Another Look at rhe Progress and Promise of MachineGradin!

Since the first axman squared a log into a rough beam, carpenters have been hefting the wood, scanning it with a knowing eye, and deciding then and there how true, and how strong, the wood was.

But very reoently, the machine has begun to get into the act. Last year, something over 1O0-million board feet of lumber for building was graded by the new method called machine stress testing. And Weyerhaeuser Co. announced that it had perfected a machine that measures the highly important moisture content of lumber quickly, accurately, and automatically. At the same time, researchers at Washington State University showed considerable optimism about the early stages of their search for an even more useful machineone that can accurately and directly measure two of the six generally accepted strength factors in a piece of lumber.

New Factors

The stir over machine testing has been increased by several factors that have worked to weaken the grip of visual grading. Cost is a prime consideration. In the old days when lumber was lavishly plentiful, and labor was cheap, it was no problem to allow the huge margin for safety that visual grading required. Now, lumb,er is more expensive, and it has to compete increasingly with steel, aluminum, and concrete, It's no longer economically feasible to give away extra inches in a 2x6.

Another difficulty has been that the elaborate standards that have grown up in visual grading have gotten too complicated. Says an observer: otThe grading system has become so involved and complicated over the years that few inside or outside the industry can claim to undersrand it all."

Variances

To make matters worse, recent experiments have cast doubts on the standard practice of assigning general characteristics of performance to whole species of lumber. It has appeared that variances are wider than was believed possible even within the same stand of trees or the individual tree.

Moreover, most of the standards have been based on Douglas fir. But prime Douglas fir now goes into plywood rather than dimension lumber. The other varieties of wood-formerly shunned-that take its place have further complicated grading procedures.

Despite its Promise Machines have Many Industry Detractors

A good many efforts are being made to bring visual grading up to date. Thus lum' ber can now b,e dried to predictable mois' ture levels; that means a thinner and stronger board, cornpared to a thicker and wetter one-hence one that is cheaper to ship. The Western Wood Products Assn', for one, has changed its grading rules this year to allow higher values on accurately dried wood.

It Has To Come

Despite all the efiorts, many lumber experts believe that the industry will have [o turn completely to things like machine stress testing, and perhaps eventually to other methods that may rbe still more accurate.

Two strength testing machines have been developed.

r The CLT-I, a $45,000 job developed by Potlatch Forests, Inc., and manufactured by Industrial Sciences, of Portland.

I The Stress-O-Matic, developed in PortIand by the old Western Pine Assn. and made by Industrial Woodworking Machine Co., Inc., of Garland, Tex. The basic machine costs around $13,000.

The machines differ in detail, but they do essentially the same things: they bend a board slightly to measure its elasticity, and from it deduce a second strength factor, called an o'F" rating. Then they print the rating on the rboard. The whole operation is very fast. The CLT-I handles 1,000 ft. of lumber a minute; the Stress-O-Matics take 400 ft. per minute.

Reprinted, lrom the Febrtnry 27, 1965 issue ol Business Week by special permission. Copyrighteil @ 1965 by McGrau-Hill, Inc.

The machines admittedly can arrive at only two of the six factors that determine the strength of wood, but these are the two factors most important in dimension (up to 2 in.) lumber. Larger sizes are not being run on the machines.

Last year, stress-tested lumber was only 4/o or 5/o oI total output, but this was its first big year. What's more, even that small percentage represents a lot of board feet in a $26-billion-plus industry' .FI[I.S

THE BIL['

The major users of machine-graded lumber are makers of trussed rafters and beams. Builders of large homes, schools, and some commercial buildings are taking very fast to stress-tested lumber. The chief engineer for Trus-Dek Corp., of Boise, a top maker of trusses, says stress-tested wood "fills the bill as no other lumber could." Trus-Dek uses a combination of visual grading and machine rating for its own quality control.

The Federal Housing Administration, as well as some local building codes, now permit use of smaller sizes of lumber when it has been stress tested. In many cases, these moves have simplified the codes.

Aiiractions

It's still hard to measure the basic at' tractiveness of stress testing to lumber producers. Current estimates indicate that machine grading gives producers a return a bit more than $I0 per I,0O0 ft. better than visual grading would yield on the same wood. Some believe yields can be bettercd 25/o.

But the machines have a long way to go. Only 17 are in use, by l0 difierent companies and in three experimental setups. Weyerhaeuser leads the parade with four machines and plans to install more.

Lumbermen who view the machines more dimly say they are at best in the Nlodel T stage-a view that even the enthusiasts tend to share. Where the groups difier is on the future. The non-enthusiasts say the big growth for machine grading is at least 10 years away. The sales manager of a company that already uses a machine differs sharply. He says it will rbe sooner, and that the demand for specific values in lumber will 'oforce adoption of a grading system based on machine grading." The pressure may come from designers, but some lumbermen believe that code authorities-such as FHA-will provide the first impetus.

PALC(]'S ON THE MOVE AGAIN!

Palco Architectural huality Bedwood Will Soon Be Availahle ln 0uantity!

