Some Factors Affecting The Manufacture Of \7hite Fir Lumber In The Calilornia Pine Region

Bv E. M. Davis, Technologist, and R. H. P. Miller, Engineer Forest Products Laboratory, I Forest Service, U. S. Department oI Agriculture

The question of how to convert white fir into lurnber most economically is one of growing importance to the California lumber industry. True firs2 now comprise 20 per cent of the remaining sawtimber in California, as compared with 15 per cent in Washington and 6 per cent in Oregon. Lumber is the principal use of white fir in California, which produces about two-thirds of the total white fir lumber cut. Some use for pulp. promises to develop in California shortly, but the geography of the State is unfavorable to a pulp industry of such large proportions as is possible in Washington and Oregon. fn those States. pulp consumes more white fir than lumber does, whilc their combined cut of white fir lumber is only about onefifth that of California. The "white fir problem" is, therefore, more acute in California than elservhere on the \\rest Coast.

Ponderosa pine is necessarily involved in any discussion of the utilization of white fir in California. In much of the Sierra Nevada region the trvo trees grorv side b1' side, and practically all sawmills of any size log and mill a mixture of both species. Trvo large uses, containers and yard lumber, are common to both species. Producers and consumers are continually cornparing the two in one respect or another. The mills, however, remain primarily pine mills, for only in exceptional instances does u'hite fir comprise as much as one-third of the cut. For all these reasons, completely divorcing rvhite fir and ponclerosa pinc is impractical. The mixture of u'oods found in the California Sierra Nevada includes still other species, such as Douglas-fir, incense-cedar, and California red fir3 (Abies magnifica), but at present these are less of a problem than white fir, and they are merely mentioned in passing.

From the very beginning of commercial luml>ering irr California, ponderosa pine has been overcut as comparecl r,vith white fir. Today California has about 75 per cent as much saw-timber in white fir and red fir combined as irr ponderosa pine. But for the 25 years ending in 1944 the cut of white fir never exceeded 3l per cent of the ponderosa pine cut, and averaged only 17 per cent. The exact cut of California red fir during this period is not known, but it is too small to change the picture appreciably.

In the future, large-scale lumbering in California rvill depend much more on r.vhite fir than in the past for tr,vo reasons: (l) There is much less pine to drarv on than 'Maintained at Madison of Wisconsin.

tSeveral species of true fir (as distinguished from Douglas-fir) grow on the West Coast. But this article is concerned orrly with tllose truc 6rs that are sold as commercial white fir in California. By far the greater part of this consists of Abies concolor from the Sierra Nevada and the remainder is practically all Abies grandis from the redwoqd region. "White fir" as used in this article nreans commercial wbite fir.

formerly, because at least 25 billion feet of the best ponderosa pine have been cut since 1900. (2) Timber on old logged-over areas today often contains trvo or three times as large a proportion of white fir as the original stand contained and sometimes consists largely of white fir.

It follows that more thought must be given to the most suitable equipment for sarving it and to the best sarving techniclue if white fir is to contribute its maximum value.

One of the unknowns that complicate the u'hite fir problen-r is the duration of the present sellers' market. Since California normally produces only enough fruit and vegetable shook to meet tu,o-thirds of its ou'n requirements, one large market seems assured for the present at Least. It may, horvever, lte different with vard lumber. Although today any lumber sells itself almost regardless of grade or seasoning, the time may not be far distant rl'hen rvhite fir rvill begin to meet real competition from preferred u'oods or other materials, or both. Experience cluring the depression years of the thirties illustrates rvhat can happen to u'hite fir vvhen buyers are able to pick ancl choose. By 1932, r'vhite fir output had fallen off about seven-eighths from the previous high of 1926. During the same )'ears, ponderosa pine production droppecl only- a little more than one-l.ralf.

In order that u.hite fir ma'r' be in as favorable a position as possible if and when der-nand again slackens, it must be uranufactured as economically and as u'ell as possible, and 'rvhat good qualities it has must be capitalized. This article is concerned only n'ith manufacture. \\-hile therc are possibilities of future chemical utilization, for the prescnt, at least, lumber remains the big outlet for l'hite fir in California.

