The purpose of this study is to investigate and record the principal problems associated with chipped surface quality at canter lines and evaluate degrade and value losses due to these problems.
Mill measurements were conducted in five member sawmills in British Columbia to evaluate the value losses and lumber degrades due to chipped surface defects. The test lumber was sampled from the planing mills to identify the chipping losses and main problems. The five types of chipped surface defects influencing lumber grade are: knot tear-out; failure to remove chipped spline channel; torn grain without knots; scalloping; and chipped thin end.
Average value losses for all mills were $11.4/MBF and $12.6/MBF in freezing and non-freezing conditions respectively. Removing the non-freezing data from one mill changed this to $11.4/MBF and $9.0/MBF respectively. Knot tear out caused 60% of lumber to be degraded. On average, over 55% of knots had tear-out. 42.3% of trim length was caused by failure to remove chipped spline channel.
This paper investigates the feasibility of increasing bandmill production by proportionally increasing both blade speed and lumber feed speed. A modal analysis of the bandmill and bandsaw was conducted and resonant conditions, likely to impair performance, were identified. Cutting tests were conducted to determine the effect of increased blade speed on cutting accuracy, surface finish and sawdust quality. The tests were conducted at blade speeds of 10,000 fpm, 12,500 fpm and 15,000 fpm and examined the effect of tipped and swaged blades cutting Coastal Hem/Fir and Interior SPF.
The global objective of the project is to investigate the feasibility of increasing bandmill production by proportionately increasing both the blade speed and the lumber feed speed. The objective of this phase of the project is to transfer the results of the laboratory experiments to the sawmill industry. The work described in this report covers the transfer of the technology to two sawmills. The first report has a more detailed introduction to the project and a review of the literature.
