Automatic Age

122
AUTOMATIC AGE
Lumber Is Scientifically Prepared
At Mills Novelty Co.
February, 19S8
prevent proper glue adhesion if used
“as is.” It is necessary then, if the
cabinets are to justify the claims
made for them, to reduce this mois­
ture content to the very m inim um be­
fore the lumber is touched by saw or
plane. Proper drying makes lumber
lighter and at the same time stronger.
It prevents warping and minimizes
the capacity for expansion and con­
traction.
Although the technique of drying
lumber correctly is acquired only
through long years of experience, the
methods used are apparently simple.
Large rail trucks are loaded w ith fu ll
board length lumber and rolled into
heat insulated compartments called
kilns. These kilns are equipped with
tig h t fitting doors to prevent the en­
trance of outside air. Heat is sup­
plied by steam coils capable of raising
the temperature w ithin the kilns to
the maximum point that m ight be re­
quired.
T his
lu m b e r gets
a T urk ish
B a th
begin with, the basic raw m a­
terials used in industry are not
perfect. This is as true of a piece of
lumber as of tobacco. You would quit
smoking forever if your only source
of tobacco enjoyment were the natural
leaves of the plant as they are taken
from the field. A nd just as the to­
bacco in your favorite cigar or cigar­
ette has been cured and blended to
produce a distinctive flavor so all the
wood products used in the cabinet
work have to undergo somewhat
sim ilar processes.
I t is a fascinating experience
watching the transformation of slabs
cut from a tree thousands of miles
away, into the polished beauty of a
Zephyr or a Club Bell.
This transformation does not hap­
pen over night. I f you wanted to see
ju st how it is accomplished you m ight
start your inspection trip in the Cabi­
net Shop. You would watch the pre­
cise operations of glueing and joining
the individual pieces that come from
the M ill Room in a great variety of
shapes and fashioned from many dif­
ferent species of woods. Your reac­
tion would be one of amazement if
you went directly from there to the
receiving yard where from 25 to 30
carloads of timber are normally stor­
ed. Here you would see huge piles of
rough, discolored boards instead of
at
the
M ills
N ovelty C o m p a n y
P la n t.
smooth mill work upon which cabinet
makers ply their magic.
Gust H ultm an, Mills m ill room
mentor, would explain that, while this
is very fine lumber, it is not in a con­
dition for manufacture. It is literally
fu ll of water. Green lumber often
contains from 40% to 50% moisture.
W hile the percentage is much lower
in the air-dried lumber, it is sufficient
to cause warping and checking and to
B ut the proper drying effect can­
not be obtained by the immediate ap­
plication of dry heat. Everyone has
observed the effect of the sun’s heat
on growing corn or other plant sub­
stances during a dry stretch in m id­
summer. Too rapid drying has a some­
what similar effect on lumber, leaving
moisture in the center and form ing
a hard crust or case at the surface.
So the lumber is first given a bath in
steam which is sprayed into the kiln
from jets supplied for that purpose.
Then just as your skin dries more
easily after a turkish bath than after
a cold shower, this heated lumber be­
gins to dry uniform ly from the cen­
ter outward when the dry heat is
turned on.
The steaming process occupies only
about 24 hours but the actual drying
requires m any days. I t starts after
the temperature of the kiln has drop­
ped to about 110 degrees. For each
lot of lumber the kiln operator follows
a schedule based on a number of fac­
tors including species of wood, thick­
ness, and original moisture content.
In all cases the temperature is in ­
creased gradually under controlled
humidity until toward the end of the
drying process it has reached about
160 degrees in moisture-free air.
M ill Room F orem an G u st H u ltm a n o pe r­
ates the B lin k o m e te r
m ac h ine w hich
m easures the percent of w a te r contained
in piles of “ g re e n" lum ber.
© International Arcade Museum
The lumber so treated is never
again exposed to atmospheric condi­
tions. It is put in dry storage and
kept there until it is withdrawn for
the m illing and assembly operations.
F inally the completed cabinets are
given the surface finish which is us­
ually thought of as a cosmetic oper­
ation but which further has the eff-
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