It’s been many years now since Baker Products came out with its first thin-kerf, single-head, horizontal band resaw. Those were heady times for my company as many businesses in the pallet industry went through the process of re-tooling. They realized the benefit of band resaws because the saw kerf of the band blade was thinner, about one-third the kerf of circular saw blades on a gang resaw.
As I recall, we only built single-head resaws the first year or so, and demand was through the roof. Then one of our customers wanted us to build a two-head system. We built it for him, and it worked fine. That opened the floodgates to multi-head horizontal band resaws, all the way up to 12 heads.
Bigger is better… right? Well, maybe we should question that assumption more closely. Let’s explore how a single-head horizontal band resaw is different than — and possibly superior to — a multiple-head system.
In the beginning, the single-head band resaws featured an infeed conveyor and a return conveyor. One man fed material to the resaw, one man put material on the return conveyor, and one man pulled and stacked the finished boards. Over time, complete run-a-round systems were developed so that only one man was needed to operate a single-head resaw.
Let’s look at all the ways that a single-head resaw is superior to a multiple-head system.
One is simple: energy savings. On a single-head resaw, if the wood is flowing, it is being cut. On a multiple-head resaw system, if the cant going through only has three boards left in it but the system has seven heads, for example, then four saw motors are running and using electricity, but not cutting.
Number two is greater blade life efficiency. On a single-head resaw, the operator is going to run it until the blade mis-cuts, and then he is going to change it; therefore, you get the full life out of each blade. On a multiple-head system, most people end up changing all the blades twice a day to avoid downtime as there will be several men idled every time you stop to change a blade.
This brings me to the third reason a single-head resaw is better than a multi-head system. Operation of a single-head resaw will result in less #2 or mis-cut lumber. On a single-head resaw, as soon as the blade becomes dull to the point of mis-cutting, the operator will realize it and change the blade; at most the dull blade will only produce two or three mis-cut boards. With a multi-head resaw system, typically there will be several dozen mis-cut boards before the line of cants going through can be cleared out so the dull blade(s) can be changed.
A fourth factor to consider in comparing a single-head resaw to a multi-head system is labor efficiency. With a multi-head resaw, few operators are ever at maximum production, every pass cutting the full number of boards to the full capacity of the system. This is especially true with three-sided cants coming off of a scragg mill; they can have anywhere from one board to 15 or more boards in them. This does not matter on a single-head resaw. If there is one board left, you are still feeding the saw at full capacity.
One man operating a single-head resaw always will be working at his full capacity compared to two or three men at the outfeed of a multi-head resaw system that is producing more or less boards due to the smaller size cants going through the system.
Finally, a single-head resaw or several of them, each with its own run-a-round system, provides much more flexibility to a pallet company or a mill that is producing pallet cut stock. Small short runs are quickly and easily set up and knocked out. Also, it is much easier to pay piece work to one man working alone at his best pace.
In today’s labor market, getting all your employees to show up each day to run the larger multi-head resaw systems can be a challenge. The simple single-head resaw, with an automated run-around on each end, requires only one man. If only one man shows up to work, you can get that day’s full production at that work station.
Editor’s Note: Baker Products is a pioneer in the development of thin-kerf technology and has a full line of resaws. For more information, call 573-663-7711, 800-548-6914 or visit www.bakerproducts.net.
