The Berkeley Gazette from Berkeley, California • 3

i INDEPENDENT-GAZETTE Thursday Nov 27 197S-IG-3 Improved saw design has lumber industry buzzing blade more stable you had to make it thicker But this produced more waste in itself In Norway Mote said they were able to reduce the kerf or cutting edge of the blade by one-third Then using their knowledge of the blades operating characteristics they were able to predict when it would develop instability and apply controls to stop the vibrations before they got started One way of doing this was to change the temperature distribution of the blade The savings to be gained from thinner blades and less vibrations are enormous Mote said For a large company cutting a million board feet a day reducing the kerf -even one thousandth of an inch means savings of thousands of dollars a day he said For silicone crystals used in the computer industry percentage savings are even greater because the blade used is one-third the thickness of the crystal itself which is only 0020 inches thick Mote a specialist in dynamic systems has other research irons in the fire Hes studying the vibrations produced in skiing work that is leading to safer skis and bindings Thats another project with industry backing And his research on saws is not over Theres a dangerous noise factor as anyone who has been near a sawmill knows Mote said Were trying to find out if we can reduce the noise by changing the design of the blade of the number and shape of the teeth Norway in 1972 aided by a grant from the Norwegian government The Institute of Wood Technology there arranged for experiments in sawmills using blades made to Motes specifications The experiments resulted in a paper Confirmation of the Critical Speed Stability Theory for Symmetrical Circular Saws written by Mote and Sindre Holoyen of Norway The two will be honored for this with the Blackall Award of the ASME to be presented at the Societys annual meeting Tuesday in Houston The important point about the theory said Mote is that it relates all the process variables to the product accuracy Most sawing operations are far from operating at maximum accuracy There are too many variables for trial-and-error techniques to be very useful With the theory we can for the first time make our experiments on paper and predict the increase or decrease in cutting accuracy To test his theory he said it was necessary first to find out the exact temperatures of the blade during on-line operations We found the temperature distribution to be much different than generally thought Mote said For instance the blade is not hottest at the cutting edge but behind it Previously he said theory held that to make the land With all the cutting and shaping that wood goes through only about 20 percent gets into the primary finished product Mote added The combination of thinner cutting edges and more stable operation allowed by his findings can save ten percent or more of the goods being cut a significant factor in light of the increasing cost and scarcity of many materials Mote pointed out His studies of saws date back to work done as a graduate student at UCs Forest Products Laboratory in the early 1960s He still has a summer appointment at the laboratory and now keeps four or five graduate students of his own busy every year on saw research Companies supporting his research include Weyerhaeuser Sun Studs (of Oregon) MacMillan Bloedel (a Canadian lumber company) Potlatch Simpson Timber Hudson Lumber of San Leandro California Saw Knife and Grinding Works of San Francisco and California Cedar Products of Stockton At California Cedar Products Mote was allowed to run experiments during on-line operations He designed electromagnetic controls that prevented saw blades from developing the erratic and destructive wobble that often' overcomes them causing waste of product and damage to the blade But for full-scale testing of his ideas Mote went to Changes in the design of circular saws and the way they are operated can save industry millions of dollars a year and significantly reduce waste of valuable materials a University of California engineer has shown Mote Jr professor of mechanical engineering at UC-Berkeley has capped 12 years of research on circular saws by proving the blades can be made much thinner and with control techniques more stable than previously thought possible His work furthermore has been carried on as an unusual University-industry cooperative effort with most of the financial support coming from an increasing number of private companies said Mote He will receive an award next week from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his circular saw research Circular saws are used to cut many materials from fine crystals to beef They are used repeatedly on wood as it progresses from forest to lumber yard or pencil box Cutting accuracy wasnt as important a few years ago said Mote but with the cost of raw materials now increasing faster than the cost of labor it has become an extremely important cost factor By way of illustration he cited wood In 1950 he said standing timber in the northwest cost a tenth of a cent per board foot and they threw the land in free A comparable price today is 29 cents per board foot and without the Engineering professor honored Coming events numerous papers in the sci- Freeze-Diying of Foods entific