Faced with growing demand, timber frame manufacturer Christian Torsten of Wem in Shropshire needed to increase its output.

Initially it looked at simply increasing the workforce involved in cutting kit components. It then looked at the push fed saw from H&M, distributed by JJ Smith & Co Ltd, which has the facility to cut both angles and straight cuts.

It was agreed that by also including an Optimaster software package, the time taken to produce the cutting lists would be greatly reduced. Equally importantly the yield obtained from packs could be identified and controlled.

Otto Blank of Christian Torsten said: “We are now able to get yields consistently in the region of 95%, something that would have been impossible with our old manual system.”

Christian Torsten uses a US-developed design software package and the cutting information is exported into the Optimaster software where optimised cutting lists are generated. These are downloaded to the computer that controls the saw.

&#8220We are now able to get yields consistently in the region of 95%, something that would have been impossible with our old manual system.”

Otto Blank of Christian Torsten

The saw has a pusher controlled via an encoder to accurately position the timber. It is pushed through the saw, clamped and cut and then pushed onto the outfeed of the machine for stacking.

As the saw can cut angles in line, there is no need to over cut and then cut the angles as a second operation, eliminating waste and time and ensuring an accurate cut every time.

Martin Smith, product specialist for the timber frame industry at J J Smith, said: “By working closely with companies such as Christian Torsten, we have been able to develop products that the industry needs, rather than simply trying to fit a standard product to a particular application. This package is one of a number of cross-cutting solutions we have developed for requirements across the whole solid wood industry.”