Thermwood has recently announced a new type of machine that makes custom cabinets, closets and furniture with NO PROGRAMMING. Unlike a CNC router, where you have to create a CNC program to make something, there is no separate computer, design software or CNC programming with a cut center.  You simply select what you want and the machine makes it. 

 

just tell it what you want to make

Thermwood’s Cut Ready – Cut Center knows how to make cabinets without you having to tell it every move to make. Face frame or frameless, single or double sided material, toe kick or detached toe, screw dado or pocket dado construction, etc. Just pick what you want, adjust the size and it makes it. It also offers an extensive selection of closet cabinets, bath cabinets and furniture items, but that’s not all.

slot slide and other types of drawers

The cut center makes drawers, also in several configurations: blind dado or dovetail construction, quarter inch or full thickness bottom, sized for either side mount or undermount slides. Simply tell it what kind of drawers you want and tell it to make them for cabinets you’ve cut and it handles everything else. There is also an interesting drawer called a “slot slide” which is available on closet, utility and some furniture items. The drawer bottom extends out each side of the drawer and rides in slots cut into the cabinet sides. High-tolerance machining assures smooth operation without the cost of separate hardware slides. It also means drawers can be made any depth without worrying about slide length and you don’t have to worry about alignment, since it is machined in. These are ideal for items such as closet cabinets where it saves the cost of separate hardware slides.

 

 

doors and moldings

The cut center also makes doors and drawer fronts in two versions: Slab doors and drawer fronts are cut from sheet stock so that the wood grain flows smoothly across all the doors and drawers on each cabinet. MDF doors and drawer fronts are available in over 450 styles including slab, square, arch, cathedral and applied molding (in both raised and recessed panel designs). Again, simply tell it to make doors and drawer fronts for a cabinet job and it makes them. It even makes applied ends.

On face frame cabinets you can specify wheter the doors and drawer fronts are inset, partial overlay or full overlay and the machine will automatically size them properly for that installation method.

MDF doors are made using a reverse 3D printing technique where, instead of adding a small amount of material each pass, a small amount is removed each pass. This means everything in the system is made with the standard tooling that comes with the machine. This technique is also used to make moldings.

Hundreds of molding profiles are available in the cut center and the size of most can be adjusted. These adjusted profiles are then used to make either straight or arch moldings. There are also a number of carved moldings that can be cut.

The molding area also includes profiles for the stiles and rails used on the applied molding MDF doors. This means you can make solid wood versions of those doors by cutting long sections of molding from solid wood and use them to fabricate mitered wood doors and drawer fronts, all without special molding knives.

the cut center takes care of it

The Cut Ready - Cut Center is extremely easy to operate, even by people with little technical background (at every point the machine tells you what to do). If you ever need help, a “Show Me” button on the large touch screen plays a quick video showing you how to do what the machine is telling you. It handles tool management and watches tool life automatically.

It measures tool length and diameter and adjusts tooling parameters automatically without the operator becoming involved. It handles vacuum hold down and spoilboard maintenance automatically. It automatically adjusts how it cuts parts based on their size and resurfaces the spoilboard when needed, even in the middle of a job. It can even keep track of two spoilboards, allowing for shuffle loading, which can increase throughput by about a third. It also watches routing maintenance, alerting you when you need to service something. As you might expect, a video shows you how to perform each service.

help is a just click away

If you ever need help or have a problem, you can call up a Thermwood service technician, right on the control screen. They can handle diagnostics, adjustments and parameter settings and answer questions. This is a free ongoing service for Thermwood Cut Centers.

innovative sheet flipper saves time and money

The Cut Ready - Cut Center is also equipped with a sheet flipper. Some products, especially when using single sided material or in areas like closets and furniture, require that parts are machined on both sides. The cut center groups these parts on the first few sheets of a job and does the backside machining first, on the full sheet. The sheet flipper is used to flip the sheet over so it can be machined on the front side. This makes parts machined on both sides quite easy to process and offers tremendous design flexibility for future products...and there will be many future products.

