W.G. Powell, Timber Merchants, Oxford

Efficiency at long-established timber and builders’ merchant W.G. Powell Ltd has been boosted with the purchase of a Striebig Standard vertical panel saw, chosen for its ease of use and maintenance. Despite intense competition from the retail ‘sheds’ and larger merchants in the area, the small, family-owned Oxford-based business, founded in 1923, has built up a loyal customer base amongst local tradesmen and DIY customers.

It stocks a wide selection of soft and hardwoods, stairs, decking, doors, windows and ironmongery, has a glass department, and is extremely proud of the personal service it delivers. An important and growing part of the business is a cut-to-size service for timber and sheet materials, with the Striebig sizing mainly MDF, timber and plywood, as well as plastics used in the glass department.

Striebig Standard

With its 80mm cutting depth the versatile Standard TRK 6224 model sizes sheet materials from 1.5mm to 30mm thick, rips timber and sizes 40mm thick timber and laminated worktops as well as 44mm thick door blanks without any difficulty.

The robust Striebig model has been setting the standard for vertical panel saws for more than 40 years. It features a built-in strip cutting gauge that makes repeat cuts easier while the fixed dimension setting ensures reliable operation for recurring dimensions.

The version chosen by W.G. Powell has a 5.3 m long bed that enables two 2.5 m long sheets to be put on the bed next to one another and enables it to cut 12ft x 6ft ‘jumbo’ sheets, both tasks that could not be done before. When cutting ‘jumbo’ sheets an arm conveniently comes out to pull the saw head in to aid sizing.

Striebig Extraction System

It features Striebig’s TRK2 integral extraction system which has a dust limit value considerably below 2 mg/m3. A TRK 1 extraction version is also available that operates below 1 mg/m3.

The Standard was chosen after months of careful market research by Powell’s director Paul Quarterman and mill foreman Mick Aust. It replaced an elderly German-made wall saw that was not up the job and was loosing them business.

As Paul Quarterman explained: “The old saw was increasingly inaccurate and sizing out of square. We realised we had a problem when a couple of regular customers, both cabinet makers, took their panel cutting business elsewhere.

“To be perfectly honest, as well as being unreliable the old saw had too high a spec for basic panel sizing. The Striebig is simplicity itself to use and does the job we want far more easily and accurately. Within weeks of its arrival we had regained the lost business and attracted more.

“We took our time deciding on a suitable replacement. We started looking at the W8 show in 2008 and checked out several companies including Striebig agent T.M. Machinery.

When their engineer came along to see us we were immediately impressed with his wide product knowledge. He took us to see a Striebig in action at a company in Gerrards Cross and we liked what we saw. At the end of the day we chose a Striebig largely on his recommendation, and he suggested the Standard would be the best model for the type and quantity of work we do.”

Despite having a second wall saw, an Italian machine, the versatile Striebig has taken over the bulk of the sizing work

Advantages of a Striebig Saw

Said Mick Aust: “It’s a very robust machine that’s easy to use, runs smoothly and has a quiet motor. All of our operators like it as it’s so simple to operate. Having a set gauge for the multi-ripping of one side of the timber is a big advantage.”

He added that once the order was placed with T.M. Machinery the saw was installed and commissioned extremely quickly.

“The whole exercise with T.M. ticked all the boxes and I would recommend Striebig as a solid, reliable machine that’s precise and gives accurate cuts with perfect edges every time,” said Paul Quarterman.