Manufacturer and Distributor of a wide variety of V-Grooving
Machines for the Solid Surface, Fixture & Display, Architectural
Millwork, Engineered Stone, Drawer and Speaker Manufacturing Industry
The STAR V-Grooving Method
The Star V-Groover
presents a cost & time saving alternative to the conventional
method of 90 degree or other angles corner production. Instead
of cutting individual pieces and connecting them via dowel, lamello
or butt joint construction for a build-up front edge, a sheet
of solid surface, veneered or laminated MDF or particleboard
material is fed into the machine face down.
An automatic tape applicator dispenses a continuous strip
of plastic tape to the face of the sheet, centered in the area
where the edge is to be fabricated. The tape applicator automatically
starts, applies pressure for optimum adhesion of the tape and
cuts it off automatically from the bottom up, thus no adjustments
are necessary for different material thicknesses.
A carbide or diamond tipped cutter head
then machines a precise V-groove into the back of the sheet.
The very tip of the cutter head cuts through the material but
does not penetrate the plastic tape. A massive, solid 6"
aluminum roller, positioned exactly underneath the cutting area
assures a wear free reference area for this delicate cut, which
needs to be performed within 10/1000" or better accuracy.
The plastic tape acts as a hinge and perfect alignment for
the subsequent gluing and folding process. The tape prevents
any excess seam compound from oozing onto finished surfaces.
This feature also enables the use of less seam compound and the
need of fewer clamps spaced at 16" to 24" apart versus
3-5" with the conventional method.
Once the compound has cured the tape is easily stripped off
and the edge is ready for any required profiling. This totally
eliminates the need to scrape off excess seam compound, align
a straight edge and route the front edge. This will also help
to free up valuable floor space and streamline the production
flow.
The STAR V-Grooving Method can be used for a
one pass cove back splash profile, for 3 or 4-sided aprons as
well as rectangular L or U-shaped peninsulas or even angled countertop
or island configurations. However there are also limitations
to this method. Since only straight runs can be performed it
will not work on round, curved or arched countertops.
|
|
|
On a deeper solid surface countertop with a cove back splash profile, the standard 30" wide board is often not wide enough to allow for the front edge fold down and the cove back splash profile. In that case we recommend accomplishing the task with two boards in two steps. The upright piece is machined in one pass cutting the 90 degree miter cut as well as the 7/16" radius cut.
The horizontal part is machined with a rabett cutter 1/16" deep or deeper depending on the cove radius. This production method, even though more time consuming, will eliminate the hole in the corner altogether as well as the 45 degree bottom back bevel in the case of an open side view. |
|