New ‘mechanical’ jointing opportunity

Jade Engineering has developed a PVCU welding method that creates an external mechanical joint aesthetic, but with the strength and integrity of a welded finish.

The company said it has listened to comments from its fabricator customers, who said mechanically jointed top and bottom rails on traditional window styles are continuing to grow in popularity. This demand can raise issues with production, as mechanical jointing is labour intensive and can create production bottlenecks.

Jade’s method allows window fabricators to produce welded external ‘mechanical’ joints, without paying licence fees. Throughput is up to 12 frames per hour, and the machines can be quickly re-set for traditional applications. Packages are available from under £40,000.

By using a combination of four milling machines – two for sash and two for frame joints – and a two-head welder, all engineered by Jade Group companies, together with tooling specially developed for the process, fabricators can produce frames with the appearance of external mechanical timber joints without time consuming fixing and gluing operations, or the expense of fixing and jointing consumables.

Adam Jones, who heads up engineering research and development for Jade, said: “The project has been over 12 months in development before release to customers and we have extensively production-tested two installations: at Shepley Windows in Manchester and FrameFast in Derby. Both companies have reported excellent throughput and quality.”

Jade director Sean Mackey said: “Jade has long enjoyed the status of being the UK’s leading producer of tooling for frame fabrication, with the vast majority of British fabricators using our products. Now we have combined our knowledge and experience of developing machinery to provide fabricators with practical, affordable answers to specialist production requirements. All of this is driven by conversations with our customers.”