Quantification of process parameters in a wood sanding operation.

Sanding is one of the most common practices for smoothing surfaces in the woodworking industry. Among the wood machining processes utilized in contoured furniture making, sanding is one of the most skill-based, time-consuming, and expensive operations. Automation of the sanding process has been severely limited by the lack of information about the effect of key process parameters in the sanding operation and their interactions. The objective of this study was to provide information on the relationships between the key input variables and material removal rate and resultant surface roughness. In this experiment, a randomized full-factorial design with local control was implemented to evaluate the impact of factor-level combinations of the following input variables : wood species, interface pressure, type of abrasive mineral, and sanding orientation. Also, the impact of interactions with respect to the desired quality characteristics of the finished workpiece were assessed. All treatments considered were replicated through a sequence of three different grit sizes. The results indicated that the individual effect of pressure was significant throughout all grit size levels. Also, silicon carbide yielded a better surface than aluminum oxide at the coarsest grit size and for all species. Two-way and three-way factor interactions were not significant for either material removal rate or surface roughness.