2904-00 Veneer: Commercial production

Applies to:

Businesses manufacturing rough veneer.

Veneer is a thin layer of material, usually made of wood or plastic, which is used to cover the surface of another material. In most instances, finished veneer will have a superior appearance or quality than the surface it covers. Rough veneer manufactured in this classification is generally sold to manufacturers of veneer products made by laminating rough veneer to plywood or particleboard.

Producing rough veneer made of wood includes, but is not limited to:

• Sawing logs, bolts (lengthwise strips), or blocks;

• Softening logs, bolts, or blocks in vats of hot water or steam rooms to remove the bark and make the fiber pliable for cutting or turning;

• Shaping the pieces further by turning, slicing, or sawing;

• Cutting the single-ply veneer sheets to various sizes of length and thickness;

• Drying the veneer sheets in kilns.

Machinery used includes, but is not limited to:

• Band saws;

• Conveyor systems;

• Forklifts;

• Kilns;

• Rotary lathes;

• Stationary knife machines;

• Table saws.

Exclusions:

• The production of veneer by employees of employers engaged in the manufacture of other products is included in the classification covering the manufacture of those products;

• Sawmill operations are classified in 1002;

• Manufacturing plywood is classified in 2904-01;

• Manufacturing veneer products is classified in 2903;

• Manufacturing other products made from wood or plastic, which are classified in the classification applicable to the work being performed.

2904-01 Plywood: Manufacturing

Applies to:

Businesses manufacturing plywood.

Plywood is a structural material made of layers of wood (veneer) glued tightly together, usually with the grains of adjoining layers at right angles to each other. (In this application the word "ply" means one of the sheets of veneer.) The production of veneer is included in the scope of this classification when done by employees of employers engaged in the manufacture of plywood.

Producing plywood may include, but is not limited to:

• Joining less-than-full-size sheets of veneer into full-size sheets using veneer jointers, taping machines, tapeless splicers, or other methods such as stringing and stitching;

• Coating the cross banding and core veneers (front and back) with liquid glue using a glue spreader;

• Conveying the veneer to a hot press that bonds the veneers into plywood;

• Removing the panels from the presses;

• Placing the panels in a storage pile (referred to as a "hot stack") to cool and cure;

• Trimming, sanding, and stacking panels for conditioning;

• Plywood may be impregnated with chemicals to develop wood-plastic combinations that are harder and denser than ordinary plywood;

• Inspection and grading panels according to thickness and quality;

• Moving by forklift to the warehouse portion of the plant where they are stacked in tiers separated by a piece of lumber to prevent sagging or distortion;

• Bundling with metal straps, either manually or with automatic strapping equipment.

Exclusions:

• Sawmill operations are classified in 1002;

• Manufacturing rough veneer as a product is classified in 2904-00;

• Manufacturing other products made from wood or plastic, which are classified in the classification applicable to the work being performed.

PDFWAC 296-17A-2904

Classification 2904.