www.furnitureproduction.net44 INSTALLATION

Installation of the five-axis CNC machining centre was completed towards the end of 2015 and today, after mastering some of the infinite possibilities achievable with the Accord 25 FX, Advanced Joinery is utilising its full potential in production of high quality, bespoke architectural windows and doors.

Lee Ellis, MD at Advanced Joinery, began his career in the woodworking industry as a classically trained furniture maker, and his knowledge of timber and timber processing gained in these early years, together with a natural eye for detail, have been the foundation for his success with the business he has created and manages ‘hands-on’ today.

In the early 1990s, Lee recognised that there was a growing market for high-performance timber windows and doors and, turning his focus from furniture making to bespoke joinery, he established The Joinery Shop based in a garage workshop in the village of Aylsham.

During the following two decades the business evolved from a small, one-man-band operation to become a successful commercial enterprise with an efficient and enthusiastic team of joiners, sprayers, fitters and office staff.

The company has a strong client base of both trade and private customers throughout eastern England, and is ideally located in proximity to conservation areas where traditional wooden joinery is an essential requirement for building

improvement, restoration and new build.The expanding business was outgrowing the

small workshop and, in 2014, Lee made the decision to make a move to larger premises – the planned move also precipitated a change in the company name to Advanced Joinery (East) Ltd, and the business was relocated to a 7000ft2 industrial unit in nearby Marsham.

Following the move to new premises, demand for the company’s products has increased exponentially and, although the well-organised workshop was already equipped with an impressive array of SCM machinery – including a T130 spindle moulder, Sandya 300 belt sander, F41 Nova planer moulder and a Compact NTE five-head moulder, which all contributed to the

Norfolk-based company Advanced Joinery has nothing but praise for its new SCM Accord 25 FX.

Advanced approval for SCM Accord

Lee Ellis, MD at Advanced Joinery, is full of praise for the new SCN Accord 25 FX CNC machining centre

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www.furnitureproduction.net INSTALLATION 45

company’s core production – there was a clear need for investment in machinery that could cope with the increase in business volume.

Lee comments: “Advanced Joinery is renowned for its quality products, so a key criterion for any investment in new machinery, to increase production speed and capacity, was that our finished product quality would not be compromised.”

Because of Lee’s longstanding relationship with SCM Group UK, he had no hesitation in contacting industrial sales manager Ian McCarthy to discuss the company’s requirements for a production machine that could take Advanced Machinery’s capabilities to a new level.

This was going to represent a major step forward for Advanced Joinery and Lee spent several months exploring the various machine options available from SCM. Finally, following a visit to the group’s headquarters and demonstration centre in Rimini, Italy, the decision was made to proceed with the investment in a new five-axis Accord 25 FX CNC machining centre.

However, this was just the start of a journey for Lee and the team: “Acquiring a new set of IT skills was a daunting prospect,” admits Lee, “but the hard work and effort is really paying dividends. We now have a wide range of standard profiles and designs that can be re-sized to suit any dimensional requirements, or readily customised for bespoke projects.”

SCM has a close working relationship with leading CAD-CAM software provider Kosmosoft which specialises in custom solutions for the window and door manufacturing sector. “Installing the Kosmosoft software was an obvious choice for Advanced Joinery, says Lee, “and, although the learning curve was a steep one, we were supported all the way by SCM, and Kosmosoft have been very helpful.”

The Accord 25 FX provides strong performance and is designed specifically to fulfil the demanding requirements of small-to medium-sized workshops. Combining high-tech performance with intuitive, user-friendly operation, the Accord 25 FX has the flexibility and capability for high quality machining of panels, doors, windows, stairs, and complex solid wood components, as well as machining a variety of other materials such as composites, plastics and light alloys.

The Accord 25 FX can be specified in a wide range of standard sizes and the mobile gantry allows precision machining across the entire bed. Advanced Joinery opted for an X-Y machining area of 5020 x 1680mm, with the capacity for machining large workpieces up to 250mm high in the Z axis.

The Accord 25 FX is ergonomically designed and combines high speed operation with total operator safety, whilst allowing maximum access to the worktable; during machining operations the gantry travels the length of the bed at a top speed of 60m/min but contact with the advanced patented safety bumpers instantly reduces travel to 25m/min.

Where installation space allows, horizontal photocells can also be specified as an option to cut machine speed if the operator steps within a metre of the machine. The air-conditioned electrical control box is integrated into the machine bed which enables a compact overall machine size – particularly important for the smaller workshop where installation space is often limited.

The Accord 25 FX can be specified with either

Setting clamps for irregular-shaped workpieces is completed in seconds

The Accord 25 FX can machine a complex sash window frame section in just eight minutes

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www.furnitureproduction.net46 INSTALLATION

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automatic, semi-automatic or manual positioning of workpiece support bars, and switching between clamps or suction cups is achieved quickly and easily with accessories being released at the press of a button. Alternatively, the machining centre can be supplied with a multi-function aluminium worktable with a sophisticated suction system allowing optimum hold-down for production of nested components, and equally effi cient positioning and removal of suction cups and other jigs or fi xing devices.

At Advanced Joinery the machine specifi cation included eight automatic bars, which are all independently driven by a rack and pinion direct transmission system, and each of the eight bars

are fi tted with three motorised bases for support clamps and suction cups – all of which are equipped with cleaning blowers to clear chips and dust during machining.

The Prisma KT machining head, with fi ve interpolating axes, is equipped with an 11kW electrospindle capable of rotation speeds from 600 to 18,000rpm, and is fi xed directly to the mobile gantry to guarantee maximum strength and torque during routing, facilitating high levels of stock removal, when necessary, and achieving the highest quality fi nish. The geometry of the Prisma head also allows machining up to 10o below the workpiece support level.

For tooling, Lee Ellis has worked closely with

Oertli UK which has assisted the company with the manufacture of a complex range of cutting tools, specifi cally designed to accomplish Advanced Joinery’s requirements for production of both traditional and contemporary windows and doors.

“We have a total of 44 individual tools available to us,” explains Lee, “and many of the individual tools incorporate several discreet cutting profi les which provides us with almost infi nite fl exibility to create intricate designs or replicate historical features for architectural restoration projects.”

The tools are arranged in two banks – one to the right hand side of the machine, where 12 regular tools are stored, and a further 32 tools stored in the automatic tool-changer which travels in tandem with the moving gantry for rapid tool changes on the fl y.

“We are delighted with the new Accord,” says Lee, “the combination of the machining technology, the software, and our own creativity, allows us to create stunning windows, doors, arches and, more importantly, we can reproduce the same pieces, exactly matching, and in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional joinery methods. Now we are up to speed with operating knowledge and tooling, we conservatively predict that this investment could enable us to double current turnover.”

Ian McCarthy concludes: “It has been a pleasure dealing with Advanced Joinery – Lee’s outlook is progressive and forward-looking and he has, without doubt, maximised the benefi ts afforded by the investment in CNC technology.”0115 977 0044scmgroup.me.uk

Architectural features, such as bespoke arched window frames, are now all in a day’s work for Advanced Joinery

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