3 minute read
Rules Corner
Edger Education Can Put Money in Your Pocket. What Are You Losing?
by Chief Inspector Dana Spessert
Over the last few months, NHLA has hosted a webinar series discussing different manufacturing processes. The outcome has been very successful. Our latest webinar as of this article, was on the topic of improving edging and trimming practices during the sawmill process. The tips discussed during the webinar were consistent with issues discovered by the NHLA Inspection Services team while conducting NHLA Quality Control checks at various sawmills over the past few years.
During the Improving Edging and Trimming Practices webinar, Dr. Eugene Wengert made some important insight that I would like to share with you.
1. An edger is in the sawmill to make money, not boards!
2. All lumber going through an edger should target half the length of wane on both edges if there is not a stipulation on the purchase agreement with the customer to do otherwise.
3. If there is a stipulation on the purchase agreement, the sawmill manager should make sure that the loss of fiber on the boards for over edging is sufficiently compensated at an increased price.
4. The boards being edged are not the low-grade boards, they are the boards from the outside of the log where the higher grades of lumber originate.
All too often, when the NHLA National Inspectors are performing the Edger Test with our Quality Control program, they discover over edging losses of more than 150 board feet per hour.
The loss of 150 board feet is not just fiber, it equates to a substantial loss in revenue for the sawmill operation. We have performed a number of Edger tests at sawmills and have recorded edging losses from $150,000 to $500,000 annually. This is a rather large sum of money and should not be taken lightly.
There are many things that a sawmill manager can do to mitigate some of these edging losses.
1. Educate the edger and trimmer operators on the NHLA grading rules. NHLA regularly holds Intro to Hardwood Grading classes all over the US and Canada, and we invite you to look at our website for upcoming classes. Additionally, NHLA National Inspectors can perform in-house classes at your sawmill with your employees, just reach out to your area inspector to line-up a visit.
2. Educate the sawyer to turn the logs correctly to ensure less lumber is sent to the edger. Many times, we witness sawyers turning a log 90 degrees instead of 180 degrees, causing more boards that need edging on one side rather than both, also increasing the number of boards that need to be edged from the log.
3. Ensure maintenance is performed on the edger as often as necessary to keep all laser lights or shadow lights properly aligned.
4. Keep sharp saws on the edger to keep the boards running straight through the machine.
5. Make sure that the edger and trimmer operators are working together to make the correct choice of whether to edge, trim or both to the boards for the highest grade and volume. Allow the lumber inspector to return boards that are under edged. Once it is removed from the board, it cannot be put back on.
6. Perform regular checks at the infeed to the chipper to monitor the edger and trimmer operations.
The NHLA National Inspectors have the proper tools and skills to perform Quality Control checks on many aspects of a sawmill operation and are very happy to visit your sawmill today to get your operation on track to capitalize on your sawmill’s potential!
If you do not measure it, you cannot manage it!
