Summary
• Safety and ease of use are key attractions of vertical panel saws for merchants.
• New facilities and software give table panel saws added functionality.
• Band resaws are becoming more flexible and versatile.
• Software control are adding to the capabilities of most saw types.

In the current market it’s tempting to screw the lid down tight on capital expenditure. But at the same time, the pressure to improve efficiency, enhance service and bolster the bottom line by adding value is greater than ever. According to leading saw suppliers this means that, despite the slowdown, it can still pay dividends for merchants to upgrade, replace or even add new types of machinery in mill or joinery facilities.

“The ability of merchants to secondary process does not just mean that, in adding value, they are maximising their return,” said Doug Shopland of the band resaw specialist Stenner UK. “It means that, in meeting a specific requirement, they provide a service that customers will find attractive.”

According to Keith Bunker, managing director of panel saw supplier Sagetech, spending on service also underlines confidence. “It says ‘I’m a winner’, and customers back winners,” he said.

Making investment more logical still, say machine suppliers, is the fact that latest technical developments are focused on driving up productivity and cutting costs through energy efficiency – further benefits in a depressed market.

Going vertical

This is clearly the case in vertical panel saws, now a fixture of many merchants’ machine shop kit; a fact suppliers attribute to sheet materials being such an integral part of their business, modern equipment’s ease of use and space saving over table saws.

The best known Striebig vertical panel saw user is B&Q, which has over 200. But Matt Pearce, of agent TM Machinery Sales, said that independents are also key customers and sales to single site businesses are rising.

“An additional driver in this market is the fact that, besides being simple to use at a time of growing skills shortages, vertical panel saws are so safe. You never see the exposed blade while working with our machines.”

Among recent customers for Striebig’s entry level Compact (which starts at £10,200 and now also includes the AV automated cutting cycle model) is SL Hardwoods of Croydon. It uses a 5207, which has a cut size of 4600x2070mm, to size sheet material, straighten log-sawn lengths of timber board and cut 650x50mm hardwood worktops. SL’s John Smith said the machine is 30% faster than the saw it replaced: “There’s no marking out and it cuts accurately. With our old saw, we often had to double cut to get it right.”

After using Compacts at two of its branches, Champion Timber has installed the next model up, the ‘Standard’, at its Sutton depot. With a cutting size of 3300x2160mm, this is used on the range of sheet materials, plus worktops and door blanks.

Stanmore builders merchant, Euroken Supplies, bought its Standard to add a new facet to its business. “We can’t compete on price with the big boys, so we’ve created a niche with specialist cutting,” said director Sandeep Halai, adding that Euroken’s Striebig uses optimisation software to maximise yield.

Another panel saw name gaining momentum with merchants is Dutch manufacturer Elcon. Among the latest companies supplied with one of its models by UK agent Daltons – a 3kW 155DS with a sheet capacity of 3300x1550mm – is Ridgeons, at its Colchester branch.

“The new Elcons incorporate digital readout to vertical and horizontal cut, with automatic back-frame movement, repeat stop and programming for regular cut-to-size sections, plus optional scoring saw units,” said Daltons director Francis Dalton. “They’re also fully compliant with latest safety regulations.”

A recent convert to vertical panel sawing is Oxfordshire builders merchant AK Timms. Previously the company used table and laminate saws and wanted a “safer, more accurate tool”. It turned to Sagetech Industries and one of its 5.5hp Koolkut KK216 models, billed by Mr Bunker as a “tough, no frills workhorse”.

“It’s now key to our cut-to-size service on plywood, chipboard, MDF, worktops and blockboard,” said Timms timber manager Terry Merriman.

At the recent W8, Sagetech also unveiled its latest take on the vertical saw, the folding Zapkut ZK8, a 25kg fibreglass frame on which the operator mounts their own circular saw or router. It’s designed principally for on-site use, but Sagetech believes it may appeal to merchants with space constraints, or as a back-up.

Sliding sophistication

But despite the rise of the vertical panel saw, sliding table saw suppliers do not believe their days in the merchant market are numbered. The ease of use and sophistication of new models, they say, added to their ability to rip timber as well as cut sheets, give them a solid future.

