High productivity:

All kinds of wood species are being cut daily with SERRA sawmills worldwide:

• Mangelsen in Sweden cuts curved oak, being used for building wooden ships;
• Kantor in Hungary cuts Siberian larch for manufacturing doors and windows;
• McMinn in Washington State mills wood for musical instruments;
• Timmerman in Barrie, Ontario, mills posts and beams for timber frames.

Cutting lengths are between 0.7 and 16 meters (2 to 52 ft) (mills set up to be stationary can be longer). Log diameters are between 0.10 up to 1.30 meters (4" to 4 feet). It doesn't matter what you cut: building wood, veneers or fine wood, the cutting thickness is quickly and easily adjusted and the SERRA saw lets you produce at highest output. With our hydraulics you can easily do all kinds of cuts, even if you have to produce octagonal (8-sided) beams. Depending on the equipment, log diameter, dimension of cuts and number of helpers you can cut up to 3m³ per hour. Some SERRA customers have consistently been working the last few years in three 8-hour shifts with a productivity of 15,000 m³ per year.

Variable Sawhead

Innovation, based on years of experience:

An angled sawhead with variable blade length settings. Results in increased productivity and output of the mill.

The Bavaria SL series of SERRA sawmills allows the operator to adjust the cutting width of the mill according to the log diameter. The hydraulic blade tension allows you to use different blade lengths - long blades for big logs and short blades for small logs.

The blade guard around the right bandwheel moves together with the wheel while tensioning the blade. This gives you enough room to cut logs as big as 1.60 m diameter (Africa). By using a short blade you cut logs of a diameter up to 1 meter.

Your advantage:
Since most of the logs you may cut are smaller than 1 m, you can cut most of the time with short blades. Because the wheels are closer to the log you are able to cut at a faster rate, achieving higher output.

Cutting Schema

The following sequence of steps shows one way to fill the customer's order with optimal efficiency:

After the positioning and securing of the log, the top cut is made. With the initial cut there is a slab of bark, and with each following cut there is a side with bark which will have to be trimmed later.

Then the log is turned 90° and secured again. Again, there is the bark and the sides to trim. Of course, the log can also be turned 180°.

The process is repeated after renewed turning. The entire side bark can be trimmed with the sawmill or later with our mobile edge trimmer "Duett".

The remaining wood can now be sawn as edged lumber or to customer dimensions.

Log clamp turner

A SERRA Innovation: Patented in 1992.

With this system you can clamp and turn the logs in the fastest possible way. It works well for special cuts or conical logs. Beams as well as stacks of boards can be turned, making it easy to do double cuts, quarter sawing or use a flexible cutting schema.

Computerized positioning

The optional SERRA computer automatically optimizes the cutting speed through the wood, positions itself at the right height for the next cut and is able to cut a whole log by itself. Its 5.7 inch display makes it easy to read even under sunny conditions.

The positioning program

1. Absolute value:
   You input a value to which the saw will position itself on start. You can set this value while milling a previous process and it will only be executed when the mill is at the start position and actually activated.
2. Single board program:
   The operator inputs the value of the next board thickness. For example, the actual sawblade height position is at 330 mm. The desired board thickness is 35 mm. The computer adds the kerf of 2.2 mm (this value can be adjusted depending on the saw blade) and positions itself at 295,8 mm. After the board is sawn, the computer will lower the sawhead for the next cut by 37.2 mm. The tolerance can also be set; the positioning is much faster at a tolerance of 0.2 mm than with a tolerance of 0.1 mm.
3. Programmed cuts
   In this program the computer calculates how many boards can be cut at desired thickness from the actual height of the log. An estimated amount of remaining wood is indicated. It is also possible to restrict the number of boards of one size and ad other sizes to the cut order.
   
   For example: The log is cut once and then positioned on that side at a height of 400 mm. You want to cut 2 x 30 mm, 3 x 80 mm and finally 2 x 30 mm again. We set the kerf at 2.2 mm. The total to be cut is 372 mm including kerf. The display will indicate a remaining height of 28 mm. At start the computer will position itself at 372 mm for the programmed cuts.
4. Memory function for driving back the sawhead
   The operator positions the sawhead a few centimeters above the log and presses the memory button for three seconds. The operator starts sawing and after doing the first cut and the sawblade exits the wood, the operator presses the memory button, the sawhead will drive up to the first position and the sawhead is able to drive back to the operator. If the cut board is taken off by a helper, the operator presses the "X" button rather than the memory button and the sawblade will position itself 1 cm above the last cut (this value can be set as needed).

The wood calculator

The size of the log (length and diameter) is entered in order to calculate the volume of wood being sawn. The program allocates an order number to each log. In this way you can set a different price for each log according to the type of cut you do (e.g.: simple cut, double cut, hardwood, special cuts, etc.). The order number represents the order from the customer and is given in Excel format. The amount of wood sawn is saved on a CF card which can be transfered to other computers for invoicing.

Fully automatic operation

Automatic operation of the SERRA sawmil can be useful for many sawmill operators. Mainly you would use it for doing repeated fine cuts of the same thickness. In this way a sawyer can operate two machines at the same time. Once the log is prepared and fixed, the program can start and the machine will do all the cuts by itself. Because of the new AVS system (more below) the machine will know exactly what speed it has to cut and it will regulate cutting speed by itself.

Off-position cut protection and joystick

With the joystick you can do all the mill operations with one hand: raising / lowering of blade, forward / backward motion, sawdust container shute opening, pre-cutter setup, throttle and the start for the next cut. (See this in action in the videos.) As the joystick is connected to the computer and positioning system it is possible to prevent the sawhead from cutting into the squaring arms. The controller recognizes where the height of the squaring arms is and stops the forward motion.

AVS (CSCA) - Cutting Speed Controlled by Amperes

The new CSCA system developed by SERRA controls the amps consumed by the main engine and maintains it at a constant. This controller can be used in combination with the joystick. Every 400 miliseconds the computer checks the amperage, and if it has increased, the computer regulates it automatically via an electromagnetic valve. There is no way for a human being to react as quickly. As the blade enters the log the operator sets the joystick to its maximum speed and the computer takes care of the rest.