CNC Routers & Tooling

Full Line of CNC Routers for Plastics
Thermwood 3-axis CNC routers (Model 43 and Model 45) handle plastic sheet processing, billets and panel processing. Their 5 -axis CNC routers handle trimming of thermoformed parts, molds and composite machining (Model 67 and Model 90). They also offer the Model 70 and Model 77, which are primarily used for large scale plastic work.

Their machines can work with a wide variety of materials including starboard, PVC, HDPE, polyethylene, polypropylene, PETE, LDPE, PP, PS (Styrofoam), Polycarbonate, Acrylic, Nylon and more. Some of the tooling they use and recommend are: for trimming operations/sheet operations - single “O” flute upspiral is used for chip evacuation; for finishing – 2 or 3 flute helix upspiral is recommended; for composites, they recommend solid PCD or diamond-coated tooling and for fiberglass trimming, they recommend using a burr style bit for best results.

Contact Thermwood’s CNC experts who will evaluate your production needs to help determine how you can reduce costs and increase efficiency. They also offer free live demonstrations of their equipment and software using your application and product details. This can help identify inefficiencies and areas of your current process that their machines could help improve.

For more information, contact Duane Marrett, Thermwood Corporation, 904 Buffaloville Rd., Dale, IN 47523, 800-533-6901, E-mail: duane.marrett@thermwood.com, Web: www.thermwood.com.

Trimming Machines
GEISS, a worldwide leader in technology, quality and performance, manufactures trimming machines that can be exactly adapted to meet your specific requirements.

Depending on requirements, the GEISS trimming machines are available in any nominal size and different versions. The smallest machine size provides the same productivity and rigidity as the larger ones. The nominal size is equal to the block size trimmed with 5-axis in all machines. The machine size 2000 x 1000 mm is the most built standard size.

GEISS customers can be assured that all programs are interchangeable and compatible to enable transfer to newer control systems among all machine sizes.

Areas of application include: thermoplastics; glass and carbon fiber-reinforced composites; compression molded parts of GMT and SMC; molded parts of foam; honeycomb lightweight materials; pattern making foams in tool making and prototyping.

For more information, contact Michael J. Roche, Geiss LLC, 42 Ozick Drive, Unit 6, Durham, CT 06422, 203-988-9426, E-mail: michael.roche@geissllc.com, Web: www.geiss-ttt.com.

High Precision, Small Footprint
ShopBot’s tools are used to machine, cut, mill, and carve into a variety of materials including wood, MDF, plastics, foam, and aluminum. They provide a wide range of tool sizes and support the success of each user with a range of services, including technical support, an active online forum, and production support services.

For power and high precision in a small footprint, look to their popular and affordable ShopBot Desktop and Desktop MAX. They’re being used in countless industries and educational settings. Their full-size shop tools, such as the PRSalpha 96 x 48 (and larger), are at work everywhere from small businesses to large factory settings. They are easily configured and can be reconfigured to meet your evolving production needs. At ShopBot Tools, they dedicate their energy and resources to offering the best, most affordable, and configurable solutions for their CNC tools. Design and engineering choices are based on thorough reasoning and always with their customer’s needs in mind. Unlike companies that import and reselling CNC; they engineer, build, and support the tools they sell in Durham, NC, USA. They also develop and produce their own control systems and CNC software.

For more information, contact Sales, ShopBot Tools, Inc., 3333 Industrial Dr., Durham, NC 27704, 888-680-4466/919-680-4800, E-mail: sales@shopbottools.com, Web: www.shopbottools.com.

High-Performance CNC Routers
CAMaster builds high-quality, affordable, American-made CNC routers for a wide range of applications and budgets, with competitive pricing and unparalleled support. Each CAMaster CNC router is designed and built at their facility in Cartersville, Georgia and comes with one of the industry’s best after-sale support programs.

Their Cobra Elite series is a multi-purpose, heavy-duty CNC Router that is a perfect mix of precision engineering, industrial performance, and unbeatable value. The Cobra Elite is highly customizable and is best suited for high production shops that require both high speed machining and high tolerances. Table sizes range from 5 ft. to 20 ft. long with single or double heads for multiple operations. their Panther series is a full production CNC router that is designed for mid-size production shops requiring high performance, reliability, and affordability. It is popular with sign makers, woodworkers, and skilled craftsmen. The Panther is offered in 4’ x 8’ and 5’ x 10’ sizes.

Their Stinger series is an entry level machine that is popular with small shops, schools, and hobbyists.

For more information, contact Cody Smith, CAMaster, Inc., 149 Wansley Drive, Cartersville, GA 30121, 866-405-7688 Email: sales@camaster.com Web: www.camaster.com.