A machine at the recent W8 show billed as having merchant appeal was Felder’s Format 4 Kappa 550. This is produced in three variants, priced from £14,000-25,000; the standard model with LED display and manual control panel; the x-motion, featuring an LCD touch screen; and top of the range, network-ready e-motion.

“These can flip between solid wood and panels, and have a cutting height of 202mm for timber, which suits the average merchant,” said Felder’s John Calverley. “A park facility for the scoring unit also means you don’t need to remove it when using large diameter saw blades.”

New at W8 from table saw maker Altendorf was its WA80X Limited Edition, based on the established WA80, but with a time-saving motorised rip fence. “Current conditions don’t seem to have impacted on entry-level or top of the range saw business, but the mid-market has been squeezed,” said Altendorf’s St John Crabtree. “This is our response. At £13,500, it’s tremendous value.”

Merchants are not among Altendorf’s biggest customers, but Mr Crabtree thought the WA80X would appeal to the particular type of business in the sector it does supply. “In London we’ve got firms putting saws in service centres for customers to use,” he said.

New software

Meanwhile, SCM has enhanced its L’invincible S16500 and S16000 table circular panel saws with the launch of Ultracut software. This instructs on panel positioning, or suggests movement of the programmed panel fence “minimising rejects and operator error”.

For companies looking to “move up from a sliding table panel saw”, Holzma proposes its new beam saws, the 3100-4300mm HPP230 and 250. The former is entry-level spec, with a 55mm saw blade projection and 40m/min program fence and 5-60m/min saw carriage speeds. The 250 has a 75mm saw blade projection and speeds of 60m/min and 5-100m/min. Both use CADmatic 4 Practiv software and Holzma’s ultra-precise mono-rail saw carriage guidance.

“Anyone struggling with panel dividing capac-ity can now upgrade to advanced beam saw technology,” said Holzma.

When it comes to band resaws, according to Mr Shopland, the trend in the merchant sector has been more compact, flexible models, but with no compromise on productivity. Stenner’s own best sellers in the sector – and merchant customers include Robbins Timber and Tidy Build (both supplied by Daltons), Alsford Timber, A&W Cushion and WP Moran – are the ST80 and ST100R models. These don’t need a pit and simply bolt to the floor. “Space is often a limitation and many merchants lease premises,” said Mr Shopland. “So, if they need to move the machine, they can.”

This appealed to Moran, according to managing director Kevin Moran. “When we’re looking at machinery requirements, we want something built to last, but also consider space, flexibility and cost,” he said.

The ST range, which doesn’t need a sound enclosure, gives 300mm saw to fence capacity and has variable feed speeds of 5-60m/min. “It also features an HMI control unit which gives a digital readout to the rip fence and governs feed speed, diagnostics and operational hours,” said Mr Dalton. “And the ST100R uses a pneumatic radial arm feed enabling it to handle longer timber.”

The band resaw which Axminster targets at the “medium-sized” merchant, and which it had front of stand at W8, is the HBR-300. It uses air-loaded pressure rollers to improve accuracy and save adjustment time.

Growing market

“The band resaw market is getting bigger and bigger,” said Axminster’s Andrew Cross. “And what people want is safety, easy to use and reliability.”

And a new piece of equipment Weinig group member Raimann maintains may suit some merchants, possibly as a band resaw alternative, is its new entry level four-blade multi-rip, the £19,850 Econorip. This features a “hydro quick clamping system” and a chain mechanism which links on prism guides so won’t “pop up”. “With timber quality declining, processors are often having to put sawn material through a straight line edger before moulding,” said Weinig’s Paul Heffernan. “With the EconoRip, that isn’t necessary.”

According to one supplier, most merchants are “fairly unambitious” when it comes to cross-cutting, generally managing with a “standard pull-out radial arm” machine. But Weinig maintains that there is a market for greater sophistication here too. Its latest model is the push-feed S90 automatic cross-cut which it describes as “ranking directly above” its previous UK big seller, the S50. The machine cuts “four times faster than a manual saw”, optimises and defects to a pre-set program and can interface with Weinig’s Mill Vision software.