Technology
UNITED KINGDOM
The British Timber Development Association has set up a Constructional Research Directorate. The definition of its functions and scope is interesting as a practical program of bringing scientific activity to bear directly on industrial activities. It is summarized as follows:
1. Research - a) Industrial: General survey of industrial problems in the timber-consuming industry; b) Scientific: The initiation and direction of research in national, university, industrial, and private laboratories; the collation and interpretation of results obtained in the United Kingdom and abroad.
2. Development - Experimental application of the data obtained through 1. a) and b) above; collaboration with, or employment of research laboratories or industrial organizations in the use of new materials, methods of construction production and technique; experimental construction.
3. Design - The elaboration of analytical design methods appropriate to timber; the compilation and tabulation of design data.
4. Educational - Publication of the results of 1, 2, and 3.
5. Standards - Services to the committees of the British Standards Institution, Codes of Practice, professional distributions, building and engineering councils, etc.
6. Advisory services - General assistance on all matters of timber utilization.
AUSTRALIA
The Australian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at its Forest Products -Laboratory in Melbourne is continuing its investigations on wood chemistry and wood fiber structure in its efforts further to develop the utilization of Australian woods, chiefly eucalypts, in the woodpulp, paper, cellulose, and other wood chemical industries. The establishment of a paper industry using short-fibered eucalypt woods as the source of pulp made by mechanical, soda, and kraft processes became possible only as the result of the perseverance of Australian scientists who, despite pessimistic opinions of European and American technicians concerning its possibility, persisted with the will to be successful. The Australian paper industry, now employing about 20.000, is planning expansions of plant and products to reduce the volume of imports now necessary from overseas.
Other fields being investigated by the Australian Forest Products Laboratory include:
1. The preservation, by high pressure impregnation with water soluble preservatives, of nondurable eucalypt woods which cannot be treated satisfactorily by regular creosoting methods. This work is being carried out as supplies of durable hardwoods previously used for sleepers are insufficient to meet requirements for maintenance of existing tracks and new constructions which will be necessary under plans for the unification of railway gauges throughout Australia.
2. The investigation of the possibilities of using hardwood logs, chiefly Eucalyptus spp., for the production of rotary veneers for plywoods. As a result of research carried out, a commercial plywood plant using karri, Eucalyptus diversicolor F. Muell., has already been established in Western Australia. It is anticipated that commercial operations on jarrah, Eucalyptus marginata Sm., will soon be commenced.
CANADA
The Canadian Research Council has completed the reconversion of its activities from war to peace. War research facilities that had attained great proportions had to be discontinued or modified to meet the growing industrial requirements of peace. A Building Research Division has been established to ensure a complete coverage of Canada's housing needs. A National Building Code has been published to serve as a model in the drafting of municipal bylaws. A model zoning law has likewise been prepared. The development of a modular system for the construction of prefabricated houses has brought an important advance in lowering the cost of this type of housing.
A school for sawing, classification, and mensuration techniques has been opened at Duchesnay in Canada. The school is to serve as a center for research work in utilization, woodworking and by-products, and to train specialists in all branches of the sawmill industry. Schooling is completed in the following courses: A. Construction, maintenance and operation of sawmills (two periods of nine months each); B. Cutting and sawing of logs (nine months); C. Sawing and trimming for grade of sawn logs; D. Mensuration and grading of logs and lumber (nine months); E. Artificial and open air drying of lumber (four and a half months); F. Manufacture of by-products (four and a half months); G. Saw-sharpening (four and a half months); H. Log scaling (four and a half months).
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A very interesting trend becoming apparent not only in the United States is illustrated by the plan of the old Maryland Institute of Fine slid Practical Arts to organize courses leading to careers as modern cabinet or furniture designers. Particular stress is laid on the use of modern materials.
The manufacture of yeast from wood is not new. The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, however, is investigating a most important aspect of this scientific technique, that is, of overcoming its economic hazards. The aim is to develop a simple process to allow for local manufacture utilizing wood of poor, quality in order to bring a high protein yeast suitable for poultry and livestock feed within the reach of the small farmer to help him solve his feed problem.
A nailless wooden box has been developed by the Wooden Box Institute in the United States of America. Glue and tape are used instead of nails, and lumber is saved by reduction in thickness of panels. Tests have shown the box to be at least as strong as the usual nailed type notwithstanding the fact that one third less wood is used.
