BobVila.com home page

Tour of the Ainsworth Lumber Mill

Bob meets with Michael Ainsworth at the Ainsworth Oriented Strand Board Mill in Canada for a tour of one of the most modern OSB factories in the world. The mill consists of a 9 acre building where aspen logs are brought in to be made into OSB. Michael explains that the process starts with logs up to sixty feet long that are chopped down to a maximum of sixteen feet long. Then they are put into tanks or ponds where they are brought down to below freezing winter temperatures. From the tanks, the logs go into a debarker and then into a machine that cuts the logs into strands that are about as thick as two business cards. The strands next enter a rotating dryer and then are moved to a resin blender. In the blender they are tumbled in a mist of resin and wax, which are binding and weatherproofing agents. They are transported from the blender to the forming line where the OSB is laid. All four layers have strands that are oriented in one direction. The surface layer strands go one way and the two interior layers have strands laid perpendicular to the surface. This opposing orientation is what gives OSB its strength. The sheets are twelve feet wide and are cut into twenty-four foot lengths. Each mat enters one opening of the twelve opening press and is then pressed into a board. Afterwards it is cut into the desired length and prepared for shipping. More information