Woodmex 2000 had good support from exhibitors with, according to my count, 224 companies at the show – and visitor attendance must also be regarded as good given the problems that beset travellers.
It was a busy exhibition. Exhibitors in general said they were taking orders or firm enquiries and that the show would pay off for them. Many of the latest innovations had already been shown at Xylexpo and were covered in our review of that show – but how many of the 15,000 visitors to Woodmex went to Milan? Woodmex really does provide UK companies with an opportunity to see the latest developments after what is normally a short and easy journey!
Woodmex always includes a small number of companies which supply components to the machinery builders – such as solid-state speed controls for motors, gearboxes and electronic control systems. A newcomer this year was Accurate Technology, which showed measuring and positioning systems that sense not from a rotary encoder but from a direct scale.
It is not vulnerable to dust, which can produce anomalous readings from optical readers, and nor is it affected by transients in the power supply. It is quick and easy to zero and can operate in incremental mode to add readings in sequence. Measuring ranges can be from 250mm to 6m.
Another new exhibitor was Riley and Son, which has a range of stair-making equipment, including a new stair cramp and a new block cutter – the EMS-BC2 – which cuts conventional triangular blocks from square stock. It gives a good finish and incorporates a special chute which prevents the off-cut from being thrown out. Riley also showed a neat metal clamp that fastens the stair tread to the riser and resists movement when fitting carpet.
Calder Wilkinson Ltd has updated the Ryburn stair machinery range, as well as the Brookman dovetailers and CNC mortising and drilling machines and the Fell range of rotary tool lathes. The new Brookman dovetailer is electronically controlled and produces all types of dovetail joints, including secret, box taper and parallel corner locking. Male and female dovetails are machined simultaneously for matching, and the program can compensate for sharpened tools.
Calder Wilkinson also showed new planer-moulders which will be sold under its own name. The CWL range comprises four models starting with a four-spindle planer and extending to a 10-spindle machine. Working width and height are 230mm and 150mm respectively. All are built on a cast frame with hard-chromed bedplates and fences. Feedworks run from cardan shafts and setting is by mechanical readouts.
For Interwood, the Casadei machines form the major part of the Artisan Concept range, with certain machines marketed through Interwood’s High Performance Division. On show was the new low-cost Casadei SX beam saw, with 3.2m length of cut and running under Windows from a PC. The Concept range of single-end tenoners with provision for stacked tooling is made in France by Sautereau, a company owned by Casadei.
From Interwood’s High Performance Division there was the Libra 2 wide belt sander with a working width of 1350mm. The Libra range can be supplied with different head configurations, segmented pads etc.
Gibbs Finishing Systems exhibited a new lathe sander capable of sanding barley twist turning. The workpiece is mounted between centres and rotated while a rotary sanding brush traverses the length of the part. There are variable speed controls to the brush, rotation and traverse, and the machine can be adjusted to sand any section of the workpiece. The company also introduced low-cost drying racks for lacquered parts.
Kurz specialises in hot-foil printing machinery and materials, and showed its new KTFM-50 for coating curved profiled edges. Using a profiled silicone rubber roller, it can cope with panels 10-50mm thick and curves with an inner or outer radius of between 200-350mm.
Moulding decoration was also featured on the stand of Elliot Machinery, where two Barberan foil wrapping machines for mouldings were shown with curtain and roller coaters and drying lines. Elliot also featured a new five-axis machining centre from Bacci.
Rye Technology Ltd concentrated on its Q range of CNC routers – which has developed far beyond the original intention that the Q would be a standardised fixed-specification machine. Thanks in part to a close-coupled toolchanger, there is now a range of which the QM is the latest model. This is offered with two bed sizes – 2.5×1.28m and 3×1.55m – and either a vacuum table or a ‘well’ with cups on rails allowing maximum X- and Y-axis freedom of setting. The 8kW head motor has a seven-position toolchanger and a drilling head with up to 19 outlets, 16 vertical and 3 horizontal. The computer is an Osai 10/310. Rye also showed its MA15 router with twin tables and two 7.5kW head motors. The tables can be locked to accommodate large single panels.