A Building Construction Research Board has been set up in the United States of America to serve as a clearinghouse of technical research information in that field. Its principal function will be to collect and disseminate technical research information of importance to the building industry. It will also provide a meeting place at which those actively engaged in research activities will be able to exchange ideas, and a mechanism for the correlation of activities carried on simultaneously by several organizations. No direct laboratory activity is contemplated.
A new laboratory to work on treatment of Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia Britt., and other western species was established at the Wauna, Oregon, plant of the American Lumber and Treating Company. Research work will include pressure treatment of full-length lumber, resin impregnation, gluing of pressure-treated wood into large structural members, and strength testing.
SWEDEN
Sweden is schooling its sawmill personnel in special schools which teach not only working techniques but also safety rules and practices and labor and union regulations and legislation. Special studies of psychological and dietary aspects of woodworking operations are carried out.
Industrial Equipment
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A type of handsaw differing from the usual has been brought out in the United States of America. The corners of the teeth alternate right and left. This is said to have the following advantages: a) the saw is balanced; b) it has a better cutting edge; c) there is no twisting; d) sharpening and setting time is saved; e) power and labor are saved. A new type of jig-saw blade has been put on the market. The blade is circular in section and cuts in any direction. The teeth form a regular spiral. It is claimed it will cut all woods, light metals, and plastics.
A portable saw-sharpener for filing hard-tooth saws without necessity of removing the saw has been introduced. Its principal feature is the clamping device which enables fastening securely of the drill type motor and grinder to the saw and at the same time allowing for quick adjustment for proper filing angle. Weighing approximately 8 pounds (4 kg.), the sharpener is quickly mounted on the saw.
A new tool is used in reclamation of old lumber in razing jobs and has proved an amazing success in split-free removal of sheathing, siding, flooring, and other lumber, which remains usable for other installations. The tool lifts flooring, siding, roofing, and other wood with such care that no cracks, splits or breaks occur to lower its value. It also lifts adjoining pieces of tongue-and-groove flooring and shiplapped siding with equal ease and damage-free care. It is handled with great ease, and using it, it is possible to remove more lumber in one hour than is possible in three or four hours with old-style methods, so that it will also prove valuable in the saving of labor costs.
During the war the United States Army, one of the largest users of dunnage and crating lumber, designed and constructed a remarkable labor-money saving machine. This machine makes the task of processing planks, boards, timbers, and lathing for re use as simple as the job of stacking this renovated wood. With just one such machine it is possible to process 2,000 board feet (4.7 m³) an hour. It can extract 250 to 300 pounds (113-136 kg.) of nails in a day.
Compactness and one-man operation are the principal features of a new post machine which produces triangular corner posts from 1 3/8 - inch or 1 9/16-inch stock (3.49 cm.) in length up to 24 inches (61 cm.) and at a rate of 60 per minute. One of the outstanding new features of the machine is a safety cover enclosing all moving parts.
A working model of a pole-peeling machine has been completed. It is constructed to peel 2,000 feet (610 m.) of poles per hour or one 40-foot (12 m. pole) per minute and thus to obviate the lengthy and costly skinning of telephone poles by hand. Compressed air drives a series of rotary knives skinning the pole and achieving a smooth surface.
A pulpwood grapple has been designed. to transfer small wood directly from delivery cars to the working floor. It permits economical recovery of small timber and so increases the production of pulp, saving, in some instances, 20 percent in wood usage.
In the United States of America a live log deck has been designed to be built chiefly from used standard tractor parts. The "chain" will be powered through the tractor drive sprockets at one end and will run over tractor front rollers at the other end. A 5 h.p. motor provides the power. A log lift brings the logs to the deck from the pond. The new mill will have two 60-inch (1.52 m.) circular saws. It is expected to cut 45,000 board feet (106 m³) per shift.
CANADA
A Canadian sawyer has devised a plate glass guard for hand saws which represents a great advance over the usual ware screen. It affords a clear and uninterrupted view down the roll case and in particular of the tailsawyer. It protects him from flying objects. It is mounted so as to enable the operator to eliminate reflection or to turn it completely round for easy cleaning. A further safety device has been installed at plants in Canada. It is a remote control sawdust mover or agitator for fuel bins which eliminates the entering of a fuel bin for the purpose of raking down or loosening of banked sawdust.
