility layout and relocation. The move was officially completed with a ceremonial opening in October attended by nearly 100 employees of the operation. Metamob has the largest installed base of Iseli machines. ”Customers of Metamob can now expect an even higher quality and delivery time as a result of consolidating all operations under one roof,” Hutton says. ”To further complement our growing demand, we are now able to inventory larger amounts of raw material in various sizes to support the U.S. market demands.” Visit metamob.ro and sawandknife.com.

Cal Saw Enhances Circle Saw Performance New Metamob facility in Satu Mare, Romania

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Cal Saw reports it has enhanced and extended its variable thickness circular

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MACHINERYROW saw technology. With its new Sutherlin, Ore. facility in full operation, Cal Saw is now putting that technology to work across an expanded range of wood cutting applications. The main focus of Cal Saw’s approach to saw design remains its patent-pending variable thickness design for guided spline arbor saws in gang edgers. With the increased lateral stiffness created by this design, double arbor offset and single arbor wedging can be reduced by at least 25%— and up to as much as 40%—of their prior level with conventional saws, with no increase in saw kerf and no reduction in feed rate, Cal Saw reports. The company invites customers to send in saw specifications and lumber size data, and Cal Saw will advise as to what kind of improvement to expect from this variable thickness design. “Our successful new applications have grown out of our improved capability to examine forces action on the saw teeth and on the wood which is being cut,” comments Warren Bird on behalf of Cal Saw. “This has allowed us to achieve the near elimination of slivers on the ends of boards

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in end trimming and cross-cutting.” In high speed board edgers, Cal Saw has addressed the fatigue crack failure of saw teeth. And in the long-established process for sawing pencil slats with very thin-kerf saws, the new design has increased run time by 40%. Visit calsaw.com.

BGR Saws Names Senior Sales Manager BGR Saws has appointed Dan Betteridge as Senior Manager—Sales West Coast /Equipment Sales. Betteridge has 25 years of experience in the wood industry, primarily in the sale, service and product development of saw manufacturing and saw maintenance machinery. He also has broad experience in the saw sale business with BGR Saws. “He is the perfect candidate to manage the equipment, since the BGR Saws philosophy is not just to hire sales people, but actual technical advisors who know their stuff and help sawmills to achieve better performances,” notes BGR Saws President Sylvain St-Hilaire. Betteridge, a member of the BGR Saws

team for more than a decade, says he’s passionate about introducing innovative RFID technology and continuing to grow the team and line of saw products in new markets on the West Coast, and that positive feedback continues to come in from filers and production and quality control personnel as they gain results they have never achieved. Visit bgrsaws.com.

Barko Names Talaga As Product Manager Steve Talaga has been appointed Product Manager for forestry equipment manufacturer Barko Hydraulics, LLC, part of the Pettibone Heavy Equipment Group. Talaga is responsible for product line development, market analysis, and general support and interaction with Barko dealers and customers. Prior to his new position, Talaga worked for sister company Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC for four and a half years, first as a service technician and then as a design engineer. Talaga has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University.

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DRYING DEVELOPMENTS

Brunner-Hildebrand has been manufacturing lumber dry kilns worldwide since 1950 and has installed more than 15,000 kilns. It manufactures the complete line of dryers—package, steamers, heat-treating, track, predryers, vacuum, large volume continuous, other hybrid-type designs and various types of kiln controls with on-line service. Over the past year it has continued its emphasis on improving the energy efficiency of its kilns with its new GreenKiln concept. The GreenKiln concept is an automated kiln energy management system that involves two kilns or more up to a battery of five kilns. The control system continuously monitors each kiln to determine where excess or waste heat could be used more effectively. Along with the GreenKiln concept, Brunner-Hildebrand has upgraded its kiln control system called “The Fox.” This is an in-house design based on Windows operating system (PC system). The control system can be designed with a hybrid relative humidity measuring system (excellent for oak) using the EMC wafer from green-to-40% relative humidity and then the wet bulb system kicks in automatically for the relative humidity range between 40% to 10%. The idea is to take advantage of the accuracy levels of both measuring systems. Of course, one can also choose either one for the full drying cycle. Brunner-Hildebrand has introduced a multi-function wood moisture measuring system to further assist in improving grade. The control system allows combining sample weight inputs and wireless probes based on level of wood moisture content (MC). It is suggested to use sample weights for wood MC more than 30% and switch the drying process to shell and core wireless probes once below 30%. This process takes advantage of the accuracy level of both MC measuring systems and helps to tighten the final MC distribution. Brunner-Hildebrand has also introduced

PRODUCTSCANNER10 a highly efficient continuous-type kiln. Typically this type of kiln has been geared for mills that produce large volumes of a consistent lumber product (e.g. dimension SPF.) One can see a video on the general concept of this continuous kiln by visiting brunnerhildebrand.com/CONTINUOUSKILNS/. Please visit our website for a video on the GreenKiln technology: www.brunnerhildebrand.com/GREENKILNS/. And visit bhl-drykilns.com.