Homag had made no changes since Xylexpo and consolidated the effort behind the Powerline range. Homag has been among the leaders in equipping machines with a modem. The objective is to provide a rapid service response as the German factory can access the computer on the machine and obtain details from the diagnostic program.
The latest machine for edging shaped panels, the BAK41, can edge round or complex shaped panels, and has a dual loading facility for maximum output. Holzma, another member of the Homag group, showed the latest HPP82 panel saw which has a maximum cutting speed of 120m/min and a cutting height of 95mm. Grippers are standard and there optional post-form cutting and barcode labelling.
Weeke has taken up the renewed interest in throughfeed drilling machines with its new NBT100. This is designed for quick setting, the only limitation being the universal need to change drill bits. It was shown with full panel handling equipment.
Turning to tooling, Supreme Saws, which specialises in polycrystalline diamond tipped tooling and sawblades, showed cutterblocks for manufacturing laminate flooring. This involves trimming the long edges and cutting the tongue and groove joints. It is a multi-stage operation and Supreme had the full tooling on display.
An interesting exhibit from Unimerco was a small section of metal-clad chipboard for door fabrication, which had been processed using a cutter manufactured by the company. Unimerco can now offer ion implantation and coating with hard materials such as titanium and its derivatives which, under specific conditions, can extend the working life of tooling.
Unimerco also supplies storage equipment for tool management, including the AutoCrib, which holds tools in a vertical magazine under computer control, to record the time each tool is used and provide data for maintenance.
Whitehill, which manufactures Limiter cutterheads that incorporate chip limitation in accordance with the latest safety regulations, promoted its investment in advanced machinery to enhance quality and fast service.
Freud introduced a range of CNC router cutters with profiled, interchangeable knives. The company has also developed a ‘hardmetal’ fine grain knife, claimed to produce a finish on softwood comparable with high-speed steel, but with a working life between sharpenings similar to tungsten carbide.
Skellingthorpe Saw Services was promoting its patented XXXtreme range of bandsaw blades, developed to run longer and faster with a good quality finish. Part of the stand was devoted to Iseli sawblade making and servicing machines. Also on show were computer-controlled machines that grind the graded tooth formation used on the XXXtreme blades.
Staying with the manufacture and servicing of sawblades and tooling, Vollmer showed the first production model of its Robot Saw Centre, which has been bought by North London Saws. Comprising three grinding machines linked by a seven-station robot loading system, the Centre is designed for both manufacturing and sharpening large volumes of circular sawblades automatically. For wide bandsaw blades Vollmer introduced a laptop-PC system for programming tooth and grinding wheel shapes, and grinding speeds. The data is downloaded to the CA200 CNC wet grinding machine. The system is particularly useful for tooth shape development projects and for achieving maximum cutting speeds.
During the last year RW Woodmachines has made several changes to its agencies, which now include Scheer panel saws, Ott edgebanders, Celaschi double-end tenoners, the Omniatec Victoria vertical drilling machine and Costruzione Meccaniche cabinet assembly cramps. Following personnel changes at Brema, RW now sells the RE.M range of vertical machining centres which are capable of producing 800 sets of kitchen cabinets per shift. The RE.M machine on show was equipped with a revolving tool head that allows 10 tools to be driven from a single 10hp motor.
Ott’s Unimatic 207 edgebander can apply solid lippings up to 14mm thick or tape from 0.6-3mm thick. A Vitap rail-drilling machine with feeder and a stacker incorporates automatic sticking to stop suction from locking the surfaces and thus avoid subsequent bad feeding.
Woodwaste disposal has changed from getting rid of the waste to turning in a profit. Moldow compared the costs of landfill disposal with the payback of heat recovery. The company has joined Spilling of Germany to provide a system for generating steam for process heat, central heating or electrical power.
Talbott’s concentrated on the use of all kinds of combustible waste, including packaging materials, for heating. The company recently installed a 2000kW system for heating a warehouse where the owners are recycling as much material as possible, but are still left with 35-40 tonnes per week. The ash content is small, about 200kg per week, and the weekly saving compared with gas heating is around £1,000.
