LUMINOSO: Wood with the power to shine
Litwork Produktions GmbH from Dornbirn has been producing LUMINOSO - light-transmissive composite wood panels with maximum design appeal - since the end of 2008. The innovative product sets new standards in the timber processing industry. Prestigious design awards emphasizes the potential of LUMINOSO as do numerous orders from all over the world. Machines from WINTERSTEIGER are used to achieve the creative solutions for interior spaces.
The LUMINOSO product - light-transmissive composite wood panels that create an atmospheric symbiosis of wood and light - has been produced in the former window production facility of Fussenegger Holzbau in Dornbirn since the end of 2008. Production of the innovative product is carried out by Litwork Produktions GmbH. The managing directors Florian Ottacher and Herbert Möglin are jointly responsible for the management of Fussenegger Holzbau.
Located in Vorarlberg, Fussenegger Holzbau has been highly regarded as a skilled business with a long-standing tradition for many years. Managed for a long time as a family enterprise, the company belonged to Strabag AG between 2004 and 2006. Finally, on 1 April 2007, the timber construction branch was outsourced and the company was simultaneously re-established by Florian Ottacher and Herbert Möglin. The tradition-steeped name of Fussenegger Holzbau was retained. The re-established company's core business is environmental single-family houses in modular design and it also implements large industrial buildings. Finally in 2008, with closure of the in-house window production, the way was paved for a completely new project: LUMINOSO - wood design in a new light.
LUMINOSO - Shining Images on Solid Wood
Concealed behind the LUMINOSO name is a specially developed composite wood panel that sets new standards: LUMINOSO is light-transmissive. It is possible to produce the most varied creative effects on the special LUMINOSO wood.
How is a shining image created on solid wood? The secret lies in LUMINOSO's special production method. The first step is to place an image or object behind the composite wood panel made of LUMINOSO. The desired image appears on the wood due to light reflected from behind. It is up to the customer's personal taste whether daylight or an artificial light source causes the wood to shine. The intensity of the lighting effects depends on the brightness of the light source. The patent pending, light-transmissive material has a completely sealed surface and despite shining images thus remains exactly what it is: wood.
A special illuminated fabric that guides the light makes this possible. A special process is used to incorporate these high-tech fibre-optics into the desired type of wood. The translucency may be individually influenced by placing the illuminated fabric at different distances and in different thicknesses between the thin layers of wood. Cold PU adhesive then fills the joints between the wood and the illuminated dots in a way that ensures the illuminated material is not damaged. "We only use high-quality timber of first-class quality. Our timber must be absolutely flawless as even the smallest blemish would distort the overall image," emphasizes production manager Michael Kleber.
Litwork Produktions GmbH offers seven standard types of wood including American walnut, mahogany, teak and wenge. The Litwork team also processes other types of wood on request but dark wood types in particular produce effects that are exceptionally intense and sharp. Just as the customer may individually specify the colour of the wood, so too there are many different possibilities on offer when it comes to wood finishes. So the chosen wood may be lacquered, stained or oiled.
Maximum Precision is Paramount
The blocks are purchased in sizes ranging between two and a half and four meters long and are processed at Litwork Produktions GmbH in Dornbirn. To do this, the wooden blocks are each cut into 7 lamellas exactly 5 mm thick using WINTERSTEIGER's DSG Sonic thin-cutting frame saw. The DSG Sonic's two-channel system also makes it possible to cut two blocks simultaneously - this means that 14 lamellas can be produced on each pass. The DSG Sonic guarantees maximum precision with a saw kerf of 1.1 millimeters.
"The essential characteristic of the product depends very much on how precisely the lamellas can be cut," explains Florian Ottacher, one of the two managing directors of Litwork Produktions GmbH, "The product's overall appearance no longer looks right if the lamellas are not precisely five millimeters wide thus producing the correct resolution." Every tenth of a millimeter that is not perfect would be visible in the end product and would distort it. Ottacher goes on to say, "The WINTERSTEIGER machines fully guarantee this exactness which ensures that the product functions correctly."
Machines with Added Value
Upon WINTERSTEIGER's suggestion, the investment for a costly custom-built machine could be avoided, Instead Litwork Produktions GmbH decided on a combination of WINTERSTEIGER's thin-cutting frame saw and thin-cutting band saw. "Originally we assumed that it would only be possible to meet our requirements with a custom-made machine. With this technology it is now possible to carry out all the necessary steps up to a cutting width of 660 mm and a kerf of 1.1 mm - there is no other band saw, particularly in the hardwood segment, that cuts as precisely." Unused capacities can be used to the full due to the band saw's flexibility, "now it is also possible, particularly during periods of less than full capacity usage, to pre-produce blocks for stock and cut them appropriately and just in time with the thin-cutting band saw when an order is placed," according to production manager Kleber, explaining the advantages of the DSB Singlehead. Companies in the surrounding area also benefit from the DSB's efficiency. Unused capacities are used by neighboring companies that do not own a thin-cutting band saw. The DSB Singlehead thin-cutting band saw can be equipped specifically to match the relevant type of wood. Huge demands are placed on the saw blade due to the large number of laminated lamellas. Maximum machine performance and precision are required to process the combination of wood with glued joints and foreign bodies in the form of fibre-optics. What's more, there should be absolutely no waste. "The precision of the thin-cutting band saw is absolutely imperative for us. Even if only one cut in one block - equal to two lamellas - is not executed correctly, that would be a massive, extremely costly loss for the company. This is why machines with the utmost precision are so very important to us," says Florian Ottacher emphasizing the importance of the machines.
Distinguished Design
International design experts have been impressed by LUMINOSO's extraordinary design features. In 2009 LUMINOSO was distinguished with the prestigious red dot design award in the "Product Design" category.
Unlimited Application Options
LUMINOSO's creative potential is impressive. Among other things, 120 m2 of the innovative composite wood panels have been produced for the Genoese company headquarters of the world's largest cruise fleet, the Italian shipping company Costa Crociere S.p.A. The world-famous Guggenheim Museum in New York has had one bar completely fitted out with LUMINOSO. Thus the customized product has virtually unlimited use. Be it creative interior design in floors, walls, ceilings, or furniture, for exclusive shipbuilding, in the luxury segment of the automotive industry or for informative yet decorative construction of exhibition stands.
The intention in future is also to conjure up films on the light-transmissive material. Other interesting applications also open themselves up to LUMINOSO due to the moving backgrounds. The opportunities for using the original product appear to be far from exhausted.
The desired image appears on the LUMINOSO wood due to light reflected from behind.
The wooden blocks are each cut into 14 lamellas exactly 5 mm thick using WINTERSTEIGER's DSG Sonic thin-cutting frame saw.
The LUMINOSO panels are cut to the desired size from the LUMINOSO wooden blocks using WINTERSTEIGER's DSB Singlehead 660 thin-cutting band saw.
From left to right: Herbert Möglin and Florian Ottacher (Litwork Produktions GmbH), Production Manager Michael Kleber and Wintersteiger Sales Manager Christian Klingsberger.
