Sitting at his desk in the joinery office in Baldock, Hertfordshire, managing director William Graham picked up a thick file crammed full of technical specifications from numerous sanding machine suppliers. “It’s such a big market out there that it can be a real problem deciding just which sander to buy,” he says.
Whilst checking out the many options, he discovered that TM Machinery, who had supplied his Striebig Evolution vertical panel saw, now distributes the Viet range of artisan sanders.
“As the saw was one of our best buys and we are very happy with the good level of service we receive from TM, who maintain all our machines, I went to see them about a sander and was pleased with what I saw,” says Mr Graham.
The versatile Viet S211 entry-level sander Valley Joinery bought replaced a single belt sander that had reached the end of its working life.
Featuring twin belts with two rollers and a pad for added flexibility, it’s used on both softwoods and hardwoods to finish off doors, unassembled frames, architraves, veneered boards and the many joinery items produced, in thicknesses ranging from 5 to 57mm.
“We get a better and far quicker finish with the Viet,” says Mr Graham. “Before, everything had to go through the sander twice and we often had to do some bench work to take out any cross grain. The Viet eliminates this extra work. Only one pass is needed and the components are ready to go to the paint shop to be primed, which saves us a great deal of time and effort.”
He likes the design and solid construction of the Italian-made sander. “The oscillating system is very good, it’s so quiet when in use you hardly know it’s running and the extraction is very efficient. As the calibration system is straightforward and it’s so quick and easy to change the belts, all the lads in the workshop are happy with it. It was a great buy.”
The S211 model is the smallest in the Viet artisan range, offering top sanding quality at an affordable price. It has a powerful motor and comes with a range of options to make it suitable for a wide range of applications.
Valley Joinery makes everything from windows and doors to stairs and domestic furniture. It has been in business for 16 years and has 12 employees. Amongst many prestige contracts it supplied doors and frames, door sets, a staircase and entrance lobby furniture for the main contractors carrying out a major refurbishment project at Kensington Palace, London.
