Stockton Box's Mill and Remanufacture Plant is a Marvel of Modern Efficiency

in the lumber and wooden box industry was worthy of a chance of going into business on their own.

In l9I0 Horace Tarter borrowed a couple of thousand dollars from his widowed mother and asked his friend, Bert Webster, who had worked with him in various parts of Cali{ornia to join him as a partner. Bert's mother, also widowed, had so much confidence in her son she placed a mortgage on her home {or a like amount and loaned him the money to start in business. This meager capital, a crew of eight men and an old railroad roundhouse were the beginning of the Stockton Box Company.

A few years later W'alter S. Johnson joined these two gentlemen and the concern became know as Tarter, 'Webster & Johnson and from this stemmed, as the years went by, the present-day American Forest Products Corporation.

From this modest beginning grew one of California's largest industries. This growing wasn't just happenstance though. The original founders knew they had to buck tough competition. Among them they formed a policy that was to be a winning combination. This policy was

(l) a well made product,

(2) fairly priced and

(3) customer service way beyond the usual

This simple and basic policy brought satisfied customers and throueh the last 55 vears the Stockton Box Company has never deviated from this theme. In fact the same policy is still the byword of the American Forest Products Corporation through its two sales divisions, the Amer' ican Box Corporation (wooden and cor' rugated containers and plastics) and Tarter, W'ebster & Johnson (lumber, plywood and lumber specialty items).

'Ihe new plant was in the planning stage for more than lB months. During this time Stan Starkey, Bill Williams and Jim Fechner spent considerable time traveling and researching the methods and equipment of other large and modern woodworking plants in the nation.

Most of the department foremen: A. A. Gehrman, moulding foreman; Lloyd Paxson, cutting and ripping department foreman; Daniel Turner, detail department foreman; Paul Turner, assistant plant superintendent-millwork division and James Cox, maintenance and machine shop foreman also inspected other plants throughout the country in search of mod. ern ideas. To this mass o{ woodworking information they added their own years of practical experience. All oi this preparatory planning is evident by the innovations and flow pattern of the new plant.

Rough" kiln-dried lumher is brought in from the sawmills in units and put through the automatic stacker to be stickered three days ahead of the plant's requirements.

From the stacl-er the lumber eoes to the dry kilns for conditioning. T[is second trip to the kilns is done to relieve drying stresses and to bring all lumber entering the plant to a uniform moisture content. This improves workability as well as in.

Stockton plant. This is the result of careful advance planning in the placement of machint'ry for a predetermined flow pattern, the conveyorized lines and the novel method of lumber and stock handline which even include l seven and one-ha[ ton Cyclops, B0.foot span bridge crane. All lumber entering the plant, excluding that to be made into mouldings, goes through the planer onto a "ot v"yor otr its way to the rip saws. At the end of this (Continu.ed on Page 84) suring the most stability possible in the finished products. The conditioned lumber is immediately moved from the dry kilns through the planer into the closed, climatic. alll'-controlled plant. From here the lumlrer" as it is being worked, never lear.e-" the plant until it js loaded in the cars for shipment.

THREE l08S lN l)NE oass are done by the Greenlee precrsron lenoner seen In this closeup. Here it is cross dadoing furniture parts and equalizing two edges. Machine is capable of a wide variety of detail finishes.

Twlll BAI{ll RIPSAWS that cut the moulding stock to the desired widths. Despite the conveyor line and a large number of machines and palletized stock in various stases of manufacture, the ol-ant is well-ordered and unc luttered.

Other innovations are:

(1) A flow pattern of material throug.h the plant:

(2) the shadow-line table and the clcctrically operated multiple uang rip sar,r.:

(3) the conveyorized cut-off line and

(4) the automatic length sorter.

The usual confusion in most woodworking plants is noticeabl,v lacking in the lilEtt LIGHTED AND neat and tidy is the tenoners and detail deoartment. lt is in this area of the huge plant that the stock is dadoed, patterned and the edge and end trimmed for use in furniture and other millwork.