Economy
Nitens will be milled and marketed
The way he was … Karl Goiser operating the gang frame saw in 1955
Re Comment 5: Indeed, the uncertainty regarding the usefulness or otherwise of Niten sawn timber is most perplexing. There could have been hardly a worse introduction for this product than that heroic effort by FEA to transform those mini logs into something useful. Following the construction of their seventytwo million dollar mill, with better quality logs, they actively promoted their Niten product as Eco Ash.
My guess is that nitens will be milled and marketed simply because they will be available long before the much slower growing E globulus come to maturity. They will be in demand even when the E globuus come on stream, because
• of lower price, taking only half the time to grow.
• Over time there may be lowered expectations by the public.
• Some of the shortcomings may not show up when properly quarter sawn.
• Might be acceptable for flooring which is sealed with epoxy after laying.
• somebody might come up with some chemical treatment during or after drying.
Does such a process actually exist? No, not done yet anywhere, as far as I know. The quarter log will be cut in the machine like a log.
A better end product because with this process all the produced boards are quarter sawn, therefore more stable and less likely to bend and twist. Quarter sawing, by which cuts are made as close as possible radial from outside to the centre of the log, has always been the absolute rule for milling hardwood in Tasmania. By contrast a Hew Saw produces mostly back sawn material.
Re Comment 6: A Hew Saw uses circular saw blades (gangs) on each of several spindles. The gang frame saw, considered to have been invented by Leonardo Da Vinci, is an entirely different machine. In a frame, that could be as big as a house door, flat long saw blades are fitted vertically side by side. This frame is moved up and down about five times a second via an under floor flywheel and connecting rod system. Some such machines may weigh ten ton and use 55 KW of power. While there are hundreds of these machines in use in Austria there is, to my knowledge, only one in Tasmania, a small softwood machine at Exeter.
Gang frame saws are very accurate. I have never produced an under size or over size board. Also very economical due to narrow saw cut. Ideal for medium size mills.
Paramount is the question of the viability of sawmilling nitens. This was the subject of a submission by Britten Brothers last year ( http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ctee/Council/Submissions/FIAT%20Submission%20-%20Britton%20Timbers%201(b).pdf ). The application of my quarter sawing process will,I am sure, provide a positive answer to this question.
The patent only refers to the process of quarter sawing with quarter section logs.
Until recently, when the Innovation Patent was introduced, it was not possible to patent a process. This new type of patent is only for eight years and costs just $150.
link to gang frame saw
http://www.ewd.de/de/technologien-produkte/gatter/500-hub/lsh/lsh.html