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One of the characteristics of
a luxury vehicle is that if the
interior trim features wood,
then it must be wood, not some
photorealistic polymer flm.
So as a luxury vehicle, the RX
features wood—the real thing.
Lexus sources the wood from
Yamaha Fine Tech, a division of
the company that also produces
grand pianos for concert halls,
so it knows more than a little
something about wood's place
in luxury products.
One of the trims for the LX
features laser-etched gray
sapele wood.
Kai Fahrbach, business develop-
ment manager, Toyota Tsusho
Canada, explains how the wood
parts are produced for Lexus.
They start with a fat sheet of
wood, 0.2-mm thick. This is
adhesively bonded to an alumi-
num sheet that's 0.3 mm thick.
Then there is another 0.2-mm
wood backing sheet. This sand-
wich is cut to the shape of
whatever component is being
produced. Then heat and pressure
are used for provide the form
WOOD, ALUMINUM & LASERS
for the part. Then an injection
molding process is performed on
the rear of the part, providing the
necessary backing for assembly
in the car. Finally, a 0.5-mm
acrylic coating is applied to the
surface of the part.
p The surface of the wood trim is
laser cut so that the aluminum layer
below the surface is exposed.
That's for the wood in general.
In the case of the sapele wood,
the material is bleached and then
stained gray. The aforementioned
layering and bonding occurs,
but the laser etching, which
burns away the veneer and the
adhesive layer, going to the
aluminum surface, is performed
prior to the CNC cutting and
forming of the part.