Analysis of Peeling Results of Red Meranti Wood Types on a Spindleless Rotary Lathe Machine at PT Rimba Raya Lestari, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan

Abstract

Rotary lathe veneer peeling machines with large spindles are widely used in veneer and plywood factories in Indonesia. On average, half of the raw material logs become waste, and the rotary lathe contributes 25%. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the world’s need for plywood products will never disappear and even continue to increase. This is because plywood is one of the most environmentally friendly building material products and comes from renewable natural resources. With the regrowth of the plywood industry as in its former heyday, the consequence is that the demand for log raw materials will also increase, and the potential for loss of logs as waste will also increase. In this regard, there must be fundamental changes in this industry, including the shift in production machines from large rotary spindles to spindle-less. The purpose is to analyze its contribution to increasing the yield or peeled veneer volume. Furthermore, to find out the volume of the by-products, log-core, and waste spur-knife. The difference in results between the two variables, independent factors, were fed in rotary lathe machines without spindle (spindleless) was also tested. This study used a 3x5 factorial experimental design with two factors or fixed variables: quality class and the diameter range of log raw materials. Based on the analysis of the results of the calculations, this study shows that, in general, spindleless rotary lathe machines provide a yield of more than 60% of the raw material logs that are peeled off into a veneer, in the form of a continuous/endless veneer and a poly piece core/odd veneer, in all quality and diameter classes. The rest is waste in the form of round-up veneer and log-core up to 15% with an average diameter of 23 cm. If stripping were continued to a diameter of 7 cm, this would increase the finished yield more than 10%. The statistical analysis showed that only the different rotary lathe types had a nearly significant effect on the peeled veneer’s outcome. The interaction of the three factors tested also substantially affected the peeled veneer’s yield. Keywords: Spindleless rotary lathe, veneer, rendemen