MOORESVILLE, N.C. - Live demonstrations of solid wood machinery and panel processing equipment, seminars and more drew an estimated 200 woodworking professionals to the Weinig and Holz-Her Tech Expo, held April 28 and 29 at the company's 25,000-square-foot facility in Mooresville, North Carolina.

The event featured more than 30 machines, including  the IWF Challenger's semi-finalist Ltronic, Holz-Her's integrated edgebander unit for processing laser edging using electronic controls. 

Demonstrations on the Lumina 1380 single-sided edgebander showed how quickly and easily the Ltronic zero-edge banding technology could be incorporated onto a machine —about 60 seconds for the unit changeover, said Rick Hannigan, director of marketing. 

Also drawing interest from cabinet, furniture and other wood products manufacturers was the lineal moulding cell and a cabinet door cell that integrates the new Holz-Her Pro-Master 5-axis CNC machining center with Weinig's rip, mould and cut processing machines. Hannigan noted that much of the interest in the new technology has been from existing wood products manufacturers looking to upgrade their equipment now that business has been ramping up with the improving economy.

"All [wood products] segments are doing well," said Jason Howell, president of Michael Weinig Inc. He added that Weinig Group's integration of solid wood and panel processing technology to serve all markets is  an advantage for the company. And among the range of products on display were: quick setup Powermat moulders, textured surface moulding options, the ValuRip saw system, fingerjointing equipment and Kundig sanders, as well as Holz-Her edgebanders, CNC routers.

Today's woodworkers are also interested in enhanced integration of software with the machines, he said, and the selection of Weinig's System Plus as an IWF Challengers Award semi-finalist bears this out.

Designed for moulding applications, the Weinig System Plus ties together the CAD process with all phases production, including the tool grinder, measuring and setup for the moulder, explained Steven McNeilly, product manager. According to the company, the System Plus integrated system is ideal for wood products manufacturers that: process a large variety of profiles, have frequent profile changes, single order processing, use multiple machines and/or have in-house tool grinding.