literature and is the He and his wife and their author of two books Sep- three children live in Ken-aration Processes and sington lw66 0lQP OOWHTOVHMOHMAjCMVOiao Judson King professor of chemical engineering and chairman of the department on the UC-Berkeley campus has received the annual Food Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers The award recognizes Kings research and educational accomplishments in the field of dehydration and concentration of foods King is the author of Crockett according to the National Automobile Club boasts the largest sugar refinery in the world To CAKIlMO PA810 FOLIQU NI tel 376 IOMH Jr and Helen Barber about association plans The private school is located at 6264 Claremont Ave in Oakland SCHOOL LEADERS Heading the College Preparatory Schools Parents Assn is Meredith Stout left who confers with Headmaster Robert Baldwin FRIDAY NOV 28 Fitness Classes for Men Classes meet at 8:30 12:15 and 5:45 pm Berkeley YMCA Day-Play Center The center for pre-schoolers will be open from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Berkeley YWCA 2134 Allston Way University Avenue Senior Center Square dancing from 9 am to noon Friendship Day at 11 am and lunch at noon 1744 University Ave West Berkeley Senior Center Arts and crafts exercises and games from 9 am to 5 pm 1125 Allston Way South Berkeley Senior Center Open at 9 am with bingo from 1:30 to 3:30 pm 1640 Stuart St Gymnastics for Women A gymnastics class will meet from 10 to 11 am Berkeley YMCA Live Oak Bridge Club Meeting at 12 30 pm Live Oak Center 1301 Shattuck Ave High Blood Pressure Screening The Community High Blood Pressure Clinic and the Alameda County Cancer Society will offer free high blood pressure screenings and cancer education from 2 to 5 pm New Ligh Senior Center 2091 California St Berkeley Chess Club Chess activities for a variety of playing strengths will be held from 7 to 11 Palm Room Berkeley YMCA Gay Mens Rap Rap groups meet at 7 pm and a community meeting at 9:30 pm First Baptist Church Haste and Dana Sts East Side Duplicate Bridge Club Meeting at 7:30 pm San Pablo Park Berkeley Folk Dancers All request dance night at 8 pm John Hinkel Clubhouse San Diego Road Scottish Country Dancing Intermediate class meets at 8 pm All Souls Episcopal Church Cedar and Spruce Sts AC Transit wishes you happy holidays Master Plan revisions City center discussed EDITOR NOTE The Berkeley Gazette each week is running questions and answers on the orooosed new Master Plan for the city Future articles will be based uoon questions about the oian raised by readers Questions should be sent to Master Plan Berkeley Gazette 2043 Allston Way Berkeley 94704 at residences A larger concern surrounding the city hall complex is tne growing space needs of city departments Although several facilities (such as fire stations recreational and libraries etc) have been decentralized in order to provide better services recent disperal of city departments into various parts of the downtown area has been dictated primarily by the inadequate size of the main city hall building What plans does the Graduate Theological Union have for the future which would affect land use in the area north of the UC campus? A Plans are underway for two more religious schools to move into this area in the next five years Residents are concerned about GTUs acquisition of homes and apartment rooming houses along the south side of Virginia Street creating a more difficult housing situation for UC students What are the land use issues regarding the city complex? A Increased traffic and an acute need for parking space that is created by city hall employees and visitors conflict with neighborhood desire for quiet streets and parking in front of their own Downtown Richmond El Portal Center Sun Valley for Hayward It will stop in these Berkeley area cities: Berkeley San Pablo and University avenues 10:48 to 10:53 am Albany San Pablo and Solano avenues 10:35 to 10:38 am El Cerrito El Cerrito Plaza BART Station 10:27 to 10:30 am This years bus is done in white green and red featuring cutout models of Christmas trees on the side The Happy Holidays Coach AC Transits special Christmas season bus will be rolling into service Friday with gifts and entertainment for East Bay residents and visitors The special bus operating for its 13th annual outing will have Santa Claus aboard to hear childrens requests and Santa's helpers to distribute candy canes The bus will leave Richmond at 10 am bound SAVE GRADD OPENING 0009 FAMOUS MAKE SPORTSWEAR Coordinates Mix and Match 0 0 0 DRESSES Longs Casuals Dressy Types Juniors Missy Sizes Jacket 1 -pc Styles 0 PANT SUITS Two and Three Piece in a wide selection of colors and styles Sizes 8 to 18 Friday Saturday Nov 28th 29th THE TURQUOISE TREE 1 726 Solano Ave Berk TO Authentic Indian jewelry-liquid Silver 525-0336 Enchanting foments of a Bifelime NOW 2 DAYS ONLY COATS Many reduced including Leathers Fur Trimmed Styles Downtown Richmond 1 Portal Center Sun Valley Concord are waiting at Hiflblante Inn Ocean Iront lintel Retreat to happiness in this wonderland setting of unparalleled natural beauty of spectacular vistas crashing surf and California's most dramatic coastline Marlene's Budget Account Carmel (408) 624-3801 Toll Free Direct Line from San Francisco 893 8424 4 MI5 SOUTH OF CARMEL ON SCENIC HIGHWAY NUMBER 1 I -i.