Gorman seeks an EDGE
For well-known BC sawfiler John Hebert, saw doctoring is a career and hobby all rolled into one.
by Jean Sorensen
At Gorman Bros. Lumber mill in Westbank, BC, more than timber is cut up. The file room is considered one of the best in the country, and there every aspect of maintaining the mill’s 300 circular and band saws is dissected on a daily basis.
“We really are focused on detail,” says John Hebert, longtime member of the BC Saw Filers Association, and head filer of the 11- man staff whose duty it is to ensure that Gorman Bros. retains its reputation as the leading producer of quality one-inch pine boards in Canada. This is a reputation CWP has heard repeated by top sawmillers as far east as Nova Scotia and Maine.
This attention to detail means delving into why things go wrong, as well as looking at what makes things go right, and how they might go even better. “We are always looking for innovations and we like to experiment – that’s one of our mandates from management,” says Hebert. No doubt it’s also what gives this team its edge.
One innovation that Hebert and crew have implemented is a 0.010" saw kerf reduction by running some circular saws in the mill with a reduced plate thickness of 0.080" rather than the conventional 0.090" thickness. “We are looking for more recovery. When you are producing all one-inch boards, you want to get more board and less sawdust.”
The mill’s 12-in double arbour gang uses 22-in diameter saws with the reduced plate thickness, while the 8-in and 4-in double arbour gangs each use 0.080" plate thickness as well. The circular head saw (now replaced with a six-foot band head saw) had been dropped down as low as 0.125" kerf compared to the 0.312" kerf the mill ran 10 years ago. The mill’s two bandmills run at 0.065" (saw plate thickness) compared to 0.072" as recommended by the manufacturer.
No Simple Plan
Yet reducing saw plate thickness doesn’t come without challenges, as every sawmiller knows. Plate stiffness is affected, emphasizing the need for greater care to ensure that all signs of wear and tear during maintenance periods are spotted and corrected, so that nothing less than a perfect blade goes back to the mill floor. In addition, feed-speeds have to be carefully monitored and breakdown centres using the thinner saw-blades rely upon amperage power surge controls to match wood density with optimum speed to mitigate blade damage or eliminate snaking. Stakes are high, as off-cuts in a one-inch board operation provide little opportunity for re-manufacturing.
Hebert is always searching for the optimum tooth configuration for the wood he’s cutting. While the fibre species (SPF – with Gorman handling mainly spruce and pine) are fairly standard in the BC Interior, the condition of the fibre varies greatly because of environmental factors. In spring 2007, the mill was handling burnt wood from the company’s summer 2006 fire area near the US border, but a trickle of blue-stain beetle wood was evident. By fall, says Hebert, the mill will be equipping saws to handle primarily the drier beetle kill wood.
Hebert has tried the V-tooth configuration on his circular saw blades, but found the tips are prone to breaking. Now, he’s trying to strengthen the prongs of the tooth by creating a cup-shaped curve rather than a sharp V between the teeth. He hopes this new configuration will strengthen the sides of the two prongs. He’s also experimenting with an alternate, sloped (five degrees) tooth formation on the circular saws.
Hebert relies upon two Okanaganbased companies for most of his circular saw blades needs. He chose both for quality, their location, and their ability to be flexible in meeting his changing needs. Cut Technologies of Penticton, BC, is his preferred supplier of circular blades. “The owner is a former saw-filer and he pays a lot of attention to detail,” says Hebert, who favours the idea of having a supplier with hands-on expertise to handle any special requests. The company that provides input and testing for Hebert’s saw tooth designs is saw-tip specialist Camco Cutting Tools in Kelowna, BC. Band saws are from distributors (Pacific Hoe and Simonds International), which handle the Armstrong line that the mill prefers.
“We are always trying to push the envelope,” concedes Hebert, but innovation isn’t done without careful consideration and never at the price of safety. Hebert has established a network of experienced filers in other BC mills, which he uses as a resource and sounding board on saw technologies, problems, and increasing performance.
“This is a group of individuals whose opinions I trust,” he says, screening up a spreadsheet on a saw’s performance to show the amount of information that goes into any kind of decision-making by the group.
Safety is never negotiable. His crew changes over a band saw in pit-crew style in seven minutes flat, if there is a malfunction on the mill floor. The communication system in the mill can be used to page any of the file room crew. A changeover could be done faster, says Hebert, but a dedication to detail means every aspect of the changeover is checked over to prevent a second malfunction or workplace injury. Too much focus on the speed of the job means nothing, if the long-term race is lost, he says.
