CNC Crazy? Don't Forget Other Tools for Basic Shapes!

[tuck]

I'm talking about rectangular and square panels cut out of most any material. Your best friend in this instance is a good panel saw and/or table saw. These tools still have a very useful place in a shop that deals with sheet material on a regular basis and can cut straight cuts in thick, dense material much faster and just as accurate as most any CNC machine. Of the two (table saw and panel saw), I have found that my panel saw is most useful, especially when dealing with 4'x8' panels that need to be cut up in rectangular shapes. I've even cut .250" aluminum with it with a little WD-40, no problem. Zip, zip, whack, whack!

Panel saws are large but don't take up a lot of floor space because they are vertical. Table saws, on the other hand, can be HUGE, but you don't need a big one. (At least I don't.) My benchtop model has served me quite well for cuts too narrow (thin) for my panel saw.

Oh yeah,...a good chop saw, especially a slider, is very useful in my shop.

These are all good tools to invest in if you don't already have them. Don't work that new PRT and your expensive bits to death making simple repetitive cuts that you can do in a more efficient manner with old stand-bys! :-)

[Ryan Patterson]

Mark,
A few months ago I was cutting A bunch of shelves for a closet. I thought I would run a test. Started the ShopBot cutting then went to the table saw to cut the same parts. The Shopbot finsihed first.

[tuck]

I hear ya, Ryan, but like I said, my main weapon for rectangular cuts is my panel saw. Let's say we each have a hypothetical job to cut 11.5" x 48" shelves. The contractor needs 48 of them, requiring 6 sheets of 3/4" hardwood veneered plywood. Let's also say that we're both working alone with no assistance, fair enough? I've got my 6 sheets stacked near my panel saw and you have yours at your ShopBot. Ready,..set,...GO!

Ok, first, you've got to make a cut file on the computer, select and install the proper bit, muscle the first sheet of material onto the table, get "zeroed in", turn on your vacuum (assuming you have one), and start cutting. I can promise you that before you can get all that done, I've already cut up at least two, possibly 3 sheets. By the time you finish the first sheet, get it off the table, hump the 2nd sheet into place and start cutting again,...I'm DONE! FINISHED!

And THEN,..the phone rings. It's the contractor. There's been a mistake. The shelves need to be 46" long, not 48"! :-0 No problem for me. I set up a stop @ 46" at my sliding chop saw station and whack 'em off. What are YOU gonna do?

My point is this,...you can't have too many weapons at your disposal in your shop, especially when dealing with sheet material. ;-)

[wcsg]

I love my panel saw, best thing to have right next to the CNC

[tuck]

Thank you, Erik. I wouldn't take anything for mine. Well, I might take something...

[mziegler]

I with you, Mark. The first year I got mine ShopBot I was try to do everything on it. Right all way I was bog down in lots of design work, CAM, tool paths, cutter changes, and hold down problems. Time for KISS - keep it simple, stupid. So lately I do the stuff on the ShopBot what the ShopBot is best at and use the other shop tools for what they are best for. Mark.

[Ryan Patterson]

Mark if we started the job at the same time I am 90% sure we would finish at the same time. When I start a job the unit of sheets is set at the end of the SB all I have to do is slide them on. Then when done cutting lift the parts off then slide a new sheet on. Turning on the vacuum and dust collector is done with relays controlled by the SB software. With the size parts you gave in your example it would take about 2 min cutting all four sides to square the parts. To setup the file to cut these parts would take about 3 min. Max. I could also start running the part through the edge bander while the next sheet is cutting. Now if you are running with a PRT and not an alpha then your way would be much faster.

Now when the phone rings and have to recut I would use the panel saw.

I am not putting down the panel saw there is allot I use it for and would not be able to work with out one.

[manure (Unregistered Guest)]

What if you already have the sheet on the table, because the Shopbot is making holes or grooves or whatever in the pieces, and a file is therefore already made?
Are the rectangular cuts now more practical on the ShopBot?

...........Mike

[mikejohn]

If you type a message, then type your password in 'Username:' instead of your name,then hit 'enter' and your message is identifiable as being from you (because you always use the same 'signature', then you need to change your password


.....Mike

[gerald_d]

always thought that your posts had a whiff about them

[hespj]

"..... then you need to change your password"

But you should certainly keep your new name.

[gerald_d]

[mikejohn]

The old password comes from Rocking Horse manure, like me very rare and special!

[beacon14]

A question for those who cut full sheets of melamine and then edgeband - how does the routed edge compare with the sawn edge from the panel saw? The only melamine parts I cut now are the non-square ones, and the edge quality is noticably courser than the tablesawn edges. Do you have to joint the edges before banding? Can you tell the difference between a banded edge that was cut out on the SB and a banded edge that was ripped on the saw?

[tuck]

Ryan, it would be a fun race! 8-)

[Ryan Patterson]

David,
When I first started cutting melamine with a spindle I did notice when edge banded you where able to see a deference. After fine tuning the feed and RPM and using conventional cut I can see no deference. I cut 5/8” melamine at 9 in/sec with RPM 14,600 using a 3/8” up/down cutter the bit will last about 60 sheets.

Mark,
I think John Henry had a similar race

[richards]

David,
I've found, like Ryan, that when things are tuned properly, the edge is excellent - on straight tool paths (but then my edge bander only works with straight edges; curves require a different model).

I lightly scuff-sand the edges manually (100 grit sandpaper on a rubber block). All I'm trying to do is to knock loose any loose debris before edge banding.

[waynec]

Its moving the stock around that gets me using the CNC.

I'm doing a project right now with a bunch of cabinet boxes. I'm making all the boxes on the CNC because I only move the sheet one time for numerous operations. The CNC cuts out the rectangles, but also drills the shelf holes, mills the dados and rabits, and makes less mistakes than I do.

When these sheets are done, I label the parts, clean the edges, and set up the next sheet. The parts move around much less, and I'm not wrestling large sheets of ply onto machines multiple times.

I still do edge machining, doors, and face frames on traditional woodworking equipment. But less stock movement is a good reason to use the CNC.

Wayne from White Salmon