The saw station in this video is new, but it was not optimized, to provide an idea of what a rough saw station setup looks like. TigerStop, which produced this video, estimates the performance of this station is typical of one that receives little maintenance, with the operato focused on getting parts out the door rather than producing quality parts.

To create this realistic environment, the sawyer in the video did the following:

1. Checked the calibration halfway through the cut list.
2. Adjusted the saw angle halfway through the cut list.
3. Did not adjust the saw back fence for chip breaking. (Chip breaking is the mechanical support for the back of the cut in order to avoid the material blowing out or ripping.)
4. Varied the speed of his cuts. (Semi-automatic saws eliminate the possibility of quality variance, but as the saw in the video was manual, we mixed it up a bit to show a nice range.)

How did the video sawyer do?

Working at a brisk but comfortable pace, cutting was completed in the video with the following statistics:

• Total cut time: 2 minutes and 50 seconds
• Parts cut: 24
• Saw cycles: 33
• 30” stock length: 22.5 Linear Feet in 9 sticks

Whydoes it matter? In an 8 hour day at 85% labor efficiency and at the cadence shown in the video, our sawyer can move 3,250 linear feet of raw 30” stock through his cutting station.

Using Backboard Defecting, our sawyer doesn’t strictly have to buy FAS material (expensive, defect free material). He can now buy a greater mix of 1 Common material (cheaper material with greater defects) for face-frame stiles and leave the long clears for rails. TigerStop software calculates the best usage of material during the Backboard Defecting process, allowing our sawyer to use every single part of his material and get more parts out of defected material that he would have previously tossed in the scrap bin.

Our incredibly skilled sawyer, whose been working with us for a long time making decent money, can now be promoted to a position with a better return. His old position can be made entry level. So now those $20/hr parts are more like $12 – and well, you’re getting 30% more of them.
 

NOTE: The Tigerstop is setup as a back stop on the left hand side, and fed from the right. There is a saw support for rigid saw placement and adjustability. An infeed support table is placed to the right of the saw and has a ruled back fence (which is key to the setup).