Well, we are well into 2020 and 2019 already feels like a blur. We’ve had Brexit, storms Ciara and Dennis. Hopefully seeing the back of Coronavirus and lost another beautiful soul to suicide….what a start!

Looking back at my last blog I’d like to give you some backstory to one of our achievements….our drop seal cutting machine.

For those of you who have ever attended an acoustic test you’ll agree they aren’t as much fun as a fire test. No satisfaction of your door achieving the required minutes or the fascination of watching how the flames act like a live being. However, they are interesting nonetheless and throw up a lot of questions. The tests are based around a lot of hi-tec measuring devices, yet an extremely useful piece of equipment is the simple piece of pipe or stethoscope generally found hanging on the back of the door.

Prior to running the full test all small gaps around the perimeter of the door are listened to for gaps in the seals. These gaps can let through high frequency noise and the seals need to be checked for correct installation.

This made us think! If these gaps (or the lack of them) are so important how on earth can we expect our customers to accurately measure and cut drop seals with such tight tolerances?……hence the need for the machine……I knew I’d get there.

If you’ve cut a drop seal it is a very simple process: measure with the factory tape measure, mark with a semi blunt Sharpie and cut with a hacksaw. This may also require squeezing the aluminium carrier in to a vice. It must be a challenge to carry out this process and still return the same results as tested in the lab.

Our drop seal cutting machine has the following process: enter the dimensions required into the keypad, the machine will advise what size seal is required, it will check the seal operation and if ok proceed to cut to the correct size. It will then quality check the seal again and print its new size on it. The result, a drop seal as if manufactured from new that we know will achieve the dB rating and the 1,000,000 cycles it was built to do.

If you’re ever visiting the North East please come and see us, we’ll happily give you a demo.



Michael