If you are in the Wichita, KS area, come check out the Thermwood booth at the SAMPe Fall Technical Conference.  The conference runs through October 21st.  Thermwood is Booth #810.  We have posted pics on our Twitter account 

http://www.twitter.com/thermwood

A Win-Win Situation:

To help celebrate the partnership of two industry leaders, Thermwood customers who purchase a new machine before October 30^th can now also receive a double credit on the purchase of ShopWare CAD from 20-20 Technologies.

How It Works:

Buyers completing the attached document get a $5,000 credit from 20-20 Technologies and an additional $2,500 credit from Thermwood Corporation toward the purchase of ShopWare CAD.  That's a total of $7,500 off ShopWare CAD for Thermwood customers who purchase a new Thermwood CNC Router before October 30^th.

http://www.thermwood.com/partenershipWMS.PDF

 For more information, please contact Thermwood at 1-800-533-6901
sales@thermwood.com or 20-20 Technologies at 1-866-698-2020.

Today is the first day at the WMS show in Toronto where our Canadian Dealer, CNC Automation has a very nice booth with a couple of Thermwood CNC Routers including the New CabinetShop43. We are continualy adding pictures from the show to our TwitPic account. You can view them here:

http://www.twitpic.com/photos/thermwood

You can also follow Thermwood, CNC Automation and the WMS show on our twitter page or blog:

http://www.twitter.com/thermwood

The booth consists of two Thermwood routers, CabinetShop45 and CabinetShop43., and two Fravol Edgebanders, S4 and S7.  They are demonstrating eCabinet Systems and QuickCut on the CS43, cutting random cabinets and 20-20 Technologies is sending files to the CS45.

The CS45 is also creating furniture for Canada's Habitat for Humanity. Once the parts are cut on the machine, they will get edgebanding, finished and assembled right there in the booth, so there are other secondary type of machines within the booth.

 Here are a couple of pics of the CNC Automation /Thermwood booth at the opening of the show:

We've created a couple of videos demonstrating the superior performance of the CabinetShop 43 in a variety of applications.  The first is the Carving of an inset carving, and the second is Cabinet Cutting.

About the CabinetShop 43:  The CabinetShop 43 offers premium performance not normally seen at this price point. For example, it has positioning speeds to 3,180 inches per minute and programmed cutting speeds to 2,250 Inches per minute. The actual speed at which you can cut is determined more by tooling and material than by the machine, but its speed is indicative of the overall solid CNC performance of the CabinetShop 43.

We've created an updated QuickCut video that shows how easy and powerful the entire process is:

About QuickCut:  QuickCut is available on all Thermwood CabinetShop series machines and offers the fastest, easiest and simplest possible way to make custom cabinets. Everything is done right at the machine. You don't need separate computers, design software, networks or anything else other than the machine.

Please Click Here for more information on QuickCut 

We are pleased to introduce a revolutionary new CNC Router System, called the CabinetShop 43, for nested based applications. This new high performance CNC router is built in the US, at Thermwood's Southern Indiana factory and utilizes a whole new, highly efficient manufacturing approach which results in a superior structure coupled with enhanced use of materials, all at a dramatically lower price.

The new machine features a 61 by 121 inch fixed table, a 10 HP HSD spindle and an eleven position automatic tool changer. It offers high acceleration, high performance motions in both positioning and cutting. This new system includes quality features seldom, if ever, found at this price point including full stress relieved weldments, high-end Siemens drives throughout, THK rails and three-dimensional volumetric position compensation.

The system also includes Thermwood's QCore SuperControl which sharply distinguishes it from every other machine in this class offering features such as:

"QuickCut" is the fastest, simplest, easiest way to make cabinets and closets ever. Just select and resize a cabinet from the library and cut it, all right at the machine control.

"Job Level Interface" means you communicate with every major cabinet design software package using a single job file instead of dozens or hundreds of individual programs. Nesting and program development happen automatically at the machine; an approach that offers dramatically simpler operation and higher productivity.

The QCore SuperControl also executes standard G-Code programs developed elsewhere.

The QCore SuperControl also has an impressive list of operating features all with one purpose, make the machine as foolproof as possible to reduce errors, minimizing the time you fiddle with the machine. It runs more with less effort.

- Automatic Tool Management helps you manage tooling and tracks tool life

- Maintenance Tracking tracks machine use and guides you through routine maintenance

- Graphic Error Reporting shows you exactly where a problem is and suggests solutions

- Complete User Manual in the control

- Dynamic CAD drawings of the entire machine on the control screen

- Maintenance Videos on the control guide you through mechanical adjustments

- Virtual Service provides direct link from the control to Thermwood service

Never before has this level of technical sophistication, quality and performance been available at this price. The CabinetShop 43 is ushering in a new era of productivity, ease of use and profit for custom cabinet operations.