No Heroics
Hebert, who came to Gorman’s just over a decade ago, has tried to establish a culture of quality and expertise in every facet of the file room. Open the door to the shop, and the first thing noticed is its cleanliness – two wide brooms are within easy eyeshot. There’s no clutter, just open floor space, and machine centres are clean and clear. Blades are stacked neatly; band saws at one end, circular saws at the other. Posted on one wall are job descriptions and a code of conduct for employees. Two areas are walled in – the lunchroom and Hebert’s office, but they feature large windows to provide good sight lines of floor activity.
“There’s nothing worse than working on a piece of dirty equipment,” he says, believing that a poor work environment leads to a poor or uncaring attitude towards the work being undertaken. A workplace that reflects high standards translates into an employee reflecting those standards in the job performed and, ultimately, a sense of personal pride in a job well done.
Quality control is emphasized. “I do spot checks,” says Hebert. And he’s established policies. “No one throws away a saw blade without me looking at it first,” he says. On the other hand, he’s adamant his crew doesn’t waste time playing “saw doctor” resuscitating a dead blade. Blades have idiosyncrasies and are different. Hebert says the skill a saw filer exercises comes in recognizing what can be fixed and when a blade is beyond its life. Each blade is numbered upon arrival in the shop, and both working life and maintenance are logged. When it becomes more expensive to repair it than its benefit in the cutting line, it is retired.
“This saw blade is then costing us money rather than making us money.” It is a philosophy that is reflected in the file room’s budget. “We have the full endorsement of management to spend the dollars on the saws because in the long run, the more we spend on quality saws, the more we get in production,” he says.
The onslaught of mountain pine beetle killed wood is the next challenge facing the mill. A biological scanner, able to detect blue-stain, has been installed on the trim line. During the winter, beetle kill wood was 15% of production, by spring the number is expected to double and by late September, estimates are that Gorman Bros. and other surrounding mills will be dealing with a log feed stream that is 65% bug-kill wood.
Hebert is already preparing for the challenges of dealing with drier wood. Standing in the shop is a brand new Kahny Auto-tipper, ready to be wired into the shop. The German-made auto-tipper will reduce the time required to add carbide tips to saws and free up saw-filers to meet other job needs. Five automatic Talon circular blade sharpeners are used on the floor.
“Sometimes we will put blades through two or three times,” says Hebert, rather than let one go into the break down lines in less than perfect shape. Automation will help meet growing needs in a mill whose production in 2007 is projected at 150 million bdft compared to its 1994 production, which was 80 million bdft.
Communication plays a large role in ensuring that the standards and details that sustain quality are kept constantly in the forefront. Hebert says his file room is very much a team effort, and he’s fortunate to have collected together an experienced roster of individuals. A notice board is centralized in the room for any announcements, but a monthly workplace meeting brings forward any issues, concerns, or new developments. Hebert gives the example of a new piece of equipment arriving. “I may put it in one spot and the guys will say – no, John, that doesn’t work,” he says, as operators point out a certain workflow pattern.
That kind of consensual decision-making enhances work proficiency.
New trainees go through a probation period before entering an apprenticeship program. Job vacancy positions are posted in the mill; candidates from the mill floor are screened and short-listed. An interview process ensures that each candidate understands the rigors of the job. “It can be stressful,” says Hebert, as there is a demand for production when a malfunction occurs. Also, new entrants need to be detail oriented, have the ability to work in a team environment, and also be flexible enough to work weekends and nights. The successful applicant goes through a probation period to ensure that the individual and the company are satisfied with the job performance. Once both parties are satisfied, Hebert says he applies to have the individual enrolled in an apprenticeship program.
Learning to work with band saws or circular saw-blades is an acquired art. “It took me about five years,” he says, adding he eventually gained almost that intuitive sense that good saw-filers need to know to tap out defects in blades.
Hebert says that although experienced, his crew members are still keen to learn new technologies and improve their craft. They form an excellent resource for new entrants into his file-room. He sees the BC Saw Filers’ Association annual conventions and seminars as a means of increasing that knowledge base. “I take as many of my employees as I can to the annual convention,” he says.
The senior personnel provide a learning environment for new entrants into a craft that was once highly secretive. “It wasn’t that long ago that many people looked upon what we did as almost witchcraft. There was a closed door attitude and you had to be invited in.”
Today, that’s changed dramatically as Hebert keeps the door open to not just employees but anyone with a new idea. While he has isolated brands he prefers, he’s interested to see other salesmen who might bring in a new product to test. He’s always searching for that new edge and that quest is why he calls what he does, both “a career – and a hobby.”