free updates

Thermwood plans to continuously expand the products that the cut center can make, based on feedback from users.  These additions will be available to all cut centers users as a free download. System software updates are also available as a free download whenever they are released.

less cost over time

Cut centers represent a departure in thinking from how things are done today and this new approach seems to make a lot of sense for a lot of cabinet shops. With lease payments of about the cost of a single employee, cut centers make sense for anyone who just wants to make cabinets and not spend a lot of time learning to program computers.

see at IWF 2014

The Cut Center will be on display and cutting live at IWF 2014 (August 20th-23rd) in Booth #5513 at the Georgia World Congress Center - Atlanta, GA.  Make plans now to visit us and see this exciting new technology in person!  We'll be demonstrating live during the show, and you can be part of it by helping to operate the cut center.  Please visit our booth (#5513) and speak to a Thermwood representative to get your hands on this exciting machine!

 

Whether this is your first time attending a trade show in Atlanta or you have been visiting for years, our resident expert, Jason Susnjara (VP of Marketing-Thermwood) offers some tips to help navigate not just the show grounds but also Atlanta.  This year marks Jason’s tenth trip to the IWF show, and he has a lot of great advice for maximizing your time at IWF and in Atlanta:

 

 

 

IWF Atlanta:

IWF is located at the Georgia World Congress Center in Downtown Atlanta.  Show dates this year are August 20 – 23.  IWF will have exhibits in Buildings A and B.  If traveling by car, there are several parking options.  The Yellow lot (1284 spaces) is located in the Northwest corner of the WCC and is located near Building C.  The Blue lot (722 spaces) is located across Northside Dr. and Building C.  The Gold Deck (300 spaces) is located in between Building C and the Georgia Dome.  The Red Deck (2000 spaces) is a parking garage located in between the Georgia Dome and the CNN Center and just South of Building B.  All of these parking options are $10 per day.  The Yellow and Blue lots are very easy to get in and out of but will require a long walk to the entrance.  If you plan on staying around the CNN Center, Georgia Dome or Phillips Arena after the show, you will be better off parking in the Red Deck (plus this area is closer to the entrance). 

Transportation:

This time of year Atlanta is hot and the traffic can be daunting at times, especially if heading downtown.  There are multiple travel options to get around the city and to and from the show.  There are taxis, shuttle busses, rental cars, personal vehicles and the Marta.  The cheapest and fastest method of transportation is the Marta.  The Marta has numerous routes that will take you all over and around the city.  If you plan on renting a car and staying downtown, remember that you will be paying for a parking fee every night of your stay.  IWF is providing complimentary shuttle bus service operating between selected downtown and midtown hotels to and from the IWF show.  Walking is another choice if you’re staying downtown. 

Hotels:

There are plenty of hotel options in downtown Atlanta.  This option is great if you don’t want to rent a car and would like to enjoy all the amenities that the city has to offer within walking distance.  However, these hotels will be more expensive. If you are traveling by car or Marta, there are many choices outside of the downtown area.  You have the Midtown, Buckhead and Marietta areas to look for accommodations as well as other outlying areas.  Thermwood stays about 12 miles north of the city and although this sounds like a far drive with traffic, it actually isn’t bad if you can leave before or after the rush hour traffic.

Attractions/Dining:

There are numerous activities to do in Atlanta and the surrounding areas like the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Underground Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Botanical Gardens and much more.  If you’re a sports fan, this time of the year is great to catch an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field and if you’re lucky, maybe a preseason NFL game at the Georgia Dome.  There are plenty of places to eat and shop in Atlanta. 

 

Attending the IWF show:

Now that you have made it to the IWF show, a question will be “Where do I start”?  The International Woodworking Fair is located in Buildings A and B of the World Congress Center. 