Delcam's ArtCAM software enabled Adirondack Studios to complete successfully a project to produce five giant chandeliers for the Mohegan Sun Casino at Pocono Downs, Pennsylvania.

For over 30 years, Adirondack Studios, based in Argyle, New York, has helped to design and build themed environments for theatres, arenas, exhibit halls, ballrooms, parks, restaurants, casinos, amusement parks, supermarkets, museums, stadia and marinas. About a year ago, the company began using the ArtCAM artistic CADCAM software to program the CNC routers used to manufacture the majority of the company's products.
"The software that we used in the past for CNC programming worked fine for routine jobs but many of the projects that we get involved in are far out of the ordinary," said Bob Gregory, Senior Router Operator. "We spent too much time watching the clock while we were machining and ran into quite a few bugs. Also, the software developer was not as responsive as we wished when we called in for support."
"We had heard that a number of our competitors were using ArtCAM with very good results so we decided to give it a try," Mr. Gregory continued. "From the very beginning we felt that ArtCAM was a more finished product, more robust, with much higher performance. The tutorials make it very easy to take advantage of the many advanced features of the software. The support provided by Delcam has been superlative and they do listen to, and implement, user suggestions for improving the software."
Adirondack Studios' designers began the construction of the chandeliers by building a 3D model in AutoCAD. The file was imported into ArtCAM to generate the CNC program to machine a positive shape in low-density foam. This was used by a subcontractor to vacuum-form the plastic bowl segments. These were then painted to look like alabaster.
In a similar way, the casting department used ArtCAM to make a mould to cast the grouse models that would be used to decorate the chandeliers. A black-tinted silicone rubber was used to give the grouse the appearance of wrought iron.

The next step was to create a bird's nest pattern and weave it around the circumference of the bowl. ArtCAM allowed the ways in which the strands crossed each other to be varied for a more natural appearance. "Birds do not use a CNC machine to build their nests so it took considerable effort to get the correct look," Mr. Gregory said.  Mr. Gregory generated a CNC program to cut the bird's nest negative shape into MDF. It took only fifteen minutes to create the program compared with at least four hours that would have been needed with the previous software. The mould was used to cast the bird's nests from the same silicon rubber used for the grouse. Finally, the birds and the nests were glued to the bowl of each chandelier.
The finished chandeliers were then installed in the casino. They formed part of a $208-million renovation of the site, aimed at transforming it into the area's leading entertainment complex.

We are now a Business Member of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), and will be exhibiting at the Windpower Expo 2010 in Dallas, TX (May 23rd-26th, 2010).  Make plans now to come out and see us in action.

Thermwood offers 3 and 5 axis systems ideally suited for the production, fabrication and trimming of composites and other materials used in the production of wind energy products. 

For more information on our applications in this area, please visit the composite page of our CNC Routers By Applications area.

We are pleased to announce the upcoming arrival of our latest machine, the CabinetShop 43! This low-cost, high-performance 5×10 table CNC Router is perfect for making nested based cabinets, closets, furniture and upholstered frames.

Look for more information about the CabinetShop 43 coming in the next few weeks.

Until then - if you would like to know more, please contact us for the inside scoop.

We are pleased to announce a new, simplified approach to nested based production of cabinets and closets that does not require separate cabinet design software. This new approach, called "QuickCut", is done entirely at the CNC machine.

The operator, working at the machine control, simply selects and resizes cabinets and closets from a built-in library and runs them. This entire process happens at the machine. The process is simple enough that virtually anyone can run it with minimal instruction. Libraries can be modified or extended through a programming service.

"For the first time you can operate a CNC router without extensive training or technical skill", says Thermwood's Vice-President of Marketing Jason Susnjara. "This approach allows cabinetmakers to focus on making cabinets using an amazing new tool that's really easy to use".

Operating a CNC router usually requires specialized knowledge which limits its use to specially trained employees. We used the technical power in our Gen2 SuperControl to totally automate virtually every task, then created a simple user interface, resulting in a system that almost anyone can use without extensive training.

The QuickCut feature targets smaller, less technical shops but can also be used by larger companies to make virtually any part or product in their product line any time they want. A library of parts can be stored on a network drive. At that point, almost anyone can walk up to any QuickCut machine and make any part. It's that easy. By storing files in a central location, management has complete control of anything that is made, anywhere in the factory.

"This new interface takes what has been a confusing area for non-technical users and makes it almost as easy as using a copy machine", states Thermwood's President, David Hildenbrand. "We believe it will fundamentally change how cabinets, closets and perhaps many other products, are made".

All nested based systems from Thermwood are QuickCut compatible and Gen2 systems operating in the field can be retrofitted to make them QuickCut compatible.

For more information on this exciting new development, please visit our QuickCut area of the website.