September 27, 1961 -- The first production
test of the Wizewood Ltd. Waferboard plant was completed at about
11:30 a.m. September 23rd, when the first four-by-sixteen waferboard
slid off the production line. Bearing the names of all personnel,
the panel will likely be kept as a souvenir.
After several mechanical delays, the "pad" of poplar wafers mixed
with dry resin and wax, moved slowly into the giant forming press. Here
the pad was compressed into a board 5/8 of an inch thick under a pressure
of 200 pounds per square inch. Heated to a temperature of 380 degrees
the wax and resin melted to provide a bond for wooden wafer.
Wizewood officials indicated that it would be sometime before the
plant would go into actual production but the test run was necessary to
check various components in order that the entire production line which
is highly automated can function smoothly.
Prior to the material entering the press, plant personnel had
been invited to sign their names on individual wafers. In the completed
board, the signatures were quite legible. Names such as "Big Dolly",
"Lucky Chip" and "Maybe" indicated that optimism ran high.
The test waferboard proved highly satisfactory as the wafers had
bonded very securely and the resinous finish presented an attractive
appearance. The stability of the 4 by 16 panel is superior to similar
wood products.
While particle board production is not new on this continent,
Wizewood will be the first plant to utilize a uniform wafer bonded in a
dry process. When production problems have been worked out, it is
expected that finishing procedures used elsewhere can be reduced by fifty
per cent on the Wizewood waferboard.
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