“This place is huge.  I remember when this show also occupied all three buildings and the Georgia Dome.” – Jason Susnjara VP of Marketing – Thermwood

If you plan to walk the entire show, you might just need all four days.  Below are a few tips on how to decide to tackle this massive show: 

-          If you are interested in looking at industrial woodworking equipment, software and tooling then building B will have everything from finishing equipment, saws to CNC routers, software and material handling solutions.  Building B is what the exhibitors call the “noisy hall”

 

-          If you are interested in hardware, software tooling and more than building A is where these items would be located.  Building A will be what the exhibitors call the “quiet hall”.

Both buildings will have some of the same products from the same vendor such as software.  For example, you can find some of the same software companies in both buildings.  This helps if you’re looking for a machine and software package, you would be wise to visit Building B.  If a software purchase is your only goal, then visiting Building A will be the easier choice to hold a conversation. 

Jason’s Tips: 

Establish a list of priorities and gather as much information as possible by visiting the floor plan and exhibitor list that the IWF show provides online.

Wear comfortable shoes for your time walking the show. 

There are also numerous educational events throughout the entire show.  These can be found here.  There is a price for attending these educational seminars but from prior experiences, they are well worth the money. 

There is also a registration fee to attend the show.  You’re looking at $30 for pre-registration and $35 on-site.  This price is good for all four days.  If you’re attending the IWF show please visit the Attendee area of the www.iwfatlanta.com website for some more information.

 

Ken Susnjara, the founder, chairman and CEO of Thermwood, conducted a series of seminars at the IWF show in Atlanta describing the fundamental basis of YouBuild. He explained “YouBuild allows cabinet shops, using the proper equipment and current skills, to address the approximately $45 Billion furniture market, a market which is ten times larger than cabinets.

He explained the differences between cabinets and furniture and how YouBuild makes this possible. “A typical sale for a cabinet shop is for an entire kitchen, perhaps $10-, $15-, $20,000 or more. You can afford to design and sell the job, work out production problems and still make money. A typical furniture sale might be $500 - $1,500 dollars. You can’t afford to design, sell or work out production problems. If you want to make money all you can do is cut the parts and cash the check. YouBuild does the things you can’t afford to do making furniture. Let’s start with selling.”

“As part of YouBuild, shops, called “YouBuild Cut Centers”, can designate others to sell for them. There’s two ways to do this. Some folks, like Interior Designers, professional handymen, and even certain types of retail stores can operate as Design Centers. They help customers select and order YouBuild products and receive a sales commission for these sales. Others like closet installation companies, home contractors and even larger retail stores will likely operate as Retail Dealers, receiving a discount on YouBuild products and then reselling them at a higher price, perhaps with added value such as assembly or installation.”

“The nice thing about this approach is that, once set up, there is virtually no effort required. All commissions and discounts are tracked and handled automatically by YouBuild. A Cut Center can set up 50, 100 or more sales outlets without having to worry about the clerical effort needed to maintain and service the network. Once established, this sales network can generate a continuous flow of business without much day to day effort from the Cut Center.”

“Now let’s look at production. When an order is placed, it is queued online where it can be accessed by the Cut Center. They simply assign the order to their CNC router right online and the order shows up on the machine control. Just execute the program and the machine guides you through every step. Edge band designated parts and they’re ready. All the hardware, screws, fasteners, hinges, pulls…everything else needed for the order, even the assembly instructions, arrive in a package a few days after the order is placed. The Cut Center doesn’t have to deal with any of these details. Just give the package and parts to the customer and the order is complete.”

“There are over a thousand product designs that have all been optimized and tested. Every piece has been produced, sometimes multiple times, until both the design and instructions work smoothly and easily both through production as well as for the customer. We have even hired inexperienced day workers to assemble YouBuild products using our instructions and then, by observing them, refined both the product and the assembly techniques until the average person can easily do it.”

“We believe we have all the bases covered with YouBuild so that properly equipped cabinet shops can enthusiastically address the huge furniture market in a bold new way that works for them and can make them a lot of money.”

