A HewSaw SL250 cant saw with dx sawing™ offers higher processing speeds with smaller diameter saws and thinner kerfs.
It has been 10 years since HewSaw started developing and testing the ground breaking sawing technology, dx sawing™, which provides sawmills with the opportunity to process cants at a faster speed and with thinner kerf saws. This results in increased throughput, higher recovery and improved efficiency.
HewSaw’s optional dx sawing™ system can replace the company’s standard double arbour sawing technique with a four-arbour system. The first set of arbours will house the saws for an initial or pre-saw cut into the cant, while the second set of saws finishes the job.
How dx sawing™ works
dx sawing™ works well with all HewSaw control systems, ranging from the most simple mechanical log alignment all the way to the most sophisticated CNC shape sawing.
On a sawline equipped with dx sawing™ the log is presented in the usual way to the HewSaw scanning conveyor. After the log is scanned, it is then positioned for the HewSaw with the company’s highly accurate rotary log positioner, followed by four-sided chipping to produce the cant. This is the point where dx sawing™ comes into the process. In a standard HewSaw line, saws on a single set of double arbours remove the sideboards from the left and right side of the cant but with dx sawing™ this first set of saws only pre-cuts the sideboards. Then just downstream a second set of saws finishes the job. As with HewSaw’s standard sawlines, edging tools complete the process meaning the boards do not require any downstream edging. Once the cant reaches the ripsaw, a HewSaw line equipped with dx sawing™ will repeat the process for sawing the centre stack – the first set of saws makes the pilot or pre-cut while the second set of saws completes the cut. As with the cant saw, edging tools following the ripsaw further process the outer boards.
As the cant passes through a dx sawing™ cant saw, the first set of saws makes an initial cut while the second set of saws finishes the job.
Advantages of dx sawing™
With dx sawing™ the saws are not cutting all the way through the cant in a single cut, which means the depth of cut is substantially reduced resulting in higher processing speeds with smaller diameter saws and thinner kerfs. This results in:
- More production volume per shift or the same production volume in less time
- Higher recovery or yield from each log
- Improved surface quality and exceptional saw deviation
- Less wear on the saws resulting in more time between saw changes
The initial cut on a HewSaw SL250 cant saw equipped with dx sawing™.
The Development of dx sawing™ technology
HewSaw’s in-house engineering team developed dx sawing™ technology at the company’s factory and worldwide headquarters in Mäntyharju, Finland. The dx sawing™ technology was then initially tested and proven successful in the field on November 1, 2014 at the Idaho Forest Group (IFG) Lewiston sawmill in the USA with several IFG representatives and HewSaw staff on hand.
“We were pleased to be part of HewSaw’s first on-site test of their dx sawing™,” explains Jesse Short, Director of Idaho Lumber Production for IFG. “The technology performed as expected and we were impressed with the test results including the opportunity to have thinner kerf saws and faster speeds.”
Further successful testing of the dx sawing™ technology followed at Metsä Fibre’s Vilppula Sawmill in Finland and dx sawing™ is now in use on several HewSaw lines worldwide, including the HewSaw line at the brand new Metsä Fibre Sawmill at Rauma on the west coast of Finland. Metsä Fibre notes the Rauma mill is “the world’s most modern sawmill” and the company invested approximately EUR 200 million in the project which started up in 2022. This new mill will produce around 750,000 cubic metres of pine sawn timber per year.
HewSaw is the only sawmill equipment producer that can offer the dx sawing™ technology as after the first pioneer tests of the technology in 2014, they applied for a worldwide patent in 2015 and it was awarded in 2018.
The name dx was chosen by HewSaw as dx is a term used in mathematics to describe an infinitely thin slice used in integrals.
A look at the dx sawing™ process inside of a HewSaw SL250 Cant Saw.
About HewSaw
HewSaw is recognized as a leader in developing, manufacturing and supplying new sawmill technology and has delivered almost 500 sawing machines to customers in over 30 countries on six continents. In addition to the company’s operations in Finland, they also maintain offices and warehouses in Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa, Netherlands, Sweden and Uruguay. The company has been in business for almost 60 years and employs almost 300 people worldwide.
