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Lumber in the wheel (Holzkurier, issue 34/2004)
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Lumber in the wheel (Holzkurier, issue 34/2004)
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| Construction timber available in all dimensions with flexible production line Holzkurier report from Vintl/Italy
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View from the operator's cabin to the Linck double arbor saw
Weitental facts
Owners: Christoph Unterkircher and Anton Gasser
Number of personnel: 10
Processing capacity: 45.000 m³ round logs/year
Site: 3 hectares
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Among other sawmill owners, it is the most modern sawmill in Southern Tyrol - the sawmill Weitental, at Vintl/Italy, owned by Christoph Unterkircher and Anton Gasser.
Flexible solutions for construction timber. The combination of a Linck saw- and a Springer sorting line offers the best solution with regards to producing and supplying construction timber of variable dimension according to the customer’s requirements on short notice. The new sawline replaced the former gangsaw.
The new concept was expected to offer higher flexibility, capability and lower production cost. According to Unterkircher: “We wanted to handle inquiries for lumber faster and to shorten the delivery time.”
The two owners are pleased: “Better surface quality and cutting accuracy, less time for production and tool change, simpler sorting and thus more favourable production cost – these were the reasons for us to invest in the new sawline.”
Production increase. The new technology and a higher feed speed of up to 35 m/min. resulted in a higher production capacity. Approx. 200 m³ round logs per day are processed depending upon cutting pattern and order. 45.000 m³ round logs are processed per year. Not only construction timber cut to special dimensions is produced, but also standard assortments and Uso Fiume of all dimensions up to 13,50 m length.
Round log supply by railroad. Round logs are purchased locally or partly abroad. The logs are transported by railroad up to Bruneck/Italy and then by truck to Weitental. Unterkircher declares: “As we need large quantities of round logs, we decided to purchase it abroad.” First handling of the logs takes place on the log yard. Gasser takes care of the round log purchase, Unterkircher of the production and lumber sale.
According to the orders on hand, the saw logs are fed to the saw line. In 2000 the company Reiter, Rangersdorf installed the log feeding systems for the Combimes edger. Saw logs are kicked out onto the cross conveyor after having passed the Bruks butt end reducer and the Nicholson debarking machine. “We only debark right in front of the saw line for reasons of longer lifetime of cutting tools”, Unterkircher mentions.
Double arbor circular saw for 3,00-13,50 m cutting length. The new saw line, including a flexible double arbor circular saw CSMK 375-A3/B3, is designed for diameters from 15-70 cm and for lengths from 3,00-13,50 m. The main machine operates with 6 servo-hydraulically adjustable saw heads, whereof each of the 4 inner saw sleeves can be equipped with one sawblade and the two outer saw sleeves with several sawblades. The number of sawblades depends on the cutting pattern. The production sequence in the sawmill building starts with handing over the saw logs to the infeed carriage. The operator in the control cabin gets all data required such as cutting sizes, position of tool axles, round log data and sorting criterias by a Windows cutting programme.
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Processing of round logs up to 13,50 m long
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Machine outfeed side with wedge separator and trim saw
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Easy reprogramming. “Varying cutting patterns like they occur when producing construction timber (log to log adjustment) can be easily reprogrammed without changing tools,” Unterkircher explains. “This makes sorting of logs on the log yard easier compared with the former sorting for the gangsaw line.”
Prior to being fed to the machine machine, saw logs, two-sided or four-sided cants in the merry-go-round system are placed in the correct sawing position at the infeed carriage. The merry-go-round system was installed by the company Reiter.
The saw arbors are protected by height limiting routers being installed in front of the CSMK in case of excessive root ends. The flexible operating mode of the CSMK allows the symmetrical or asymmetrical, core split or corefree resawing of two- or four-sided cants up to 375 mm cutting depth and the production of 1-5 four-sided cants, frames, posts or boards.
When resawing four-sided cants (square timber), the guide plates are set into position for exact cant centering. A wedge separator at the outfeed side of the circular saw separates the sideboards from the main products. Too long sideboards are trimmed to 2-6 m by a travelling trim saw.
Fast stacking with two sorting stations. Following the sawline, the whole lumber, main products and sideboards, is separated and fed to the two sorting stations.
A roller sorting station with stacking machine supplied by the company Reiter is available for main products up to 13 m length.
After edging, the boards are transported via 5 trays to the Springer sorting wheel. Either green or dried lumber can be forwarded to be packaging plant with trimming. “3500 sorting trays are available for the boards. The plant operates at 60 cycles per minute”, Unterkircher explains.
All under one roof. The old sawmill building was equipped with a new roof and extended to house the complete sawline as well as sorting- and stacking under one roof. The horizontally installed sorting conveyors push the boards into the sorting drum. Prior to that, width and thickness of the lumber as well as length in 0,5 m increments is measured. The lumber quality is manually entrered in the programme. These parameters are then fed to the sorting control. The various assortments are managed in lists.
Clockwise operating of the sorting wheel. The sorting drum is split up into sections and trays. – each tray receives a board of exactly defined measurements and quality. The drum is operating clockwise. After having been chosen by the sorting programme, a board is axially pulled-out of the drum by means of a grab.
Sharp tools. The saw sharpening room is well equipped by the company Vollmer, Biberach/Germany. The removal of by-products was supplied by the company Rudnick & Enners, Alpenrod, Germany.
“Presently framework and Uso Fiume sell very well – we can even serve customers that need small quantities only. We sell our products on the local market as well as to customers all over Italy,” the owner declares.
The sawmill owners don’t have to worry about successors – the young generation is already actively involved in the business.JK
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Main products are ransported to the Reiter
stacking machine
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Mill manager Christoph Unterkircher in front of the Springer
sorting wheel
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The heart of the mill: Sorting drum split up into sections
and trays
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Daughter Karin Unterkircher trains herself in operating the line.
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