Thermwood CabinetShop 45 Featured on HGTV Canada

Posted by Duane Marrett on Thu, Apr 08, 2010

Tags: Thermwood, CNC Routers, wood, 3 Axis, CabinetShop, Cabinet, Model 45, Customer, cabinets, Video, nested based, CNC Automation, Canada

This is a neat video from the HGTV Canada program "House of Bryan", showing the creation and installation of custom cabinets for host Bryan Baeumler's house. 

The machine making the cabinets is a Thermwood CabinetShop 45 with a 5×10 table, and is owned by Top Notch Cabinets, of Oakville, Ontario.

 

WMS 2009 Habitat for Humanity Initiative - CNC Automation

Posted by Jason Susnjara on Mon, Jan 11, 2010

Tags: Thermwood, CNC, CNC Routers, Announcements, Trade Shows, Model 43, Furniture, CNC Automation, Canada, Habitat for Humanity, WMS Show

This past September at the WMS 2009 Show, CNC Automation in collaboration with our Suppliers and customers built kitchen cabinets, wardrobes and vanities that were then donated to the Habitat for Humanity Restore Program.

Many of the people who worked together during the show to not only illustrate what our products and machines could do in a real time production environment, were humbled by what was being created for the Habitat for Humanity program.  Too often during shows, raw material is wasted and finished products are destroyed once the show is completed.  This time CNC Automation and our partners wanted to make a difference.  We contacted Habitat for Humanity to see if there was a need.  This partnership proved to be rewarding to all concerned. 

       

 

I would like to share with you, a letter that was received from Stewart Hardacre, President and Chief Operating Officer for Habitat for Humanity Canada.

 

Habitat for Humanity Letter of Appreciation

Thermwood demonstrates the CabinetShop 43 at WMS Expo in Toronto, Canada

Posted by Duane Marrett on Thu, Sep 24, 2009

Tags: Thermwood, eCabinet Systems, CNC, control nesting, New, CNC Routers, Productivity, Nested Base, Trade Shows, edgebanding, CabinetShop, Model 43, Cabinet, High Performance, cabinets, nested based, QuickCut, 43, Low Cost, Easy, edgebander, CNC Automation, WMS, Fravol

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:

 Thermwood Booth at the strart of the WMS Expo in Toronto, Canada

Assembling cabinets cut on the CabinetShop 43 at the WMS Expo in Toronto, Canada

 

DXF Buddy is Now Available from CNC Automation

Posted by Jason Susnjara on Mon, Apr 27, 2009

Tags: Thermwood, software, control nesting, CNC Routers, Gen2, CNC Automation, Special, Cad, Layered DXF, super controller, DXF Buddy

 

 Are you working with Layered DXF files and Control Nesting? Do you run into issues with any of the following?

  • OUTLINE layer depths not matching material thicknesses at the machine...
  • Parts to be machined in "grained" material being drawn in the wrong orientation...
  • You need a left-hand AND right-hand gable but only have the left-hand DXF...
  • The DADO layer is not being recognized because if was incorrectly labeled "DAOD"...
  • You need to flip the back operations to the front and then front operations to the back...
  • No CAD system or CAD operator out at the machine...


DXF Buddy

is here! This small and easy utility will run at the machine and help you rectify all of the issues listed above and then some.

DXF Buddy
is available in two versions - Standard and Pro. The Standard version incorporates a DXF Part Viewer and the ability to manipulate many aspects of the Layered DXF file without the need of accessing a CAD system. The Pro version has all the capabilities of the Standard module and also provide a DXF List Management module that allows you to create a list of DXF parts, set quantities, easily assign materials, mirror/rotate or "pair" individual parts and annotate each entry with a JOB/ASSEMBLY and CAB/SUB-ASSEMBLY designation. The lists DXF Buddy Pro "builds" can then be loaded into Control Nesting in one easy step.

Both versions of DXF Buddy 1.0 have an introductory price of less than $100 CAD!

NOTES:

  • Each license can be installed and run on only one (1) computer. (Software registers to the computer.)
  • All support is done via a email (dxf.buddy@cncautomation.com) or on the special forum on the
B2B-Online-Community. No phone support is provided.


Visit the SOFTWARE section of the CNC Automation web store - http://store.cncautomation.com/



Adding Value by producing MDF doors instead of traditional five piece doors

Posted by Jason Susnjara on Fri, Mar 20, 2009

Tags: Thermwood, CNC, CNC Routers, Nested Base, 3 Axis, Model 45, CNC Automation, MDF doors

This is an informational breakdown on the cost of a cnc router to produce mdf doors as opposed to traditional methods of producing traditional five piece doors.  This was put together by Bob Law, Regional Manager of CNC Automation (a Thermwood dealer).

Most people equate nested based manufacturing with cabinet box components and the labor savings, added precision and ease of assembly that goes along with automation of this process, but a big part of a quality system is the machining of peripheral items.  In my opinion and the opinion of large percentage of our users, the ability to produce "high end" paint grade MDF doors more than justifies their lease payment which in reality makes the cabinet advantages free. 

A large stigma attached to MDF doors is the customer's perception that MDF is cheap or a lesser quality in comparison to popular 5 piece doors (which if you think about it is clearly not the case). 

A large headache for a kitchen manufacturer is a call 6 months to a year after the install when the center panel has shrunk and the paint is cracked along the inside of their rails and styles, or the miters have opened leaving an unsightly gap in the corners of all of their doors. 

In most cases a customer will easily opt for a 1 piece MDF option if presented with the fact that their MDF door will stand the test of time and be guaranteed not to move and deteriorate the look of the dream kitchen that they have worked so hard for. 

Now all MDF door packages aren't created equally.  Most systems have the ability to do single pass doors that look like the prototypical MDF door with an outside profile as well as a simple inside profile.  Our software, which is called Panelmetrix, has the capability to create multipass 1 piece doors, as well as automatic mullion and glass cutout machining.  It can also create bead board machining, valance machining, 1 piece multipanel machining (which can be used for tall doors, wainscoting, range hoods etc...) and a number of other features that will turn door machining into an order entry system once a door style is developed.  Panelmetrix is available exclusively to Thermwood owners and is the ultimate companion to eCabinet Systems.

Sales techniques aside, the justification goes something like this:

MDF Doors

  • Average 5 piece paint grade door cost per kitchen = $3000.00
  • Material cost for MDF for the same = $300.00
  • Approximate machine time = 4 hours
  • Added Gross profit for one kitchen = $2700.00 which in most cases will cover a lease payment for a Thermwood nesting system.
  • Bead Board:
  • Sheet of Bead board = $80.00
  • Sheet of 1/4" MDF = $20.00
  • Approximate machining time = 7-8 minutes depending of the spacing
  • Savings per sheet of $60.00

In closing, the cheapest system on paper over a short period of time can be by far the most expensive.  MDF doors coupled with modeled curved moldings, preprogrammed carvings, dovetailed drawer box machining, can all be easily machined with our system and for small to midsized shops especially, can make the difference between profitability or the addition of just another one dimensional tool in your shop.

Please take the time to view a few typical examples of quality MDF door machining below.

MDF Door Video #1

MDF Door Video #2