Report on Visit to International Plywood, Ten/Test, and Masonite Plants, Gatineau Mills, March 8, 1950

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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1952-05-20

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Report on Visit to International Plywood, Ten/Test, and Masonite Plants, Gatineau Mills, March 8, 1950

Glenesk, E. W.; Ritchie, T.

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,

DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

'f

ECJHI N ][CAlL

NOTJE

No.

94

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

PREPARED BY E. W. Glenesk

and T. Ritchie

PREPARED FOR

CHECKED BY

FOR INTERNAL USE

APPROVED BY

DATE May 20, 1952.

SUBJECT: Report on Visit to International Plywood, Ten/Test,

and Masonite Plants, Gatineau Mills, March 8, 1950

Introduction:

On Wednesday afternoon, March 8th, twelve members of the Division visited the International Plywood, Ten/Test and Masonite Plants in Gatineau Mills, Quebec. Those making the visit were:

B. P. Scull

A.

G. Wilson

C. R. Crocker T. Ritchie

E. V. Gibbons E.

w.

Glenesk

J. I:. Lawson H. Hall

A.

D. Kent T. N. Blackall

G.

w.

Shorter K. Collins

The group was met by Mr. Douglas E. Read, the manager of Board Mills.

Mr.

Read accompanied the 'group to all three mills, aeting as host for the Company.

Plywood Personnel:

The first mill inspected was the Plywood mill. Here the group was :introduced to ﾥｾＮ P. V. Desjardins, General Superintendent of Plywood,

Mr. L. S. Murdock, Plywood Mill Engineer, Mr. A. Rose, research chemist, and Mr. N. Hurd of the Sales staff.

Plywood Processes:

The birch logs are guided, by means of water jets, from the river onto moving ramps. These ramps lead to a storage pond in which the logs are kept until they are required. From here, they are taken to the

barking room where they are cut into proper lengths and completely de-barked; the bark is used as fuel for the plant boilers. The logs then go into steam curing pits. After being thoroughly steamed, they are moved into the main building where any remaining bark is removed. They pass from here on to the stripping or peeling machine. The first

shavings from the logs are used as fuel, and the portion of the log remaining after the peeling process goes to the Ten/Test mill for shredding. The plies coming from the stripper are trimmed to a width of 8 f'eet and defective lengths are cut out. The sheets are then

passed through steam ovens f'rom which they emerge with about three per

2

-cent moisture. Narrow race pieces are jointed by a high rrequency jointing machine, the glue being of the two-component type. A two-side application of urea glue is made to every second ply in the assembly of plies ror the press. The plies are held in the press at

240 pounds pressure for about 6 minutes (for

t

inch plywood). They are then trimmed to exact size, sanded on both sides, repaired i f necessary and packaged. A small laboratory regularly checks the glues and tests plywood samples for shear.

General:

Eighty-five to 90 per cent of production is birch; the rest is ash, oak, and basswood. Thicknesses vary from 3-ply

i

inch to 1-ply 1 inch. All plr.w0od produced is for interior use unless a special "exterior grade' order is placed.

A new method or cutting is under investigation by Which strips are sliced rrom the log instead or peeled. When matched up, these strips result in a panel of exceptionally pleasing appearance.

It was the opinion of the plant staff that buckling would continue to be a problem for some time to come, and that checking, although Ie ss prevalent than in hardwood plywood, is still a fault that must simply be taken for granted.

Ten/Test Personnel:

From the plywood mill, the group proceeded to the Ten/Test mill where it was introduced by Mr. Read to Mr. D. Eipper the General

Superintendent, Mr. C. F. Gerrard, the research chemist, and Mr. H. Savory, the Mill Engineer.

Ten/Test Processes:

The Ten/Test pulp is a mixture of wood fibres from three sources: 1. The

4

foot jack

"pine

logs are ground down to a pulp by 5 foot

diameter abrasive stones rotating against the logs. This is the . older me thode

2. The logs are chipped, and these 3/4 inch chips are "digested" under steam pressure in a huge cooker, and from here pass into grinders consisting of a stationary cylinder and a rotating steel shaft.

3. ,The waste pulp from the adjoining paper mill.

