Wood Southern Africa & Timber Times attend the launch of two of the Sunghwa range of machines, the SEB 1340F edgebander on which the Supa Square edge is produced and the SEF1400 edge foiling machine.

They come away gobsmacked by the quality they encounter

Backview of the SEB1340F edgebander. Note the knife trimming units that allow for top/bottom, front/back trimming & chamfering to occur

The invitation to the launch of the machines in question reads - The new Supa Square edge is proudly introduced into the South African market by Woodfinish Management in partnership with Synchron and Sunghwa Woodline. The initial take is that seemingly disparate and unrelated entities cooperated to enable the introduction of these machines to the South African market. For instance, an annotated description of Woodfinish management's area of expertise reads, "the suppliers of wet and dry finishing systems and related machinery and consumable:

The question could therefore be asked, what's the link between Woodfinish Management, Synchron and Sunghwa? The simple answer is Kurz.

The knife unit up close

In terms of Woodfinish Management's association with Kurz, they introduced the Kurz Touchwood dry transfer finish system for MDF board edges to South Africa 20 years ago. This allows for a large variety of profiled edging to be produced with a perfect mitre on all four corners. They also pioneered the Kurz edged melamine faced MDF doors now commonly known as Devin doors. They also pioneered the use of Kurz foil as a primer for the profiled edges of painted doors and furniture components and this system is still used today. They introduced tinted clear Kurz foils for the finishing of solid or veneered edges of office furniture where the surface is finished with UV curing clear lacquer applied by roller-coater.

The relationship between Synchron and Woodfinish Management has thus deepened over a number of years given the technology and sundries provided to the trade via Woodfinish and supplied in part by Synchron.

Sunghwa Woodline is a South Korean manufacturer of amongst others, automatic edgebanding machines. Started in 1981, it has varying staff complement of 50 to 100 personnel and an annual turnover of over US$5 to 10000 000. Via the Kurz "thread" that runs through both Woodfinish and Synchron, Kurz's agent in South Korea informed Sunghwa Woodline of the diversifying South African market opportunities in terms of the supply of edgebanding and foiling machines locally.

The resultant contact saw Woodfinish Management supply to the local market 50 plus Sunghwa SEF 101 edge moulding and foiling machines. With the advent of the "Devin Door" in South Africa, the SEF 101 became extremely popular due to their reliability, quality and price.

Front view of the foiler

However, after investigation to confirm the state of the local edgebanding and foiling market, Sunghwa representatives concluded that their entry into that segment of the local market was qualified. Although the quality of the local edgebanding was acceptable if measured against local standards, Sunghwa considered the local edgebanding to be poor and not conducive to being overfoiled. Sunghwa representatives were therefore hesitant to introduce the Sunghwa Supa Square edge foiling machines independently of the edgebanding unit. Although the Sunghwa range does provide for a combination edgebander and foiling unit, cost considerations made Roy Williams from Woodfinish Management decide to bring in the two units with functions split across the SEF1400 and SEB1340F models.

Gareth Williams demonstrating the edged foiler. Note the quick succession of panels fed in through the infeed unit

By doing this, Woodfinish Management had achieved what it had set out to do with the introduction of the Sunghwa range. It wants to provide reasonably priced edgebanding and foiling technology that delivers an end result of the highest quality in the fastest and most efficient manner possible. It should also be geared towards local conditions with simplicity a major consideration, low maintenance a further requirement and security a final ask. The latter is accomplished by the machines scanning for foreign objects like
metal that might interfere with the trimming function of the panels prior to edging. A further illustration of the gearing of the machines towards local conditions is the feeding unit that pre-heats panels to application temperature to ensure maximum efficiency of application in cold weather. Bloemfontein, take note!

The SEB1340F edgebander

The major and most important element noted when the Sunghwa edgebander was demonstrated was the absolute quality finish of edging produced. This is the result of a number of processes that are brought to the table via the SEB1340F.

