Geelhoutvlei Timbers
Sawn Board

Dimensions - We usually saw the following dimensions

Cutting

• All the ripping of logs and cants in our wetmill is done using bandsaws for maximum recovery. We crown the bandsaw wheels in our own workshop and do the bandsaw sharpening ourselves. We only use circular saws in our board edgers and crosscuts.
• Before drying, we pre-sort and remove all the crating grade and rustic material, which we sell as wet off saw.
• The industrial timber is then stacked and kiln dried in our TFD compartment kilns.
• All our sawdust goes into our 10-tonne John Thompson boiler, which creates the steam to heat the coils in the kilns.
• In the roof of the kiln is a bank of reversible fans. Above the fans is a series of controllable vents. Inside the kiln is a series of probes measuring the temperature and relative humidity. There is also a water bath which can be superheated to introduce extra moisture as needed.
• A programmable logic controller controls the temperature, relative humidity, and wind direction through the timber at various stages of the drying cycle to ensure the production of stable dry boards in balance with ambient conditions.

Grading

• We grade our sawn board into the following categories.
• Ungraded or mill run; – as it comes out of the kilns, only the crating grade has been removed.
• GVT grade; – equivalent to appearance grade in SANS1783-1 no knots bigger than one-third of the face, no knot holes.
• NGVT grade; – equivalent to utility grade in SANS1783-1, knots up to two-thirds of the face.
• 10’s – ungraded, both GVT and NGVT, with blue stain.
• Our sawn board is not graded for structural purposes. This does not mean that it does not meet the grade, merely that it has not been proven to do so.

Treatment

• Sawn board planks are sold either treated or untreated. We treat with CCA to Hazard Class H3.