Author: kallfass

Whether for a terrace, privacy fence or a raised bed, hardly any garden can do without wood. The demands associated with the production of garden timber are as varied as the raw material itself. Sawmills which, in addition to standard timber products, also include a special garden timber range in their portfolio, need a plant configuration that can combine classic machining steps flexibly with special refining processes.

Kallfass provides turnkey mechanisation concepts for further processing of timber, integrating profile milling for chamfering fence battens, planing machines for rippling of decking, incisor systems for preparing material for impregnation and chop saws for fence post pointing.

The following practical example of the installation of a fence production line in a confined space involves the raw material travelling from the vacuum destacker to a multiple cross-cut saw to create the required lengths. It is then conveyed on to the post pointing plant for sharpening of fence poles and subsequently passes through a profile miller for chamfering or milling of a radius on the board head. The squared timbers are now separated, planed and bundled, followed by a stacking and strapping system. This is only one installation example of many. Quality assessment systems, equipment for labelling and marking and incisor systems can be included in the configuration if desired.

Processing from sawn to garden timber often involves a lot of time and personnel. A well-conceived, automated production concept reduces manual tasks to a minimum and multiplies the production output.

The decisive economic factors in timber processing are product quality and production utilisation. Quality assessment systems integrated in the production process increase the automation level and, simultaneously, optimise utilisation.

Optimised cutting in networked production

KALLFASS has developed an interface concept that networks different software systems in a production line, thus enabling direct communication between individual processes. For example, the wane scanner installed in the sorting system determines board dimensions such as length, width, thickness and possibly quality, identifies flaws such as knotholes or wane and transmits these measurement results as cutting information directly to the KALLFASS trimmer saw. Trimmer saws normally only work with preconfigured grid lengths, but adding equipment to the system such as a servo-controlled, flexible zero stop upstream of the trimmer can cut out flaws with great precision while minimising the loss of wood.

As an alternative to scanning, the KALLFASS assessment chain conveyor can be used for a manual quality assessment of timber. Each board is individually accommodated and rotated through 180° before being deposited again on the conveyor. The operator can observe the timber from all sides and assign a characteristic.

More flexible and quicker production through automation

Quicker, easier, more flexible. These are all requirements which a modern timber production facility designed for different product dimensions needs to meet. The focus on the product needs to change to a focus on the process to achieve this, as processes can be actively influenced.

Kallfass, the automation specialist from Klosterreichenbach/DE, analyses the customer’s production goals and framework conditions that define the automation level of the plant. After all, the ratio between sawmill capacity and the extent of investment must be exactly right.

Robot versus personnel costs

Potential upgrades which can be exploited in automation include the use of a robot to take the place of pick & place handling which otherwise involves a high level of human resources. In the case of production involving large batches per timber dimension, this investment can pay off very quickly in the form of savings in personnel costs.

Kallfass has offered a fully automated stick handling system since last year. Time-consuming filling of the stick magazine is realised by a robot that accomplishes charging with practically no human intervention and at a consistent cycle rate. In addition, a stick scanner can be used prior to magazine filling that assesses the quality of the sticks. Only suitable sticks are separated, packetised and then prepared for robot filling.