McDonough Mfg. Board Edger System Installation is Moving Fast at Rex Lumber
McDonough Manufacturing has just completed installation and start-up of one of the fastest board edger systems in the world.
McDonough Manufacturing is proud to report that the newest addition to its edger line-up, the tandem arbor linear edger, has been installed and is now running at Rex Lumber in Brookhaven, Mississippi. Designed to process over 50 flitches per minute of lumber up to 20′ in length this edger system has taken board edging to the next level for high speed producers.
The patent pending edger design utilizes two sawboxes oriented in tandem. Each sawbox is equipped with a full set of saws and has the ability to lift out of the cutpath by shifting vertically under the control of the systems PLC. This allows the two sawboxes to effectively take turns cutting alternating boards, each having extra time to pre-set saws for the next cut while another board is being processed by the partner sawbox and is passing underneath. By carefully controlling the vertical motion, the machine is able to “plunge” each sawbox into a very short gap between two successive flitches and then lift it quickly out of the way of an oncoming flitch.
An additional feature of the machine’s design is that it utilizes 100% electric servo positioning, further enhancing the system performance. An air assist system helps with the heavy lifting of the sawbox, effectively balancing the box in mid-stroke and letting the electric servo do the rest of the work moving the sawbox up and down as required.
Besides the obvious advantage of having tremendous piece count capability, the tandem arbor edger system also presents a number of other unique advantages over conventional edger systems.
Start-up of the tandem arbor edger system took place in late April of this year. With the ability to process flitches separated by only a few feet of belt at speeds of 1,250 feet per minute the focus very quickly moved away from the edger and up to the infeed area. That is where the unique infeed rollcase and loading chains are arranged to ensure even the longest and widest flitches are properly loaded onto the scanning belt at these lug rates.
For more information on McDonough Manufacturing’s custom line of sawmill machinery, please call (715) 834-7755 or visit www.mcdonough-mfg.com.
