Need Help Justifying Our Program

[44henry]

Dear ShopBot Users:

I am writing to request your help in a department matter. I teach at the University of North Dakota in the Department of Technology. We are a four year program in the College of Business and Public Administration that offers our students a diverse degree in areas of manufacturing, electronics, and graphic design technology. Our manufacturing lab has a mixture of wood and metal processing equipment including, a relatively recent addition, of a PRT 96 ShopBot system. Though we started out somewhat slow, over the last few years the use of the ShopBot in our program has grown to the point where it is now being used by a number of classes in our program and student response to this cnc router has been very positive.

Unfortunately there have been a few problems. Recently there has been a shift in our department where some have questioned the need to keep the more traditional equipment in our manufacturing area. They have suggested that with the ShopBot there no longer exists a need to keep the manual tools such as lathes, band saws, table saws, shapers, planers, etc. Unfortunately my comments that these are still very important support machines and that they are still common in industry seems to be offering little resistance. I fear that if other voices are not heard that this area of our program stands to lose a great deal. It is in this area that I need your help. Some of the negative factors of the existing equipment that have been addressed are as follows:

•Teaching wood working (wood manufacturing technology) is outdated and there are no jobs available for our students in this area upon graduation.

•The heavy woodworking equipment in our lab is intimidating to new students, particularly female students that we are trying to attract into manufacturing.

•With the ShopBot we have no need for the older tools; it can all be accomplished with this machine.

Additionally, I would like to ask anyone who has a comment on this issue, whatever your side, to please respond to my university email address that I will include at the bottom of this request. I really need to collect other voices that can be shared with the rest of our faculty on this issue. I am of course gathering other materials to support my side, but your assistance in this manner will help a great deal.

Regards,
Alex Johnson
Assistant Professor
Department of Technology
University of North Dakota
10 Cornell Street Stop 7118
Grand Forks, ND 58202
alexander.johnson@und.nodak.edu

[benchmench]

Your post was of keen interest to me since I owe much of my woodworking career to the formal education I received in the Wood Manufacturing Technology Department at Cerritos College, Cerritos, CA (http://cms.cerritos.edu/woodworking). While CNC has been very beneficial to my business for panel processing, it has not replaced some very traditional tools such as the table saw, jointer and planer for solid wood processing.

For your critics, I would offer the following:

•Teaching wood working (wood manufacturing technology) is outdated and there are no jobs available for our students in this area upon graduation.

Contrary to this perception, woodworking, and derivative products, such as “Green” manufactured materials, are at the very leading edge of today’s architectural interior and exterior work. In addition to traditional wood, Woodworkers are also utilizing laminates, plastics, architectural foam and veneers. Woodworking manufacturing technology provides the foundation for working with many of today’s newest engineered materials and skilled labor for employers in any manufacturing or fabrication business.

Many woodworkers get their start in local cabinet shops - A Google search or your local area will probably turn up several in close proximity. However, if it is true that “Jobs upon graduation” justify a woodworking program, then how do the performing arts justify theirs? Athletic Departments?

Looking at the question of “Jobs” from the view of “Job Creation”, woodworking can be a great opportunity for manufacturing entrepreneurs. With a small investment in basic equipment and the knowledge and skills to use them, an entrepreneur can compete profitably in local, national and custom markets against off-shore manufacturing companies. By training these entrepreneurs, your department is contributing to U.S. job creation and our “On-Shore” manufacturing base.

•The heavy woodworking equipment in our lab is intimidating to new students, particularly female students that we are trying to attract into manufacturing.

There are woodworking programs at community colleges around the country that are successful in taking the “fear factor” out of woodworking machinery and also attracting more female students. A formal safety program, instructor led use for each machine and a mandatory safety quiz at the beginning of each class helps in this regard. See http://woodlinksusa.org/ for more information.

•With the ShopBot we have no need for the older tools; it can all be accomplished with this machine.

The Shopbot is a great tool and brings CNC fabrication technology to the woodshop. It is great for panel operations, cabinet construction and carving but for many solid wood applications, such as with furniture, the traditional planer, jointer and table saw are hard to beat.

Best of luck with your program,

Dan Dunshee
CraftsmanCNC
Orange, CA
info@craftsmancnc.com
www.craftsmancnc.com
www.carvedsignstudio.com

[steve]

Alex , about 29 years ago I was trying to decide what to do in my life. I know I wanted to do something creative , useful and something that would always be needed by others. I chose woodworking. I am entirely self taught , because I had no choice. It would have saved me years of trying if I had someone to show me.
One of the many things I have learned the hard way is lightweight (stationary) tools are dangerous , you need weight to support the bearings and a motor large enough to cut safely.
If students are scared of large tools they haven't been trained properly on them.
I have had a shopbot for the last 11 years and for the last 2 years (almost) I have had a 60 x96 PRS alpha with 2 Z's and an indexing head. This is the machine I've been waiting for all my life.
I am doing things I could only dream of before. But the bot in no way replaces ANY other tool in my shop. On the shopbot I can turn a table leg in 1.5 hours , ready to sand. However I am a very experienced turner and can do the same leg in 12-18 min on my lathe , with crisp corners and a feeling of accomplishment and self worth. My high end kitchen customers will only accept hand turned parts from me. The indexer is wonderful for carving on those legs but I turn faster and better. The shopbot cuts perfect curves and shapes as well you know , but again cannot replace a good bandsaw.
Lately I have been surfacing large table tops on the shopbot , the other day my brother and I built the flattest table we have ever done - thanks to the shopbot. But it doesn't replace the thickness planer , I'm not going to set up the bot to dress down some 8" drawer sides when it could be cutting a 3D basket weave panel for a wardrobe. Traditional tools cannot be replaced and indeed should not be replaced be a machine that is capable of so much more than ripping , planing and turning.
In my shop the priorities for the shopbot are as follows:
1- it does work that can not be done any other way
2- it does work that can be done by other tools but it can do the work faster OR better OR without an operator.
3- it does work that could be on other tools but I JUST DON'T WANT TO TODAY.
....somedays #3 becomes #1

I would not have a woodworking shop these days without a CNC machine or without all the other tools comenly used in a tridational shop. Every tool should be used for what is is best at.

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[beacon14]

One problem manufacturers are running into is workers and designers who have been trained on computers and CNC equipment but who have never actually worked wood or other materials by hand, and so have no feeling for how wood reacts to being machined, the pressures and nuances involved. When working with materials you can't replace hands-on experience.

The ShopBot is a powerful and versatile tool, but it's not the be-all and and-all. Without the rest of the tools in my shop, I'd be severely limited in what I could accomplish.

Unless you plan to teach only panel processing, getting rid of the solid wood processing equipment would be a mistake in my opinion.

[rb99]

I agree that getting rid of the other equipment would be a mistake. There are cutters, planers and many more dedicated tools that are much more efficient than CNC at the particular task they are designed for.

To limit the students to only CNC would be limiting their abilities to be efficient thus limiting their ability to be competitive. Without the full range of tool knowledge they will not be nearly as desirable to potential employers or be on an equal playing field in entrepreneurial ventures.

Sincerely,

Richard Bouchard
Bouchard Imaging