CASES & TROLLEYS
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WHY WE CHOOSE 5 STAR CASES AS OUR MAIN SUPPLIER:

Production

 

Here, you’ll find a snapshot of the 5 Star production and manufacturing processes. Hopefully this will give you a brief insight into 5 Star’s facilities and procedures.

 

A constant program of investment is always in place at 5 Star and therefore certain processes and facilities may have changed since this online guide was produced.

 

 

The cutting shop is really where the production starts. The Thermwood CNC Machining Centre is the main facility in the shop. However, another key investment was the acquisition of a Striebig Standard II vertical panel saw. This large saw centre replaces the traditional rip and cross cut facility, although we have retained these two saws for backup. The saw cuts both in the horizontal and the vertical plane and can cut multiple panels in one stroke. The system is used in a vertical mode and hence uses a lot less floor space than traditional units.

 

 

All carcasses are pinned and glued using compressed air staplers. This provides an extremely strong joint, even before the aluminium extrusions are added. Other facilities associated with the cutting shop include twin ‘dry back’ spray booths, one dedicated to adhesive and the other to paint application. Various paint finishes are available and recently introduced is texture or splatter coat. This is particularly suited to removable dividers and drawers etc.

 

5 Star carries out its own laminating procedures. Plywood, and MDF are the main materials used for case carcasses, to which is bonded a wide variety of finishes. These include high pressure thermoplastic laminates, embossed aluminium sheet (stucco) extruded vinyl and fibreboards. The majority of bonding uses water based adhesives, after which the panels go into an Interwood cold platen press to ensure an even and secure bond.

 

 

In recent years 5 Star has upgraded its aluminium cutting systems. Three main machines are employed in the cutting shop for aluminium fabrication. All are semi-automatic, pneumatically powered machines which assists the operator in the cutting process. 5 Star’s Technical Department has modified the double mitre notch saw to incorporate a touch screen computer system. The software was also designed in-house and is used primarily to produce the mitred location trim on all cases.

 

 

Further upgrades are underway to the cutting machinery. The second, double mitre notch saw is to have computer control fitted. Again, this will be carried out by the company’s Technical and Engineering Departments.

 

 

In general, 5 Star uses custom designed aluminium extrusions. A wide range of profiles have been built up over the years and include equal and unequal angles, hybrid location, rack mounting rails and ‘casemaker’ profiles. However, when a specific extrusion is required for a particular application, a vast selection of profiles can be obtained from our key suppliers. As mentioned above, a wide variety of exterior case finishes are available, including coloured laminate and vinyl, stucco aluminium and Diamond Board, a high quality plywood with an embossed phenolic coating.

 

Cases are moved from the Cutting Shop through to the Fitting Department. This is where aluminium extrusions, case hardware and additional specialist and internal items are fitted. The majority of these fittings are pneumatically riveted with special serrated rivets, which ensure a good fix to the carcass.

 

 

Some of 5 Star’s case range has bifurcated rivets instead of the serrated type. This is based on case dimensions, market placing and certain other criteria. However, this does not sacrifice quality. Bifurcated rivets are machine set on powerful riveters, of which we have manual and powered versions in the fitting shop. Bifurcated rivets self pierce the aluminium extrusions, exterior covering and the plywood itself, showing the force at which these rivets are inserted. The pronged rivet splays out when in contact with the anvil on the machine, giving a durable fixing to both extrusions and hardware.

 

Mossman Trunks is a prime example of where bifurcated rivets are utilised extensively throughout construction.

 

Although 5 Star is committed to investment in Technology, both for Administration and Production, there is a vast amount of skilled work done by hand. They have an experienced team in Production, some of which have been with the company for many years.

 

 

The department has position for up to 14 Fitters, so urgently required multiple orders are no problem for 5 Star. Production consumes vast amounts of compressed air, as most of the tooling is powered by this means. Twin compressors in a specially built vented room provides chilled air throughout the entire factory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Finishing Department, two hot-melt adhesive applicators are installed. Both of these are Slautterback machines, one of which has been in service with 5 Star for over ten years. The second machine was purchased recently to cater for increased workload. Between the two machines, three handguns are available, delivering an accurate and controllable flow of hot-melt adhesive.

 

 

5 Star Cases has, for many years produced a host of foam products as well as cases. These foam inserts are supplied to many diverse clients, including medical, telecommunications, scientific and other case companies. Of course, the majority of foam inserts we produce are for use in the standard “off the shelf” products and the machinery we have can easily cope with the demands. Installed in the Foam and Finishing Department are two Hyma bandknives, one medium and one large. Both these machines have a fully adjustable tilt fence that allows for angle cuts and chamfering of inserts. The large unit can be used to slit complete blocks of HLB foam which arrives from the supplier as a 2m x 1m x 1m block. The bandkinfe is capable of cutting down the length of this block to produce thin sheets.

 

 

We have two Samco Series 60 hydraulic presses in the foam department. These two machines are used for die cut foam insert production. Traditionally, wooden press knives are used as a cutting medium, which are produced for us from drawings or actual equipment.

 

 

These press knives are placed under the required foam insert and finely adjusted pressure is applied by the Samco Press. This cuts through the foam insert and can then be ’layered’ to the required depths on one of the Hyma bandkives.

 

 

This method of producing foam inserts is particularly suited to high volume work, whereas CNC machined items, are aimed at small batch quantities and prototypes.

 

 

All foam insert products can include a complimenting ‘topping’ material. This includes coloured Suedette or Brushed Nylon, or a simple change of foam type. For example, the base material can be of HLB Polyurethane while the ’topping’ can be Plastazote (R). These material qualities and textures are difficult to show here, so please contact our Sales Team for samples and further details.