Thru-cut questions

[wardsa]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but. I am new to CNC, would like to buy in the next couple weeks, but I'm concerned if this is what I need. I do primarily custom cabinets. 90% of what I do is from 4X8 sheet. I'm concerned about not being able to thur-cut the sheets. I don't want to double handle/ trim the pieces I cut. How is this done without spending more for a vaccum then for the machine? Plus I am limited to single phase. Am I asking for too much. Please help! I want one of these machines!
Thanks, Terry

[beacon14]

I use 2 Fein vacs and have no problem cutting through sheets. If there are no small parts I can through-cut in one pass, but I usually use the 2-pass method leaving .02 on the first pass and through-cutting on the second. With really small parts you can use tabs to hold them in place.

Don't let that particular concern stop you from getting a CNC machine. (I also have only single phase, and use a router - still dreaming of a spindle)

[harryball]

I use 2 feins and cut 1/2" and 3/4" 4x8 sheets all the way through in a single pass all the time. The smallest part I can generally cut without tabbing is 4" x 19" or in your case a small toe kick. But I have to cut the smaller parts first while the majority of the board is still intact. This maintains the vacuum.

I'm running a 4HP HSD spindle and I'm all single phase, no 3 phase available here.

Robert

[handh]

Terry,

Like what you are planing to do with your bot is what I do 90% of the time also. I do have a roots single phase blower and a 3hp single phase spindle.

Very small parts are the only thing that I have had any problem holding. I cut mostly say 80% 3/4 melamine, on a part under 5" wide by 10" long, I might have a part slip its acording to how good my spoil board is in at the time (if I have surfaced it lately or not). If you cut out the small parts first and then the larger parts you should have no trouble, also plywood holds a lot better than melamine.

I love my ShopBot now and it has really helped our production, I am just a small shop with just my wife and I doing the work. We do face frame and euro style cabinetry. Euro is about 90% of our work since we purchased the bot it just makes more sense and makes life so much easier. I can produce a finished cabinet box one about every 15 minutes ready to be loaded on trailer for delivery. I also have a sliding table saw that we use very little anymore, the cut is so much more chipfree on the bot, I would not have though that would be the case. A lot of people are using the Fein vacs and having sucess, I just thought in a production enviroment that I would need a more commerical blower. Hind sight is always 20/20 and if I had to buy the system over again I would have loved to have a blower with more cfm's, I really did not understand when I purchased my unit that both pulled the same amount of mercury but the larger unit had twice the cfm's, now I understand more about cfm's so than the more cuts that you put into your sheet the better the larger unit would perform. But the drawback the larger unit was 3 phase, I could have got a phase converter but that was more money for that and the blower. I would sugest buying all of the blower that you can afford, if you need to buy the feins and you can always upgrade to a blower and use the feins for other things around the shop. I guess all and all for the money I spent on the blower and the hold down power I am happy with the results. I will say that ever day I pass by the blower I look at it and say what cost so much on this machine, maybe they are selling it by the pound it is pretty heavy, LOL.

Get the Bot and after a few months of cutting you will be happy, don't expect to be able to work out all of the kinks in a week or two or this was my experience. I purchased my Bot in June of last year and it took me about 3 months to get were I was comfortable running the machine. Like a good friend told me and it is true, when you are running a CNC machine you better have your CNC hat on. You really have to be thinking and have your mind on your work or you will forget something don't ask me how I know this.

Another thing that you will love about the ShopBot is that your back will thank you and you will not be as tired at the end of the day because you are not moving wood from one machine to another and then another and then another. After you take it off the bot you can edgeband and then assemble. As I have stated above, I have a sliding table saw and the bot, if I had to sell one it would be the slider. Hope this helps in your decision making.

[oddcoach]

HI TERRY
I have had my machine almost 5 years. i do mostly cabinets and have gotten by so far with no vacuum. i cut 3/4 plywood all the way thru in one pass. i use screws for hold down. i have found that if i don't use dust collection the chips in the kerf help keep the parts in place. i am now just considering getting a vacuum system. i have a new product and am considering vacuum just for speed since i'll be cutting more sheets in a day than before. hope this helps in your decision.
oh i have a spindle and have had a router too.
my $0.02 buy the spindle and hold off on the vacuum if money is an issue
john

[jhicks]

Given typical cabinet part sizes, a properly zoned vac using 2 HD rigid lifetime guarantee 6HP shop vacs does the trick well. Once you compare screw downs to a drop and vac table you'll never regret the $500.00 or so it costs to set up.
I waited 2+ years and now that we have a simple but effective system, I can't believe I posponed it.
Other approaches definately work but none a simple or efficient as vac table for full sheets.
TRUPAN spoil board works best in our opinion