PW&SS July 2011:Layout 1 - PAWPRINT PUBLISHING

NEWS
Gopak installs Morbidelli CNC machining centre
GOPAK Ltd, established in 1954, is
a UK market leader in the design,
manufacture and supply of lightweight
aluminium folding tables.
Based in Hythe, Kent, Gopak is
currently expanding its business
by increasing its 65,000 ft 2 factory
to accommodate a new SCM Morbidelli
CNC machining centre,
model Universal HP Edge.
Although folding tables are still
Gopak’s main production, the
company also manufactures
benches and market chairs and
ancillary equipment for schools,
colleges, studios, the National
Trust, prisons, the BBC, etc., the
majority of its deliveries being
within the UK but with a small
amount of exports.
Gopak is continually looking at
designing and manufacturing additional
products to compliment
its range. “Enviro” is a new range of
tables and benches that now includes
outdoor furniture which
utilises synthetic wood that looks
and feels like wood, but will never
deteriorate or discolour.
Although Gopak supplies round
tables in addition to its standard
square and rectangular tables,
within the new Enviro range, a
new shield-shaped table has been
designed, that includes a durable
2 mm thick edging, with the top
and the edging in a range of
bright and attractive colours.
To manufacture the new range,
it became that Gopak had to investigate
new production methods.
Although Gopak already had
two SCM CNC machining centres,
a Record 240 and a Record 125, it
was thought a combined routing
and edging machine would be a
distinct advantage.
Gopak’s managing director, Andrew
Fieldwick, comments: “As all
our products are made to order,
with large combinations of different
shaped tops, colours, dimensions
and frames, we decided to
investigate the market for a machine
that not only routed the top,
but also glued, edged and
trimmed the edging materials,
thus eliminating expensive operations
carried out by hand or with
small inefficient machines.”
Along with Andrew Fieldwick,
production director, Mario
Richardson, and production manager,
Damien Hickie, a number of
visits were arranged with SCM UK’s
area manager, Mike Lee, in attendance,
to view similar machines
operating on production. An order
for the SCM Morbidelli Universal
HP Edge was placed.
The Universal HP Edge has a
heavy duty construction with a
highly rigid closed structure and a
mobile upright that ensures the
machining unit has a balanced
support, is stable and is resistant
to the most severe machining conditions
for high performance and
precision. On it are mounted the
8.5 kW routing head with vector ‘C’
axis, 18-position tool changer, 18-
spindle vertical and horizontal
drilling unit and edge banding
equipment, with movement in the
‘X’ and ‘Z’ axes on prismatic guides
with recirculating ball screws.
The machine has a 4,900 mm x
1,850 mm table with two working
areas, and with 10 aluminium support
bars on which a range of differently
dimensioned vacuum
cups are located to accept the
loading of tops and panels for machining.
Digital displays on each
support bar for rapid positioning
of the bars in the ‘X’ axis and the
vacuum cups in the ‘Y’ axis allow
for very fast setting up times. A
new, removable, aluminium solid
work table will be supplied that
will enable the nesting of panels
when required to be carried out.
Gopak’s new tops are laminated
in house, with a Dufaylite core to
reduce weight, sandwiched between
two layers of laminated
board. With the Morbidelli system,
glue is applied to the panel edge
and then pressed into the core of
the panel by the revolving pressure
roller to give excellent adhesion
without overspill of the glue.
The edge gluing unit optimises
the glue consumption and improves
quality. The 5 kg capacity
glue tank, easily removable to
change glue or colour, is equipped
with a sensor to ensure it is continually
being topped up with new
glue, thus maintaining its adhesive
qualities.
The edging materials are automatically
fed to the edge banding
unit from a magazine that has a
capacity of six different edgings
that can be selected individually
and fed automatically to the application
head. Heating lamps
keep the edging flexible when
rounding sharp corners. Sensors
measure the exact length of edging
to be applied and the length is
automatically cut with an integrated
saw unit with an 8° angle,
ensuring an exact and perfect
joint without any overlapping of
the edging material.
Production manager, Damien
Hickie, states, “We are very impressed
with our latest SCM CNC
machine and the way it was installed
and commissioned by
SCM’s engineer, Andy McKenzie,
With the new products we have
just introduced, we need to
change from one product to the
next quickly and efficiently with
the minimum set-up time. We can
now produce our table tops to
order and the quality we are obtaining
is superb.”
Trimming the top and bottom
edges is performed by a special
combined trimming and scraping
unit facility, saving change over
times, the tools automatically adjusting
themselves for panel thicknesses
of 16 mm up to 60 mm.
When Gopak’s new factory extension
is complete, SCM will assist
in the move of the Universal
HP Edge to the new building.
Gopak Ltd
Tel 0845 702 3216
Email gopakinfo@gopak.co.uk
www.gopak.co.uk
SCM Group (UK) Ltd
Tel 0115 977 0044
Email
scmgroupuk@scmgroup.com
www.scmgroup-uk.com
Page 4 Panel, Wood & Solid Surface June/July 2011