Two gluesetters from Lamont for William J Mason

 WILLIAM J MASON Furniture Design was founded by its owner in 1998 and since then has grown from strength to strength, specialising today in the high quality flat packed furniture market. William has invested regularly in new machinery and equipment: in 2001, he purchased his first CAD machine, combining new designs with greater productivity, and in 2005 additional machinery was purchased to facilitate the company’s expansion. Most recently, William has acquired two RF gluesetters from Lamont.

An increasing volume of work meant that there was a real need to speed up production during the summer of 2012. William says, “I am always looking at magazines and catalogues, and attending shows, to see what’s out there and how to improve things.” A reader of Panel, Wood & Solid Surface, William was interested to read about other companies who had selected Lamont equipment and been delighted with the results, and contacted Alan Lamont in mid September with an enquiry about a gluesetter.

“Alan came down to Hereford from Scotland, he explained what the machine did and we went from there,” said William. He describes Alan as “a very low-pressure salesman”, continuing: “He doesn’t push his product on you and that’s good. He is willing to travel a long distance to demonstrate his product, but he does like to know that you are serious in your enquiry when you phone. There is no pressure with Alan: he shows you the facts and lets you make up your own mind. Alan is very straight. He knows everything about how his clamps and woodwelders work, you have got the evidence before you from the demonstration, you make the decision yourself.”

William continues, “We had had the first gluesetter for maybe two or three months, and then we had a couple of jobs to put in before Christmas with a very tight deadline: low cocktail cabinets to go to hotels in Germany, and there was no messing about with the date. The first gluesetter did exactly what Alan said it would do, so we purchased a second!”

Asked about typical uses, William told PW&SS: “We do a lot of flat panel processing and mostly use the gluesetters to add lippings to the panels before veneers, but we also use them on solid wood furniture and veneered furniture, from gluing joints to working in awkward spaces.

“We could have several hundred panels to lip and weld per day and, as we have the second machine, two lads can work with them at the same time. Having the two machines makes a massive difference time wise.

“Another advantage is the quality of the joint. If you let certain types of PVA dry naturally they don’t bond terribly well, especially during winter, which not only has massive implications on turn around time but also affects the end quality of the product. If factories have big roller doors, as we do, the temperature in the workshop will fluctuate and drying time can be up to four or five hours on the chilliest days, drying naturally. The time saved with a gluesetter can make a big, big difference when you are busy.”

Asked if he would recommend the company and the product, William replied, “I would,” adding, “Purchasing the two woodwelders was definitely the right decision business wise. Our business is always changing and to have as many machines and tools to make us as flexible as possible and turn work around as quickly as possible is so important at present. It all helps that the investment is a few thousand, and definitely value for money! You need to look at what you can earn from the investment when purchasing equipment, and this is definitely worth it.”

This article first appeared in the February/March 2013 issue of Panel, Wood & Solid Surface.