CNC for Rapid-Prototyping
AXYZ Tailored Router Solutions™ is excited to announce the new AXYZ Innovator Router to their line-up of CNC machines. This entry-level industrial CNC router replaces the legacy Z-Series model, offering a significant increase in performance while including a robust construction and high precision accuracy that AXYZ machines are known for, all at a cost-effective price.

The AXYZ Innovator is available in two standard sizes, 4’ x 4’ (1.2m x 1.2m) and 5’ x 8’ (1.5m x 2.4m), with a gantry clearance of 6” (152mm).

The Innovator has been engineered to include the following new features: a heavy-duty frame with cast gantry legs for added rigidity; integrated servo motors replacing stepper servos for smoother motion and higher speeds; premium helical racks offering a new level of cut quality and it is designed to be more easily upgradable for option installations in the future, including the exclusive 3-position tool changer.

For more information, contact Nicole Silaphet, AXYZ Automation, Inc., 5330 South Service Rd., Burlington, ON, L7L 5L1, Canada, 800-361-3408/905-634-4940, Fax: 905-634-4966, E-mail: enquiries@axyz.com, Web: www.axyz.com.

The new HOMAG CENTATEQ N-500, provided exclusively by Stiles Machinery and made right here in the U.S., is a powerful, yet compact nesting solution for high-speed routing and maximum precision over the total working width. Featuring increased drilling and tool changing capabilities, and easy-to-use touch-screen controls, the CENTATEQ N-500 offers the perfect solution for manufacturers of all sizes.

For more information, contact James Swanson, Stiles Machinery, 3965 44th St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, 616-698-7500, E-mail: jswanson@stilesmachinery.com, Web: www.stilesmachinery.com.

Clean, Polished Edges
Designed and engineered in California, CNC Factory is the only provider of 5th generation CNC technology that gives you consistent, smooth quality cuts with only one unskilled operator. They have entry-level and expandable routers for cutting prefabrication blanks, drilling holes, crowning edges and routing cutouts, signage, steps, pockets and more. Used by plastic-fabrication facilities around the world, CNC Factory has been the choice CNC manufacturer by model makers and retail display, PPE and other plastic products fabricators. They are 100% US owned.

Their new technology is available across all their router models and includes: a 12hp ATC air-cooled spindle; driverless 21” touchscreen controller w/virtual access; no machine homing or alignment; automated, zoned vacuum work holding - no extra pressure from clamps that deform parts; up to 12 tools with rapid 5 second tool change; auto tool measuring, pressurized lubrication, onboard air-conditioning; 5th generation helical rack & pinion; compatibility with popular CNC software; it is pre-wired for plug & play upgrades - so your machine can expand as your business does and includes lifetime technical support.

For more information, contact Chris Corrales, CNC Factory, 2001 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705, 714- 581-5999, E-mail: sales@cncfactory.com, Web: www. cncfactory.com.

Speed & Precision
The C.R. Onsrud C-Series 3- or 5-axis CNC routers offer a twin-table design (table options 96”x 60”, 120”x60”, 144”x60”) and a FANUC Control. These U.S. made moving table CNC routers provide the utmost in speed and precision for demanding applications. The overall mass and rigidity of this machine promotes faster feed rates, deeper per pass cutting, better finishes, longer tool life, and less maintenance over the lifetime of your machine’s operation.

With the C-Series, fixed bridge positioned across the width of the twin table configuration – the machine footprint uses half the floor space of a typical "fixed gantry" machine. This design allows the ultimate in operator flexibility as tables can be run, loaded, and offloaded independently without interrupting the adjacent table’s cutting cycle. For high volume manufacturing, the Onsrud C-Series is also available with two spindles, allowing you to purchase one machine with the productivity and throughput capabilities of two machines. If you’re looking for a versatile, long-lasting CNC machine to add to your shop, the C-Series is a great choice, and C.R. Onsrud is a name you can trust.

For more information, contact Sales, C.R. Onsrud Inc., 120 Technology Drive, Troutman, NC 28166,704-508-7000, E-mail: sales@cronsrud.com, Web: www.cronsrud.com.

“O” Flute Plastic Tools
Vortex Tool introduced XP tooling for plastics. This new tool series improves upon their already popular single edge “O” flute design by incorporating XP geometry. Designed for hard and soft plastics these tools provide superior part finish and tool life over their existing tools. Their initial offering is in some of their most popular sizes. They will be adding more tool style in the future.

