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Wood Products
How Wood is Processed
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Hardwood Sawmill Field Trip
You can click on the pictures on this page to get a closer look.
Converting logs into boards is a pretty simple process
that involves cutting boards from logs, squaring up the edges, and cutting
the boards to the right length. This is done by hand in some parts of
the world, but most of the lumber is produced in modern sawmills with
lots of machinery. Let's take a trip through a hardwood sawmill and
see how boards are made from trees...
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First:
Logs are brought to a sawmill on log trucks.
Then logs are unloaded, sorted by species and grade,
and stored in a log yard.
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Logs are then brought to the debarker deck,
where the bark is removed. The bark is removed because it is dirty and
dulls saw blades! The individual logs are then conveyed to the log
loader/turner.
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Second:
Next is what is called the "primary breakdown".
This is where the log is positioned on a moving carriage
and passed through a single-edge band saw.
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Then the log is cut into boards and cants
or large timbers.
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Third:
The next steps are called "secondary breakdown".
This is where the boards are edged, or cut
to width, and trimmed to length. Boards go to edger saws,
which cut edges off and square up sides.
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Cants go to gang saws which cut the large
timber into boards, some of these boards come back around to the edger
saws.
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Edged boards then go to trimmer saws, which
trim them to the correct lengths.
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