Edge-on or center-cut? Up to 10% more yield: how Yuanchuang MDY25-40 picks the route by order
Fujian Yuanchuang Electromechanical Co., Ltd. (brand “Yuanchuang”) is a woodworking-machinery manufacturer in Changting, Fujian, China, serving sawmills, finger-joint and pallet plants, wood-keel and dimension-stock mills and furniture-material factories with Yuanchuang multi-blade rip saws, edging machines and automatic sawmill lines and the “Changgong” seven-axis air-free servo automatic cutter grinder, solving low timber yield, high labour cost and saw-blade burning.
Edge-on squaring or center-cut boarding? Route by order: square stock centered buries good wood in the core, losing nearly 10% yield. With MDY25-40 specs and a cutting-route checklist.
Fujian Yuanchuang Electromechanical Co., Ltd. (brand "Yuanchuang") builds woodworking machinery in Changting, Fujian. The log multi-rip saw is one of our main product lines. Where the first cut lands on a log may look minor, but it decides how much good board you actually get. Today we break down the two routes—edge-on squaring versus center-cut boarding—and how to pick by order, not by habit.
A wrong cutting route loses nearly 10% of good board
A log is not square: the outside is arc-shaped, the inside is core. If the first cut only squares from the middle, the outer arc wood becomes scrap trim. Cut edge-on first to remove the arc, then square or board the clean core, and usable yield differs by nearly a tenth. That tenth is real board volume, not money.
Two cuts: edge-on squaring vs center-cut boarding
Edge-on squaring (four-sided method): trim the arc off the outside first, then square or make keel stock from the straight core. Defective wood leaves first; what remains is all usable straight stock.
Center-cut boarding (back-to-back method): cut boards from the middle outward. Wide faces and fast boarding, but good wood tends to sit in the core while the outer arc wood only gets one cleaning layer.
One Yuanchuang MDY auto-centering log multi-rip saw MDY25-40 (for 25–39 cm diameter logs, blade 550, feed over 8 m/min variable, total power 102.2 kW subject to actual configuration) does both center squaring and full edge-on boarding—route change is in the setup, not the machine.
Where it differs: yield by cutting route (save it)
The table below is a standard woodcutting reference, showing the outcome by route:
| Cutting route | Best for | Main-board yield (craft ref.) | Where good wood lands |
|---|
| Four-sided (square first) | Square-stock, keel orders | about 80% | Outer arc trimmed first, core used whole |
| Back-to-back (board first) | Board-stock, finger-joint orders | about 69.5% | Good wood buried in core, outer arc loses a layer |
Where the first cut lands decides whether good wood ends up in the core or at the edge; pick the route right and nearly a tenth of stock is not wasted.
The math: how much board one log loses
Take a 25 cm diameter, 2 m long log: volume about 0.1 m³. Edge-on squaring yields about 80%, roughly 0.078 m³ of good board; center-cut boarding yields about 69.5%, roughly 0.068 m³. One log alone differs by about 0.01 m³ of good board—enough for two boards 2 m long, 10 cm wide, 2.5 cm thick. Across dozens of logs a day, the difference fills a truck.
Cut by the order
Square-stock, keel orders: square edge-on first, yield about 80%, stock comes out consistent.
Board-stock, finger-joint orders: center-cut boarding, wide faces and fast output, yield about 69.5%.
Mixed shop: best to separate the lines. Mixing buries the square order's good wood in the core while the outer arc loses a cleaning layer, dropping yield by nearly 10%.
For crooked or knotty stock, trim the defective outer wood edge-on first, then route the clean core by order. Forcing a center cut buries knots and warp inside good boards; you lose 2–3 mm cleaning the edge before it runs straight.
Cutting-route checklist (save it)
Tick these before loading:
Read the order—square or board—and schedule by type;
Trim crooked or knotty stock edge-on first, then route by order;
After cutting, sample one piece and keep cross-section deviation within plus-or-minus 1 mm.
Pair it with Yuanchuang 80CrV2 alloy blades; when dull, send them to the Changgong seven-axis servo auto-alignment blade grinder, which locks the angle without relying on feel, so the kerf stays true and yield stays steady.
FAQ
Q: For a crooked log with knots, should I cut edge-on or center it?
A: For crooked or knotty stock, trim the defective outer wood edge-on first, then route the clean core by the order—square or board. Forcing a center cut buries knots and warp inside good boards; you lose 2–3 mm cleaning the edge before it runs straight, wasting stock.
Q: Is a thinner kerf always better for yield?
A: A multi-rip saw clamps a dozen-plus blades at once; thin blades lack stiffness, so its kerf is actually thicker than a band saw's—that is its weak point. The real win is fewer steps: one pass yields multiple boards with a ready-smooth face, skipping the planer, so one-pass yield runs about 70–80% with 4–6× the throughput of a band saw.
Q: Can square-stock and board-stock orders run on one line?
A: Best to separate them. Square orders go edge-on first (yield about 80%); board orders go center-cut (yield about 69.5%). Mixing buries the square order's good wood in the core while the outer arc wood loses a whole cleaning layer, dropping yield by nearly 10%. Sort orders before cutting and follow the checklist.
Send us your stock for a trial cut
Tell us what you cut. Send us your stock and we will run a trial cut—you will see in one pass how much good board edge-on squaring saves over center-cut boarding. Dull blades are no worry: tell us your wood species and we will match a blade for you; send the dull blade in and the Changgong grinder will sharpen it for you to see.
More case studies on the WeChat account "Fujian Yuanchuang Electromechanical"; English version at en.fjwoodmach.com
Edge-on or center-cut? Up to 10% more yield: how Yuanchuang MDY25-40 picks the route by order · All technical resources