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By Mike Nolan
President
Windbound Company
Peralta, New Mexico
Using a low-cost, PC-based CNC router to
generate cutting paths has brought new possibilities to Windbound
Company's work with Dupont Corian® solid surface and expanded
business opportunities significantly. Now, in addition to cutting
and installing Dorian solid surface counter tops and back splashes
using traditional methods, Windbound can bring customers' design
ideas into its PC-controlled Corian solid surface cutting system to
create custom inlays within the Corian surface. The ability to cut
designs in Corian solid surface has also allowed the company to
launch an entirely new product line, custom-made plaques. The
company cuts designs such as corporate logos and text such as
wedding announcements into the Corian solid surface plaques,
creating unique gift items.
Windbound got started making Corian solid surface inlays when owners
of some of the more expensive homes in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe
area asked for counter tops and a full-height back splashes with
inlaid designs. Typically, Windbound's work had been limited to
cutting the raw material, adding the drop edges, and installation.
To accommodate customers' requests for special designs, the company
purchased a computer-controlled router that converts customers'
designs into patterns cut into the Corian solid surface.
After a pattern is cut, a colored liquid resin material is poured
into the groove and allowed to set. After it sets and is sanded, the
result is a new solid surface. For designs with many colors, the
process is similar to printing. The inlay area of one color is cut
out and the resin is poured and allowed to set. After it is sanded,
the inlay area of the second color is cut out and filled. This
process is repeated until all the colors have cut and filled in.
Windbound can create custom inlay colors to match a decorating
scheme, and can get some nice special effects with color
transitions.
The experience cutting inlay designs in counter tops and back
splashes led Windbound into the new business of producing custom
plaques in Corian solid surface. Most plaques consist of a thin
metal, embossed plate attached to a wooden back.
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This is because most plaque makers use
very light-weight machines that can not cut a material as solid as
Corian. Windbound, however, can cut inlay designs directly into
Corian solid surface, so a metal plate is not needed unless the
customer requests it. Some customers have asked Windbound to cut a
design in the Corian solid surface that forms a sort of "generic"
plaque which is then customized for each recipient by a small metal
plate with his or her name. Like the counter tops, the Corian solid
surface plaques can have any image a customer desires. The inlay
area can be filled in with colored resins to make a solid piece, or
the area can be left cut out.
The key to this custom work is
Windbound's ability to take any design, load it into the PC either
via a disk, Internet, or scanner, and use it to drive the router.
This is made possible by the use of a CNC router called the Techno
Series III router from Techno-Isel, New Hyde Park, New York. Unlike
other machines that cost between $50,000 and $80,000 and were too
large for Windbound's needs, the Techno router cost less than
$16,000. Designed for production routing and drilling on a wide
variety of materials including wood, plastic, MDF, solid surfacing
materials and nonferrous metals, the router also handles Corian
solid surface.
The router cuts according to instructions from a CNC programming
package called Mastercam from CNC Software, Tolland, Connecticut
which is included in the system. Although originally designed for
metalworking, Mastercam is ideally suited for jobs such as Corian
solid surface inlays because of its ability to generate the most
complex contours with little programming effort. Mastercam includes
IGES, DXF and CADL converters so that geometry can be uploaded from
many CAD systems. Windbound can also accept raster images by using a
program called Cam-Link that converts from raster data to vector
format that Mastercam requires.
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With the Techno router, it takes about
five to 20 minutes to cut a typical Corian solid surface plaque.
Very complicated designs can take up to an hour. The beauty of the
machine is that it can be set up to run unattended, so that it is
cutting plaques while other work is being done. The router's working
area is 49 inches by 41 inches and Z-axis height options range from
4.0 inches to 19 inches. Table technical specifications include a
rapid travel rate of 200 inches per minute, a Z-axis cutting force
of 200 lbs. maximum.
The large table size enables the router
to hold a number of individual Corian solid surface plaques, which
can be cut one after the other. Or, one large piece may be used. In
this situation, multiple inlay images are cut into the large piece,
which is later cut into individual plaques. Either way, the
machine's 0.0005 inch resolution and repeatability and 0.003 inch
absolute accuracy ensure that all inlays in a multiple run are
identical.
Windbound's price for a Corian solid surface plaque begins at about
$15 for simpler designs. Since most competitors are charging about
the same price for simpler plaques with metal plates and no relief,
Corian solid surface plaques are an attractive alternative.
Since purchasing the Techno router, Windbound has found a variety of
ways to keep it running, currently at about 70% capacity. In
addition to the work with counter tops and plaques, Windbound also
uses it for a line of furniture. The company produces coffee tables
and end tables in southwest designs inlaid in Corian solid surface.
Most of this work is done on an order basis, where Windbound matches
a customer's design and carries it through into the furniture. The
company has also made kitchen tables, dining room tables, and
conference tables with inlaid company logos.
Currently, Windbound is exploring
another avenue for the Techno router: gift items, such as crosses
and inspirational sayings for the religious market, and plaques that
say things like, "Welcome to Our House." In the next four to six
months, the company intends to take the plunge into the on-line
world, offering its services via the Internet. This will allow
customers around the world to send their design ideas to Windbound
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