The Framers Forum

Hi,

I took over a framing business 2 years ago and inherited all the machinery from the existing owner which although useful is really dated.

We have trippled the workload in these last 2 years and im now finding the machines are slowing me down. Every machine is foot operated and every aspect of our framing is done by hand and im just asking for advice to help speed up and make life easier.

What machine(s) or tools couldnt you live without? and what could you reccomend to help me to become more efficient?

Many thanks Matt

Very Good Question.

A lot depends on the type of work you mainly do and the space you have available.

Getting a lot of bells'n'whistles expensive kit won't necessarily speed things up unless you are doing big production runs.
I'm still using my trusty Euro pinner that I bought new in 1983. Basic model. Thing is, if I bought a pneumatic machine
with programmable wedge positions and all that things wouldn't go any faster. In fact probably slower as complicated machines
need more attention as a rule.

I did invest in a saw setup some years back which is great asset, but only because I started using a lot of wide and chopper-unfriendly moulding.

Might be worthwhile to look at how you operate and how your working environment is arranged. You can lose a lot of time going hither and yon
to fetch tools. Also finding stock and getting it out/putting it away.

Wouldn't want to be without our CMC, that saves us a loads of time. But also little things are time savers - like storing all the framing sundries you use all day every day within easy reach and having them well organised, not only so you can find things quickly and easily, but also so it is easier to see what you need to reorder. Having multiples of things like scissors or tape measures around the workshop so you never have to go searching for them. Having an electric screwdriver! When we got our pricing software, being able to pull up lists of materials we need to order, rather than manually having to go through orders, saved us a huge amount of time.

But the biggest time saver for us is being tidy and organised - not tripping over stacks of offcuts or having to sort though things to find what you want, all those little bits of time add up over the weeks and months.

If you are not already using a wall glass cutter then that's one thing I wouldn't now be without.

I would love a cmc at times, but I just don't do enough volume each day to justify one.

Concur with the wall mounted glass/board cutter.

I do find my compressed air underpinned does make assembling frames a bit quicker and it adds up over a day or a week.

CMC for mountcutting, expensive but it's like taking on another member of staff just for mounts, and they don't eat or sleep or take holidays.

Plenty of space and efficient workflows.

Yes the CMC is my favourite bit of equipment and i certainly couldnt now live without one.
I dont have a wall mounted glass cutter and think this is definately worth investing in.

Yes of course being tidy and organised is a great way to help speed up your days work and efficiency (i have a mild case of OCD) which makes me organised

I have a foot operated Morso and an Alpha Minigraf 4 which has been a great machine, espacially as it was given to me by another local framer

2 of the most used tools seems a good idea.

Thanks for your input, Much appreciated.

GeoSpectrum wrote
"CMC for mountcutting, expensive but it's like taking on another member of staff just for mounts, and they don't eat or sleep or take holidays."

Well I would say it's a fallicy, it's not like taking on another member of staff, you do have to take on another member of staff if you are doing volume work, as the CMC does not load the sheets of mountcard or take off the finished mounts from the machine, when you finish for the day or take an holiday, it's not working, it's stood still. If you stand in front of the CMC feeding it with card, then you are not doing anything else like cutting and joining frames, I try it sometimes and I'm running round like a' blue ass fly'

I consider the following to be essential

1) cmc (speed, accuracy, less waste, multi mounts & multi apertures a doddle)
2) double header saw (less effort, better cuts, wider choice of profiles)
3) pneumatic underpinner (less effort)
4) wall mounted glass cutter (ease and speed)
5) wall mounted board cutter (accuracy)
6) hotpress

IMHO Abacus is spot on a set up to aspire to.

However, I would add 7/8/9) a visualization, POS pricing system and a good website.

Peter.