In the California pine region the typical band mill as lruilt some 25 or 30 years ago u'as designed and equipped for sau'ing for grade. With many of the large ponderosa pine logs, this meant san'ing the Selects frorn all four sides, then san,ing the Shop from all four sides, and finally sarvirrg the Common and Box grades from the central part of the log. In the course of all this, the log was usually turneil again and again on the carriage. While this method makes thc most of the difierent qualities of lumber in the 1og, it is not conducive to maximum speed of production. White fir logs, hou'ever, run nlore largely to Common, arrd prices :rre lou'er than for corresponding lumber grades in pinc. Fast production is, therefore, rnore important tharr in pine,

Future san mill operations ir-r the California pine region u'ill be smaller than those of the past. This trend is already cvident. About trvo-thirds of the mills n'ith a daily capacity in excess of. l00M board feet that rl'ere operating

2O years ago have since cut out. The number of mills of this size remains fairly constant, but the nerv mills average only about one-half as large as the mills that closed. Most of these nen' mills that handle white fir have about 100M daily capacity, and none exceeds 200M. As far as netv construction is concerned, the day of the mill sau'ing more than 200M appears to be done. The size of the ne*'er mills is more in keeping with sustained-yield principles and rvith the size of the timber tracts that remain.

Some significant changes in sa.rving equipment may be noted here and there in the California pine region. T.rvothirds of the pine mills of 100N{ daily capacity or rnore still rely on the headsaw exclusively for breaking don'n the log. This is not surprising since (rvith one exception) trvo-thirds or more of tl-re lumber satved by these mills continues to be pine. A few sarvmills had resarvs 20 years ago, and only a small increase in their use (in sarvmills, not in planing mills or box factories) may be noted. The few gang saws in use are all found in some of the newer mills. This trend to.rvard increased use of gangs and resarvs is logical enough. It probably results largelv from the smaller average size of timber toda,v and from increased cutting of second-choice species, chiefly rvhite fir. It ma1' reasonably be expected to continue.

The question naturally arises : "\\r-hat is the most economical means of converting California rvhite fir into lumber?" Probably ths anslver is not definitelv knon'r.r. There are, however. certain types of mills that promise some advantages over the tvpical California sa.n'mill. The object of this paper is to present sor-ne ideas or.r the subject in order to stimulate thought and discussion.

The comparisons that follou. arc ltased on mill outl>ut per man-dav. Since the size and po\ver of a sau-nrill machine may be fully as important as tl-re design, care \\-as taken to see that the mills in question l'ere fully aclecluatc in both respects. An exact comparisor.r of sau'mill efficiency requires that the mills in question sarv logs of the same size and quality ir-rto lumber of the same sizes. Since mills usually differ rrore or less in these respects, sorne mathematical adjustments are required to put them on a uniform basis. Because of this and other variables, the comparisons should be considered as only approximate.

'Most of the work was done in Washington and Oregon becausc there have recently been numerous ne* developmentJ in lumber manufacture in those States, particularly in the imaller mills. Althougir the timber is quite different f iom that of the California Sierra, it was hoped that some of the nelv develorrrnents woulrl apply to white fir in Caliiornia.

Studies made at mills in Washington, Oregon,a and California indicate that the three following combinations of equipment are about on a par as far as production per man is concerned: (1) the band headsaw and resaw, (2) the band headsarv and American gang, (3) the log gang and resaw. Which is rnost suitable in a given instance tvould depend on the character of the local timber and on the kind of lumber in rvhich the mill proposes to specialize. The output of the headsaw and pony rig combination or of the band headsaw alone appears to be somervhat below the three above combinations rvhen adjustments are made to put all outputs on a uniform size basis.

Output n'ill necessarily vary with the size of the timber, and the proportions ol 1/4, 8/4, and thicker lumber that are made. With.small to medium Washington and Oregon fir logs and typical lumber sizes, mills of the above types have been found to sarv about 100M or somervhat more per day l,ith a mill crew of about 20 men. This includes filer, foreman, rnillrvright, and fireman, but does not include men rvorking at the pond or on the green chain.

