Handling, seasoning and drying

by James T. Summerlin Manuger lunrbcr dept. Robcrt S. Osgood, lnc. Los Ange'les, Ca.

Part One

ltl IO YOU ever wonder whar hap- l/ pened to thar nice flat. straighr. expensive, irnported lunrber that you turned over to your friendly kiln drying "expert" that canre out looking like rejects frorn a spaghetti factory?

Well, that's what I would like to discuss here, for I feel that the proper handling, seasoning and drying of irnported lumber are rnost important and yet often neglected. Sontetinres I'nr shocked at how lightly some irnporters treat the drying of their expensive products.

I would venture a guess tlrat there are literally hundreds of tlrousands of board feet of fine itnported hardwoods ruined every year due to careless handling. Worse yet, there are many valuable species that could have nicely served the requirernents of many. if only they had been properly processed during their initial introduction into the nrarket.

Look at sorne of the problenrs that had to be overcome with such popular woods as ranrin, jelutong, linrba, obeche, banak and, naturally, tropical walnut. Thank goodness, there were men who took the tinre and effort to study and investigate the particular seasoning characteristics of these woods in order to convert them into a usable, marketable form.

You say what can I do as an importer? I have no kiln drying experiThis article is excerpted from a talk b.t' Jittt Summerlin at the most rect'nt artttual mectirtg ol the Irnported llardtt'ot.td Pnstlttcts Associatiort cd.

ence, that's why I have Joe dowu tlte street do my drying or Juan overseas. Here's our first mistake. How do you know that "Joe" can properly prepare and kiln dry the species you're irnporting, especially if it's a newly

Story at a Glance

Some basics on handling and drying hardwoods . . . included are information sources, stacking and stickers, stock storage, drying techniques and terminology, humidity and temperature control. Part one introduced wood? To begin with, you can do a nrinirnal of research to find out about the procedures recomrrtended for the wood you need dried. You would be surprised at how nruch inforntation is available florn organizations such as the Forest Ploducts Laboratory, the Tropical Tirnber Infornration Center and cornpanies supplying kiln drying equipnrent such as the Moore people and many of the old established firms which have been in the business for generations.

Stickers should be made fronr thoroughly kiln dried stock in order to lessen the chanCe of sticker stain. The importance of vertical alignnrent througlrout the packs can't be etttphasized enough. This operation nced not be expensive, very economical wooden guides can be constructed to do the iob successfullv.

There are countless publications to draw from such as the "Dry Kiln Operators Manuol" published by the Forest Products Laboratory, "Suggested Kiln Schedules for Foreign lloods" by McMillan and Bois, and the "British Handbook of Hardwoods ", just to nalne a few. All of these sources can give you the benefit of past experiences that can help to put your product in the most usable form.

Besides research, it is possible to just logically evaluate tl.re prospects of good quality drying fronr your potential source whether it be your own kilns, a domestic custom drying service or a foreign installation. You need not be a technician to accomplish this.

Begin your evaluation by walking through the facilities of a potential source. How is the general housekeeping? Is tl.re ground cluttered with debris, old stickers etc? Do piles of lurnber look like they were stacked by dropping thenr fronr a helicopter? lf all these questions are answered in the positive, chances are this isn't the place to have your three thousand dollar rosewood dried.

What about stacking? A good portion of degrading and waste that occurs during kiln drying actually results from poor stacking. A well run operation should at least sort by species, thickness, length, moisture content and sometimes by grade, grain and even heartwood or sapwood. Careful selection and sticker use is required in order to help reduce warpage and aid fast, uniform drying. Not only are strong stickers of uniform thickness vital, but the proper location, spacing and alignment are as well.

(Continued next month)

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Redwood Land Grab

Mr. Dave Cutler

The Merchan t Magazine

4500 Campus Drive, Suite 476 Newport Beach, Cal. 92660 editorial "lt Cun't on target and most

Dear Dave: Your June Itrart" was right tinrely.

I was in Washington, D.C. Irecentlyl and I can vigorously attest to the urgent need to inundate the IIouse and Senate with letters front concerned citizens protesting the proposed expansion of Redwood National Park and other major land withdrawal proposals now being considered by Congress.