Tooling for Laminated Composites
Vortex also offers the Series 9800 tornado compression tooling has been engineered to excel in cutting laminated composite materials. The router bit’s unique roughing and finishing flute design yields clean finished edge quality while eliminating delamination of the material. Available in four sizes, Series 9800 tooling is offered with or without CVD diamond coating to increase tool life with highly abrasive substrates.

American owned and operated, Vortex Tool Company, Inc. designs and manufactures a wide variety of standard and custom high-performance router and insert cutting tools for the woodworking and plastics industries, and provides re-tipping and sharpening services for all makes and models.

For more information, contact Lucas Molepske, Vortex Tool Company, 5605 East Jelinek Ave., Schofield, WI 54476, 800-355-7708/715-355-7707, Fax: 715-355-7353 E-mail: lucas@vortextool.com, Web: www.vortextool.com.

Cutting & Milling Tools
Hufschmied offers a range of tooling specifically designed for milling plastics. With plastic materials it is crucial to keep the milling temperature as low as possible. This can be achieved with tools from their Universal- Line and Sharp-Line. Depending on your requirements and your machinery, the solution to your processing problem offers you a choice of one, two or three-flute cutters.

Hufschmied tools are designed to minimize burr formation and provide a quality edge finish at high feed rates minimizing secondary operations.

When it comes to cutting thermoset the avoidance of burr formation is critical to a high quality edge finish. Their Universal-Line and Proto-Line are well suited for this category of materials.

For the processing of PMMA, cast or extruded, the Frasen Per Plex product range of single-fluted milling cutters produce a mirror-like surface finish without the need for additional polishing tools or any other polishing action. When working acrylics, milling cutters and drills need to produce sharply defined cutting edges. For this approach, Hufschmied supplies the FPE tool system with a single-step roughing and finishing cycle producing these very sharply defined edges. For polycarbonate and PET their Sharp- Line will provide a sooth finish with long tool life.

For more information, contact Steve Holbrook, Hufschmied USA, 42 Ozick Dr., Unit 6, Durham CT 06422, 419-341-6337, E-mail: sales@hufschmiedusa.com, Web: www.hufschmied.net.

Coated CNC Router Bits
Amana Tool, a producer of industrial quality carbide-tipped, solid carbide and replacement carbide cutting tools, recently introduced their Spektra™ extreme tool life coated CNC router bit line.

Their Spektra bits feature a nACo® nanocomposite coating with an extreme Nano hardness and heat resistance. With a brilliant distinctively- tinted coloring, nACo provides additional improvements in four critical aspects of router tooling.

nACo coating is a micro-thin ceramic coating which enables the tool's cutting edge to retain crucial sharpness and lubricity. This provides longevity and produces cutting results of the highest quality. The coating also prevents high heat and oxidation, which is detrimental to cutting tool performance. The multi-colored hues, while attractive, will dissipate upon use and yet coating will remain fully effective.

nACo offers approximately 4,500 Vickers for impressive solid hardness on cutting areas of the tool, for an increase up to 2.5 times the life compared to uncoated bits.

The range of tools is aimed at use in the high production wood and plastics industries. Featured are solid carbide compression spirals for use on wood, wood veneer, plywood, MDF and laminates. Also offered are solid carbide “O’ flute tools for use on acrylic (Plexiglas® Lucite®) and many other plastic materials. The tools are available in a variety of sizes. The compression tools are also offered in a 5-piece set.

For more information, contact Frank Misiti, Amana Tool, 120 Caro lyn Blvd., Farmingdale, NY 11735, 800-445-0077/631-752-1300, Fax: 631-752-1674, E-mail: frankm@amanatool.com, Web: www.amanatool.com.

Cutting & Polishing Tools
Wood-Cutters Tooling Inc. represents EURACRYL cutting tool and machining products. Since 1980, Wood-Cutters Tooling has provided customers in the plastics, wood, and metals industries with quality products and service.

Tools for CNC milling machines include over 1,000 standard tools featuring cuttings edges of monocrystalline diamond, polycrystalline diamond, and solid carbide. EURACRYL products enable processing of PMMA, PC, PETG, SAN, mixed materials (e.g., PMMA + aluminum or paper), as well as production of high-gloss, standard gloss and satin surfaces or surfaces to be glued.

Tools for edge polishing include 2,700 options of diamond milling heads for over 180 models from at least 50 different machine manufacturers, including Bermaq, Codema, CR Clarke, EFC, Euracryl, Kuper, Martin, to name a few.

For more information, contact Eric G. Jansen, Wood-Cutters Tooling Inc., 4685 Spartan Industrial Dr. SW, Grandville, MI 49418, 616-257-7930, E-mail: sales@woodcutterstooling.com, Web: www.woodcutterstooling.com.