Section 6

CNC Articles

Phone: 516-328-3970 115 www.technocnc.com

 CNC Articles

UPSTATE CNC SERVICE ..................................................................................................... 117

Small Shop’s CNC Router “Like Having a Free Employee”

LCI SIGNS AND IRONWORKS ............................................................................................. 118

Inexpensive But Accurate CNC Router Aids Signmaker’s Expansion

FOAM FABRICATORS .......................................................................................................... 120

CNC Machine Drops Production Time for Foam Samples from Five Days to Two

HIALEAH ................................................................................................................................ 122

CNC Technology Brings Out Hidden Talents on Physically Disabled Children

CHAMPION SAFES ............................................................................................................... 124

CNC Articles

CNC Router Provides 400% Productivity Gain for Woodworking Manufacturer

PETER MCCANN ................................................................................................................... 126

CNC Milling Machine Eliminates Three Weeks of Hand Carving Technodome Model

NATIONAL SIGN AND DESIGN ............................................................................................ 128

CNC Router Expands Sign Shop and Pays for Itself within One Year

IRONWOOD DESIGNS .......................................................................................................... 130

Four-axis CNC Machine Boosts Gun Stock Production 200% to 300%

JULIU HORVATH .................................................................................................................. 132

Computerized Router Turns Yoga Instructor’s Labor of Love into Profitable
Exercise Machine

CHERRY TREE CUSTOM WOODWORKERS ...................................................................... 134

CNC Router Cuts Leadtime 63% for Build-to-Order Furniture Maufacturer

RICHARD FOSTER CONSTRUCTION ................................................................................. 136

16-Year-Old Entrepreneur Builds Successful Woodworking Business with CNC Router

www.technocnc.com 116 Phone: 516-328-3970


Small Shop’s CNC Router
“Like Having a Free Employee”
As written by and seen in Wood & Wood Products Magazine, June 2006
Until recently, Tom Farmer worked for a
large corporation. He spent his evenings,
weekends, and days off doing what he loved
to do - making high-end custom kitchens. His
customers loved the solid surface counters
and hardwood cabinets he produced. The
word spread around the Rochester, N Y,
area and soon Farmer had more business
than he could handle for his small shop,
Upstate CNC Service.
But the question arose: How could he
get all that work done? Farmer would clamp
the template to the solid surface material
and run a hand router around the
edges, then fasten the counter in
place and cut it to the final shape.
It typically took two to three days to
fabricate and install the countertop,
and the best accuracy that could
be achieved with this hand-cutting
method was about 1/16 inch.
A New Breed of CNC Machine
Farmer was aware that CNC
machinery could automatically
produce the complicated shapes
needed for countertops in custom
kitchens, however, the size of the
countertops he built would have
required a very large machine For Farmer the Techno machine makes it possible to fabricate
costing anywhere from $50,000 a countertop from start to finish in only one day, less then half
to more than $100,000. With the time that was required in the past.
his business still in the early stage of
development, Farmer could not even
consider spending that much money on
equipment.
Then Farmer heard about the Techno
LC Series CNC routing system, which
provides a number of critical features that
allow it to deliver accuracy to a level that
has previously only been available from
machines at a much higher cost.
Ball screws are provided on all three axes, using BobCAD software, generates a
offeringsmoothmotion,ahighlevelofaccuracy
and repeatability, and minimal maintenance.
A closed loop servo control system provides
constant position feedback, higher power and
smooth continuous motion that eliminates the
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
possibility of losing position in the middle of a
part.TheLCseriesincludesanaluminumT-slot
table that can be converted to a vacuum table
by installing the Techno accessory kit.
“The Techno LC machine clearly had
the capabilities I needed to substantially
reduce the time required to produce
countertops,” Farmer said. “I talked to the
people at Techno, explained my situation,
and hoped they would make me an offer
that I couldn’t refuse. They offered me an
LC4896 with a 4-foot by 8-foot table and
all the software needed to design and build
any wood or solid surface component up
to that size for only $18,500. I bought the
machine and have never regretted my
decision.”
Substantial Time Savings
After purchasing the Techno CNC
router, Farmer changed his method of
fabricating the counters. Now, he lays
out the geometry of the entire kitchen
toolpath to produce the design, then
exports the G-Code to the Techno ma-
chine. He then mounts the countertop
onto the CNC router, selects the pro-
gram, turns on the machine and lets it
117
rip. The Techno LC has an accuracy
of ±0.002 inch.
“The Techno machine makes it
possible to fabricate a countertop from
start to finish in only one day, less than
half the time that was required in the
past,” Farmer said. “Even better, I can
spend the majority of that time working
on other projects while the CNC router
completes the countertop. It’s like having
a free employee here that does the job
right every time. I save additional time
when I install the countertops because I
know they will fit perfectly.”
In addition to the time savings in coun-
tertop production, Farmer also achieves
greater accuracy in manufacturing wood
cabinets. While he still produces
simple cabinet components on
dedicated manual machines, the
CNC router is often used to pro-
duce more complex parts, as well
as produce designs that would be
impossible or impractical to make
by hand. An example of this is a
curved cabinet whose door, box,
frame face, stiles and rails are
all curved.
“On the average, the CNC
router has reduced by about 20%,
the time required to make cabinets
and other wooden parts of a custom
kitchen,” Farmer said.
“The Techno machine helped
me triple the revenues of my busi-
ness, Upstate CNC Service, mak-
ing it possible for me to quit my day
job and spend every day doing what I love,”
Farmer added. “The CNC router pro-
duces even better looking countertops
and cabinets than I was able to produce
in the past. Yet I can fabricate and install
the countertops in a fraction of the time
that was previously required. I also save
a significant amount of time in producing
wooden cabinetry. And I have the option
of producing far more intricate designs
than were possible in the past.”
“All in all, the Techno LC machine has
played a vital role in making it possible for
me to do what I love every day.”
For more information about Upstate
CNC Service, visit www.upstatecnc.
com
www.technocnc.com

Inexpensive But Accurate CNC Router Aids
Signmaker’s Expansion
The Techno router makes it possible to produce 2D and 3D images faster and with more
accuracy.
A Colorado signmaker has increased
the breadth of its product line and
boosted its revenues through the use of
a new router that provides the accuracy
associated with high-end machines
at a much lower price. LCI Signs
and Ironworks has long been in the
business of producing metal silhouette
signs for gates and entryways as well
as decorative furniture. Owner Dave
Wortman began adding wood accents
to increase the appeal of these signs
but was limited by the long amount
of time it took to route the accents
by hand and the fact that he was
limited to working in 2D. Wortman
was interested in purchasing a CNC
router to expand that aspect of his
business but the machines he was
aware of were either too expensive or
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
not accurate enough. “Then I heard
about Techno’s new LC router which
is fully servo-driven and includes ball
screws and antibacklash ball nuts
on all three axes for highly accurate
motion control,” Wortman said. “I
haven’t seen any other machines in
their price range with these features.
This machine has dramatically expanded
my capabilities by making it possible to
produce beautiful 3D images as well
as very accurate 2D designs in very
little time. In the first four months,
it has already generated about
$4,000 of additional revenue, so
it should easily pay for itself in the
first year.”
LCI specializes in producing
personalized signs to identify homes,
businesses and communities. With
118
special reflective materials, the signs
make it easy for friends, families and
neighbors to find the home, not to
mention emergency personnel when
every second counts. LCI ornamental
signs are constructed from recycled
steel and finished in a very durable
powder coat. The company offers a
wide range of standard decorative
images including wildlife, horses, pets,
recreational activities and decorative
images. The lettering background is
easy to read because it is made from
the same material that some highway
and street signs use. The company
attracts new customers by displaying
at crafts shows, their showroom
and through its Internet site at www.
lcisigns.com. Its general store features
items ranging from a switch cover
finished with copper patina at $18.00 to
a rustic log framed mirror with metal art
for $225.00. LCI also produces custom
pieces such as machined parts, artist’s
silhouettes and sign brackets, and just
about anything else that’s made from
metal, wood or plastic.
Limitations of working in metal
alone
“Our metal silhouette signs have
proven extremely popular but
working in metal alone has inherent
limitations,” Wortman said. “I wanted
to expand our capabilities by being
able to incorporate wood into metal
signs. I began using a hand router
and had no difficulty in cutting out
letters and very simple designs.
But I was limited by the fact that all
I could produce with power tools
were very simple 2D patterns;
and a long time was required to
produce even the simplest designs.
Phone: 516-328-3970

