Striebig adds touch-screen features

Striebig has announced significant changes to its Swiss-made Evolution and Control vertical panel saws. The two saws offer new features including a touch-screen color display panel, a laser light guide to assist with horizontal cuts, and the ability to upload cut lists via a USB memory stick. Once the operator imports the cut list from the USB stick, it can be called up on the screen and it appears in the form of a spreadsheet. The Control model offers automatic travel features, while the Evolution model primarily operates under manual conditions.

{loadposition position10}

"Striebig considers the two as different models," says Dave Bull, a product manager for Striebig at Colonial Saw in Kingston, Mass. "I've always considered them a one-machine family because they are really exactly the same machine in terms of the way they look, what you do to set them up and make a cut. When it comes to actually making the cut on the Evolution, you move the saw head up and down and you move the beam back and forth manually to make the cut. The Control travels automatically."

Both saws are available in a wide variety of sizes. The maximum standard frame size runs 17'4" in cutting length and 7'4" in cutting height. Custom machines can be purchased as large as 30'6" in cutting length and 10' in cutting width.

The 7-1/2-hp, 3-phase motor saws are equipped with 11-7/8" carbide blades and electric brakes. Each saw sports a welded steel frame suitable for freestanding or wall-mount installation.

"One of the saws is the top-of-the-line manual saw; the other is the top-of-the-line automatic saw," says Bull. "They both have ergonomic [touch-screen] features to set up the cut, to pivot the saw head, to lock the rollers on the bottom, to lock the beam into a cutting station, to lock the saw head into a particular height."

Bull says the laser light to help guide setup of horizontal-cut positions is a beneficial addition.

"You've never been able to really see where the blade is on a horizontal cut, so if you're just trying to eyeball where you want to make a trim cut on a sheet, for example, the laser line will guide you," says Bull.

Both saws were originally introduced in North America in 2003, but the touch-screen controls, ability to upload cut lists and laser light have dramatically changed the capability of the machines.

"Specifically on these machines, the full-wood backing grid certainly separates them from all the other vertical saws out there. That backing grid serves a dual purpose; it can support thin, flimsy materials much better than a traditional type of backing grid."

The Evolution has a base price of $51,900. The Control starts at $64,000.

Contact: Colonial Saw Inc., P.O. Box A, Kingston, MA 02364. Tel: 888-777-2729. www.csaw.com

This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue.