Detailing Pre-Hung Entry Doors on CNC
A description of what's involved in equipping a CNC router to prep doors for hanging, including cutting to size and mortising for hardware. November 8, 2007
Question
My friend tells me his company uses a CNC to pre-hang entry doors...? But since he does not work in that department, he does not know how they do it.
Forum Responses
(CNC Forum)
From contributor W:
If you mean doing all the hardware prep on a door, sure. We do thousands of doors a month. Hinge preps, beveled edges, cylinder and mortise lock prep, concealed closers, door bottoms, mortise astragals, exit devices and any other prep specified by the customer. We use a Biesse Rover 24 with the pod and rail system. We use standard endmills for the holes and 4 aggregates ($$$) for the edge work.
From the original questioner:
Are these operations done with the completed door laying flat on the table? What do you mean by 4 aggregates ($$$)? I take these are very expensive tools. I'm planning to use a Thermwood cs40 for these operations.
From contributor J:
You can probably expect to spend about 5 to 8,000 dollars. Don't skimp. Cheaper units tend to have an rpm maximum that is far slower than what your spindle is capable of spinning. This will slow down your feed rates.
From contributor W:
Yes, the completed door lies on the table on vacuum pods. The door then gets cut to length with an aggregate with a saw blade, then beveled at 3 degrees with an aluminum shaper head mounted on a shaft that fits our HSK taper, then picks up an aggregate that is set at 3 degrees to do the hinges and lock face preps, then picks up a tool to do the function holes, and then picks up another aggregate to do the deep mortise pockets and other preps that require a bit that can cut 4.75" deep, then onto another aggregate that cuts from below for function holes on the bottom of the door (when required). The aggregates we run are 1 Benz flex head, and 3 Biesse ones that came with the machine when new. Most of our aggregates are worth between $10k and $12k.
