Just Stick Around a Few More Years ---and sEE!

Ever hear of "concrete boards" or "wooden bricks" ? Ever see a piece of wood tested by sound waves ? Ever try to glue t'ivo pieces of wood together when they were wet ?

The day may not be far off when each of these products and techniques will be quite commonplace.

Some of the surprises shaping up for tomorrow's lumber and wood products consumer were indicated by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association and its research affiliate, the Timber Engineering Company, in Washington, D. C.

Many of the research projects to be recommended promise lumber manufacturers new outlets for what are now largely "undesirables," or waste materials, connected with wood product manufacture.

"Development of better outlets for wood waste materials could lower industry production costs and permit manufacturers to pass such savings along to the consumer,', according to NLMA Executive Vice-President Leo V. Bodine.

"Concrete boards" are one example of the new wood products on the horizon for the American public. Widely used in European countries but practically unknown in the U.S., they're manufactured by combining wood excelsior with Portland cement. This produces an efficient building block with wood's natural insulating values and the knorvn qualities of concrete.

"Wooden bricks" could become important as a new consumer product as well as an outlet for wood leftovers. l{LMA and TECO officials believe that research specialists can come up with an economical method of producing these building units from the short and narrow pieces that develop in sawmill operations. Small clear cuttings from lower grades of lumber could be another source of material for "wooden bricks."

New equipment for ultrasonic testing of wood, an electronic transmitter and receiver, sends out electronic impulses which are converted into sound waves by a piece of qrartz. These sound waves penetrate the piece of wood being tested at the rate of about 500,@0 vibrations per second-some 30 times faster than most humah ears can detect.

The s'ound waves, in effect, x-ray the wood. What they find is relayed to a cathode ray tube much like the one in your television set. The only difference-this cathode ray tube doesn't show a picture but a slightly jagged horizontal line.

When the sound waves come across something out of the ordinary in the wood-a knot, void or split, for instance-you get a sharp variation in the horizonal line. The sound waves point up imperfections in the wood whether they're visible or hidden.

This technique could bring about a marked change in rnethods currently used to estimate the strength of joists, rafters, studs, beams and other structural wood members. Present stress grading of these members is based upon lumber's exterior appearance, the law of averages and personal opinion, plus an added safety factor to compensate for the unknown.

This often requires architects and builders to specify a much larger size wood member than is actually necessary for a particular job.

According to the lumber association, ultrasonic testing could lead to automatic stress grading of lumber, with the result that it may be possible to reduce by as much as 50/o the size of some structural wood members in homes, stores, churches, schools, factories and other buildings.

The lumbermen say ultrasonics also may have practical application in measuring the smoothness of furniture surfaces and testing the glue lines in plywood and laminated timbers.

High on the list of industry objectives is the development of a glue for bonding r,l'ood which, because of service conditions, is always wet. This would have practical application in the repair of docks, wharves and similar marine products.

Development of a low-cost waterproof glue that sets quickly at room temperature is another prime objective of the wood industries. Lumbermen see this as a key to economical mass-production of high quality big timbers and boards from small pieces of wood. Present waterproof glues are relatively expensive, involve considerable investment in equipment, and require some time for curing.

A glued end joint, as strong as the wood itself, is still another goal. Lumbermen compare their present end joints with steel riveted joints of the past. They hope to develop a "welded" wood joint with maximum strength and a minimum use of time and material.

A bit further off, timewise, than the new products and techniques mentioned so far are these possibilities, according to NLMA:

1. The development of a moisture-proof, fire-proof, insect-proof material by coating wood with a thin layer of plastic and then exposing it to gamma radiations which would change the plastic's molecular structure and produce a case-hardened product.

2. The use of gamma rays to measure the density of wood, to sterilize wood against fungi and inSects, and to cure much more rapidly than present methods the glue lines in plywood and laminated timbers.

3. The use of sound waves to cut lumber-once atomic energy developments reduce power costs to the point where this would be economically feasible. By replacing their saws with sound waves, lumbermen would realtze a longtime objective-the complete elimination of sawdust.

"Christmas Is Coming Again," as the old song says, and this year it will find the lumber industry, as a whole, more prosperous than at any previous time in its history. ***

What a pleasant thought to be able to type. Looking back over the years we recall many a Christmas season when a writer looked in vain for any optimistic words to type into these columns.

