Bevelled edging is nothing new in the world of cabinetmaking, with finger pull and shark nose profiles receiving fanfare for many years. Traditionally there have been a few different methods for making a 45⁰ bevelled edge, such as using a panel saw and contact glue with manual trimmers, blades and files to tidy the panel. Although still a popular process today, this can take up to 20 minutes of labour for a single panel!
To speed up this process cabinet makers have added jigs, although this has this led edge tape wastage. For a moderate investment of up to $10,000, portable, handheld edgebanders (often fixed to a table) have also been very popular. These small systems are still quite ‘hands on’ and time consuming for only producing one panel at a time. It is no surprise smaller cabinet makers have looked to outsource this process with many companies offering this value-added service for around $5 per panel.
With the minimalism trend ever evolving, there is an increased demand for sleeker cabinets and minimal hardware or ‘no ware’. It is only fair to your business to do a cost-benefit analysis on either the time and labour ($) involved, or the outsourcing fees, or even the quality of your current product and the potential value you can get for it with a superior finish.
Enter 45⁰ Bevel Edgebanders
Forget 20 minutes; with sophisticated new machinery you can create the perfect bevelled edge in less than 30 seconds! More and more cabinetmakers are investing in dedicated bevel edgebanders to automate, increase their output and optimise efficiencies across their business.
Consider this: you could create 40 bevel edge panels in the time you created one with a panel saw or other manual tools.
All this extra time can free up skilled staff members to be reassigned to other tasks in the business. Some companies are even reporting a full return on investment within weeks of introducing the new machinery.
Aspect Joinery recently introduced a Wood Tech NB5XE Edgebander at their Victorian site. Previously all 45⁰ bevelled edge profiles were completed by hand, consuming valuable time and effort.
Managing Director, Barry Scarborough explains, “Over the past 5 years we’ve experienced an increased demand for finger pull cabinets. As our workload increased, so too did our lead times. The NB5XE has significantly changed our business by allowing us to completely automate this process, reduce our lead times and allow our team to work on other parts of the business.”
Wood Tech have quickly positioned themselves as the leaders in bevel edgebanders with three different models available in Australia from compact size to extra features and even a combination square-bevel machine.