Lignoloc - Nails from wood
– The business model
Lignoloc wood nails is an improved and innovative solution in the market of wood connection systems.
The product is an example for the use of beechwood that is part of the natural biodiversity in mountainous central European tree population. Within the last 100 years, the population of beeches have been replaced by fast growing spruces and pines, leading to climate and biodiversity instabilities in the forest sites (e.g windthrow, bark beetles, etc.). This led to an annually growing amount of damaged wood and low prices due to decreasing quality.
The restoration of Beech trees in its natural environment is contributing to higher demand for hardwood which has a higher quality and can be sold at better prices. The model is also promoting a sustainable forest practice that requires lower maintenance expenditures due to the appropriate ecosystem where the trees are grown.
The transformation of forestry monocultures into sustainable mixed forest is also subsidized (between 1.700 - 3.500 €/ha) depending on the degree of transformation.
The value chain starts with foresters providing high quality beech wood for nail production to the wood processing industry, which produces the nails and standardized nail-stacks. The business model required the involvement of the pneumatic nail guns manufacturer which had to adapt the model of pneumatic nail guns.
The quality of the nails is equal to metallic nails and thus are of high value in the wood-construction sector.
The Lignoloc wood-nail technology is a new available technology on the market and allows dynamic designs in interior construction, wood building and furniture production.
– The product
The BECK Fastener Group is a family business founded in 1904. For over 80 years, BECK has been one of the world’s leading manufacturers of innovative fastening solutions in the field of magazine staples and nails.
The company has enlarged its portfolio with production of wood nails, an innovative solution in the market of wood connection systems. The product was developed by the in-house research department in cooperation with the University of Hamburg as a result of continuous innovation and research efforts in order to stay on top of the market.
The wood nails are made of beechwood and shaped to fit the stack system of pneumatic nail guns. The special design of the nail tip and the large amount of heat generated by friction when the nail is driven in, cause the lignin of the wooden nail to weld with the surrounding wood to form a substance-to-substance bond.
The “Lignoloc” is the first type of a biobased wood connection system, based on the principle of lignin-welding and thus a new form of technique for wood connection.
The product carries a number of innovative solutions to end users, such as:
Quick and simple processing with pneumatic nail guns
Hardly any water absorption, so no expansion
High holding power thanks to lignin welding
Resistance to fungal infestation
No streaking or bleeding on the wood
More environmentally friendly than metal fasteners
Installed significantly faster than wood dowels
No pre-drilling
No wood glue necessary
Made of indigenous beech wood
Better fire protection in wood structure than steel or metal fasteners
No thermal bridges, so better insulation values
Tensile strength similar to aluminum nails (~ 250 N/mm²)
Less tool wear when cutting nailed wooden components subsequently
