Wadkin is heralding a ‘major advance in moulder technology’ with the introduction of its HydroTech Delta range of high-speed jointed machines. The new machines follow hard on the heels of the Sigma 30, which was recently launched as the ‘first six-head 305mm/12in Wadkin moulder for more than 20 years.’
The machines offer ‘more and better’ technical features, and have already been sold successfully to customers in markets throughout the world.
The high-speed HT Deltas, which run at up to 60m (200ft) per minute, have been developed following detailed studies of customer requirements by Wadkin design engineers. The five- and six-head moulders have been carefully designed to produce a high quality finish, with the shorter body enabling the moulding heads to be closer coupled for increased timber control.
Combining flexibility, high speeds and the ability to handle heavy/wide profiles and MDF components, the HT Deltas are suited to the furniture, sawmilling and other woodworking sectors processing hardwood, softwood and MDF – particularly windows and mouldings manufacturers. According to Wadkin’s marketing and sales director, Nigel Smith, ‘the finish is like glass’.
The company says the HT Delta moulders are jointed machines for companies wishing to increase production and improve quality – whether they are seeking a heavy-duty machine with outboards and other features such as larger cutting circles, or looking for a step up from the standard single knife moulder.
Particular attention has been paid to better feeding power, and the new moulders have the unique Wadkin nip roller system which is able to deal with the toughest timber. Maximum finished size is 220 x 120mm as standard, with 235 x 120mm available as an option, and the machines can handle both long and short runs with equal ease.
There are new heavy-duty, quick set-up top head chipbreakers, plus chrome beds for easier feeding and minimal wear and a choice of manual and electronic profile and straight knife jointers. Like all the com-pany’s moulders, the Deltas have a heavy cast iron frame and are equipped with full-width driven bed rollers, outboard bearings, fast-setting aids and pneumatic control of top chipbreakers and pad pressure.
For much of the time moulders of this type run with at least one straight head – probably more – and the straight hard stone jointers incorporated in the HT Deltas remove nicks and save the need for regrinds. Many other moulders, Wadkin design engineers observe, do not incorporate a straight jointer but use a wide soft stone.
Quick changeover
Another key advantage is that no time is lost when production runs have to be changed – chipbreakers and pad pressures, for instance, have dial-in set-up for easy, quick changeover.
‘This new moulder will play a key role in Wadkin’s success over the next two years,’ says Mr Smith. ‘A few years ago we would hardly have dared dream of a machine offering such all-round accomplishment at this sort of price. It says a lot for everyone at Wadkin that the company is again at the forefront of moulder technology.’
The new HT Delta range follows the recent successful launch of the Sigma 30, a machine that gave a clear signal of the company’s intention to advance in moulder technology.
The high production machine offers feed speeds from 6-36m per minute while at the same time delivering a quality finish. The QuickSet setting system ensures minimum downtime and flexibility, making the Sigma 30 suitable for short or long runs, and although it has wide capacity it is also easily able to machine narrow sections.
With a cast iron frame and choice of short and long infeed tables, the Sigma 30 features mechanical digital read-outs as standard, enabling fast set-up of chipbreaker and pad pressure positions. Dual mechanical read-outs for both top heads and nearside head give tooling diameter compensation read-outs for the accurate positioning of differing tool diameters – without changing the finished timber size display – and there is a synchronous electronic clutch for disengaging or engaging the top heads from the beam rise and fall mechanism.
The acoustic safety hood can remain closed for most operations. These include simultaneous locking and unlocking of all spindle axial movements, horizontal and vertical adjustment of profiling spindles, two-speed positioning of the beam and top heads (allowing rapid traverse followed by fine positioning), and 60mm adjustment to the vertical spindle. There are radius offset counters to both nearside and top heads.
The Sigma 30 has an especially powerful feed – including a linked nip infeed drive system – as well as a hardened bed which Wadkin says gives ‘three times greater wear than conventional moulder beds’.
Safety and ease of operation are key features, with all controls situated in-line on the front panel, and fine adjustments can be made without having to stop the machine.
Although the HT Deltas and Sigma 30 have only recently been launched, Wadkin reports that it has already won orders for both machines from customers in Asia, Europe, North America and Australia.
