VISCAN-Portable: A new grading machine for local structural timber

The strength grading of timber is mandatory for structural uses. Most of the sawmills in the area are small or medium-sized enterprises that cannot acquire an automatic classification line because of the very high costs. For this reason it was decided to develop a new portable machine, with significantly reduced costs, which could be shared between the sawmill of the territory. The new grading machine was design starting from the technology ViSCAN of Microtec With these results, it becomes possible to introduce the machine strength grading among small/medium sawmills. Thanks to this new opportunity the companies can enjoy advantages both in terms of quantitative yields and efficiency in the classification. On the other hand, the portability of the machine is an interesting stimulus to its possible spread: neighboring sawmill could share the purchase or lease the equipment, reducing the amount of initial investment and operating costs. This sharing mode is well suited also to a non-continuous production of lumber. The machine was then set on the timber species present in the FMMF territory already used or potentially suitable for construction: ViSCAN-portable was officially certified as strength grading machine on March 2014. At the same date the settings for Douglas fir and black pine were approved, while for fir and chestnut they were approved on October 2014. Some local sawmills have already used the machine to grade their sawnwood for structural uses, but the VISCAN-portable has also been requested by other Italian regions, especially to grade chestnut timber.