A Day In The Life - A Fence Panel Master

By Sam Wilson

I start off my day with all the usual checks and switching on the compressor to fill up the big air tank, making sure everything is ready for a day making G&G’s premium fence panels. I jump on the forklift and look for the materials I need for the size panel I'm about to make, in this instance I'm making six foot by six foot panels in a style designed by G&G called the ‘Beast’. I fork over a pallet of natural coloured feather edge 1800mm long by 4 inches wide and put it close to my panel master machine. I do the same for the rails that go across the back of the panel and the side rails that will complete the frame. Once everything is in place I can get to building the panels. I start with the top cap, a length of wood 1830mm long and angled like a pyramid which means when installed no water can pool on the top of the panel, instead running off giving the panels better protection and a longer life. I can then place the side rails in position and finally the backing rails, all pre cut to perfectly fit the frame for the panel to be built on. Next I’ll fire in the nails from my nail gun to attach the top cap, doing this now prevents any movement and the top cap sitting at an odd angle. Now the framework is ready for the feather edge to be laid into position all slotting into the guides at the top and bottom of the machine for perfect placement every time. Now for the clever part, once I’ve checked everything is in the right place I can start up the panel master machine. The pre-aligned nail guns fire in each piece of feather edge into the backing rails evenly and in a perfectly straight line, this is dictated by markers on the machine telling the guns the right time to fire. I can now eject the panel after placing a brass G&G badge in the top and centre of the panel and grabbing the larger nail gun, I fire the 70mm nails through the side rails attaching into the backing rails to complete the panel. I check the newly made 6 foot by 6 foot beast panel over for any impurities and once satisfied its up to G&G's high standards I can begin the newest stack of panels laying it on top of a pallet, the first of this stack of 20 panels. I’ll repeat this process until the stack is complete, band them together and fork outside ready for delivery. On my own I can make around 100 panels in the day, that is at the moment, watch this space for when our new double panel master machine arrives then the output of panels will likely double.