The laying profile of solid floorboards and parquet blocks is a tongue-and-groove profile that is milled all around the edges of the floorboards and friezes. In general, there is a preference in the solid wood processing industry to carry out the crosswise processing before the longitudinal processing. In this way, the cracks in the wood, which often occur when milling crosswise to the direction of growth, are removed in the subsequent processing step. Among the producers of solid planks there are also many companies that first profile lengthwise and then crosswise. In this way, greater precision can be achieved, as the longitudinal edge serves as a reference edge for the transverse processing.
The longitudinal processing is carried out in a moulder machine that processes all four sides in one pass. During cross machining, the ends are cut at an angle and then the cross profile is milled. Cutting and cross profiling is carried out simultaneously at both ends by a double end tenoner. In this way, maximum accuracy is achieved in the workpiece length, which is important for the laying.
Solid floorboards: In addition to the tongue and groove profile, a circumferential chamfer is often milled for design reasons. This emphasises the contour of each plank during installation. The bevel is created in one operation with the installation profile. In addition, solid planks sometimes have relief grooves on the underside, which reduce the tendency of the wood to swell and shrink and, above all, to bowl. A cross-cut saw can also be used to cut the solid planks after longitudinal profiling.
Solid parquet blocks: The longitudinal profiling is carried out first. With parquet blanks, as with pre-planing, the short length of the workpieces is the challenge. Special planing machines are required which have a suitable feed device to guide the short workpieces. In some cases, grooves are milled into the underside of the blank to ensure secure workpiece guidance (guide grooves).
Lam parquet is not profiled. Here the long narrow sides are only planed. The blocks are butt-jointed and glued during installation. There are also solid planks without profiling, which are also butt-jointed during installation.