LUG LOADER ENHANCED

For the last 20 years, Carbotech’s electric and pneumatic lug loader has been very appreciated in the market. This rotary lug loader using pneumatic rotors activating a variety of clamps has always been well in demand due to its user friendly advantages and by the fact that it doesn’t use any hydraulics. Based on that well proven mechanical technology, Carbotech has been researching and developing a revolutionary upgrade focusing on skew control. Thanks to Cognex reading capacity, Carbotech has modified its lug loader operation so all clamps, all stop gates and all wheels

are now activated independently. Only the infeed lengths of timber will dictate which clamps and stop gates need to be activated. That new system is now supported by the latest version of M12 connectors to ensure the quickest and most reliable Ethernet communication to an integrated PLC on this lug loader 2.0. In addition to Carbotech’s new clamping and communication technology, the back log control management is probably one of the most important sections if you want to reach a decent efficiency at your lug loader. By knowing that, Carbotech developed (patent pending) a new system using near ends and far ends independent drives all controlled by celling cameras and lasers. Depending on desired speed and lengths variations, Carbotech skew control system will use 6 VFD drives over 3 transfers to regulate back log pressure, widths detections and skew control. Over the last few years, the North American market has encouraged Carbotech to innovate toward automation and speed. The main focus was to take its existing equipment and upgrade them so they can be as automatic as possible and reliable at over 260 LPM at the planer mill or at least over 220 LPM at the sawmill. Labor reductions and production increase (within the same footprints) were the main payback arguments. This is why Carbotech came out with its fully automatic electric high speed continuous tilt hoist; automatic stick and dunnage recuperation system; Cognex skew and flow control (avoiding operator manipulations); operator free lug loader; sorter management controlled by the stacker operator; fully automatic sawmill stick system with high speed stackers and much more. A great first step in terms of innovation is customer feedback and site operators’ ideas. Carbotech maintains a very close relationship with its clientele so that upgrades can be brought to existing or future Carbotech’s equipment. Visit carbotech.ca. Product Scanner items are submitted by the respective suppliers. TIMBER PROCESSING

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GREENCHAIN

It Was Not New Technology

Imagine my surprise upon opening my July/August issue of Timber Processing to see in “The Issues” section your editorial (“Some People Did Know Everything”) on the court case(s) that I was involved in while working as R&D engineer at Applied Theory. The case (in my opinion then and now) was frivolous and not worthy of litigation. The unfortunate problem stemmed from the Patent Office issuing a patent on what was not new technology. That point was a main issue of our argument in court that we tried to get the jury to understand. Scanning via means of triangulation and calculating the center of a log had been used for years prior to the lawsuit. In order to show the court that there was “prior art,” I devised a demonstration that was allowed in court but half of the jury was inattentive and did not grasp the idea. It was difficult to get the jury to understand the technical issues in the case. I started my scanning design career at

Log positioning and scanning had its day in court in the ’70s and ’80s.

Atmospheric Sciences Inc. (ASI) where we used Fairchild based cameras to find the same information on logs being presorted or sent directly to the primary breakdown CNS machines. I continued updating those designs at Albany International as principle design engineer at

Automation Controls and moved to Applied Theory where we were the leading edge of scanning design. Several great scanning and control systems came out of that group including the X-Y charger, trimmer, edger and a defect/grading scanner. That scanner we ran at mill speed for Weyerhaeuser. The problem was getting the mill to accept the technology and the lumber graders association to certify the use back then. I moved on to Barr-Mullen trying to get the industry to accept the great defect scanner we had there as well. After that I moved on to Potlatch as the Division Electrical Engineer out of Lewiston, Idaho and then on to the Georgia-Pacific paper mill here in Toledo, Ore. Now retired, there is one thing I would like to see, and that is credit given to the electronic/electrical/software engineers who were spending untold hours designing and installing that new technology back then. The vendor companies got all the publicity but no one credited the rest of us. It would be interesting to see if any of the people are still around that developed the technology that we started back in the ’70s. Unfortunately I know of several key people who have passed away. Regards, John Williams

