“Surprisingly versatile”: special display on wood processing machines and technologies that can also process non-wood materials such as plastics and composites.

Deutsche Messe and the German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (VDMA Holzbearbeitungsmaschinen) are jointly stanging a new special display in Hall 6 that is themed “Surprisingly versatile.” The exhibits at the display will include non-wood products that have been made using standard wood processing machines. The message behind the display is that the machines and tool systems on show at LIGNA can process much more than just wood; they can be used to machine plastics, composite panels and materials, insulation and construction materials as well.

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One of the partners at the special display is the Wood and Composites Machining Department of the University of Stuttgart Institute for Machine Tools. Among its many long-standing research projects, the Department investigates ways of using wood processing machines and tools to machine non-wood materials such as fiber composites. Other core research areas include safety and protective machine enclosures and the reduction of dust and noise emissions.

Several LIGNA exhibitors will be using the special display to present products that have been machined from plastics, composites and other materials using machines that are also used for processing wood. Among them will be MAKA Systems GmbH (Germany), a company that makes custom CNC machines for mold and model making and for processing wood, aluminum and plastics. Its exhibits will include a suction pipe for the air intake system of a Bugatti car engine. Reichenbacher Hamuel GmbH (Germany), on the other hand, will be setting a more artistic tone with a machined replica of a sacral sculpture in plastic that is almost indistinguishable from the original, a 12^th century sandstone sculpture from Germany’s Bamberg Cathedral. Biesse S.P.A. (Italy) will be displaying an accordion and a soundboard, while Cefla Finishing Group (Italy) will be wowing visitors with a wash basin made of glass. Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany) will present a laminated spring that is currently in use in various cars, including the Volvo XC 90. Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH (Germany), meanwhile, will be showing a creation of great beauty: a Lamborghini engine hood made of RTM composites. The woodworking machinery specialist HOMAG Group AG (Germany) will also be there with an array of surprisingly versatile machines.

Machine versatility is very important, with companies from all kinds of industries using a growing range of new lightweight materials as they seek to improve their resource efficiency. The special processing and handling requirements of many new materials are driving new developments in machinery and tool design. Examples of these new developments include tools that can cut cleanly through fibers in fiber-reinforced composites and vacuum extraction systems that can eliminate hazardous dust emissions that have the potential to cause respiratory diseases.