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Masterwood (UK) Ltd, St Andrew's House, 13 East Abercromby
Street, Helensburgh G84 7SP.
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MASTERWOOD SERVES UP KITCHEN MAKER'S PERFECT DRILL
After running a Masterwood Speedy 207 point-to-point panel drilling CNC machine for 11 years without any major hitches, a West Yorkshire kitchen manufacturer has purchased a second to increase its efficiency.
One man operates both machines, producing 1,000 panels in a nine-and-a half-hour shift. Pallet loads of panels are placed by each machine, with the operator loading one and setting it going before taking off the drilled panels from the second machine.
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| The latest Speedy 207, an ideal alternative to conventional drilling machines, at Spen Va/ley Kitchens. |
Spen Valley Kitchens, of Heckmondwike, specialises in making kitchen units for local authorities and housing associations across the UK. They are supplied in rigid or flat pack form and used primarily in refurbishment projects.
It is currently carrying out several long-term contracts and produces around 2,200 units a week, using mainly MFC covered chipboard for gable panels as well as foil wrapped MDF for top rail centre posts.
The decision to stick with the Speedy was due to the machine’s reliability and the excellent after-sales service provided by Masterwood.
It drills all the required holes in the 15mm and 18mm thick end panels, up to 23 in each, and in the 18mm thick intermediate panels, all in one pass.
“Our first Speedy was bought 11 years ago and is still going strong,” said the company’s works manager Peter Oldroyd. “It has been working for up to 20 hours a day for the past five years, after we put a night shift on, and has never let us down. That’s how reliable it is.”
The latest purchase was part of a £200,000 investment programme that has also seen the arrival of a Schelling beam saw and an IDM edgebander.
“Due to the reliability of our 11-year-old Speedy, which has not missed a beat, we didn’t feel the need to look at any other drilling machine,” said Mr Oldroyd. “It’s very versatile and fast and one person can now produce all the panels we need in a single shift.
“It can put holes anywhere you want them and there’s no setting-up time. We program the drilling requirements on our computer in the office and give the operator the disc to insert.”
Mr Oldroyd is impressed with the accuracy and quality of the drilling. “It’s always totally spot-on. As we supply some of our customers with units in flat pack form, to be assembled on site, it’s doubly important that the accuracy is right every time.”
He’s also delighted with the after-sales service provided by Masterwood (UK) Ltd. “We can’t afford to have either of the machine’s down as it would cause severe problems, and Masterwood’s back up is second to none. They keep most of the standard spare parts in stock and normally get them to us within 24 hours. On the rare occasion we have needed an engineer, he’s here pretty promptly.”
The compact, entry-level Speedy 207 is an ideal alternative to conventional panel drilling machines, suitable for use with panels of up to 2780 x 760mm in size.
It incorporates a boring head with five vertical drilling spindles and an independent double horizontal drilling spindle for drilling in the X direction. It also has NC controlled side reference stops, and both the X- and Y-axis have a maximum displacement speed of 40m per minute.
To make it even more productive there’s an optional 110mm diameter grooving saw available, plus optional panel lifting pads for the easy positioning of heavy work pieces.
Masterwood maintains that at well as being the ideal automated drilling tool for small companies, the Speedy 207 can free up capacity on larger CNC routers at bigger manufacturers.
It is priced at £21,907, which includes delivery, installation and training.
