Pallet production - Interesting experience and engineering solutions from Romania

Pallet production combines both simplicity and complexity and more than any other type of woodworking relies on the business skills of company owners and the reliability of equipment.

"It's an extremely competitive environment," says the co-owner of DECO TIMBER, Mr. Ovidiu Stancalie from the town of Ionesti. "Now the European market is full of pallet products from Ukraine and Poland, and we have to work more efficiently to maintain our share in this market."
DECO TIMBER has been in existence for many years, but its current owners recently bought the company and decided to go in a new direction - the production of pallets for export to Italy.

Mr. Ovidiu Stănсălie, a mechanical engineer with 20 years of experience in woodworking, talks about the key elements of pallet technology.
"Our task is to cut a three-sided prism 100-145 mm wide into 22 mm thick planks with high precision and productivity. This operation requires multi-head horizontal ribbon cross-cut saws."
From the beginning, Mr. Stănсălie considered thin-cut technology to be the most suitable and efficient method for pallet production.

"I wasn't familiar with this technology, but now the Internet offers the opportunity to learn continuously, so I searched carefully and studied all possible variants of multi-head horizontal band saws on YouTube," says engineer Stănсălie, who finally opted for a four-head HR700 model from Wood-Mizer.
"In fact, it was the only option that suited us perfectly," he explains, "Firstly, the price was right, and secondly, we found out that this car had already been produced by Wood-Mizer for several years and that there are many cars like this in operation in Europe. I didn't want to take the risk and buy new, untested technology."
"Besides, the Wood-Mizer name means a lot. Once it's Wood-Mizer - it has to be reliable equipment."

"When Mr Stănсălie called us at the office, we understood from his questions that we were dealing with a specialist," says Adrian Echert, director of the Romanian subsidiary Wood-Mizer RO. "He inquired about HR700 very carefully and competently."
With the Wood-Mizer equipment, Mr. Stănсălie has been familiar for more than 15 years, he has seen these band saws several times at exhibitions, but for the first time he came into contact with the horizontal multi-headed band saws.
The new HR700 machine arrived in DECO TIMBER production straight from the Bucharest show.

Processing of three-sided wooden prisms for pallets

The design of this machine is special: it consists of modules; each module has 2 cutting heads. With four cutting heads, the HR700 cuts a three-sided prism into four pallets, plus a single pass width.
Each cutting head is equipped with a 15 kW electric motor. A separate console holds all the controls for cutting. Electric up/down controls adjust the heads to produce different sized lumber. Centralised blade tensioning for each two-head module makes the blade change process much faster.
The prism is fed into the cutting mechanism on the double steel belt conveyor at a variable speed of up to 20 m/min. Strong, heavy rollers stabilise and feed the prisms through the ends during cutting. This facilitates the processing of short prisms. A pneumatic sensor automatically raises the rollers to enclose incoming prisms. The speed of the roller is synchronised with the speed of the conveyor belt, providing a more precise cut, especially for thin boards.

"The HR700 equipment has proven to be extremely reliable, especially the mechanics and electronics.This machine requires minimal maintenance and is not sensitive to staff qualifications. It is very easy for people to learn how to work with the HR700" says Mr. Stănсălie.
"The HR700 machine is running about 90% of the shift and we still have capacity, because now the cutting is done at a speed of 8 m/min," explains engineer Stănсălie.

Primary log processing

Primary log cutting is done on a vertical band saw with a double wide band produced by the South African company MultiSaw. Recently, Wood-Mizer acquired the intellectual property for this equipment and, starting in 2017, began producing these band saws under the brand name TITAN. These were presented for the first time at LIGNA 2017 in Hannover.
At DECO TIMBER we process mainly small logs of local wood - poplar, pine or spruce up to 35 cm in diameter. The logs are stored on an open surface and fed to the ribbon saw, one by one, through the log loader with chain. The operator sits in a seat at an upper control station on the side of the band saw, giving him a clear view of the whole process. He controls all the bandsaw's functions with the lever arms.

A log loader at the start of the line loads and rotates the log into the correct position for cutting before it is fed into the vertical conveyor. The spiked infeed/outfeed system sends the logs through the 150 mm wide double webs, resulting in a double-sided, double-width prism. Mechanised support rollers keep the logs securely on the spiked chain during cutting.
After the cutting ends, the billets are lowered down onto the cross conveyor which transfers the billets to the horizontal band saw for re-cutting - another element of the TITAN line. Here the billets are turned into several additional planks.

The two-sided prism is passed through another horizontal band saw and turned into a three-sided prism with a width of 100 mm or 145 mm, after which it is cut on the HR700 four-head machine into 22 mm thick pallets.
"It is a step forward that Wood-Mizer has started to produce TITAN wide web band saws, while Romania already has experience in using these saws, and the experience is very promising", says Adrian Echert, director Wood-Mizer RO. "The TITAN saw range consists of primary and secondary saws, a multirip saw and two circular edging saws, plus all the material handling equipment needed to automate the transfer of wood from start to finish, as well as waste removal. The productivity of the TITAN line can reach a volume of 150m3 per day".

"Look at the kind of machining that is done at DECO TIMBER," continues Adrian Echert, "It's amazing. All the equipment is completely linked in one technological line where the machines are connected by chain conveyors. This is engineer Stănсălie's development".
"In my practice, I have often worked with used machines," explains Mr Stănсălie. "This is not the best choice, but sometimes we have to do it, and in order for the equipment used to work well, you have to be fully involved in the process: to understand which units are vulnerable, which functions need to be specifically controlled, how to repair them."

"The broadcloth ribbon saws didn't come to us new, but I'm completely satisfied with the way they work. It's a simple piece of equipment, all the mechanical components are very reliable and there are virtually no electronics. And we have a large reserve of production capacity, but it's important to note that we have experience in the maintenance of the wide-ribbon web. As you know, the 70% of woodworking success depends on the blades you use and how sharp and ready they are for the job."

"Another important issue in pallet production is the thickness of the cut. When cutting planks as thin as 22 mm, the thickness of the cut is the key factor, it must be minimal. Wood-Mizer technology is known for its cut thickness, a thickness of about 2 mm, which increases product recovery and decreases the amount of sawdust", - shares engineer Stănсălie.

With a focus on pallet quality

Due to the fact that the poplar will twist during drying, the pallets are assembled from green planks. They are made on Wektor's special manufacturing line capable of producing up to 170 pallets per hour. Already assembled, the pallets are loaded into a specially designed drying oven.

"When the pallets are assembled by nails, twisting of the wood in the dryer is not possible," explains Mr Stănсălie, "The pallets are smooth and of high quality, confirmed by the EPAL certificate, which is required for any pallet manufacturer operating on the European market."
"In fact, we're still at the beginning of the road," says Mr Stănсălie. "We have big investment plans and we know exactly what we want to eliminate from production. Pallet production requires professional skills, and reliable equipment becomes half the success."
As a next step, DECO TIMBER will purchase Wood-Mizer horizontal ribbon saws to cut lettuce.

Source: www.woodmizer.ro