Lean manufacturing helps furniture maker expand quickly.
CNC router manufacturer Thermwood set up a furniture-making operation in its own plant to test its cell manufacturing techniques.
Realizing the dream of being able to economically build custom furniture on a mass scale.
Q: We are having a problem with shrinkage. We make furniture, but someone else sells and delivers it. This person claims he did everything correctly, including opening the furniture wrapping (we wrapped the furniture with shrink-wrap and it was fairly well sealed) and letting it acclimate to the house climate. When the customer moved in, they said the furniture looked really wonderful, but within a week, it started to warp, open joints and crack in a few places. We are so careful to keep our plant at 40 percent RH and check the MC of the lumber. This is frustrating! Can you help?
Q: We need more strength from our nailed joints. Should we use a longer nail, fatter nail?
Q: I received the following information, but I have a feeling that it is not correct. Regarding a dowel pin joint, the glue bond at the bottom of the dowel provides 80 percent of the total holding strength, with a spiral dowel, the sides provide 15 percent of the total strength, and 5 percent comes from the joint between the two core materials. What do you think?
Too often a business owner doesn't want to relinquish control of any part of the process
Q: We have been having trouble with finish cracks. Usually a few months after it is shipped, the furniture develops one crack or a multitude of cracks in the finish. The overall appearance is often so badly affected that refinishing (stripping and then recoating) is the only option. Once refinished, the piece is perfect and stays that way. Please give us some insight into this problem.
Although most stationary machines have switches that reset to the off position if the power is cut, that’s mostly not the case with portable tools. Plugging in a portable power tool, especially a heavy, larger one, with the switch in the on position can be an accident waiting to happen to even the most experienced woodworker. Bruce Keiffer of Keiffer Custom Furniture Inc. in Minneapolis, Minn., came up with a solution that takes the danger out of the equation.
Following in the success of the first virtual trade show for the woodworking industry, two new CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking E-vents are scheduled for 2011.