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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, NY, area and soon
Farmer had more business than he could handle for his small shop,
Upstate CNC Service.
For Farmer the Techno machine makes it
possible to fabricate a countertop from start to finish in only one
day, less then half the time that was required in the past.
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 costing anywhere
from $50,000 to more than $100,000. With 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.
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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 includes an aluminum T-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 using BobCAD software,
generates a toolpath to produce the design, then exports the G-Code
to the Techno machine. He then mounts the countertop onto the CNC
router, selects the program, turns on the machine and lets it 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.”
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In addition to the time savings in
countertop 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 produce 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 business, Upstate CNC Service,
making it possible for me to quit my day job and spend every day
doing what I love,” Farmer added. “The CNC router produces 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 |