If flexibilitv is desirable, as in an operation combining pine and a good proportion of rvhite fir, a band headsar,v is necessary. It rvill permit sayl'ing high-quality pine logs for grade, it u'ill saw any size of lumber that the size of the log allorvs, ancl it u,ill, of corlrse, break dorvn the log into sizes that secondary saws can l-randle.' To get production especially in 4/4 andS/4 sizes, a resa\v or an American gang is necessary in addition to the band headsau'. \\rhichever is chosen should be large enough and u'ell enough powered to do its job adequatelv. The third combination, log gang and resarv, is less flexible and more suitable for logs tl.rat contain little lumber other than Comtnon. Output r,r'ould probably suffer more rvith this combination than n'ith either of the otl-rer tu'o if the logs run too small. It u'ould probably be more suitable to a pure rvhite fir operation than to n.rixed pine and t'hite fir. The log gang and resa\\r might be used for n,hite fir onlr' rvhere almost all the pine has been removed in previous logging, or as part of one. of the ferv very large operations. In the latter case, it might be a separate rnill for rvhich the rvhite fir logs rvould be sorted out or it might be the t'hite fir side of a mill rvith t'ivo or more headsarvs.

A number of companies in Washington and Oregon have found it practical to use small mills in the woods to follor,v up regular logging operations and salvage usable material from small and defective trees and logs. llo rvhat extent

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Some Factors Affecting The Manufacture Of \fhite Fir Lumber

" (uontinued from Page 33) this practice might rvork rvith rvhite fir in California is not knorvn, but the idea deserves consideration.

In some instances in Washington and Oregon as much as 16M board feet per acre of salvageable material has been found remaining after earlier logging. Several types of small mills have been used, but they all conform to the general practice of sawing the log largely into small cants rvhich pass through remanufacturing plants on their way to the consumer. A truckload of such cants will saw out about trvice as much lumber as a truck loid of the sort of logs that produce them. Small mills of standard design are used to some extent on relogging jobs. Typically these are able to handle logs up to 16 feet long, but may be handicapped in handling large-diameter logs of that length. They are not so readily portable as some other types, a fact that limits their use somervhat.

One type of mill being developed especially for salvage jobs in the u'oods is mounted on large skids for ready portability. It is intended for logs that are too short or too defectivb to manufacture profrtably u'ith standard ecluipment. Logs can be sawed up to 5 feet in diameter but not more than 8 feet or l0 feet in length. Possibly such a mill might be used to reclaim much material from defective butt logs of old, over-mature 'n'hite fir, leaving the better logs to be transported to the mill in their entirety.

Still another type of mill norv coming to the front in Washington and Oregon is a portable mill designed for the rapid sar'ving of 8- and lO-foot logs as small as 8 inches in diameter. A similar mill might possibly prove useful for small n'hite fir or for sarving thinnings from overcroln'ded stands.

It seems quite possible that within the near future the economics of thc situation will justify the construction of a ferv California mills specializing in white fir. In such mills rvhite fir would be the only or at least the chief rvood sarved instead of being merely the tail to the ponderosa pine kite, as is nearly ahvays the case now. These specialty mills rvould be designed to saw the white fir log in the most effrcient rvay. Since white fir would be the main issue rather than a side line, due consideration 'ivould be given to salving for grade, to the seasoning requirements of the wood, and to the most appropriate uses. One mill might 'rvell cater to the box trade and another to the yard trade, depending on circumstances.

The cupping and checking tendencies of the 'rvood could be minimized by sawing narro\\r rvidths and edge-grain lumber just as far as practical. Such measures would probably serve to get considerably more Select lumber from the fir log than is usually obtained. Suitability of white fir Selects for certain uses in millwork has already been demonstrated, and such uses might be expanded. If production of white fir shop lumber is at all feasible, it would probably be made by gang-sawing 5- and 6-inch cants into door-style rvidths rather than by making rvide random-u'idth plank as in ponderosa pine.

The tn'o chief prospective uses appear to continue to be containers and yard lumber. Nluch white fir lumber has been (and still is) sold green. The objections are too rvell kno'n'n to need repetition. On the other hand, at certain seasons, rvhite fir lumber often dries to a lower point than necessary for containers or yard lumber. This results in a needless amount of seasoning degrade. Keeping the use in mind, the white fir specialty mill would avoid both seasoning extremes just as far as practical. Serious objections to s.hite fir yard lumber could be overcome by seasoning it to a reasonable degree of dryness and by making it full size or possibly even a little oversize.

\\rith attention to such details as the foregoing, the industry can in all probability look foru'ard to a time l,vhen white fir u'ill seli on its or,vn merits instead of being a stepchild of the California pine industry.

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