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INTEGRATING MPP Integrating the MPP plant into overall operations and taking advantage of Freres Lumber’s veneer expertise was made a priority soon after MPP’s inception in 2018. A new parallel laminated veneer (PLV) line, supplied by Con-Vey, features extensive robotics and was installed in early 2019 to produce layup material that’s pressed into lamellas and destined specifically for MPP products. Earlier this year, the MPP plant started up a new beam and column (B&C) processing line that features a 60 ft., USNR carriage and bandmill to cut B&C products off MPP billets that can range up to 4x60 ft. and 24 in. thick. The 63 in. bandmill is currently running a swage tooth .135 in. kerf Simonds saw from Burton Saw. The upper saw guide is a USNR Norpac system, and the lower guide is a graphite phenolic insert. An innovative transfer and material handling system supplied by Corvallis Tool Co. moves billets from the MPP press outfeed up to the infeed deck where they are loaded onto the carriage. Local contractors Phillipi Construction and Northside Electric also worked on the installation. The line was initially certified to produce beams and columns up to 12 in. wide and 72 in. deep, but the MPP plant is already pursuing certification for larger dimensions and beam orientations up to the bandmill’s 24 in. capacity. Currently, the plant can produce beams up to 48 ft. long. Adding the B&C line means Freres Lumber can provide “one-stop” capability for builders and designers pursuing mass timber projects. The B&C line also means Freres can now create products that compete well in the glulam market, offering the engineering strengths and flexibility that MPP provides. Having the ability to develop products such as specialized mats and beams and columns is also important to create sales while working with mass timber projects that typically have much longer timelines, Freres adds. “We’ve developed some mat-type products to sell to fill in gaps between these structural projects, and we’ve had great success with mats,” Freres says. He adds that the MPP press allows the company to create sizes that most mat producers can’t come close to: The plant recently shipped mat products that were 12 in. thick, 8 ft. wide—and 40 ft. long. The overall mass timber building movement is making it easier to introduce a product like MPP in an environment where there’s lots of interest in mass tim-
Break ing dow n a large M P P billet into smaller produ cts.
T he facility ’ s M P P press siz e means the plant can produ ce mass timber pieces u p to 4 8 ft. long.
T he M P P beam and colu mn line fills ou t a corner of the plant. TIMBER PROCESSING
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