20. Wooden Pieces | v.20221215

2.4.3 Wooden pieces

Not applicable

2.4.3.1 • The Material Issue

Two issues will inevitably occur as the wood is naturally formed:

1 • There is a color difference in the wood texture.

2 • The wood surface is not completely flat because of the grain, scarring and pores. (Note: due to trees needing to breathe)

The color and texture will remain consistent when using the same material during a small quantity demand of pre-production samples. However, color and texture differences will exist in each package of the products when those pieces are from a different batch of raw materials during mass production (shown on the left). If the requested color is natural wood or the painted colors on top of the wood are light colors (yellow, light blue, pink, etc.), the color difference can be influenced by the wood color. This defect is inevitable during mass production. If you have a strict request with the color difference our recommendation is:

1 • Try to select a darker color, such as black, navy or red, which can cover the color of the wood.

2 • Change to other materials, such as plastic.

Not the same.

2.4.3.1 • Example of the material issue

2.4.3.2 • The Size Issue

There will be +/- 0.5mm size difference.

The differences are mainly due to:

1 • Some cutting processes are manually positioned, which causes tolerance;

2 • Dehumidifcation will be applied in the production (to avoid mildew). The size of the wood pieces will change after drying, which can lead to the expansion or offset of this difference.

2.4.3.4 • Painting Color Issue

The color difference is acceptable within the tolerance range.

Note: Due to the color differences among the raw wood materials, and that the roll-painted method is used on 95% of the wood pieces (generally 30 to 50 thousand pieces can be loaded into the roll machine in our factory), the color of the pre-production sample will be different from the mass products. The paint thickness of the sample is less than that of the mass products due to the small quantity of the samples. Normally the color difference is ?E<5 .

The color tolerance is unacceptable under this range.

2.4.3.4 • Printing Color Issue

Due to the unevenness on the surface of the raw wood material, a silk screen or heat transfer print cannot fully cover the base color, and to some extent the color difference can not be avoided.

2.4.3.4 • Example of the printing color issue

2.4.3.5 • Color Difference of Laser Cut (Actually Color difference of Wood material)

A color difference also occurs if the pattern is laser cut. The reason is the raw wood material itself. The color and texture will remain consistent when using the same material for a small quantity demand of pre-production samples. However, a color and texture difference will exist in each package of the products when those pieces are made from a different batch of raw materials during mass production.

2.4.3.6 • UV Printing

UV print is speedy and can be done with no tooling cost, which will fnish the sample quicker. However, the print quality is not nice enough in terms of its fneness and color brightness (see picture on the left).
Heat Transfer Print in mass production
UV Print in mass production

2.4.3.6 • Example of the UV printing color issue ( Left: Heat Transfer printing • Right: UV Print )

2.4.3.7 • Heat Transfer Printing

Pre-production sample with heat transfer printing

The sample is the same quality as that of mass production. However, an extra tooling cost will occur if the design is changed later or there are varied designs.

2.4.3.8 • Deviation of the Printed Pattern

Maximum 1.8mm deviation in the printed pattern

Main reasons as below:

1 • Some cutting processes are manually positioned which causes the tolerance;

2 • Dehumidification will be applied in the production (to avoid mildew). The size of the wood pieces will change after drying, which can lead to the expansion or offset of this difference.

3 • All print on the wood pieces is positioned manually, thus, deviation of the pattern may occur.

In summary, these issues can be more easily identified in the mass production samples as these are produced in large quantities, whereas the quantity is small for pre-production samples.