The internationally operating hardwood specialist Danzer is kicking off the next generation of its proprietary vertical slicer Danzer VS4000.
The VS4000 was developed by Danzer more than 15 years ago. The proprietary veneer slicer is being used in all Danzer veneer plants worldwide for slicing both veneers in standard thicknesses of 0.5 mm as well as deck layers of 3.5 mm thickness. Slicing deck layers for flooring instead of the conventional sawing is a resource-efficient and economical way of production. The loss of valuable wood during the slicing process is substantially lower than with the sawing method, which results in an average 30 to 40 percent loss of material in the form of sawdust.
“With the Danzer VS4000, it is possible to slice not only in the standard production range of approximately 0.5 mm thick veneer but also significantly thicker veneer. This is what differentiates the Danzer VS4000 from other manufacturers’ machines,” explains Andreas Wagner, Danzer’s vice president Engineering, who is in charge to develop the next generation of the machine.
“One of the reasons for our success is the high precision in slicing all veneer thicknesses and specifically flooring deck layers. Being in use on a daily basis for more than 15 years, the excellent quality of our machine has been proven. Therefore, the focus of the further development lies mainly on details and optimizations on a very high level. We are upgrading the controls and user interfaces to achieve even higher efficiency, easier maintenance, and improved error diagnostics.”
Wagner will be working with two engineers from Danzer locations in Europe and North America on the next generation, which is planned to take place in the coming months at the Danzer location in Melnik, Czech Republic. Extensive preliminary examinations are currently being carried out to further improve the slicing quality by optimizing both knife and pressure bar. All Danzer veneer plant managers are involved in the development process.
“The respective plant managers collect the experiences, problems, and suggestions for solutions of the past few years, in order to gradually work on the optimization of the existing machines. The goal is to upgrade the Danzer VS4000 machines in all veneer plants step by step,” concludes Wagner.