ATLARGE USDA Announces Wood Innovation Program U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) will invest up to $7 million in grants for projects designed to expand wood products and wood energy markets that support sustainable forest management, especially in areas with high wildfire risks. These grants are available through the U.S. Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Program. USDA is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon stored in forests and soils by over 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2025. In 2017, the Wood Innovation Program will invest in projects designed to have a long-term impact on national forests and other forestlands by leveraging the market for low-value wood. Funding is available for a diverse range of activities, from facilitating the establishment of new building codes to sup46

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ATLARGE port expanded use of wood materials to developing a cluster of wood energy projects in a geographic area. Funding may also support business planning and efforts to accelerate the manufacturing, market adoption and demonstration of innovative wood products, such as crosslaminated timber. The deadline for proposals is January 23, 2017. Information on how to apply is available on the Wood Education and Resource Center website: na.fs.fed.us/werc/

SFPA Elects Drake As Chairman Southern Forest Products Assn. (SFPA) Board of Directors elected its 2017 slate of officers during its Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, Va. They are Chairman Kerlin Drake of Canfor Southern Pine, El Dorado, Ark.; Vice Chair Donna Whitaker of Interfor U.S., Peachtree City, Ga.; Treasurer Steven Mason of Deltic Timber Corp., El Dorado, Ark. The Board also reelected Tami Kessler as Executive Director and elected William Almond of Almond Brothers Lumber in Coushatta, La. as Immediate Past Chairman.

Torrefaction Taking Off In Oregon Wood bioenergy development in Oregon is taking a step forward on two fronts, both concerning torrefied biomass utilization and torrefaction technology, as Portland General Electric (PGE) recently announced torrefied biomass burn testing at a coal-fired power plant, and Oregon-based HM3 Energy opened a torrefaction demo plant and licensed its technology to a Japanese utility that’s looking to build a commercial plant in the U.S. The Boardman, Ore. coal-fired power plant operated by PGE is scheduled to shut down by 2020, but the company is studying the possibility of converting to biomass. Earlier this year Oregon’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was renewed and expanded to 50% by 2040, and PGE officials have said they are looking to utilize biomass and integrate intermittent renewable resources such as wind and solar. The 600 MW Boardman plant successfully co-fired with biomass during a test in 2015, but a scheduled December test burn was to be the largest yet. 48

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2016 EDITORIAL INDEX

LUMBER ■ COMPOSITES ■ ENGINEERED PRODUCTS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

The Issues One Woman To Another. Page 5.

Lumber Woman Jill Snider Brewer becomes the first woman to enter the prestigious fraternity of Timber Processing Person of the Year. Page 14. Snider Still On Boards Snider Industries’ focus remains being masters of the board game. Page 18. Hardwood Big Boy The Anderson family hardwood lumber operation is one of the most impressive going. Page 24.

MARCH

The Issues Good Stories From Here To There. Page 5. Staying Ahead Pyramid Mountain Lumber relies on its vast sawmilling experience to move around familiar bumps in the Western road. Page 12. Built To Last Ricky Fly has built an impressive hardwood lumber sawmill with leading edge equipment in Mississippi. Page 20. Log Breakdown Manufacturers showcase front-end technologies. Page 30.

APRIL

The Issues Some SYP Independents Stay The Course. Page 5. SYP Industry Suffers Loss Dwight Harrigan remembered. Page 6. Wow Factor Nobody likes improving its sawmills as much as Rex Lumber in Florida. Page 12. Faith In Green Copiah Lumber is doing just fine producing green lumber. Page 22. Mountain Steamer A historical look back at southern West Virginia’s Meadow River Lumber Co. Page 30.

OCTOBER

Getting Stronger During a four-year timespan, Griffin Lumber has seen an overhaul from the bucking line to the planer mill. Page 16.

The Issues Balanced Priorities. Page 5.

Focus On High End Frank Lumber’s emphasis on industrial products and high quality, plus innovation operations, has the mill running well. Page 28.

Big Time Upgrade Ongoing upgrade investments combined with employee commitment have energized Westervelt sawmills. Page 10.

Grading One Inch Gorman Bros. is getting more out of its one inch boards with new technology. Page 38.

Kennebec Floor Plan Photo essay on Maine hardwood flooring facility, Kennebec Lumber Co. Page 22.

