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NZ Panels Group invests in new veneer slicing operation
As a leading supplier of high quality veneer panels to the joinery and construction industry, NZ Panels Group has long been focused on the quality of the end product.
With the installation and commissioning of a new veneer slicing machine, adjacent to its Kopine particleboard plant at Kopu, that commitment to quality is totally evident.
The slicer is primarily being used to supply a good volume of NZ Native veneer to the market, along with locally sourced Macrocarpa and other species that become available from time to time.
Slicing is a key step in the well regarded Track my Tree process as the timber progresses from the flitch stage (the blocks of wood cut from a log), into a sliced veneer leaf, that can then be made into a layon prior to pressing.
Before slicing, flitches are kept onsite in water baths to stop them drying out, and then a day before slicing are submerged in a hot bath to soften the timber. Once sliced, they progress through a dryer before being despatched to the veneer team at NZ Panels Group site in Auckland.
With the ability to produce custom layons using the sliced leaves, in particular planked layons, the veneer offer from NZ Panels Group is one that keeps growing from strength to strength. Its Prime Art Veneer range, offering deeply textured, brushed American White Oak, with options for bandsawn and rustic remains a firm favourite of many of the country’s leading architects and designers. www.primepanels.co.nz
Because of its longstanding history with veneer production, the company has produced a range of helpful technical and training resources and videos for joiners, designers and architects – all easily found on either the Prime Panels or Bestwood websites.