Raised panel doors

[smokeyhill@ruraltel.net]

My partner and i own a custom cabinet shop. Aside from cutting panel parts, could the you use a shopbot for milling the raised panel portion of a door? Most of the work we do is out of oak. Could you use the provided software or do you need something else? Also what other uses might the bot be useful for around a cabinet shop. I guess what i am getting at is I don't want to spend 20K to just bust panels. Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. Help tip me off the fence! Please.

[gerald_d]

Hi Dustin

If you are not comfortable around computers, or don't have a lot of spare time to invest in learning a different way of working to what you are currently doing, then you should rather give a CNC router a miss. You are probably already set up very efficiently to mill the raised panel portion of oak doors and using a ShopBot could be slower than what you are doing now. (Think about how you would hold the panel while the router does its magic right around the edge?)

[bleeth]

Dustin- The best door making machine is a molder. But what a cnc (with the right software) can do for you is carve a unique design into the face of that raised panel. I believe there is an example or two in the showcase. It can also, with a free program developed by a couple of open hearted botters called "free doors" make mdf doors if you desire or have a market. For the custom cabinet part of my shop I find the bot invaluable when it comes to the bowfront casework and bending molds for curved doors. It can also be used for arch top moldings. Basically, it can enhance your work and allow you to introduce some design elements that you may have stayed away from in the past.

Dave

[ron brown]

I have used my SB in lieu of a thickness sander to match styles and rails on true raised panel doors, where the panel is actually proud of the perimeter.

A CNC machine has many uses. It is not a substitute for a well setup manual operation. It can do things unattended, leaving one free to do other stuffs and it is best, IMO, at doing repetive jobs that take accuracy and time to do by hand.

Gerald's post says a lot. Don't expect a CNC machine to start making life easier at the start.

Ron

[smokeyhill@ruraltel.net]

Guys thanks for the response. I don't think that running the bot for raised panel doors would be very quick. That's why i'am trying to get your opinion. I also understand the steep learning curve associated with the startup. I am interested in the bot, and how i might be able to use it in my shop. so keep the ideas comming!!

[beacon14]

"Also what other uses might the bot be useful for around a cabinet shop?"

I use the 'bot to drill my holes for hinges and drawer slides in my cabinet sides, and eventually will use it for shelf holes as well. It also works great for boring recesses for low-voltage lights, and I use it to create wire channels for concealing the wires to the lights, with hidden wells for the wire nuts so the lights can be replaced easily later.

I also use it to surface plane lumber or glued up panels that are wider than my planer. Of course, any curved parts or parts with angles get cut on the ShopBot, as do any parts with flutes, grooves (mainly stopped grooves - through grooves can be faster on a router table), pockets, access panels, odd holes, etc.

It is a classic case of once you have one you find uses for it you couldn't have envisioned before you had it, which is another way of saying it allows you to do things you couldn't have done (profitably) before. I'm getting ready to build and turn a 28" diameter cherry cylinder - pictures to follow.

If you understand the challenges involved, think you will benefit, and can afford it (or can't afford not to?), then go ahead and do it. I't sounds to me like you're ready to write the check.