Sliced Sheets:

• Sliced sheets of veneer come off the machine in sequence, and are sent through the dryer.
• This sequence is kept throughout the entire process.
• The direct feed to the dryer has a large impact on Maple. The quicker we can get the veneer into the dryer the less change in color.

Drying the Veneer Sheets:

• After a flitch has been sliced, the sheets are still wet from cooking in the vats.
• They are dried in a veneer "press dryer" that sandwiches, under pressure, the two sheets together between two metal screens. Fans blow hot air onto the sheets.
• Controlling moisture is a critical element of keeping veneer flat.

Stacking Veneer:

• Keeping the sequence.
• Stacking and counting for clipping in 16, 24 and 32 sheets for export cuttings.
• Stacking into a flitch crate and pulling representative samples for customer viewing. This is done for many of our domestic residential furniture companies.

Preparing for Clipping:

• Veneers are stacked in sequence and counted into bundle sheet counts.
• A production ticket identifies each log, and all of it's flitches.

Clipping the Veneer:

• Each bundle is clipped for grade requirements.
• Excessive sap and heart defects are clipped out and hogged for fuel to heat water for the vats, and thermal oil for the veneer press dryer's fans to blow over coils.

Measuring the Bundle:

Each bundle runs over an electronic measurement eye which measures bundle length and width, and multiplies it by the sheet count to provide an 'area' for each bundle that is then printed onto a barcode label. This label is placed onto the bottom corner of each bundle.

All the bundles are then listed on a measurement list, and calculated into a total area for that log.

A Clipped and Bundled Pallet:

Each log is identified by a bar-coded log label, identifying specie, log number, longest bundle length, and total area of log.