Combining woodworking with CNC

[Patrick2by4]

Hello fellow CNC'er

I am curious how many of you are woodworkers and got into CNC to expand your level of woodworking? Although I haven't finished my own CNC machine yet, I plan to use it alot in one of a kind pieces of furniture and perhaps sign making. If you made some interesting pieces, I would very much like to see it. (Post it por favor)
Here is my last project for someone on the office staff where I work.
I can't wait to add CNC designs to my projects, it opens a whole new chapter to my woodworking.

[ger21]

It comes in handy for making curved things.

[Patrick2by4]

Hey Gerry, your profile mentions that you are a cabinetmaker. I was wondering if you incorporated cnc router work in your cabinetmaking?
On the internet, I have seen some really spectacular work by others and it has been a real motivation for me to build a cnc machine myself. I tried carving panels before using carving chisel but grew tired of it because it was so labor intensive. I wanted to use a cnc router for this type of relief work. I have a bunch of doors I wanted to add panels to.

Here is a sample of one carving I done but couldn't see myself carving all the time.

[ger21]

I work in a commercial cabinet shop programming a large CNC router and CNC saw. Here is a picture of the type of work we do. When I get to back to work I'll see if I can find a pictue of the framework of this round soffit on the ceiling. If I recall it's about 20ft diameter. I'll try to find a bigger picture, too.

I'm building (If I can ever find the time) a router to use in the stuff I build at home. I plan on using it a lot for 3D carving.

I made a piece of MDF cove moulding on our work machine for my fireplace mantel. I also routed a mating piece to use for a caul for veneering it. By wetting the veneer slightly, I was able to make about 1/8" radius bends. I'll take a picture in a second of a small cutoff.

[ger21]

Here you go

[Patrick2by4]

Wow, this is what I mean by spectacular stuff. I love the receptionist desk area. (It's things like this that got me into carpentry years ago)
So you use the CNC machine to mill out large pieces of crown? How is the surface after you mill it out? Does it require a little sanding to remove any residue ridges? Normally, if I need a large cove, I just mill it out on the tablesaw by passing the lumber above the spinning blade at a skewed angle. It works great but requires a lot of sanding to remove the saw marks.
I'd love to see this done with a CNC router. I imagine that not only can you mill out the large cove but also add design elements!!!


Here is how I do it... for the moment!

[kong]

Wow guys, some great stuff here, makes my radiator cabinet seem a bit lame! Would have taken forver without the aid of CNC though!

[Patrick2by4]

Your radiator cover is Great! It never occurred to me to make stuff like that. Not only is it beautiful, but marketable. There has got to be a million housewives out there that would want this radiator cover. You could put any design you want on that cover. By the way, is the panel 6mm thick?

[kong]

Thanks! The panels are only 3mm hardboard, and the framework is 18mm MDF. It is fixed together with biscuits. Bugger to paint though.

[ger21]

So you use the CNC machine to mill out large pieces of crown? How is the surface after you mill it out? Does it require a little sanding to remove any residue ridges?

It's mdf, with veneer. I didn't have to sand it before I glued on the veneer. straight off the machine. I used a 1/4" core box bit, because the mating piece needed that size bit. The larger the bit you use, the smoother it will come out. Very little sanding should be required.

Hopefully I'll have a picture at work of the framework for the ceiling panels you see there. About 12 sheets of plywood parts, curved stringers and nothced ribs.

We just finished a solid surface top the other day, about 15ft diameter, 3" thick. Attached its a drawing of the profile. I made about 80 passes with a 1-1/2" care box bit, with each pass stepping down and over about 1/32. I wrote a lisp program in AutoCAD to generate the toolpaths. I just draw the first pass, and the program offsets and steps down the required amounts. Once I figure out what they need to be, it just takes a few seconds.

[Patrick2by4]

Is there anyone else out there that used a cnc router on a woodworking project? Please post a picture

[marvinstov]

I haven't done anything big like you guys yet but here is a clock I did. About 6" tall.

Marv