For Wadkin this was the first independent presence at Woodmex since 1992, and the company showed its first new throughfeed moulder for 20 years – the Sigma – as well as presenting other developments. These include another new machine, the Delta, a new thicknesser, a new range of CNC routers with a 40% increase in speed and a new CNC template maker.
The Sigma 30 is a 305mm six-head moulder with the option of seven or eight heads, which run at 6000rpm as standard (8000rpm optional). Feed speed is up to 36m/min. Most setting operations can be done with the cover closed as spindles are all set from external digital read outs. Wadkin also promoted Multicon – a new electronic control system for machine setting and adjustment. It runs from a Windows-based PC with a servomotor mounted on the machine and can be configured to control spindle positioning, width and height adjustment, clamping and motor speed. The system can be retrofitted to any machine.
Although there was a large number of computer program companies at Expobois in Paris, there were few at Woodmex. One was Licom and its AlphaCAM program, which has come to be regarded as an almost universal appendage to a CNC router. The company had a good show, reporting excellent interest, mainly from the panel processing sector.
Among exhibitors that specialise in sawmill machinery, Stenner was making a return to Woodmex after a long absence and was promoting selected machines from its range, including the VHE120 centre-cutting resaw. This was supported by machines from other manufacturers with which Stenner has partnership arrangements, enabling the company to handle turnkey projects. Featured on the stand were CML multi-rip saws, Mohringer chipper-canters, Reinhardt’s Vario Line optimisation cross-cutting plant, Haas recycling equipment, and the Greenweld finger-jointing system.
Woodtech Machinery has been acquired by new management and the company has a new sales force and intends to concentrate on a portfolio of high-quality agencies and customer service. Companies represented by Woodtech include Holtec, Paul, Valon Kone and Nardi.
Paul showed a line based on the Model 11 CNC optimising and defecting cross-cut saw, which runs at a feed speed of 200m/min and cuts with an accuracy of 0.5mm. The line started with Paul’s own high-speed destacker and finished with the first UK showing of the company’s Auto-Stacker SA-20.
Valon Kone is well known for ring debarkers and butt reducers, and has combined the two technologies with the VK-Combi, thus shortening the infeed end of the line. Ring butt reducers run at speeds up to 200m/min with small logs or 100m/min with large diameter logs. The VK-Combi uses ring cutting technology for both functions, and it is modular so mills can start with a single stage debarker and add a second stage and a butt reducer.
Nardi has conducted further work to optimise air circulation within its drying kilns and is establishing its own group of companies with the acquisition of press manufacturer Baioni. Holtec is best known in the UK for packsaws, but was also promoting its log yard equipment, which can include sorting lines, cross-cutting machinery and measuring systems etc.
Danish company System TM had a new version of its cross-cutting and optimising saw. The opti-kap 2000 is a simplified version of the opti-kap 300. It is slightly slower, but versatile and comes in three versions – the 2001 for optimising only, the 2002 with manual defect marking and the 2003 with a scanner for defect detection. System TM also makes feeding, stacking and other handling equipment for sawmilling and further processing of wet and dry timber.
Biesse Group UK, which has doubled turnover in five years, showed the new EB120 beam saw from group manufacturer Selco. Intended for small batch production with maximum flexibility, the machine can be front or rear loading and has a maximum cutting speed of 130m/min.
New models have been added to the Biesse Rover range of machining centres. The Rover 22 is one place above the entry level in a range of five machines. X and Y-axis dimensions are 3060mm and 1080mm respectively and the 155mm Z-axis means it can process solid wood as well as panel products. The machine has a 17-position toolchanger and can be fitted with a horizontal router head and 20 drills (14 vertical and 6 horizontal). Head movement is fast at 100m/min. It runs from an NC 500 controller which is basically a PC with diagnostics and a modem enabling direct communication with the service department at Biesse Group UK’s Daventry headquarters.
Near the top of the range is the new Rover 27, which has a larger bed and can be equipped with toolchanging for up to 31 tools. Biesse also launched a vacuum hold down system with cups that can be rotated through 360O in 15O increments.
