Heat concentration from wood cutting process promotes the tool premature wear, with consequent effect on the surface processed material, causing burnt areas as well as provoking larger superficial roughness than observed in machining process with absence of accumulated heat. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of cutting tool refrigeration during wood machining. The adopted mechanism was the use of pressurized carbon dioxide in fog form applied directly in the cutting area as a refrigeration method. The test was performed using Eucalyptus grandis and as cutting tool, a circular saw. To evaluate the wood final surface the following parameters were adopted; superficial roughness and occurrence of surface carbonization. The results showed that carbon dioxide applied in fog form, even at the smallest level (15g min-1), avoided the superficial carbonization of the processed material, as well as reduced the values of superficial roughness.
cutting wood; wood roughness; wood machining
