Effects of Log Form and Sawing Method on Lumber Recovery for Circular Sawmill, Nyabyeya Forestry College, Masindi District, Uganda.
Abstract
Lumber which is a processed wood is usually available in hardwood and readily available in soft
wood species. Uganda was very rich in forest resources but now wood supply status has declined
greatly as a result of over exploitation and inadequate conversion process of the wood resources
in many sawmills. In order to reduce the volume of wood wastes in the conversion process, there
is need for an intensive research which focuses on circular sawmill recovery. The study was
conducted to determine the effects of log form and sawing method on lumber recovery for
circular sawmill, Nyabyeya Forestry College, Masindi district.
Pinus caribaea species was evaluated for the study. The results shows that the kind of wood
species used for the study have no direct significant impact on lumber recovery obtained during
log conversion but log characteristics such as diameter at the top and log taper significantly
influence lumber volume recovery. The significant influence of log characteristics on lumber
recovery confirms that the shape of the log influences the amount of lumber recovered, lumber
recovery percentage decreases with an increase in log taper. Furthermore, from this study using
statistical models, it is observed that correlation model could be used to accurately predict
lumber recovery from log characteristics. The findings have shown that the knowledge of log
characteristics influence on lumber recovery is important in waste reduction in sawmill which in
turns have provided valuable information that could enhance efficiency in lumber recovery
process.