The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1906-09-29
HOW SHINGLES ARE5NIADE

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BY Day Allen Wiley.

81 ~; (
pond, where it's kept in 4 boom like
the ordinary sawlogs until required =.
The shingle: mill, 7 like the sawmill,
IS provided with anSinclined way: lead
ing into the water. This is fitted with
an endless conveyer, upon which the
bolts are guided by The t.bolt puncher,''
as ne IS termed. Leaving the conyeyer,
they are taken by hand or by another
conveyer to the cutting machinery, and
there reduced to shingles In the
shingle mill itself this mechanism is
of two kinds. In one the bolt is sawed,
while. in the other the bolt is riven
by means of a special cutter. Some
of. the larger shingle-riving machines
are provided with a series of knives
which will split up ten bolts at once.
They are nearly circular in form, and
are fed by hand from the top. Before
the bolt is placed in the flume, as al
ready stated, it is sawed to the proper
lengths, just as logs are usually cut be-
fore leaving the woods, so that it is
only necessary to run them through the
band saw or circular saw to turn them
into beams. planking, or other forms
desired. The bolts from the larger
trees are split to size which will al
low themto be placed in the bolt cut
ter before being taken to the mill, so
that the shingle-making machinery can
be operated continually if desired.
The standard size single used in the
United States is six inches in width
by about eighteen, inches in length.
Consequently, the majority of the riv-
ing machines are designed to turn out
shingles of these dimensions, but in
addition q shingle. .jointer,. as it is
termed, is frequently used to trim off
the rough edges when it is necessary to
perform this work. : T..
The most important centres of the
single industry of America are the
towns of Ballard, on Puget Sound, and
Vancouver, on the. lower Columbia
River, as each is located adjacent to an
enormous supply of raw material. At
Tacoma, as we'll as Seattle, large mills
are also in operation, devoted to the
production of this form of lumber,
working on cedar almost entirely. A
better idea of the magnitude Of this
industry in the State Of Washington
can be gained, when it is known that
the State produces fully forty per cent.
OF the material manufactured in the
United States. Frequently entire ship
loads of cedar Shingles are exported
from Puget Sound, owing to the very
extensive foreign demand, not only for
roofing, but for other purposes.
The single industry is of great i'm
portance from the standpoint Of for
estry, as it has prevented the loss Of
very large quantity Of valuable tim
Der. 1t is calculated that actually less
than one-half of the timber value of
the average tree in Washington and
Oregon is converted into planking and
commercial lumber, owing to the
wasteful methods which are employed
in telling the forest. The DEVELOPMENT
of the shingle industry has utilized
much of the: material which would
otherwise decay, but the area which
has been stripped of first-growth trees
is so extensive that twice the present
number Of single mills could lie To-
Gated in this section of the Northwest
and find ample material for their
needs. In addition to the stumps, how
ever, small trunks are also cut into
bolts, where the diameter of the tree
is of size which will allow it to be
split without too much waste. There
fore, considerable timber which is con-
sidered too small fol-, planking and logs
is utilized for shingles.
American.