RAIN NEVER STOPS PLAY NOW!
When he started the business, Bob Kingsbury, owner of the joinery, used a hand-held circular saw and trestles to cut boards to size, trimming down smaller pieces on a table saw. Because of limited space in the workshop, the initial cutting on the trestles had to take place outside.
This approach, used by joiners, carpenters and others across the world, has three key limitations, as Bob recalled. “Firstly, rain stopped play,” he said. “When you’re cutting sheets outside, you’re completely at the mercy of the weather.
“Secondly, cutting a board on trestles accurately with a hand- held circular saw is not the easiest or quickest thing in the world, especially when doing repeat cuts. And, thirdly, manhandling heavy 8ft x 4ft MDF sheets onto trestles is di cult, and probably quite dangerous.”
Given these limitations, Bob knew he needed a better solution for cut- ting sheet materials. Checking out the machines available on the web led him to Sagetech Machinery’s website and the company’s Koolkut range.
“It came down largely to size and price,” he noted. “Limited workshop space was one of the reasons I needed a vertical panel saw in the first place, and the new machine had to fit – and be usable – in a particularly, rather tight, space.”
Sagetech Machinery’s Koolkut KK12 proved the ideal match for Bob’s requirements. A moving column unit, the KK12 fitted perfectly in the space Bob had available, and remains exceedingly compact even in use. It carries a head-turning price tag, too, as Bob observed: “I did look at some cheaper units, but they were all fixed-column machines, which would have required more working space.”
The KK12 is one of six units in the Koolkut range, which have been designed for light to medium industrial use, particularly by those with limited workshop space. Despite being very competitively priced these are high-quality machines, built to last, delivering years of accurate, fast and easy cutting.
The range caters for sheet sizes from 8ft x 4ft through to 3 m x 2m, capable of taking ‘jumbo’ sheets and worktops.
For those with very limited space of low workloads, Sagetech Machinery’s Zapkut range offers a range of vertical panel saws, including what is believed to be the only genuinely portable unit available on the market today.
Features offered by the Koolkut range include the ability to cut bevels, simple and compound angles to the full width and length of the sheet.
Each machine comes with quick stop, built-in scales for easy dimensioning and a midway fence for smaller workpieces. Koolkuts can cut timber products and non-ferrous metals, as well as sign making materials including acrylics and composites like Dibond — Sagetech sells many machines into the sign making industry.
Kingsbury Joinery cuts some 15-20 8ft x 4ft sheets each week on its Koolkut KK12 — typically birch ply, MDF and chipboard. Asked about how the Koolkut has improved things at Kingsbury Joinery,
Bob was enthusiastic. “Rain never stops play now, and the entire cutting process has become easier. Getting sheets on and off the Koolkut’s vertical cutting platform is much easier than with trestles, repeat cuts are a doddle, and there’s much less wastage: previously I had to cut sheets roughly to size on the trestles and then trim them down more accurately on the table saw. There’s just no need for all that with the Koolkut’s accuracy.”
Bob also noted that the Koolkut has allowed him to run a genuinely one-man operation: cutting even heavy sheets on the Koolkut is a one-man job, in large part because of the vertical handling, which is so much easier than the horizontal handling required when using trestles or a table saw. The saw has also proved to be highly reliable. “It’s brilliant value for money and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I’d definitely recommend it,” he summed up.