RIETSCHE VA800 automatic foundation station

01 · TWO ROUTES, AND THIS IS THE SHORT ONE

Rigid here, flexible on the other

In foundation production there are two paths, and it pays to choose before spending. This machine makes rigid sheet in one step: it melts, rolls, embosses and cuts. The alternative is the two-machine route — coiler first, embosser after — which is the indispensable one if what you want is flexible sheet.

The difference is not one of quality but of product: two different articles for two different customers. Before deciding, the question is not which machine is better, but which sheet you are going to sell.

02 · THE COMPRESSOR IS NOT INCLUDED

And without it there is no cutting

The cutting system is pneumatic and the machine ships without a compressor. You need one of 20-25 litres and at least 5 bar, which belongs in the budget from the start, because without compressed air the cutter does not work.

Five pairs of circular knives are included. Width is set by sliding the knife and length is chosen on a digital screen, so formats are not fixed by the machine: the real limit is the 800 mm band width.

03 · 1,500 LITRES OF WATER AN HOUR

And at 10-15 °C, which is the other half of the problem

The rollers are water-cooled and consume between 500 and 1,500 litres an hour depending on machine size, at an inlet temperature of 10 to 15 °C. That is not summer tap water: it is cold water, and a lot of it.

That is why a closed circuit with a cooling unit of around 4 kW refrigerating capacity is recommended, and it goes separately. It is the item most often underestimated when budgeting this machine, and without it production depends on the temperature of the day.

04 · THREE PHASE AND 7.5 KW IN BOILERS

Heating alone, before the motor

The two boilers add up to 7.5 kW: 3 kW for the 20-litre melting boiler and 4.5 kW for the 180-litre triple-walled one. To that you add the three-phase motor with electronic speed control. All at 400 V three phase.

This is an industrial installation, not a workshop line. If the cooling unit is fitted too, its pump and compressor go on top.

05 · THE SOLVENT IS PART OF THE PROCESS

And it is what stops the wax sticking

The machine carries a solvent spray installation with its own pump: without that release agent, the wax stays on the rollers and the sheet tears. Five litres of concentrate are supplied free, at 20-30 ml per 10 litres of water.

The product is biodegradable under Regulation (EC) 648/2004 and formulated for pure beeswax. It is a consumable: worth having in the cost-per-sheet calculation.

06 · WHAT GOES SEPARATELY

Structure, sterilisation and cooling

Besides the compressor and the water equipment, two options tend to end up being bought: the structure for the 180-litre tank — with ladder and railing, in galvanised steel, of the order of 1,200 € plus VAT — and the 300-litre sterilisation tank.

Construction is in stainless steel 1.4301, the European designation for AISI 304. Standard embossing is 5.4 mm cell, some 800 cells per square decimetre, at 1.75 mm depth.

07 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Industrial line for rigid foundation.