Bagpress, Manufacturer, Letchworth

A Striebig Compact vertical panel saw has brought considerable benefits to a manufacturer of electric vacuum press kits and specialist veneered panels. Bagpress, of Letchworth, Herts produces a range of vacuum presses from small units for the hobbyist, school and college to large industrial frame presses for cabinet makers and industrial woodworkers.

It also provides a bespoke panel making service, supplying quality curved and flat veneered and laminated panels for use as kitchen cupboard doors and drawers, shop fitting panels and column casings.

Striebig Compact replaces out of date saw

The 4.2m long Striebig Compact 4164 is an entry-level model, ideal for the smaller workshop, which guarantees precise, accurate cuts with perfect edges on panels up to a maximum size of 3.1 x 1.6m.

Incorporating an optional digital measuring system, it replaced an elderly vertical panel saw that was no longer accurate enough to cope with the demands being made of it.

It was bought to cope with a major new piece of business received from a kitchen manufacturer for curved veneered panels, plus a general increase in orders.

Another use is in the dimensioning of the plywood parts used to make the frames for the smaller electric vacuum presses and for cutting the supports for the larger industrial models.

For the company’s panel making service it sizes plywood and MDF panels as well as sheets of laminate and structural foam, measuring from 1.5 to 50mm thick, with the thinner panels placed on the saw in multiples.

Said managing director Darren King: “We need total accuracy and squareness in our panel cutting so that we can produce a quality end product.

“The benefits provided by the Striebig are substantial. By using the digital readout system we don’t have to check components after they come off the saw as we know they will be exactly the right size and totally square. We often had to manually trim them to get them right before.”

He had seen Striebig vertical panel saws at trade shows and knew of the company’s reputation as global market leader. But before making the decision to purchase he went to the Leicester showroom of exclusive UK dealer T.M. Machinery and took along some birch plywood panels to trial. Striebig passed the accuracy test with flying colours.

T.M. Machinery supplied an Alko140H mobile extraction unit with the saw. Claimed to be among the quietest dust extractors on the market, the compact, wheeled units have a high extraction capacity and a user-friendly control panel. A cyclone is used to achieve optical initial separation, even in the intake areas.

Said Darren King: “As well as doing the job perfectly, both the saw and the extraction unit look modern and stylish and impress our customers when they visit us.”