Preservation and Drying
CANADA
A new fluid preservative, developed in Canada during the war and widely used by the Allied field forces, is expected to cut appreciably the loss due to wend and fabric decay. This preservative has an effective penetration which prevents the entrance to the cellulose tissue of any fungus or insect, thus blocking access to the vulnerable areas upon which such parasites subsist. Its action is permanent, so that the life of the wood may be prolonged in some instances to five or six times the normal expectancy. It can be painted, sprayed, or applied by immersing the material in a bath of the fluid. The cost is low.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A co-operative study covering the preservative treatment of certain West Coast timber species has been undertaken by the Oregon Forest Products Laboratory at Corvallis. The American Wood Preservers Association, which establishes official treating standards for the lumber industry, recently called upon the laboratory for assistance in obtaining technical information covering current treating schedules for western hemlock and intermountain type Douglas fir.
The Forest Products Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture announced that a nonswelling wood has been produced by the Department's chemists. According to the new method, wood is placed in a "steam bath," the steam being a vapor of pyradine, a coal-tar derivative, and of an acid closely related to that in vinegar. This vapor permeates the cells of the wood, swelling it. But this swelling is permanent. There is no return to the wood's original dimensions.
In the United States of America, chemically treated fire-resistant wood is being developed by the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D. C. The chemical mixture used includes ammonium salts, borax, and boric acid. The wood is impregnated with a solution of these, resulting in effective fire retardation of up to 33 percent.
Aware of the greatly accelerated process of decay in wood in tropical and semitropical climates, an American automobile manufacturer delivering to Hawaii has solved this problem by constructing cab framings with pressure-treated wood, and by using phenolic resin glue which is decay and mildew proof. Laminated sections made up in that manner produce higher strength and greater freedom from splitting than individual solid sections.
The discovery of a method of drying lumber by boiling has been announced in the United States of America. The formula for the liquid in which the lumber is boiled has been covered by a patent. The logs are cast into the fluid at a temperature of 250° F. (121° C.). Since boards would burst at around 260° F. (127° C.), thermostats are used to control the temperature of the solution. It is claimed that the lumber so treated neither warps, curls, nor bursts during the process and that the solution can be used for an indefinite length of time.
AUSTRALIA
A new timber drier has been designed by the Division of Forest Products of the Australian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. This is a pre drier for sorted timber, which operates on a progressive principle, and yet avoids the necessity for the usual periodic movement of the timber stacks within the drier. Incorporated in the design Is a method for utilizing boiler exhaust flue gases as the heading medium. It is stated that the pre drier is capable of taking multiple timber charges each 8 feet high (2.4 m.) by 35 feet long (11 m.). The specific purpose of the unit is to give economic pre-drying from the green condition to a moisture content of 25-30 percent for subsequent kiln drying.
Plywood and Gluing
CANADA
An entirely new type of wall-covering composed of one-inch (2.5 cm.) jewel cut squares of plywood bonded to a fabric backing is now being sold in Canada. Research has shown it versatile enough to be applied to both flat and curved surfaces for wall decoration, molding, furniture, trim, etc., to particularly good effect. The unselected plywood faces furnish an excellent surface. for painting. Produced in sheets 24 inches square (approx. 155 cm²), the V-cut divisions between each square make joints invisible and allow for a perfect fit on inside and outside corners.
A new panel product is now being produced. It is plywood surfaced with a smooth, hard, durable face made from wood waste which has been pulverized and bound with resin. It is reported that present plans are to use only "clean waste," i.e., sawdust, sander dust, and other small wood waste particles which are a by-product of plywood manufacturing. Any thickness of plywood can be used as a base for the resin-bound surface, it is claimed. Using as a base exterior type plywood and using waterproof adhesives, the finished panel is said to be suitable for outdoor as well as indoor use.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A new panel consisting of resin-impregnated sheet material, cured and assembled into the form of nested hexagonal cells and faced with sheets of aluminum or plywood, has been developed in the United States of America. Unusual strength and lightness are claimed for the new material.