I started browsing the Internet
looking for computerized numerical
control (CNC) routers that could meet
my requirements. The critical issues
for me were that I needed the ability
to produce large signs to a high level
of accuracy in order to produce inlays
with a tight fit and complicated 3D
images. I didn’t have any problem
finding machines with these features
but the cost was beyond what I could
afford, $30,000 and up in nearly every
case. It was beginning to look like it
would be impossible to take advantage
of this market opportunity that seemed
to have so much potential.”
Then Wortman heard about
Techno’s new low cost LC series CNC
routing system. This machine provides
a number of critical features that allow
it to deliver accuracy to a level that
has previously only been available
from machines at a much higher cost.
Ball screws are provided on all three
axes, offering smooth motion, a high
level of accuracy and repeatability,
and minimal maintenance. A closed-
loop servo control system provides
constant position feedback, higher
power, and smooth continuous motion
that eliminates the possibility of losing
position in the middle of a part. The
LC series machine includes a heavy
steel ground stress-relieved base and
an aluminum T-Slot table that can be
easily converted to a vacuum table by
installing the Techno vacuum table
accessory kit. The machine comes
fully assembled and includes Techno’s
Windows-based CNC G-code Interface
w i t h f r e e l i f e ti m e so ftw a r e
upgrades.
No comparable machines at this
price with this accuracy
“The LC series was the only machine
I have seen that has everything I need
at a price that I can afford,” Wortman
said. “The machine was brand new
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
Techno CNC systems are so easy to use
that customers start producing parts right
away.
Techno routers interface with all industry
standard G-code CAD/CAM sample pack-
ages.
at the time I bought it so I couldn’t see it
in action locally. But I did visit someone
nearby using an earlier Techno
machine based on similar technology
and I fell in love with it at first sight. The
machine was clearly very versatile and
its owner told me that it required very
little maintenance.
“The ability to add wood and plastic
to our signs has added an important
new dimension to our business,”
Wortman said. “We have taken photos
of people, their pets, their property,
and anything else that is near and dear
to them and carved them into wood
with the router. In some cases, we
inlay the wood pieces into metal signs
or ornaments. We are also carving
119
pictures into tabletops, cabinetry,
headboards, and other furniture or
crafts. With the CNC router, the only
limitation is your imagination. Clients
have asked us to create carvings that
show views from their property, wildlife
from their pictures, custom cars and
many other designs. The wood inlays
add character, warmth and personality
to traditional silhouette signs. We can
offer this type of product at a very
reasonable price because nearly all
of them are created from digital or
scanned conventional photos with very
little manual effort. These are jobs that
would have been absolutely impossible
to do with power tools. The new
machine has also greatly increased
the speed with which we can do the
simpler 2D routed signs, such as plain
lettering.”
Wortman said that the economics
of the new machine are difficult to
argue with. “My investigation showed
that this new machine provides the
accuracy and size needed to produce
high-quality 3D images at the lowest
possible price,” he said. “By increasing
our capabilities, it has opened up
several new markets while reducing
our costs for producing standard wood
components. Just as important, the
added value provided by the wood
inlays has increased the price that
we can get for our existing products
such as silhouette signs and furniture.
Spending money on an expensive
piece of machinery is always a difficult
decision for a small, family-owned
business. But when you can quickly
get your investment back through
increased revenues, it makes the
decision much easier. All in all, the
low cost and high quality of the new
Techno LC series machine offers an
unbeatable proposition for any small
sign maker that does not currently
have the capability to accurately
reproduce 3D images.”
www.technocnc.com

CNC Machine Drops Production Time for Foam
Samples from Five Days to Two
A CNC machine allows Foam
Fabricators to produce the typical
order of 20 sample models in two
days compared to the five days
needed to cut the foam pieces by
hand. With the exception of one person
who loads the foam stock and removes
finished pieces, the machine can
run unattended around the clock if
necessary to turn out a large order.
Another benefit of automating
the sample production process
is that it enables the company to
take on jobs it would have lost in
the past. “When the shape of the
customer’s part was too complex
to cut by hand, we had to turn away
the work,” says Nathan Musgrove,
an applications engineer at Foam
Fabricators’ Jefferson, Georgia regional
design and test center. “That hasn’t
happened since we installed the CNC
machine. It can accurately cut even the
most complex 3D shapes.”
Foam Fabricators, headquartered in
Scottsdale, Arizona, is a coast-to-coast
network of 14 facilities providing shape-
molded foam products, packaging,
and components. Its foam products
are used in the packaging of items
such as electronics equipment and
appliances, but they can also be found
in other applications such as inside
bicycle helmets. Foam Fabricators
also fabricates flexible materials such
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
as polyethylenes, polyurethanes,
polypropylenes, and EPS, both molded
and extruded.
Samples for testing
Each of the company’s regional
design and test facilities is staffed
with degreed packaging professionals
The CNC machine allows Foam Fabricators
to produce the typical order of 20 sample
models in two days compared to the five
days needed to cut the foam pieces by
hand. Shown are foam packaging materials
in various stages of completion.
and fully equipped with the latest in
fabricating, drop testing, computerized
data acquisition, and CAD systems.
When a customer comes to Foam
Fabricators with a new product that
needs to be packaged, the first step
is to work with one of the company’s
engineers to determine the appropriate
material. The Foam Fabricators
engineer specifies the material, size,
and performance characteristics for the
product and uses the SolidWorks CAD
system to create a 3D model of the initial
concept.
Previously, samples were produced
by hand. An engineering assistant
used a band saw, drill press, or hot
120
wire to cut the foam, working from the
specifications on the SolidWorks CAD
drawing. This was a time-consuming
process.
There was an additional drawback
to producing samples by hand. Some
of the shapes that customers needed
were not possible to produce this way.
For example, a jet ski manufacturer
asked Foam Fabricators to make a
bow flotation unit, a piece of foam that
fits in the bow of a four-man jet ski to
provide buoyancy. “This part had a
lot of complex geometry and it was
impossible to shape it by hand,” says
Musgrove. “We weren’t able to make
the sample, so we were unable to take
on the job.”
A third drawback was that the
handmade models were not highly
accurate since the process of cutting
them required some interpolation
between surfaces. This was acceptable
to some customers, but others wanted
greater accuracy.
One of Foam Fabricators’ larger
customers asked the company to
consider using a CNC machine to cut
the foam samples. As the company
looked into this, they discovered
two options: heavy and expensive
machining centers primarily designed
for metalworking, and inexpensive
routers that could not provide the
accuracy Foam Fabricators needed.
Phone: 516-328-3970

Then they found the Techno Model 160
Production CNC router from Techno
Isel, New Hyde Park, New York,
which offered a perfect compromise.
The machine was very accurate
and robust which was designed for
production routing and drilling on a
wide variety of materials including
wood, plastic, MDF, solid surfacing
materials, and nonferrous metals. The
price and the capabilities included
in the Techno CNC system seemed
perfect for Foam Fabricators’ needs,
so the company decided to purchase
it. The technical specifications of the
Techno machine they selected include
a working area for the router of 59
inches by 50 inches and z-axis height
of 12 inches, a vacuum hold-down
table, 5 horsepower Columbo spindle
and a raised gantry for large part
clearance. The table features a rapid
travel speed of 800 inches per minute,
a z-axis cutting force of 200 pounds
maximum, 0.0005-inch resolution and
repeatability, and 0.003 inches/foot
absolute accuracy.
Automated sample
production
Now when a customer comes to
Foam Fabricators with a request for
a new product, the engineer creates
the SolidWorks model, as he did in the
past. But instead of creating a drawing,
he exports the solid model directly into
the Techno system’s CAM program.
Originally designed for metalworking,
this CAM program is also well-suited
for foam because of its ability to
generate the most complex contours
with little programming effort. In the
CAM program, the engineer gives
the command and the software creates
the toolpaths for cutting the sample. The
only additional input required is information
such as feed rates and cutting speeds. Total
programming time, from when the SolidWorks
model is imported into the CAM program until
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
Shown are computer components readied
for shipping with foam packaging
produced by Foam Fabricators.
the system is ready to cut foam, ranges
from 30 minutes to two hours depending
on the complexity of the part.
After a piece of foam stock is fastened
to the Techno machine, the operator hits
the “start” button and the sample is then
carved automatically. The machine does
not require any supervision, except to
remove the finished piece and attach a
new foam block to repeat
epeat the process.
With this machine, a typical order for 20
samples is completed in two days. Large
sample orders no longer require the t ability to take on more complex jobs.
production assistance of engineers. The
machine is simply kept supplied with stock
and runs until the order is finished.
Foam Fabricators has been very
pleased with the reliability of the Techno
machine. With just regular lubrication, it
functions perfectly. Part of its reliability
is due to the materials used in its
construction. For example, the machine
uses antibacklash ball screws.
These screws have excellent power
transmission due to the rolling-ball
contact between the nut and screws,
121
and this type of contact ensures low
friction, low wear, and long life. The
ball screws also make it possible to
produce parts to the machine resolution
of 0.0005 inch. In addition, the machine
is constructed on steel stress-relieved
bases with hardened steel linear ways,
and ball screws with servomotors
standard, which offer the best precision
performance, speed capacity, and
machine longevity. This shaft-and-
bearing system produces very smooth,
play-free motion and is an extremely
rigid system that produces high-quality
cuts.
Customers appreciate the faster
turnaround on samples. Those who
need a high degree of accuracy in their
samples are noticing an improvement
from the Techno machine here, too.
More importantly, customers who come
to Foam Fabricators seeking packaging
components now have confidence that
the company can take on their jobs,
no matter how complex the shape of
their parts. Because the CNC machine
imports CAD geometry and replicates
that shape exactly, regardless of the
complexity, Foam Fabricators is no
longer limited to simpler shapes.
Having the Techno CNC machine
has paid off for Foam Fabricators in
a number of ways: faster turnaround
on samples, more accurate samples,
better satisfied customers, and the
In addition, having a CNC machine
helps the company compete against
other injection foam molders. “Making
samples on a CNC machine is
becoming the norm in our industry,”
explains Musgrove. “With the Techno
machine, we found a cost-effective
way to meet this requirement.”
www.technocnc.com

