Nesting Laminate Slab Doors

06/26/2015


From original questioner:

Hi,

I'm wondering how many doors on average can be produced using a Homag Vantage 200 nesting table. The doors are simple rectangles being cut from laminated sheets and also acrylic on mdf sheets. I know you may not know the speed of the particular machine but maybe someone has as decent machine that they can tell me approximate numbers from.

Also, when cutting acrylic, I have heard numerous complaints about chatter marks at the edge. If a CNC makes a decent quality cut, can the pre-milling unit on a good edge-bander clean up these marks and produce a good edge ?

The reason I ask this: I am buying a heavy nesting machine because I will be producing routed MDF doors for paint and surface finish quality is very important to reduce sanding time. On this same machine I will cut laminated slab doors, however, I am wondering if I should look into buying a much cheaper nesting CNC for the slab doors since the pre-milling unit on a good edge-bander should theoretically clean up any poor quality finish from the CNC.

Thanks for the help

From contributor La


We run a heavy nesting router and cut quality is very good. The problem with laminated panels is the dulling of the bits. The laminate runs in the same small area of the bit for every cut. That area dulls quickly and results in a slight "burr." I'm sure the pre-mill on the bander can clean it up. All the pre-mill stations (that I've seen) run alternate shear diamond cutters.
We've never run acrylic on MDF. We do regularly run it as sheets. The 1/4" O flute bits don't cut as cleanly as the 3/8".

From contributor SB


Larry,

Thanks for the response its very helpful, do you have any output numbers ?

From contributor De


Similar topic came up about 2 years ago i couldn't find it but this is video I made. Skip ahead to 3:30 if you dont care about how i got code to cnc.

From contributor Ke


You may want to consider a Beam Saw if your volume will justify the cost, we nest but also use a beam saw when needed

From contributor La


We have a beam saw also, but the only time it beats a nesting router is when it is stack cutting.

From contributor De


I would like to see a time study with a beam saw and ahinge boring machine and include the time to move parts between operations. Unless you are running Ikea volume the time to a finished product I don't see a beam saw being faster.

From contributor Le


For laminated chipboard cutting, I usually run at 20000-24000rpm, feeding rate 10-15 meters/min.
I am using Tiger T011 compression TCT bits, and it can cut 100 piece 1.2m x 2.44m laminated chipboard, the surface is good, but can not be resharpened.
http://www.cncsparetools.com/product/Tiger-T011-Compression-TCT-Bits-For-Laminated
-Chipboard-Cutting.html

And for MDF cutting, I run at 18,000rpm, and usu 2 flutes up-cut router bits.

From contributor La


Out put #s could vary quite a lot depending on the # of parts per sheet and the amount of drilling done. We are running an older Komo 5X10. Typical sheet times are about 6 minutes plus load/unload. There are many things that affect output. Part size, spoil board condition, amount of vacuum, edge finish desired, quality of the optimizer, how long you run your bits…..