A third SCM CNC machining centre has been purchased by joinery company E Kendall and Sons Ltd to manufacture high-end speaker cabinets.
The North Yorkshire-based company, which also makes joinery products and shopfitting furniture, said it became obvious a five-axis machine was needed six months ago due to orders becoming more complex.
One of Kendall’s customers is Meridian Audio, a leader in the design and manufacture of home entertainment systems. The speakers made by Kendall are made from birch plywood laminated with thin sheets of aluminium to give a stiff and resin-damped speaker for optimum vibration and resonance performance.
Kendall bought an SCM Accord 40 Prisma with a 2600x1560mm multi-function aluminium work table for machining and nesting full-size sheets of MFC, MDF, plywood and other sheet materials.
“With the five-axis routing head, we have managed to reduce machining times and cycles on certain curved items by 65% compared to machining on our three-axis machines,” said managing director Phil Kendall.
As well as the five-axis head, the PRISMA features an F18 vertical and horizontal drilling unit, 24-station rapid automatic toolchanger, supplementary 10-station rack toolchanger and a high volume vacuum system.
The company said operating three CNCs had enabled it to reduce its overheads and employ fewer operatives but at the same time increase turnover.
Kendall’s operations include laminating materials on a press, matching blanks, sub-assembly and then matching CNCs before final assembly of the cabinets.
Kendall already operates a three-axis SCM machining centre and an Actionline Record 100 AL.
