Established in 1945, Kündig is widely recognised as one of the most experienced and highest-quality manufacturers of wide-belt and edge-sanding machinery. Kündig has two manufacturing plants: one in Switzerland, which is also its headquarters and where the R&D and special projects are developed; the other in Gotha, Germany, where the production of the standard wide-belt and edge-sanding machinery takes place.
In today’s market, where manufacturers are facing all sorts of different challenges in generating the right surface finish, Kündig has the experience to respond, and to offer a solution to what is seen by many as near impossible.
The Kündig Flash is specially designed for edge lacquer sanding
Where first impressions count, manufacturers strive to achieve that ‘something special’ when it comes to surface finishing, and this is exactly why some of the world’s leading manufacturers of grand pianos have researched the market and commissioned Kündig to produce sanding machines to generate a perfectly flat surface and give intermediary sanding, building up to a high-gloss finish where any imperfection would stand out and not be accepted.
Other companies which have faced challenges have needed sanding accuracy to +/- 0.02mm, and turned to Kündig to meet the tight tolerances for final product. These machines are typically used in the automotive industry, but have also been installed for manufacturers looking to calibrate brake discs for commercial aircraft, insulation materials, plastics, etc.
Kündig builds machines for all the sanding applications and materials one could possibly think of - be it sanding with tolerances of just hundredths of millimetres, structuring with great reproducibility, sanding of abrasive materials, or contouring with the help of CNC sanding technology.
Of course, the more familiar application for Kündig is in the woodworking industry, where its fixed-bed design has proven to give long-term accuracy – being fixed to the machine frame, with a sanding group that raises and lowers. This system has proven to be especially beneficial for calibrating heavy components – typically fire doors, where the fixed bed cannot move despite the weight of the door or the amount of pressure generated during sanding.
This fixed-bed system is also a huge benefit for veneer sanding, where veneer-cutting technology has increased, making the thickness of veneers smaller and smaller, hence making sanding accuracy more important than ever.
To cater for a wider part of the market, Kündig recently celebrated its 75th anniversary with the introduction of the new Kündig Master, which offers an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution. The idea behind it was to produce a more cost-effective machine while still keeping to all the traditional values associated with Kündig.
The machine is produced in the same factory as the Premium, Brilliant and Perfect models, but is manufactured to a standard configuration to allow serial production, hence reducing the costs to produce. The Master has a generous 1350mm working width, two sanding heads – first a contact roller, followed by a finishing pad, which is available for solid wood or as a segmented pad for sanding veneers.
The Brilliant series of machines is aimed at those looking to achieve the highest possible quality of surface finish. By simply placing the abrasive at a 10° angle eradicates the wavy scratch pattern inherently shown on traditional-style sanding machines. These machines are available in widths of 1100, 1350 and 1600mm as standard, and as either single- or multi-head machines.
In recent times, Kündig has seen a substantial increase in the demand for purpose-made machines throughout different industries. Typical of this is a recent delivery to a company which wanted a machine to calibrate five-piece doors ready to go straight to spraying, to then denib and also have the possibility of creating a rustic-style surface with a bandsaw finish.
The answer was a four-head sanding machine, having contact roller, oblique sanding pad and cross belt to sand the rails – or alternatively using a 16-grit belt to create the rustic surface, followed by a carousel brush unit to sand into the profiles and soften the edges.
Despite the situation last year, Kündig has seen growth in sales, both in the UK and in other markets, and, in other news, will be shortly relocating to offer better demonstration facilities … more to follow.
0845 833 0565
www.kündig.com