A new type of laminated wood rollers now being produced in three weeks for wallpaper and linen manufacture in the United States of America may displace solid wood rollers that usually require four years to manufacture. The new rollers, made of thin, hard maple board, glued with waterproof adhesives, are said to eliminate seasoning defects and uncertainties of behavior in operation.
A new type of laminated flooring has been developed recently. It is claimed that the new material is the equal of top quality conventional hardwood flooring. The material is a three-ply cross laminated hardwood flooring 12 inches wide (30.5 cm.) and comes -in any desired length. It is made in a continuous glue-press from small-size cull type hardwood logs not ordinarily adapted to the production of hardwood flooring. Because of its width - 12 inches as contrasted with the 2¾ inch (approx. 7 cm.) width of conventional flooring - the new type flooring can be laid with less labor and its cost is competitive.
A new use has been found for over-ripe and over aged alder by making it a premium interior finishing wood, to which the stain, fungus growth, and overage markings has given a particularly distinctive appearance. The manufacturer of the new material soon found that he had more takers than he could supply.
A new method of hardwood furniture manufacture that fully protects tile original beauty, high polish, and natural sheen of home, office, and hotel furniture tops from water and alcohol strains, heat due to hot plates, coffee pots, and burns from cigarettes and cigars, has been developed recently.
For some years it has been widely known that a thin sheet of aluminum inserted between a furniture core and the face veneer would conduct the heat from a burning cigarette away from the face veneer rapidly enough so that no damage would result to the wood surface, provided the finish itself was heat resistant. But in the past some difficulties prevented the practical utilization of this fact. Now a new process has been developed which makes use of a new type of gluing technique, whereby a thin sheet of specially prepared aluminum (as thin as 0.002 inch or 0.508 mm.) is attached to the core and face veneer by means of cold adhesives, making unnecessary the use of expensive hot presses. Because the aluminum is attached to the wood by cold bonding adhesives, there is no danger of expansion of the aluminum, and, therefore, warping through this cause is eliminated.
Progress in the application of radio frequency heating, with special emphasis upon wood products, was reviewed and its future possibilities explored at a conference in Seattle, United States of America, 16-17 January 1947 and sponsored by the College of Forestry of the University of Washington and the Division of Adult Education and Extension Services. The function of radio frequency heating and its application in the field of wood products were dealt with; it was also claimed that it effects lower unit costs in many applications, and gives better uniformity of heat; it is also capable of doing many jobs impossible with other forms of heat. It does remarkably well on small articles and is especially useful in producing curved laminates of various types, such as barn rafters, roof trusses, and spars. But the men needed to operate this type of heating must have more than usual technical training. The difficulties encountered by the radio. frequency heating industry in getting satisfactory wave length assignments have been stressed. The properties and characteristics of glues suitable for RF applications were studied by a special panel which developed many interesting data on this topic.
A phenol type adhesive has been developed, especially formulated for bonding wood with radio-frequency equipment. According to the makers, it eliminates one of the worst drawbacks in gluing with dielectric heat. It does not are when electrodes come in contact with the squeeze-out of glue or with the glue line itself. At the same' time it allows the use of maximum power to provide quicker curing. This makes the radio-frequency method practicable for many new wood bonding operations.
As walnut shell flour, more than 90 percent of the particles of which pass a 325 mesh screen, came into general use, advantages other than its reduced cost became apparent. They can be summarized as follows: a) the particles of walnut shell flour are dense, tough, nonabsorbent, and do not swell when wet with water; b) it is nonabrasive and does not dull cutting tools; c) mold and fungi will not germinate in synthetic resin adhesives containing walnut shell flour; d) it aids in mechanically spreading and distributing glue solutions smoothly and evenly; e) its fine particles fill and sea the pores of wood.
UNITED KINGDOM
The possibility of gluing metals to metals and metals to wood is of great interest to engineering designers, and has already been exploited in aircraft designing. It is a structural advance of some significance. A new British process provides a bonding method for joining metals to metals, metals to wood, and metals to plastics. The joint is thoroughly resistant to water and solvents, does not deteriorate with age and maintains full strength in the temperature range from 40° C. to 60° C. The labor involved is practically unskilled and the application process is extremely varied.