Together with our American economy in general, lumber has taken the upward path, while commercial timber has done the same. Surely nobody a couple of decades back would have dreamed that either trees or boards would ever reach a price level such as prevails today.

Just as one example out of thousands that might be noted, this writer has seen softwood trees sell for fifty cents a thousand-big virgin timber-and then seen the time come when second-growth timber from the same area brought forty dollars a thousand.

It follows, of course, as night follows day, that the other two' rnajor departments of the lumber industry, the retail and wholesale ends of the business, have likewise sought new levels and altitudes, and the great majority of the followers of these departments can report prosperous business for the year now ending.

Taken as a whole, the great lumber industry of the nation has enjoyed a highly prosperous year, and when they say "Merry Christmas" on Decenber 25th they will mean what they say. *

In addition to dollar prosperity, the lumber people of the nation, in common with all other good Americans, have many things to be thankful for at this Ch,ristmas time.

The biggest thing, of course, is that there are no shooting wars for American boys this year, or this Christmas. That's one we can really thank God for. You can th.ink of Fany others. *

The history of the lumber industry in. 1956 regi$tered many changes of interest. In particular, there wqs the matter of huge sales in the timber and mill departments. A series of sales of this kind were consummated on the Pacific Coast during the year, s€veral of them running into huge money totals. The bankers of the country seem to have invaded the industry in greater fashion than ever before, and their activities made big headlines. Timber and land transfers of considerable importance were made in other parts of the country. Liquidations of old lumber firms were frequent.

The scientific growing i "":;r"ial trees took on greater importance in the past year than ever before. More acres have been planted in trees, and more thought given to practical forestry than ever. More milling concerns have been working toward perpetual tree supply than ever before. And it is likely that the relationship between wood harvest and wood growth is closer than ever. In both the South and West more lumber manufacturers are calling themselves tree growefs, rather than tree cutters, than ever before.

At this Christmas season, it is one great and glorious feeling to know that the lumber industry of this nation has a mighty and permanent future. It is not so long ago that most of the best minds in the industry were convinced that this industry was doomed to cut out and quit, and that there would come a time when no timber supply of importance would be left to build with. Many intelligent men so proclaimed. ***

But'now we know that it was not true. This was simply a short-sighted industry. The truth about timber growing came slowln but when it arrived it carried complete conviction, and now we are certain that this great industry, producing a most versatile, practical, and valuable building material, will go on supplying this nation for all time to come with wonderful building wood. Facts and figures prove it.

Lumber is better manufactured today than ever before. It is likewise better merchandised. The entire retail end of the business has progressed steadily and surely in its effort to serve the public with homes and other buildings. The evidence is everywhere. Lumber merchants are legion, in every nook and corner of this nation.

And so, at this Ctri"trJ""*".J.orr, this great and useful industry has much to boast about, much to be thankful for and, as home builders of the nation for all time to come, a great heritage to live up to.

,"rTiJ, the season ttt":""_t i..". "rra prosperity to all

If you want to read the finest history of His life, read the Book of Luke during the Christmas s€ason. Just as Jesus met Saul, and Saul-or Paul- followed flim even to martyrdom, so did Luke meet Paul and do likewise. Luke was a physician practicing his profession in Antioch, when Paul came there. And Luke stepped forth and joined Paul and became his "beloved physician," as Paul calls him in the Bible, and stayed with him even unto death. And when Paul died, Luke took up a search of the records, and ultimately wrote his Book of Luke, and likewise the Acts. And it is Luke alone who give us the story of Christmas, the story of the Bethlehem Babe in the manger. No other biblical writer tells that story. Luke likewise tells us many of the other beautiful stories of the New Testament. In Luke alone you will read about the Thief on the Cross, the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, and many others. In Luke, if you read with open eyes and mind, you can trace the story of the keenest, livest, strongest, most attractive young Man that ever lived-Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, Doctor Luke of Antioch is the man who gave us Christmas.

Home lmprovemenf leqflets by NRTDA

At the request of the Committee on Education and Merchandising, the National Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. is re-offering to dealers the three home modernization leaflets offered earlier this year. Members of the committee expressed the opinion that these leaflets should bring in a good volume of extra home improvement business for dealers who use them as suggested. The announcement states that all orders will be shipped on about December 1. The illustrations and text are the same as in the original printing, except that the OHI seal f.or 1957 is used and the leaflets say "Take up to 6O months to pay," instead of 36 months. In addition, the colors have been rotated, giving each leaflet a color combination different from that used previously.