For nearly 25 years Masterwood has been supplying machines into the UK and Ireland and now has over 380 customers operating its CNC machines. A high percentage of these customers is producing bespoke joinery where most of the products they manufacture will be one-offs.
“Our joinery customers range from a two man company, up to multi-national companies but all have seen the benefits of the CNC machines we have supplied,” explains Masterwood’s Dave Kennard. “ Much of this is due to the developments that have allowed these customers to manufacture their products in the traditional ways, like with mortise and tenon joints.”
Over the years Masterwood says it has developed many leading technologies for solid timber production, including large diameter tooling, automatic bed setting systems, patented clamping systems, direct drive horizontal routers, larger working heights, and most importantly, fully-compatible software which allows multiple components to be optimised on to a machine bed.
“For example,” says Dave, “any type of window can be designed in minutes within the MasterWindow software. This will then allow a single window, or a batch of windows, to be optimised on to the machine bed, once the required program is selected at the CNC it will automatically position each support arm and every clamp ready for the operator to load all the components, so it takes just a few minutes to go from screen to machine.”
Masterwood’s early ventures into solid timber were with the MUTI oscillating chisel mortises, and they are still considered today by many as the best of their kind.
The Muti mortisers are still produced by Masterwood from the basic OMB1v vertical machine with pull down handle through to fully CNC controlled versions with various mortise and router options available.
Masterwood has been involved with stair and window software for over 18 years which has allowed the company to create the right package for its customers and support them with its wide range of knowledge and experience.
With over 150 companies in the UK and Ireland making stairs and windows using Masterwood’s CNCs and software, it has proved just how important it is to have the correct and compatible software to ensure operators get the best results from their CNC. Since the first developments with MasterSystem CAD/CAM back in the 1990s, Masterwood has continued to develop the software side of the business to ensure that, as a complete package, the company can ensure that its customers get the best results.
“From our current MasterWorks Cad/Cam that comes with all our machines,” explains Dave, “we can then provide a full range of software options to cover just about any products including staircases, solid timber framed doors, solid core doors, sliding sash windows, louvre frames, roofs, any size or shape of window, door sets, cabinets, and furniture.”
The Masterwood CNC range has increased over the years to cover all areas of production with three-, four-, and five-axis machines along with dedicated machines like the 4WIN for window and door production, the DoorLine and Project Door for solid core door servicing, and the Teknomat and MultiMill machines for window, door frames, and door components.
With all these machines, the layout is designed to ensure the customer can create products in the most economical way, for one-offs or larger batches. Most of these machines can be combined into fully automated production lines, often with only one or two operators to produce hundreds of finished components or products per day.
