Hi,
I'm currently making frameless plywood cabinets using screws on non-visible ends and pocket holes on others. In 2 months I will be adding melamine cabinets with dowel construction with the intention to switch completely to melamine within one year from now.
Currently it is one-man shop; me doing both the production and installation, but the plan for the near future is me doing only the production and either getting an employee for the installation (and some additional help) or outsourcing that part of the job to someone else.
At the moment I'm averaging 3-4 small to medium size kitchens a month, including laminated countertops, mostly for rental properties (so it's not exactly high end what is wanted here).
From time to time I do some nice office cabinets and tables, also from 3/4 plywood to which I glue laminate sheets of various design chosen by customers.
For the above mentioned kitchens (which are 90% of all I do) I use 3/4 plywood prelaminated in white on one or both sides and it is on average $500-$600 worth of it per kitchen.
I usually make the first cut on vertical panel saw, and then the pieces are small enough for me to cut the rest on cabinet saw. So, no CNC or any other fancy machines for now.
So, for a start I'm looking to buy dowel boring machine, but I've never seen one in real life let alone operated it; Youtube is closest I've been to it.
I'm not necessarily looking for a complete and long term solution, like something that will be an answer to every possible need in the next 10 years or more but rather something that will enable me to get familiar with the dowel construction process and eventually pay itself through savings in material and time in a year or two.
Anyway, some of the machines I was able to find online are:
1. Maggi System 21 Prestige Construction/Line Borer (~ $6000)
2. FELDER® FD21 professional Line Boring Machine (~ $6400)
3. Gannomat DB21 ($ ????)
I'm comfortable with the price of the first two. I was not able to find the price for the new Gannomat (without getting involved in communication with the seller) but seeing the prices of the used ones, I would guess the new one would probably cost double of what Maggi and Felder cost (?).
So, with the respect to everything mentioned above, I would appreciate if anyone with some experience would be kind to share some thoughts on these machines (or any others you think would serve the purpose).
The main questions are:
1) Are Maggi and Felder (or any other in that price range) good enough for what I currently do and for the volume I do?
2) Do they stay "in tune" over some reasonable time period and usage, or do they need frequent adjustments and attention?
3) Do they produce good and repeatable results? I would also switch from laminate to melamine in office/commercial cabinets jobs, and this is where I would need it to perform reasonably good.
4) Is Gannomat significantly better than Maggi or Felder with the respect to the higher price?
Just a few notes:
I would prefer new machine to the used one. For various reasons (some business related and other of personal nature) I really do not have any time to spend on looking around for used machines, taking care of shipment, diagnosing the potential problems, obtaining spare parts, repairs and so on...
I know I will need a case clamp, but I've already taken care of that.
Thank you very much on your input!
Oggie
Maggi
https://www.maggiusa.com/Maggi-Construction-Line-Boring-Machine21-Prestige-p/mag-s
ystem-21p.htm
Felder
http://us.feldershop.com/en-US/en-US/Nr-1/FELDER-FD21-professional-Line-Boring-Mac
hine.html
Gannomat
https://www.tritec.com/construction-boring