CNC Technology Brings Out Hidden Talents in
Physically Disabled Children
Instead of having to rely on others to produce their designs, our special education students
can use the Techno CNC machine to compete on an equal basis with fellow students.
By Jeff Lintz
In my career teaching production
technology to middle school special
education students, I have had
many students who clearly had
talent in graphics and design that
went unrealized because of their
physical disabilities. I have seen
students with an enormous amount
of creativity get frustrated and
withdraw because they could not
physically build what their mind
could conceive.
This situation has taken a major turn
for the better as our school has equipped
itself with inexpensive, accurate
computerized numerical control (CNC)
equipment. This equipment makes it
possible for students to define their ideas
on the computer, using special interface
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
equipment and then watch their designs
being built before their eyes.
The fact that they can use the
machine’s capabilities to build beautiful
and functional objects without help
from another person enhances both
their enthusiasm and their self-esteem.
In one of the most dramatic examples
I’ve witnessed, a student with cerebral
palsy built a CO2-powered car for the
Dragster Design Challenge and has
gone on to do very well in the graphics
program at Miami Lakes Educational
Center.
Special Education Program
The special education classes at Hialeah
Middle School in Miami-Dade County,
FL, include students who are mentally
122
handicapped, deaf, autistic, blind, and
physically impaired. In the past, I often felt
frustrated working with physically impaired
students because many of them, while
cognitively normal or above normal, cannot
achieve anything close to their true potential
in the technology lab due to their physical
limitations. Poor muscle control keeps
many students from using conventional
power tools for safety reasons. Even
if they could use the tools, chances
are they would end up disappointed
because the results would be far below
the quality of the designs they can
conceive.
I have seen a number of these
students become frustrated over their
inability to consummate their designs
- and, as a result, give up on what in
my opinion might have otherwise been
a very fruitful career.
Bringing New Technology into the
Classroom
About three years ago, far-sighted
local school officials decided to purchase
CNC machinery and bring it into the
classroom. CNC machines automate
the work of conventional power tools by
using computer-generated commands
to move the cutting surface with far more
precision than could be achieved by
even the most experienced craftsman.
Our school selected Techno’s DaVinci,
a unique tabletop machine, suitable for
a wide range of applications, including
model making, woodworking, plastic
fabrication and sign making.
The DaVinci is slightly different from
the more common gantry style machine
because it moves the workpiece as well
as the cutting spindle. The machine is
constructed out of state-of-the-art
extruded aluminum profiles. Because
Phone: 516-328-3970

of this design, similar to that used in
the aircraft industry, the machine is
light and portable, yet rigid. In addition,
the machine has hardened steel linear
ways and ball screws, which means that
it provides a high level of performance,
speed capacity, and machine longevity
at a surprisingly low price.
The servo DaVinci machine comes
standard with 3-axis servo control,
which can be upgraded to 4-axis to
accommodate a rotary table option.
Techno machines can also be equipped
with T-Slotted vacuum tables for easy
fixturing of sheet stock-like materials.
Along with the DaVinci machine,
we got the IMS CO2 system, which
allows students to quickly, easily, and
inexpensively design and produce
finely machined CO2 metric 500 racing
cars that meet the specifications for
Technology Student Association (TSA)
competition. The kit includes specially
fitted hardware, interface software,
instructional videos, and fabrication
templates that simplify the design
and manufacture of CO2 cars. The kit
allows any student to produce better
cars more quickly, without tedious
hand carving. But for our physically
disabled students, the difference is
like night and day. Instead of having to
rely on others to produce their designs,
they can compete on an equal basis
with fellow students, using the CNC
machine to substitute for a lack of fine
motor control.
One Student’s Story
I put the new machine to the test
almost as soon as we had it set up.
I had a student with cerebral palsy,
whose involuntary spastic motions made
it unsafe for him to use conventional
power tools. But it was clear from the
very beginning that he had a sharp
mind and a graphical inclination. When
he entered class he couldn’t use a
conventional computer mouse, so I got
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
After winning the state contest, my
students traveled to the nationals and
placed ninth out of nearly 50 teams
entered.
I maintain contact with this student,
who is now enrolled at Miami Lakes
Educational Center and Miami-Dade
College. He has also participated in a
statewide leadership youth program
for physically impaired people and has
CNC technology has the potential to make been called back as a leader for the
a difference in the lives of thousands of coming year.
special education students.
him a track ball, which proved easier to
The Whole Class Benefits
manipulate.
The value of CNC technology
Almost immediately, this student
extends far beyond physically disabled
demonstrated his ability to create
students. All of my students participated
interesting designs on the computer. He
in a project earlier this year to build
took a strong interest in the CO2 racer
nameplates for a meeting of principals
project and created the model of a car
from throughout the school district that
with computer-aided design software
was held at my school. The students
that had the other kids oohing and
designed and made a nameplate for
aahing.
each principal and also designed and
In the past, his enthusiasm probably
built a plaque for their own use.
would have been lessened by my
For example, one student scanned his
assisting him with hand-over-hand
favorite cartoon character, converted
tooling of the project. But the CNC
the resulting raster file to a vector file,
equipment gave him a chance to
then pasted it into his plaque design
follow the creative process to its logical
and used the DaVinci to engrave it in
conclusion. He used the software
a block of wood to design a jewelry box
provided with the DaVinci to cut his
lid.
design out of a block of wood.
As my colleague Ron Torres-Gatherer,
The pride on his face was truly
Technology Education Teacher at Hialeah
something to behold. This may have
High School, says: “Revitalizing the
been the first time in his life that he
classroom so that kids are invigorated by
could build something all by himself.
learning and enthusiastic about coming to
As the other students in the class
school requires fresh ideas and creative
began treating him like an equal and
approaches to teaching. The emphasis
paying less attention to his physical
should be on providing educational
disabilities, he began to shine. He
tools to motivate, inspire, and focus
took a much more active role, such as
on teaching skills rather than simply
participating as an integral member of
teaching the student how to use
the team that won the Environmental
the tool itself.” CNC technology has
Challenge contest sponsored by the
the potential to make a difference in
Florida Technology Student Association.
the lives of thousands of handicapped
The project involved a drip irrigation
kids by allowing them to overcome
system to conserve water in a butterfly
their disability, energizing them with
garden. The student I refer to designed
a passion for learning and a sense of
the display and folder that accompanied
accomplishment.
the project and did much of the research.
123 www.technocnc.com

CNC Router Provides 400% Productivity
Gain for Woodworking Manufacturer
Switching from conventional power
tools to a CNC router helped a
manufacturer of gun safes increase
productivity by 400%. When Champion
Safes used power tools to produce racks
for its gun cases, each person could
only produce enough parts for 20 to 30
safes per day. To increase productivity,
the company invested in a computerized
numerical control (CNC) router that
works unattended to produce parts of
any shape, simple or complex, based
on a computer program. Now a single
person can produce all the parts needed
for 120 safes in one day. Quality has
been substantially improved because
the CNC router doesn’t make mistakes
and cuts to an accuracy of 0.002 inch
compared to typical 1/16 accuracy for
manual cutting. “We have substantially
reduced our manufacturing costs while
increasing our quality,” said Terry
Zierenberg, Director of Engineering for
Champion Safes, Provo, Utah. “What’s
really amazing is that the CNC router
that does all this costs only $15,000.”
Champion Safes has been building
heavy and tough safes since 1998. The
company’s safes sell for between $800
and $2,500. Champion Safe bodies
are pressure-formed from thick A-36
carbon steel plate with fully welded top
and bottom caps. Doors are built out
of heavy A-36 carbon steel plate with
sandwiched fire insulation, offering
more security and better fire protection
than a plate steel door alone. Champion
uses heavy-duty, ball bearing internal
hinges and multiple relockers that col-
lectively protect a safe against drilling
and forced entry. Champion Safe is the
only home security safe company to
use a glass, bank-vault type relocker.
To protect the lock from attack, it bonds
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
industrial diamonds to tungsten steel
hardplate. The company includes fire
protection, standard on all models,
ranging from 30 minutes at 1200oF
to 105 minutes at 1550oF for different
models.
Previous manual machining
methods
The notched racks that hold the guns
inside the safe are cut out of three-quarter
inch particleboard. The geometry of the
racks is complex because each rack
typically holds 20 to 30 guns. In the past,
skilled woodworkers cut these racks using
hand routers with bearing bits by follow-
ing templates, and with table saws. The
accuracy of the racks depended on the
accuracy of the templates, and making
good templates required patience and
long experience. Frequently, templates
were ruined and new ones had to be
made before the job could continue.
A skilled craftsman was needed to ac-
curately follow the lines of the template.
Even though the operator would follow
the template carefully, he or she might
bump corners or otherwise damage the
template so that it got worn out and had
to be replaced. For all these reasons,
one person was only able to produce
enough components for about 20 to 30
124
gun safes per day and five people would
have been needed to handle today’s
production volume.
Zierenberg had long thought about
purchasing a CNC machine to perform
this operation but, when he originally
checked, the cost of these machines put
them out of reach. “When I worked for
a competitive safe company, we
bought a CNC router for $65,000,”
he said. “Prices have dropped since
then but until a couple of years ago, the
cheapest machine that I could find that
would do this job cost about $45,000,
which was more than we could justify,”
he said. “These were machines with
servo- motors and ball screws that pro-
vide high levels of accuracy, and large
tables that make it possible to produce
big parts. We didn’t want to spend that
much because we only have one group
of wood products, so we can only use the
machine in a few areas. When I heard
about Techno’s LC router, which of-
fers essentially the same features and
capabilities for under $15,000, my first
question was: can it hold up? I saw a
demonstration at a local dealer and it
looked good so I decided that for that
money it was worth the gamble.”
New router offers mix of
performance and economy
Techno’s LC series CNC routing
system provides a number of critical
features that allow it to deliver accuracy
and long-term reliability of a level that
has previously only been available from
machines at a much higher cost. Ball
screws are provided on all three axes,
offering smooth motion, a high level of
accuracy and repeatability, and mini-
mal maintenance. Ball screws have a
number of advantages over racks.
Phone: 516-328-3970

They don’t have the play or the
requirement for adjustments that
racks do; they also do not wear
as easily as racks do and they are
far less likely to get debris in the
mechanism than racks to cause
skipping and errant motion. A
closed- loop servo control system
provides constant position feed-
back, higher power, and smooth
continuous motion that eliminates
the possibility of losing position in the
middle of a part. Servomotors, unlike
stepper motors, do not “lose posi-
tion” and cannot skip steps. Servos
are also far better for 3D applications
because they can change speed “on
the fly” without losing power
as steppers do.
Zierenberg generated programs for the
gun racks and a number of other wood
parts, such as center dividers, used in the
company’s different models of safes. He
designed jigs that hold the particle board
blanksinplace.An operator simply loads
the jig with a precut blank, calls up the
appropriate program, and hits the start
button. He then walks away while the
router finishes the part. It typically takes
the Techno router about one minute
for each rack that is machined. Some
of the racks are more complex and
take as long as four minutes. While
the router is busy, the operator can
work on other jobs, such as cutting
out blanks on a table saw.
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
The machine is available in three
Automating the process of
sizes, with work envelopes of 30 by
machining racks
24 inches, 50 by 48 inches and 50
“When we got the new process for
by 96 inches. Each of these models
machining racks up-and-running, I felt
provides a repeatability of 0.001
like I had died and gone to heaven,”
inches, a resolution of 0.0002 inches
Zierenberg said. “The LC Series ma-
and a maximum speed of 250 inches
chine does everything we need it to
per minute. A wide range of optional
do at a remarkably low price. As far as
equipment is offered including a laser
durability goes, I have been amazed
scanning module, CNC lathe attach-
and satisfied. We have been running
ment, Porter Cable router, vacuum
blower, and fourth axis rotary table.
The 4-foot by 8-foot model sells
for $13,995.
Higher productivity means
increased profits
The increase in productivity that has
been achieved with the new machine
has significantly reduced Champion’s
manufacturing costs. “Clearly, the
availability of high-quality, low-cost
routers has the potential to dramati-
cally improve the profitability of every
the machine all day, every day for two
manufacturer that uses wood in their
years and have no problems. By the
product,” Zierenberg said. “Our savings
way, besides being less expensive than
extend through the assembly process
other CNC routers, the LC also takes up
as well because the more accurate
quite a bit less space, which provides ad-
parts that we produce with the new CNC
ditional savings.” The LC series machine
router avoid the need for manual fitting.
includes a heavy steel ground stress-
Having lower manufacturing costs than
relieved base and an aluminum T-Slot
our competitors gives us the opportunity
table that can be easily converted to a
to offer greater value to customers and
vacuum table by installing the Techno
increases our sales volume. Higher
vacuum table accessory kit. Because
productivity means that we are able
the frame is a single welded piece,
to handle this volume without adding
there is no chance for it to get “out of
workers, which increases profit mar-
square” or require alignment.
gins. Techno’s LC series CNC is clearly
“Techno’s sales team were very
the wave of the future for woodworking
helpful, not only giving me all the
manufacturing.”
information I requested about the
machine, but also helping me find the
right software package and providing
me with the necessary training to get
my production up-and-running quickly,”
Zierenberg added. The machine comes
fully assembled and includes Techno’s
Windows-based CNC G-Code interface
with free lifetime software upgrades.
125 www.technocnc.com
 CNC Articles

CNC Milling Machine Eliminates Three Weeks of Hand

Carving Technodome Model
Peter McCann Architectural with a wide variety of composites
Models Inc. (PMAMI) saved and unique materials. Other in-
three weeks in the production house services include computer
of an architectural model of the animation, signage, graphics, and
Technodome by cutting molds for brochures. “We have made many
the roof sections on a CNC Router large models, but the one of the
instead of hand carving them. The Technodome, at a 1:200 scale,
Technodome, when it is built, will measured 22 feet long by 10 feet
be “the world’s largest and single- wide by two and a half feet tall, is
most technologically advanced the largest model we have made
indoor attraction ever,” according to date,” says McCann.
to its developer. The architectural
model itself was huge, the largest Cutting 3D Parts
PMAMI has ever produced. The PMAMI used a laser cutter
roof of the model was particularly The first step in creating the model was to import the architect’s to fabricate the portions of the
challenging because there were AutoCAD drawing into Techno’s CNC Interface. Technodome model that were 2D
many different roof styles. Peter shapes, such as walls and floors.
and downhill skiing in the same visit.
McCann, president of PMAMI estimates McCann didn’t want to cut the roof pieces
In addition to nature attractions, it will
that carving the roof molds by hand would this way, however, because the roof was
feature disaster rides, IMAX theatres,
have taken at least five weeks. With the so complex. “The roof of the Technodome
a 125,000-capacity sports and music
computer-controlled method, cutting has many different roof styles, including a
arena, and massive indoor theme zones
instructions for the milling machine big dome,” McCann says. “Breaking the
similar to those at Disney parks. The
were generated from the architect’s roof up into hundreds of little 2D pieces and
Technodome’s capacity is 11 million
CAD model and the roof portion of the then assembling them would have been
visitors per year, and its annual budget
project was completed in only two weeks. extremely difficult.” The alternative was to
is predicted to be $1 billion.
“The model was so large we had to create 3D molds of the different roof shapes
PMAMI got involved with the
divide it into sections and then glue and then vacuum form acrylic over the top
Technodome when an architect
them together,” says McCann. “The of the molds. The acrylic pieces could then
developing a concept for the facility
accuracy we got with the CNC machine be assembled on top of the walls fairly
hired PMAMI to produce an architectural
was so high that all the different roof easily.
model. With 12 employees, PMAMI is
pieces fit together perfectly.” One option for producing the molds
the largest firm of its kind in Toronto. The
The Technodome is the dream of was to carve them by hand out of wood.
company has been in business since
Abraham Reichmann, a member of To do this, PMAMI craftsmen would have
1980, serving the model making needs
the Toronto-based Reichmann family used a band saw to rough cut the shape
of local and international architects,
known for ambitious developments. out of a two- to four-inch thick piece of
industrial designers, engineers, and
Reichmann has been shopping his basswood. Next they would have used
manufacturers. Its 6,000 square foot
Technodome project around from city a milling machine to carve more of the
facility in downtown Toronto features a full
to city for nearly a decade. For a time, it 3D shape. Then they would have hand-
range of model making and presentation
looked as if it would be built in Toronto. carved the details. Producing the molds
capabilities. Model making services
Currently, it seems that Montreal will this way would have taken five weeks,
include wood and plastics machining,
be its home. Wherever it ends up, the according to McCann. Instead he decided
laser cutting, prototype molding, casting,
Technodome’s proposed 1.2 million- to look for a computer numeric controlled
vacuum forming and fabrication. Plastics
square-foot space will reportedly feature (CNC) machine that would be capable of
and wood are the primary materials
several biospheres, making it possible producing architectural models.
used in the construction of models along
for a patron to go white-water rafting McCann was aware of two options in

