London-based furniture manufacturer, Rawside Furniture, specialises in the design and manufacture of office furniture and accessories for the contract furniture market. Driven by a love of ethically sourced materials and reclaimed woods, the high-volume manufacturer has embarked on a relationship with Swiss fixings specialist, Lamello, in a bid to streamline its assembly line and enhance its offering following the purchase of a three-axis CNC machine.
“Before we invested in our CNC machine, our products were all glued and screwed together. It was time-consuming, required a certain skill level and, once the item had been assembled, it proved difficult to flat-pack the item ready for delivery and reassembly on-site,” begins Nick Newcombe, head of design at Rawside Furniture.
Cabineo joining system in black and white
“We needed to find a fixing that could not only offer quick and easy insertion when paired with a CNC machine, but would also work effectively on high-volume orders and offer the strength and resilience needed when an item needed to be assembled multiple times. Lamello’s Cabineo CNC was a perfect fit.”
Designed to work effectively with a wide range of CNC models, from three-axis entry-level models with no end-drilling capabilities to five-axis flagship models, the Cabineo CNC could be used on Rawside’s large-format, three-axis MultiCam 3000 CNC, and controlled via its existing software, SolidWorks and SolidCam.
The Cabineo was recently put to the test when the company received an order for 2000 locker doors and 500 units
“The potential it had to streamline our production was clear from the start,” says Nick. “It was very much a plug-and-play system that needed little explanation from Lamello’s representatives. We were able to access PDF drilling patterns from Lamello’s website that gave us the dimensions we needed to get to work almost immediately. Depending on the material we are using, we occasionally change the cutting depth or size of the tool, but generally the dimensions supplied are exactly what we need to complete a job. Integration was quick and easy.”
The simplicity of the Cabineo means Rawside Furniture’s design team can use the fixing on nearly everything it creates, and openly admits it takes pride of place in its workshop. “Its modular design allows us to expand on any design we create easily, by adding Cabineo’s to the length and width of our designs. It makes volume orders and one-off orders equally as quick to set up, and because the fixing can be face-fixed, you don’t need to invest in new equipment – or, in our case, use an end-boring machine – to get results.”
The Cabineo was recently put to the test when the company received an order for 2000 locker doors and 500 units. “The shells had been designed using Cabineo fixings and were needed to hold the carcasses together,” explains Nick. “Due to their strength, we were able to reduce the number of fixings and cuts by 250, making a big difference to our bottom line and the time it took to complete the order.
Rawside's Cage System has been manufacturered using Lamello's Cabino fixings
“Without Lamello, we couldn’t have achieved the same outcome and we would have had to have relied on experienced joiners to get the results we needed within the timeframe we were given. Now, a less experienced team can work just as effectively, without jeopardising the quality. This is because Cabineo’s are fixed to the inside face, while screws and pins need to be inserted from the outside and require a lot more finishing to hide any screw holes. The Cabineo eliminates this.”
Cabineo’s time-saving credentials has enabled Rawside to create new products. Nick explains: “It works really well with thin, 12mm panels, which are notoriously difficult to screw through. Because the Cabineo has a wide screw width and bites quite deep, it’s the perfect fitting for us to use on our cage components. There’s nothing else on the market that can achieve this. We’ve also been prototyping mitre joints with the Cabineo, by doing concealed rebate steps. The possibilities are endless.
“The Cabineo has changed how we approach our work,” concludes Nick. “We can go from a prototype to something ready to assemble within a matter of hours. The same process would have taken weeks to complete if we’d been relying on screws and conventional fixings. Lamello’s CNC connectors have strengthened our practises, speeded up our production and increased our margins, allowing us to develop prototypes more efficiently and drive them to market more quickly. Thanks to Lamello’s Cabineo, you don’t need to invest in a top-of-the-range, five-axis CNC to achieve amazing results. You simply need to invest in Lamello.”