Pulp and Paper Industries
CANADA
A chemical process for loosening the bark of pulpwood trees while they still stand in the forest was announced at the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association's annual convention in Montreal, 30 January 1947. Tested and found successful by the government investigators, some of the chemicals used in the process-have yet to be tried on a large scale by the pulp and paper companies themselves.
The new method would permit the hand barking of pulpwood to be continued through the late summer and fall months, instead of ending around the last of July as at present.
The chemical soluble arsenic, ammonium sulphamate, sulphamic acid, and sodium chlorate, have proven the most effective of those used in the experiments. They are applied to the trees in the form of a paste during the "sap peeling" season, in spring and early summer. Of all the chemicals tested, arsenic proved to be the speediest and most effective in removing bark and providing protection from blue-stain and bark insects which frequently attack dead trees. Pulpwood trees tested were white spruce, black spruce, balsam fir, jack pine and paper birch. Cedar trees for telephone poles were also treated. The trees killed by chemicals in the woods dry out to a certain extent before they are felled, the amount of drying depending on the interval between treatment and felling.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
It is claimed in the United States of America that lignin salvaged from wood pulp at paper mills can be used to give Buna S, a synthetic rubber substitute, greater value. Buna S can be manufactured for a price which compares favorably with the average price of natural rubber. Substituting lignin for carbon black as a reinforcement for Buna-S has apparently made it possible to produce the reinforced Buna-S in a relatively wide color range.
A new paper, possessing unusual qualities that made war maps durable in the water, mud, and grime of the battlefield, was developed early in the war by U. S. Army Engineers in co operation with the National Bureau of Standards. High wet-strength, obtained by the relatively new development of resin bonding, constitutes the most important feature of this paper, which is resistant to conditions that disintegrate conventional papers. Though developed primarily for war maps, it offers numerous peacetime uses - such as for bed sheets, bath mats, washable towels, wrappings for wet meats and vegetables, and outdoor advertising.
The Bureau of Standards carried out experiments to determine how such paper could be made from available raw materials. Rag fibers were not considered, so that the experiments were confined to commercially available bleached wood pulps: three types of bleached sulphates, bleached sulphite, deciduous wood soda, and deciduous wood sulphite. The manufacturing process for the high wet-strength paper follows the same steps used in making conventional paper, the only differences being a shorter beating cycle and the addition of resin bonding.
Professor R. G. Tyler of the University of Washington Sanitary Engineering Laboratory has disclosed a method of combating pollution of rivers and waterways, suggesting the use of equipment developed at the University which will restore the oxygen content of the polluted waters by pumping compressed air through porous diffusers. The process was tested on the Flambeau' River in Wisconsin and found successful, and has been found to be useful in tidewaters as well. The mills have been accused in recent years by conservation and sportsmen groups of killing fish life with the noxious waste liquors from pulp processes.
Building Construction
FRANCE
A new type of flooring developed in France and first shown at the Paris Wood Exhibition in September 1946, is made up of short lengths 11 centimeters long, 2.24 centimeters wide and 1 centimeter thick. These pieces have a lengthwise ridge 2 millimeters thick. They are glued on a cement layer by a special adhesive that remains flexible. A special manufacturing process allows for a much better utilization of the wood employed and elimination of all faults. It also makes possible a saving in transportation: whereas a freight car of 10 tons can only load about 600 square meters of normal parquet it can take 1600 square meters of this new type. The usual type of parquet is 8 centimeters high with joists whereas this type will not be more than 1.5 centimeters. That means a gain of 6.5 centimeters per floor.
CANADA
For a large repair shoo in Canada a floor had to be constructed having a life load of 500 pounds (2,400 kg/m²) per square foot to be carried on joists spaced at 5 feet (1.5 m.) center and spanning 25 feet (7.6 m.) on concrete piers and footings. For such a load and span, solid timber beams would have to be of a size that was quite out of question, while substitution of steel beams or concrete floor slabs would have greatly increased the cost of the structure. The problem was solved by the use of trussed joists assembled with split ring timber connectors. These trusses, of select common Douglas fir, 848, consist of two members in chords, the top members being comprised of two pieces of 4 × 16 inches (10.2 cm. × 40.6 cm.), and the lower members two pieces of 4 × 12 inches (10.2 cm. × 30.5 cm.). The 3-inch (7.6 cm.) diagonals are doubled for compression members. Connections between top chords of trusses were made with malleable iron hubless shear plates. The laminated deck consisting of 2 × 6 inches (5.1 cm. × 15.2 cm.) fir planking on edge, was treated throughout with wood preservative. When completed, a 25-ton tractor was moved over the floor without producing any deflation whatsoever.
