This is a news broadcast of medical technology making orthotics and prosthetics for military soldiers. A 3d laser is used to scan the soldier's foot or other parts of their body and is rendered in software. It is then taken to a Thermwood Model 67, five axis machine, and machined to the custom shape.

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Carson City, NV: Classic Dash has announced a new molded ABS composite dash panel in three finishes for GM G-body cars, rear-wheel drive iterations that were produced from late '78 until early 1988. These cars include the Buick Regal/Grand National/GNX, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, El Camino, Malibu, GMC Caballero, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Gran Prix and Grand Le Mans and Bonneville.

In keeping with all the company's previous offerings, the G-Body panel is clean and stylish. Lightweight and exceedingly rigid ABS plastic sheets are vacuum-formed at 320 degrees Fahrenheit and the material is impregnated with a UV inhibiter that protects it from sun damage. Accuracy is the key. A Thermwood 5-axis CNC high-speed router consistently trims the dash panels to within 0.005-inch.

The Classic Dash panel is available in carbon fiber, brushed aluminum, or black finishes. All panels are offered in two forms: with or without gauge openings, and with or without gauges. Gauge selection includes several variations from Auto Meter and Classic Instruments. Auto Meter kits include wiring harness from gauges to factory loom, LED turn signal indicators, and high-beam and emergency brake light indicators.

Classic Dash was formed in 2002 and was the first company to create replacement ABS composite dash panels for vehicles of the muscle car era. Their new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is located in Carson City, Nevada. Its website has a new make-over with easy navigation and access to ordering. Staff members can easily answer any technical questions you may have and same-day shipping is available on orders received before 3PM, PST. Classic Dash instrument panels complete with gauges are priced from $849.95

For further information contact:

Classic Dash, 5225 Grumman Drive, Suite 100,

Carson City, NV 89706

Telephone (866) 882-3525

Thermwood Corporation, always on the cutting edge of technology, is now taking its CNC expertise to new markets

Written by Militza Richard & Produced by Shaheen Mohammadipour

The Thermwood Corporation has never been intimidated by technology. Founded in 1969 as a plastic molder for wood-grained parts for the furniture industry, the company developed their own CNC tool in the mid 1970s.

"We ended up building the first CNC control system ever offered commercially," says company founder and CEO Ken Susnjara. The company developed its own operating systems and evolved their CNC routers into a very powerful and capable system.

Used to cut, trim and shape a wide variety of materials including wood, plastic, composites, foam, honeycomb core and non-ferrous metals into either flat or three-dimensional shaped products, CNC routers have changed the face of the machine industry. Thermwood is the oldest CNC router company in the world and the only CNC manufacturer in the country with a GSA certification.

With customers ranging from NASA to Broadway, Thermwood offers a wide variety of systems, in both three and five axis configurations in a wide range of sizes. The company has also become a major international player with operations across the globe.

NEW MARKETS

For many years, Thermwood Corporation has been extremely successful focusing on three key markets: woodworking, plastics and aerospace. However, the company has recently begun expanding into new markets, such as the growing wind sector.

"We've made a huge number of changes in the downturn," says Susnjara. "We've revamped marketing, targeted the wind energy market, and created some new machines. We didn't pull into our shells. You have to go out there and get the business."

With Ken's son Jason Susnjara heading up the marketing department, Thermwood Corporation has embraced online marketing and begun attending new tradeshows, opening doors into new business sectors.

"We had a traditional marketing plan that had worked well for us, but over the past few years we have begun embracing electronics and becoming internet savvy. It's worked rather nicely. By spreading out our marketing we have been able to pick up business in new sectors," says Ken Susnjara.

Entering these new markets has been essential as the economy continues to struggle. "The biggest trends are our competitors going out of business," says Susnjara. "We are in a dozen markets in 35 countries, and we would have never believed they would all dip at the same time."

But the company has taken the down time to revamp and is now excited about the future. "As the economy recovers we will be much stronger," states Susnjara. He believes the economy is turning around and is excited that more and more companies are beginning to adopt CNC technology.

IMPROVED MACHINES

As Thermwood enters new market places, the company has also developed larger, more accurate machines. However, one problem with large machines is the head alignment. Ensuring accuracy comes with a high cost.

