© Copyright 2011  Julianne Dodds Timber, Veneer and Plywood 1901 - 1969 First Rotary Lathe in Brisbane By 1915 Mac had set up business in a timber yard in Stanley Street, South Brisbane opposite the Post Office and employed labourers to help him begin his plywood production. As it was now impossible to import a lathe from America, as Sturrock had done, Mac designed and constructed the first Australian made lathe to cut rotary veneers. Using Queensland Hoop Pine he produced three-sixteenths of an inch 3-ply in sheets 6 feet long by 3 feet wide from the cut veneers. Thus he became the first manufacturer of plywood in Queensland. [2]  Initially Mac traded as J. M. Williams & Co. and soon he was manufacturing 10,000 feet of three-ply weekly and selling it at 14 shillings per 100 feet. J. M. Williams & Co. had the monopoly on manufactured plywood in Queensland. Several months after establishing his Stanley Street mill, Mac advertised it for sale for £600. The business was making profits of £20 to £25 weekly. By early 1917 there was still no business competition in Queensland for a three ply wood and veneer industry. Three-ply wood mills in Annie Street, Woolloongabba c. 1917 Photo from Williams Collection Mac’s 1916 notebook outlining his projected expenses. Williams collection.