Timber companies in the UK are becoming more conscious of environmental needs, and are focusing on ways to reduce waste and increase timber yield in the solid wood manufacturing process.

One such company, Specialist Joinery (South), which has an impeccable track record on many bespoke prestigious contracts, has established a subsidiary, The Green-Wood Company, to specialise in this field.
The Green-Wood Company uses high quality, durable hardwoods, engineered timber and Accoya for its products which include windows, doors, conservatories and stairs. Environment-friendly timber and manufacturing methods have a high priority.
“Accoya is the Gold standard in wood modification and is the result of more than 75 years development work,” says David Pattenden, the managing director of Specialist Joinery (South). “It uses high-performance, engineered, sustainable timber which creates joinery products that will outlast and outperform others, with a 50 years credible guarantee against rot and decay.”
He continues: “The major benefits of Accoya include class-one durability, exceptional coating performance, stability, and it is a truly sustainable plantation timber.”
Weinig machines, recently installed at the specialist joinery, are key to processing its timber and to obtain maximum yield from it. Two of the machines to be used for this are the Raimann FlexiRip saw for width optimising and the Dimter OptiCut S 50 cross-cut saw for length optimising and defecting.
“We needed reliable new technology machinery to keep timber wastage to a minimum and to achieve fast, accurate production with quick setting-up features for short runs,” says Pattenden. “Prompt and efficient after-sales support is a high priority, because excessive downtime would be a major problem for us. In fact, a dependable support service is absolutely crucial to meet our busy production requirements and honour delivery times. The main reason for choosing Weinig as our production partner is their proven service track record on the Profimat moulder installed a few years ago.”
Since the Raimann machine has been installed, it has performed according to expectations. “The Raimann saw,” says Pattenden, “is simple to operate, saves time, and manual handling. Its laser is very useful to minimise waste and gives a better yield. Operator training was excellent and we are very pleased with its performance”.
Pattenden adds: “The Dimter OptiCut S 50 has only been installed a few weeks and we still have to see all the potential benefits that can be achieved. Our machinists are on an early learning curve, but I am sure the OptiCut has good potential and will deliver great savings in waste. Our present off-cut waste is of the order of £35,000 to £45,000 per year ($71,000 to $92,000) in value, so there are big savings to be had. We can already see how fast and accurate it is, and another major benefit to us is that our cross-cut lists can be downloaded from the office.”
Additional Weinig machinery installed includes a computerised template maker and OptiControl measuring stand to upgrade the toolroom and to bring all tooling work in-house for better control and efficiency. Other investments are planned in the future to bring in more new technology from Weinig, with a special eye on the environment.