This week at Minnesota Millwork & Fixtures, we installed a new precision Kundig sander in our facility. Kundig is a Swiss engineered sanding machine, the name Kundig is world renowned and known for high end precision sanding. Kundig sanders are utilized by well-known industry leading manufactures such as: Jaguar, Boeing, Elkay, Ikea, Martin Guitar, Airbus, Siemens, Head, John Boos, Jeld Wen and as of last week, Minnesota Millwork! Kundig sanders are used for the discerning customer that demands a precision high quality sanded surface. Kundig sanders are now used for you, to provide a premium product with lower lead times and at competitive prices.
The sander is the 2nd of 3 major new pieces of capital equipment investment purchases that we have made in the last 2 years. The first being a new Holz-Her edgebander known for reliably applying edging that will function even in the most demanding field applications. Coming soon we will be in receipt of a high output Holz-Her CNC panel processing machine. These investments bring cutting edge innovation to provide a better product and new product alternatives only to be limited by imagination!
These new pieces of equipment continue our commitment to efficiency and quality. Being on the forefront of technology keeps our capabilities ahead of the competition and proper training keeps us flexible to respond to whatever our customers require of us. We will improve efficiency by covering multiple steps in fewer passes and spend less time on sanding with better results.
What are the capabilities?
This new sander has brush components to soften and round edges and eliminate cross grain sanding marks on assembled wood frame components. It also can do heavy stock removal calibration to thicknesses with in .001” and it can handle sheet stock up to 52” in width.
How will it change the way we operate?
We will rely on this sander to do more steps in our processes than we were able to do previously. It will do tough calibration and it has the precision to handle the sanding between coats of finish (this was all previously done in time consuming manual processes).
What’s the training like?
The training was disciplined, intensive, yet enjoyable. We learned about sanding, “really sanding” to build surface quality through a precision scientific sanding process. This was a whole new level of sanding… this was sanding the ink off of a dollar bill sanding…unbelievable… until you see it! We learned to sand to the thousandth of an inch and it was remarkable that we were able to do it with such a large powerful sander (+85hp) that we soon found would offer us the precision and accuracy of a Swiss Watch.
Olaf, the sander expert who travelled here from Germany to get us set up and running is confident in our shop’s capability to be up and running quickly. He describes the sander as easy handling, and that he anticipates only a few hours of intense training scattered over the 3 days that he is here. Olaf is extremely technically proficient and was responsible for the installation of many of the key accounts Kundig has through out the world. We choose to spare no expense to get the very best training possible to allow our employees the confidence and ability to fully utilize this level of technology in our shop environment!