Cutting Power during Cross-Cutting of Selected Wood Species with a Circular Saw

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of selected factors, such as the feed force (Ff = 15, 20, and 25 N), wood species (beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), English oak (Quercus robur L.), and spruce (Picea abies L.)), and the number of saw blade teeth (z = 24, 40, and 60) on cutting power in the cross-cutting of lumber. The cutting was done using a circular saw with a rotating motion of the saw blade at a constant cutting speed (vc) of 62 m.s-1. The tangentially bucked lumber had a relative humidity (wr) of 12% ± 1% and a thickness (e) of 50 mm. For the experiment, four circular saw blades with SK plates, a uniform diameter (D = 250 mm), and identical angular geometry (angle of clearance (α) = 15°, wedge angle (β) = 60°, and rake angle (γ) = 15°) were used. The saw blades had a different number of teeth (z = 24, 40, and 60), and one saw blade had 24 teeth and a chip limiter. The aim of this study was to expand the knowledge about the resulting cutting performance with different combinations of technological process parameters.