A new type of scaffold assembly has been designed in Canada which utilizes metal corner brackets and metal clevises on uprights to support staging. Savings of 75 percent in erection and disassembly time, 90 percent in nails and transportation, and total recovery of lumber are claimed.
UNITED KINGDOM
A British firm has succeeded in producing joists from small scantlings in a way that permits saving of 10 percent of the timber normally required, but it includes the saving of 42 percent of imported timber. The actual construction of the joists is simple, but it should be mentioned that the vertical pieces are glued to the rebates with synthetic resin glue warranted to withstand moisture and all weather conditions. Tests, made by the Belfast College of Technology showed that the joists actually had the characteristics their manufacturers claimed and that a great part of each joist could be constructed from short offcuts of homegrown timber having otherwise only fuel value.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
At the University of Washington, Seattle, United States of America, Professor L. Grondal has been running some interesting experiments in order to find possible substitutes for western red cedar, Thuja plicata Donn, in shingle manufacture. He cut shingles from Pacific silver fir, Abies amabilis (Dougl.) Forb., dipping them in a solution of dimethanol urea to reduce the hygroscopicity of the wood. After being dyed, those shingles are said to take on the exact appearance of red cedar, the color extending completely through the wood. Research is also being undertaken to see if silver fir may be used as a substitute for Ponderosa pine for apple shook.
An experiment recently carried out showed that after a fiercely flaming blow lamp was directed for 20 minutes full on the surface of Canadian red cedar shingles, the shingles tended to stifle and kill rather than kindle a fire. The fact that they are light reduces also consequential damage from roof collapse. Besides, a cedar shingle roof, when properly fixed, cannot deteriorate by decomposition or decay; all that can happen is a gradual wear of the shingles, which in the United Kingdom would require almost 60 years. Tests also show that cedar shingles are 21 times more waterproof than ordinary clay tiles, and that a roof of these shingles offers a greater security against storms and gales. The saving in timber for roof structure for a shingle roof compared with a tile roof averages 40 percent. A shingle roof has also an attractive appearance and does not need repairs throughout its life.
According to Mr. Tyler S. Rogers, president of the Producers' Council, modular co-ordination has been actively sponsored in recent years by the Producers' Council and the American Institute of Architects The four-inch module which is basic to the entire project has been formally approved by the American Standards Association, and the dimensions of most masonry materials, of metal and wooden doors and windows, and of other products already are in production, with the result that the entire outer shell of masonry structures now can be constructed of materials whose dimensions have beer) co-ordinated. The Industry Engineered Houses, designed throughout on the modular basis, will account for a major part of savings anticipated in their building. The United States Department of Commerce has made a grant to the Modular Service Association to promote research on co-ordinated dimensions in the building trade arid to make available to the public more quickly modular materials which will permit important savings in both material and labor.
AUSTRALIA
The Australian oyster industry is finding great difficulty in obtaining suitable stakes for the cultivation of oysters. It is considered that the thinnings from the cypress pine forests, Callitris spp., might prove satisfactory, and 10,000 stakes have been delivered to the Division of Fisheries, Cronulla, for an extensive field trial. The demand of the oyster industry runs into some millions of sticks per year, and if the cypress pine proves satisfactory it will be possible profitably to thin the cypress pine forests and thereby perform a twofold service both to Australian forestry and the oyster industry.
Waste Utilization
AUSTRALIA
During the refitting of the 10,000-ton M.V. Wanganella a floor fill of considerable thickness was required during the erection of a deckhouse and the remodelling of two rooms into children's playhouses, in order to level off the deck plates before laying a linoleum mat. For these purposes a low density composition, combining resilience and sufficient strength to withstand any racking action in ship members caused by motion at sea. was demanded. It was established that sawdust cement, when carefully applied, could fulfill these requirements and, in addition, supply good sound and heat insulation for the crew quarters. In mixing and laying it, it was found that little variation from normal concrete procedure was necessary and that its cost compared favorably with other methods of overcoming the practical problems involved.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A process has been discovered and recently patented in the United States of America for making synthetic wood from cottonseed hull bran and a resinous composition, The method consists of forming a board from cottonseed hull bran by pulverizing the bran and mixing it with a resinous compound from pine wood. The resulting material is then subjected to heat and pressure until a homogenous board is produced. The resinous composition used in the process is extracted from wood with a coal tar hydrocarbon practically insoluble in petroleum hydrocarbon.