The pulp is thoroughly mixed to' the required consistency and emulsified resin, emulsified wax, and alum are added. This prepared pulp is then uniformly matted on a fine screen Where sufficient water is removed to cause the fibres to cling together. This mat, kept to within 1/64th inch of its specified thickness, (usually! inch), and trimmed by water jets to specified width, is then cut into 18 foot lengths and passed into steam driers at 325 F. These reduce the moisture content from 70 per cent to almost zero. These sheets are cut to 4' x

8'

size and packaged.

This mill also turns out the relatively new asphalt impregnated

4'

x:

8'

sheathing, and roof insulation consisting of 4 layers of Ten/Test separated by asphalt layers.

Acoustic tile is also manufactured here. Pieces of Ten/Test,

12" x 24" x

i",

are spray painted then grooves are cut in the underside, holes are drilled, and a solid! inch thick piece is glued to the back. The two tiles so formed are then cut apart.

Decorative ceiling tile and various moldings are also produced. General:

This mill turns out 410 thousand square feet of Ten/Test daily. The small laboratory runs tests on porosity, breaking strength, weight, and so on. One graduate engineer is employed for research.

Masonite Personnel:

The. Masonite mill was visited next. Here, the group was introduced to ｾｾＮ E. B. Wait, General Superintendent of the Masonite mill, Mr. T. C. Ross, the Engineer of Board Mills, and ﾥｾＮ J. Copeland, Engineer of the Masonite mill.

Masonite Processes:

Jack 'pine chips, are here exploded into a fibrous state in "guns" brought to 1200 pounds pressure which is then suddenly released. The pulp is brought to the required consistency, and emulsified wax, and alum are added; the process here is very similar to that in the Ten/ Test mill. A mat is formed on a fine metal screen, trimmed, and cut into lengths, then stacked and pressed. The product of this process is either "Quartrboard" or "Presdwood", depending on the pressure being necessary for the latter. "Temprtile" is made during the pressing process by indenting "tiles" into the board. A hot oil treatment followed by

n " F

several hours in a baking oven results in tempered Presdwood. or the thicker masonite boards, 2 hot oil treatments are necessary. Black and green masonite is made by spraying dye onto the surface of the mat before passage into the presses.

General:

This mill turns out 265,00 square feet of masonite products per day. A small testing laboratory carries out a few routine tests on representative samples.

Notes:

All three mills are at present working only a four-day week. Approximately 50 per cent of the output goes to :the United States, the other half being used in Canada. The .Company is continually finding new products and new uses for old products. Two new boards consist of masonite facings on a plywood core, and masonite facings on a Ten/Test core.

Conclusions:

It is the unanimous opinion that this tour was of great value, both as a means of making personal contacts with the building industry and of witnessing ｴｨ･ｾｲｯ､ｵ｣ｴｩｯｮ of some of Canada's most commonly used building materials. ｾｨ･ information obtained will aid greatly in

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4

-answering inquiries and in estimating the value of these products in specific uses.

Those who acted as guides to the mills were most co-operative and helpful. All were very ｰｬ･｡ｳ･ｾ to have this representation from the Division visit their mills.

Notes on Visit to International Fibre Board Co., Gatineau, P.Q., March

8, 1950

Produc ts manufacture d: plywood, "Ten!Te stn, "Pre sdwood". Plywood:

Birch is used almost exclusively, although small amounts of ash and others are put through. The processing follows in general the following flow sheet:

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"Ten/Test" :

3/4"

and less, chips are steamed and ground between steel and

3i C face plates to separate into mashy fibre; or logs are pushed against a revolving abrasive wheel

<4 - 5'

diameter). This fibrous wood is mixed with water and processed as shown: (some pulp is

brought in from paper mills -- excess production)

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-Presdwood:

Jack pine chips are used exclusively, steam exploded (ruptured by pressure change) to ribrous mass. Fibrous material mixed with water with small amount emulsiried wax added. Formed in sheets by passing rluid mass over moving screen, depositing thickness

or

wet ｦｩ｢ｲ･ｳｾ

Some water is removed, and sheets cut to rit press. Pressure applied at 380°F ror 6 minutes. Resultant material is cut to selling size or passed on to tempering bath (linseed oil, polYmers, etc.) after which it goes to baking ovens, then humidity chambers (tempered presdwood is result). Cut to size and packaged.