Estimation of best opening face position for asymmetric sawing patterns in hardwood logs

This study investigated the influence of an asymmetric sawing pattern on the estimation of best opening face (BOF) position to achieve maximum lumber yield from hardwood logs. Previous work had shown that for symmetric sawing patterns, a centered solution was a good predictor of BOF position. An asymmetric pattern was defined for this analysis as a pattern in which a single piece of lesser thickness is sawn on the outside of the sawing pattern. It was hypothesized that an asymmetric pattern would require a shift of optimal opening face position. This shift would be toward the side of the sawing pattern on which the piece of thinner dimension was sawn. Study results proved this hypothesis to be correct. A linear regression equation was developed to estimate the required shift. While the variable required to obtain a shift was significant and the distance shifted was relatively large, the influence of shift on yield was very small. Use of a centered solution opening face position actually resulted in slightly higher yields than when the required shift was included. A major conclusion of this study is that the centered solution method, developed for use for a symmetric sawing pattern, performs well for an asymmetric pattern.

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