Facts About Dougias Fir Plywood

Achieving a 70 per cent production increase since the end of the war, the expanded Douglas fir plywood industry will manufacture a record two billion square feet of panels in 1948 to supply unprecedented demand for plywood in construction and industrv.

This manufacturing ".hi"lr"*.nt by a 4T-f.actory industry, which until a decade ago was merely an offshoot o{ lumbering, is listed as fact number one in a new booklet entitled "Facts about Douglas Fir ,Plywood" just pubilshed by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, the trade association for Pacific coast panel makers.

The question and answer edition, addressed to retail lumber dealers, plywood distributors, industrial plywood users and builders, is intended as a review of plywood past, present and future. Other salient points' covered include:

Specific Data

1. Some 99.2 per cent of all plywood produced this year is being used within the United States with volume shipments going to every corner of the nation. Only 8/10 of I per cent of fir plywood is being exported today.

2. Retail lumber dealers, who supply such important plywood consumers as builders and home owners, are handling over 1,M2,000 square feet of the material this year more than ever before. This volume is greater than the entire production of 1939 and almost as much as was manufactured in 1945, the year of victory.

3. The tremendous demand for plywood, which manufacturers are striving to satisfy, is based upon a dual market: construction and industry. Just prior to the war, plywood earned recognition as a basic building commodity for inside and outside use on homes, buildings, farm structures. Historically, plywood has been an industrial material, the facts booklet records, with railroads, furniture makers, boat builders and other manufacturers being important plywood users.

4. The so called "grey markets" in plywood, the result of an unbalanced supply-demand ratio, the same as fostered the "new used car" lots, are "fast disappearing," according to facts set forth in the booklet, as the desired impact of record production is being achieved. And the disruption caused by 100 per cent war allocation of plywood, followed by post-war allocation for veterans housing, are being overcome.

5. Under the new U. S. Commercial Standard CS45-48 (grading rules) effective Nov. 1, new grades are being introduced to meet express building needs, a new simp.lified system of grade identification has been adopted and performance requirements for Exterior (waterproof) plyrvood have been made more rigid than ever.

A, B, C,Identificdtion

Set forth as one of the most forward steps in plywood marketing in years and intended to benefit user and seller alike, is the new system of grade identification adopted by the operators of fir plywood plants supporting the industry grade-trademarking program. Henceforth, veneers (plys of wood) are being identified as A, B, C, D in order of appearance value, A being the highest and previously being known as "sound." Combinations of these veneer qualities on outer plys (faces and backs) of panels determines the appearance grades.

There now are a half dozen grades within each of the Exterior (outdoor) and Interior types of plywood. SiSnificant grade additions include the A-B panels with an A (sound) face and B (solid) back. Such grade, produced both in the Exterior and fnterior types, is intended to supplement the supply of A-A panels used for cabinet doors and other applications where both sides are exposed to view.

The booklet records that 66 per cent of plywood is produced with one side only of high quality veneer with the back of economical, lower quality wood as "experience has shown that in the great bulk of plywood uses, only one face of the panel is exposed." A new one side grade with B quality veneer similarly is being introduced to perform certain backing jobs more efficiently than ever before.

Highest possible utilization of the natural resourcetimber-is achieved by precision repairing of nature's fail. ings and by placing veneer with minor defects on thc backs of the one side material. Veneer with natural ilefects is used as well in an unsanded sheathing or construction panel of unusual strength and rigidity.

Several Sizes

Now being produced, it is pointed out, are several stock sizes of Douglas fir plywood for convenient, efficient use irr meeting expressly many application needs. While the greatest volume of panels will continue to be made in 4, by 8' sheets, produ,ction will include panels narrower than 4', shorter than 8', longer than 4, and wider than 4r. Conversely, the overall number of items of Douglas fir plywood has been reduced by 25 per cent by tailoring grades and size to meet use needs.

Not only is the industry concentrating today on maximum overall production, but as well the greatest possible volume of relatively thin panels, for inside and outside walls, is being turned out. The booklet reports that more than half of all plywood, on a surface footage basis, is of tf" and, 3/&' panels. Quality of product remains ever a prime requisite as emphasized by the higher performance requirements under the new commercial standard.

That the now sizable plywood industry of Washington, Oregon and northern California is not a .,war baby" is evidenced in a tabulation of annual production figures set forth in the text. In 1938, the yean fir' plywood was first recognized as an important construction material, some 21 factories produced 650,000,000 feet of the sheet material. In three years 10 new factories were constructed and out_ put more than doubled to meet peacetime demand. There lvas no increase in the number of plants during the war, and production actually dropped abruptly beca.use of manpower shortages in the factories and the woods and diversion of logs from plywood plants.

Expansion of the industry was resumed again immed_

Manufaaurers: Pordet?sa Pire, Sagar Pine, Incmse Cedar, Doaglas Fir, Vbite Fir,

1635 Die*s Bailding, I(anvs Cil1 6, Missoui

Pbone Victor 4143 wSautmills: Canby, Cailif. and Anderson, Calif.-kmanafactaring Plant: Klamatb Falk, Oregon

Box Factory: A.ltaras, Calif iately after the war with 11 new factories added during the past three years and the capacities and production methods of older plants improved greatly. Eleven additional plants are now being built and to be completed within the next year to further enlarge potential output.

Efficient Distribution

In a review of the distribution of fir plywood from its origin in one corner of the nation to markets and users in every state, the presentation shows that more than two thirds of the material is channeled through distribution warehouses located in strategic trading centers. Such distributors maintain complete stocks of types, grades, sizes and thicknesses to supply almost instantly both lumber dealers and retail users. Retail dealers, the "corner grocers to construction," get most of such supplies and receive some plywood direct, thereby selling 53.1 per cent of all fir plywood.

The military today is purchasing 5 per cent of all fir plywood produced, and some 16 per cent goes direct to industrials including railroads, prefabricators, door manufacturers, army contractors and others. Significantly, industrials use grades and thicknesses of plywood different from those usually handled by retail dealers and different from the wants of most dealer customers.

Plywood Developments

The booklet is concluded with a review of "what's ahead in plywood." Here, briefly, is the six-point program: l. Continued increased production with a higher proportion of the Exterior type all-purpose material.

Survey Shows What's \(/hat On Windowg

Beauty of design is the most important factor taken into consideration when people choose windows for their new homes, according to a recent nation-wide survey conducted by Ponderosa Pine Woodwork.

Almost half of the respondents to the survey gave "architectural design" as their principal reason for choosing wood windows. Wood windows, authorities point out, provide a wide range of design choices, embracing both modern and traditional styles. It is thus possible for the home owner to choose exactly the type of wood window which best fits his individual taste.

Another important reason for choosing wood rvindows, the survey indicates, is the fact that their original cost is moderate. A total of.43/o of the respondents to the survey gave "original cost" as their reason for centering their preferences on wood.

2. Constant betterment of product.

3. Continued sale of a high proportion of plywood through distributors and dealers, and continued supply of industrial users.

4. Conservation of the natural resource, timber, through ever higher utilization of raw material.

5. Continued product research.

6. Continued aggressive promotion of Douglas fir plywood, now a basic building commodity.

A copy of the 24-page facts booklet will be furnished free upon request to Douglas Fir Plywood Association, Taqoma 2, Wash.

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