In the Reeb Bethlehem Custom Wood Shop, any project for your door or entryway can be custom-made to fit your needs. Many components are created here daily, including mullposts, jambs, sidelite stops, transom stops, astragals, thresholds, and various sill styles.
The process starts with receiving raw lumber from near and far; countries such as Brazil, the Congo, as well as other areas within the United States. Options for various types of wood species include, (but not limited to), mahogany, fir, red oak, poplar, cherry, maple, and knotty alder. The raw wood first gets cut to size with a large chainsaw for a rough-cut length.
Next, the material gets run through the ripsaw, where the blades are spaced at different widths to obtain the appropriate dimension for each component needed. If needed, the lumber finds its way to the Glueclamp machine, where pieces are edge-glued together to create wider pieces. This is also useful to hide seamlines and reduce warping from moisture.
The next step is the Moulder machine, which is the most important part the process. The Moulder has hundreds of different profiles pre-programmed and uses various shaped tools called “knives” to obtain the profile desired for each component. Straight edges, curves, and notches can be milled from a single piece of lumber on this machine to obtain the desired result.
Components are then taken to the radial arm saw, which cuts each piece to the desired length. Other parts require additional machining not offered by the molder. This includes jambs, mull posts, and astragals. These items receive dados, a kerf, or could include other custom milling.
When the entire process is finished, the completed components are palletized. They are either sent to the warehouse for production use, or transferred to the shipping dock. In addition to supplying our Bethlehem facility, finished product is also transported to other Reeb locations in Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina.
At the end of the day, the custom wood shop strives to produce a quality product for our customer. Contact your local service representative with any ideas you might have and see what we can do for you!