Designed to eliminate the stress of fitting fiddly Astragal bars, we take a closer look at why Jade’s portable milling solution should be a part of every installer’s tool kit.

From smaller ‘one-man bands’ servicing local postcodes, to larger businesses with a much broader, regional customer base, there’s one thing that all installation firms will have in common – and that’s a desire for tools and products that can make life easier when they’re on site.

This is not just about the ability to get the job done faster, but more to do with increasing overall efficiencies, improving accuracy, enhancing reputation and above all, maximising profit margins.

These efficiencies can be gained in various ways. They can be found in the latest tools for the office – for quoting, ordering and CRM systems – and in the tools of the trade.

Increasingly, they are being engineered into ‘fitter friendly’ product ranges, with roof lanterns that can be assembled in a matter of minutes, bi-fold doors that are designed with clip in beads and pre-inserted gaskets or hardware that is easier to adjust.
And these engineering efficiencies can also extend beyond the latest generation of windows and doors, or the most up to date hand tool technology.

Jade’s portable Astragal bar miller, for example, has been designed specifically to reduce the time it takes to install heritage style PVC-U windows that require Astragal bar profiles, while at the same time greatly improving the quality of the finish.

As Jade’s director, Adam Jones, explains, it’s a solution that many installers have been crying out for at a time when heritage products in particular represent such a high value opportunity in an otherwise suppressed home improvement market.

“We are constantly communicating with the industry, perhaps more typically with system companies and fabricators who require solutions to engineering or manufacturing problems that we are best placed to resolve, but our expertise has always extended to installation as well,” he says.

“Ultimately, that’s because if we are to find efficiencies in installation, it needs to be engineered into the overall manufacturing process.

“We developed the portable Astragal bar miller as a direct result of conversations with installers who had become really frustrated with fitting Astragal bar profiles,” he continued. “They told us they were fiddly to fit, the finish could sometimes impact on the quality of the window they were fitting and they were time consuming – exactly what you don’t need on site.

“With all that in mind, we designed an Astrgal bar miller that was compact, lightweight and which could deliver consistent high-quality results in a fraction of the time.”

At just 15kg, Jade’s Astragal bar miller is a similar size to a site radio and can be easily transported in a van.

Consisting of four profile related jaws and diamond plater cutters for a precise and clean cut, it is capable of accommodating a range of Astragal bars including chamfered and ovolo sections and can be adapted for 240V or 110V portable applications.

In the time it has been introduced, Jade’s portable miller has proven to be a huge hit, winning high praise from one of the industry’s most respected brands in the heritage sector, The Georgian Bar Co.

Georgian Bar Co has supplied dozens of Jade’s millers to customers in the UK and beyond, including partners in India and will also be taking the technology across the Atlantic, where it will be an integral to a new market based in the US.

According to Phil Dewhurst, managing director of The Georgian Bar Co – which has collaborated closely with Jade – the Astragal bar miller is not just a game changer on site, it’s as a valuable addition to a factory production line as well.

“It is the perfect low cost, manually operated addition to the end of any fabrication processing line. It takes up no room at all, a quick cut and clip, and you’re ready to load the finished product to be fitted on site,” he says.

“At Jade, our expertise is built around the unrivalled insight we have into the UK’s window and door manufacturing industry,” concludes Adam. “If there is a problem that needs solving, whether that’s fine tuning an existing product line, or – as with our portable miller – engineering a new solution from scratch, then we are here to help.”