The Charming Town of Cass

Today we performed water quality tests in the Greenbrier River near Cass.  The GPS coordinates of the place we tested are N 38 39.875’ W 79 91.150’.  We used the same procedure that is explained in my blog post from April 28, 2012 titled Water Quality Testing at Ritter Park.  We performed five tests: dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, pH, and conductivity.  While the pH was pretty good at 6.5, we found the overall water quality to be 40.05, which falls in the middle of the fair category.

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park allows you to relive railroad life from the early 1900’s.  You can ride a train 11 miles up to Bald Knob.  Shay engines pull the train through a series of switchbacks up the mountain.

Shay No. 11 was built in 1923.

Shay engines are steam-powered.  Coal is burned to heat the water which creates the steam.  It is a tough job to run one of these.  The lady working our train today told me she scoops three shovelfuls of coal into the furnace every 30 seconds.  Our 22 mile roundtrip used 3.5 to 4 tons of coal.

The conductors performed routine maintenance at our stops.

We stopped to fill up the water tank.  It took 6,000 gallons of water to make enough steam for the trip and the engine only holds 4,500 gallons.

Notice the large water hose filling the tank.

The top speed of a shay engine is 12 mph.

Work it Out:

*  The engine was running for 4 hours and 45 minutes during our trip.  How many shovel loads of coal did the lady scoop?

*  Approximately how much did each scoop weigh?

*  We stopped at Whittaker Station for 25 minutes and at Bald Knob for 55 minutes.  What was our average speed when the train was moving?

*  The elevation at the train depot in Cass is 2,443 feet.  At Bald Knob the elevation is 4,842 feet.  What is the average slope of the tracks going up the mountain?

Problem-Solving on the Job!

Colonial Millwork manufactures hardwood moldings mainly to sell to cabinet and flooring manufacturers.  This business uses a very similar process to Wilson Millworks (see post from July 16, 2012).  So during our visit today I want to look beyond the overall process to some of the finer details and especially problem-solving techniques.

Problem:  An age-old problem for millwork companies was the high ratio of scrap to usable wood (50/50).  Boards come to the mills in random widths and lengths.  When ripping boards,  workers would have to eye the wood and slide it over so that the table saw would cut in such a way to get as many usable pieces as possible.  

Solution:  Lasers shine onto the loader indicating where the saw blades are located.  This allows the worker to be certain they are getting the most out of each board.  (There are also some automatic machines that line it up without the manual labor.)

Notice the red lasers!

Problem:  Lots and lots of sawdust and wood chips!!

Solution:  An impressive array of vacuums and pipes run from each machine in the plant outdoors depositing the sawdust and wood chips into trailers which are sold to Hamer Pellet Fuel (see post from July 16, 2012).  This not only eliminates the sawdust problem, but allows the company to make money from their "trash!"

Problem:  Quality control

Solution:  In addition to making a plastic cutout of the profile and the knife, Colonial also cuts out a plastic guide that can slide across the finished product to ensure each piece is uniform.  They can also send these to the customer if they desire "proof."

Problem:  Small pieces need to be cut from larger pieces without wasting wood.  (Example:  Quarter round)

Solution:  A knife is created that cuts the blank in the center producing two identical pieces of product.  

This is a model that shows two pieces of quarter round cut from the same piece of wood.

 Problem:  Struggling economy means less demand for products.

Solution:  Think outside the box and open up to new, yet similar products.  For example, Colonial now produces parts for picture framing companies as well as wine and spice racks, and even a huge ceiling project for Disney World (see pictures below)!

Black felt is manually stapled behind carefully spaced pieces of wood so Disney visitors cannot see through to the rafters. 

Disney's finished project ready to ship.

Application:
Whether you are in school trying to figure out a complicated word problem or in the "real-world" and notice inefficiency, don't let problems stump you.  Think of them as puzzles or fun challenges.  Often it takes several (sometime MANY) attempts to find a good solution.  Remember Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  He only had to find ONE way that did work!  Always be part of the solution, not part of the problem!

Frank E. Wilson Lumber Co. Inc. and Wilson Quality Millworks, Inc.

Frank E. Wilson Lumber Co. Inc. is located in Elkins, WV.  They produce green stock and a broad range of kiln dried Appalachian Hardwoods (Ash, Basswood, Cherry, Maple, Oak, Hickory, Poplar, and Walnut), supplying both rough and surfaced lumber.  There is currently between 1.25 and 1.5 million board feet of lumber here.

The process:

Step 1 - Purchase green lumber from sawmills and grade it according to species, length, grade, and footage.  Most of their wood comes from a 100 mile radius.

The inspector has approximately 3 seconds to check the quality of the board and assign a grade to it.  A scanner then measures the board.

This grader measures board footage using a special tool.

The tool used to quickly measure board footage.

