Application of standards in unedged oak board classification

The paper discusses the procedures and criteria of determining the quality (classification) of the so called commercial boards of oak (unedged and half edged) according to standards, as well as their classification in sawmilling technology. The most significant factors affecting the quality of those boards are analysed in this paper. Practical research has been done in three sawmills in Croatia. The studied standards (HRN, DIN and EN) and their application in production strongly indicated that: there are differences in relation to terminology, such as nomenclature related to board quality, as well as, description defects according to standards, among standards and classification in practice. Considering the standard sizes, ways of measuring and tolerances against the standards as well as ways of measuring and tolerances applied in the sawmilling production, certain differences have also been established. It was found that standards insufficiently cover the concept and the procedure of performing reductions (to the width and the length of the board) while at the same time it was found that standards were accurate. Generally speaking, a significant disparity of classification critena is noticeable in relation to standards, among different standards and their application in production. Not a single standard as fully acceptable in quality determination of unedged boards. The standards which would meet the required criteria should be a combination of all parts of studied norms and practical indicators from the sawnwoods production. In order to create the best possible coordination of standards with practical experience, systematic research should be done in production wvith a large number of users of sawmilling technology as well as wood dealers. The obtained results should be used when creating new or accepting other standards.