The services offered by well-established Spanish company Egoin range from consulting and planning in the timber construction sector to the on-site production and assembly of the required construction systems. The company uses the regional wood species Pinus radiata to manufacture glulam, CLT, timber frame and façade elements.
A few years ago, the decision was made to invest in another CLT production line. After careful consideration, the company opted for a high-frequency press from Kallesoe. Since Egoin has had over 30 years of experience with cold-press technology, it was not an easy decision. Eventually, though, the high flexibility in terms of panel dimensions and types of wood and the possibility of a simple capacity expansion convinced Egoin to venture into new territory.
According to Kallesoe, one advantage of the MUF adhesive used is its long open time of up to 90 minutes, which is enough time to lay the press cake. Even the load-bearing narrow edge gluing can be done in one cycle. Advantages of MUF technology also include the good properties in the event of fire and the high quality of the panels.
In collaboration with System TM, the two companies were responsible for almost the entire production line. Kallesoe supplied the press including the mechanization and laying station, while System TM installed a separate sorting line and a high-performance Opti-Joint V-L finger jointing line. According to the manufacturer, the latter is characterized not only by its high capacity, but most of all by its high availability and long service life. In order to guarantee optimal raw material yield, System TM installed an Opti-Kap 3003 cross-cutting saw inside the sorting line.
Compact design
Another manufacturer on the Iberian Peninsula also relied on the CLT expertise of the two Homag subsidiaries. Last year, Kallesoe and System TM installed another complete CLT production line at Kozowood Industries’ headquarters in Esposende, Portugal.
The line delivered starts with the Opti-Feed 6000 Vack vacuum destacker which separates the raw wood. On a cross conveyor, the lamellas, which are up to 6 m long, pass through a Microtec Warpscan and are turned to the correct side if necessary. Next, the lamellas’ moisture content is measured before they pass through a Goldeneye scanner. Thanks to the long-time successful collaboration with the South Tyrolean scanner experts and planer manufacturer Rex, Kallesoe and System TM were able to be complete suppliers in this project.
After the quality assessment, an Opti-Kap 3003 cross-cutting saw cuts out the identified defects. Next, the 0.5 to 3 m long pieces enter the horizontal high-performance Opti-Joint H-L finger jointing machine supplied by System TM. According to the manufacturer, the machine’s main advantages lie in its high availability, long service life, and precision as well as in its open and accessible design. After passing through a curing storage area and a Rex planer, the lamellas for the longitudinal layers enter the buffer space next to the laying station. The pieces for the crosswise layers are cut to the desired length by a cross-cutting saw, before they are turned and positioned on the other side of the laying table.
Next, a vacuum lifter positions alternating longitudinal and crosswise layers on the laying table. After each layer, the latter moves under an application system which applies the MUF adhesive. Once the panel has been laid, the laying table which leaves the press is raised so that the press cake can be moved underneath it and towards the press. This process design was developed specially for Kozowood. It is somewhat slower but more space-saving and cost-effective thanks to the lower level of mechanization, as Kallesoe states.
The CLT press in use at the Portuguese manufacturer is a Kallesoe high-frequency press with a 200-kW generator. The line’s annual capacity is 30,000 m³.
Flexible production
When planning LOC Holz’s new CLT factory in Arbing, Upper Austria, flexibility and quality were crucial. The idea behind this project is for LOC Holz to be able to offer high-quality, customized products made from regionally sourced raw material at reasonable prices. For LOC Holz, high panel quality was the top priority and decisive factor during the project planning phase.
Here, too, the contract for the production line was awarded to the Danish machine manufacturers Kallesoe and System TM. In Arbing, only 125 mm wide lamellas are processed in order to mostly prevent cracking. CLT elements with knot-free rift surfaces are another specialty of the Upper Austrian company.
To be able to achieve high quality while being profitable, a separate System TM sorting line including a finger jointing machine were installed for the production of the 150 to 1,000-mm-long lamellas for the crosswise layers. Behind the machine, there are several infeed stations for longitudinal and crosswise layers with various infeed options. This makes LOC Holz’s plant extremely flexible. Since every lamella is recorded in the system, the corresponding panels for each order can be put together using the master computer. For the lamellas for the longitudinal layers, System TM installed a horizontal, high-performance Opti-Joint H-L finger jointing machine with a downstream Rex planer.
Three lamellas are glued together to form a 37.5-cm-wide piece. In the next step, this piece is positioned along the edges of the longitudinal layers, thereby increasing process reliability, as this prevents individual lamellas from falling down.
Coming out of a buffer, the longitudinal and crosswise layers are then brought together and fed into the 400-kW high-frequency press, Kallesoe’s most powerful model. The press can produce panels which are 2.5 to 3.5 m wide and up to 18 m long.
Thanks to the high-frequency press, LOC Holz can also produce small panels without any loss of capacity.
Glued timber for Australia and the US
In Tarpeena, Australia, Timberlink produces glulam and CLT from local pinewood. This combined production line, too, was installed by the two Homag subsidiaries Kallesoe and System TM. Timberlink ordered a turnkey plant including the plant layout, production equipment, installation and the fully integrated production software.
Recently, the Danish machine and plant manufacturers also won the contract to equip the CLT production facility which is currently being built by US company Timberlab. In the state of Oregon, around an hour’s drive south of Portland, Timberlab is building one of the largest CLT factories in North America, with a planned annual capacity of around 100,000 m³. A potential expansion was already taken into account in the planning process.
For this project, System TM will deliver an automatic feed system, a high-performance cross-cutting saw and a finger jointing machine. Kallesoe will be responsible for supplying the finger curing unit in a newly developed high-frequency tunnel, the laying station and the CLT press.
