NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

     The Process

   Preparing the wood:

   Aspen logs are cut into 25 inch long blocks. These blocks are rotary veneered into    long flat sheets of    wood about     one-eighth inch thick, then chopped into sticks    called splints.

   Washed and Waxed:

   Splints are soaked in a vat of monoammonium phosphate, and then slowly dried.    The solution of    monoammonium     phosphate prevents “after-glow” when the    burning match stick is extinguished.
   The splints are dried, polished, and then placed in thousands of slots on narrow    plates to be dipped in    hot wax, where     a wet paste of chemicals is applied to    the splint head.

    Air Dried and Packaged:

    Newly dipped matches will gradually dry in an hour. They are then packaged in     boxes, wrapped and    shipped.

    Production and Use:

    A match machine at Diamond can make more than one million matches per hour.     Diamond match    machines are     used to produce other wood products as well.     Diamond makes more than 12 billion    matches a year of the more than     500     billion that are used annually in the United States.

    Chemical Pastes Makes Match Safe:

    There are more than twenty chemicals used to make a match. These chemicals     fall into four classes that    comprise     the match head: Binder, Fuel, Oxidizing     Agent and Dilutants.
   • Binder - glue made from recycled materials binds the match head together and       holds it to the stick.
   • Fuel - the main fuel is sulfur, although other ingredients do burn.