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You can find more information in the YouBuild section of the eCabinet Systems web site and at youbuild.com.

Thermwood's latest machine, the AutoProcessor 5x10 - Shown at the 2012 IWF show in Atlanta, GA Booth #5753.

The AutoProcessor 5×10 is a complete solution for Nested Based Panel Processing, Cabinet/Closets, Marine/Boat Building, Furniture Manufacturing, Exhibits/ Store Fixtures, Machining Plastic Sheets and High Volume Cabinet Production. 

With each cycle, the machine first labels the sheet, positions the sheet on the table, machines the material, off-loads the finished parts and then repeats the process. Dust collection during this process keeps scrap and debris to a minimum.  Labels help the operator to quickly sort the parts, and Assembly Marks help final assembly happen quickly and easily.

Features:
• Thermwood QCore SuperControl
•5’ x 10’ Working  Table / Moving Gantry
• Rapid Speed  4,200 IPM
• 4000 lb. Lift Table for Loading
• 12 HP HSK Electro-Spindle
• 8 Position Tool Changer
• Automatic Pop-Up Pins
• Automatic Tool Sensor
• Automatic CNC Labeler
• 9 Spindle Drill Bank
• Unload Table 

More information can be found here

 

At the recent IWF show in Atlanta, Thermwood partnered with Hafele, Columbia Forest Products and Conestoga to build complete cabinets for Habitat for Humanity.   

Thermwood demonstrated a working production cell consisting of the CabinetShop 43 CNC Router (for nested based applications) and a Fravol S2 ECO edgebander.  Attendees were able to get hands on experience using the easiest and simplest system in the industry.  Within a few seconds they selected a product to cut, modified the size and watched the machine cut their parts.  Attendees then took the parts to the edgebander to complete the process.

Complete cabinets were produced at the show from the ¾” thick, pre-finished maple plywood provided by Columbia Forest Products.  This Pure Bond plywood is sealed with AquaSEAL (a formaldehyde-free recyclable overlay conforming to the latest in green technology).

 

 

 

 

 

Hafele provided the hinges, slides and shelf hardware for the cabinets, and Conestoga Doors providedfinished five-piece doors and solid wood drawer fronts. 

 

 

 

Cabinet joinery was Thermwood’s new revolutionary Barb Dado joint (patent pending), which allowed the cabinets to be put together without the use of clamps or other holding methods.  The Barb Dado joint is a modified versionof the Blind Dado joint in which we machine a series of barbs in the mortise slot. When you press the parts together, the barbs bend down, bending the fibers in the wood downward firmly holding the pieces together. It is a lot harder to pull it apart than to put it together. This means you can assemble cabinets without screws, clamps or any other fasteners.

The result were beautiful, complete cabinets produced quickly, utilizing an innovative new, highly efficient manufacturing approach which results in a superior structure coupled with enhanced use of materials, all at a dramatically lower price. All cabinets produced at the IWF were donated to Habitat for Humanity.

We are streaming live from IWF, starting today 8/25/10. See the show without leaving your office!

Visit the Thermwood Booth from your computer at:

http://www.livestream.com/thermwoodcnc

 

Featuring the New Barb Dado Joint:

We have a CabinetShop 43 production cell at our Booth # 5153 demonstrating the new Barb Dado Joint. This is a new development at Thermwood that we have applied for patent protection on. The joint is a modified version of the Blind Dado joint in which we machine a series of barbs in the mortise slot. When you press the parts together, the barbs bend down, bending the fibers in the wood downward firmly holding the pieces together. It is a lot harder to pull it apart than to put it together. This means you can assemble cabinets without screws, clamps or any other fasteners.

This simple idea is pretty revolutionary. We have a video from another project which shows how a cabinet is assembled using the barb dado joint. You can find it at:

http://www.thermwood.com/thermwood_barb_dado_joint.htm