Morbidelli m100
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Pravin Gajparia is a man that knows that he wants and importantly, knows how to get it. Already the owner of a successful, London-based construction company and development company, his next move has been to invest £1.2m in a new, 14,000 square foot workshop, to house a new joinery company, Orange Tree Joinery.
“I started Orange Tree Joinery in 2018 and it was the missing piece of the jigsaw in my construction portfolio,” begins Pravin. “My construction business was winning multimillion pound projects for a wealth of celebrities and royalty but, with no manufacturing facilities of my own, I was having to outsource highly bespoke, and often highly intricate work, to local joinery firms. This left me with little control over lead times or quality control. It seemed like a logical step to open a joinery business that could not only service my other businesses but also make a name for itself as a high-end, bespoke joinery firm in its own right.”
Drilling and milling tools
With Pravin at the helm, Orange Tree Joinery was never going to be a run-of-the-mill joinery shop. He had a vision: he wanted to offer architects, designer and specifiers complete creative freedom, with zero design limitations. “I’m a firm believer that anything is possible when you have the very best products to hand,” says Pravin. “I only wanted to partner with innovative businesses and only use the very best equipment.”
This resulted in the company investing in a range of machinery from SCM, including two CNC’s – a three-axis N100 and five-axis Morbidelli M100 – which would be teamed with Lamello’s unique CNC joining solution, the Cabineo 12, to create strong, seamless joins without the need for screws or glues.
Cabineo in white and black
“In order for me to make my vision happen, I needed to make my machinery operators and fitters lives easier,” says Pravin. “With new CNC’s ordered and SolidWorks software in place, I needed a connector that could be integrated into my processes easily. It needed to be suitable for surface machining, work efficiently without the need for additional drill holes in the edge and offer innovative solutions to tricky designs. The Cabineo 12 was exactly what I was looking for.”
The one-part connector, which has been designed for dividing panels from 24mm and corner joints from 13mm, offered the design versatility and aesthetics Pravin was looking for. As well as offering precise alignment without additional alignment elements, the Cabineo 12 offers more efficient production, faster installation and a higher clamping force when compared to standard cam and dowel fittings.
“It’s streamlined our production, reduced handling and it’s halved the time our fitters need on site,” says Pravin. “This significant time-saving advantage saves on labour and, because the Cabineo 12 is so simple to connect, mistakes are a thing of the past.”
The introduction of Lamello’s CNC connector also offer even more design possibilities. Pravin says: “The Cabineo is known to be a brilliant aid for joining carcasses but we’re using it on so much more, including on Hi-Macs and solid quartz. We’re regularly using it on Corian kitchen islands, vanity units and bar fronts, too. It offers exceptional strength and you won’t find a screw in site. It has the ability to help us create anything. So much so, we’ve just won a contract to design two exhibition stands that will be built solely with Lamello’s connectors. We’ll be using five of Lamello’s connectors in total – including the magnet driven Invis Mx2, Tenso P and Divario P – to create a plug and play stand. Lamello was the only option for this.”
Going forward, Pravin is on track to double the number of projects he’s completing in the next 12-months. Pravin adds: “We’re currently buying 40,000 Lamello fixings a year but I can see us doubling this due to a very buoyant market. I set out to be different to everybody else and to offer my customers a service they simply cannot find elsewhere. I’m confident I’m achieving this thanks to a fleet of cutting-edge machinery, strong relationships with my suppliers and the use of premium products like Lamello.
