How Are Wood Chips Formed?
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Introduction
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Wood chips have a variety of different applications. They can be strictly decorative for a garden or to accentuate a path or trail. The majority of wood chips are used in the formation of pulp and paper products. Different varieties of tree can produce pulp that is best suited for particular types of paper. Pine is frequently used for the formation of cardboard and newspaper while eucalyptus has properties well-suited for high-quality printing paper. As the demand for pulp has increased, and by proxy the wood chips needed to make it, the process for creating the wood chips themselves has become more streamlined and efficient.
Manufacture
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Many wood chips are made from old pallets or construction lumber that are no longer needed. Instead of going to a landfill, the debris is recycled to a sawmill for the manufacturing of wood chips. Another source of the lumber comes through integrated harvesting, which is where areas of a forest are set aside for the use of lumber practices and any wood that is below saw-log quality is used toward wood chip manufacture. Regardless of the wood source, it all ends up at a sawmill. Sawmills used high-powered wood chippers to cut the source lumber down to the appropriate size for the wood chips that are needed. It is operated by a powerful motor that spins a transmission that is connected to a flywheel. The flywheel is like the central gear that keeps the chopping wheels in rotation. Wood chippers generally have anywhere from two to six chopping wheels, which are razor sharp and designed to cut through the wood quickly and efficiently. Large machines have a ramp with small rollers that use gravity to move the wood into the chipper and the chopping wheels are designed to pull the wood in as they cut it. There are variations on the designs of the wood chippers but the end result remains the same. The wood is deposited into the mouth of the wood chipper and the chopping blades rotate at such high velocity that they chew down the wood products as they are being pushed into the machine. There are usually fan blades on the other side of the chopping blades that propel the resulting wood chips up an exit chute and into a depository container. The wood chips can then be crated and shipped to their destination.
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Hazards
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The wood chip process can be very hazardous. Injuries are frequent in the lumber industry, whether it be the lumberjacks cutting down the trees to the workers operating the wood chipping machines. Wood chippers can become stuck by a wayward branch or stone and the careless dislodging of the obstruction has lead to many fatalities. More safety features have been added to the machines in recent years that are designed to shut the machines off before a body part could become lodged in it. Lumber sites have stringent safety rules regarding the use of helmets and the appropriate safety gear. Nevertheless, lumberjack remains one of the most dangerous professions statistically.
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