The diamond tipped RT cutters. Full sharpening services are available from Woodfinish Manangement

In the first instance, with both ABS impact edging and PVC edging going on, the dressing of the receiving edge and the cleanliness of the cut, ie devoid of chipping is required to ensure dead flush edges. The SEB1340F delivers this admirably through its two diamond tipped RT cutters that ensures that all receiving edges are prepared optimally.
On melamine-topped panels, no chipping occurred which allows for flush application. The machine management system also allows for the operator to vary the functionality of the machine according to what materials are being edged. Whether chip or MDF, the operator, with a flick
of switch, adjusts settings for the dressing of edge, glue application and trimming. The latter is the most impressive feature of the machine with trimming of top/bottom
and leading/following edges occurring via a set of electronically activated knives. These knives are offset against the angle of panels progressing through the machine with trimming and chamfering of both ABS and PVC edging occurring inline.

This results in an edging that is absolutely square with a near invisible glue line and a clean chamfered edge.
The squaring and trimming is done so efficiently that the overlay in the corners seems mitred.
Panels can be fed through at a rate of 13 m/minute with 100 mm intervals between panels with unwavering performance of squaring, glue application and trimming occurring throughout. The infeed table accommodates most panel sizes.

Both ABS impact and flexible PVC edging of up to 1 mm can be applied.

The SEF1400 edge foiling machine

It is mentioned that Sunghwa found, when they initially assessed the South African edging and foiling industry, that the quality of the locally manufactured end product is poor and that the technology used in the process lacks performance .

The end product after edgebanding. The quality of the finish is exceptional

In fact, Sunghwa is adamant that foiling applied by its machine on locally produced edging will detract from the quality produced by the SEF1400. They would therefore advise local producers to opt for both the SEB1340F and the SEF1400 with the former complementing the latter optimally.

As with the edgebander, the Sunghwa foiler delivers unrivalled quality. The quality of the finish delivered by the SEF1400 is illustrated by referring to the overlay of ABS edging in the corners. Once the sides are edgebanded, an observable overlay is always found at the corners. With the quality that the SEB1340F delivers, this overlay is negligible but it is nevertheless there. Off to the SEF1400 that now adeptly chamfers the ABS edge to allow for foiling to occur over the edge. This results in hardly noticeable glueline and a mitered appearance of the overlayed corners. The foiling is trimmed so effectively that it delivers a noticeable 45degree finish at the corner! Given the absence of chipping, squared sides and chamfered edges, the foiled end product continues throughout with no seam lines. That, Wood Southern Africa & Timber Times would suggest, is a first for South Africa.

Kurz foils are used throughout with lamination occurring via heat transfer. The infeed table is also adjustable to accommodate most panel sizes. Feed rate of panels via the infeed table is 100 mm between panels.

In terms of the operation of both the edgebander and the foiler, a single control panel facilitates all of the functions required to operate both machines. This is again exactly in line with the requirement set by Williams in terms of the machines Woodfinish Management would want to make available to the SA market. Ease of operation, simplicity, with one single setting required to run one function is what both Sunghwa machines deliver.

Support provided by Woodfinish Management and Synchron includes installation of units provided by it, full back-up service for spare parts and in the case of the edgebander, servicing of the cutters used for the initial squaring.

Tried and tested machines

The team that brought the Sunghwa edgebander & foiler range to South Africa. Front left: Mr Yoo flanked by Mr Park, President of Sunghwa Woodline & Mr Alan Gillet, MD of Synchron. The Woodfinish Management team comprises Trevor Williams (back left), Gareth Williams and Roy Williams, MD of Woodfinish Management

Woodfinish Management is known for the quality it delivers to the end user. In this regard, think of the Venjakob automatic spraying
machine, the world famous Heesemann (SD electro-magnetic electronic pad system, the Anthon sanders and angular panel sizing plants and strip-line production plants, the Hoffmann dovetail joining system.
But all of this comes at a price."Those that understand that capital costs are a drop in the bucket if compared to running costs, buy despite the price tags," says Williams. "Those who don't, opt for lesser quality machines with commensurately lesser performance." In the Sunghwa
range, Woodfinish Management has again introduced machines that don't skimp on the ultimate proviso that Woodfinish sets for machines - performance. However, it has this time around ensured that price is no barrier to the acquisition of both machines.

To quote Williams,"For the price of a luxury car, you can set up an extremely viable business." Kitchen installers, door manufactures take note - the doyen of the wood finish industry in South Africa hath spoken.