At the recent IWF show in Atlanta, Thermwood partnered with Hafele, Columbia Forest Products and Conestoga to build complete cabinets for Habitat for Humanity.   

Thermwood demonstrated a working production cell consisting of the CabinetShop 43 CNC Router (for nested based applications) and a Fravol S2 ECO edgebander.  Attendees were able to get hands on experience using the easiest and simplest system in the industry.  Within a few seconds they selected a product to cut, modified the size and watched the machine cut their parts.  Attendees then took the parts to the edgebander to complete the process.

Complete cabinets were produced at the show from the ¾” thick, pre-finished maple plywood provided by Columbia Forest Products.  This Pure Bond plywood is sealed with AquaSEAL (a formaldehyde-free recyclable overlay conforming to the latest in green technology).

Hafele provided the hinges, slides and shelf hardware for the cabinets, and Conestoga Doors providedfinished five-piece doors and solid wood drawer fronts. 

Cabinet joinery was Thermwood’s new revolutionary Barb Dado joint (patent pending), which allowed the cabinets to be put together without the use of clamps or other holding methods.  The Barb Dado joint is a modified versionof the Blind Dado joint in which we machine a series of barbs in the mortise slot. When you press the parts together, the barbs bend down, bending the fibers in the wood downward firmly holding the pieces together. It is a lot harder to pull it apart than to put it together. This means you can assemble cabinets without screws, clamps or any other fasteners.

The result were beautiful, complete cabinets produced quickly, utilizing an innovative new, highly efficient manufacturing approach which results in a superior structure coupled with enhanced use of materials, all at a dramatically lower price. All cabinets produced at the IWF were donated to Habitat for Humanity.

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Bamco Custom Woodworking is a Thermwood machine owner:

Guelph Ont.-based cabinetmaker Bamco Custom Woodworking has received a $2.77 million loan from the Ontario government under the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS) program. Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello made the announcement in early October in Guelph.

"We proposed a project to the Ontario government whereby we would bring in some very high-end finishing equipment from Italy to help us create a 100% water-based finishing system," says Bamco president Bill Van De Ven. The equipment, he says, will also allow the company to create a high gloss buff-less finish. "Currently most high gloss finishes are sprayed on and then buffed to a gloss. This equipment that we bought is so advanced that you won't need to buff it - it will come out with a glass or mirror finish without the hands-on buffing."

Bamco will become one of the first manufacturers in North America to offer the environmentally friendly finishing process. "From a marketing standpoint we plan on targeting companies that would traditionally import that product from Italy or Germany - give them a North American solution," says Van De Ven.

Vice-president of business development, John Fazari says the finishing system also gives the company an edge with businesses in the U.S. "We're not competing with the American dollar so much as with the euro because this product is not available in Canada and the U.S. the way that it will be when we're finished."

Doug Weidner, brand director for Bamco's DolceMano cabinet series, says the new technology will allow them to offer a high quality "green" product. "It gives our dealers a huge advantage in the market."

The finishing system is expected to be up and running in early 2010. It's anticipated that it will help create approximately 70 jobs over the next five years.