Lamont clamp and Woodwelder saves time and space at Gibson's Cabinet Makers

Gibson's Cabinet Makers offers quality handmade kitchens, bathrooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and freestanding furniture. Based on the southern fringe of Whitby, the company serves a wide area including Durham, Cheshire, Lincolnshire as well as Teesside and all of Yorkshire. With four or more major commissions on the go at any one time, Gibson's Cabinet Makers has seen its workforce double in recent years.

Part of this success is due to the Woodwelder and clamp system purchased from Lamont.

“We were getting busier and busier as the popularity of our furniture increased,” partner Roy Gibson told PW&SS. “To cope with the demand we were having to look at alternative ways of gluing up doors and drawers. Traditionally we were doing it with sash clamps, which is quite time consuming; and you also have to check that the workpiece is square a lot as well. Then there is the gluing up time, which could be hours. And once you had used all your clamps you would have to wait for one batch to dry before going on to the next. So we could only do 20 drawers or doors in one batch.

“With the Lamont system, it has a square corner and glue resistant plastic sheath to it, so glue does not stick to it. You put your drawer or door in and clamp it down: it pushes it into the square corner so everything is absolutely square.

“You also get the (Woodwelder) glue gun which heats up the RF glue in about 15 seconds, so you can do a corner with one zap, which speeds you up tremendously. Indeed, with the glue and the gun working together you can do a door in a minute.

“The Lamont system has become part of a production line, which allows us to have door components coming out of the machines, go straight to the Lamont system, after which the doors get sanded then go to be hinged and fitted. It is incredible to think back how we were working with sash clamps before we got the Lamont system. It is massively beneficial to us.

“We had seen one of Alan Lamont's displays at a JMJ woodworking exhibition, which we visited when we were looking into ways of increasing production. He was on the stand. We spoke with him and saw demonstrations and said we were very interested, went away to think about it, decided the amount of time it was going to save us would be very cost effective and purchased one.

“Before the show we were aware there were things of this nature, but really needed to see one and have it explained to us to understand the benefits, so the exhibtiion helped.

“We primarily use the Lamont system for doors, and also for drawers. It can also be used for frames. These are all our main components that we use to manufacture hand made kitchens and made to order furniture.

“As well as savings in time and in ensuring the work is square, it allows us to use staff effectively. Instead of having two people using the sash clamps, we now can have one guy putting units together while his colleague is gluing up. This means we can meet deadlines more quickly and increase turnover.

“It also saves space. With sash clamps, you end up with a great area of your floor covered in clamps and doors, all piled up on top of one another. The Lamont system is vertical, so it does not take up a lot of space; and as the doors come off dry they can be stacked vertically.

“One of the other nice bits about it is that you get different shapes and different sized face plates for the gun, which allows you to zap a drawer from inside, for example a 45° corner, as well as flat plates for a flat surface. You can utilise the machine in all sorts of gluing up procedures to solve a great many problems.”

Asked if he would recommend the system, Roy said, “I would absolutely recommend it to other people. I can't believe we coped so long without one, to be honest.”

This article was first published in Panel, Wood & Solid Surface, February/March 2019.