The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-11-19
VENEER WORKS
At RI DF0RD.
Product Shipped Abroad and All.
Over the United
States.
.P0WERF i [ c UTTl'lNG MACHINE.
Knife Like the Guillotine in the
French Revolu-
ton.
POWERED [ c CUTTING MACHINE.
Especial to The Times Dispatch

Especial to The Times Dispatch.)
RADFoRD, VA, N ovember lS.--1n the
oldcn days, when man made his exit
from the world in the same house in
which he was born. instead of pitching
his tent from one end OF Uncle Sam 3
domains to the other. not forgetting the
alsles OF the sea and the arctic possess
fsions-in those days massive furniture
was a luxury without being burden.
But 1T has had its day, and in this
restless. migratory age. veneered turl,l-i
tnre- has come to the front, NOT only be-
cause it is cheaper. but for saving OF
freight rates and convenience in moving.
Not every one Y knows: however, how
Veneer Is made. Plants are not common
In this section. Indeed. there is only ono
|, in Virginia, that is the Radford- Forts
mouth, Veneer Comp which also has
a;,plant at Portsmouth.s g.
1.-The Radtord plant is valued at $4,000.
employs about thirty-five skilled laborers
and ships monthly from $500 to 5000
worth Of veneer; ia Il :
This goes to Canada, Germany and
England as we'll as all parts OF tho
cent OF the stock lis first sent to the
Portsmouth. plant to be glued up. cut
the proper size and shape and sand
pa pered ready for the svarnish before be-
Ing shipped TO 4 its final destination-tho
various furniture factories all over the
The woods used at the Radford plant
are poplar, oak and linn or bass wood,
the logs being SHIPPED over the main.
line Of the Norfolk and Western Rail.
road from points between Bristol and
Radtord and from the Chinch Valley, and
Winston-Salem Division Il - st !fs ~
On being unload led from the cars. tho
logs are sawed into lengths, varying
from three to seven feet. then plunged
into vats of boiling water to tougher
and soften the wood, and thus prevent
1t from splitting. Az. ss Il "a
After being steamed for about thirty
six hours the logs are taken from the
boiling water and placed on the rotary
veneer machine. which cuts them into
thin sheets OF veneer twenty-elght inches
long by twenty-feet vide fs ~
The machine weighs fully twenty tons,
and is valued at about $500, Its main
feature is q great knife about seven feet
long. against which the log rapidly re-
wolves. Three men stand on platform
on the opposite side, and SELLING the
three thin sheets that arc peeled from
the log, step swiftly backward, spread
ing the wet sheets of veneer on the plat
form. SlSa n.
3 sudden Jerk tears the sheet in two,
when twenty feet have been deposited on
the table and the men running forward,
size other wheets which are piled one on
another until the log Is consumed,
It is fascinating to watch the big logs
gradually dwindle to n rod eight inches
In diameter, tits ident!cally like unroll-
Ing bolt OF ribbon, and the similarity
Is further carried out In tho beautiful
colors OF the wood The sheets OF veneer
look like great band Eof soft-toned
yatered ribbon handsomely marked with
richer shades.
A smaller rotary machine cuts logs OF
shorter lengths.
When a log is finished another great
knife on the platform descends on the
stock OF veneer, and presto. the ENDS are
as clean cut rs q cameo, 1t Is then
removed on trucks to the drying room.
while a new log is being put In place.
4 This knife is used also in cutting the
veneer the proper size and shape for
shipment, 1t Is modelled after the knife
used In cutting paper In a printing office;
after the knife used formerly In France
for chopplng OFF tn eheads OF the nom
persona.grata, The same old knife OF
DR.. Gulotlne, only more lightnlng-like
and effective. III
How the good old Paris doctor would
have delighted In It! Could heahaye am
ticipated ngcentury and a half and
transferred the Radford apparatus to the
p ace de la Concord, the French revolu-
ton might have been dispatched In less
time than the spanish.A American UNI
pleasantness THAT knife could have de-
capitated the entire population Of Paris
In a jiffy.
But to return from the tragic past to
the common place present.
The veneer. on being removed to the
drying room, is hung on hooks In the
ceiling to dry, or piled In great tower
Ing stocks, each tlsysS being separated