Do you prefer using a linear saw or a component saw? Both saws can cut lumber cleanly, so other factors need to be considered, especially when batching your cutting.
Often, batching decisions are made solely on cutting quantity. While this is a very important factor, the decision is more complex. Given the option of either type of saw, decisions based on quality are impactful. Component saws require changes in set up, but so do linear saws. The difference is linear saws are a lot faster at making this happen. Things like bottom chord scissor, butt cuts, and heels can be greatly enhanced using linear saws instead of component saws. Sometimes, quality is compromised by speed. So, how do you decide what saw(s) you need? Let’s consider some pros and cons.
Component Saw: Strengths
Component saws cut fast and can be laterally loaded making up to six single individual cuts at one time. Filling dog after dog, the component saw can blister through a unit of lumber in no time…if you are making the same cuts.
Component saws can be more versatile in operations. If push comes to shove, most are programable, but many also can be run manually. Some computerized component saws can be run in manual, semi-manual, and automatic modes with the flip of a switch.
With a component saw, it’s possible to rerun a cut that was originally cut too long. If your cut is too short though, neither saw can help you (we are still looking for an industry board fixer).
Component saws were originally designed for high-volume repetitive production projects. They are still king at cutting these jobs.
Component Saw: Weaknesses
Lumber feed clamping is limited and is not possible on shallow angle cuts on component saws. This includes low-pitch truss configurations such as 1/12 to 3/12 pitch. Component saws struggle with wide boards and require significant skill, experience, and training to achieve accuracy.
With a component saw, a large area is needed on both the in-feed and out-feed side.
Cutting needs to be optimized before sending jobs to the saw to help limit lumber drop. This needs to be done during the design process. Optimizing the locations of splices and re-webbing the shorter webs is a long-lost skill that used to be the hallmark of an experienced designer.
The design of component saws is why cutting short pieces is so difficult. Component saws fail miserably when attempting to cut short parts.
With component saws, lumber defects are amplified, especially lumber bows and twists, which create inaccurate cuts and can even appear to change lengths.
Linear Saw: Strengths
Complex cuts can be made with a linear saw that are not available to the component saw, an extreme example of which would be stair runners.
Linear saws can be installed in longer, narrower areas, which is a benefit when building footprints are limited.
Linear saws have the ability to cut extremely long scarf cuts accurately.
Linear saws are able to cut close to the clamping mechanism holding lumber, thereby helping to improve cutting accuracy. This is a significant quality attribute.
Linear saws can sometimes accommodate for twisting and bows in lumber.
Nesting, when utilized on a linear saw, can help optimize the amount of wood fiber used by cutting in a pattern that utilizes the previous cut.
Linear Saw: Weaknesses
Linear saws must be run in a semi-automated mode or automated mode, eliminating interaction of the sawyer.
Some linear saws simply reject lumber that has significant bows and twist, not giving the sawyer the choice.
Clean-up cuts cannot be made once the material is cut on a linear saw.
On the linear saw, all lumber must be feed through the saw in a linear manner. Long-length cuts take more time than short-length cuts, which adds production time and reduces capacity.
Linear saws can cut short pieces, but they need to be cut off a longer board.
Though linear saws fit into narrower buildings than component saws, they still typically require 20 feet of clearance on each side.
The Bottom Line
Neither saw holds the title of best selection. If the size of your manufacturing plant supports both, then consider having both saws available in your operations. As Todd Drummond has written, “Beware of One Size Fits All Solutions.” Each type of saw will offer solutions the other cannot.
Likewise, you’ll also need to use the saws properly to take full advantage of their benefits. When used properly, linear saws will save lumber…but only if plant processes are adjusted so that a new linear saw is not simply dropped into the role of the component saw it is replacing. When plants fail to make adjustments, they squander the lumber savings benefits. Making the smart decisions is the first step — implementing them properly is the next step when you want to saw smarter, not harder.
An ANSI/TPI 1 3rd Party Quality Assurance Authorized Agent covering the Southeastern United States, Glenn Traylor is an independent consultant with over four decades of experience in the structural building components industry. Glenn serves as a trainer-evaluator-auditor covering sales, design, PM, QA, customer service, and production elements of the truss industry. He also provides project management specifically pertaining to structural building components, including on-site inspections, expert witness and ANSI/TPI 1 compliance assessments. Glenn provides new plant and retrofit designs, equipment evaluations, ROI, capacity analysis, and CPM analysis.