Edinburgh Door Maker

When Mike Froude, managing director of Directdoors.com, visited the Woodworking Scotland Show in March, he had no plans to buy a vertical panel saw. But that is exactly what he did.

Directdoors.com, of Penicuik, near Edinburgh, produces a wide range of standard and bespoke doors – solid, hollowed and veneered – for interior and exterior use. It is a specialist ‘one-stop shop’ for all items relating to doors; also supplying door frames, glass and architectural fittings.

“I didn’t go along to the show with the intention of buying a saw, but after seeing the Striebig demonstrated I realised the benefits it would give us,” said Mike, who runs the business with his wife Denise.

The saw was amongst exhibits on the stand of Deral Ltd, of Airdrie, which represents T.M. Machinery Sales, the UK distributor of Striebig saws, in Scotland.

“After it caught my eye the salesman gave me a thorough demonstration of its capabilities and after he had finished I signed the order on the spot, ” said Mike.

Deral then delivered, installed and commissioned the saw as soon as the show had ended. It is used to size door blanks, made in a variety of softwoods and hardwoods, with thicknesses of up to 54 mm.

Striebig replaces hand operated saws

They were previously sized using hand-operated electric circular saws. This took about 30 minutes per door, including the setting up time for the guides and clamps, which has been cut to 60 seconds with the Striebig.

“I bought it primarily to cope with a large order coming in from a major customer in Gibraltar,” said Mike. I am delighted that the benefits have been far greater than I originally anticipated.

“I looked at cheaper makes on other stands at the show, but considered the Striebig to be the best engineered saw for the job. As well as the considerable time savings it has given us, the accuracy of the saw’s cut is perfect and we are getting a much better finish every time.”

The Compact 4164, with a maximum cut size of 3100 x 1644mm and a cutting depth of 60mm, was supplied with an optional digital measuring system, accurate to 0.1 mm, and a scoring saw.

The smallest in the range of Striebig vertical panel saws, the entry-level Compact sets new standards for ease of use together with exceptional degrees of versatility. The combination of a recently re-designed control panel, saw head housing and saw head operating mechanism means that the Compact is now even far easier to use.

In a major improvement to the Compact’s environmental features, an additional TRK dust extraction point has been fitted within the horizontal cutting area. The highly efficient integral dust and chips extraction system ensures that dust levels are kept well below permitted European limits.

The Compact is also available with a maximum cut size of 4600mm x 2070 and 4600 x 2200mm. It is based on a single, fully welded sawing frame to give decades of reliable service whilst maintaining cutting precision.

It is suitable for cutting practically all materials, such as MDF, plaster board, plastics and aluminium panels.