The recent installation of the first Reichenbacher ECO Machining Centre featuring an innovative pintable, at CNC Components (UK), points the way for fast production of ‘one offs’ and short runs of office furniture components and cabinet doors. Its special features are the result of several years’ research and collaboration between Willie-George Orr, technical director of CNC Components, and the technical team at Reichenbacher of Germany.

Reichenbacher is a specialist manufacturer of advanced technology CNC routers, with an established reputation for “high quality, innovation and long-lasting accuracy”. Its philosophy is “to work closely with customers to analyse their products and production needs, and to build machines to meet their individual requirements”.

Willie-George Orr bought his first Reichenbacher router in 1984. It was the first four-head router produced for him by Reichenbacher and it helped him to make furniture with uniquely complicated and fancy shapes – designs that drew customers from all over the UK and established a good reputation for his company, Orrlee Kitchens.

Since then Mr Orr has bought more Reichenbacher routers to keep up with steadily growing demands. He began developing his doors to keep ahead of the competition and at the forefront of kitchen design by researching ways of improving efficiency and using more innovative router features in conjunction with Reichenbacher – for example: a flat table with aluminium bars and moveable pods, instead of a grooved table; a ‘look ahead’ function; and the use of a tool changer. Orrlee Kitchens grew steadily and by 1987 a new company was formed – CNC Components (UK) – to focus on door production.

New factory

Today, CNC Components operates from a newly-built factory, producing up to 25,000 doors per week. In addition it has broken into new ground, first by launching a range of office furniture components – which takes it into a new market – and then by entering the export market. ZOW in Germany was chosen as the venue to announce both new directions.

Now with European exports firmly on the agenda the company has also used ZOW to unveil a range of products for the office furniture market. With the recent availability of superior scratch resistant foils, tested by LGA (Germany) and also by SATRA in the UK, CNC Components is confident that the technology will open up new opportunities in both the contract and domestic office furniture markets. The advantages of using foil-wrapped office components are considerable. Furniture manufacturers can now have shapes and edge authentic-looking wood-effect profiles at lower prices than before and, importantly, without the disadvantage of joins where soft formed or edge-banded edges meet surface laminates.

Foil-wrapped components

Office worktops up to 2600x1200mm can be supplied, all of them matching and co-ordinating with a full programme of other components to complete the office package to any colour, any spec, with all drilling requirements, plastic inserts and safer ‘cut-in’ handles. “We were one of the first companies in the UK to introduce foil-wrapped components,” said Mr Orr. “I believe it will increasingly dominate the office furniture industry and our ethos is to specialise in this finish, using the most modern and technically advanced machines for routing and pressing.”

To achieve these claims, CNC Components has made large investments in new technology machines – one of the most important of which is the Reichenbacher ECO with the new pintable feature. “This machine,” said Mr Orr, “incorporates all the features I’ve ever wanted in a CNC router. If there is anything better on the market, I’d like to know – because I’d buy it immediately.”

The Reichenbacher ECO at CNC Components has several unique features with the new pintable at the heart of the machine. It is a large, 3-axis, two-table machine, with two separate working stations, two floating heads and two 15-position tool changers. It is operated by one person with a lifting device to load large components in heavy MDF onto the tables, with access on three sides.

Computer controls

The pintable comprises individually controlled circular pins and ‘disappearing’ setting stops. Software controls combine the operation of the pintable and stops with the router program. The stops on the right and left of the table are rigid and solid, and stand up higher than the pins for setting. They ‘disappear’ into the table when machining starts and are there only to position the MDF boards quickly and accurately.

The pintable combines with the router program and when a particular job is selected for routing, only the pins and stops for that size and shape ‘pop’ up on the table. The board is placed on those pins and against the stops and is instantly positioned for machining. Setting up time is almost instant. When any table top is programmed, the pins and stops are automatically selected by the program. Once machining commences and the suction is applied to hold the board in position, the stops ‘disappear’ into the table so that the periphery of the board can be cut to shape.

Quality of cut

An important practical feature of automatic pin positioning is that it keeps ‘overhang’ to a minimum (25mm) to avoid vibration and maintain quality of cut.

Another key feature fitted at the specific request of CNC Components, is a comprehensive dust cleaning system. A great deal of production time (up to 50%) is spent keeping machine tables and factories clean when MDF is being machined. The ECO seems to have solved this problem in a simple way.

All the way around each of the two machining tables, Reichenbacher has built a wide board to prevent dust falling off the table edges. Also featured is an extraction system, with booster fan, to vacuum dust from the pintables. This keeps the tables, pins and stops perfectly clean, avoiding panel slippage and inaccuracy.

A third feature on the ECO is its new floating head system, better than anything produced before because it can be set differentially with extreme precision on each head, avoiding the problems operators experience from having to set up previously from the controller, with less accuracy. The floating head is ideal for special doors and table tops.

CNC Components says the benefits gained from the ECO machining centre are considerable. The machine is set up at the press of a button for any job – saving at least an hour between set ups. There is no setting of pods and no possibility of mistakes and delays by using a wrong or damaged jig. “This accuracy means JIT deliveries can be guaranteed; short runs and ‘one-offs’ present no problems; and desk tops of any shape can be produced direct from an e-mail drawing”. It also allows the company to “steal a march on other manufacturers, with a very fast, versatile service”.

“With this advanced Reichenbacher technology, we expect to be in full production on desk tops this year,” said Mr Orr. “The ECO will help us to triple production per shift, using only one operator, instead of two as on conventional routers. It will provide the basis to expand into the European market and to offer the highest quality at the most competitive prices”.