People often question us on how our process works. Do we actually put the tongue and groove on the boards? How long does it take from start to finish? Follow us step by step on the machining journey.
Once a customer places an order, the wheel is set in motion. Lumber is ordered or procured from the warehouse. The incoming rough lumber goes through the ripsaw and is properly sized and sorted according to the specifications of the order. If there is any gluing that needs to be done that step comes next.
Once the material has been ripped and sized, it is staged for the moulder. The moulder has multiple cutterheads on it. This means in one pass the machine can plane and profile the wood. In other words, you put a rough board in and out comes a piece of T&G (or moulding). Almost everything we produce can be profiled in one pass of the machine.
Once the material has been moulded, anything flat will get sanded on the wide belt sander. Mouldings and other parts that are not flat go through a separate profile sander that sands the contour of the profile. The sanding step eliminates the knife marks and smooths the pieces, getting them ready to go to the finish department.
Pieces needing precision end work such as end-matching (tongue and groove on ends) will then go to the double end tenoner for machining. Mouldings or planking that does not get end-matched is then either dispatched to the finish department where it is stained or clearcoated or directly to the packing / quality inspection line.
The packaging department visually inspects all pieces for any sort of defects that may have been missed along the way. The order quantities are also verified in this step and the material is carefully packaged so not to disrupt the finished side.
Once the order has been packaged the customer is called and the process is complete.