Investment Opportunity: Best Opening Face Sawing.

Abstract : Rising costs of roundwood supplies and of manufacturing are economic incentives for lumber producers to invest in projects that will improve sawmill efficiency. Best opening face (BOF) sawing is one investment opportunity available to lumber manufacturers to increase lumber yields. Lumber yields, especially from small logs, can usually be increased 10 percent or more through the proper positioning of logs in the log transport system, combined with optimized sawline positioning for sawing lumber of prespecified thicknesses and widths. The problem of maximizing lumber yields is basically a problem of fitting rectangles into a circle. BOF sawing provides a key to fixing the positions of all faces and sawlines to maximize the lumber yields. This paper discusses the BOF sawing concept, equipment and operating requirements, and provides a method for assessing potential investments in BOF sawing as sawmill improvement projects. (Author)