www.technocnc.com 126 Phone: 516-328-3970


CNC equipment. The first was heavy and
expensive machining centers primarily
designed for metalworking. They would
deliver the accuracy he needed, but
the smallest machining centers start at
$30,000 and machines in this price range
have working areas that are too small
for all but a fraction of McCann’s work. A
machining center with a table large enough
to handle nearly all his work would cost in
the $100,000 price range, considerably
more than he wanted to spend. McCann
ruled out most routers, on the other hand,
because they could not provide the
accuracy he needs. Then McCann heard
about the Techno CNC router, which
provides the best of both worlds. For the
price of $45,000, PMAMI got a 49-inch
by 40-inch working area and z-axis travel
distance of 6.5 inches – large enough to
produce most architectural model parts.
Another reason McCann chose the
Techno machine was that even though
it was one of the more affordable CNC
machines, it had a number of high-end
features that would allow it to produce
parts with the level of the accuracy
PMAMI’s work required. For example,
each Techno router is constructed from
extruded aluminum profiles. It has four
ground and hardened steel shafts and
eight recirculating bearings in each axis.
This shaft-and-bearing system produces
very smooth, play-free motion and an
extremely rigid system that produces
high-quality cuts. The machine also uses
antibacklash ball screws. These screws
have excellent power transmission due
to the rolling-ball contract between the nut
and screws. This type of contact ensures
low friction, low wear, and long life. The ball
screws also make it possible to produce
parts to the machine resolution of 0.0005
inch.
The first step in cutting the roof molds for
the Technodome model was to import the
architect’s AutoCAD 2000 file into the CNC
programming software that comes with
the Techno system. Originally designed for
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
A scaled model of the Technodome project.
A Techno router can help create models in
various plastics, woods and composites.
metalworking, it is also well-suited for wood
and foam because of its ability to generate
the most complex contours with little
programming effort. In the programming
software, McCann separated the roof from
the rest of the architect’s model. Since it
was a 3D wireframe model, he needed
to add surfaces to the outline of the roof
because the toolpaths would be derived
from the surfaces. Next, he divided the
roof into different mold shapes that could
be used to form the acrylic pieces. Most
molds produced multiple acrylic pieces.
Once this preliminary programming work
was done, McCann gave the command to
software to create the toolpaths for each of
the molds. After supplying some additional
information such as feed rates and cutting
speeds, the system was ready to go.
For each mold, a piece of Renshape,
MDF, or a plaster block was placed in
the Techno machine. An operator hit the
“start” button and the 3D mold was carved
automatically. The actual cutting took only
about one hour for most of the molds. The
entire process of programming the CNC
127
machine and cutting all the roof molds
took two weeks.
Accuracy and Other Benefits
In addition to saving three weeks on
the construction of the roof, the use of
the CNC machine gave PMAMI a level of
accuracy that would have been impossible
to achieve by hand. That was important
in this project, which was built as 13
separate sections because of its size.
When it was time to put all of the sections
together, the roof pieces matched
perfectly, saving the firm the rework that
would have been needed otherwise.
The customer was very pleased with the
model, which also included a detailed
interior complete with lights.
McCann has found that many projects
benefit from the combination of laser cutting
and CNC machining. “The laser is perfect
for cutting 2D pieces, while the Techno
handles the 3D pieces without the
mess of cutting and sanding,” McCann
explains. “As we use the CNC machine
more, we’re finding that it really eliminates
the aggravation we used to have with
some of the more complicated 3D parts.
We just do the programming, turn on
the machine, and let it run.” Having
the CNC machine has also opened up
new business possibilities for PMAMI,
including signs and prototypes. “It
makes us a lot more versatile and sets
us ahead of pretty much everyone in the
area,” McCann adds.
On the Technodome project, the use
of the Techno CNC machine generated
a savings of at least three weeks in the
production of the roof molds. In addition
to the difference between the cutting time
on the machine versus carving by hand,
additional time was probably saved by
the accuracy of the finished pieces. The
fact that all the roof pieces fit perfectly when
the model was assembled eliminated the
need for rework. For complicated 3D shapes
such as the roof of the Technodome, PMAMI
finds the Techno CNC machine to be the
perfect tool.
www.technocnc.com

CNC Router Expands Sign Shop and Pays for Itself
within One Year
By Jeff Wolf
A computer numeric
controlled (CNC) router
has allowed our company,
National Sign and Design
Group, to expand into
furniture, counter tops, trade
show displays, and other
new sources of revenue,
paying for itself within
twelve months of operation.
For example, we more
than doubled our income
when a restaurant that
needed a sign also hired
us to produce its counter
tops and sneeze guard.
We now bid on higher-
margin jobs that require
close tolerances, using the
The Techno router is easy to set up and easy to use.
CNC router to achieve
levels of accuracy and
repeatability that are impossible by
hand.
National Sign started out as a
home-based screen printing business.
We eventually expanded into vinyl
graphics, a process in which letters that
have been designed on a computer
are cut from vinyl using a special
plotter and then applied to a plywood
substrate. When we got requests
for wooden signs with dimensional
cutouts, the work was contracted out
to a company with a router. Over the
years, however, the demand for this
type of work kept growing while the
quality and the dependability of the
outside contractor was becoming a
problem. This led us to consider buying
our own router, specifically one that
was computer-controlled so it could
be programmed to cut computer-
generated letters and other designs.
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
We identified accuracy, repeatability,
resolution, and reliability as the
most important selection criteria for
the router. Some CNC routers we
evaluated had components such as
rack-and-pinion drives that needed
frequent maintenance and other items
that needed constant adjustment. We
wanted to avoid these sorts of chores
and concentrate on our business.
Price was also a consideration. Some
machines on the market at the time were
priced in the $80,000 range, and they
were ruled out as too expensive for our
current volume of router work.
Accuracy for the Right Price
The search for a CNC router
eventually led us to Techno, Inc. CNC
Routers, New Hyde Park, NY. The
Techno machines are designed for
production routing and drilling on a
128
wide variety of materials
including wood, plastic,
MDF, solid surfacing
materials, and nonferrous
metals.
The accuracy level of
the Techno machine was
actually higher than we
needed for sign making.
It featured a positioning
accuracy of ±1 mm in 300
mm. We realized, however,
that the ability to produce
parts with tight tolerances
could lead to new types of
work. We also believed, after
reviewing the specifications
of the Techno machine that
it would be as reliable as
we needed. Its use of
antibacklash ball screws,
for example, would ensure
play-free motion. These screws have
excellent power transmission due
to the rolling-ball contact between the
nut and screws. This type of contact
ensures low friction, low wear, and long
life.
We didn’t find any other CNC router
with the combination of capabilities
and accuracy level as the Techno
machine, unless they were quite a bit
higher in price. The Techno system
we selected cost the same as less
accurate machines yet delivered the
accuracy of higher-end machines.
With the purchase of the router,
we moved National Sign out of the
house and into a 5,000-square foot
shop. Even employees with minimal
computer experience were able to
use the driver software and run the
machine. We initially used its CNC
routing capabilities to do standard
Phone: 516-328-3970

signage jobs for its existing clients and
to take on contract work for other sign
makers. The machine gave us the
ability to produce fancier signs such
as those with reliefs cut out of cedar
planks. It also gave us an aesthetic
advantage in the production of wooden
signs with dimensional letters raised
an inch or more. With most routers,
it isn’t possible to cut this deep with a
very thin tool in one pass. An inch-thick
letter, for example, would typically be
cut with a 1/4-inch ball end mill. This
tool would cut 1/4-inch deep on
each pass, requiring four passes
to complete the one-inch letter.
Ideally, each pass would be cut
identically to the others but with
most machines, the repeatability is
not high enough to permit this. This
results in distinct ridges in the letter
from the four different passes. The sign
must be hand finished to remove the
ridges. Due to the Techno machine’s
repeatability of 0.004 inch, we have
found it unnecessary to do any hand
finishing on this type of sign because
this router doesn’t leave any ridges.
New Types of Work
Although the sign business was
expanding due to the Techno machine,
it wasn’t long before we were using
it to do jobs that weren’t related to
signs at all. For example, what started
out as a regular sign job turned out
to include a substantial amount of
carpentry. We had been hired to
make a sign for a new juice store and
while we were discussing the job with
the owner, he happened to mention
that he was having trouble getting
contractors to build his counter tops
and the acrylic sneeze guard above the
juice preparation area. Knowing that
the router could cut these materials,
we offered to do that work for him as
well.
The sneeze guard was designed
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
on the computer to match the store’s
display case. It was angled so that
as it comes up from counter it leans
away from the customer at about a 75-
degree angle. At the top is a horizontal,
12-inch shelf that is used for displays.
Our designer added some shelves on
the kitchen side of the sneeze guard
for rigidity. The whole unit needed
to fit precisely onto the counter with
a margin of one-quarter inch. After
modeling the entire sneeze guard on
the computer, the designer broke down
the design into nine separate parts.
He sent the files to the router, which
cut all of them from a large sheet of
1/4 inch acrylic in about 20 minutes.
Because the router cut so cleanly, no
sanding was required. The pieces were
assembled and the sneeze guard was
ready in just a few hours. The counter
tops were produced in a similar
manner. They were designed on
the computer to include holes for
holding cups. The pieces were cut
with the router and assembled. We
also laminated the counter tops,
using the router to cut the pieces of
laminate as well. When the counter
tops were installed in the store, they fit
perfectly and the owner remarked that
they looked better than other counters
that had been built by carpenters. This
project started out as just a sign job,
The Techno router operates several hours
a day, allowing us to bid on jobs we never
could have before.
129
for which we were charging $1,000. We
ended up making more than twice that
amount, pulling in an additional $1,500
for the sneeze guard and countertops.
The success of that job opened
up other options for our company.
Mostly by word of mouth, the area
learned of our new capabilities, and
we have started producing trade
show exhibits with the router as well.
We have also been asked to help a
local manufacturer of wooden rocking
horses. He was producing one horse
every three weeks by hand.We use
the router to cut each piece from flat
stock 2 inches thick, routing out the
curved surfaces of a leg, for example,
across 180 degrees, then turning it
over and cutting the other side. Using
this technique, we can produce six
horses in the time it takes to make one
by hand.
With all the additional work that the
router is bringing in, the machine will
probably pay for itself in the first twelve
months. We may eventually purchase
another one. Currently, our company
runs the router between four and six
hours per day. But we have recently
bid on jobs that never would have been
considered before getting the router.
A good example is the production
of templates for a company that
makes molds for automobile seat
cushions. Each seat requires hundreds
of templates that must be accurate to
within thousandths of an inch. That is
now within our capabilities. If we win
some of the jobs we have bid on lately,
the router may be used as much as 12
hours a day. We will then purchase a
second machine if the volume of router
work grows further.
Jeff Wolf is the president of National Sign and
Design Group in Brampton, Ontario.
www.technocnc.com

