Raw
Material
Rubberwood or Hevea Brasilliensis is
the master
ingredient for MDF manufacturing which is harvested
from Guthrie's rubber plantations. The branches and
smaller
trunks are utilised for MDF fiber
production. Before MDF appeared
on the scene,
these rubber wood residue were traditionally
burnt
before re-planting.
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Raw Material |
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Debarking
At this stage raw logs are fed into the debarker that
strips
the bark off the logs. With its huge diameter
and extra-long
carriage length, the debarker is able
to remove almost every
trace of bark from the raw
logs, thus eliminating a lot of
rubber latex as well
(since latex is just beneath the bark).
The debarked
rubber wood logs are sent to the chipper to be
chipped to required sizes.
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Debarking
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Chip
Screening, Washing and Refining
The chips are
first screened and washed before
put into use. At this stage,
oversized chips,
undesired grit, metal and other foreign
particles are removed. This is to ensure that
the end
product is end-user-friendly. Removal
of unwanted materials
also helps to minimize
wear and tear on the tool thereby extending
tool
life-span and saving money for the end user.After
the screening and washing process, the
chips are sent to the
Defibrator to be refined into
fiber. Carefully formulated resin
is mixed with the
fiber, immediately after the refiner. The
mixture is taken through the Dryer. During
this process, the
mixture is subjected to carefully
controlled blasts of hot
air in order to obtain the
required moisture content.
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Chip
Screening &
Washing
Dryer Cyclone
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Fiber
Classification
The classified fiber then goes
to the Pendistor.
At this stage the classified fiber passed
through
specially designed zig-zag outlets that distribute
the fiber evenly to form a 3-layered mat. This unique
and
innovative process ensure the mat has uniform
weight distribution
and consistent density. This
machine almost always produces
boards with fine
and consistent surface.
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Flak Z-Sifter
Flak 3-head Pendistor
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Forming
/ Pre-Pressing
The multi-layered mat passed through
the Pre-
compressor which squeezes out trapped air, after
which the mat passed through a metal detector
which
can detect for removal all traces of metals.
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Pre-Press
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Pressing
Freed of all traces of metal, the mat is pressed
into
boards to the desired thickness on a Kusters
Continuous Press.
The high temperature that
accompanies this process also cures
the resin.
The continuous board is cut to master panel
size.
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Kusters Continuous
Press
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Finishing
Immediately after cutting, the boards go through
a quality
check, consisting of a Blow Detector, a
thickness detector
and weighing bridge. Only boards
of the required standard and
specifications are accepted.
Those that fail to meet those
stringent standards are
instantly rejected. Accepted boards
are cooled on the
Cooling Wheel.
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GreCon Blow Detector
Cooling
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Intermediate
Storage
The boards are placed in the intermediate
storage
prior to cutting into finished sizes.The Lukki storage
system is fully automatic and computerised for easy
selection
of stock and has capacity to store boards
for conditioning
and curing for up to 10 days.
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Lukki Intermediate
Storage
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Sanding and Storage
The next
stage consists of sanding to the final
thickness, followed
by sizing. Finally the finished
packed boards are sent for
warehousing waiting to
be shipped out.
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Steinemann Sander
Cut-to-Size |
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