Giant lathes are used to peal the veneer from the fine, knot-free Douglas Fir used in making of fir plywood. The block is rotated against a keen-cutting blade (at back) which "shaves" off the ribbon of wood usually from a tenth to a seventh of an inch thick.
The continuous sheet of wood unwinds from the giant lathe almost like paper in a newspaper press. Later the sheet is clipped into desired sizes and glued into plywood panels. From two eight foot "peeler blocks" 50 inches in diameter, 5,000 square feet of plywood is manufactured – enough to build a small all-Plywood house.
E.C. Kropp
18671
CAPA-014021
