Planing and profiling with WEINIG in industry and trade: Perfect surfaces, very short setup times

Alois Prader GmbH is fighting back against the quick-turnaround wood industry with quality. The firm compensates for its disadvantages in terms of location with modern, customized production technology.

The wild and beautiful Villnöss Valley, home of the extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner, is also home to Prader. However, holidaymakers' joy is a wood processor's sorrow: The mountain timber takes twice as long to grow as that on the lowlands and is destroyed by the mass-produced wood industry, says Managing Director Peter Prader, voicing his frustration. To assert themselves, Prader invested in new production technology. The objective was to increase value creation while maintaining top quality, an extensive product range and the shortest possible delivery times. The centerpiece of the production line is two Weinig planers. While the old machine is used for special applications, the new investment is purely aimed at productivity and flexibility. This is achieved via 11 shafts, "floating spindles", which allow the lowest possible chip removal thickness, and a tilting cleaving saw unit, which allows several workpieces to be produced in a single pass. The results speak for themselves – Prader are doing brisk business. And the quality has also impressed the die-hard wood enthusiast: With Weinig technology, we get surfaces that are so good, our scanner detects significantly more defects than previously, said Peter Prader. His verdict on the new planing line: We are better and significantly more productive and the flexibility it has given us has opened up new markets.

Efficient, simple to operate and safe to handle: Upper Austrian carpenter Holztrattner has acquired a compact, rapid and practical planer in the WEINIG Cube.

Holztrattner is a company with a long-distance effect, one might say. When approaching by car on the highway, you can already see a large sign from some distance away that reads: “Holztrattner. Your master carpenter with ideas." And Herbert Holztrattner certainly has some ideas: Living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms – the carpenter and his team cover the full spectrum of interior fittings. We can even fit out entire houses, says Holztrattner, who founded his company as a one-man operation in 1990.

EXPORT HIT: GARDEN FURNITURE
The 46-year-old, who completed his apprenticeship in cabinet-making, started out primarily with restoration work. The business has since steadily grown to a 12-strong workforce, including son Jürgen – also a trained carpenter – who has worked in the business for years. Restoration work is now just a small part of the workload. In addition to the core business of interior fittings, Holztrattner has also designed and produced its own garden furniture for a number of years. The garden swings produced by the carpenter have proven a real export hit. Holztrattner's first design was actually "only" a birthday present for his wife. However, the resourceful master carpenter has since developed the garden seating with characteristic C-shaped side rails and arm rests, improving the design, and even received a design award in 2003. The model is now sold with great success to Poland and East Frisia.

BY TRADITION: WEINIG
As a carpenter who works with solid wood, Holztrattner also has a planer in the workshop. For 17 years, the Quattromat 18 four-sided planer from WEINIG gave him good service. However, last year, he took the decision to acquire a new machine. Once again, he opted for a WEINIG machine: The Cube, unveiled by the wood machinery manufacturer at the Ligna trade fair in Hanover last year. In addition to the machine's qualities in terms of precision, Holztrattner was particularly impressed by its user-friendliness: “You don't have to adjust anything. The whole machine can be practically operated via a touchscreen. Even our apprentice in his first year can already use it.” The planer is delivered ready to plug in, meaning that it can be immediately put into operation once set up. Additional training
was not necessary.

HIGH-TECH PLANING
Now, everybody in the business – including the boss – occasionally uses the Cube, which does S4S in a single pass while also making work easier with a range of additional practical features: The WEINIG EasyLock system allows quick blade changes with little intervention inside the machine. Dimensions can be changed while the machine is operating at the push of a button while the so-called MoulderPreView projects the spindle settings onto the workpiece by laser, allowing further optimization before machining. Herbert Holztrattner has also customized his new Cube visually: The machine exterior proudly bears a prominent company logo and motto. That way, the "master carpenter with ideas" is ever-present both in the factory as well as further afield.

Text and cover picture Thomas Prlic, Tischler Journal

A traditional 'beer mat calculation'* made Werner Eichelbrönner curious. And after a test, he did not want to hand the Cube back. Read more about his experiences.

Werner Eichelbrönner set up his business in Schwanfeld, Lower Franconia in 1999. Despite some difficult times at the outset, the master joiner remained true to his love of high-quality products in solid wood. Today, individuality is highly sought-after, particularly in the joinery's core business of interior fittings. With three master craftsmen in the company, Werner Eichelbrönner places great value on the internal know-how of his team from cutting to assembly. Our customers know that we think pro-actively during projects. That is the way is should stay, underlines the company boss.

*typical German method of making a quick and simple financial calculation.

Peter Weller says: "If I want an entire concept, there is no alternative to Weinig."

The idea started in Hamburg. The production was outsourced to MeckPom. Using outsiders has really given the company a boost. But the Dauerholz decking boards are an obvious hot topic.

A few years ago, a Hamburg carpenter made a sensational discovery: Unlike similar preservatives, hot wax seeps into the core of the wood ensuring genuine deep protection. The researcher found bold investors who believed in the idea, primarily because the outdoor area, with decking and construction timber, provides vast scope for ecological wax-impregnated wood with its high resistance to weathering, moisture and pest infestations. A production plant was built in the perfect spot in Dabel near Schwerin.

The customized Dauerholz production line was designed and installed in close cooperation with the project specialists at Weinig Concept. As well as a planing and profiling machine, a high-speed optimizing cross-cut saw, a curve cross-cut saw, a scanner and a finger-jointing line, the site also includes a tool grinder machine from the Weinig portfolio. “We wanted to keep the entire process in-house as well as being completely autonomous in terms of tool preparation,” says Peter Weller, explaining the decision.

Dauerholz placed greatest emphasis on optimization of wood recovery and finishing. We performed a recovery analysis and established that we had more than halved cutting losses, reports Peter Weller. This success is also partly attributable to the new moulder. The moulder is equipped with “floating” vertical spindles whose flexible bearings allow it to follow the natural curvature of the wood over long lengths. This prevents “snipes” and “dips” on either end of the work piece and eliminates finish planing with further chip removal.