Yamaha Laser Beams Real Wood Veneers for Your Lexus RX
Yamaha has been making beautiful pianos for over 100 years. So Lexus thought they’d be good partners to help make cars. Though those two sentences may not seem initially sensible, anyone who’s driven around in the new Lexus RX can tell you that Yamaha’s help has been beautifully effective.
Yamaha has been working closely with Lexus for the last 25 years. And now, the musical instrument masters are using their secret laser-etching technology and applying it to the new RX.
To create the real wood veneers in the RX, Yamaha craftsman employ a technique known as Laser Cutting Ornamentation. As Kenta Takahashi of Yamaha Fine Technologies tells us in the astounding video below: “The laser cutting technique used on this RX is a new technique that combines the rich expression of wood and the sharp texture of metal, which are normally contrasting elements, into a pleasant style.”
But “pleasant” doesn’t exactly do it justice. Each veneer is a little piece of art, a unique and wondrous coupling of technology and craftsmanship, birthed for the sole purpose of elevating the driver’s soul (and maybe also to strengthen the ornamentation panel).
To create such uplifting expressions, Yamaha takes a sheet of aluminum, and places it between the wood. Then they press it to create a single wood sheet. Then a laser removes the top sheet of wood, to display the aluminum below. Generally speaking. You get a better sense of it in the video below though.
Also worth noting, if you’ve been paying attention to the auto world today, there’s even more Yamaha news. The company just debuted its second concept car with McClaren F1 designer Gordon Murray. Word is the interior is awfully nice.
