The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-11

shipped to Panama, where they r
used in the manufacture of army
planes for the 1910 program of the
u. S. army.
Colucci is a quiet and interesting
man. He stands but a few inches
over five feet and has a merry
twinkle in his eye which bespeaks a
keen sense of humor. And it requires
but a few moments of conversation
to learn that he loves beautiful
woods and appreciates their beauty.
Upon entering his office a visitor
gets an impression of secrecy. A
sign on the wall asks strangers to
refrain from seeking permission to
enter the mill. But once inside the
mill, the impression of secrecy is
lost as the visitor watches interest
eddy the most modern Of machinery
in the operation OF making plywood.
AS you go through the mill Col
ucci tells you in a most entertain
ing fashion Of the years in which
furniture makers have used veneers
for beauty and now this makes them
the first real wood conservationists,
for by using the thin sheets of We
neer they have made a little go u
long way without sacrificing beauty.
But the true importance Of We
neer wood, he tells you. was found
only after the possibilities Of the
wood-glue-wood combination were
considered. The true importance of
the venee wood lies in it's struc-
tural uses, which are growing dailv
Is man finds new uses and as new
Clues r perfected to increase the
potential number of USES.
1t is the right glue, plus the tech.
nique Of placing each thin sheet
with its fibres running at right
angles to the one beneath it, which
produce plywood's unbeatable rela-
tionship Of strength, rightly and
lightness.
VENEER MAKING PROCESS
In viewing tho plant the visitor
finds the logs r brought into the
yards of the manufacturing plant y
truck. rail and by barges which
come up Smiths Creek from the
Cape Fear river. From the yard they
are taken to a cross-eut saw, which
cuts them into lengths of two to
three feet. These logs are then
chained into stacks which are placed
in large pits and left overnight to
be cooked. Cooking, the visitor is
told, puts the logs into a condition
which allows them to be stripped Of
their bark and then shaved into
sheets Of veneer
Once shorn Of its bark, the log is
then fastened between rollers and
is turned against a blade with a
razor.sharp edge, which peels the
wood from the log in lengths Of 10
to IL feet and about 1-16 inch thick.
AS these strips r peeled from the
log, it continues to revolve against
the sharp knife until it has been
peeled to the core, which is Of 20
value as veneer
~ oAAS0CS VI Il11ll WOOO arc u6AJ
taken to another part of the mill
where they are placed on a set of
rollers which convey it
to a drying apparatus. After about
20 minutes the sheets re-appear en-
the other side of the machine and
are tested for moisture content. If
the indicator shows there is con-
tent of more than five or six PEI
cent, the sheets are returned to the
for another drying.
Not only is the mill able to turn
out sheets of varying thickness,
made of varying numbers of layers
Of veneer, but it is also capable Of
turning out sheets Of varying widths.
If the sheets taken from one log
are not sufficiently wide, two pieces
are placed in a splicing machine
which CLUES them into one wide
sheet Of material.
The visitor is struck with the
nodernfty Of the machines and
comment is told there are frequent
changes in technique in this bust
. changes which necessitate
frequent alterations Of machinery.
Much Of the machinery is German.
made and a bit of irony seems to
creep into the picture as the visi-
tor contemplates a German-made
machine making veneer wood frorr
which planes to fight the Germans
nay be made. The splicing machine,
is German made and
8 the only one Of its kind in the
Colucci prides himself on 'eing a
.onservationist and carries to mat
the utter extreme. Not only
Ioes the use Of wood in veneer form
make it go further and the crisis
of fibres in plywood make
little wood do the structural Work
# much, but the unused palss OH
ogs are made to run the machinery
which turns the logs into thin sheets
# veneer