cnc router

[johnnyb]

I'm just looking at a big 8 by 5 cnc router and I'm curious as to what sort of stuff would typically be made on something like this( commercially)
I'm aware that kitchen and wardrobe doors (from mdf)could be made and sold( after painting) but what else uses these. joiners shops will have them but for what? please approach me as a total ignoramus.

 

[johnnyb]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2302777756573302/

 

[HOJ]

but what else uses these. joiners shops will have them but for what? please approach me as a total ignoramus.

I did look at getting one a few years ago when I was making headboards, foot boards and side panels for kids beds using 18mm MRMDF, at the time we made templates and hand routed them out, what a job and what a mess, we were buying pallets of MRMDF at time.

 

[johnnyb]

one thing I saw and liked was a guy making adirondacks in special exterior ply. there basically a assembly of 2d shapes and maybe the variety of shapes helped cut down the waste.

 

[johnnyb]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...HhAWegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw38Ol7_pfdHEXuasBk4q48t

 

[johnnyb]

I'm guessing they use these things on joiners shops for making the grooves and holes for espag locks/ handles.

 

[Thingybob]

A few moons ago I watched a guy building a 10'x5' CNC router on the net and what was he going to make on it ..............



CNC Routers for sale

 

[worn thumbs]

If you aren't reasonably proficient with at least a basic 2D CAD programme,you will struggle.If you can produce your own files of objects to cut then there is almost no limit to the things you can make.If you go one step further and have some ability with 3D CAD then all manner of objects can be cut.In any event there will be a need to learn to generate a file for each object,or several if you need to use a number of tools and don't have a toolchanger.Do not part with any money until you have seen the machine you are interested in actually cutting and make notes on what software is involved.Don't be taken in by the usually very refined demo object files that the salesman will have prepared and which will show his machine in a good light.

You will need a workshop with a reliable and abundant electricity supply if you visualise using a vacuum hold down for a whole sheet.It can be alarming to add up the power needs for the controller,vacuum system,spindle and extractor.

 

[johnnyb]

I aren't proficient with any cad system tbh. I was really doing a what if scenario. but you raise an interesting point re power. I guess that's why they have sectional beds to save on costs. the company selling seem to make stuff for alton towers in acrylic aluminium wood. a very specialised field but probably really effective.

 

[worn thumbs]

The main reason for zoned vacuum tables is to reduce the amount of leakage.An exposed zone will let so much air through that the smaller workpiece on a small region won't be held down at all well.By using a higher proportion of a small zone to hold the part there is a much better chance of it staying in place.The pump runs with the same current draw regardless.

I think you would find it interesting to spend a few hours looking around on youtube to see what can be accomplished with CNC routers.The most jaw dropping examples seem to be from companies that have something to be proud of.

Even a very basic machine will cope with easy jobs like carving house name or number boards and something like F-engrave will show you the possibilities in that field for zero cost.Maybe take a look at that too.

Unless you do repetition work for something like a national kitchen manufacturer,it is quite likely that you would spend more time programming than actually cutting as each sheet will need a different programme.I have trained operatives with no knowledge of CNC use to locate a sheet on the machine and then select the correct programme and run it.This leaves them to label the parts as they come off the machine and to remove the dust ready for the next sheet,which I would hopefully have ready to run.It is a different way of working and while the parts can be cut rapidly,the mistakes and oversights can pile up just as rapidly.

The one thing you absolutely have to do is arrange a supply of files for cutting and really there is no substitute for a dollop of CAD knowledge.I have talked to a bloke who imagined that it was all about pushing buttons on a controller to generate a programme,well long ago it might have been .These days,comparatively cheap software will nest parts on a sheet,of a size you specify,with the gaps you specify in a matter of seconds and a mouse click or two later you can have the programme transferred to the machine ready for cutting.It makes dragging templates of a nail on the workshop wall and drawing round them seem prehistoric.

 

[johnnyb]

I saw a guy making a globe 3d plant thing. it was a free program and he was using wise ply. it looked like a giant 3d puzzle(those things you slot together)

 

[Ollie78]

Its great for anything with veneers or composite panels because you can use a compression bit and get clean cuts both sides.
You can batch out multiples efficiently from one sheet.
Great for templates and jigs, you can quickly make router templates, jigs to hold parts together whilst gluing or doing another process to them.
As you say you can use them for cutting out locks or anything really, you can set up jig on the bed to hold them the same each time and save the programme.

I have a much smaller machine and mostly use it for more artistic stuff like inlays, v carving and such in solid woods as well as more complex 3d shapes and carving.
Making curved components like the 3 sections of a curved head gate for example, quick and accurate.
Once you have a machine you find you use it for all sorts, flattening slabs, making wooden plugs etc etc.

Ollie

 

[LancsRick]

Been on and off building a PrintNC the last couple of years but life keeps getting in the way. I'm building it as much for the joy of building it as having a definitive end requirement, but it'll be great for detail addition on large panels etc and I have a 3d printer community that will love easy access to custom cut dibond panels at a non-silly price.

 

[sploo]

I used to build loudspeakers using a CNC with a bed around 1000x600mm and had to run multiple jobs to cut a complete set of panels for a pair of floorstanders. An 8x5' machine would have been great!