Douglas Fir by Stephen F. Arno

Author:Stephen F. Arno
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781680512007
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
Published: 2020-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Douglas-fir’s many desirable attributes account for its lofty status as the most economically important tree species in the world. Its wood is strong, stiff, stable in drying, and relatively durable. It can be machined well and is suitable for a very broad range of uses, including its superior application for construction lumber, high-quality boards, and large timbers. Douglas-fir constitutes about one-eighth of all commercial timber volume in the United States, dwarfing the volume of any other species. The World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon, posits that Douglas-fir provides more forest products than any other tree in the world.

The first plywood ever manufactured from western conifers came about because of a serendipitous series of events in Portland in 1905. Early that year, the city was in a tizzy preparing for a world’s fair honoring the centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Portland Manufacturing Company, a small local firm that crafted wood products, was asked by fair organizers to make something “new and unusual” for a display.

After some head scratching, a co-owner and lathe operator from the company hatched a plan to take three pieces of Douglas-fir veneer and glue them together into a single laminated panel. Using small brushes, they spread animal glue by hand on each piece of veneer. The three-layer Douglas-fir “sandwich” was then placed in an improvised press that used house jacks to ensure the pieces would stick together. The sandwich was left overnight to dry and later trimmed to size, resulting in the first-ever panel of Douglas-fir plywood.

The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition opened in June 1905, and Tom Autzen, the seventeen-year-old son of another co-owner, was placed in charge of the plywood exhibit. By October the world’s first teenage plywood salesman had shown the panel to tens of thousands of fairgoers. Some would become plywood customers, such as the Nicolai Door Company and Tacoma Fir Door Company. By the late 1920s, Studebaker, Fisher Body, and Seaman Body Company of Detroit began purchasing Douglas-fir plywood for automobile floors and running boards. In just over two decades, tiny Portland Manufacturing’s novel fair exhibit had become a multimillion-dollar West Coast enterprise.

Builders praise Douglas-fir lumber because of its high strengthto-weight ratio—better than that of steel. It shrinks and warps so little that in some cases the fresh-cut lumber can be used directly in construction and allowed to dry in place. It also has an excellent performance record when subjected to violent windstorms, earthquakes, and climatic extremes.

Uses of Douglas-fir under extreme conditions in India were featured in a 1916 issue of The Timbermen, illustrating this species’ versatility and resilience. All woods imported to India in the early 1900s were presumed vulnerable to white ants and unable to withstand the dual climatic extremes of heat and humidity. However, after three years of testing, solid Douglas-fir doors were untouched by ants and unaffected by conditions ranging from 95° Fahrenheit and 90 percent humidity or more to 112°F and very low humidity. Douglas-fir was judged equal in appearance, easier to manufacture, and despite considerable shipping costs, cheaper than teak.

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