IMPREGNATION TECHNOLOGY

Impregnation is the process used to protect wood from atmospheric agents, from the formation of mould and from temperature fluctuations, creating a protective and decorative barrier that gives wood natural breathability, increasing its lifespan and beauty.
Wood, is considered a "living" material which does not remain unchanged over time but undergoes physical and chemical transformations which tend to alter its characteristics. These variations are essentially due to moisture and the action of fungi and bacteria.
The market offers various types of stains: water-based, solvent-based, wax-based and oil-based with various densities that can be comparable with water and even gelatine.
The most common stains produced are resin-, acrylic- and polyurethane-based that penetrate into the wood, protecting it, also against ultraviolet rays, ensuring wooden pieces of furniture, such as structures, roofs, windows, doors, benches, tables, etc. a long life span.
The aspect of decoration that the stain gives the treated element is very important. There are endless colours, types of shine and cover that allow the underlying wood grain to breathe.
L’imprégnation représente un traitement nécessaire en ce qui concerne les structures en bois exposées aux agents atmosphériques. À ce propos des grands progrès ont été fait, et le marché offre des produits qui assurent au bois traité une résistance contre les intempéries et les rayons du soleil pendant une période d'au moins 5-6 ans.
Impregnation is a necessary treatment with regard to wooden structures exposed to atmospheric agents. Great progress has been made in this area and the market offers products that ensure treated wood weathering and sunlight resistance for a period of at least 5-6 years.
Wooden protections in the form of a sort of film are now going out of fashion (such as paints or enamels) and which close the pore of wood, not allowing it to breathe. Within a few months these treatments tend to wear off (the phenomenon of flaking) in patches, leaving the wood completely unprotected in these patchy areas, not to mention the unpleasant aesthetic effect.
The performance of the primer, although being of course variable depending on the type of wood and product density, is considerable and can reach 15-17 m²/L.
The SARMAX automatic impregnating machines of the APACHE line are able to optimally apply any type of stain described above, although the use of liquid products that are easier to apply is becoming increasingly common These types of machine have a primer pumping and spraying action that works with a compressed air line of up at 6bar and as such the use of very dense gelatinous primers is not permitted.

Choosing a SARMAX impregnating machine from the APACHE line, is an excellent investment made by the customer, providing satisfaction and high yield over time, ensuring:

 

The SARMAX machines were designed and manufactured on the basis of clear and simple concepts of functionality, maintenance and reliability, making them unique in their kind in terms of conceptual innovations, the main ones being:

 

In order to ensure perfectly uniform impregnation and simplicity of use our machines are configured in the following manner:

Despite the fact that application of the stain can be performed before with the structure dismantled or after with the structure assembled, with modern production and industrialisation processes for the production of wooden structures the system for impregnation with dismantled structure is consolidated.

AVANTAGES

A COMPARISON OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF IMPREGNATION

Going back a few years, even in an industrial context, the most popular impregnation liquid application systems were with a brush or using dip tanks. These systems have significant drawbacks such as:

A COMPARISON OF IMPREGNATION METHODS

WITH BRUSH

IN TANK

VACUUM

*For outdoor structures such as wooden elements for parks where the degree of protection required is very high this operation is indispensable.

 

* The consolidated trend is to re-introduce the pieces into the automatic impregnating machine after a phase in the autoclaves because the market prefers a superior finish. This has resulted in the need for an automated impregnation system that avoids these problems.

AUTOMATIC IMPREGNATING MACHINES The initial diffusion of these machines has been slow because the impregnation quality was not optimal, maintenance requirements were frequent and long-lasting and the price was high, making them more convenient in cases of companies with large volumes of timber to be processed.
A decisive step in the evolution of this type of machine was taken a few years ago where a new generation of impregnating machines made life easier for users, where reference could finally be made to a generation of reliable machines with low maintenance, ease of use, extremely high yields and high productivity, giving the possibility of impregnating many m2/hour, almost perfect impregnation quality and contained purchase prices.

NEW GENERATION TUNNEL IMPREGNATING MACHINES:

This evolution has increased the competitive advantage over other systems, increasing their popularity, making this type of machine attractive for small production businesses that employ a limited workforce. In summary, just a few hours of use per week is sufficient to amortise a medium-sized machine in a few months. The operation of these machines is very simple, the application of the liquid takes place in a passing movement where the item to be impregnated enters and exits perfectly impregnated. On the front there is an impregnation chamber where the workpiece is completely sprayed with liquid while in the second part a brushing chamber performs flawless liquid coating.

 

A series of accessories increase the yield and ease of use, the most important being:

ECONOMIC ESTIMATE

The purchase of a piece of equipment is the result of a calculation that determines the depreciation time depending on the volume of work to be impregnated. Clearly each company has its own parameters, however in order to provide a series of useful parameters we can summarise the following considerations:

 

BRUSH IMPREGNATION

Example of cost

Example: to impregnate 250 m2

4 hours for 2 people or 8 hours for one person
(15€/h x 2 workers) x 4h = 120 €
Impregnation 250m2 x 2 sides = 500m2 / 10 = 50l
Impregnating cost € 4 x l X 50l = € 200

 

Therefore

€ 200 + 120 € = 320 € + 30 € of accessory costs = € 350
€ 350 / 250m2 = € 1.4 x m2

Sale price € 1.50 - 1.40 Cost = € 0.10 of Revenue WITHOUT INCLUDING NECESSARY CONTINGENCIES

 

ALTERNATIVES:

Result

Certain complaints from customers
Non-uniformity of finish
Return and replacement of the contested parts

 

WITH AN AUTOMATIC IMPREGNATING MACHINE

Now let's look at the same economic estimate calculated however on an automatic machine.
But first two premises:

  1. The difference in finish and homogeneity is abysmal
  2. The quality and professionalism of the employee working on the machines is an important factor that could vary upwards or downwards the estimates that we will examine shortly. However its incidence will be imperceptible if compared to that of manual application where staff play a key role.

Example of cost

The yield is 250x 1,80 = € 450
from which we now remove the out-of-pocket expenses that are:

Necessary 45 minutes approximate 1 hour
(€ 15/h x 2 workers) x 2 h = € 30
Primer
(250m2 x 2 sides) : 18 m2/litre = 27.7 litres required
27.7 x 4 €/litre = € 111 approx.

 

THEREFORE

450-(30+111) = € 309 of revenue per hour of work

From the 309 we remove another € 50 one-off payments for costs and various unforeseen expenses

= € 259/hour of earnings per hour of work of the machine

Considering 1.5 work days per week = 48 hours per month
multiplied by € 259 /hour equals €12,432 per month of earnings

Considering setting aside

50% of the earnings of the machine for depreciation,
the remaining 50% for earnings,

n a time ranging from 200 to 300 hours of work pays off the cost of an average-sized machine.