The power of sharing our experiences and being true to ourselves reaffirms what we strongly believe in. It’s an effective way to create progress, start further conversations and connect with people……...So here I am, Subhash Jolly, sharing my life’s learnings, opinions and ideas drawn from my 47+ years of professional experience as a Wood Technologist.
My first brushes with the wood science and technology sector date back to 1974 when I had joined the ‘Composite Wood’ Branch at Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun.
FRI is our country’s top-most institute offering professional career in the study of science and technology of ‘Wood’ as a natural resource and as a basic material for manufacture of various useful products including plywood. At FRI, students are trained in various aspects of Wood: Wood Technology, Wood Working, Timber Mechanics, Wood Preservation, Wood Seasoning and others, each of which could impact the quality of Plywood and Composite panels.
During summers when its excessively hot weather with outside temperatures around 40°C - 45°C, efforts should be made to ensure proper ventilation by keeping windows and doors open. Roof ventilators can be installed in the factory shed to help bring down the high temperatures of 40°C - 45°C by 4°C - 5°C.
Being well-equipped with different machines used during plywood manufacturing: Peeling Machine, Dryer, Hot Press, and Boilers, FRI had all of them available under one roof for us to have a handson learning experience. FRI also has the Timber/ Plywood Testing laboratory where one would learn about identification of fossils of timbers and the relation between their anatomical structure and glue bonds, which has helped me to make plywood using different types / kinds of resins.
Wood Technologists graduating from FRI are professionals dedicated to the cause of making plywood, responsible for managing the manufacturing and quality control facilities of a Plywood Unit. They are a pillar of strength for the Plywood Industry and offer best-of-kind solutions for the challenges faced during the manufacture of Plywood.
After finishing my study at FRI, I too, being a passionate Wood Technologist, joined a plywood factory and through this column, would like to share my real-life experience and learnings from the Plywood Industry.
Just as during a doctor’s visit – when he first takes note of our vital parameters: Temperature and Blood pressure to better understand our health, similarly, a Wood Technologist, before beginning work at any plywood factory, must take note of two key parameters at the plywood factory: Temperature and Humidity. All efforts should be made to maintain optimal level for both these parameters and striking a balance between them.
During summers when its excessively hot weather with outside temperatures around 40°C - 45°C, efforts should be made to ensure proper ventilation by keeping windows and doors open. Roof ventilators can be installed in the factory shed to help bring down the high temperatures of 40°C - 45°C by 4°C - 5°C.
For normalizing the humidity levels during summers, steam from Hot Press can be used effectively. The way to do so is: The outlet pipe from the Hot Press Header can be punctured with ½” holes at equidistance and pipes inserted in such holes can then be raised to a height of 8” – 10” feet (till a slight level below the roof). The Hot Press steam released from a height, through such an arrangement, can be of great use in managing the humidity levels at the plywood factory. The moisture in the steam released from above greatly helps to:
1) Control over drying of the Core due to high temperature during summers.
2) Reduce use of excess glue which otherwise sticks to hot Core, gets dried & is wasted.
3) Optimize use of glue as per the desired thickness of commercial ply.
4) Reduce the bending of the ply during the finish phase of production.
5) Temperature control also helps to prevent layer delamination in plywood.
Similarly, during winters when its excessively cold weather with outside temperatures being 10°C - 20°C, keeping the windows, doors and roof ventilators shut can help raise inside temperature by 4-5°C. This will help ensure that humidity in the atmosphere gets least absorbed by the Core /Panels.
Just like as we manage our body temperatures and feel pleasant by changing our wear during different seasons – sweaters in winters and cotton clothing in summers; similarly, we should make efforts to maintain the temperature at the plywood production factory – during winters, the 10°C – 20°C should be raised to 22°C -25°C and during summers the 40°C -45°C should be reduced to 30°C -35°C, for producing a good quality plywood.
This is one of the key learnings which I had during the initial days of my journey as a Wood Technologist.
Do look out for my next column where I will continue sharing my learnings from the journey of my life…..
Your comments and suggestions are welcome which can send to my email id: subhasjolly@gmail.com