During the production of glulam and cross laminated timber (CLT) there are several planing processes. As the entire process is arranged in one production line, a separate machine is used for each operation.
Pre-planing
At the very beginning of the production process, the raw board lamellas are pre-planed on four sides. This ensures a uniform rectangular cross section with a defined thickness and width. This is a prerequisite for the subsequent finger-jointing process.
Planing of the finger-jointed lamellas
After finger-jointing, the upper and lower sides of the endless slats are uneven due to height offsets in the joints and glue leakage. The lamellas must therefore be planed again to a uniform thickness to create a level gluing surface. The narrow sides are not planed again, so the planing of the finger-jointed lamellas is a two-sided planing.
Both pre-planing and planing require powerful throughfeed machines. Only two manufacturers can be considered for this application.