Progress in repairing flood-damaged manufacturing facilities and replace' ment of inventory has been most gratifying. Northwestern Pacific Railroad estimates full service will be resumed in June, by which time we expect to be shipping at capacity. Our interim truck/rail shipment volume is increasing, and we are now entering orders for most of our products. All of us at Palco send our heartfelt thanks for the patience and understanding you have shown, and for your confidence in our ability to complete a major restoration of flood-damaged plant and products.

public wants in their home

What to look for to get those Big Ticket Flome Remod.ling Jobs

A ROOM ADDITION or a new home?

A SFange as it may sound, this is ex. actly the question that families start asking ttremselve about this time of the year.

It's not that they're restless after being cooped up all winter; it's just that they feel the need for expansion and more space-but donot want to go to the expense of buying a new home. For most of them the logical answer is staying where tley are and improving upon what tley have. In shorg after a brief scanning of current new house prices, tley're in the market for home improvenrent suggestions and remodeling ideas.

This preference for staying put and remodeling an existing home was brought to light recently in a study conducted by Better Homes and, Gardens magazine for the National Home Improvement Council. Questionaires were sent to five major metropolitan areas in the country to some 950 registrants at five home improvement schools sponsored by the council. Returns came in from 80 percent of those questioned.

Of the families questioned on why they preferred to remodel rather than move, most said they liked their present locations and the convenience to schools, shopping centers and the like. About 69 percent said they had plans for improving their homes within the next twelve months, and over half admitted they would like to do some of the work themselveseven though they would have a remodeling contractor do most of it.

Center of attraction for most home improvers, the study reveals, was the kitchen. Biggest complaint here was lack oI adequate counter space, followed closely by lack of well-arranged cabinet and storage space. Kitchenso it seems, are never big enough, th"y don't have exhaust fans, enough electrical outlets nor adequate lighting. Eating space, or rather the lack of iq was also listed as a major fault of existing kitchens.

When questioned as to what they would like to do about their kitchens, they gave priority to more cabinet and counter spacg better working arrangementsn more builtins and more spae€ for eating. New sinks and floor coverings were put high on the list of most wanted in the kitchen. Ironing and desk work were suggested as other possible activities for which space wast lacking in tle kitchen area. But the combined kitchen-dining room-they were not too keen about this.

Color preferences for kitchen built-ins were not as strong as the appliance manufacturers would like. Ody 43 percent said they preferred colors; the remainder said they would be content with white. Of those that did voice a preference for color, most wanted coppertone.

Wood was indicated as the favorite material for kitchen cabinets by a wide margin (86 percent), and full height wall cabinets were felt to be the answer to inadequate storage space. Wood's preference over steel or other material was because of the fact that it doesn't look as commercial -and it can be easily changed with paint.

Plastic laminate has long been the preferred material for kitchen counter tops, and in this study it still holds the number one spot. Ease of maintenanceo durability, beauty and design and color are reas,ons given, along with the fact that it's easy on dishes.

While family rooms and bedrooms got the biggest vote from those intending to solve their space problems with ailditions, kitchens and bathrooms were highest on the priority list for the home improvers. In battrrooms again the big problem was lack of space and inadequate storage. A vanity and/or lavatory would help solve the problem to some extent, the study reveals, and an ofi-the-floor water closet would help make cleaning easier.

On the adding of a half-bath, the con' sensus here was that it should be placed near the kitchen and utility room. Where should tle laundry be? In the basement, most families said.

Heating and cooling preferences were somewhat divided. Warm air heat, however, got a distinct vote of confidence, indicating that families were fairly well satisfied with the system they already had. Chief complaints were lack of even temperatures and the inability of zone-heat to warm difierent areas of the home. Most people had never heard of hydronic, or hot water heating, though they did favor the zoned system of heating and would pay extra to have it. ln view of the fact that the study did not take in families living in soutlern citieq cooling was not felt to be of major im. portance. Nevertheless, cooling was needed at least for bedroom areas ando to some extent, in the living room. When questioned as to the expenseo mo6t families €xpressed the opinion tlat central cooling was cheaper than individual room units. fu to the exterior material most deired for a house, brick got the biggest vote. This again indicates a regional preference and is hardly to be construed as having national significance. Stucco, wood siding, aluminum and asbestos also came in for favorable comment by some. fuphdt shingles led among roofing materials, with preferences being divided about equally between grey and white.

Patios ranked high among the respondents, with 64 percent indicating that they didn't have one. About half of these said they planned on building a patio or having one built. The reasons given were to afiord a place for informal entertaining and to provide a play area for the children.

Other preferences voiced in the study were for wall.to-wall carpeting over wood floors (69 per cent), sound-conditioned ceilings in the recreation room (59 percent), insulation added to wall (69 percent), and wood paneling in fac! got a 60 percent vote over plaster and other types of wall coverings for interior walls.

Because of the length of the questionnaire, a split sample was used. Half the questionnaire was mailed to half the families attending the schools; the other half was mailed to tle rembinder of the families in the survey group.