UK sawmill machinery manufacturer Stenner Ltd is partnering with a Belgian project to rebuild Belgium’s most historic ship.
The Tiverton-based company has become the official woodworking machinery partner for the five-year project to recreate the Belgica ship, which in 1897 hosted the first Antarctic expedition of a purely scientific nature.
Stenner, through its Belgian agent Noblesse Benelux, supplied a Stenner ST100R resaw to social enterprise De Steenschuit, a shipyard which specialises in traditional naval techniques.
Initially, the resaw will be concentrating on the manufacture of the 104 timber ribs for the new vessel.
Prime minister of Flanders Kris Peeters got to grips with the machine when the shipyard was recently officially opened.
De Steenschuit previously operated an Italian band resaw but was impressed by the Stenner resaw at the biennial Hout exhibition in Rotterdam.
The ST100R will be used for various resawing work but its main job will be to cut lamella out of beams used to make the ship’s glued ribs.
The machine incorporates a heavy-duty multi-roller fence with digital readout, replaceable pressure saw guides, pneumatic saw straining, a re-sited HMI control unit for easier visibility, variable feed rates of 5-60m/min and 915mm diameter cast iron pulley wheels. The latest model has a pneumatically operated radial arm feed activated by photocell.
The original three-masted Belgica ship was trapped in Antarctica’s ice for 12 months before being finally released on March 14, 1899.
