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The new millennium tower of St.
Edmundsbury Cathedral
T
he company known as Taylor
Made Joinery Interiors Ltd based
in Suffolk in Britain has the reputation
of being a top-quality joinery manufacturer.
A project consisting of the design,
manufacture and construction of a magnificent
fan-vaulted ceiling for the new
tower of St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in
Bury St. Edmunds is causing a sensation
among experts from the trade. The
spectacular oak ceiling, due to be completed
in 2010, will be the "crowning
glory" for the gothic revival tower, built
3-D visualization of the ornamental machining work
as part of a millennium project. By using
a 5-axis CNC machining centre
from Reichenbacher Hamuel – a
SCHERDEL subsidiary – TMJ Interiors
ensured that the immense technical
complexity of such a project could be
mastered efficiently and cost-effectively.
TMJ Interiors from the county of Suffolk
has an impressive record of successful
historic building projects. That's
why this specialist company was chosen
to carry out this major order. In
April 2008 the design team first started
working on the detail and structural elements
of the ceiling. A laser scan of the
historic tower measured 29 million
points, which enabled designers to create
an accurate model of the existing
structure. The information collected was
imported into a 3-D computer software
program by means of which extremely
precise working drawings and, ultimately,
five-axis tool-path drawings were
produced.
of the construction alone, the ceiling
was designed and manufactured in
over 2,500 individual pieces, with a total
weight of more than five tonnes. The
immense oak framework, consisting of
eight curved rib sections with a central
circular assembly, was first erected at
TMJ’s workshop. All the ornamental details
were applied and the complete
ceiling was thus constructed prior to installation.
In addition to being hardwearing
and durable, the wood used
had to harmonize with the fabric of the
building; for these reasons TMJ decided
to use FSC European Oak obtained
from sustainable sources.
TMJ was only able to accept a challenge
of this nature because it could rely
on its own expertise in joinery and on
the outstanding accuracy and robustness
of its CNC machining equipment.
The components for the project were
machined with precision using a Reichenbacher
Hamuel 5-axis CNC machining
centre. To increase the strength
of the oak components as well as to
minimize waste, a laminating process
was used, which involved putting together
layers of wood of various sizes
to create suitable workpieces for machining.
Manoeuvrability in three dimensions
TMJ operates two Reichenbacher
Hamuel 5-axis CNC machining centres:
a Univers and a Vision Sprint. It was
decided to use only the Vision Sprint for
the complete manufacture of all the
6
A highly complex structure
On account of the size and complexity
David Clarke examines a component machined
on the 5-axis VISION Sprint