Window Creations, LLC | Made With Biesse France

Ohio-based Window Creations, LLC, and its more than 20 employees have established an incredibly high craftsmanship standard with stained glass for nearly three decades. Today, both Biesse and Intermac are helping the company maintain that lofty standard as well as expand its business offerings. “Our primary business is stained glass but we’re moving more and more to manufacturing,” said company president Reggie Buehrer. “Still, the manufacturing revolves around the window business but we’re branching off into other areas. Anything pertaining to glass, metal or wood, we can work with all those different mediums.” Buehrer noted that a large stained glass window might be composed of 50 or 60 panels and Window Creations produces “well into the thousands” of pieces each year when you combine those panels, window frames and wood projects. Two years ago, the company encountered some production challenges and found the help it was looking for in Biesse’s Rover S and Intermac’s Genius CT-37.

“We were looking to save time and improve accuracy,” he said. “With Intermac, we were primarily looking at glass cutting, mostly ¼-inch thick but all different thicknesses. We were looking for something that would improve accuracy versus hand cutting and using templates and then also to be able to speed the process up. That really did help increase the speed at which we were able to work and, of course, the accuracy.” Buehrer added, “It’s really about time savings, greater precision and less material loss. On the CT-37, with big projects we often times end up with 90%-plus usage of our sheet because we’re nesting so many pieces. It’s a pretty high percentage, let’s put it that way. We may have hundreds of panels we punch into it at a time, so it really figures the placement in the piece and it nests them really well.” For its part, the Rover S has proved beneficial not only in the company’s production for customers but also for the enhancement of Window Creations’ own work environment.

“We also made all the cabinets for our new facility. We engineered them on CAD software and it automatically sent the code to the (Rover). It chops them up, into literally thousands of pieces, and drills the holes for the shelves and dadoes out the holes. It was really nice for making the cabinets.” Window Creations, LLC, counts many churches and secular clients among its growing list of customers. The company routinely works with unconventional shapes not customary to other types of windows, according to Buehrer, who explained how the integration between his Biesse and Intermac machines works. “When we design a window frame, we are actually designing the wood, glass and metal fabrication,” he said. “So, when we do the CAD drawings, we can follow all the same tracery. Because ours isn’t like a rectangle; everything is complex geometry and curved. It’s almost a rarity to have straight lines, so you’re engineering the wood below then the aluminum frame above, which we fabricate from raw material. Then we bend it, and using CNC machines, we route it and secure it all together, and then we cut our glass. Think of it as three different layers. We use Intermac and Biesse for two of those three layers.” #ThinkForward is a major tenet of Biesse Group’s core philosophy and Buehrer said that message resonates with his company as well. “We’re not your normal stained glass studio although that’s what we’ve been doing for 30 years,” he said. “We’re much greatly expanded, which pretty much explains our forward thinking. If you’re standing still, you’re getting behind.” For more information on Window Creations, LLC, contact Reggie Buehrer at reggie@bstudios.net or visit the company’s web site: www.bstudios.net

“We use the Rover S for three-dimensional type coves. It’s a little more than just cutting out a two-dimensional piece. We use software that allows us to go in and put those coves on it and do some really cool things."

Reggie Buehrer Window Creations, LLC President

Reaching New Levels of Artistry and Productivity

Ohio-based Window Creations, LLC, and its more than 20 employees have established an incredibly high craftsmanship standard with stained glass for nearly three decades. Today, both Biesse and Intermac are helping the company maintain that lofty standard as well as expand its business offerings.