2016 EXPO Richmond Exhibitors. Page 44.

Small Town Big Mill Carrier Forest Products took a chance in 2010, and it appears to be paying off. Page 28.

Drax Factor Who is this entity that connects the dots between the U.S. and the U.K.? Page 48.

JUNE

The Issues Survey Results Show Optimism Still In Play. Page 5. Good To Go Most softwood lumbermen expect to maintain the pace, but are prepared for a surge. Page 14. Solid Footing Hardwood lumbermen seem to have a firm grip on the capabilities of their operations and markets. Page 34.

JULY/AUGUST

The Issues Some People Did Know Everything. Page 5. End Dogger Swanson Group stud mill handles wide range of log sizes more efficiently with new lowprofile end-dogging system. Page 12. 2016 Lumbermen’s Buying Guide. Page 23.

SEPTEMBER

The Issues Destination Portland. Page 5.

CLT Pioneer Invests D. R. Johnson Lumber invests in the future of cross-laminated timber with its CLT plant venture. Page 14.

Same Town New Name L.O. Crosby bought Mississippi’s Foster Creek Lbr., town of Stephenson was renamed for new owner. Part two of two. Page 34.

NOVEMBER

The Issues Numbers Can Lie, If You Let Them. Page 5. Planning For Success Dempsey Wood Products makes improvements and has plans for more upgrades in the immediate future. Page 14. Tip Of The Cap List of producer company-attendees to the 2016 edition of TP&EE. Page 26. Really Big Show The Timber Processing & Energy Expo confirmed that sawmill capital expenditures are keeping on. Page 28.

DECEMBER

The Issues Another One Bites The Dust. Page 5. Merlo Built LP With OSB Harry Merlo remembered. Page 6. Transforming Tricon Tricon Timber makes major improvements to its mill and believes the future is bright in Montana. Page 14.

TP&EE Workshop Preview. Page 40.

All About Cedar The oldest and largest cedar mill on the West Coast of Canada makes the most of what they have. Page 24.

TP&EE Exhibitors. Page 10.

TP&EE Showcase Exhibiting manufacturers highlight products, company news. Page 44.

Pitch Perfect WKO Filing room benefits from investment, innovation. Page 30.

Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) Review. Page 12.

Foster Creek Had Its Day Southwest Mississippi sawmill hummed in the early 1930s. Part one of two. Page 92.

Taking Care Of Saw Guides A few takeaways that tend to be overlooked. Page 38.

TP&EE Map, Exhibitors list. Page 26.

MAY

The Issues Several Factors Create Sluggish Lumber Markets. Page 5.

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❑ E1—Hardwood Sawmill ❑ E2—Softwood Sawmill ❑ E3—Hardwd/Softwd Sawmill ❑ WW—Engineered Products ❑ PP—Veneer/Plywood/Panel Prod. ❑ NT—Pallets ❑ NN—Poles/Timbers ❑ NN—Specialty Products ❑ NN—Wood Treatment ❑ CC—Proc. Oper. Of Pulp/Paper Mill ❑ GG—Consultant in Mill/Proc. Oper. ❑ BE—Bioenergy Mfgr. ❑ MM—Mach./Equip./Supplies Manufacturer ❑ DD—Mach./Equip./Supplies Distributor/Dealer ❑ OO—Other: ________________________________________ (please be specific)

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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace NORTH AMERICA

■ Minnesota

■ Tennessee

■ United States

STACKING STICKS

FOR SALE

■ Georgia

AIR-O-FLOW profiled & FLAT sticks available Imported & Domestic

Beasley Forest Products, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539 beasleyforestproducts.com

DHM Company - Troy, TN 38260 731-538-2722 Fax: 707-982-7689 email: kelvin@kilnsticks.com www.KILNSTICKS.com

Manufactures Kiln-Dried 4/4 Red and White Oak, Poplar, Ash and Cypress Contact: Linwood Truitt Phone (912) 253-9000 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 linwood.truitt@beasleyforestproducts.com

Pallet components, X-ties, Timbers and Crane Mats Contact: Ray Turner Phone (912) 253-9001 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 ray.turner@beasleyforestproducts.com

■ North Carolina Cook Brothers Lumber Co., Inc.

