Machining parameters of the patented wood, lightweight stabilised blockboard

Abstract Since the introduction of wood cellular material, or Dendrolight®, the process of creating dimensionally stable wood panels (Berger et al ., 2016) has evolved towards the creation of a similar, but significantly different new material - Lightweight Stabilised Blockboard (LSB). It was patented (Roziņš, M. Vašuks & P. Vašuks, 2014a) with the invented profiled solid wood boards (Roziņš, M. Vašuks & P. Vašuks, 2014b). The LSB design has introduced a smaller groove or kerf height, which hypothetically allows for a reduction in energy consumption during its manufacturing process. Considering that LSB is a new material, most suitable parameters of cutting regime for the LSB mechanical machining have not been developed. To develop machining processes for LSB, it is necessary to determine the optimal cutting tool, machine parameters, expected feed speed and cutting power. The study analyses the parameters of cutting regime that affect the cutting power, and performs theoretical calculations that reveal the expected and most suitable cutting process indicators in the industrial production of LSB, as well as compares the machining of LSB and Dendrolight®. A new evaluation parameter has been introduced that characterises the ratio between the cutting power and the permissible feed speed. It was concluded that grooving LSB lamellae requires significantly less cutting power, and that higher feed speeds are possible compared with the grooving of analogous Dendrolight® lamellae. However, the cutting power required for the LSB grooving is still quite energy-intensive, which potentially limits the possible width of LSB lamellae and the number of simultaneously operating cutting tools.