CNC, or Computer Numerically Controlled, is a process by which a
machine tool may use files developed on a computer with a proper program
to produce things. There are good and not-so-good things about using a CNC router.
I will assume that your product is wood and in a single-plane like a
flat board rather than multiplane such as a statue since with this is
what I have the most experience:
1) If you have any inside
corners they can be tricky. Routers use round bits so inside corners
will not be sharp unless you use some very tricky manipulations;
2)
If the cuts are very fine then you will have to use small tools. You
can only make a small shaping tool "so small" and "so long" before it
doesn't do the job... if you have a 3mm slot through a 30mm item the
chances for success are, um, limited;
3) With flat cut items
it is usually MUCH faster to use an appropriate saw and do it by hand
rather than attempt to program it on a CNC. I once developed an item
where each part had to fit every other part interchangeably and
developed the file. No good. I then made a very accurate template from
acrylic sheet, sawed the material to a very accurate nominal size, took a
pencil and traced the template. We made more than 250,000 pieces that
way and every one fit every other one... and every one was hand cut.
4)
If high precision is necessary THIS is where CNC shines. You can get
that hole drilled or that slot milled or that shape cut perfectly...
well... within 0.01mm and it will never vary from piece to piece unless
there is a problem somewhere else;
There ARE CNC saws that
make very short work of optimizing sheet goods and there ARE CNC routers
that can reproduce set patterns in a hurry, but unless you will be
producing large quantities of something and it has to look/feel/fit the
same way every time then in my opinion CNC is pretty much a curiosity.
I
know there are some crackerjack CNC programmers out there that have
unfailing knowledge on how to get a router to do what it wants with a
minimum of grief but in my experience it is significantly faster to do
MOST things with mechanical means.
CNC tools allow extremely complicated parts to but cut in very short periods of time to a very high degree of accuracy.
This maximizes use of material and creates a product very aesthetically pleasing.
Quite
simply, they allow parts to be made that otherwise would be impossible
to manufacture using conventional routers due to human error and
inadequacies.
There are a few other answers here already about what CNC is, but the router is a CNC machine that it's only slightly bigger than the work envelope.
This is because the spindle will slide over the bed, the bed is the construction base.
Unlike
a VMC, where there is a base structure and the spindle can only move up
and down where the whole bed moves to change X and y direction.
If you're machining big sheets of wood, a router is the way to go.
If you'd also like to machine other materials please look at a vmc.
Routers
are not that stable, vmc's are. But vmc's take a lot more space, a X
axis work area of 1000 mm would give you a machine of at least 2.5-3
meter. While a 1000mm router will need about 1200mm for the whole
machine's with.
Please give us a bit more information about what
you'd like to use it for, this way we can advice you better on whether
it's right for you.
A CNC router is a computer controlled cutting
or milling machine that helps you carve materials in three dimensions.
It can slice wood, plastic and metal materials with ease, and it gives
you the freedom to replicate same, precise models for an item
innumerable times. However, for cutting these materials, you need to
choose specific types of CNC routers.
For example, if you want to
carve wood, you must buy a CNC wood router because it has smaller tool
tips and spins faster compared to steel CNC routers for a faster cut
with minimum damage. A CNC router can have 2 to 5 axes and depending on
your needs, you need to select a model that features as many axes as you
need.
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