Their simple, cost effective and innovative design produces flawless curved surfaces every time.
And this in a fraction of the time and cost of more traditional methods.
“We were looking for an easier and cheaper way of forming the plywood and MDF,” says James, Managing Director of Curvomatic.
One of the traditional methods involves a solid block of MDF and a £50,000 CNC machine to machine it out to create a male and female mould to press down. The whole process takes at least a day to create a mould if the process is error free. If a mistake is made in the mould, quite often the process needs to start again from scratch.
The company first looked at using box section aluminium and getting it vulcanized onto rubber matting but discounted this due to cost and the complicated production process.
“We didn’t consider using aluminium extrusion at first as we thought it would be too expensive, says James. However when we had discounted other processes we decided to investigate whether using extrusion was feasible.
We put together a design and phoned round to get a price. We wanted to be supplied direct from a UK mill so we got in touch with Hydro Aluminium Extrusion who we had heard of by reputation.”
The Curvomatic system is made up of aluminium extrusions which join together to form an articulated skin which can be extended to any length. The system comprises two formers, one for each end and a curvomatic which goes across the top.
The whole process takes approximately 1 hour to create the end formers and half an hour to reset if necessary.
In addition the system is completely re-usable and adaptable to create other curves and shapes.
“Aluminium offers a lot of properties that are desirable for this application”, adds James. Its strength is a big advantage. We were also surprised at the cost of the tooling (die). This went completely against our initial assumption that extrusion was an expensive process.
“Aluminium also dents rather than cracks like other materials and we can get away with different thicknesses as it doesn’t change shape as much as other materials when it comes out of the press. Plastic will deform if different thicknesses are next to each other.
In addition the hollow aluminium extrusions act as a heat sink, transmitting the external temperature to the centre of the layup very effectively. Putting the layup in to heated box or room can therefore speed up the curing process dramatically.”
The Curvomatic was originally conceived to form laminate and wood panels. Its obvious advantages – cost reduction and time of application, have created a huge amount of interest in the market. In fact it is cheaper and quicker to set up than any comparable system and takes up very little room as it stores flat, the need for mould storage is removed.
However the team at Curvomatic has realized that it lends itself to numerous other applications.
“We have already created sleek shapes for tables and chairs”, says James. “The system is ideal to use for outside garden furniture as aluminium is corrosion resistant. When anodized it creates a beautiful finish. Going one step further it would be fantastic way of creating stunning water features.”
“We also think it would be ideal for use in building applications, roller shutter doors or cladding for external walls. It could also be cast in former to 
create pillars in airports, which is ideal as you can run services such as water and electricity through the extrusions.
The fact that it is aluminium and it can be anodized or powder coated in a huge range of colours adds to the aesthetic possibilities.”
“We are extremely pleased with the response to the Curvomatic,” adds James. If the interest that is being shown is an indication of success then we are extremely positive about its future.
To find out more about Curvomatic visit their website:
www.curvomatic.com
