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SANDINGMASTER
SMOOTHES OUT ROLLER COATING LINE AT PINE MAKERS
Pine manufacturer Goldcrest Furniture Ltd has
improved efficiency by incorporating a Timesavers
Sandingmaster wide belt sander into its fully-automatic
UV roller coating line.
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| The
Timesavers Sandingmaster wide belt sander
installed in the UV roller coating line at
Goldcrest Furniture. |
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The
Hereford company specialises in supplying bedroom
furniture, producing a wide range of pine beds,
cabinets, chests of drawers and wardrobe. It supplies
retailers across the UK and Ireland as well as
producing two ranges exclusively for the John
Lewis Partnership.
The
imported components are sprayed, stained or, increasingly,
UV lacquered before being assembled in its 25,000
sq. ft. Hereford factory. Around 1,400 units are
produced each week.
The
company, which is certified to ISO 9002 quality
standard for its management systems, has a turnover
of around £4.5 million. It employs a quality manager
who specifies the grade of timber to be used,
mainly top quality Scandinavian pine, and makes
random spot checks when the components are delivered.
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| Production
manager Gary Teague with components that have
passed through the Timesavers wide belt sander
at Goldcrest Furniture. |
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One
major item of production equipment in the factory
is a 30m long in-line Sorbini UV roller coating
line where lacquer is applied to the flat components.
It was installed two years ago and is a rare example
of such ultra high-tech technology to be found
in the UK pine furniture sector.
Goldcrest
previously used a 20-year-old Sandingmaster housed
in another part of the factory to sand the panels
before bringing them across to the UV line on
pallets, which they realised was not the most
efficient way of working.
Production
manager Gary Teague said: "We decided to update
the sander and at the same time place the new
one in-line with the UV roller coating line. This
has enabled us to become far more efficient as
the quicker we can get the sanded items through
the UV roller line the better the finish. By cutting
down on panel handling we have removed a possible
production bottleneck, there's less chance of
damage occurring to the panels and we have far
less rejects."
Once
the panels' edges have been hand sprayed they
are fed through the Timesavers Sandingmaster 3300,
which together with its dust extraction system
cost £40,000.
The
3300, supplied by exclusive UK agent T.M. Machinery
Sales, offers calibrating and veneer sanding in
one machine. By combining up to four sanding heads
from the seven types available, a single machine
can take care of all the sanding requirements
of a high output business, handling variable panel
thicknesses.
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| Pine
bedroom furniture is assembled on the roller
system at Goldcrest Furniture. |
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Features
such as the easy to use Lindomatic control system,
floating table for veneer sanding, extraction
from the point of dust production and easy access
to all parts of the machine make the 3300 series
machines easy to use and easy to maintain.
After
being sanded the panels pass through the roller
coating line where they have two undercoats applied
and then dried in UV driers.
They
then go through a denibbing sander before finally
receiving a top coat of lacquer which is dried
in the third UV drier. A full pallet load of panels
is processed in around 20 minutes, by which time
the coated panels are perfectly dry and ready
for assembly.
After
assembly the finished units are placed on the
factory's roller line where they undergo a final
inspection before being packed and despatched
to customers.
"We
decided to stay with Sandingmaster because of
our experience with the original model which is
still extremely reliable despite its age," said
Mr Teague. The new sander is easy to use and meets
all our needs. It gives the panels a perfectly
smooth finish so that they are all ready for the
roller coating line"
The
original Sandingmaster, which had been serviced
by T.M. Machinery, has been kept on to sand items
such as drawer fronts that are not UV compatible.
Sales
enquiries to Matt Pearce, T.M. Machinery Sales
T: 0116 271 7155. F: 0116 271 5862
E: sales@tmservices.co.uk
W: www.tmpartnership.co.uk
Editorial enquiries to Stephen Barry Publicity.
Tel: 020 8341 6660. email: stephenbarry@clara.co.uk
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