Announces Volume Production of New High-strength Hardtbard

u'ork, Armorbord in.the r/4" thickness is highly stable under changing moisture conditions and its physical properties exceed all minimum government specifications for standard hardboard.

The new board supplements other Anacortes panel products which total 70,000,000 sq. ft. annually. These include exterior and interior Douglas fir plywood in standarrl grades and extra long-length panels marketed under the name Armorbond. Anacortes also makes two grades o! plastic surfaced plywood widely known as Armoron--one for concrete forms and the other for building or re-manufacture where high paintability is required.

Anacortes is the first plyrvood plaht in the coLntry to get into commercial production of hardboard :ilthough several other plywood'minufacturers have pilot operations underway.

Volume production of a netv high strength irardboard panel with extreme flexibility and a wide range of uses in the building field has been announced by Anacortes Veneer, fnc., one of the largest worker-owned plywoud firms in the Pacific Northwest.

According to the company's announcement, laboratory tests on initial production show the pane! called Armorbord has a degree of shock resistance unparalleled in th.e board field. And it is so flexible, a strip of bcard %" thick can be bent into a tight circle about the size of a hatband without cracking the surface.

Manufactured in the firm's new $1,000,000 push-button hardboard plant at Anacortes, Wash.. the board is light tan with a hard satiny surface ideal for painting and highly resistant to wear. Already it is being used for a wide range of jobs in the industrial and building field.

According to H. W. McClary, general manager of the progressive 14-year-old firm, Armorbord is made in t/8,", 3/16", and t/4" thicknesses. It has most of the physical properties of a treated board but it is being marketed at prices competitive rvith standard hardboards through about 100 distributors already handling products of -A.nacortes Veneer and will be available to retail lumber dealeis throughout the nation.

"Volume production of hardboard," said McClarv, "fulfills a long-term objective of the company. It means that Anacortes Veneer can now offer a complete family of diversified products enabling us to supply cur customers with a wide range of panels to meet any specific end-use in the

' building and industrial field."

I\{cClary said that the board's unusual resistance to impact makes it ideal for such punishing iobs as crating and that its high flexibility means it will be ideal rvherever

' curved surfaces are required-from display fixtures to con- crete forms.

Also suitable for established applications in the building field, like underlayment for foors, wall paneling and cabinet

The move climaxes a forwardlooking three-year expansion program solidly backed by the firm's 7O owner-worlc: ers who have consistently supported industry research aimed at development of new products making nraximum utilization of raw material.

Manufattured under the unique new semi{ry process perfected and patented by the industry-backed Plyrvood Research Foundation, the new hardboard is made solely from solid old growth Douglas fir which accumulates in various forms in the plywood plant. This material includes log centers which remain after the logs have been "peeled" and solid veneer trimmings which cannot be used -for plywood.

These are chipped ihto small pieces of wood at'out the size of a man's thumbnail (they average !(" square). Then, after softening by steam, they are rrrechanically ground into tiny wood fiber bundles with brushed-out ends.

After blending with a small amount of resins and other additives, the fibers appear on a moving belt in the form of a deep, spongy blanket which is subsequently hot-pre.ssed into the final product.

Because of the non{irectional pattern of the fibers in the blanket or "felt" prior to pressing, they are bent over in the press forming tens of thousands of microscopic interlocking trusses. These in turn give the board its high elasticity and its unusually high impact resistance-

The entire process is automatic to this point. The only hand labor involved is that of feeding and unloading from trim saws and careful, systematic grading.

The automatic features of the semidry process cut production costs to the bone. And they permit precision quality control at every point in the production line. assuring uniformity of physical properties in every sheet.

Harry \lllhite, Los Angeles wholesale lumber dealer,.left for the Pacific Northwest on December 17. He will spend the Christmas holidays in Everett, Wash., and will return to Los Angeles after the holidays.