At the Ligna exhibition in 2001 Weinig allowed even technophobic journalists to change the cutting heads on one of its latest moulders. You couldn’t have had a better illustration of just how straightforward a modern moulder is to set-up and use.
And, according to manufacturers, that’s only a fraction of the recent moulder evolution story.
As one manufacturer said: “There’s an analogy with computer development – it’s said that all the computers combined on the first Apollo spacecraft that went to the moon were less powerful than the average laptop you can pick up today from PC World. Maybe we haven’t made quite such dramatic strides, but in moulder development we’ve gone for greater power, reliability, user-friendliness and overall vastly improved capabilities in machines that have no bigger footprint than before, or in many cases, are more compact.”
Fast payback
According to Weinig, its latest advances in moulding technology also result in a quicker return on investment which, combined with the fact that they’re easier to use and less prone to breaking down, means they’re more accessible to the small to medium-sized business.
“The payback is from faster production and fast response to orders, minimum downtime when setting up and changing over jobs, high quality production at fast speeds and minimisation of labour and floor area which mean production economy,” said the company. It added that the ability of the versatile, modern, computer-controlled moulder to cope easily with short or long runs also gives the user the potential to serve a wider customer-base.
To highlight the capabilities of the new generation of moulders, Weinig points to its smallest, the Unimat 1000 Star. This is set up via an electronic display. The user ‘dials up’ profiles stored in the memory and the machine sets up accordingly, with positioning values displayed at setting points. “It’s as easy, fast and accurate as setting your mobile ring tone,” said Weinig.
One Unimat 1000 Star user is kitchen maker Smallbone of Devizes and, according to Weinig, it has been able to cut job changeover times from 30 minutes to six.
The new model Weinig unveiled at this year’s Ligna underlined the company’s ambition to bring cutting edge moulder technology to a broader audience. The Unimat 2000 Turbo is targeted at companies “not yet ready” for the fully-computerised Unimat 3000 Brillant, but featuring the latter’s 12,000rpm HSK PowerLock tooling. This means users don’t have to remove and fit outboard bearings in tool changes.
Latest technology
During the 1990s, Italian manufacturer SCM focused strongly on developing moulders for the small- to medium-sized wood processor, but which are still highly sophisticated, featuring latest mechanical and control technologies. The latter include SCM’s own ‘SET-UP’ rapid tool change system, now applied to all its moulders. It has also developed low cost electronic Control 20 and Control 100 PC control systems and an inverter technology which simplifies machine feed and spindle speed adjustment.
Among its range of moulders for the smaller user, or for use as an additional or short-run machine by bigger companies, is the Compact XL. One of the latest purchasers is Swiftwood of Wisbech. The company previously used a spindle moulder for small orders. To meet new health and safety rules on chip limitation, however, meant that the company would have to grind two knives and two chip limiters for these low volumes.
So Swiftwood started looking for an alternative machining solution, stipulating that it had to be as quick and simple to set up as the spindle moulder, fully guarded and quiet, while being mechanically fed so it wouldn’t need the chip limiter tooling. It also had to be affordable.
It opted for the Compact XL after seeing it at another user where it was machining large profiled hardwood scotia sections. It was also sold on SCM’s ability to adapt the machine. Because Swiftwood strip mills long lengths, it didn’t need the Compact’s 2m straightening table, and had SCM replace it with a short infeed table. “The Compact’s footprint also fits where the spindle was and, because the spindle units are 40mm, it can use all our existing tools,” said Swiftwood mill manager Marcus Williams. “The big bonus though is the SET-UP system. Because only one adjustment is required, via a digital read-out, per spindle, it’s very easy to change over quickly and accurately.”
Recently SCM has also been extending its offer to the moulder user looking for an industrial scale machine. At Ligna it launched two such heavyweights. The throughfeed Topset Master is described as an alternative to older push feed. Its six spindles have double twinsets of bearings with horizontal spindles using a hydraulic outboard support which does not need a grease gun to pressurise.
The second new machine, the Superset Class six-spindle throughfeed has a maximum optional feed speed of 34m/min and maximum tool diameter of 200mm.
Leadermac UK, which after two years on the market has 50 of its Taiwanese-made moulders at customers across the UK and Ireland, is another manufacturer experiencing growing demand from the small- to medium-sized company. “They’re obviously seeing the benefits in terms of productivity and uniform quality. Using a thicknesser planer and spindle moulder you’re talking about six to eight passes for each piece of timber, compared to one with a moulder,” said managing director Kevin Wright. “And for anyone who can set up a spindle moulder, they’re not rocket science to use. “
Opposing spindles
To date, Leadermac UK’s biggest seller has been its Compact four to six spindle, 230-310mm working width model. But the range starts with the smaller four-head Smartmac and goes right up to the dramatically named Thundermac which boasts feed speeds up to 150m/min. Like the Thundermac, the intermediary machines, the Hypermac and Speedmac, feature electronic spindle positioning with pneumatic pressure to feed rollers, side pressures and both chipbreakers for near side and top spindles.
Another Leadermac development is the introduction of the option of opposed vertical spindles on moulders to cater to manufacturers of tongued and grooved flooring and decking.
The development focus at the Wadkin UltraCare plant in Leicester has been directed at making the company’s moulder range still more flexible and versatile. It’s latest introduction is its Mastertrim control system. This allows the operator to vary the speeds of individual or banks of spindles and link the variation in speed with a change in feed rate. The company likens the innovation to trimming the sails of a yacht to suit different wind conditions and sea states.
Using Mastertrim, the spindle speed can be matched to the tool type selected, the condition and species of the timber being machined and the finish required. One new Wadkin high-speed moulder about to be installed has the technology applied to two sets of spindles; one set which is roughing, the other finishing. The moulder user opted for Mastertrim “to maximise tool life on the four roughing heads while maintaining an optimum quality surface on the finishing head”. But Wadkin stresses that any combination of spindles can be programmed. The master control unit enables the operator to adjust the feed and spindle speeds up or down in whatever ratio is required. The result, maintains the company, is a combination of consistent quality of end product and maximum tool life.
HolyTek has specifically considered the needs of the smaller joinery or cabinet workshop with its compact, 230mm working length four or five spindle ME moulder.
Rapid set-up
According to Trymwood Machinery Sales, which markets the Taiwanese-made machines in the UK, the company has focused on ease of adjustment and quick set-up, with individual spindle levers on the front of the machines each featuring a digital read-out. The feed system comprises five powered pneumatic upper pressure rollers and one powered bottom roller, with feed speeds from 6-25m/min.
For companies with a bigger throughput, HolyTek’s three-model MX series comes with five to seven spindles and can crank out mouldings at 30m/min from workpieces up to 160mm thick. Other features include CE-compliant anti-kickback fingers and 80mm of vertical movement on the vertical heads, enabling the use of stacked tooling for different profiles.