Keep up the good work and keep up urging your readers to write today !

Sincerely,

Bill Walsh

Senior Vice President and chief administrative officer

Arcata National

2750 Sand llill Rd. Menlo Park, Ca. 94025

We Cannot Bow

The Redwood Park issue is critical because it will be the f irst test of the 95th (iongress on their direction regarding withdrawal of commercial lorcslland l'rom production -now or in the future. Redwood National Park expansion is not justified as to its proposed scope (48,000 acres of private land) and cost (S359 million for land and timber alone by Department of Interior estimates). nor in terms of environmental improvement.

At stake, in addition to the high cost in federal funds, are about 2,200 johs and thc cconornic well-being ol' llunrboldt and Dcl Norte Counties o1' California, ancl highcr costs of wood products.'Ihe latter is particularly rpparent when Redwood National Park is considcred along with the enornlous acrcage of tinrbcrland at stake in the various wilderness bills now belirre the ('ongress.

We cannot continrte to bow to preservationist demands to rcmove more and nrore of Anterica's bountiful rcsoulccs I'ronr usc and still re tain our high standard ol living. Of all resourccs, wood should be utilizcd for shelter, paper. clothing, chemicals, packaging and other necds because tt is renewable.

I conrmend you Ior Jhis editorial, and reinforce your belief that letters count. My strong feeling is that letters and other contacts lrom constltuents may be the only way to off-set the pressure of the "nogrowth" advocates.

G. L. Oswald Presid ent

Simpson Timbcr ('ont pany 900 Fourth Ave. Seattle, Wa. 98164

An Education Job

Regard your editorial "lt ('an't Wait" on the proposed expansion of Redwood National Park.

Redwoods are described in superlatives: tallest, straightest, biggest, most preserved, ntost controversial. Say the word and people get emotional.

Thosc of us who live and work here know the tree's ability to sprout, grow fast, reforest a hillside in a few short years. There would be no public outcry to expand the park if PeoPle knew the facts. Our job then, is one of education. Your editorial is an excellent example to infornr readers of the large scale preservationist movement to needlessly take more land for parks and wllderness.

I hope your call for letters to our government officials is heeded. Sincerely,

Fred C. Holmes General Manager Northern ('alifornia

I note your editorial with respect to the redwood park and the Alaska land grab. I don't think you can hammer away enough at getting people to express their opposition to these types of proposals.

Secretary of lnterior Andrus is trying to grab a 35 acre parcel belonging to Arcata National on which the State Forestry Department has already approved a logging plan. The 'Save The Re<lwoods League" put up a million dollars in federal court to make the seizure possible. Arcata tells us that their evaluation is between four and Ilve million on this tract. Furthcr, this particular 35 acres is not adjoining the I 968 park or any other presently reserved area, nor is it visible front llighway l0l. (Since this was written, the feds did indeed grab the 35 ucre parcel ed.)

It is this kind of activity that is scary and unless we apply pressure in all directions and from all quarters, I think the country is in deep trouble.

Clark R. Gittings

Gittings Lumber Co., Inc.

P.O. Box 16363 Denver, Co. 80216

Protest The Park

I wouldn't be surpriscd if in recent days Congress has becn 1'looded with letters protesting proposals to expand Redwood National I'ark and to reduce the nation's timber basc by crcation ot' additional wilderness areas. I'd be even lcss surprised if lhesc lt'tlcrs were front your readers.

You couldn't have put it better when you said (in your June issue), ". the only reason the environmentalists are as successful as they are is because they write and we seldom do ." Why give our represe ntatives in Washington an excuse for ignoring us by failing to tell them in the clearest terms what we think?

Like I said, you said it best!

Div.

Bruce S. Trachtenberg Communications Coordinator

(ieorgia-Pacific

(iorp. 90 West Redwood Ave. Fort

Bragg,

Ca.95437

Louisiana-Pacific Co rp.

1300 S.W. Fifth Ave. Portland; Or. 97201

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