Experimental study of the effect of soaking temperature on the peeling parameters of two oak species (Quercus canariensis Willd. and Quercus afares Pomel)

Veneer checking is a common enough occurrence in woodworking. It appears as cracks in the veneer and generally following the grain. Their appearance and the variation of their depth and frequencies have tremendous impact on their utilization. Finding a means of identifying and characterizing the veneer checks is an important ongoing challenge. An automated device, named SMOF, was developed in LABOMAP (Arts et Metiers - France) and achieves this task. By using the SMOF device, the lathe checks occurred in veneers of two species: zeen oak (Quercus canariensis Willd.) and afares oak (Quercus afares Pomel) were detected, automatically imaged and then, the depth and intervals of checks measured. The results were described by statistical distributions that exhibited abnormalities, such as skewness and kurtosis, which were assessed by mode analysis. It has been established that hot soaking temperature (from 60 degrees C to 90 degrees C) reduce slightly the cutting forces for both species, no produce significant heart checks within the loose side of veneers. However, low soaking temperature (from 50 degrees C to 65 degrees C) allow avoiding deeper lathe checking, producing shallower ones acceptable for veneer production.