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CONTENTS

32 47

FOCUS 39 The Impact of Cost and Price Fluctuations on US
Hardwood Sawmill Profit
Operating costs make up a considerable share of a
16 ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report sawmill’s cost structure and are, therefore, crucial for
As the world continues to navigate through the understanding the fiscal health of a given operation.
impact of the US tariffs, countries are finding new Using the assumption that today’s depressed lumber
opportunities and challenges. ITTO tells us more and residue markets result in sawmills, on average,
about the latest in the market.
making no profit and incurring no loss, this study
estimated operation costs of a hypothetical 4, 8,
TECHNOLOGY and 12 MMBF production hardwood sawmill in the
eastern US producing red oak lumber. Using this
knowledge and the Log Recovery Analysis Tool
32 Analysis Of Wear Characteristics Of WC-Co (LORCAT), this study found that a sawmill’s financial
Cutting Tools During Particleboard Milling well-being is highly dependent on hardwood log and
Through the experiment, it shows that the similarities operating costs as well as lumber prices. By Urs
in the relative wear characteristics of blades with Buehlmann, Virginia Tech, and Edward Thomas, US
submicron tungsten carbide grain sizes which Forest Service
suggest that micro-abrasion and bond phase
extrusion may be the main wear mechanisms
under the experimental conditions. Nanometric WC DESIGN
grain size significantly influences tool wear through
chipping and cracking. By Joanna Wachowicz 47 The Evolution And Impact Of Furniture Design In
and Piotr Podziewski, Warsaw University of Life Contemporary Society
Sciences, Zbigniew Bałaga, Czestochowa University Furniture design has undergone a significant
of Technology
transformation over the centuries, evolving from
purely functional objects to artistic expressions
that reflect societal values, technological
advancements, and environmental concerns. In