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THE MUSIC TRADE
JANUARY 21, 1922
11
REVIEW
OurTECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
COMMOTED BY WILLIAM BRAID WHITE
From the viewpoint of the music industries, lumber in respect of tensile strength, resistance
the work of the Forest Products Laboratory is to sheer .strain and ability to withstand stresses
highly valuable, although this fact has hardly of compression, or torsion. The piano industry
Being Information Regarding the Work Done yet been duly recognized. At the present time is a large user of built-up wood, and the labora-
by the Forest Products Laboratory
the music industries, and especially the piano tory is doing a great deal of invaluable work to
trade, are in a difficult position as respects the show such users how best to build up their ply-
As my readers must be aware, the Department woods which they have been accustomed to use. stock, how thick it should be and of what lum-
of the Interior of the United States Government Certain high-grade hardwoods are becoming very ber made, to undertake a given load. Into this
maintains a Forestry Department, the object of scarce, and it is quite certain that sooner or later question of building ply-stock have, of course,
which is to preserve and improve the natural for- the piano maker will have to find substitutes for entered questions relating to glue, and the labora-
est wealth of the country, and to assure against mahogany, for American walnut and for maple. tory has, in fact, experimented extensively with
future generations finding themselves inhabit- Moreover, the cost of high-grade lumbers nat- all sorts of adhesive materials. As a final result
ing a woodless country, something which, at one urally rises as the supply tightens up, and it is it has been able to show that the casein glues,
time, seemed to be among the certainties and accordingly a matter of considerable importance which arc put on cold, are perfectly capable of
which even now is by no means inconceivable. to find, if possible, adequate substitutes. Nor performing all needed services in respect of ply-
The priceless work which the Forestry Service is this all. The methods used in piano factories stock, and that they are much more nearly water-
has done and the invaluable results it has already and elsewhere in the music industries for han- proof than any animal glues. A number of piano
achieved in preserving the lumber resources of dling wood through the processes of manufac- factories are having very great success in the
the country must not, however, be described ture are in need of careful periodical revisions, use of glues of this kind, all of which has been
here. It is more to my point to tell readers some- for the need is yearly more vital of avoiding made possible by the researches undertaken by
thing about one special branch of the Forestry waste and of making each foot of lumber do its this laboratory.
Service, known as the Forest Products Labora- utmost in the way of producing actual manufac-
When I add that the laboratory undertakes
tory. The work of this institution is intimately tured results.
field researches right in factories, that its work-
related to all the wood-using industries, and not
To take one single example, the Forest Prod- shops and entire plant are built on the most thor-
less to the piano industry. For this and for ucts Laboratory within the last three or four oughly practical basis, and that the staff con-
other reasons which will appear, it is proper years has thrown an entirely new light upon tains as many expert artisans as chemists, en-
for me to say a few words about the laboratory, nearly all the practical problems which surround gineers and naturalists, the reader will under-
its work, its possibilities for our benefit and its the work of drying lumber, after its receipt, and stand that here is being done a work of the
position in respect to Congressional and public before it is actually started on its way through utmost value to the music industries. It is a
appreciation.
the factor}'. It has been found that the old work which ought to be increased in size and
The Forest Products Laboratory conducts at methods of drying by hot air could be vastly extent. Congress is, however, not unduly liberal
Madison, Wis., in concert with the University improved and that new methods were called for. in its appropriations, and the laboratory suffers
of Wisconsin, a large plant entirely devoted to The researches made by the technicians of the from lack of sufficient money to employ addi-
research, both practical and theoretical, in the laboratory, assisted by a complete drying plant tional much-needed workers, especially for field
commercial, chemical and artistic uses of every built from the designs of the laboratory's own investigations in the various industries. I call
kind of wood. It investigates problems relating men, showed how, by means of treatment by the reader's attention to this and hope that every-
to kiln-drying, resistance of manufactured wood live steam at intervals, the lumber-time in the one who is interested in what I have set forth
to moisture, box-making, fire-resistance values dry kilns might be very much shortened and will take the trouble to write a letter some day
and a multitude of questions directly or indi- the drying itself made more perfect. Already to his Congressman and Senators, telling them
rectly related to the general divisions mentioned. several large piano factories in different parts
(Continued on page 12)
Its business is, in short, to find out whatever of the country have adopted the new system,
the manufacturer of products into which wood with gratifying results, both as to economy and
enters may want to know, or ought to know, efficiency.
For PIANOS and PLAYER-PIANOS
about the wood itself, so that his use of that
In exactly the same way the problem of obtain-
wood may be more efficient, more economical and ing efficient methods in making ply-wood, as so DEALERS and
less productive of waste.
much used in piano construction, was worked
TUNERS
out to a finish. The researches undertaken by
JUST WHAT YOU
the laboratory during the war showed that ply- HAVE BEEN LOOK-
wood possesses powers much superior to solid
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