More Boards and Dimension Through Custom Milling

T. Titus, Executive Secretary, Pacific Lumber Remanufacturers Association Bv R.

Milling in transit, unknown to many retail lumbermen in yeals past, has recently d.veloped into an imPortant phase of lumber production. The reason is obvious to anyone who will analyze the cur: rent supply situation, comPlicated as it is by the interference of numerous governmental regulations with the normal processes of lumber production and distribution.

In 'spite of rePeated efforts of bureaucrats to substitute a planned economy for the old law of supply and demand, we find that in times like these, when there are two customers waiting for every stick of lumber, manufacturers, distributors and builders alike are racking their brains to devise ways and means of increasing the supply of badly needed construction lumber. One solution is to break down into boards, dimension and other housebuilding items, large sizes lvhich are normally sold as timbers or cants, both for domestic use and export. This is where milling-in-transit enters the picture.

Today in all lumber producing regions there are iarge numbers of smal.l sawmills, some of them of the "teakettle" or-"peckerwood" variety, cutting as little as 10 M feet of lumber per day or less. Most of these mills are equipped with circular headsaws which serve very well in squaring the logs and producing large timbers. Many of these plants lack edgers and resaws and practically none are equipped to further refine their product by dressing, running to pattern or drying. The combined production of these sarv mills is considerable, but rough green timbers are of little use in the construction of homes. The natural solution is to have this material resawn and finished to usable sizes in other plants equipped with all the facilities for turning out wellmanufactured items for which the demand presently exceeds the supply available from the larger mills.

On the West Coast, many of the mills, especially those on tidewater, have customarily engaged in the production of timbers and heavy plank for export or other water shipment. They have neither resaws nor gang saws hence are not equipped to manufacture It' and 7' lumber economically. The producing industry today c4nnot begin to meet the demand for small sizes and custom mills are being called upon to remanufacture the large sizes most sawmills must produce to maintain maximum output and also to bring into use for home building, the product of small mills without any kind of planing equipment.

It is estimated that there are approximately 100 concerns in the Western States engaged in this type of remanufacturing on a custom basis, under the provisions and price regulations of R1\{PR-539, established by the Office of Price Administration, A custom mill is defined by OPA as an establishment which performs custom milling services upon lumber in which it has no financial interest, and u'hich does not operate or have a financial interest in a mill which produces lumber, a wholesaler or commission merchant of lumber or a concentration 1'214 which processes lumber. If it cannot meet this test a plant may apply to OPA for authority to operate as a custom mill but authorizatiori is granted only u'hen OPA is convinced that this will result in greater production of surfaced boards or kiln dried lumber; u'ill not encourage sawmills having remanufacturing and kiln drying facilities to ship their lumber g'reen, rough or thicker than 1"; will provide necessary milling services which cannot otherwise be reasonably supplied and will not result in unnecessarily increasing the cost of finished lumber to the ultimate consumer.

Many of the manufacturing plants have been engaged in custom drying and milling for 20 years or more. Others were planned as concentration yards in areas where numbers of small mills have sprung up. In addition, a few regular sawmills have engaged in custom milling and drying

, when their supplies of logs have been shut ofi for one reason or another. Some of the plants are planing mills only, without facilities for resawing or kiln drying. A few are engaged in kiln drying only, while the majority are set up to resavr, surface and otherwise remanufacture lumber to meet the individual needs of their customers.

Ifow can a retail dealer best use the services of a custom mill in producing boards and dimension from larger sizes? In the first place, it should be borne in mind that two entirely separate transactions are involved, (1) purchase of lumber from the producing mill, or wholesaler; (2) purchase of remanufacturing services from the custom mill. The latter has nothing to do with the former. The custom mill has no interest in nor control over the price, quantity or condition of the stock received from the sawmill and it remills the stock into the sizes and patterns ordered by the customer. Remilling charges are based upon the inbound piece tally and if this is not reasonably acSurate, the customer may be charged 5Oc per M ft. BM for tallying.

: Sinie the customer seldom sees the stock before it is remilled, it is suggested that he order it grademarked or certificated by a responsible agency. For a charge of only $1 per M ft. BM the customer may also order the lumber , graded, marked and t;llied after remilling and this practice is recommended by custom mills generally. This eliminates the necessity for grading the stock upon arrival in customer's yard and it also provides a rough check upon the shrinkage in footage and change in grade which mav he expected in remilling stcrck of various gracles and dimensions.

,. It should be obvious, however; that the grade of the lumber after remilling is generally not the same as the grade of the original planks or timbers before remanufacture. Knots or other characteristics permissible in a No. I timber, for example; may reduce some of the Zx4,s produced from it to No. 2 grade. Similarly some of the smaller sizbs may be of a higher grade than was the original , piece. Neither the producing mill nor the custom plant has ,any responsibility for change in grade due to remilling of the customer's stock.

Usually customers order stock remanufactured into specific sizes and the custom mill operator has no choice in the matter, although he may feel certain that when low-grade fimbers are resawn into boards, for example, a percentage of the resultant pieceq will not be of merchantable qual- ity. If his expectatiohs are fulfilled what is he to do with the cull lumber? If he does not ship it, the customer may claim a shortage; if he does put it into the car, the customer pays freight on useless material. Perhaps if he had been allowed to use his own judgment in remilling, the operator of the custom plant would have been able to make some boards and produce. dimension of usable quality from the remainder. ft is recommended, therefore, that the customer request the transit mill to produce the maximum of whatever size is desired but to use its own judgment in remilling pieces of questionable quality. Customers also should, give remanufacturer specific instructions regarding disposition of shims; broken pieces and stock of no merchantable value developed in remilling.