A woodbase plastic lighter than cork has been announced in the United States A "foamed" plastic, cellular cellulose acetate, it is so light that 4 cubic feet (0.11 m³) can be balanced on the fingertips with ease. Yet the strength factor approaches structural dimensions, and it is claimed that luggage made with the new material as a core will support a man's weight. It is said to combine remarkable structural strength with virtually the same insulation against heat and cold as cork, balsa wood and other rigid insulating materials.
A new plant which will produce a new type of fiber board in an amount equivalent to 70 million board feet (165,000 m³) of lumber is being constructed in the United States of America. The potential products to be made are structural insulating board and acoustic insulating board which require separate and different pulping processes. The goal to combine a preponderance of short fiber from Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia Britt., with longer fiber to produce soft board of higher than average strength, has been achieved on laboratory scale. Not only the immediate utilization of edgings, trimmings, and waste from sawmills and plywood plants is contemplated but also the eventual use of other forest materials, such as thinnings taken from new growth on farm wood lots, etc. It is claimed that the plant will provide 35 percent more payroll, 85 percent more man hours of work, 35 percent more usable material out of every 1,000 board feet (4.53 m³) of logo.
One of the American licensed producers of compressed logs has found, by use of a hot blast furnace and a system of cyclones, a means to reduce the moisture of the shavings and chips by 50 percent and to bring the moisture content down to the 6 to 10 percent required for the manufacture of the compressed log The entire procedure is one of fast continuous circulation through the hot and cold cyclone systems. The new method speeds up production, as the complete circulation is made in a matter of seconds.
A device has been developed for making lumber products from wood waste. The new product is obtained from lumber scraps - bark, limbs, sawdust, and other waste parts. It can be made into any wood item now being produced from wood itself. Plants are being built in Detroit and New England, and plans are being made for constructing factories in England, Australia, and South America.
A method has been devised of making profitable use of wood waste by converting it into wooden costume jewelry. An American furniture manufacturer, in fact, rigged up an old press in the shop which had not been used for years and began punching out the jewelry, which includes animal head pins. In addition he is using his ring machine to turn out hundreds of wooden bracelets. The only additional expense has been the purchase of a few dies.
The Oregon Forest Products Laboratory reports conversion of Ponderosa pine waste into a fine hardboard and hopes to perfect a commercially feasible process. The Laboratory says the present process will work only on a larger scale than is possible in the eastern Oregon pine country. A million dollar investment and an output of 50 tons a day would be required. The laboratory hopes to develop a smaller scale process which could be used by eastern Oregon mills.
A new use for pine shavings and sawdust has been found in the manufacturing of fire brick according to a report of the South Carolina State Forestry Commission. The shavings and sawdust are mixed with clay before the bricks are formed and when they are baked in the kilns the shavings and the sawdust burn out, leaving the brick intact but much lighter and just as useful because of the air cavities.
At the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, New York, a new process was discovered for manufacturing hard wallboard for panels, ceilings, furniture, ships' cabin bulkheads, etc., from a-raw material, consisting entirely of lingo-cellulose waste which preferably has been passed through a 1/8 inch (3 mm.) mesh screen or shavings, etc., preferably not exceeding 1/16 inch (1.6 mm.) in thickness with the addition of certain chemical plasticisers. These plasticisers cost about 35 cents per pound weight in the United States of America, but it appears that supplies could readily be produced in European countries where chemical factories exist. The process utilizes sawdust, wood shavings, chippings, cuttings, bark, etc. The cost of production largely depends upon the supply of labor and the extent of mechanization of handling appliances In America, it has been -found that, using wood waste purchased at U. S. $7.00 per ton, hard wallboards 3/16 inch (4.8 mm.) thickness, could be produced at a factory cost of less than U. S. $0.025 per square foot (U. S. $0.025 per 0.09 m²).
