Edgebanders

London-based bespoke furniture manufacturer, HILL + HURL, understands what it takes to create beautiful residential furniture.

Offering a complete service – from design conception to installation – its manufacturing capabilities need to remain as fluid as their designs and investing in the right machinery to maintain its high standards is a must.

That’s why, when the company’s old edgebander was no longer able to keep up, HILL + HURL turned to Holz-Her UK to supply a brand-new Auriga 1308 XL edgebander.

“Our last edgebander was troublesome to say the least,” begins Alex Watson, Bench Joiner at HILL + HURL. “To compensate for its shortfalls, we’d spend inordinate amounts of time finishing every panel by hand. We’d use coloured glues to try and disguise the glue lines and have to wax every panel to get the desired results. I’ve lost track of how many Stanley blades we’d go through every month removing excess glue from boards and perfecting each edge. Then there were the painfully slow heat-up times to contend with, the inflexible and inconsistent machining, and the lengthy clean-down process. We were fighting a losing battle.”

Three-minute heat up time

Hill & Hurl’s requirements were clear: “We needed an edgebander that could offer us quick and precise application on a wide range of materials, from standard 18mm MDF and plywood to expensive veneers, textured boards and Valchromat – an eco-friendly MDF board. We also knew that we’d benefit from a higher degree of automation – especially when it came to machine set-up – and needed a quicker solution for cleaning the glue pot. As soon as we saw the Auriga 1308 XL and its Glu Jet system in action, we knew it was exactly what we needed.”

The compact Auriga 1308 XL – which comes with three finishing systems and features a rotating 21.5in touch-screen control panel for simple operation – hasn’t disappointed and has helped the company make immediate savings on both production time and labour. “The heat-up time on our old edgebander was crazy. We could be waiting up to 45 minutes for the glue to reach temperature – especially in the winter months. The Glu Jet’s heat-up time is phenomenal. According to Holz-Her, users can expect a three-minute heat up time but that’s really only on a very cold day. More often than not, it’s ready within two minutes, which allows us to work much more efficiently.”

Streamlined machining

Alex continues: “Before we had the Auriga, we had zero production flexibility and programming was a very manual process. Our fitters could be waiting up to 90 minutes for a damaged panel to be re-edged before going back to site. Or worse, if we were using a different glue colour the day they came in, the panel wouldn’t be able to be re-edged until the glue pot had been cleaned out – meaning an overnight wait. It was painful.”

This exposed the furniture manufacturer to potential delays and increased labour costs. Now, thanks to its three-minute heat-up time and ability to switch between edging tapes and materials, a new or modified panel can be completed within minutes. Plus, its stored programmes and fast setting technology – fa.s.t. – make it possible to perform various operations simultaneously for streamlined machining.

For machinery operator, Ben Samuels, the worst part was emptying the old edgebander’s glue pot. “We still get nightmares about it,” he laughs. “The manual told us to put sticks in the glue pot and solidify the glue around it. In theory, once the glue had dried overnight, it should have come out in a big block, but in reality, it came out more like chewing gum and left a burnt, sticky residue on the bottom. We hated cleaning it and this took ages. Now, we no longer have to use such primitive techniques to keep our machine clean; we simple push a button and Holz-Her’s four-minute automatic cleaning cycle starts.”

The Auriga can machine panel thickness from 8-60mm, edge thicknesses from 0.4-8mm and offers a feed rate of up to 10m/min, making it suitable for a wide range of applications. Alex comments: “We’ve edged materials as thin an 9mm and as thick as 54mm. I must admit, I’m surprised how versatile this machine has turned out to be. It’s definitely given us scope to grow our product offering.”

IntelliSet intelligent tool correction

The team also has more confidence when working with challenging materials like textured board thanks to the edgebander’s IntelliSet intelligent tool correction – a feature that allows intuitive adjustment of all milling and scraper operations. “The old machine would ignore any texture and eat through veneer,” explains Alex. “It was impossible to edge a nice radius and it required us to hand finish each edge. However, the tracing shoe automatically adapts to the thickness of a panel and compensates for any tolerances.”

There were similar issues with matt board, too. “This extremely delicate material is supplied with a 0.5mm plastic film on its edge, which offers protection from scratches and dirty marks. However, this does mean some variation in thickness is to be expected. To reduce the risk of damaged panels, we’d run multiple test pieces through the machine – wasting time and material – and more often than not, still having to hand finish each piece. Thankfully, we no longer need to do this. The Auriga handles the material much more gently and its finishing units are exceptional.”

No more visible glue lines

It’s also eliminated the issue of visible glue lines. “We no longer need to stock coloured glues to combat a visible glue line as the Auriga edges each panel with a near invisible glue line. We use EVA from Jowat, which works beautifully with the Auriga. It only heats what’s needed so it doesn’t affect the strength or colour of the glue and it applies the right amount of glue automatically. This alone has reduced post-production times by at least 50% and has significantly reduced material waste.”

So, how simple is the Auriga to use? Owen Wilson, HILL + HURL’s new Operations Manager, has been using the Auriga for two weeks and can vouch for its simplicity. “It’s certainly not difficult to use and you don’t need a lot of experience, either. After a week, I was pretty confident on the basics and I’ve been running different sized panels through the machine quite easily. The more intricate workings of the machine will follow, but for now, the edgebander’s automatic set-up options and touch-screen PC make it intuitive to use. It just makes sense.”

Raising the furniture design bar

Between them, the men in the workshop have used eight different edgebanders and without hesitation, have agreed that the Auriga was the best they’d come across. “It’s not only built to last, but everything is in the right place and easy to get your head around,” says Alex. “It’s a straightforward piece of kit that, when you look at the amount of technology and innovation in its design, shouldn’t be straightforward at all. The technology works and because of that, we can now edge, wrap and clean in less than half the time.”

On a final note, Alex says: “Engineering aside, Holz-Her’s service needs a mention because they’ll always go the extra mile. We have a group chat with an edging specialist and if we come up against a problem or have a question, he’ll reply within a few hours with a full video walk through. No ticketing system, no annoying chat bots – an actual human who’s willing to help. It’s the best kind of customer service you can get. Teamed with a pretty awesome machine, Holz-Her is a great package for companies looking to raise the bar in furniture design and we couldn’t be happier.”

For more information on Holz-Her’s new Auriga 1308 XL edgebander and other machinery, visit www.holzher.co.uk.