Four-axis CNC Machine Boosts Gun Stock Production
200% to 300%
Ironwood Designs, a manufacturer
of wooden gun stocks, has increased
production 200 to 300 percent after
replacing a manual pantograph with
a four-axis Techno CNC router.
Previously, the company used the
pantograph to carve out inlets and
other areas in the gun stocks. It was a
back-breaking process that was both
slow and inaccurate. The four-axis
CNC machine can carve the cutouts
in about one-fifth the time it took to do
them by hand. And since the machine
can automatically reposition a part
and cut all sides in one operation,
it can run unattended. This lets one
employee to do the work of two. In
addition to being faster, the CNC
is much more accurate than hand
carving, giving Ironwood Designs
a reputation for quality work. “The
Techno machine has boosted the
volume of our business by letting us
take on jobs we didn’t have time for, or
couldn’t do accurately enough in the
past,” says Matt Shuster, President of
Ironwood Designs.
Ironwood Designs, located in
San Jose, California, designs and
manufactures replacement gun
stocks. The company’s products,
made of high-quality hardwoods,
are purchased by individual gun
owners, gun dealers, and firearms
manufacturers to replace the
inexpensive plastic or softwood
stocks of many imported military guns
such as the FN-FAL and the AK-47.
Ironwood Designs sells a four-piece
wooden set that includes the butt
stock, pistol grip, and an upper and
lower hand guard. As one of the few
companies making replacement gun
stocks for these weapons, Ironwood
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
Designs has a thriving business.
The company’s previous production
process had a bottleneck, however,
that needed to be eliminated so they
could grow.
One step of the process in creating a
wooden gun stock.
Keeping up with Business
In the first step of making a gun
stock, a Zuckerman copy lathe is
used to automatically carve a wood
block into the desired 3D profile.
A Zuckerman machine is the gold
standard in the industry for profiling; it
is the same machine that shapes the
necks of Fender guitars.
This part of the production process,
which was handled by an Ironwood
Designs employee, needed no
improvement. The next step was the
problem. After parts are cut on the
Zuckerman machine, they need further
cutting to carve out the inlets where the
stock fits into the rifle and areas where
parts such as the swivel and the butt
plate are later attached to the stock.
After running the parts through the
copy lathe, which was located in the
company’s shop, Shuster took them
to his home workshop where he used
a manual pantograph to make these
additional cuts. The pantograph had
130
four spindles so four parts were cut at
once.
One problem with this approach
was the sheer physical labor involved.
Shuster did this work himself. It took
an average of 15 minutes to complete
the carving process for four butt
stocks. If Shuster’s hand slipped,
four parts were damaged at once.
He estimates that he had a loss of
between 10 and 15 percent due to
carving error.
A desire for a faster, more accurate
carving process led Shuster to look at
other options besides the pantograph.
He had researched the technology and
knew that a CNC machine could be
programmed to automatically cut the
shapes he was then cutting by hand.
One option was to purchase a heavy
and expensive CNC machining center
primarily designed for metalworking
and adapt it for working with wood.
He had heard of other woodworking
companies doing this, but the $125,000
to $250,000 price tag of these machines
was prohibitive.
At a woodworker’s trade show,
Shuster found a better alternative,
a four-axis CNC router machine
from Techno Inc., New Hyde Park,
New York, designed for production
routing and drilling on a wide variety
of materials including wood, plastic,
MDF, solid surfacing materials, and
nonferrous metals. This machine’s
complete system was affordable; it
has two 5 HP Colombo spindles with
dual rotary stations for high production,
and can cut two identical parts at the
same time. Shuster also appreciated
its robustness, which included steel
stress-relieved bases with hardened
steel linear ways, ball screws, and
Phone: 516-328-3970

servomotors as standard features
for precision performance, speed
capacity, and machine longevity. He
purchased a Techno four-axis machine
with a five by six feet table big enough to
handle even the longest butt stocks.
Four-axis Benefits
The four-axis capability of the
Techno machine is what makes it the
solution Shuster was hoping for. If he
had purchased a traditional, three-
axis CNC router, it would have been
necessary to continually reposition
parts on the machine because cuts are
needed on all sides. Although this still
would have been faster than cutting
parts by hand, the machine would
have required constant attention. A
four-axis machine, on the other hand,
has dual spindles, one that holds the
part and one that holds the cutter.
The cutting program directs the x, y,
and z motions of the cutter, as with
a traditional CNC machine. But it also
directs the positioning of the part. After
one side has been cut, the part can be
rotated, for instance, to allow access to
the other side. “With a four-axis machine,
repositioning happens automatically
so the cutting goes faster and it’s
completely unattended,” Shuster
says. Using the four-axis machine,
it now takes Ironwood Designs only
three minutes to cut four butt stocks,
compared to 15 minutes needed with
the pantograph.
Shuster estimates that the overall
productivity of his business has
increased by 60 to 80 percent since
he acquired the CNC machine. It is
located in the shop with the Zuckerman
copy lathe, and one employee runs
both machines. Shuster handles light
finishing work. “We now produce 100
pieces in four hours. Previously that
took us two days,” he says.
The quality of the cuts is much
better with the Techno CNC machine.
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
“There is less tearing of the wood
because spindle is spinning at 18,000
rpm,” says Shuster. “And if a cut is off
by 0.010 inch, I can modify the NC
program and easily fix it.” In the past,
the tightest tolerance he could achieve
was 0.01 inch to 0.02 inch. The
Techno CNC machine holds between
0.003 inch and 0.004 inch. “That is
phenomenal for wood,” says Shuster.
“Now we produce factory quality pieces.
You can’t distinguish our stocks A shot of the shop where gun stocks are
from the original military production held.
except that we use a higher grade of are carved but they have not been
wood.” sanded so tool marks are visible.
The combination of higher quality The gun owner has to fit the rifle
and faster production has led to an to the stock, a process than can
increase in business for the company. take hours of filing. For those who
After finishing a large, two-and-a-half aren’t experienced woodworkers,
year contract for one gun manufacturer, there’s the danger of damaging
Shuster has now programmed the the stock. Shuster plans to cut these
CNC machine for a new product, a stocks on the CNC machine for a
replacement stock for the Belgian level of accuracy that has been
FN-FAL rifle. Designed in the 1950s, previously unavailable. “My kits will
this rifle has been out of production be innovative because they give
for years. But surplus versions are you drop-in fit,” he says.
being imported, and new ones are The acquisition of a four-axis CNC
being manufactured in the US from router improved productivity and
old military specifications. Ironwood accuracy at Ironwood Designs. The
Designs is now offering replacement result is an increase in business.
parts for this rifle to manufacturers, “We no longer advertise and yet
who will resell them as accessories, our volume keeps increasing,” says
as well as to smaller gunsmiths who Shuster. “With a four-axis Techno
build FN-FALs for customers, and CNC machine, we’re now able to
to individual owners of the rifle who produce replacement stocks for
wish to retrofit it with a nicer wooden anyone who wants one.”
stock.
In addition to this new product,
for which Shuster anticipates a big
demand, he plans to use the Techno
CNC machine to take on projects he
has long wanted to do but couldn’t in
the past because of time or accuracy
limitations. For example, he plans to
offer replacement stocks for common
guns such as hunting rifles that are far
more easier to install than those that are
currently available. Most replacement
stocks come semifinished. The sides
131 www.technocnc.com

