HOMAG Beamteq B-560

Beam processing refers to CNC machining of structural timber elements — solid wood or glulam beams, posts, rafters, and plates used in building construction. The key differences from furniture routing are: workpiece scale (beams up to 560 mm x 560 mm cross-section and 13 meters long vs. panels of 18–38 mm thickness); cutting forces (large cross-section lumber requires substantially more force than thin panel routing); joint types (structural joinery — birdsmouth, lap, scarf, timber frame mortise and tenon — rather than furniture hardware holes and profiles); and production context (building construction with structural engineering drawings rather than furniture design CAD). Beam processing machines are built much heavier and with larger cutting capacity than furniture CNC routers, and the software ecosystem is connected to structural engineering CAD rather than furniture design tools.

The B-560 handles the full range of structural timber joints used in platform frame, timber frame, and heavy timber construction: birdsmouth notches (rafter seat cuts for roof framing); ridge board end cuts (compound angle cuts for rafter pairs at the roof peak); hip and valley cuts (compound geometry cuts for hip roofs); lap joints and half-lap joints; scarf joints for beam extension; housing cuts (slots for beam-in-beam connections); bolt holes and lag screw pilot holes (through-holes for structural fasteners); connector plate slots (for manufactured steel plate connectors); and mortise cuts for post-and-beam tenon joinery. The five-axis machining capability handles compound geometry cuts that require simultaneous multi-axis motion. All joint geometry comes from the structural engineering model, not manual measurement.

btL (HOMAG Timber Language) is the CNC programming language and file exchange format HOMAG developed for structural timber machine programming. It is an industry-standard file format supported by the major structural timber engineering CAD systems — Dietrich's, CADWORK, Archiframe, and others. When a structural engineer designs a timber frame building in Dietrich's, the software exports a btL file containing every beam in the structure with its exact dimensions, all joint geometries, bolt hole positions, and machine operation requirements. The Beamteq B-560 reads this btL file and automatically generates machining programs for every beam in the package. This direct CAD-to-machine workflow eliminates manual CNC programming entirely for standard structural timber production.

Glulam (glued laminated timber) is an engineered wood product made by laminating individual lumber boards with structural adhesive to produce large cross-section beams with superior strength, dimensional stability, and length capability compared to sawn timber. Glulam beams are common in large-span commercial and industrial construction where solid sawn timbers of equivalent size are not available or practical. The Beamteq B-560 processes glulam using the same operations as solid timber — the machine does not differentiate between the materials in its programming. However, glulam's adhesive layers can cause slightly more tool wear than clear solid wood, and glulam's dimensional precision (glulam is manufactured to tight tolerances) simplifies setup compared to variable-dimension sawn timber. HOMAG's tool management system tracks tool life separately for different material types.

In a prefabricated timber frame factory, the Beamteq typically sits at the center of the production workflow: raw timber or glulam blanks arrive from a lumber yard or lamination press; they are cross-cut to rough length on a preliminary saw; then fed through the Beamteq for all precision cuts, joints, and holes; finished beams exit to labeling and sorting; and labeled beams are bundled into house frame packages for delivery. HOMAG offers automated infeed and outfeed conveyor systems, beam labeling stations, and sorting automation that integrate with the Beamteq and connect to the factory's ERP or production management system. A complete automated Beamteq line can process hundreds of structural elements per shift from a single building engineering file.