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USNR PURCHASES COE OPERATIONS by Timber Processing

USNR, a leading manufacturer and supplier of sawmill machinery, is purchasing Coe Newnes McGehee, Inc. of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, and affiliate Coe operations in the U.S. at Tigard, Ore., Covington, Ga. and Painesville, Oh., including Coe Manufacturing.

Current Industry News

Multi-Wing America (MWA), a leader in axial fans, has extended its global reputation for quality to the wood drying market with the new TR7Z and TR11W True Reversing blades. MWA’s innovative reversing blades produce equal airflow in both directions because they are true airfoils in both directions. This advanced design can drive efficiencies of 71%, which is significantly higher than other reversing profiles in the market today.

“Our True Reversing profiles are a cost-effective, low-noise solution for a spectrum of applications,” says MWA President Jim Crowley. “This is the perfect fan for wood-drying kilns. The True Reversing profile can also be tailor made to fit radiator applications involving heavy debris. The traditional answers have been to run a fan backward—which is terribly inefficient—or to use an expensive, variable-pitch fan. Our True Reversing profiles provide unsurpassed efficiency with a cost-effective, low-noise fan.”

Back to Basics by Peter Garrahan

Doing the basics right is a good formula for success in most endeavors, but is especially true in lumber drying. Drying takes place in a big black box over a period of many hours or days, and so mill operators do not always make the connection between cause and effect.

At FPInnovations – Forintek Div., we are working on a project to help make that connection. The project is called Best Drying Practices, and one of the objectives is to develop tools and methodologies to quantify the impact of various actions (or inactions) on drying performance. An earlier project developed techniques to track lumber, and monitor its progress through the manufacturing process. The current project will focus on evaluating lumber to help justify the implementation of various “best drying practices.”

Different Mind Set by Jennifer McCary

Design and layout of Ashton Lewis Lumber Co.’s new sawmill, which started up in early 2007, reflects a different mindset from conventional SYP sawmill producers. High volume is not a primary driver. In fact, in comparison production throughput would be considered slow.

“We don’t look at production like most industrial engineers would in a normal sawmill,” states owner and President Tom Coxe. “We look more at things like piece count per hour per machine center, cost per saw line at each machine center and the time a certain piece of stock spends at a machine versus the value added. We take a log apart, much like a hardwood mill would.”

Drying in Zones by John Robinson

Two positive developments in the 1980s were multi-zoned kilns and a moisture content (MC) sensor using as its basis temperature drop across the load (TDAL). TDAL has been used since then as the basis for controlling the lumber MC from multi-zoned kilns. However, control systems based on TDAL do not effectively control a multi-zoned kiln because individual zone TDALs are not comparable and, when used as such, introduce error. An effective multi-zoned kiln control system must be able to accurately compare the drying in each zone; determine when and how much control action is needed to force each zone average MC toward the target with minimum MC variation; and to minimize the total drying time. Figure 1 depicts a cross-section of a typical multi-zoned kiln with TDAL temperature sensor locations.

New Facility Enhances Efficiencies

Titan Trailers’ R&D operations, Quality Control and Final Finish has moved into a new 37,000 sq. ft. facility at Delhi, Ontario that will also accommodate all scheduling, accounting and training facilities. Using his personal philosophy of “The only way to change the future is to invent it,” Mike Kloepfer, Titan Trailers’ President and founder, has done just that with the company’s new facility.

“First of all, we have created a state-of-the-art green facility that incorporates the latest technology and an ideal working environment for our employees,” Kloepfer states. “Additionally, by combining our R&D facility with Final Finish, our engineering teams will be able to keep an eye on product development from the inception to the delivery stage.”

Equipment & Supplier News

Lucidyne Technologies reports it has expanded its technical staff in response to an increase in automated grading installations. The company adds Dr. Eric Mortensen and Phil Heintz.

Dr. Mortensen, formerly of Oregon State University, specializes in image processing applications and brings his skills to Lucidyne’s scanner staff. Heintz brings a strong history of electronic/mechanical technical support and will manage scanner maintenance support program. Both are involved in Lucidyne’s GradeScan automated lumber grading system, which has recent installations at two Weyerhaeuser plants in Alberta, Canada.

Hard News In The Making

Environmental groups in a lawsuit claim the Bush Administration bypassed Congress when the administration oversaw payment of $1 billion to various timber and forestry entities as part of the 2006 Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement.

The environmental groups seek more detail on the process and reasoning that were used to designate these groups for funding. The environmental groups believe the money collected from Canada belongs in public coffers, but the Bush Administration says the money was only held in special U.S. Customs accounts and was never deposited into the U.S. Treasury because the U.S. government never claimed a right to the funds. The bottom line is that the environmental groups, one of which is the Sierra Club, believe the money recipients are too timber industry laden.

HARDWOOD Mills by Rich Donnell

Twenty-nine percent of hardwood lumbermen responding to a survey believe their operations will invest at least $500,000 in machinery and systems during the remainder of the decade. The Sawmill Capital Expenditure Survey, conducted by Timber Processing magazine, was completed in March by 80 hardwood lumber sawmill owners, executives and management personnel.

(Softwood lumbermen also completed the survey and the results from that group appeared in a report in the April issue of Timber Processing.)

New Products & Technologies

The new uniMAX 750 automatic grinding machine sharpens carbide-tipped circular saw blades quickly and efficiently. Manufactured in Europe and available from Colonial Saw in North America, it is fully enclosed for cleanliness and safety, and its rigid machine base provides excellent stability. The uniMAX 750 has standard programs to accommodate all common tooth types on saw blades from 100 to 750 mm (4-30") in diameter. The economical machine features a hydraulic clamping system that holds the blade rigidly during grinding, assuring superior finish grind quality. A large window provides a clear view of the grinding wheel, and an internal diagnostic program identifies faults.

At the unit’s central control panel the operator programs the grinding based on the shape and angle of the blade’s teeth, the number of teeth, etc. The automatic swivel-mounted grinding head can be programmed to grind bevels of up to 45˚ for saws with alternating teeth or triple-chip teeth, for example. Th

Paying Out... The Nose by Tonya Cooner-Vots

I wrote in this very column three years ago about rising gas prices, and the looming threat of $2.00 per gallon. Wow, what we wish we knew then. We see news items about “Americans Forced To Change Lifestyles Because Of Gas Prices,” and many watch as if it’s the next coming of the plague. Usually these segments are followed by “Tips to Increase Your Gas Mileage,” which while of some use, seems to negate any value in the preceding story.

As gas prices currently creep toward the $4 mark and diesel races a dime or three ahead of that, people have had to take a second look at their spending and travel habits. Travel habit refers not only to planned vacation or leisure trips, but also daily here-and-there trips, like a quick run to the store for milk or to pick up a DVD.