■ Indiana Manufacturer of Appalachian Hardwood Lumber LEONARD COOK, Sales (828) 524-4857 • cell: (828) 342-0997 residential: (828) 369-7740 P.O. Box 699 • Frankin, NC 28744 NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION

Next closing: January 5, 2017 ■ Kentucky HAROLD WHITE LUMBER, INC. MANUFACTURER OF FINE APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS

(606) 784-7573 • Fax: (606) 784-2624 www.haroldwhitelumber.com

Ray White

Domestic & Export Sales rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com

Green & Kiln Dried, On-Site Export Prep & Loading Complete millworks facility, molding, milling & fingerjoint line

Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods • Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •

Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties • Hickory, Sycamore, Beech, Gum & Elm • Custom Cut Timbers: Long lengths and wide widths

WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com

Sales/Service: 336-746-5419

336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.com

08/16

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MAINEVENTS JANUARY 2017

JUNE

16-17—Northwestern Lumber Assn. annual meeting, DoubleTree by Hilton, Bloomington, Minn. Call 763-544-6822; visit nlassn.org.

14-16—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.

FEBRUARY

JULY

23-26—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Boca Raton, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

19-22—AWFS Fair 2015, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Visit awfsfair.org.

MARCH

26-29—2017 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, Omni-The Homstead, Red Oak, Va. Call 770-6316701; visit slma.org.

1-2—California Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Napa, Calif. Call 916-444-6592; visit calforests.org. 1-2—Ohio Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Dublin, Ohio. Call 614-497-9580; visit ohioforest.org. 1-4—Delhiwood 2017, India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, India. Call+91-80-4250 5000; visit delhi-wood.com. 7-9—Dubai Woodshow, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Call +971 4 39 23232; visit dubai woodshow.com. 8-10—National Wooden Pallet & Container Assn. annual meeting, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, Ariz. Call 703-519-6104; visit palletcentral.com. 9-10—2017 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. Spring Meeting and Expo, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, La. Call 770-631-6701; visit slma.org. 22-24—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. 2017 National Conference & Expo, The Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC. Call 412-244-0440; visit hardwoodinfo.com or hmamembers.org.

APRIL 4-6—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org. 9-11—American Wood Protection Assn. annual meeting, Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, Nev. Call 205-733-4077; visit awpa.com.

MAY 5-6—Southeastern Saw Filers Educational Assn. annual meeting, Greensboro, NC. Call 803-243-6677; email glomarsh1956 @gmail.com. 19-20—Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor, Maine. Call 315-369-3078; visit northernlogger.com. 22-26—Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 8932626; visit ligna.de.

Visit us online at timberprocessing.com 54

■

DECEMBER 2016

■ TIMBER

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

●

This issue of Timber Processing is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products. ADVERTISER Andritz Iggesund Tools Baxley Equipment Burton Saw-Cut Technologies California Saw & Knife Works Carbotech International Ceratizit Comact Equipment Cone Omega Corley Manufacturing EGA Systeme Esterer WD GmbH Grasche USA Holtec USA Hurdle Machine Works Jeff Miller Kanefusa Linck Linden Fabricating Lucidyne Technologies Mason Sales Metal Detectors Mid-South Engineering Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen Nelson Bros Engineering Oleson Saw Technology Pierce Construction & Maintenance Pipers Saw Shop Premier Bandwheel Rema Sawco Select Sawmill Sennebogen Sering Sawmill Machinery Serra Maschinenbau Gmbh Simonds International Southeastern Saw Filers Edu. Assn. Springer Maschinenfabrik Telco Sensors U S Blades Union Grove Saw & Knife USNR/Soderhamn Vollmer of America Wagner Meters Wellons Woodtech Measurement Solutions

PG.NO. 2 21 3 35 19 20 13 39 33 47 43 38 56 51 35 33 41 36,42 7 36 12 39 51 17 37 9 48 48 49 48 23 46 44 10 38 22 29 42 55 11 27 19 17 44

PH.NO. 813.855.6902 800.286.7803 541.683.3337 415.861.0644 819.252.2273 +352 31 20 85 1 418.227.2727 229.228.9213 423.698.0284 +33 0 4 74 94 48 17 +49 86 71 5 03 0 800.472.7243 800.346.5832 901.877.6251 260.463.6678 859.283.1450 936 676 4958 250.561.1181 541.753.5111 478.946.7111 541.345.7454 501.321.2276 +43 7753 2296 0 888.623.2882 800.256.8259 601.544.1321 800.845.6075 604.591.2080 888.734.2659 613.673.1267 704.347.4910 360.687.2667 +49 8051 96 40 00 800.426.6226 803.243.6677 +43 4268 2581 0 800.253.0111 800.862.4544 704.539.4442 800.289.8767 412.278.0655 800.581.2722 503.581.8411 503.720.2361

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