Valorising small diameter trees by cutting them with laser
Lasercut consists on an innovative processing line transforming 200m3 of log of small-diameter hardwood to exploit for the first time the full potential of its timber for the manufacturing industry (400€/m3), adding profitability to the wood chain: forest owners/managers will increase profitability and turnover from small-diameter trees by 15% and 25% respectively. Additionally, the period between profitable harvests will be reduced by half (10-12 years instead of 25 years). The project will also allow both a 3-fold increase in sawmills’ productivity, and a reduction in sawdust and waste (80% and 50% respectively). And all this will be technically possible by substituting current metal saws by a CO2 laser cutting head. This replacement is the key to succeed. Laser heads provide higher precision of the cut and a reduction in the cut wide (from current 3mm to 0,5mm). For a small diameter tree of average 15cm diameter, Lasercut will reduce cutting waste from current 20% to 3%.