Buildings. — The following buildings have been submitted: A, E. . Hacking, garage, High street, Coff's Harbor; Pacific Plywood and Timber Pty. Ltd., factory on S.L. 14246, Orlando street, Coff's Harbor Jetty

DORRIGO SHIRE (1939, December 19). Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), p. 9

A new industry was officially commenced in Coffs Harbour yes-terday, when Pacific Plywood and Timber Pty. Ltd. factory at the Jetty was officially opened. It is situated very conveniently for both rail and sea carriage. The works will provide employment for upwards of 45 men, besides increasing the consumption of water and electricity in the town. The machinery was started up by Cr. Burke amidst the acclaim of many leading men in local business and industry who were present.

The factory, which consists of a number of buildings, extends for a distance of 900ft. along Orlando street, with an average width of about 125ft. The area of land covered is about 21 acres. Both steam and elec-tric power are used. There is a 30 h.p. boiler and 25 h.p. engine, in addition to seven motors aggregating 70 h.p.

The Process Explained

Pine logs brought from Dorrigo are used for conversion into threeply. They are first cut into the required lengths, and then attached to the lathe, which peels off the sheets as the log revolves. The next process is a very up-to-date one evolved after research by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. It is a bath to specially treat the timber and make it proof against attacks by borer. This is very important to those using the timber for various purposes.

The big sheets are cut to size in a guillotine, stacked and put into drying kilns. There are three of these kilns, through which fans driven by motors suck through the steam-heated air. Next step is the veneer store, where the sheets are glued with a casein cement and coverted into 3-pIy under a big hydraulic press. One sheet is set down, another glued on both sides by being run over glue-covered rollers, and the third sheet placed on top for the three to be pressed together. They are again dried out in the kilns, trimmed, on an automatic bench, and then sanded to give them the smooth finished surface. The sanding machine, by the way, is the widest in Australia, being 5ft. wide.

The capacity of the factory is practically unlimited. A second peeling machine is ready for use if required. The present plant can handle about 5000 sheets, with 30 men employed. With the second peeling machine in operation about 15 men would be re-quired. In addition to plywood, it is intended to manufacture other pro-ducts, such as doors and barrels for dry storage, at a later date.

The mill was bought from Messrs. Mulhearn Bros, and was in operation at Ulong for a time. But in its re-erection it has been reconstructed and brought right up-to-date. The contractor for the building was Mr. J. S. Maloney. The works manager is Mr. A. Mackie. Mr. W. Wilner, of Sydney, is the managing director of the Company. Mr. L. S. Cumming is Chairman of Directors, and Mr. A. M. Henderson a director and technical adviser. Another director is Mr. F. Klement, of Sydney.

The Official Opening

Besides the good gathering of representative men present at the official opening banquet, apologies were received from a number of others. These included a telegram from Sir Earle Page, who congratulated the Company upon their enterprise in de-centralising manufacture in Coffs Harbour. Mr. R. S. Vincent, Minister for Mines and Forests, also sent a telegram conveying best wishes. Mr. G. C. Gollan (Chief Secretary), Mr. Swain (Commissioner of Forests) and Mr. G. W. Fitzgerald (President of the Clarence County Council) were also among those who sent apologies.

The catering for the banquet was done by Mr. Love, of the Pier Hotel, and the chairman (Mr. Cumming) paid a special tribute to him for the excellent way it was carried out. Following the Loyal toast, Mr. Cumming said it was many years since he first became acquainted with Coffs Harbour. He was then managing director of Cumming Bros, in Tasmania and looked up information about Coffs. When he joined the firm of V. B. Trapp, of Sydney, and came to N.S.W. nearly 20 years ago he be-came actively engaged in the timber industry of the North Coast, and he thought he could say truthfully that the firm had contributed to the wealth and had helped materially in the development of this part of the coast. Their representative, Mr. W. Swadling, was permanently settled here and was well-known to many of the residents. Mr. Swadling had much to do with the making of preliminary preparations for the erection of the factory, but a great deal of the credit was due to Mr. Henderson, of Cumming-Henderson, who designed the factory and supervised the carrying out of the work. The contractor (Mr. Maloney) and his staff had faithfully done a good job, and thanks were due to him and many others who had helped to bring the work to successful completion. He wished to specially thank the Shire Council for making the land available.

Local Industries Needed

Mr. Cumming went on to mention how the war had brought about a change in the financial situation and with it a limitation of imports, and especially timber imports. That specially called for development of local industries to make up deficiencies. This firm was therefore answer-ing a definite and urgent need in the development of the resources of the State. The Australian Plywood Board, he added, had been quite unnecessarily concerned about the proposed activities of the Company, fearing over-production. But very large orders from outside the Common-wealth would keep the Queensland factories fully employed, and it was a well-known fact that the softwood timber reserves of Queensland are being speedily depleted. This Company, therefore, felt quite justified in operating in this locality, where there are ample supplies. The C.S.I.R. had made it possible to treat scrubwoods in a manner that makes the product free of borer, which is a great boon to those who will use the plywood and veneers in their homes and else-where. The making of plywood was a much more economical method of utilising the State's timber resources than any other means. Production had gone ahead by leaps and bounds and 100,000,000ft. of plywood was now being produced in the Commonwealth annually. The increase in other parts of the world was even more astounding. Mr. Cumming said he saw no reason why this and allied industries should not expand further and give employment to many men, if given the support it deserves by the Forestry Department. Mr. Vincent, he added, was enthusiastic when it was intimated that a factory was to be erected here, and promised his full support and co-operation. When interviewed later he seemed to have cooled off somewhat. But they were still hoping that the vast forest areas in the vicinity of Coffs Harbour will be speedily made available to pro-duce ample log supplies for the factory, as everything depends upon supplies. Mr. Cumming asked the people of the district to stand behind the Company in this respect. A lot of money had been spent here and the factory was now ready to com mence operations in earnest. They hoped it would be a benefit not only to the shareholders, but also to the whole district.