Effects of Horizontal Roller-Bar Openings on Quality of Rotary-Cut Southern Pine and Yellow-Poplar Veneer

Effects of various horizontal roller-bar openings were evaluated during rotary-cutting of small disks of clear wood. Knife bevel, 21?, and knife angle were held constant. The optimum horizontal roller-bar opening for yellow-poplar was smaller than that suitable for cutting southern pine. Roller-bar settings that gave the smoothest veneer and the highest strength in tension perpendicular to the grain also resulted in veneer 0.001- to 0.003-inch thinner than the lathe feed. Knife deflections of 0.0005 inch or less into the wood disks were observed during cutting of veneer of southern pine and yellow-poplar when only the knife was used. In general, yellow-poplar veneer was smoother and stronger in tension perpendicular to the grain than southern pine veneer. The differences are attributed to the inherent properties of the wood and cutting characteristics of the species. High-speed movies showed more splitting ahead of the knife and deeper and wider knife checks when cutting southern pine than when cutting yellow-poplar with a lathe feed of 0.364 inch. Some relatively smooth and tight veneer was produced with lathe feeds of 0.094 inch and 0.364 inch.

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