Economical Wood Sawing with Circular Saw Blades of a New Design

Material-saving and energy-saving belong to the basic requirements imposed on contemporary manufacturing processes. The realization of these processes gives measurable profi ts, not only economical but also ecological. In the case of wood sawing with circular saw blades, material and energy-savings are dependent on total overall set of teeth (theoretical kerf) and teeth position accuracy in relation to the workpiece. Hence, it is necessary to achieve a decrease of both raw material and energy losses by the use of narrow-kerf saw blades, an increase of sawing accuracy, as well as a reduction of spacing in case of sawing with a gang of circular saws. However, meeting these requirements in the case of rip sawing with circular saw blades is a quite diffi cult issue and depends on many factors. The detailed analyses concerning ways of chip transportation in the kerf slot, saw blade stiffness, saw blade movement and workpiece feeding accuracy are the proof of these inconvenient technical problems in sawmills. Hence, the realization of economical wood sawing with circular saw blades seems not to be viable until the whole system of sawing fulfils the defined requirements. Thanks to the application of the proecological technology (circular saw blades of a new design), in the examined industrial case, the following results have been achieved: an increase of about 18 % in the amount of side lumber, roughly 16 % less sawdust (as an effect of kerf reduction) and about 16 % lower values of the cutting power consumption.