Jahr: 2025

Kallfass, located in Klosterreichenbach, Germany, has already built and commissioned countless complete mechanisations for planing mills. At Dold Holzwerke in Buchenbach, Germany, however, the process has been raised to a new level in terms of flexibility, because this new system is far beyond “just” planing.

“We are a 100% integrated wood processing company”, says Nikolaus Faller, Managing Director of Dold Holzwerke together with Matthias Huber, at the beginning. As far as possible, the raw material is processed in Buchenbach. The sawn timber is used for solid wood panel production and the planing mill; the bark is fed into the company's own heating plant and sawdust is pressed into pellets. Drying and impregnation are also required.

Extensive planning

Dold Holzwerke has been producing planed timber and slats for decades. “Until now, however, our mechanisation around the planing machine was kept relatively simple. We decided to invest in a new planing mill in order to increase performance and efficiency”, explains Faller. However, due to the limited space available at the site, those responsible initially decided to build a new office building, as the old one was literally bursting at the seams. Initial designs for the planing mill started in 2020, with the ground-breaking ceremony for the new hall following in November 2022. In order to make the best possible use of the space, it was designed as a two-storey building: The sawn timber warehouse is located downstairs and the new planing mill is on the upper level.

Kallfass was chosen as the supplier for the mechanisation. “We spoke to several providers, but were ultimately convinced that only Kallfass could realise our extensive wishes. We have also worked with Kallfass before”, says Faller, who also emphasises the great project management on the part of the supplier. “During planning, we took into account the requirements of the market as well as the necessary dimensions and quantities. Our portfolio is very customer-orientated - we deliver what the customer needs”.

“Kallfass has literally given us the perfect solution in the new planing mill”.

Nikolaus Faller, Managing Director Dold Holzwerke

One type of wood - many possibilities

Kallfass has planned a highly flexible system in cooperation with Dold Holzwerke. Faller and Huber also refer to it as a “multifunctional unit”, as it is by no means limited to planing. Various operating modes are possible:

• planing with and without multi rip saw
• planing with and without bundling
• pure restacking operation
• bandsaw rotation with and without planing

The Kallfass system is designed for board lengths from 2 to 8.1 metres. The cross-sections range from 18 x 80 mm to large KVH (structural solid timber) cross-sections. “Due to the diverse operating modes and the wide range of dimensions, this project was anything but ordinary for us”, says Kallfass programmer Holger Seidt. Huber puts the annual capacity in two-shift operation at up to 90,000 m³.

The Kallfass mechanisation starts with a package feeder, using a hoisting unit that moves the package to the second level—with a possible total load capacity of 16 t— and a separate tilt destacking system. The drying chamber sticks and the waste sticks fall off automatically and are transported to a collection station. After separation, the wood can take two paths: The path either continues straight on to the Tongloader®, or the boards are transported upwards via a bypass and on to the Weinig Raimann twin bandsaw. This can be used to cut the pieces either horizontally or vertically. The band saw feed operates at a feed speed of 100 m/min.

Planing or restacking

Using the Tongloader®, the boards are loaded into the carriers, one-by-one. After the moisture and warp measurement, defective parts can be ejected. However, if these parts can be processed further, the pieces are placed in a stanchion, otherwise in the chipper. The next step is the tried-and-tested Kallfass multiple circular cross-cut saw with a fixed saw and two variable units. Downstream of this system, there are again two options: downwards into the bypass for pure restacking or straight on into the Kallfass planing infeed. This feeder is designed for a maximum feed speed of 250 m/min.

Behind the planing machine is another special feature: a Weinig Raimann multi rip circular saw for even more flexibility in production. Kallfass mounted this on rails so that it can simply be pushed to one side when not in use. The workpieces are then pulled off to the left onto the chain conveyor with the assessment station. Here, parts can also be ejected downwards. These either go to the second stacker or into the chipper. At this point, an employee is still present to inspect the quality. However, when configuring the system, care was taken to ensure that a scanner could be integrated into the process relatively easily, if required.

One of the reasons why Dold Holzwerke invested in the planing mill was to produce slats more efficiently. For this reason, Kallfass installed a bundling system. “We compile the bundles in terms of quantity according to customer requirements. The advantage of the Kallfass solution: From assembling the bundles to strapping them, the wood is fixed at all times”, Faller points out during the tour. The bundles or sawn timber are then packaged on one of the two stacking systems, transported downwards and fed to the strapping station made by Fromm. Kallfass has also incorporated a feature here: To make work easier for the employees, there is a hoisting unit in the roller conveyor that raises the wood package by at least 50 cm.

Since the plant was built in a new hall, Dold Holzwerke was able to continue production with the existing system. “Kallfass first put the entire mechanisation into operation. At the very end, we then installed the refurbished planing machine in its current location”, explains Huber and Faller concluded: “Thanks to the high level of automation and the quick changeover of the systems, we have hardly any downtime.