We are often asked about how our products are made and what process goes on within our production floor to create such high-quality finishes. We’d love to show you!
There are many areas within our production floor, including product samples, timber sorting, moulding line, paint line, veneer line, track and clip line, warehousing and despatch.
In this blog we explain in detail what happens at each stage of the production process, so get ready for a look behind the scenes! Below you can start off with a high-level tour of our production floor.
VIEW OUR PRODUCTION PROCESS TOUR
Samples Shed
First up is the product samples. Located in what we call the Samples Shed, the space is filled with endless timber and aluminium products; a Sculptform ‘lolly shop’ of sorts you could say!
Lachie is our resident Sample Maker and takes care to ensure that every sample we send out (and there are a lot!) is carefully put together to ensure our clients recieve an accurate indication of what the end product will look like. This is where our product manufacturing ultimately begins, as the right product design has to be chosen for a project. Watch a tour of the space below.
LACHIE’S TOUR OF PRODUCT SAMPLES
Timber Sorting
In the timber sorting area, planks of raw timber get neatly stacked onto pallets so that they are easily transported to the kiln to dry out and then to the timber moulding line.
This is also a spot where they can find any timber defects early on in the process and ensure timber is of a high-quality.
Timber Moulding
The Moulding Line is where all of our timber Click-on Battens, Click-on Screens and Tongue and Groove Cladding is shaped into the desired profiles and given a smooth finish, ready for the Paint and Coating Line.
A spindle moulder machine is responsible for moulding each piece of timber. Each piece is cut with a cutter head attachment to create the desired profile.
We have a range of cutters depending on the profile needed. For the moulder to machine a piece of timber through the cutting knives, it needs to have a flat surface on all four sides.
The machine consists of a very heavy steel base for stability. Through the top houses a vertical spindle, onto which is bolted a block containing the cutters. The spindle is controlled by a mechanism which determines how much and where the cutter profile cuts the timber.
Often products with a custom profile are chosen to achieve the desired design intent for a project. The good news is that custom profiles can be quick to turnaround and are complimentary for large projects.
Josh is the Moulding Line Team Leader and has been with us for over 19 years, view a tour of his area below.
JOSH’S TOUR OF THE MOULDING LINE
Paint & Coating Line
The Paint & Coating Line is where we apply coatings and paint to our timber products. This line is responsible for providing the perfect finish on our range, ensuring paint/coating is evenly spread to enhance the natural beauty of timber.
Each piece of timber is fed through a rough sander initially, then onto a finer grain sander. After this it goes through the first spray booth where it is coated in sealer, then it dries for around 3 minutes in an oven to set the sealer. It then recieves a light sand again, and then gets put on a stacking rail to dry.
Sean is one of our master coaters, you can view his walkthrough of the area below.
WATCH SEAN’S TOUR OF THE PAINT & COATING LINE
Track & Clip Line
The Track & Clip Line is where our range of mounting tracks get our prorietary clips attached to them at pre-specified intervals, ready for our range of Click-on products to click onto them.
We place over a million clips onto tracks every year, so this is a very busy area! The clips for our Click-on connection are a patented design created by us. We even created our own unique machinery to place the clips onto the tracks, with some finishing touches needed to be done by hand.
Krys, our Track, Clip and Veneer Line Team Leader knows the area like the back of her hand! Take a look below at her detailed tour through the area.
TRACK, CLIP & VENEER LINE TOUR
Veneer Line
The Veneer Line is where our aluminium products, such as Click-on Cladding and Click-on Screens get covered in our Real Timber Veneer and Wood Finish range.
Our range of Wood Finish aluminium uses a thin vinyl coating which is wrapped around the aluminium battens. Printed on this coating is a photorealistic timber look pattern to provide a real timber aesthetic. We offer a range of timber species wood finishes which can accurately reflect the natural grain and textural patterns, and on request, we can match existing colours or discuss any particular requirements.
Real Timber Veneer consists of 0.5mm thick slices of timber applied to the surface of an aluminium batten. It is only suitable for internal applications. This is a more time consuming finish as additional attention to detail is needed to ensure the pieces of timber are perfectly applied, but the results speak for themselves!
TRACK, CLIP & VENEER LINE TOUR
Warehouse and Despatch
Within the warehouse we store our orders and other materials needed for production. This is also an area where our orders get packaged ready for dispatch and sent on to their given project site.
We are very careful with how our products are packaged so they have the best chance of arriving safely to site. All of our packs have bearers between each layer of product so that they can be accessed by forklift for loading to and from trucks. The mounting tracks are packed separately to the battens so they are easily locatable.
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