Old Meets the New at Faversham Joinery

A state-of-the-art Masterwood CNC machining centre housed in an historic 16th century building is speeding up work for a Kent joinery.

The experience of Faversham Joinery goes to show that even the most traditional of woodworkers can benefit from the introduction of 21st century technology to improve efficiency.

With Kent having more than its share of traditionally built buildings, there’s a lot of work available for local joinery firms who specialise in quality work for the sector.

A staircase component produced on the Masterwood Winner CNC machining centre at Faversham Joinery.

Faversham Joinery, specialist conservation joiners, are one of the busiest companies in the field. Their fine work, in the form of staircases, doors, windows, fitted bathrooms and modern work stations, can be found in a wide range of period buildings in the county and beyond, from barn conversions to stately homes.

“Although we do some work for modern properties, I much prefer to work on older buildings as we can really use our skills and do proper joinery,” said the firm’s hands-on managing director, Robin Dane, whose father set up the business in 1967.

It’s appropriate then that Faversham Joinery operate out of a restored, highly traditional timber–framed building. Following a two-year planning battle, they recently moved from their existing premises into the nine-acre Abbey Farmstead, previously part of the Faversham Abbey grounds.

Derelict for 12 years, the farmstead contains several medieval buildings. The firm’s joinery workshop is housed in the Major Barn, a 7,000 sq ft Grade 2 Listed former barn featuring exposed oak beams, thought to have been built around 1500.

Robin Dane has plans to restore a second building, the Minor Barn, a Grade 1 Listed building dating from around 1410, into a second workshop. Both barns were included in the World Heritage Fund’s list of the 100 most endangered historical buildings in the world and English Heritage’s Building at Risk Register.

Up to now the firm’s joiners relied on classical machinery, but it took a major technological leap forward by buying a Masterwood Winner 3.2 CNC machining centre.

It was bought primarily to help speed up the production of staircases, work previously carried out with hand routers and other classical equipment.

By using it to machine all the various components they can now produce a staircase in a tenth of the time it used to take. In addition to cutting the doors to size the Winner makes all the necessary openings for the locks and letterboxes, and the rebating for hinges.

“As well as enabling us to increase production its accuracy is excellent, every bit as good, if not better than doing the work by hand,” said Mr Dane. “I can now go out and sell the fact that we can make staircases, something I didn’t bother to do before
because it was such a slow and laborious process.”

The Winner 3.2m is an entry-level machine designed for small and medium sized panel and joinery operations. The three-axis cantilever type machine has an X-axis of 3200 mm, a Y-axis of 1285 mm (for routing), and a Z-axis of 110 mm. It has a
‘tubeless’ machine bed, which unlike conventional beds has no pipes that can become damaged during the machining cycle.

Faversham Joinery's Masterwood Winner CNC machining centre is housed in a 16th century timber-framed former barn.

The standard software supplied was Masterwood’s own Masterwork, a Windows-based program with CAD/CAM interface. Faversham Joinery also bought the specialist Masterstair CAD/CAM Windows-compatible software package. Unique and highly user-friendly, it is designed to substantially speed up the production of straight and conventional winder flights on Masterwood CNC machining centres.

As well as producing staircase components the Winner has been used to cut down production time on kitchen doors and timber framed conservatories.

“We have not had it all that long but I can already see its tremendous potential for a wide range of operations,” said Mr Dane.

Masterwood (UK) Ltd provided a week’s initial on-site training after the machine was installed. This was followed by a second week shortly afterwards devoted to the Masterstair package.

One of the Winner’s operators, foreman Kevin Blanchett, is a highly experienced joiner/cabinet maker who did his apprenticeship with the firm and has been there for 20 years.

“It’s a great machine, once you have learned the basics,” he said. “I was a bit apprehensive at first as I was not familiar with computers, but after the training I felt much more confident.

“The CAD drawings for the staircases are prepared by Robin in the office, who gives us a disc with all the instructions on. Once everything is programmed in you can’t fault the machine’s consistent accuracy and quality of the finish.”

As Mr Dane explained: “We have to take advantage of the latest techniques. The CNC is enhancing, not replacing, the traditional skills of our joiners. It is helping us produce a better product, more quickly, and to remain competitive in a crowded
marketplace.”

Sales enquiries to: Masterwood UK. Tel 01436 675 000. Fax: 01436 678 999. email: masterwooduk@aol.com

Editorial enquiries to: Stephen Barry Publicity. Tel: 01889 566 606. Fax: 01889 568 195. email: stephenbarrypublicity@btinternet.com

(December 2003)

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