Computerized Router Turns Yoga Instructor’s Labor of
Love into Profitable Exercise Machine
A well-known Yoga instructor
helped express his artistic talent at
a commercial level by turning a new
exercise machine concept into a
profitable business with the help of a
Techno CNC router. The new concept
involves wooden, multipurpose
exercise machines that are designed
to simulate the movements used in
ballet, swimming, gymnastics and
yoga. When Juliu Horvath began
designing these machines about 10
years ago, he built them with a jig saw
and templates. Each machine took so
long to build by this approach that it
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
seemed impossible to build a profitable
business from his concept. Several
years ago, however, he switched to a
Techno computerized router that has
allowed him to cut the time required to
build the machines by 80% and turn
what was previously merely a labor of
love into a growing business.
Horvath began his career as a ballet
dancer in Romania and defected to
the United States in the late 1960’s.
Not long after his arrival, he gave up
dance to pursue the study of Yoga. He
developed a Yoga system based on
the underlying principle of translating
132
breathing patterns to movement
patterns. Teachers and students from
all over the world continue to flock to
his studio in New York City to learn
his original Yoga system. Horvath’s
system includes a unique series of
floor exercises designed to enhance
flexibility while increasing strength.
Finding that many students had
difficulty learning these exercises,
he began building wooden machines
to make it easier to perform them. “I
saw that existing exercise machines
were too rough and too linear,” Horvath
says. “Length and breadth were
missing. They made it hard to build
coordination and flexibility.”
Horvath’s machines incorporate
the kind of sweeping organic curves
one expects to find in Art Nouveau
furniture. The platforms are curved in
the Santa Cruz style of wavy red and
blond woodwork and patterned after
the swirling shapes of bonsai trees.
They are created to command a
“melodic movement” that increases
the individual’s effective range of
motion. According to Horvath, “My
machines are designed for athletes,
dancers and health conscious people,
not body builders.” While the concept
was developed in the mid-1980s,
it took until 1994 to develop the
design to absolute fullness, including
determining the exact proportions to fit
any body type.
Horvath set up the first machines in
his Yoga studio in New York City called
White Cloud Studio. The machines,
which he calls the Gyrotonics
Expansion System, developed an
almost cult-like following from the
very start among the New York dance
Phone: 516-328-3970

community and since then the
system has won followers All in all, since purchasing the new router, part-time employees from time
worldwide at affiliated studios Horvath has been able to turn his exercise to time.
in Los Angeles, London,
machine concept into a profitable business T e c h n o r o u t e r s h a v e
Paris, Seattle, Munich, Mexico
C i t y a n d F l o r e n c e . W h i l e venture.
the system was originally
conceived for dancers, it
has proven equally successful
with children, the elderly, and
those recovering from injuries and
illness.
The Gyrotonics Expansion System
is a patented design that uses hand-
and foot-operated wheel bases and
pulley suspensions to precisely hone
the body through some 130 variations
on 50 different sets of exercises.
Workouts typically last between one
and two hours and consist of slow turns
synchronized with rhythmically-
released deep breaths. Weights
used are much lower than typical
exercise machines – generally on
the order of 30 pounds.
Horvath builds each machine himself,
and this is a key selling feature of the
equipment. The base and support
elements are made of wood while other
components are machined aluminum.
In the beginning, Horvath built wooden
components with a jig saw, using
intricate templates to guide his hands,
and heavily sanded each piece after
cutting. There were two problems with
this approach. It took so long to build each
machine that, considering his other time
commitments, Horvath was precluded
from turning the exercise machines
into a serious business. Second,
the lack of precision provided by
jig saw cutting meant that the
components of each machine had
to be individually fitted.
Then, about five years ago, Horvath
heard about the Techno computer-
controlled router that can produce
wooden components in far less time
than a jig saw. The 3-axis gantry router
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
himself, although he does use
antibacklash ball screws for
play-free motion that make it
possible to produce circles that
from Techno follows a pattern that is are accurate to the .0005 inch
programmed with a drawing program. machine resolution. These ball screws
Rather than tediously trace the contours also make it possible to produce
of the template, Horvath can now simply wooden parts as accurate as the
put a piece of wood on the Techno machine resolution. The ball screws
router and flip the switch. It produces have excellent power transmission due
parts in about 1/5 the time required on to the rolling-ball contact between the
a jig saw. A key advantage is that the nut and screws. This type of contact
router can generate a 3-axis motion. also ensures low friction, low wear and
This means that operations such as long life.
rounding the edges of a part, which In five years of operation, Horvath
would normally be done in a second has never had any problems with
operation after jigsawing, can now be the machine. This is partly due to the
accomplished in a single setup. strength and rigidity of the table. The
The accuracy of the computer- Techno machine is constructed from
controlled router is also far greater, extruded aluminum profiles that can
which provides additional time savings. support all the materials that Horvath
The Techno system has an accuracy uses and provides easy clamping
of ±0.1 mm (±.004”) in 300 mm and capability. The machine also has four
a repeatability of ±0.01 mm (.0004”). ground and hardened steel shafts and
This precision eliminates the need for eight recirculating bearings in each
most manual finishing operations and axis. This shaft and bearing system
for individually fitting components. produces very smooth play-free motion
It makes it possible to build more and an extremely rigid system that
accurate and better looking parts that produces high-quality cuts.
are interchangeable with each other. All in all, since purchasing the new
The Techno router was relatively router, Horvath has been able to turn
inexpensive. Horvath estimates that his exercise machine concept into
he paid for its cost last year in one a profitable business venture. The
single order for five machines. Horvath precision and repeatability of the router
himself is computer-illiterate, but he makes it possible for him to perform all
has a friend who converts his sketches production work himself and will make
into AutoCAD drawings then uses a it easy to delegate manufacturing to
CNC programming package called others, if required by future growth,
Mastercam to produce a file that the without sacrificing quality.
router understands. Once the program
is finished, Horvath operates the
machine in his workshop. When he
wants to produce a part, he simply
loads a piece of wood and pushes a
few buttons to start the machine. He
does nearly all the manufacturing work
133 www.technocnc.com

CNC Router Cuts Leadtime 63% For Build-To-
Order Furniture Manufacturer
Styles and tastes change so quickly in
the furniture business that any company
that builds up a substantial inventory risks
having to unload it at a substantial loss if
customer buying patterns change. Cherry
Tree Custom Woodworks, Orange Park,
Florida, helps small furniture retailers
overcome this problem by providing
such a fast response time that most
of its customers don’t need to give
the go-ahead to produce a product
until they have an order in hand from
their customer. The critical issue then
becomes producing the piece as
quickly as possible in order to keep
the customer happy. Cherry Tree has
dramatically reduced delivery time by
producing most items on a Techno
low-cost computer numerical control
(CNC) router that produces highly
accurate work from a CAD program,
eliminating the need for what used
to be a very time-consuming and
skill-intensive manual task. The time
required to produce a typical piece
has been cut from 27 to 10 hours,
so fast that in most cases customers
assume that their furniture is simply
being delivered from stock.
Cherry Tree Custom Woodworks
produces beds, entertainment centers,
drawers, mirrors, and just about
anything else that you can imagine in the
area of custom furniture. The company
serves as the manufacturing arm for
a number of small and highly creative
furniture designers and marketers.
These companies typically sell their
wares over the Internet or through
retail outlets. Many of these companies
are relatively small operations whose
sales volume can fluctuate drastically
from month to month. Building up an
inventory of products would leave the
company open to a major financial
hit if customer demand did not match
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
their own projections. Most of these
companies try to avoid these problems
by scrambling to build customer orders
as they are received. But the last
thing they want to do is antagonize
a customer by making them wait too
long. They typically look for small
woodworking manufacturers like
Cherry Tree that can respond very
quickly to meet their needs.
Need to respond quickly in the
virtual furniture business
In the past, a quick turnaround was
difficult because Cherry Tree used
the typical labor-intensive process
that has been used by custom
furniture manufacturers for many
years. Craftsmen and women cut out
pieces from medium density fiberboard
(MDF), plywood, or hardwoods using
traditional shop equipment. If the piece
has curves or other complex shapes, a
template is usually produced and the
parts are trimmed flush to the template.
Building an accurate template requires
a huge amount of skill. Even cutting
out and drilling simpler pieces with
straight edges to the required level of
accuracy is no job for a beginner. As
the complexity of the design rises, the
time required to build it also increases,
to the point where a company that uses
traditional methods may decide that it
isn’t practical to even bid on the job.
Arthur Allison, owner of Cherry Tree
Custom Woodworks, faced these
kinds of problems. In some cases,he
was unable to provide customers with
the delivery dates that they originally
requested. In other cases, he had to
turn down work because he was unable
to deliver it in the time frame that it was
needed. Arthur was aware that many
larger furniture manufacturers had
already moved to CNC equipment
134
which allowed them to take much
of the skill and time out of the job of
accurately producing difficult shapes.
But the equipment that he had seen
advertised and in shows was either cost
prohibitive or else could not provide
the level of accuracy and ruggedness
needed to meet his requirements. For
a number of years, he watched the
CNC equipment market and waited for
a machine to come along that would
meet his requirements.
Low cost plus high accuracy
“The LC machine from Techno is the
first one that I saw that economically
provided the accuracy and durability
we needed,” Arthur said. “The machine
was designed with just the right mix of
features for the small to medium sized
custom furniture manufacturer. For
example, it has ball screws on all three
axes and a closed-loop servo control
system. These are the kind of features
that are required for the accuracy that
our customers demand. Yet the machine
with a 50 by 96 inch travel complete
with all required software costs under
$20,000. When I saw the Techno, I
realized that this was a machine that
could pay for itself very quickly with the
volume of work that I had to put through it.
Phone: 516-328-3970

