Thick Slicing of Wood: Effects of Wood and Knife Inclination Angle

In many cutting situations, both the longitudinal axis of the wood and the knife edge can be inclined relative to the direction of cutting motion. In this study, inclination angles of 45?, 67.5?, and 90? were used. One-half-inch-thick slices of clear, flat-grained red oak and southern pine were cut using a special experimental machine. Cutting was done at 50 feet, per minute while the wood was at a temperature of 190?F. A fixed pressure bar applied compression and restraint. The depth of fractures on the knife side tended to decrease for both species as the angle between the longitudinal axis of the wood and knife edge increased. The actual fracture depths ranged from 0.12 to 0.40 inch in red oak and 0.10 to 0.40 inch in southern pine. Actual thicknesses were measured and their uniformity compared. Average thicknesses of red oak increased from 0.526 inch to 0.554 inch when angle difference increased. Average knife-side roughness for pine ranged from 0.019 inch to 0.072 inch, and for oak 0.023 inch to 0.046 inch. Average twist increased as the inclination- angle difference increased and ranged from 0.00 inch to 1.13 inches in oak and 0.00 inch to 1.27 inches in pine. However, as twist increased, cup decreased. Forces were measured and resolved to give cutting energy. Too few specimens were tested to draw positive conclusions, but angular difference did not appear to have much effect on cutting energies. The average energy per slice was 3,260 foot-pounds for oak and 1,829 foot-pounds for pine.

You must be logged in to download any documents. Please login (login accounts are free) or learn how to Become a Member