Essetre showed a massive twin-table 5-axis gantry CNC router, which the company describes as a modular machining centre that will find a place in many applications. Each head on the TG5 has a variable speed motor with recommended running speeds from 7000-18,000rpm and is double-ended, allowing two tools to be fitted. There is a 12-position toolchanger for each head.
The machine on show had a span of 5.8m and the Z-axis can be programmed to cut over a traverse of 300mm for the smallest to 1050mm for the largest model.
Weinig, which had shown its latest machines at Xylexpo, reported a lot of interest in the Profimat. It has recognised a demand for a wider moulder than its highly successful 230mm machine and responded with the Unimat 3000 with a full 300mm working width.
Sideloaders for carrying timber in both yards and warehouses were shown by Fantuzzi, which is well established in this market.
A new name this year was Combi-Lift Ltd, which builds a patented multi-directional forklift at its factory in Ireland. Available with diesel or LPG power, the machine can operate inside a warehouse and outside – even on rough terrain. It has a low platform for good visibility from inside the cab, and the wheels on the tricycle chassis can be rotated through 90O – allowing the vehicle to move forward like a fork-lift or sideways like a sideloader. For indoor work, roller guides on the sides help to steer the machines down narrow aisles.
Trio Distribution has built a portfolio of well-reputed companies since it was founded by Alan Morley and colleagues in 1999, and has resources to undertake a range of projects from basic panel working to finishing. Both SAG and Delmac are well established in project planning, with SAG also able to supply handling equipment. Busellato specialises in boring machines and Gabbiani manufactures double-end tenoners and special lines for working both solid wood and panels. Sorbini supplies roller and curtain coaters and printers, Falcioni makes spraying and sanding units, and Cefla is well known for drying ovens. CNC router specialist CMS is the latest to join Trio.
Most of the plant and machinery from these companies was unchanged, but Sorbini has introduced a roller coater, the Jet 2000, which features a laser engraved roller to apply high solids lacquers.
SCM Group’s stand displayed machines from SCM, Morbidelli, DMC, Mahros and Gabbianimacchine, as well as seven models from the Minimax range of small classical machines, and edgebanders from IDM. With the SCM range, the accent is on adding higher technology to classical machines. An example is the T130Class spindle moulder, with a taper spindle for quick changing of the cutterblock and computer setting for the fence, rise and fall and spindle speed with a memory to hold 99 programs. Using similar programming, the SI400E panel saw has electronic fence setting, rise and fall for the blade and external scorer adjustment. Moulder setting has been advanced by the XL system, input the minimum cutting circle of the cutterblock and the machine is set from the computer program.
For panel processing SCM showed the TECH 80 CNC boring and routing centre which can drill the panel surface and all four edges, groove and route. More advanced machines are available from SCM and at the top end Morbidelli has the Author range. At Woodmex an Author 600 with optional rapid toolchanger and facilities for routing and sanding was linked to a Mahros automatic feeder. SCM also showed the new Record 242 for routing and machining, which can be customised.
Sanders included the Sandya range, the largest of which can be fitted with a planer head, plus DMC multihead machines; while for edgebanding there were two new models from SCM, capable of rounding 3mm plastic edging. Panel breakdown saws begin with the Sigma range – the new Sigma 90C including grippers and Net Line, a modular software system which provides for order planning, cost analysis and material utilisation as well as controlling the cutting program.
After thoughts
Post-show comments confirm the level of success – despite travel problems affecting visitors.
For example, RW Woodmachines took 22 machines to Birmingham and sold all but one. Director Chris Woodcock said: ‘It was our best ever exhibition. We did £1m of business on the stand and there will be a lot more to follow.’
Beam saw manufacturer Schelling was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest at Wood-mex. Schelling UK managing director Kirit Chauhan said: ‘We had an excellent exhibition and have good quality enquiries to work on.’
Wadkin celebrated its return with several orders for the Sigma moulder – the first taken within a couple of hours of the show opening. Graham Haigh, sales director for capital equipment, said there had been some 400 sales leads of which 200 were of exceptional quality: ‘It was an excellent exhibition, much better than expected.’
