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Cutting sheet materials
Most projects require the use of a variety of sheet materials, including MDF, plywood and acrylics, as well as more traditional materials such as ash. Until recently these sheet materials were all cut on a table saw, or with a hand-held circular saw on a workbench.

This was not ideal, as Mark recalled. "The principal issue was sheet handling. An eight-by-four sheet of MDF is heavy and unwieldy: transferring sheets from the store to the table saw or workbench was a two-man job, as was the cutting process itself. Sheets also had to be individually marked up before sawing, and on the workbench they usually had to be repositioned at least once during the cutting process to avoid hitting the bench with the saw."

Mark knew that to address these issues, the Museum Service would need a vertical panel saw. With limited budgets and workshop space, he was aware that finding the right machine could be a challenge, and set about some online research into the machines available.