Making Black Cherry Blanks From System 6

S2Low-grade, small-diameter black cherry (Prunus serotina) timber was used to make System 6 cants. Cherry from the Allegheny National Forest (Ludlow, PA), west-central Pennsylvania (Glen Hope, PA), north-central Pennsylvania (Dushore, PA), western Maryland (Oakland, MD), and the Monongahela National Forest (Middle Mountain, WV) was used. The cants were resawed to 414 boards, the boards dried, and blanks were made at the Princeton Laboratory's System 6 pilot plant. By varying the rough mill procedures, differences in board quality and cutting bill requirements were accommodated keeping yields high. The cherry from the Pennsylvania and Maryland sites gave similar yields, while the West Virginia cherry gave 5 percent higher yields. Gum streak was not a problem. Pennsylvania and Maryland cherry gave a 39.0 percent return, and West Virginia cherry gave a 50.3 percent return on a $2.2 million 10-year investment.S3.

S2Three system 6 mill-size alternatives were designed and evaluated to determine their overall economic potential for producing standard-size hardwood blanks. The study focused on developing standard discounted cash flow measures. Internal rates of return ranged from about 15 to 35 percent after taxes. Secondary effort was directed at providing accounting cost summaries to facilitate cost comparison of standard-size blanks with rough-dimension stock. Cost per square foot of blanks ranged from about $0.88 to $1.19, depending on mill size and the amount of new investment required.S3.