For Western Softwoods, remilled or kiln dried anywhere in the United States, except in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minn'esota, fowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, the charges and regulations are established hy RMPR-539 issued Uy ihe Office of Price Administration. In these 12 states RMPR539 C applies. Invoices from custom mills must show the species, size conditions and workings of the lumber before and after milling, with a detailed description of all services for which a charge is made.

While custom milling does not add to the total footage of lumber produced, it is estimated that the one hundred or more remilling plants in the Western States process into boards and dimension not less than 100 million feet each month which otherwise would be marketed in sizes I not suited for general construction. Lumber for 1e000 houses each month is "not to be sneezed at, in these days when the country is faced with a severe shortage of homes.

The important point to remember in transit milling transactions is that the custom plant is merely a machine through which passes lumber already the property of the custo_ mer, en route from sarvmill to retail yard, industrial plant or building site. The custom mill has nothing to sell ex-' cept service. Without this service, many retail yards would receive far less lumber. When production and demand ap_ proach the normal level, and when price control is eliminated, re-milling on a custom basis will probably decline, but the same plants will ,undoubtedly continue to serve the small mills much as they now do. the purchasers of lumber.

Smafl Home Builders Save 400 Feet ol Lumber Per House With New Rafter

Washington, D. C., June 24.-A new type trussed ra{ter that saves up to 400 feet of lumber in a 2-bedroom house is now being used in 314 veterans' houses under construction, has been specified in 403 more, and is now under construction by builders for an additional 2,100 units. Inquiries from architects and engineers for copies of the design have reached 75 a rveek. The Timber Engineering Company, developers of the design, predicts its quick adoption in all parts of the country.

The rafter has only four basic members plus tr'vo scabs' There are no right or left-hand members. The, rafters can be fabricated at job site or in a shop. A rninimum of equipment consisting of a cut-ofi savi' and a portable or stationary drill and four simple patterns is all that is required. Experienced labor is unnecessary. There is no complicated notching, no spiking which eliminates possible splitting' Ring grooves and bolt holes are cut in one operation. Pro' duction line methods can be employed. It is adaptable to both single and multiple housing units.

Through {hese rafters as much as 400 feet of lumber can be saved in a 2-bedroom house by eliminating heavy bearing partitions and using non-bearing partitions strch as light studs. There is less rvaste by pre-cutting and ridge board is eliminated.

Rafters preassembled on the ground are erected as a unit thus giving faster erection and affording interiors quicker protection from weather. A movable jig table means laster assembly. Rafters for one four-room house can be assembled by tu'o men in an hour. There is no shimming or fitting due to inaccurate hand framing.

With standardized exterior walls, roof and ceiling, an1' interior layout can be developed. The designer does not have to build rooms around bearing partitions as the partitions can be placed anywhere without regard to ceiling framing. This flexibility makes it possible to provide 3, 4, 5 or 6room houses with the economy of standardized structural frame work. Prefabricated storage wall units will increase storage space in small homes without the expense oI on-the-job framing of closets. They form partitions but are moved into place after plastering.

Timber Engineering Company has mailed the rafter design to 14,600 architects, engineers, F'H'A' architects and

From Hill To Hill

Over the road of a thousand curves' Where drivers have need of unshakable nerves, The lumber trucks go rumbling down From Brandy CitY to Stockton town' Where the logs of cedar and sugar pine Are made'into timbers strong and fine And used in building, as wb shall see The s.turdy structures that are to be'

They have u'idened the road of a thousand curves But your heart still jumps when your vehicle swerves' ' But there are times in the after glolr', Wheri tr dream of the colorful long ago; A cloud of red dust seems to rise, Mounting-up to the western skies, And a long mule train'goes jingling by' Where the duskl' shadows of sunset lie'

The whine of a lllack snake I seem to hear And the fervid speech of a muleteer, Telling his mules-but it rvouldn't do To repeat his words to people like you' The mule teams swerve as the trucks do now, As they twist round the curves on the mountain's brow,

And the mountains give, as they gave of old, The wealth of the forests, the deep mine's gold'

Over the road o[ a thousand curves' Where one speaks his mind with polite reserves' The lumber trucks go roaring down To the lumber mills in Stockton torvn'

And little towns of the Pioneers

Are glad with the gladness of former years' For the wealth of a mine or a wooded hill Are serving the state and the nation still' -A. Merriam Conner housing men throughout the country' Retail lumber dealers may receive a copy of the rafter design upon request' Timber fabricators located in all sections of the country are equipped to produce rafters on a mass production basis'

Sawmill News

Oregon Woodwork Co., Ltd., and Portland, Ore., have purchased the Co. at Forbestbwn, Calif.

Kenneth Kast, Los Angeles, will locate a sawmill in Toe Brite Canyon, near Tehachapi, Calif.

The Hawkins Biothers' sawmill has near Dana, Calif., to Hayfork, Trinity cuts about 30M feet per day.

Miller's Ltd., both of Forbestown Lumber been moved from County. The mill

The Jensen Lumber Co. is building mill at Willits, Calif. The mill will cut shift. Robert Jensen is president.