Guides

One-Operator Coating Lines: The Combined Coat-and-Cure Advantage

Graeme Thomas

One-Operator Coating Lines: The Combined Coat-and-Cure Advantage

Feed unfinished timber in one end, stack dry, primed boards at the other — with just one person running the entire line.

Why Combined Lines Make Sense

In traditional timber finishing, coating and drying are separate operations — often in different parts of the factory, handled by different people, with work-in-progress stacking up between them. A combined coating and drying line eliminates this by making finishing a single, continuous operation.

The operator feeds unfinished boards at one end. The vacuum coater applies primer to all four sides. The infrared drying tunnel cures the coating. Dry, primed boards emerge at the other end, ready for immediate stacking and dispatch. One person, one continuous flow, no intermediate handling.

Combined Line Benefits

Single Operator

One person manages the entire coating process — feeding, monitoring, and stacking. No team coordination required.

Compact Footprint

The combined line runs inline, taking significantly less floor space than separate coating and drying stations with rack storage between them.

Continuous Flow

No work-in-progress buffers, no spacer laths, no overnight drying. Boards flow from coating to drying to stacking in a single uninterrupted process.

Production Performance

1
Operator

For the complete finishing process

10,000+
Metres/Day

Typical single-shift throughput

< 30 Sec
Coat to Stack

Total process time per board

VC6 + DS6 Combined Coating Line

The Palmer Primer combined line pairs the VC6 vacuum coater with the DS6 infrared drying tunnel in a single inline configuration. Quick-change templates on the coater and variable speed/power on the dryer accommodate a wide range of profiles and coating types.

The line is designed for timber processors who want to bring finishing in-house without committing a large team or floor area to the task.

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Design Your Coating Line

Tell us about your production requirements and space — we'll design a one-operator solution.

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