Step 2 - Kiln dry the wood in a controlled manner.  The time it takes for a load to dry depends on species and thickness, but it can take anywhere from 7 days to 4 months.  The dry temperature in the kiln begins around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and is slowly increased to 160 degrees.  The wet temperature is also controlled to make sure the wood does not dry too fast which could cause the boards to crack.  Moisture content can also be determine by the following formula:
(Wet weight - Dry weight) / Dry weight = Moisture content (in %)

Wet wood is stacked in the kiln.

10 2-ft boards are used as samples to be tested daily for moisture content.

Wood remains in the kiln until the moisture content (as shown by this drying guide) is around 6%.

Moisture contents of each sample is carefully recorded each day.  These results determine when to raise the temperature in the kilns.

Temperature recorder for one of the kilns.  The red indicates the dry temperature while the green is the wet temperature.

Wilson Quality Millworks, Inc. is a sister company to the lumber company.  Approximately 70% of the wood (mostly maple, oak, and poplar) they use come from the adjacent lumber company, but it is run as a separate business.  They have stock molding, hand rails, etc... but also create custom molding.  (The customer must be willing to pay a set up cost of approximately $300 for the custom knife.)

The Process:
Step 1 - Use a computer to draw a profile of the molding to be created.

Step 2 - Cut a plastic template which is used to cut the custom knife (made of steel or carbide).

Step 3 - Place the knife on the "molder" which cuts the profile of the wood from blanks.  (Blanks are square pieces of wood that have gone through the planar and been cut to specific lengths and widths.)

Step 4 - The molding is passed through a sander and, if the customer desires, it will be stained, painted, and/or sealed before being shipped.

Hamer Pellet Fuel

Jim Dearing showed us around the pellet factory.  Interesting fact (& great problem-solving strategy ): This business was created after the related sawmill had a sawdust pile which cost the company $1 million to clean up.  They have taken a waste product and turned it into profit by transforming it into a new product.

The Process:
Step 1 - The sawdust (mix of hardwoods) is put through a drying process.  These machines dry about 15 tons per hour.

Step 2 - The sawdust is then heated and mixed with a little vegetable oil (and/or water) until it turns into a paste that is pressed through small holes and scraped into small pellets.  (The heat used in the process is generated by burning sawdust.)  This machine produces about 6 tons per hour.

Step 3 - Pellets are dropped into bags that are sealed, stacked, and wrapped for delivery.  (Bags weigh 40 pounds each.  Pallets hold 50 bags or one ton.)

Step 4 - Quality tests are performed on one out of every 50 bags.  Pellets are poured onto a sifter.  They want the percent of fine dust to be less than 3.2%.

All-in-all the plant produces 100 to 180 tons (5,000 to 9,000 bags) per day.  And the whole operation is controlled by this computer.

Questions to consider:
* Approximately how many bags are quality tested in a day?
* If a bag is sold to the retailer for $2.50, how much income is produced at the factory in a day?

* Think: What are some other waste products that might be able to be transformed into something useful?

Cathedral State Park

Cathedral State Park is a virgin Eastern Hemlock forest located in northeastern West Virginia.  Hemlock grows well here due to the altitude (around 2500 ft) and the moist acidic soil.   (For more details and pictures of Eastern Hemlock, click on the Trees in West Virginia tab at the top of this page.)

Some of the things I noticed about the virgin forest...

* The trees were not as large as I expected.  And the flora was not very diverse.

* Undergrowth was very low, mostly ferns and seedlings.  This is due to the lack of sunlight reaching the forest floor because of the canopy provided by the trees.  There was a thick layer of leaf litter that was spongy from the decaying leaves and trees.

   

* Fallen and dead trees were abundant and parasites enjoy living on them.

While at the park we conducted soil tests which had an average pH of 4.55 proving the soil is quite acidic.

We also calculated the board feet of an average hemlock (pictured below) in the forest.  The tree we chose had a height of 43.23 feet and a diameter of 1.35 feet.  We calculated this tree to have 741.84 board feet.  (See May 5, 2012 post Estimating Board Feet for calculation process.)  Hemlock currently has a value of $3.20 per board foot, meaning this tree is worth $2,373.89 (not taking into account the cost of harvesting the wood).

Lumberyard

I would highly recommend watching the History Channel's Modern Marvels: Lumberyard.  This documentary provides a great look at many types of wood and lumber products as well as their variety of uses and the process of getting the wood from the forest to the home.  Here are some questions to think about as you watch the show.

1.  What is a board foot?

2.  How many board feet are recycled each year?

3.  What percent of all construction uses reclaimed wood?

4.  How much does reclaimed wood cost per board foot?

5.  What are some of the largest uses for lumber throughout the years?

6.  What are engineered woods?  Give some examples.

7.  What is OSB?  How is it made?

8.  Why is OSB cheaper than veneer plywood?

You can also find these questions here Listening Guide.

Forestry Unit Plan

I have created a detailed unit plan to expose my students to the math and science behind forestry.  You can find links to all of the supplement field guides in the plan.  Corresponding West Virginia CSO's as well as Common Core Standards are listed.

Bethany Carr's - Forestry Unit Plan