I took a close look at the machine at one of
Techno’s technology centers and proved
to myself that it could not only handle every
job in our shop but also make it possible for
us to take on jobs that we weren’t capable
of handling in
the past.”
Techno’s LC series CNC routing
system provides a number of critical
features that allow it to deliver accuracy
and long-term reliability of a level that
has previously only been available from
machines at a much higher cost. The
LC Series machine is constructed
on a heavy steel base, includes a
T-Slot aluminum table surface, ball
screws on all threes axes, closed-loop
servomotor drives, and comes with
Techno’s Windows-based G-Code
interface that is upgradable free for
the life of the machine. These premium
drive components offer smooth play-
free motion, a high level of accuracy
and repeatability, that requires minimal
maintenance. The closed-loop servo
control system provides constant
position feedback, higher power,
and smooth continuous motion that
eliminates the possibility of losing
position in the middle of a part. With
these high-end features, it was easy to
recognize that we would get high-speed
routing and superb cut quality.
The new method of producing
furniture to order
Arthur now produces most furniture
pieces by a new and much more
efficient method. His customers can
provide their designs in the form of paper
drawings. Once he has a drawing in a
CAD/CAM software program, he makes
any desired modifications and scales
it to any size. When he is satisfied,
he automatically generates a G-Code
program used by the router to produce
the design. He loads the material on
the machine, pushes the start button
and walks away while the router
finishes the part. The time required to
produce a typical part has dropped from
Phone: 516-328-3970
CNC Articles
hours to minutes.
As a typical example, Arthur mentioned
a dresser designed in the form of a
lighthouse that he builds for one of his
customers in response to consumer
orders. The dresser has many pieces
with complicated curved surfaces that
are required to create a fairy-tale look.
In the past, Arthur produced it by first
drawing each piece in full scale on
paper, cutting out the paper, gluing
them to plywood, then cutting the
plywood to shape with a scroll saw,
and finally sanding the board so it
could serve as a pattern. Each pattern
lasted long enough to make three to
five pieces, unless it was nicked by the
saw used to cut out the finished parts.
Using this method, it took Arthur about
27 hours to produce the dressers. Now,
he imports the drawing into EnRoute 3,
converts it to a CAD file, and exports
G-Code. Then he loads the machine
with wood, pushes the start button, and
watches while it cuts out each piece. He
can now produce a dresser in only 10
hours, and about half of that time he
can be doing other things while the
machine is cutting out the pieces.
A complete package including
training and support
Arthur added that the Techno sales
staff was very helpful in helping him
select the right machine for his needs
and providing the training he needed
to quickly become productive. The
machine has proven to be very reliable,
not requiring any service outside of
routine maintenance in the year that
he owned it despite the fact that he
keeps it running nearly nonstop. The
machine comes fully assembled and
includes Techno’s Windows-based CNC
G-Code interface with free lifetime software
upgrades. The machine is available
in five sizes, with work envelopes of
30 by 24 inches, 48 by 48 inches,
48 by 96 inches, 59 by 120 inches,
and 78 by 120 inches. Each of these
models provides a repeatability of
135
0.001 inches, a resolution of 0.0002
inches and a maximum speed of 250
inches per minute, with an available
upgrade to their high-speed version of
900 inches per minute. There is also
a wide selection of spindles, software,
and accessories to choose from such
as laser scanning modules, 2D and 3D
digitizing probes, vacuum tables, 4th
axis rotary tables, coolant systems,
and tooling. Arthur chose the 4-foot by
8-foot model which best fits his material
sheet sizes and his total investment
including software was under
$20,000.
“In the past, producing complicated
parts used to be a very difficult and
labor intensive task,” Arthur concluded.
“It was not unusual even for an
experienced person like myself to
ruin a part and have to start that part
over. The purchase of a CNC router
has greatly improved the situation.
Now, I can program the item once and
then reproduce the program with 100%
accuracy on the CNC router whenever
a customer places an order. The time
required to turn out the typical item has
been reduced by nearly 2/3. This means
that I can help my customers provide
better service to their customers by
delivering furniture in much less time
than was required in the past. I have
also been able to reduce my prices by
an average of 10%, which makes me
more competitive. In spite of that price
reduction my profitability has increased
because I can now get more done in
less time. Clearly, CNC routers have
the potential to help the domestic
custom furniture business compete
much more effectively with imports and
large chains.”
www.technocnc.com

16-Year-Old Entrepreneur Builds Successful
Woodworking Business with CNC Router
As written by and seen in Wood & Wood Products Magazine, December 2005
With the help of his Techno CNC router
Foster was able to build all sorts of pieces
including this motor driven clock.
Richard Foster has been making gifts
for his teachers, friends and relatives
since elementary school and became
so good at it that people began paying
him. Like millions of Americans, Richard
Foster dreamed of establishing his
independence and financial security
at an early age by developing his own
business based on doing what he loves
to do, which is woodworking.
Now 16 years old, Foster faced
a series of challenges early on in his
career and was able to tackle those
challenges and meet the needs of his
growing customer base by becoming
more efficient and offering quicker
turnaround times.
Foster had been using a table saw,
drill press, and power router to build all
sorts of pieces including a motor driven
clock for his tennis coach that consisted
of a hand-carved tennis racquet about
one foot in diameter.
Shortly thereafter, Foster began to
receive numerous orders for racquet
clocks. Foster was limited in the number
that he could produce, as each one took
four to five hours to carve with hand and
power tools. Soon orders for golf clocks
followed and, the next thing he knew, all
of his free time was occupied with making
the clocks, which he sold at $80 each.
“I found that more and more people
www.technocnc.com
CNC Articles
wanted to buy the clocks but there
wasn’t enough time in the day to make
them,” says Foster. “I was aware of CNC
machines, but I knew that they cost a
lot of money.”
Foster remembered reading an
article about Techno’s new low cost LC
series CNC routing system. The machine
provides a number of features that fit
Foster’s needs. Ball screws are provided
on all three axes, offering smooth motion,
a high level of accuracy and repeatability,
and minimal maintenance. A closed loop
servo control system provides higher
power, constant position feedback
that eliminates the possibility of losing
position in the middle of a part.
“The Techno machine seemed
to have all the features that I was
looking for,” says Foster. “Besides cost
($15,000), it also offers a high level of
accuracy, repeatability and minimal
maintenance. Techno also provided me
with Rhinoceros and Visual Mill software.
I was able to set up the machine in
my family’s garage and I was off and
running.”
The new router made it possible for
Foster to increase his clock output in a
fraction of the time.
“I started by defining the geometry
for my clocks with the Rhinoceros
software,” Foster says. “This process
required me to fully define the design and
ensured that every clock I produced was
identical. Then I imported the geometry
into Visual Mill, where I defined the
motions of the router required to cut
out the clock. I then downloaded the
resulting G-code program to the CNC
router.”
Foster then loads a four 1” x 12” pine
boards onto the machine at a time, and
can cut out one side of 12 tennis clocks
in an hour. Foster then turns over the
board for the machine to cut out the
other half. Each clock is produced
exactly like Foster’s original computer
136
model. The accuracy of the clocks is
far better than even an experienced
woodworker with 12 years experience,
like Foster, is able to achieve. Foster
then sands, paints and assembles the
clocks and they are ready to.
“The new machine has drastically
reduced the amount of time required to
make each clock,” says Foster. “This
made it possible to cut the price of each
clock in half, allowing the clocks to be
more affordable for my customers and
also gave me the time to design five new
clock options: baseball, soccer, football,
hockey, and basketball.”
Foster established a company called
Time for Sports and looked for new
avenues to expand the business - quite a
challenge for someone not yet old enough
to acquire his own credit card or drive to
any business appointments.
Foster’s next move was as a sponsor
at the Nasdaq-100 Open, a tennis
tournament in Key Biscayne, FL. He
made 570 clocks to sell at a booth at
the event. Foster set new sales records
and established an important new
marketing channel for his company. He
later became a sponsor at the Pilot Pen
Tournament in New Haven, CT.
Foster’s early entrepreneurial
success led to media exposure, including
TV appearances on “Warehouse
Warriors”, “Something to Talk About”,
and “Senior Moments,” and in the New
York Times, and Newsday, all of which
has helped drive traffic to his Web site:
www.richardfostertimeforsports.com
and also helped to increase sales.
“The Techno LC Series has played
a major role in helping me to achieve
a significant level of with very little
overhead,” Foster says. “Its capacity and
ability to operate on its own provide the
potential for our company to introduce
new products without any additional
capital investment.”
Phone: 516-328-3970