To solve this problem, Thermwood has employed 3-D laser systems to measure the exact position of the head everywhere in the working envelope. They then developed technology that allows their CNC control to take this data and compensate for any machine error.

This system cuts down on the cost, making it practical to build larger machines. "We have sold 60ft machines and with the new system we can run the Z axis into the 10-12ft range," explains Susnjara.

As Thermwood continues to improve its systems, its technology continues to become more accurate and easier to use. For example, mounting a fixture used to be a task that could take hours of painstaking work, but Thermwood's new technology can transform the program to match the fixture instead of the other way around, cutting out hours of work.

"Things that used to take a lot of time and skill are now being handled in the control," says Susnjara. "Once we discover the needs of a client, we can generally come up with a way to meet those needs better than our competitors. We can offer the machines for 1/3 less money with specs that are better."

Thermwood hopes to apply this technological savvy to the growing wind sector. Susnjara says the company has programs in place with leaders in the industry and is excited about the "unique technologies they will be able to bring to the industry."

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

Thermwood is able to offer flexible technological solutions to its clients thanks to the hard work and skill of its employees. "We get pretty good folks. This area has a strong work ethic and skilled people," says Susnjara.

In fact, he says many of the people who were with the company in the beginning are still there today. Their very first employee just retired last year, and many employees are second generation. And while there have been layoffs and pay cuts due to the economy, Susnjara says that in a normal year a turnover rate of 1 or 1.5 percent is bad.

Thermwood also cultivates long-term relationships with its vendors and distributors. Having been in the same business for so long, they have maintained great relationships with all of their vendors. "We have a philosophy that everyone needs to make money. We don't squeeze our vendors. It's better to create relationships where you support each other," says Susnjara.

Similarly, the company has worked with many of its distributors for 20 or 30 years. Many are now second generation.

FACTS AT A GLANCE:

Company Name: Thermwood Corporation

CEO: Ken Susnjara

Operations: Thermwood is the oldest CNC router company in the world and the only CNC manufacturer in the country with a GSA certification

Established: 1969

http://www.thermwood.com

A & C Products had sent us pictures of their new Thermwood Model 90 nicknamed "The Beast".  They machine a wide variety of materials including REN, Aluminum, Plastics, Copper, Brass and other composites. They also manufacture pleated window shades for private jets.  Below are the pictures of "The Beast"

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've just completed updating and expanding our 3 and 5 axis CNC Router areas on thermwood.com. 

This new interface allows a wider variety of information to be accessed easily and more quickly than our previous version, and lists images, dimensional drawings (which can be easily printed), technical specifications, movies of the machines in action and brochures all in one convenient place.  I've included some screen shots below - to visit, please click on either:

3 Axis CNC Routers

5 Axis CNC Routers

 A cool thing we've just completed is adding our Production Sharing Members to Google Earth.  Google Earth is a free download, and once you have it, you can click on the Production Sharing Members map of your choice and view all of the Members that list their services on an interactive map.  This tool allows you see see at a glance Members who are in your area.

For more information, please visit the Production Sharing Area our website.

About Production Sharing - This is a free listing service that Thermwood offers any of our CNC Router Owners where they can list their production services and allows any eCabinet Systems Member or other interested parties to contact these Production Sharing Members and have their jobs machined out on a CNC Router quickly and cost-effectively. 

The following two videos are provided by a customer of ours (John Cox's Creature Workshop - http://www.johncox.net/) in Queensland, Australia.  They show the creation of a character (Big Girl) on a Thermwood Model 67 CNC Router.  This character was used in a commercial for an Australian confectionary company.  The first video shows the making of the character and behind the scenes of the commercial shoot, and the second shows the final commercial.

Thermwood has added a "CNC Routers by Application" section on their home page.  By selecting the different applications, you can view examples, videos and the machines related to each application.  We will continue to add more pictures and videos to each application.

Featuring the Model 90 - Thermwood machines aren't just for woodworking.  They are also used in a variety of composite, aerospace, trimming, patterns and mold making applications as well as others.  We will be attending the JEC Composites Trade Show on March 24th-26th in Paris, France, and created the following advertisement for that industry:

Check it out: