Stage 1 - PEELING
Selected from strictly controlled and certified plantations of Italian poplar and from the Ayous forests in Cameroon, logs are peeled and transformed into thin sheets with a peeling machine and are then cut into the sizes required for the following manufacturing processes.
Stage 2 - DYEING
The ‘core' of the process is the dying of the sheets to obtain the required shades of colour. Thanks to the constant research on wood dying being carried out in the Apli Labs, dyeing systems based only on water cycles have been developed. Wood sheets are impregnated by immersion into steel tanks at controlled temperature with the addition of soluble dyes made of an organic structure and therefore without chrome or other heavy metals.
Stage 3 - DRYING
During the dyeing process, moisture reaches 100%. Through the drying of dyed veneer sheets in hot air dryers the excess moisture is eliminated. After emerging from the drying tunnel, the freshly dried and dyed veneer sheets undergo a further quality selection.
Stage 4 - COMPOSITION
According to the wood species to be reproduced or the selected design, the dyed veneers are mixed, superimposed with the same fibre direction and piled up for pressing.
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Stage 5 - GLUING
The pack of sheets thus obtained is put into a gluing roller that spreads glue on each sheet. The gluing operation serves two important functions: it applied the medium that allows the sheets to later be pressed into a monolith and determines particular patterns according to the colour of the glue used.
Stage 6 - PRESSING
The block of glued sheets is put into flat or moulded presses according to the design of the product required. The differring moulds determine the crown and or burl pattern, while the radial designs (with flat moulds) are obtained at a later stage with appropriate cutting angles. At the end of this stage we get a compact rectangular block a few metres long and about 700mm x 700mm in section.
Stage 7 - SQUARING
The log is squared and sanded before being sliced or sawn to obtain, respectively, veneers or boards.
Stage 8 - SLICING
Once trimmed and squared, the log is sliced to obtain the multilaminar (or reconstituted) veneer from 0.3mm to 3.00mm in thickness.
Stage 9 - QUALITY CONTROL
Every sheet undergoes accurate quality controls and if necessary is repaired by experts using cabinet making techniques thus guaranteeing the consistency of product that we are famous for. |
