Portable Bar Miller Makes American Move

The Georgian Bar Company has been such a fan of Jade’s portable Astragal bar miller that it has taken it State side for the opening of its new division in California.

The company has been working with Jade for several years, promoting the milling machine directly to its customer network. It recognised the value the machines brought to installers on site not just in terms of reducing the time spent on milling the bars to length but also ensuring the cuts are precise and give a quality finish in line with Georgian Bar Co’s own standards.

Weighing in at just 15kg and no larger than the size of a work site radio, the Jade Astragal Bar Miller can be stored in the back of a van and taken on-site from job to job, giving installers an immediate and effective method of completing what can often be a time consuming and fiddly install process.

Portability and flexibility

“We had to reverse engineer the existing UK design to better suit the US style window which tends to have more shallow rebates. But the finished miller still offers the same portability, flexibility of use and standard of finish that we have grown accustomed to over the years,” said The Georgian Bar Co’s managing director Phil Dewhurst.

Over the years, The Georgian Bar Co has collaborated closely with Jade in evolving the design of the Astragal miller, including the option to use different sized bars on one machine with the addition of moveable inserts. And while the size and transportable nature of the miller makes it ideal for use on site, Dewhurst also recommends its use in a factory setting as well.

“It allows you to bar up quickly as you don’t need to wait for the air compression cycle to reset,” added Dewhurst. “It is the perfect low cost, manually operated addition to the end of any fabrication processing line. It takes up no room at all, a quick cut and clip and you’re ready to load the finished product to be fitted on site.”

Millers in India

This is not the first time one of Jade’s millers has been found on overseas soil thanks to the far-reaching success of the Geofast system. The Georgian Bar Co has also shipped out a total of five millers to its partner in India.

Geofast can be applied to either one or both sides of the window as required and the bars will flex with the unit so that if toe and heeling is required this will not impact on the effectiveness of the bars. If, however, re-glazing is required, then the bars can be easily removed and reapplied on site. The components comprise edge clips, centre clips and the Georgian Bars.

“When you have a unique product like Geofast, any proven supporting equipment like Jade’s Astragal miller are included as part of the package – and that has already proven to be the case in India,” continued Dewhurst. “In the UK we’ve probably supplied 60 or more millers. We supply them direct to our customers, including sorting out any repair or maintenance issues, so there is always that one point of contact between us and Jade which massively simplifies the relationship. This partnership continued in India and will be the same in California.”

Picture: A heritage window with Georgian bars milled using a portable Jade Astragal bar miller.

www.geofast.co.uk

www.jade-eng.co.uk