A
Quick Tour of Chipmunk Hardwoods
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For
those of you that can't take the time to visit Chipmunk
Hardwoods (although you're certainly welcome to stop
by) we've prepared a little tour of our 12, 000sq
ft shop. Along the way you can see some of the equipment
and materials we have on hand. Only a portion of the
shop has been covered and not even a small fraction
of our 50,000 bf inventory is shown. If there is something
you don't see, just ask, as we've probably got one or
two somewhere.
Now
the shop here looks messy not because we don't clean
it — but because we're a production shop and it
accumulates faster than we can get rid of it. |
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If
you ever see a spotless shop, you can rest assured that
no work is going on in it! We generate sufficient sawdust
to be able to sell it to the local stables and I mean
by the truckload!
Brad
Stewart started Chipmunk Hardwoods in 1994 because it
was very hard to find quality hardwoods. In 1997 we
started to retail lumber because we were overwhelmed
with requests from woodworkers in Florida who couldn't
find a supplier. Now we stock 50,000 bf in 65 species.
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| Here is where it all
happens....
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| As
you walk up the drive to Chipmunk Hardwoods chances
are you'll see me hard at work. |
Today
I'm planning some stock for a client on
one of the planers we have. This is our
big planer, 7½HP, 18" wide.
I also have two smaller portable Ryobi
10" planer. Ear protection is mandatory
as is the high capacity dust collector
that runs throughout the shop.
Speaking of dust, all of the major
workstations are hooked to our high capacity
dust collection system. It's located outside
for fire code compliance. |
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Here
you can see our powerful 5 head WEINIG
moulder from Germany . It can produce
a variety of both stock and custom patterns
in your choice of wood species. From 8'
+ to a mile, we can meet all your millwork
needs.
On the top of the case in the left picture
you can see one of our cutterheads ready
to produce whatever quantity of custom
moulding you need! |
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can see us creating a series of stair
treads. These treads are being clamped
up and the glue is allowed to cure prior
to them being fed into the 36", 20
HP conveyor sander. This digitally controlled
instrument sets the thickness to the nearest
1/10th mm! (19.0mm in this case!). |
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This
is our Taylor clamp carrier (12 section)
capable of simultaneously gluing up 72
12" x 48" panels (stair treads)
or 12 36"x96" panels. Fully
pneumatic with a clamping pressure of
3000psi, this machine gives us the clamping
pressure and board alignment for making
perfect stair treads. The cycle time of
the machine and it's capacity allow us
to make stair treads on an almost continuous
basis. Whether you need one flight or
a dozen, we have the capacity to make
them. |
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| We
stock a complete variety of wood species in both standard
and hard to find sizes. Here, for example, is a 16' length
of 8/4 maple that measures a full 17" across. Not
all our pieces are this size — some are bigger!
(We also stock a variety of smaller pieces if your projects
aren't on such a grand scale.) Here
you can see some of our other equipment, our big jointer,
one of our several shapers, the main cabinet saw and
our rosette maker. We also have a Laguna re-sawing
band-saw for re-sawing and book-matching.
We also have standard wood working capabilities including:
24 & 18 HD Laguna Band saws |
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Two 5HP 10" Table Saw with Biesemeyer Precision
Fence |
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3, 5, & 71/2 HP Power Fed shapers |
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Table Router |
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3HP Rosette Cutter |
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13 Spindle Multiple Boring Machine |
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8" & 16'"Jointers |
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48" Lathe |
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CAT Fork Lift |
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4 Head moulder |
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36'' wide belt sander |
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General Motiser fully neumatic. |
We have sufficient work space
(12, 000sq ft facility) and materials (over 50,000 bf
in stock) to handle the largest projects !
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