We cut parts from customer files at 6401 Airport Blvd in Austin, on the same two CNC routers we use for our own millwork. Most cutting jobs start with a DXF. This is what we need with the file and what the machines can and can't do.
What to send
- A DXF file. We can also work from a Fusion 360 or SketchUp model.
- The material and its thickness.
- How many of each part.
- When you need the parts.
If one file holds several different parts, give the quantity for each of them.
Sheet size
Both routers have 5 x 10 ft beds, so each part has to fit within a 5 x 10 ft sheet. One of them is an Anderson Spectrum 510 with an HSD spindle, FANUC servos and two Becker vacuum pumps that hold the sheet down while it's cut.
Inside corners
Our smallest bit is 1/8 in., which leaves a 1/16 in. radius at every inside corner. A router bit is round, so it can't cut a square inside corner. If a part has to take something square, like a slot that another sheet slides into, draw it with that radius in mind. A common fix is a small relief cut at each corner, often called a dogbone, so the square piece can seat all the way in.
Materials
We cut wood and sheet goods: Baltic birch, hardwood plywood, MDF and solid hardwood. We also cut plastics, including acrylic, HDPE and polycarbonate, and aluminum composite panel.
We don't cut steel on the CNC. When a job needs steel parts, that work goes to a partner metal shop.
Some files we've cut
New Waterloo's creative team sent us a DXF of a mural pattern for Mañana Dos, and we etched it into the shop's storage cabinets. For Jester King Brewery, we carved trail and area names into two-color sign board. The ribs of the tunnel in The North Face's installation at SFMOMA are 1 in. corrugated cardboard that we cut on these routers.
Some jobs go well past flat parts. For the G.W. Carver Museum, we machined 480 slices of Baltic birch one at a time and stacked them into a wall that weighs over 2,000 lb.